Page 94 of The Snag List
Finn was nodding vigorously. ‘Max will be OK.’
‘I just don’t get how the fact that Adam made this video in the first place isn’t killing his whole case?’ Roe flopped onto the couch beside Ailbhe.
‘They have the judge and everyone elseconvincedthat I gave it to TubeDramZ as revenge.The Suncalled me “Monteray Medea” yesterday! Said I was willing to destroy my own son to get back at my cheating husband. GOD! I wish I was on the stupid screaming retreat.’ She grabbed a throw pillow from beside Roe and roared feebly into it.
‘OK, feck the papers,’ Finn said. ‘They’ll be bored in a day or so. How are we going to prove that you didn’t do this?’
‘I asked Emma Tea to give testimony, but she says it just came in via a burner account, which doesn’t help to rule me out.’ Lindy fecked the throw pillow away. ‘Maxxed Out is a disaster, so Adam is no longer pushing his whole keep-going agenda. But if the judge sides with Adam and says I deliberately sabotaged the business, they could bury me in damages to pay and I’m afraid this is really going to go against me in the custody agreement. Adam doesn’t even want full custody, I know he doesn’t. But he’ll do it out of spite.’
‘OK, first things first.’ Finn rubbed Lindy’s arm. ‘It’s time …’
‘I know.’ She picked up her coffee and tried to calm the clamour of anxiety in her chest as she made her way to the front room.
Max, Lindy and Finn sat cross-legged on the floor in a circle. Lindy had been trying to say something that made sense for fifteen minutes already.
‘So,’ she started over. ‘Dad made this video. And it’s not a nice thing but it’s out there online. But you never have to see it. Just don’t …’ Lindy cast around for something better than ‘don’t ever look for it’. Despite the work that Digital Reputation Rehab had done, it didn’t mean it would stay gone forever.
Finn, clearly sensing Lindy was stumped again, swooped in to pick up the thread. ‘Look, Max, sweetheart, there’s a lot of bad stuff online: pictures of crime scenes, animal porn—’
‘Can younotgive examples?’ Lindy interrupted. ‘Max, what aunty Finn is trying to say, however badly,’ she shot her a look, ‘is that we don’t go looking for the horrible things online.’
Max looked uneasy. ‘OK, Mom …’ He looked to be grappling with his next words.
‘Go on, Max, you can ask me anything.’
‘Is Dad’s thing embarrassing or, is it like, EVIL?’
And just like that her eleven-year-old had handed her a massive dose of perspective.
The video was embarrassing but so what? There were infinitely worse things.
‘It’s silly and embarrassing, but don’t worry, it’s not evil. At. All.’ Lindy flashed him a grin – amazingly, articulating this helped her feel a bit lighter. She could dig into this and make it some huge tragedy or she could keep it to what it was: a bit mortifying, but all in all Adam’s problem, not theirs.
‘OK, phew.’ Max laughed. ‘Everyone’s parents have embarrassing stuff on the internet. No offence, but your generation is super messy online.’
Lindy quaked a little.Oh God, he’s going to think it’s nothing. Before she could say any more Max carried on. ‘Jenna Jace’s parents are the worst – I feel so sorry for her. They scam their viewers out of money. And they’re so gross, they had photos in that magazine. Ick. Jenna says she can’t wait till she’s sixteen and can get emancipated.’
Lindy startled at Max’s knowing what emancipation was, though it stood to reason that just as there were hundreds of thousands of opinionated commenters on the internet, there was also a whole swathe of YouTube kids hitting maturity with their own thoughts and opinions about what their parents were doing. The Jace channel was an absolute hellscape of constantly unfolding scandals. Unlike Maxxed Out, it wasn’t a toy channel but video diaries of the family’s relentless high jinks. Outrage was perpetually mushrooming around the pranks they played on their kids, their steely focus on the bottom line and, of course, their nude shoots forPlayhousemagazine. The outrage was absolutely warranted and made Adam’s scandal seem amateurish by comparison.
‘Ha, please don’t emancipate me, OK?’ Lindy knelt and pulled him close. ‘We’ll talk more about Dad’s video later.’Probably with the help of a child psychologist, she added silently.
Finn shifted behind them. ‘It’s getting on time to go, Linds.’
Ugh, more public humiliation. Yay for me!
She gave Max another squeeze and then released him. ‘How are you doing without the channel, sweetie?’
‘Cool.’ He shrugged. ‘It’s kinda nice not being so online.’
‘Really?’ Lindy held his bony little shoulders and searched his eyes.
‘Yeah, Mom, I havewaymore free time. And I’m kind of excited about going back to my old school and just being able to be myself.’
Lindy’s thoughts spun to the dark place where she often became trapped agonising over what long-term effect Maxxed Out would have on her son but she caught herself.I can’t undo the last few years but everything is going to be better now.
‘OK,’ she pecked his forehead and stood, ‘I am booking us in for climbing this weekend. I need to beat that white route I froze on last time! Plus, I was talking to Matt, the manager, and he says there’s a club that meets on Saturday mornings, all kids around your age. They climb together and go on trips sometimes.’
‘Sounds great, Mom. Break a leg in court today – have fun, LOL.’
