Chapter 3

Jed was home from the hospital now, much to his relief. Ellie and Liz had already left with the assurance that Jed would call them at least once a day with updates on his condition. They felt pretty confident leaving him, knowing that Abbey wouldn't let him out of her sight. Zoey had decided to stick around a few more days, so he had two women worrying over his every move. As annoying as it could be to be fussed over, Jed knew enough to be grateful that he had such a loving wife and daughters. And if that weren't enough, Liz had snuck him a box of New Hampshire maple candy that he planned on devouring the first moment Abbey turned her back.

The discussion over this morning's breakfast table was acalculia. Jed had been so bored while he was in the hospital that he had ended up reading one of Abbey's medical journals. The journal turned out to have quite an interesting article about the neurological disorder known as acalculia. Being who he was —somewhat of a show-off when it came to trivia— Jed had been anticipating the right time to share his knowledge with Abbey and Zoey.

Jed waited impatiently for a lull in Abbey and Zoey's conversation about an upcoming event at Georgetown to dazzle them with his interesting fact.

"Do you two know what acalculia is?" he asked, putting down his spoon of oatmeal. Abbey had decided to take his assassination attempt as an opportunity to make him start eating better. Jed figured he'd amuse her for a week, all the while sneaking maple candy when she wasn't looking.

"The inability to perform arithmetic functions," Abbey replied.

Jed glared at her.

"Sorry, hon, did I steal your moment to impress us with your vast array of knowledge? You do realize I was the one who brought the journal to the hospital?" Abbey loved to take her husband down a peg or two just to annoy him. But all in good fun.

Jed ignored his wife and addressed Zoey. "Zoey Patricia, did you know what acalculia was?"

"I do now! Tell me, Dad, what other things do you know?" Zoey grinned facetiously.

"I detect that you're mocking me, but I am unfazed." Jed took a gulp of orange juice before continuing. Abbey and Zoey gave each other a 'here he goes again' look. "Acalculia is caused by trauma to the brain, usually a stroke or brain tumor."

"Not to be confused with dyscalculia, which is a developmental disorder," Abbey added.

"Well this is just riveting," Zoey said dryly, "But I need to get going to class."

With that, Zoey kissed both her parents goodbye and headed out the door.

Abbey ran a finger absent-mindedly around the rim of her coffee mug, as she watched their daughter leave. "I'm worried about Zoey and Charlie."

Jed let out a weary puff of air. "Me too."

"Has he spoken at all to you?"

"He barely speaks to me these days," Jed said, not bothering to hide from Abbey how much it hurt him.

"Jed, he has no one to talk to. If he won't talk to you—- and I'm pretty sure he's not talking to Zoey about it—maybe you can prompt Mrs. Landingham to talk to him."

"I don't want to meddle, but I think you're right."

"Has any of your staff seen a psychologist? Often after traumatic events, companies will bring in someone to talk to people," Abbey explained.

"We're the government. We don't do that," Jed tried feebly to joke.

"I'm serious, Jed. Josh especially needs to see someone."

"I'll bring it up, but I doubt anyone will want to."

"At the very least, you need to talk to Zoey. I've talked to her, but she's always belonged to you."

"I hate when you say that. She loves you so much, Abbey."

"I know. She's just more like you than me. It's okay. There's plenty she discusses with me that she'd never dream of talking to you about. But this is something where she needs your input."

"All right."

"You need to talk to her about whether she's even comfortable still dating Charlie. And if she is, then is she comfortable with the risks of…" Abbey trailed off when she saw Zoey coming in.

"The risks of what?" She'd left her Introduction to Psychology textbook in the kitchen and had returned to find her parents discussing her relationship with Charlie.

Jed and Abbey looked hesitantly at each other. At last Abbey spoke, knowing Jed didn't have the heart to bring up this painful topic. "Baby, we're worried about you and Charlie. We don't want you to have to go through this."

"Go through what?" Zoey asked defensively.

"Josh and I were shot because you and Charlie are together."

"Don't you think I know that? Don't you think we both feel incredibly guilty?" Zoey said angrily.

"Dad's not saying you should feel guilty. No one blames you or Charlie."

"Then what are you saying? That I should dump him because racists don't like us being together?"

"No, but what we are saying is that you have to ask yourself if the relationship is worth the backlash."

"I can't believe you two are saying this. Because I'm white and it'll be scary and uncomfortable, I should be protected against it or shouldn't even bother? What the hell kind of message is that to send me? To send to Charlie? You're the ones who always told me to stand up for what I believe."

"It's different when it's your child," Jed said solemnly. It was true that he and Abbey had always stood up for their principles, fought for the underdog. And they wanted their children to do the same but not at the risk of their safety.

"You're wrong! I love him! You and Mom have one of the greatest love stories I've ever heard, and you're expecting me to give up someone I love?"

Jed had had no idea that Zoey and Charlie's relationship was this serious. "Of course not, peach patch," he said quietly. "You're right. It's wrong to shield you from the realities of the world. We just want to make sure you're prepared. You've grown up privileged being white..." Jed paused. He was an extremely intelligent man, but a white man, and he struggled to talk about race."Mom and I will do everything we can to protect both of you. Now cheer up and get to class," he said, playfully pushing her toward the door.

As Zoey left, Jed turned and took Abbey's hand. They both so badly wanted to protect their baby girl from all the hatred and heartache of the world. But they couldn't. And shouldn't.

"I better get down to work," Jed said.

Abbey nodded. "Tell them your captivating story about acalculia."

"Abigail, no matter how much you try to denigrate me and my intelligence, I am undeterred in my love for you."

"I love you too, jackass. And don't think I don't know about the maple candy."