Page 8 of Carnival Queen

“This should be interesting,” said Wilson.

“I think it’s a young woman who was trying to become queen of the parade. She interviewed with us the other day. In fact, your mother was there, and she was incredibly rude to her.”

“Rude to Mama?” frowned Alec. “Not many young girls would dare to do that and survive it.”

“Believe me, I know,” said Deanna. “Even her mother scolded her, but this young woman is about the most difficult teenager I’ve ever been around. She’s rude, entitled, self-absorbed, all of it. She was selected to be on the court, but she will not be queen, and she made sure I knew she was angry.”

“How did she do that?” asked Whiskey.

“She showed up two days ago, screaming and yelling at everyone who was working. I sat her down and spoke to her, trying to explain what the issues were and what caused her to not be selected. It seemed to go in one ear and out the other. When she left, she said we would all regret our decision.”

“How old is this demon?” asked Rafe.

“Seventeen. She’ll be eighteen in March and headed to LSU, which was one of the many reasons she demanded to be selected. She wanted it to look good on her college resume. Unfortunately, she didn’t realize that the sorority she’ll be rushing is the same one that I was president of and still serving on the admission committee.”

“Not smart on her part,” smirked Nine. “Was anyone hurt?”

“No. We didn’t have security specific to our building. There’s a small night security team that polices the warehouses in our section, but they said they didn’t see anything.”

“I’m surprised they didn’t hear something,” said Tailor. “Do you have pictures of the damage?”

She nodded, handing them her phone. As they passed it around, swiping through the photos, they noticed the sheer anger that shone through the photos.

“We can’t afford another setback on this. We wouldn’t have time to get the floats ready. Besides, I’m operating on a minimal budget this year. I’ve already donated from my own pocket to buy supplies and help alleviate some of the costs. We’ve had a few donations but not as many as we usually get for this.”

“Why dip in your own pocket? Don’t do that,” said Gaspar. “We have a fund to help with these kinds of things. Come on. Let’s go grab some food and talk more about this. We’ll need the name of the girl and her address.”

“Thank you,” she smiled. “Thank you all for your help with this. I haven’t had a chance to ask, but how are the boys? Maverick, Pax, Brax, CJ, and Patrick are who I was closest to. They were always the most well-mannered kids at school.”

“Well, that’s good to know,” smirked Ivan. “Benji and Annie are great parents and raised the boys right.”

“That’s because you and Miss Sophia are great parents,” smiled the young woman. “I just wish everyone had y’all’s magic touch. I’m telling you, some of these girls are just unbelievable.”

“What about the girl who won?” asked Baptiste.

“Louisa Pollock. I think you went to school with her grandmother, Josie Babineaux.” Baptiste and a few others nodded, recognizing the name. “She’s a sweet, lovely girl. Straight-A student, captain of her lacrosse team, captain of the debate team, and her essay was amazing. She volunteers three days a week at a soup kitchen, and on Sundays, she babysits at her church nursery. She actually apologized because her dress wasn’t custom-made. But talked so fondly of the trip she and her mother made to Baton Rouge to buy it at Dillard’s. She got teary talking about how they had lunch together, just the two of them.”

“Was the dress unattractive?” asked Rafe.

“Not at all. It was lovely. Completely event and age-appropriate. Pretty flowers on it, falling just at the knee, and she had respectable heels on. Her makeup was minimal, her nails neatly trimmed with light colored polish. She is everything that the sorority would want. Not this other child.”

“What was the girl’s name?”

“Lottie. Lottie Carver,” said Deanna, rolling her eyes.

“Is her daddy Penn Carver?” asked Miller.

“He is. The one and only,” said Deanna, rolling her eyes. “He doesn’t seem involved in this madness at all, which is strange, but his wife definitely is.”

“Penn’s father was a classmate of mine,” said Miller. “When we were in high school, he was involved in all sorts of scandals. Cheating on tests, cheating at sports, he was even accused of raping a girl in school. All charges were dropped thanks to his grandfather, Marcus Carver.”

“My parents knew all of them,” said Deanna. “Marcus Sr. and Jr. died years ago. Penn’s company used my father’s CPA firm for their taxes and to take overflow cases sometimes. I never had to deal with him, thank goodness, but Dad always said he was a piece of work.”

“Do you know what that meant?” asked Gaspar.

“Not a clue. When Mom and Dad were killed, I sold his firm. I just didn’t want to keep the business. I couldn’t sit at Dad’s desk and see the same people that had been coming to him for decades. I appreciate everyone being so kind but answering questions day after day about how I’m doing and have they caught the men responsible was starting to become too much. I’m working with Peck, Barnham, and Dodd as just a regular nine to five CPA.”

“They have a good reputation,” said Jean. “I handle a lot of the financial things here.”

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