"A whole damn cake. It got all over my face, all over the car - I found frosting in my ear this morning."

He flinches and cringes even at the gentle jangle of the keys as he fishes them from his pocket. He's shaking slightly under Peggy's hand, and his skin has a distinct sallow color to it. He keeps his voice quiet and low and unobtrusive as possible, even as it's harsh with irritation.

"She's angry that I won't introduce her to Mother. She's dodging a bullet, what I say, but the way she construes it you'd think I was ashamed of her. Well, I sure wasn't, up until she chucked a dessert at me, now I'm not so sure. Now she says I always side with Mother over her."

Which is true, but Jason seems somehow unaware of the sick codependence, the slavish, hapless devotion towards Caroline Bascomb that he personifies. What he says and what he's actually capable of diverge wildly where his mother is involved. He gets into the passenger seat, curling at the waist slightly and holding his head in his arms on the dashboard because it's the only position that alleviates the nausea he's feeling.