But Dustin knew the dark underbelly to the picture. He knew Steven was torn up over his mother’s recent infidelity, and possibly had a drug problem himself. And if recent events were any indicator, he was following in his father’s footsteps of betraying the woman he was supposedly committed to. And though Lolly had taken down the post of her wearing Steven’s mother’s fur coat the night she found out about “Brad,” Dustin had taken a screenshot of the picture. He didn’t do this with any creepy intentions. In fact, he wasn’t sure why he had done it at all. Perhaps it was a reminder to himself of the many startling faces of humanity. She had looked like a demon from a Japanese horror movie, eyes rimmed in black, makeup smeared, her expression frozen in pain.

It reminded him of The Scream, the popular Edvard Munch painting that so many books and movies referenced. When he was younger he always wondered why that particular painting had captured the popular imagination. Now, having witnessed his mother’s suffering over his brother, his own suffering over Kimmie, Steven’s suffering over his mother, and Lolly’s suffering over Steven, Dustin understood why people liked the painting. It was comforting to know there were others who had suffered like you had.

He scrolled through his photos and found the screenshot of Lolly, mesmerized by the stark contrast between the Lolly he knew, the Lolly dressed as Cher, and the fur-clad Lolly in the photograph. It was almost unimaginable that they were the same girl.

XXV

At Bea’s, a large tent straddled the lawn from the back patio made of stones imported from Scotland, to the Japanese Zen garden designed by the world’s best Japanese Zen garden architect (oddly, an Argentinian man named Manolo). This was not your standard white tent used for outdoor weddings or high school reunions. Bea had rented a grand red-and-white-striped circus tent that could easily accommodate an elephant dancing on its hind legs. When Anna had first walked into it, she half expected to see a circus in full swing.

The tent was divided into separate areas. A black-and-white-checkered dance floor took up the center right, with a raised DJ booth in the corner and a full-service bar in the other. On the opposite end of the tent there was another bar and a seating area with high-top tables and red leather spinning bar stools. Several large couches formed a square around a huge full-size Persian rug that had colorful tuffets and Moroccan pillows flung about. Three large hookahs and a bowl of California’s finest Kush that LiviX2 had bought for the occasion sat on a low table next to the sofas. Basically, this party had an option for everyone.