Chapter 3 - The Broken Phone)
Margaret did not begin with the rope.
She began with kindness.
That made what happened afterward more frightening.
"Ethan," she said, following him toward the picnic table. "You've misunderstood something."
Ethan kept walking.
"I want my phone."
"You can have it when you stop acting hysterical."
"I'm calling Mom."
"Your mother is working."
"She said I can call anytime."
Margaret's mouth tightened.
"Of course she did."
Lily stepped outside.
"Grandma?"
"Stay there."
Lily stopped.
Ethan looked at the back gate.
It was not locked.
He could leave.
Margaret saw him looking.
"If you walk out that gate without permission, Claire will hear exactly how badly you've behaved."
"I don't care."
"You should."
Ethan hesitated.
Margaret approached slowly.
"The paper you saw has nothing to do with stealing."
"Then why did it say forty-eight thousand dollars?"
Margaret's eyes sharpened.
Lily looked between them.
"What's forty-eight thousand dollars?"
"Nothing," Margaret snapped.
Lily flinched.
Margaret immediately softened her voice.
"Sweetheart, why don't you go finish your drawing?"
Lily did not move.
Ethan said, "She was on the phone saying Mom doesn't know."
Margaret's expression hardened again.
"You were spying."
"You were in Dad's box."
"My son's box."
"My dad."
Margaret stared at him.
That sentence struck something deep.
Something ugly.
"You barely knew him."
Ethan's face changed.
Margaret realized immediately that she had gone too far.
Ryan had died when Ethan was seven.
Old enough to remember.
Young enough for every memory to be precious.
Ethan whispered, "I knew him."
Margaret folded her arms.
"Then perhaps you remember how disappointed he was when people lied."
"I didn't lie."
"You told your mother I asked about the key."
"You did."
Margaret took out her smartphone.
The screen was still intact.
"Do you know how much trouble your mother can cause over something she doesn't understand?"
"Then explain it to her."
Margaret stared at him.
"No."
Ethan turned toward the gate.
Margaret caught his shoulder.
He twisted away.
"Don't touch me!"
Lily started walking toward them.
"Grandma, stop."
Margaret swung around.
"Go inside!"
Lily froze again.
Her watch was still recording.
She had opened the voice memo application earlier because she wanted to sing a song she had learned in school.
The recording had never stopped.
Margaret looked back at Ethan.
"You're going to sit down until you calm yourself."
"No."
"Ethan."
"No."
Margaret grabbed his arm.
He pulled away and accidentally knocked her hand.
The phone slipped.
It fell onto the grass.
Nothing broke.
Ethan looked down.
Margaret looked down.
Then she looked at him.
An idea appeared behind her eyes.
Ethan did not recognize it until later.
Margaret picked up the phone.
"Look what you did."
"It isn't broken."
"You threw it."
"No, I didn't."
"You hit my hand."
"You grabbed me."
"Admit it."
Ethan stared at her.
"No."
Margaret's breathing quickened.
"Admit that you knocked my phone out of my hand."
"I didn't."
Margaret's grip tightened around the device.
"Ethan."
"No."
Her arm moved.
The smartphone flew sideways.
It struck the wooden corner of the picnic table.
The screen shattered.
Lily gasped.
Ethan stared at Margaret.
Even Margaret seemed shocked by what she had done.
For half a second.
Then the shock vanished.
She picked up the broken device.
"You want everyone to think you're innocent? Fine. I'll give them something to remember."
Ethan backed away.
"Why did you do that?"
"Because now you're going to tell your mother you broke it."
Ethan shook his head.
"No."
Margaret stepped closer.
"Then we'll stay out here until you learn what happens to boys who call their grandmother a thief."
"I didn't call you a thief."
"You were going to."
"I was going to tell Mom what I saw."
"Same thing."
Ethan ran.
He made it halfway to the gate.
Margaret caught the back of his shirt.
The fabric tore near the shoulder.
He stumbled into the grass.
Lily screamed.
"Stop!"
Margaret pulled Ethan up.
He pushed away again.
"I'm leaving!"
"No, you are not."
"You can't keep me here!"
Margaret glanced toward the neighboring houses.
No one was visible.
Music played somewhere beyond the fence.
A lawn mower rumbled two yards away.
Margaret lowered her voice.
"Do you want me to call your mother and tell her you're out of control?"
"Call her."
"You think she'll believe you?"
"Yes."
Margaret smiled.
It was not warm.
"She believed your father too."
Ethan stopped.
"What does that mean?"
Margaret did not answer.
She dragged a length of utility rope from beneath the picnic table.
It had been used earlier to secure a folded canopy.
Lily stared.
"What are you doing?"
"Teaching him to stop running."
Ethan's eyes widened.
"No."
Margaret grabbed his wrist.
He fought.
Not violently.
Desperately.
The rope went around both wrists.
Then around the table leg.
Lily started crying.
"Grandma, don't."
"Stay out of this."
"You can't tie him!"
"I said stay out of this."
Margaret tightened the knot.
Ethan was forced onto his knees beneath the bench.
His knee scraped across a patch of dirt.
He winced.
Margaret stood over him.
"Now we wait."
"For what?"
"For you to become honest."
Ethan looked at Lily.
"Call my mom."
Margaret laughed.
"With what?"
Lily glanced down.
At her wrist.
Margaret saw the movement.
"What are you looking at?"
"Nothing."
Margaret stepped toward her.
Lily covered the watch with her other hand.
"Give me your arm."
Lily backed away.
May you like
For the first time, Margaret understood that the smartwatch was active.
And everything changed.
