“My grandmother asked me to,” I said in my defense.
“Well, you really ought to stop. No matter who asked you to.”
That kind of pissed me off, so I said, “I guess it’s working out pretty well for you. I mean, that Reverend Hessel was killed and you got your job back.”
“I suppose you could say that. You could also say it was God’s will.”
“It was God’s will that a minister be murdered? That doesn’t sound right.”
“Chris Hessel wasn’t your typical minister. You and I both know that.”
I wondered what he meant by that. What exactly did he think we both knew?
“Do you remember where you were when Hessel was killed?” I asked, a tad too boldly.
“Of course, I remember. I’ve already been asked about it by Detective Lehmann. I was visiting my wife. Sadly, I’ve had to place her in a home.”
I flushed. “Oh, I’m sorry. I guess.”
“You don’t mean that. You couldn’t care less.”
At that moment, his sermon about lying came to mind. Had he been serious? Is this what it’s like to talk to someone being honest?
“You’re right. I don’t know your wife and I don’t really know you. I kind of don’t care.”
He smiled at me as though I’d just said something extraordinarily kind.
“You may be from one of the founding families, but you didn’t grow up here. You don’t know these people like I do. You won’t be thanked for exposing the truth. People up here would rather live with a lie they like than a truth they don’t.”
And then he walked into the kitchen.
Weird. Totally weird.
Bev showed up. I did my best to stay away from her. I’d finished making calls for her and had gotten more than enough volunteers for her event. I hadn’t wanted to tell her though. It was still a couple of weeks off. If she knew I was done she’d just give me something else to do. Frankly, I had enough on my plate.
I started looking for the bathroom so I could take at least one of my emergency Oxys. I opened a door off the living room and found a bedroom. I almost turned around and gave up, but then I thought, maybe? I went to the far side of the bedroom and found that there was a large bathroom shared by this bedroom and another. I went in and locked the doors on both sides.
On a set of shelves above the toilet, there was a terrifying collection of ceramic fish (most of them seeming to be leaping out of the water, so I’d guess they were suicidal fish). I unwrapped my pills and took both. I ran the water in the sink and scooped up a handful to swallow the pills. Then, I flushed the toilet, so it sounded I’d done what people usually do in a bathroom. After all, anyone could have been outside the door.
I went back out to the hallway, and then through to the kitchen. Bev had brought wine. I wasn’t going tonothave a glass, so I went over and talked to her.
“Can I have a glass?”
“Sure. How’s it going with those calls?”
“I’m about halfway through,” I lied.
“That’s encouraging. Let me know when you’re finished. I’ve got some other things you could be working on.”
“Oh, I will. I will.”
I took a big gulp of my wine—red, lots of tannins—and noticed a plate of pigs in a blanket sitting on the counter. I headed over and had two in rapid succession. They were delicious. I found myself near the dining table again, which was the last place I wanted to be. That’s where Barbara and my grandmother and their friends were sitting.
“I suppose you all heard. The Supreme Court made perversion legal,” Jan said. I think I’d seen something about a Texas case on my Yahoo page. Two guys having sex in their living room, which somehow got them arrested.
Jan continued, “I really can’t believe it. I thought this was a Christian country.”
“Jan, you don’t really want this to be a Christian country,” Bev said.
