Fall Guy

boys made up, to have a scapegoat.“
    „But what about the real kid, the kid who was injured, whatever his name was?“
    She picked up her cup and put it down again without drinking. „People are pretty resilient, Rachel. I've certainly learned that, being a nurse. You see someone at death's door and a few weeks or months later, they're back living their lives.“
    „As if nothing happened?“
    „Not necessarily. But they go on. What choice is there?“
    „So how did Freddy, or whatever his name was, get home? Wasn't he burned too badly to walk?“
    „He was,“ she said. „Francis carried him.“
    „All the way to Nyack?“
    She nodded.
    „And on the way, they worked on Freddy's cover story?“
    „I guess they did.“ She smiled. „I'm sure they made him the hero in it, too. That's how they did things.“
    „And they were believed?“
    „My father was angry, of course. He told them they should stay closer to home, that they should Stick to themselves, to family. He said they were foolhardy and headstrong, but you could tell, he admired them, too. He wouldn't have wanted boys who were Goody Two-shoes. He loved the fact that they were wild, that they were brave.“
    „They must have told a damn good story,“ I said, thinking Maggie was doing the same thing with me.
    „They could talk the silver out of your teeth, those five. That's just the way it was. My parents liked things to be pleasant, so you grew up telling them the things you knew would make them happy. When you had a problem, you kept it to yourself. We were all good storytellers. It's in the blood.“
    „Were you there that day, the day of the fire?“
    She shook her head.
    „Then if they didn't tell the truth, how did you find out what happened?“
    „Joey. He made me swear I'd never tell.“
    „He told you everything?“
    Maggie took a sip of tea and made a face. It must have gotten cold by then.
    „He told me a lot. But...“
    „Not that he was planning on that jump.“
    „No, not that.“
    „You couldn't have stopped him, Maggie. No one could.“
    „No, I surely couldn't have stopped him. I do know that.“ Close to tears, it seemed. But not crying.
    „Was that what you wanted to tell your brother?"
    She looked up, startled. "Was what?"
    I pointed to the letter. "Is that what you meant? That you wanted to tell him it wasn't his fault that he didn't stop Joey from jumping, that no one could have."
    "Yes. That was what I meant to tell him."
    I got up and put the fire on under the kettle. I should have thought to bring something to eat. But we could always order something in when we got hungry. I hadn't emptied the kitchen drawers yet. I was sure O'Fallon had take-out menus. Everyone in Manhattan did.
    Maggie got up and began to wash both our cups. „Is that lovely garden part of Timothy's place, too?“ She was standing on her toes, leaning over the sink and looking out the window.
    „It's a communal garden for this building and the one next door. That's where the memorial will be.“
    She sat down, leaving the clean cups on the counter. I sat down, too, waiting for the water to boil, for Maggie to tell me more, hoping to learn something that would make everything else make sense. I wondered if that was it, the boys growing up wild, doing some terrible things, if that's why Tim took in all those men and tried to turn their lives around. Did he do it to try to make up for the things he'd done as a boy, for burning poor Freddy Baker, whatever his real name was, at the stake? But lots of boys did things like that, and worse, and they didn't grow up and take dangerous drifters in off the street, spend money on them, risk life and limb trying to help strangers get their lives in order.
    „Liam's suicide must have been a shock to the family. He was so young,“ I said, hoping to get Maggie started again.
    „Sixteen. He'd wanted to be a priest. That was the plan. But after he died, that was the end of it,“ she said. „Everything changed.“
    „What do you mean?“
    „The two families. It was the end of their being so close. For a while, we just didn't see them much, not my aunt and uncle, not Francis. Then they moved away. And everything was different after that.“
    „How so?“
    „Well, it was just Timmy and Dennis then. After a bit, they went their separate ways. Dennis met some new boys in school and started hanging out with them. He spent a lot of time away from home. Tim was by himself a lot or away from the house, too.