Like what I assume happens when girls with normal childhoods have slumber parties and tell stories where one girl starts it off and each girl adds to it and tries to keep the story going. Knowing full well I should say nothing, I surprise myself and everyone around me by announcing: “David was sitting on the floor, with a rope around his neck.”

Alison’s eyes grow huge. “Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

“When was this?”

“Last March.”

“Did David see you?”

I nod.

“What did he say?”

“He laughed and said, ‘Don’t be alarmed, I’m just making a Halloween prop.’”

“In March?”

I nod.

“And you never mentioned it?”

“She did,” Jessie says. “She told me.”

“When?”

“That night. And I asked Daddy about it.”

Michael’s jaw drops. “What did he say?”

“Same thing. He was planning to go all out for Halloween this year, and was starting early.”

Alison frowns. “That’s ridiculous.”

Jessie says, “Tell them about the panties.”

I look at her with genuine shock. “I-I’d rather not,” I say.

“Please, Nicki,” Alison says. “Whatever it is, it’s okay.”

So I say: “He had a pair of women’s panties on the floor by the rope.”

“Mine?”

“Nicki’s,” Jessie says.

“What the fuck?” Michael says. “My dad stole your panties and you didn’t bother to tell me?”

“How could she?” Jess says. “You would have gone crazy.”

“Damn right I would’ve.”

Alison says, “Calm down, Michael. That’s quite a story, Nicki, but I can’t help wondering why you never seemed the least bit uncomfortable around David all these months. How’s that possible?”

Good point. How is that possible? I think a moment, then say: “I don’t expect you to understand this, but I grew up learning never to speak about the things that bothered me. If something happened to me or someone else, I put it out of my mind and pretended it never happened. It was safer that way.”

“I get that,” Alison says. “But you’ve been out of that situation for years. This noose and panty thing supposedly happened last March? I don’t buy it. You wouldn’t be able to look him in the eyes after catching him doing God knows what with your panties.”

“Excuse me!” Jessie says.

When we look at her she says, “Are you forgetting about me? Nicki told me about the panties back in March. Have you noticed me acting weird around you and Daddy? No? Well that’s because Nicki and I had a long talk and agreed not to ever speak of it again. Because she was happy and you and Daddy were happy, and we just decided to pretend it never happened.”

Michael says, “Makes sense.”

Alison says, “I’m impressed. Tell me about them.”

“Excuse me?”

“The panties my husband stole from you. Could you describe them please?”

Jessie says, “Small, thong, black lace, with a white ribbon running through the waistband.”

Without taking her eyes off my face, Alison says, “How did you get them back?”

Jessie says, “She didn’t. When Daddy and Michael went to play golf the next morning, I went through his things and found them. And kept them.”

“Why?”

“I wanted him to know that I knew.”

“Knew what?”

“That he had the hots for Nicki.”

“That’s disgusting!”

“It’s true though. Surely you knew. Every time Nicki came to visit, Daddy lit up like a Roman candle. He couldn’t take his eyes off her.”

Alison says nothing.

Jess says, “I was gonna give them back to Nicki next time she visited, but she only came to the house once after that, and that was the day we tried to talk her into going back to Michael. I forgot to give them back.