Chapter Fifteen AB: Evan’s Decision
Evan left the market in the early afternoon to meet Lila at their kitchen table.
The damaged red mailbox still lay in the garage where he had placed it after the attack.
Lila had asked him not to throw it away until they decided what to do about the property damage.
Evan set his keys beside a bowl of apples and told her that Marla had spoken publicly about what she had done.
Lila said a public apology was not the same as repairing their home.
Evan agreed.
They discussed the broken mailbox, the trespass, and Iris’s damaged school project separately.
Lila wanted to make sure Iris did not feel responsible for resolving the adults’ conflict simply because she had recorded it.
Evan said he had already told Iris that she could decline any interview or conversation.
Lila asked whether he planned to pursue a complaint about Marla’s attack.
Evan said he would document the cost and seek restitution for the damage.
He did not want the matter handled through a handshake that left everyone pretending it had never happened.
Lila said she supported that decision.
They also discussed Becca’s admission that she had entered the basement without permission.
Evan said he would keep a written account of the incident and the photographs of the damaged model.
Lila asked whether he believed Becca’s explanation.
Evan said he believed she had been manipulated by Nolan but also believed she had chosen to enter the house.
The two things could be true at once.
Lila looked toward the staircase where Iris had been working on her documentary.
She said the family needed to restore the sense that their home was private and secure.
They agreed to change the basement lock and repair the damaged doorframe.
Evan offered to do the work himself, but Lila suggested hiring a locksmith so the repair would be completed properly.
He called a local company and scheduled an appointment for the following morning.
After the call, he went into the garage and lifted the ruined mailbox onto a workbench.
The red metal had been bent into an uneven shape, and one corner still held a piece of the birthday card that had fallen out during the attack.
He carefully removed the paper and placed it in an envelope for Iris.
The card had been addressed to him by an old friend who lived across the country.
He had not read it before the mailbox was destroyed.
Lila joined him in the garage.
She asked whether he wanted to keep the metal as a reminder.
Evan said he wanted to keep it until the replacement was installed and the cost settled.
After that, he would rather recycle it than make a monument out of a frightening morning.
Lila touched his shoulder.
She said the house had been quiet for years before the attack and would become quiet again.
Evan looked at the upstairs window.
He hoped the quiet would return without asking Iris to forget what she had seen.
