Page 57 of Misrule
“You’ve had a big wedding before.”
“Yes, to Creighton.” She clenched her jaw, determined to move on from thoughts of her son’s father. She was sure Creighton had bad-mouthed her to Duke and played a very active role in turning her boy against her. She shoved thoughts of both Creighton and Duke aside. “I wantusto enjoy the planning and the celebration, sugar.”
“Have you talked to Duke?”
Roxy opened her LookBook again. “I’m not good enough for him to talk to,” she said breezily.
“Oh, Momma! I want to go to New Orleans and take my turn whipping his ass. Carissa broke his nose and he was still talking bullshit about you, so Alexia called an ambulance. They were arriving just as she knocked him unconscious. Along with a few police cars and—”
Alarm raced through Roxy. “What the fuck do you mean? Why am I just finding out this shit?”
“Because Duke deserved it. Grandma took her housekeys from him. Creighton was urging Duke to press charges. Grandma said she would take care of it, and she did.”
“Well, knock me over and call me a motherfucker. None of you thought to tell me about any of this?”
“No, Momma. Duke is taking away your self-confidence and your self-esteem. He’s making you…I don’t know. He’s making you not be you and I want to fuck him up! He’s a little asshole.”
“Bailey!” Roxy said, impressed at her daughter’s heated language but shocked. Not to say Bailey didn’t cuss. It usually wasn’t so vengeful.
“You know he is, Momma,” Bailey fumed.
“He’s being influenced by his father.”
“I don’t buy that. He’s not a child anymore. He’s eighteen. He knows what he’s doing. Stop making excuses for him. He’s horrible.”
“He’s my child—”
Bailey glared at her. “Get off that song! He’s disrespecting you, abusing you, insulting you. If he was saying all these things to Grandma, would you make excuses for him?”
“Of course not, Bailey,” Roxy said in exasperation.
“Then why do it now when it is directed at you?”
“Think about it!” Roxy jumped to her feet and placed her hands on her hips. “He’s my child. Somewhere along the way I did something terribly wrong for him to be able to fix his mouth to say those things to me. We didn’t go to church as much as we should have. I was always in school. Always switching majors.” She swallowed, her vulnerability rising in her all over again. She tried not to think of Duke. His feelings towards her tore her in two. “It was my job to teach him respect and loyalty.”
“You taught it to him and he learned it well. He’s just using his lessons on Creighton.”
“Can we not talk about this?” Roxy returned to her seat. “Let’s focus on the reason we’re here, sugar.”
A few moments of silence went by before a question occurred to Roxy.
“What makes you think I’m acting any differently?”
Bailey cocked her head to the side, then nodded to Roxy’s left hand. “That ring for one. I know it’s an heirloom but it is…not you. The Roxanne I know would’ve told Knox the truth.”
“This is a small matter, Bailey, and this ring is important to Knox.”
“Not as important as you are to him,” she insisted.
“It’s fine,” Roxanne said stubbornly.
“Okay, if you say so.That’sfine, but what about what Lucas is doing? Forcing Knox and you to live separately. Why aren’t you saying go fuck yourself?”
From her tone, Roxy got the sense that Bailey now agreed with Mortician. “I’ve asked myself the same thing,” she admitted, then shrugged. “The truth is it feels good to have someone take care of me and think about my well-being.”
Sitting back in the slipper chair covered in ivory satin and tied at the back with a big bow, Bailey folded her arms. “I’m sure that’s true, Momma. You take care of everyone. But this isn’t you. You’re stronger than that.”
“Maybe, I’m scared,” Roxy confessed. “No matter the reason I married before they didn’t work out and I…Knox is nine years younger than me and refined. Classy. What am I?”
