“No way Alexander did this,” Lolly said. “He’s too proper. If people found out, he’d be ruined, too. I mean not ruined like Anna, because it’s always worse for girls. He’d never risk his future law career. And Eleanor? Not a chance, she’s too much of a goody-goody.”

“Ooooh, gurl,” Murf said. “You’re all SVU-ing this shit! You’re like a sexy boho detective, I love it.” He started to chuckle and lay back, looking up at the cloudless sky.

“Don’t pay any attention to Murf, he’s baked,” Vronsky said. “If I find out Alexander was behind this I’ll go up to Boston and kill him myself.”

“Alibi!” Murf screamed out at the top of his lungs for the whole neighborhood to hear. “I’m down to be your black Kato Kaelin, man!”

Despite the serious nature of their discussion, all three of them started howling. Lolly had to sit down, she was laughing so hard. She knew it was the pot that was making this terrible situation funny, but it felt good to get the tension out. It had been one thing after another for so long. “What’s this stuff called?” Lolly asked Murf. “It’s so strong.”

“California Dreamin’, though we oughta rename it California Nightmare,” Murf said. “Hey, hold up.” He turned to Vronsky. “This is the first time I’ve ever been happier to be in my shoes than yours, mostly because you got them all-white Bertolucci kicks I’m super jealous of, but also royally fuuuuucked … and not in the good way, my friend, not in the good way.”

Vronsky put down the frozen veggies and flipped his Thom Browne sunglasses down, lying back as he stuck up his middle finger and flipped off the whole entire world.

XXIV

Anna woke up the next morning with a screaming headache. She dragged herself to a strange bathroom she didn’t recognize and made herself puke, which wasn’t difficult. Not much came up, just some yellowish bile, which smelled rancid. All she wanted to do was crawl back into bed and sleep. She wondered if her brother had any sleeping pills or Xanax.

Lolly and Steven were snuggling in the smaller bedroom, and Anna felt a pang of guilt for having taken the big king bed for herself, though she didn’t remember how she ended up in bed at all. Seeing her brother peacefully spooning his girlfriend made her think of the nap she and Vronsky took on Beatrice’s plane only yesterday, and the thought made her want to vomit again.