“Is everyone okay?” he asked. “Is Madeline okay?”

“Yeah. So where else have you gone since you got to Promise Falls?”

He gave me a no-big-deal shrug. “Just around.”

“Anyone recognize you?”

He looked out the window.

“Jeremy?”

“Some guys. I was walking by some assholes, one grabbed my arm, said I was the Big Baby.”

“Did things get out of hand?”

He shook his head. “That was it.”

“Did they follow you?”

He thought a moment. “I don’t know.”

I reached for another fry. I didn’t see any reason why these two shouldn’t finish their burgers. It’d give me time to drink my coffee.

“For someone who’s supposed to be on Jeremy’s side,” Charlene said, “you sure seem to be picking on him.”

“That so?” I said.

“All of this has been so unfair,” she said. “Everyone thinks he’s this awful kid, but he’s not.”

“I don’t think I said he was.” I was curious that she had decided to speak up. “I just want him to be safe.”

“Yeah, right,” she said with an eye roll. “Everyone judges. The thing is, that girl was way drunker than Jeremy and probably fell right in front of the car. Wouldn’t have mattered if Jeremy was totally sober, he’d still have hit her.”

Jeremy’s entire body seemed to flinch as I gave the girl my full attention. “You were there?”

She shook her head quickly. “No. I mean, yes, I was at the party, but I wasn’t there when it happened. But everyone knew she liked to drink. I’m just saying, that’s probably what happened.”

Jeremy, looking uncomfortable as he took his burger in both hands, said, “It’s okay, Charlene.”

“No, it’s not,” she said. “The whole world’s been so hard on you and you don’t deserve it.”

Jeremy shrugged. “What are ya gonna do?” he said, and took a bite. “It’s done.”

“That part, maybe,” I said. “But you’re still dealing with the fallout. Which is why you, and your mother, need to be a lot more circumspect.”

“A lot more what?” Jeremy said, the words coming out garbled between bits of meat and bun.

“Careful,” Charlene told him.

I reached for the phone on the table in front of Jeremy.

“Hey!” he said, spewing a shred of lettuce.

I lit up the screen and saw an exchange of texts between Jeremy and Charlene, including instructions on where to pick him up once he’d slipped out of Ms. Plimpton’s house.

I turned the phone toward him. “That’s what I’m talking about.”

“Give that back,” he said, putting down the burger and holding out his hand.

“You and your mom really love your phones.”

“She’s way worse than I am. She’s always texting with Bob.”

“You don’t like him?” I asked, keeping the phone out of his reach.

“He’s her knight in shining armor,” Jeremy said. “Her chance at the life to which she has always wanted to be accustomed.”

I kept glancing at Charlene, who looked increasingly annoyed with me.