The bartender, sensing new tension, made his first round of Aperol tequila cocktails, and we each took one. They went down easy. Also, they were sort of small, so a few of us went back for our second drink right away. Don’t look at us that way. We knew the line would get long once the corn hole game ended,and we were just trying to be cognizant of the other partygoers. Okay?
Nicole was Sherri’s first victim. Sherri turned to her and in no uncertain terms (there’s some dispute about exactly what she said, which is why we are merely summarizing for you now) told her what a shitty thing it was to leave Katie and Morgan out of Riley’s Boda Borg birthday party.
Nicole has that fair skin that hides neither shame nor alcohol, and almost immediately she reddened. She looked to some of us for backup, but nobody came to her defense. The next day some of us regretted that. But at the time, we were all too shocked. Seriously, Sherri Griffin had never been anything but unassuming and pleasant. Meek, you would have called her.Milquetoast,if you were being fancy, but we weren’t typically that fancy.
After she had dispensed with Nicole, Sherri turned her attention to Dawn, and let loose on her for her telling everyone she’d been crawling around on the Laundromat floor at the beginning of the summer. How Sherri heard about that we do not know. That story had been told to just a few of us, in private.
After the evisceration of Dawn, Sherri set her teeth into Tammy. Not literally. But it felt like it. Her beef with Tammy had to do with an Instagram photo Tammy’s daughter, Casey, had posted at a sleepover, when she’d tagged Katie even though she wasn’t there—she hadn’t been invited.
“Terrible,” we all agreed later, hoping our daughters hadn’t been guilty of the same shortcoming. “Real mean-girl stuff.” We made mental notes to go home later and check Instagram accounts. And if we’re being completely honest, Tammy doesn’t always have the best judgment with that sort of thing herself. Sometimes, like mother like daughter.
When that was done, some of us slunk into the shadows, wherethe lights didn’t reach, lest we were next. As it turned out, no single person was next. Sherri Griffin was addressing the whole group. She tossed her blond hair (definitely Shanti, we decided, probably that new stylist who had been brought in to do only color) and said, “Here’s what we’re going to do, ladies.”
Even the bartender was listening.
“We’re going to have a fresh start come fall. We’re all going to be a little more accepting of newcomers.” We nodded. “And I swear, if Katie comes home from school on the first day and tells me she didn’t have anywhere to sit at lunch, or nobody shared a locker with her, or she didn’t have a partner for the first group project, you’re going to have to answer to me. And also?” She lowered her voice and we all leaned in. It was weird, how seductive she suddenly seemed. “I’d love to get in on that next trip to Nantucket. Whenever you guys are going. If one more isn’t too much trouble.” And she smiled, and she sauntered off.
Obviously Sherri Griffin did not bring a gun to Brooke’s end-of-summer party. (Did she? No, of course not. Don’t be stupid.) But there was something about the way she held herself that made us all feel like she had some sort of weapon—some power over us. It’s hard to explain. It seems sort of embarrassing to talk about it now, especially considering what happened later. But at the time, well. We all took Sherri Griffin very seriously.
What did we do after that, you ask? Well, Gina saw Rebecca and her Mystery Man enter the party. She made a little noise of surprise and started off toward them.
But for a more long-term plan? What do you think we did? We told our daughters to make sure that Katie Griffin had the best first day of school in the history of first days of school. We had our girls fighting over who was going to sit next to her in the cafeteria. We had our daughters buying extra locker decorations so thatwhoever ended up with Katie Griffin as a locker partner would have the prettiest locker in the whole sixth grade. And when we planned the next trip to Nantucket, which, by the way, didn’t take place for a while because of everything else that happened, you can bet your right index finger that Sherri Griffin was added to that text.
72.
Rebecca
The party was clearly in full swing. Cars were lined all the way down the driveway. Music and laughter floated into the street beyond.
As soon as she saw all of this, second thoughts started marching through Rebecca’s head.
“Maybe we should skip it,” Rebecca said to Daniel. “Go to a movie?” Suddenly she wanted nothing more than to sink into one of the cushy seats at the new theater in Methuen and rest her face in a vat of popcorn. She’d see anything—even an action movie, or an animated movie, orscience fiction. Anything.
“No way,” said Daniel. “I have my party shirt on.” Rebecca had been too agitated to notice his shirt; she looked more carefully now and saw that he was wearing a polo shirt in pale blue, rather than the navys and olives he typically wore.
“Fancy,” she said. And then, because he really did look proud, she squeezed his hand and said, “You look very nice.”
“I think it’s funny that you’re nervous,” said Daniel.
“I’m not nervous,” she lied. She wassonervous! This was the first time she was putting their relationship on display, and what a public forum in which to do so.
“Hey,” said Daniel, before they walked into the backyard. “Come here, gorgeous.” He pulled Rebecca toward him and kissedher lightly, so lightly that her lipstick stayed in place. “Thank you, Rebecca,” he said formally. “For letting me into your life.”
“Don’t thank me yet,” she said. She took his hand and led him through the gate. “First let’s see if you make it out alive.”
Naturally, the Mom Squad was clustered around the bar. As a unit, their heads swiveled when she and Daniel walked into the yard. Before they could get to the bar, Gina came toward them.
“I knowyou,” she said. “Hey, Daniel.”
“Gina.” Daniel bobbed his head cordially.
“Are you guys dating?” Her head swiveled from Rebecca to Daniel and back to Rebecca again. Rebecca watched the understanding sinking in. She imagined she could see the whole history of Daniel’s once-happy marriage, and Gina’s friendship with Veronica the Cheater, the things Rebecca would never know or understand, and nevershouldknow or understand, because each friendship and relationship deserves its own private moments and secret backstory.
“We are,” said Rebecca.
“Seriously dating?”
Rebecca glanced at Daniel again; he nodded. “It’s pretty serious actually,” Rebecca said.
