In the end, neither got what they wanted. Mary Kay had wanted her book to reach out and drain the venom from all the naysayers who dismissed her love for the boy and tagged her a rapist. Caught up in the heady mirage of media dollars, Vili and his family had simply wanted a better future, a piece of the pie.
Depressed over the outcome—a cancelled American edition of the French book, a stalled TV movie because the subject matter made television executives queasy—the lawyer charged with spinning the scandal into gold felt sorriest for the Fualaaus.
“It's like people who win the lottery and are penniless the next year. That's what happened to Vili and his family,” Bob Huff said. “Pretty unbelievable. Pretty sad story.”