Contents
Friday, 21 June
Overview
Nathan resurfaces after disappearing overnight, but his apology only deepens Alix’s anger and highlights the instability in her marriage. Later, Alix uses a chance encounter at the school office to investigate Josie’s family history and learns disturbing stories about Roxy, Erin, social services, and the parents’ unsettling behavior.
The chapter shifts Alix from personal marital crisis into active scrutiny of Josie’s past, raising doubts about the version of family life Josie has presented.
Summary
Nathan finally texts Alix at 6 a.m., apologizing and saying he blacked out at Giovanni’s and does not know what happened. Alix, exhausted after waiting up until 2 a.m., becomes furious that Nathan has woken her before her alarm and that he is behaving irresponsibly despite having a job, mortgage, and children.
When Nathan sends more pleading messages, Alix phones him. Nathan sounds ashamed, but Alix cuts him off, tells him how selfish he has been, swears at him, turns off her phone, and takes a long shower.
By the time Alix drops the children at school, she has calmed herself. Nathan has sent several more apologetic texts, and Alix decides she does not want to carry the previous night’s dark feelings into the weekend.
At the school office, Alix hands in a late trip form and realizes that Mandy, the long-serving office manager, may remember Josie’s daughters. Alix asks about Roxy and Erin Fair, and Mandy immediately reacts with unease before describing the family as strange.
Mandy says Roxy was wild and oppositional at school, while Erin was quiet, sweet, and possibly on the autism spectrum. Mandy recalls that Erin once came to school with a broken arm, supposedly from falling out of bed, but later told a friend that Roxy had caused it, leading to social services involvement.
Mandy adds that the girls’ father was large and bad-tempered, while their mother seemed blank and detached during the conflict. Roxy was then removed from school and home-schooled until secondary school, leaving Mandy with lasting doubts about the family.
Who Appears
- AlixExhausted and angry with Nathan; probes Josie’s family history through the school office.
- NathanAlix’s husband; apologizes after blacking out overnight and not knowing where he was.
- MandySchool office manager who remembers the Fair children and reveals troubling family history.
- Roxy FairJosie’s younger daughter; remembered as oppositional and suspected of breaking Erin’s arm.
- Erin FairJosie’s older daughter; remembered as quiet and sweet, with a mysterious broken arm.
- Josie FairDiscussed as the girls’ mother; remembered by Mandy as blank, passive, and odd.