“Patience,” he said.

Just then Gina’s cell phone rang. She picked it up and saw that it was Ashley calling from inside the house. “Hi, Ash,” she said.

“Where are you?” her daughter asked through tears.

“I’m on the front porch, having a beer with Mac. Is something wrong?”

“I need you! Now!”

“Hmm,” Gina said to her lover. “My daughter, calling from her bedroom, having another meltdown.”

“This happen a lot?” he asked.

“Lately? Regularly. Want to wait for me?”

“I do want to wait, but I should go home, scrape poor old Lou off the floor and pour her into bed. Her worst nightmare came to town today—by now she’s probably drunk. I’ll call you in the morning.”

“I’d like that. And listen, thank you.”

“For?”

“Two bottles of beer and a little reinforcement. I love you, too.”

He kissed her again. “We got the shaft,” he said. “We got together when our baggage was so heavy. I’m going to make this up to you somehow.”

“No, don’t worry. This is good. I like you this way. Once I got over the first guy, I got really hot for responsible men.”

“Are you sure that’s sexy?” he asked with a smile.

“I am so sure.”

* * *

Gina went into Ashley’s room and saw her sitting cross-legged on the bed, her laptop perched on her knees, her phone clutched in her hand, tears streaming down her red face. “Mom!” she shrieked, holding the phone toward her.

Gina looked at the text message including photo and there was her daughter, eyes seductive slits, mouth open in a very sexy pose, breasts bared. For a moment she was completely confused. The message read, Say hi to Downy’s ex psycho slut.

Huh?

“Her! It’s her! Downy’s new girlfriend! She sent it out to everyone in Downy’s phone directory! Oh, my God!”

“Ashley?” Gina asked, still not believing.

“It’s fake, Mom,” she sobbed. “I would never let anyone take a picture of my boobs! Those aren’t my boobs! Oh, God.”

Gina felt her knees go weak. She sank onto the bed, staring at the grotesque photo on the phone.

“And on Facebook! She put it on Facebook! I saw it because she’s Downy’s friend and Downy’s my friend! Oh, God, people are going to think it’s me—that I posed for that picture and sent it to Downy or something. Oh Mom, I’ve never been so...embarrassed!”

“Why is she doing this?” Gina asked. “Ashley, have you been calling and texting Downy a lot?”

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “Not in a long time. Not since I started counseling and group. I agreed to stop reaching out to him. Why is she doing this to me?”

“Listen, I’m not up on this internet stuff like I should be—but isn’t this against the law? Isn’t it harassment or something?”

She shook her head. “I don’t think anyone ever gets caught. Not really.”

“Have you called Downy? Could he have done this?”

“And called me ‘Downy’s ex psycho slut’? Wouldn’t he have said ‘My ex psycho’?”

“Ashley, this is almost the nastiest, meanest thing I’ve ever seen. Can Downy really be okay with this? Have you called him?”

“He won’t take my calls. I called Landon. He’d already seen it—that’s how fast this stuff moves. It came over his texts. He said he’s going to call Downy and tell him to shut it down. But Mom, it’s too late!”

“Listen, listen. You just laugh if you can and say, no one in their right mind would ever believe that’s me. Like those are my boobs? Gimme a break! His new girlfriend is obviously very threatened and has gone to a lot of trouble to try to make me look bad! Can you do that, Ash? Because it’s not you! It’s not! It’s her!”

Ashley looked straight at Gina, tears pouring down her cheeks. “If you think I’m ever going to school again, you’re crazy,” she said in a whisper.

* * *

Landon called Downy the minute he hung up from talking to Eve. Downy answered, “Dupre! ’Sup, man?”

“You really have to ask, Downy?” Landon countered. “Ashley’s pretty much destroyed! What the hell, Downy?”

“Aw, I didn’t do that. That was Selena, just screwing around, that’s all.”

“That’s all? She sent it to everyone! Everyone on your phone directory and posted it on Facebook! A picture of Ashley looking like she just had the sex of her life, her naked boobs hanging out!”

“Yeah, my mother got that,” Downy said. “I had to tell her it was a practical joke—that someone on the team did it. I texted everyone and said it was just a bad joke and I didn’t do it.”

“Right. And before anyone got that text, I’m sure they forwarded the picture to everyone they knew....”

“But man, it wasn’t me! And Selena said she’s sorry. So tell Ash, we’re sorry.”

“We’re sorry?”

“Yeah, see, we had a little fight. She wanted me to get all my old pictures of Ash off my phone and I just didn’t do it fast enough and it pissed her off and... Listen, it’s no big deal. Everyone knows it’s just a crank, it’s not real....”

“Are you brain-dead?” Landon said. “Jesus, Downy, you’re killing the girl! As it is, Deputy McCain saw it when Eve asked him if it was against the law, if it was something you could be sued for! I think he’s gonna call your dean, your coach!”

“Aw, man, why’d you do that? Why’d you show him that?”

“Because if you’d done that to Eve, I’d be on my way up there to beat the shit outta you, you stupid asshole!”

“Why would I do that to Eve?” Downy asked. “I didn’t even do it to Ashley! But come on, I told her we broke up and she wouldn’t let it go and Selena—she doesn’t like seeing another girl on my phone, you know? But she’s over it and she said she won’t do it again.”

Landon was stunned quiet. “Let me see if I have this right,” he finally said. “You asked Ash to go with you, right? To be your steady girl. To take off her clothes for you, to do private things with you, and you promised to respect her. Promised to take her to her prom, promised to be faithful, said you loved her, and now because you fucked some girl at State, now you want her to just go away quietly?”

“I woudn’t’ve put it exactly like that, but I guess that’s sort of right. Look, we grew apart....”

“Grew apart? One week you spend nine hours on the phone with her and the next week you grew apart?”

“Dupre! Back off. It didn’t work, okay? And it’s not that big a deal—everyone knows that picture was doctored! Everyone knows it’s not real! Lighten the fuck up!”

Landon just shook his head. “I don’t believe you,” he said. “You know what you are, Downy? You’re a prick, that’s what you are. A stupid prick with his brain in his dick. I hope Selena dumps your sorry ass!”

Landon hung up. Then he called Eve. He could hear the tears in her voice when she answered, but this was not just about Ashley. She was having her own terrible day—her long-lost mother had suddenly reappeared and she was struggling with that.

“Hey, babe,” he said. “Look, I know you’re not in good shape right now, but would you do something for me? Would you show your dad that picture, tell him Downy admits it’s faked and ask him if there’s anything he can do? Like, I don’t know...I suppose life in prison is a little harsh... Could he call the dean or the coach or something...? Because Downy’s girlfriend got her hands on his phone and did that. And that is just wrong.”

“You talked to Downy?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he said, his voice full of disgust. “He said it was no big deal and Selena did it, but she said she wouldn’t do that again.”

“Oh, that’s comforting,” Eve said. “I’ve been calling Ashley. She won’t even answer my call,” Eve said. “Oh, Landon, I think everything is falling apart all over the place.”

“Just ask your dad, okay? That’s all. He’s probably going to say it’s just one of those ugly things, but ask, anyway, okay?”

“I’ll ask. But don’t get your hopes up. I’ve seen this stuff happen before. Really mean stuff. And no one ever does anything.”

“I know,” he said. Because Landon had seen it before, too. If he’d done something like that and the school called his sister, she’d tie him up and work him over with a baseball bat. Sarah didn’t stand for that kind of nasty stuff. “You doing okay, baby?”

“Oh, you know. I’m a little shook up, can’t decide if I’m going to throw things at my mother or hug her.”

“What’s in between?” he asked her.

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out. A little coffee talk? ‘So, how’ve you been? What kind of interesting things have you been up to for ten years while I was growing up?’”

He laughed in spite of himself. “Have I told you lately how awesome you are?”

“You can tell me again if you want,” she said. “Listen, would you do something for me? I’m kind of caught up in the mother drama here—everyone in the family is all upside down. Will you help me try to take care of Ash? Because this has got to be like the worst thing that’s ever happened to her and I don’t know what to do.”

“I’ll check on her,” he said. “She asked me to call Downy so maybe she’ll take my call. I just don’t want to tell her what he said. I’ll tell her about your mom, tell her you’re worried about her.”

“Thanks. Landon, you’re awesome, too. And I always loved Downy...I never would’ve believed he’d let something like this happen.”

“Me, either. I don’t know what he’s smokin’.”

* * *

Gina thought it was reasonable to allow Ashley to stay home from school the day after the sexting incident, but it was difficult to bear. It was as if they were back at square one, if not worse. She’d slept or sobbed on and off all day. Gina went home from the diner several times during the day to check on her and found no improvement.

So Gina took Ashley’s phone, turned it off and slipped it into her apron pocket. This was a very bad time for her daughter to be making or taking calls. She could hardly blame her—it was tempting even to Gina to check the phone for inbound calls. But she resisted.

She had not confiscated the laptop. When she got home from work that day she asked Ashley if the Facebook debacle had been dealt with.

“The picture was taken down,” she said morosely. “But there’s lots of talk—people arguing back and forth about whether it was faked by a mean girl or the real deal...my desperate attempt to lure Downy back. I threw up four times today.”

Gina sat down on the edge of the bed. “We have to pull it together, Ash. The sooner you face it, the sooner it will fade away.”

“You’re kidding, right? I’m never facing this. Never! It’s just too cruel!”

Gina gave her a second day to sulk and work it like a hangnail because the following day was her group therapy. Gina had high hopes for that group. Before leaving Ashley in bed, she returned the phone. When she got home to check on her, she found the phone on the kitchen table, shattered to bits. Beside the wreckage was a hammer.

In a panic, Gina ran to Ashley’s bedroom. “What happened?” she asked. With a hand on her shoulder, she rolled her daughter onto her back. “Ashley, what happened?”