Paul, Gabe, Sally, and Percy [finding out the truth]

"It's a wonderful sculpture, Sally."

Paul, Sally, Percy (reluctantly), and Estelle were at an art function. Percy dressed in his usual blue sweatshirt and blue jeans. Sally and Paul were dressed similarly. A socialite came up to them and started chatting them up, finally mentioning Sally's first marriage. Paul knew Smelly Gabe existed, but he didn't realize the effect he'd had on the two-person family (Sally and Percy) until now. Sally's pleasant smile became strained and she trained her gaze on Estelle's sleeping face. Percy's calmly-swirling eyes started churning, and darkened as he stuffed his now immobile hands in his pockets. Percy has ADHD, he was never still. But now he was. Paul changes the subject immediately, but they still leave early. 

A few weeks later, Percy, Paul, Sally, and newborn baby Estelle were visiting an art museum at Paul's request. Paul notices a statue with Sally Jackson written as the sculptress. The statue is of a man, fat and dirty, carrying a beer bottle and 3 poker cards. He remembers that the deck of cards at their house had been missing cards, 3 exactly. The statue is purposefully malformed. But Paul had seen Sally's attempts at sculpting, and they were accidentally malformed. He loved Sally but, she couldn't sculpt. Percy smiled at the statue, not his usual lopsided grin, but a dark curving of his lips. Percy turned towards his mother, "Whatever happened to that head?" Sally smiled, not her usual pleasant grin, but a secretive, dark smile, similar to Percy's. Sally didn't respond, just stared at the statue, still smiling creepily. "What head?" the words tumble out of Paul's mouth. Percy turned towards him, tilting his head, scrutinizing him, before responding, "Medusa's head." Sally didn't react, and was still staring at the statue, but Paul thought he saw her smile widen. 

Looking back on the sculpture, the dots in Paul's head connected. He remembered the scars on Sally's hip and backs, the ones she refused to talk about. He remembered that when the family went to Montauk, Percy had scars that didn't seem monster-made. Well, greek monsters. He remembered how Percy kept his eyes on Paul for the first three months after he moved in. He remembered the way Percy flinched when Paul tried to clap his shoulder. He remembered how when he and Sally had a rare argument, she would always step in front of Percy, as if to shield him. He realized that even though they were smiling, they didn't want to talk about it. Him. 

"It's a wonderful sculpture, Sally."

Credit to thegirlwiththedragonheart