Clench-jowled, eyes burning, Mr. Tatum wasn’t going to stand for Jesse’s disrespect, especially among the company he’d spent all evening trying to impress, and he pushed him out of his chair. “I said you’re a murderer,” he yelled as Jesse stumbled to the floor. “Everyone knows it. Knows what you did. You don’t deserve to be here. You’ve got no right.”

Jesse’s face shifted from Celine to Phillip, waiting to see if one of them would do something, but neither of them intervened. Jesse raised both hands in the air, palms facing outward, as he stood back up.

“It’s okay,” he said, “I can leave.”

Jesse gave up so easily. It was painful to watch as he resigned himself to leaving. Everyone else’s silence made Mira’s skin burn. Do something, she wanted to scream. What is wrong with all of you? How can you sit there and let this happen?

None of them cared, that was why. Not about him or anything they’d witnessed happening here. They’d all come for entertainment. This, another show, and Mira had had enough.

She pushed back her chair, stood up to go to Jesse, but Celine reached out for Jesse’s arm, touched him before pulling away in the recognition of how it might look to the others in the room. She called his name and struggled over her words. “My father, my dad, he’s just—” She stopped before lowering her voice. “Please, Jesse, don’t go.”

But before them all, Celine made a choice—her father, the real person who needed to go, would stay. His display alone should have been enough to kick him out. Celine must have known how her decision would appear to Mira and to Jesse especially, who stared back with such incredulousness that Celine would be an idiot not to see. Celine’s eyes pleaded—Jesse, solve this problem not of your making—and to Mira’s astonishment, he did. He got up to go.

“Hey, I’m not done with you yet,” Mr. Tatum yelled in a slurry jumble of words. “I didn’t say you could go. I’m not finished telling everyone about you and what you did.”

“Dad, stop—”

“They need to hear it! They need to hear about how the police found Loomis all bloated and bruised in the river. His hands and feet gone. I knew Loomis and he didn’t deserve what you did.”

“I didn’t do anything.”

“You did and you did it at this place. Down by the river. Did you all know that? You should, if you don’t. That’s why you’re back, isn’t it? You’ve come for another one of us?”