Big Little Lies

“It’s all right,” said Bonnie calmly. “Skye told me about it. We discussed some strategies for what to do if this sort of thing happens again.”

Strategies, thought Celeste bleakly. She sounds like Susi, as though Skye were a domestic violence victim. She watched Harper stub out her cigarette on the wet balcony railing and then carefully wrap it up in tissue, before hurrying off inside, ostentatiously not looking their way.

“We did actually e-mail Miss Barnes today to tell her about it,” said Nathan earnestly. “I hope you don’t mind, but Skye is painfully shy and has difficulty asserting herself, so we wanted Miss Barnes to keep an eye on things. And of course, it’s up to the teacher to sort these things out. I think that’s the school policy. Let the teachers handle it. We would never have approached you about it.”

“Oh!” said Celeste. “Well, thank you. Again, I’m just so sorry—”

“No need to be sorry! Gosh! They’re kids!” said Nathan. “They’ve got to learn all this stuff. Don’t hit your friends. Stand up for yourself. How to be a grown-up.”

“How to be a grown-up,” repeated Celeste shakily.

“Still learning myself, of course!” said Nathan.

“It’s all part of their emotional and spiritual development,” said Bonnie.

“There’s some book along those lines, isn’t there?” said Jane. “Something like Everything You Need to Know You Learned in Kindergarten: Don’t Be Mean, Play Nicely, Share Your Toys.”

“Sharing is caring,” quoted Nathan, and they all laughed at the familiar line.

Detective-Sergeant Adrian Quinlan: Eight people, including the victim, were on the balcony at the time of the incident. We know who they are. They know who they are and they know what they saw. Telling the truth is the most important thing a witness has to do.

75.

Madeline was trapped in a passionate conversation with some Year 2 parents about bathroom renovations. She liked the parents very much, and she knew she’d just bored the husband silly while she and the wife had an intense conversation about the most flattering types of wrap dresses, so she owed it to the poor man to keep listening.

The problem was she really had nothing to say about bathroom renovations, and although she agreed it must have been terrible when they ran out of tiles, and that particular line was discontinued, and they only needed three more tiles to finish, she was sure it probably all worked out in the end, and she could see Celeste and Jane out on the balcony, and they were laughing with Bonnie and Nathan, which was unacceptable. Celeste and Jane were her friends.

She looked about for someone else to take her place and grabbed Samantha. Her husband was a plumber. She must surely have an interest in bathroom renovations. “You’ve got to hear this story!” she said. “Can you imagine? They, um, ran out of tiles!”

“Oh no! That exact same thing happened to me!” said Samantha.

Bingo. Madeline left Samantha listening intently and eagerly awaiting her turn to tell her own bathroom renovation disaster story. Good Lord. It was a mystery to her how anyone could find that more interesting than wrap dresses.

As she made her way through the crowd, she passed a group of four Blond Bobs huddled together so close, it was obvious they were sharing something scandalous. She paused to listen:

“The French nanny! That funny-looking girl.”

“Didn’t Renata fire her?”

“Yes, because she totally missed the fact that Amabella was being bullied by that Ziggy kid.”

“What’s happening with the petition, by the way?”

“We’re going to submit it to Mrs. Lipmann on Monday.”

“Have you seen the mother tonight? She’s had her hair cut. She’s flitting about like she hasn’t got a care in the world. If my kid were a bully, I wouldn’t be out showing my face, that’s for sure. I’d be at home, with my child, giving him the attention he obviously needs.”

“Needs a good smack, is what he needs.”

“I hear she was bringing him to school with nits yesterday.”

“I am just gobsmacked that the school let it go on for as long as it did. In this day and age, when there is so much information about bullying—”

“Right, right, but the point is, Renata’s nanny is having an affair with Geoff.”

“Why would she want to have an affair with Geoff?”

“I know it for a fact.”

Madeline felt enraged on Jane’s behalf, and strangely enough on behalf of Renata too—even though Renata had presumably approved the petition.

“You are awful people,” she said loudly. The Blond Bobs looked up. Their eyes and mouths were little ovals of surprise. “You are awful, awful people.”

She kept walking without waiting to hear their reactions. As she slid back the door to go out onto the balcony, she found Renata behind her.

“Just getting some fresh air,” said Renata. “It’s getting so stuffy in here.”

“Yes,” said Madeline. “And it looks like it’s stopped raining.” They stepped out together into the night air. “I’ve contacted my insurance company, by the way. About the car.”

Renata winced. “I’m sorry I made such a fuss yesterday.”

“Well, I’m sorry for running into you. I was busy yelling at Abigail.”

“I got a fright,” said Renata. “When I get frightened, I lash out. It’s a flaw.” They walked over toward the group near the railing.

“Really?” said Madeline. “How terrible for you. I have a very placid personality myself.”

Renata snorted.

“Maddie!” said Nathan. “Haven’t seen you yet tonight. How are you? I hear my wife spilled her drink all over you.”

He must be a bit drunk too, thought Madeline. He wouldn’t normally refer to Bonnie as his “wife” in front of her.

“Luckily it was a pink drink, so it matched my dress,” said Madeline.

“I’ve been celebrating the happy ending to our daughter’s little drama,” said Nathan. “Here’s to Larry Fitzgerald of South Dakota, hey?” He lifted his drink.

“Mmmm,” said Madeline. Her eyes were on Celeste. “I have this funny feeling that ‘Larry Fitzgerald’ might actually live closer than we think.”