"You vulgar, vulgar boy." She started toward me, but I stopped her with a blast of cigarette smoke in her face.
"What, Mother dear? Were you going to hit me?"
Rage burned her thin translucent cheeks. Gladys the Bitch trembled with anger. "Get out!"
I took a deep breath; better to let her lose her temper without me joining. "So, that's it. You hate me because I'm gay. I thought you were more complex than that."
A measure of calm had settled over her; she seemed embarrassed by her outburst. "If you have learned anything at that job of yours, you should know sometimes the greater good of a group is worth the sacrifice of a few."
So, I was the sacrifice. Banished because I didn't fit the mold. Her statement hit me harder than she knew; I wouldn't give her the satisfaction, so I steadied my hands on the table and watched her lean over the counter and push the window up higher to either let out the cigarette smoke or to cool herself down.
"This family is all we have." She turned back to me.
"We?" I asked.
"Yes. Vernon plans for us; the Senate seat is just the beginning. His sons can go even further."
"What does that do for your own children? Tim? Valerie? What does Ruby get from Vernon 's success? Edwina and Roscoe don't see it that way."
She shook her head side to side. "Edwina and Roscoe are imbeciles. They only want what benefits them; they give no thought to the rest of the family."
"But, isn't that what Vernon is doing for his sons? Again, what does it do for the rest of the family?"
Her gaze slapped me like I was missing the entire point. "Status, influence, control, standing, power. Don't you see that as Vernon 's position increases, ours does too? Our family will be regarded in the ranks of the Kennedys, the Bushes; forget the Charlotte families, we've surpassed them, John Belk, Harvey Gantt."
I didn't get it. "What more could you want? All the cousins are rich. None of them, or their children, could spend the money they have. If it's power and influence, isn't it dangerous to push someone like Vernon into that position?"
" Vernon is wiser than you think."
"I hope so." I replayed the meeting I'd had with him in his campaign office. "He strikes me as a bigot, a chauvinist, and a racist. But besides Vernon taking this family to national prominence, how does all of this factor into you sending me away? That's what I want to know. Forget fame and fortune, let's talk about you and me."
Her sharp eyes focused on the chair opposite me. I motioned for her to take the seat. She settled on the cushion like a skinny hawk perching on her nest. "If you want to talk to me, please put out that vile cigarette." Apparently, smoke riled her feathers.
"The fact that I'm gay was published in the newspaper," I stated. "Your biggest fear has seen the light of day-welcome to the world out of the closet."
She glared at me.
I ground out my cigarette. " Vernon did not burst into flames on his soapbox; you are still accepted at the country club; people may whisper behind your back for a few days, but before long, something more sensational will come along." I looked her in her cold gray eyes; I wanted her to admit it, that I'd been sacrificed. "This is why you sent me away at seventeen?"
"You can't begin to understand. The simple fact that you are a homosexual means very little to me."
"What? That's all you've dwelt on for the past eight years."
"No," she interrupted. "That's all you have dwelt on for the past eight years. I have moved on to other things."
"Other things to hate about me?"
"Things you rebel against." Her voice composed, she added, "Things you represent."
We circled back. "Not living the life you set for me?" I asked.
"One day, you'll see I knew what was best for you." She actually seemed to believe what she had just said.
My head ached as if each word she uttered tightened a vise. "You will never know what's best for me, because you don't have a fucking clue as to who I am."
"Don't use that tone with me," she warned. "Remember you are in my house."
"I've been in your house too damn long." I stood. " Vernon will not get elected. Your dreams of being Rose Kennedy will not come true. I know secrets about this family that will make a scandal over a gay son pale by comparison."
She flew from her perch. "Go home, Derek! You shouldn't be here! Go back to San Francisco!"
Chapter Twenty-one
I STORMED INTO Ruby's house and found her and Valerie fussing around the kitchen, putting away groceries Valerie had brought. I realized I should have gone to the grocery store during Ruby's hospital stay, but had forgotten, "Sorry, I didn't know we were out of so much." I helped put the food away.
"That's okay," Valerie said. "I dropped by the store on the way home." She stopped and stared at me for a moment. "You look like you just had a run-in with a mad dog."
"I did."
"Gladys was home?" Ruby asked.
"You went to see Mother?" Valerie sat a bag of Dixie Crystal Sugar on the counter, but didn't move her hands from it.
"Yeah, I guess I should have been ready for a fight." I sighed and leaned against the counter. "Any time I'm around her, she gets me so unnerved. I end up yelling; she ends up yelling. Do you know she thinks Vernon is going to pave the way for a big political family in Washington? She actually believes that Mark or Mike will one day follow him into national politics."
Valerie released the sugar and brushed her hair away from her face. "I didn't know his boys wanted a career in public service."
"Public service?" I quipped. "There's nothing service-oriented about running for office. It's all money, power, and influence, getting your way, helping out your contributors. Policy-making is just another way to grant, or repay, favors."
" Vernon won't get elected," Ruby pronounced. "He's too dumb for that. People will see through him."
"George W. Bush got elected," I pointed out. "All you have to do is say what the people want to hear."
"I don't want to talk about Vernon." Valerie shut the cabinet doors and scrunched up the plastic grocery bags.
The rustling crinkle of the bags reminded me of Edwina's wind suits. "If Vernon leaves the company to go to Washington, who takes over?"
"The Board will decide." Valerie stuffed the bags in the recycle box. "Why?"
My mind tried to link the possibilities. "Mark or Mike? What about Tim?"
"Tim? My brother?" Valerie laughed.
Ruby didn't smile but sternly said, "Edwina and Roscoe think Tim could do a good job. They talked to Walterene about getting him moved up once Vernon was gone. In fact, I may vote for him myself."
Valerie and I stared at her as if someone else possessed her body, talking of company business and strategic moves.
"Well," Ruby began to sound like herself again, "Tim isn't that bad. And if Vernon leaves, it would be good to have someone to represent us."
"Us?" I asked.
"Me, Walterene, Edwina, Roscoe, Sam, Odell. Vernon and Gladys have always run that Board, the other cousins need some say in what goes on." Ruby crossed her plump arms over her ample chest.
"Edwina been talking to you?" Valerie asked.
"Walterene talked about it. Edwina says Tim needs to be on the Board to look out for our interests. It's not Vernon Construction; it's Harris Construction. We all own it."
"But what if Vernon doesn't get elected? The Board continues as it does today," I said.
Ruby thought about it. "I suppose Vernon will get elected, even though I hate to see it. Edwina and Roscoe said he will."
I laughed. "Edwina and Roscoe aren't astute political analysts."
"Let's talk about something else," Valerie pleaded. "Politics and Vernon are not my favorite subjects." She turned to me and smiled. "So, you spent the night at Daniel's?"