Big Eric

Eric Redding called every night to speak to Li’l Eric and the girls and find out how Liv was doing. He made a point of not asking about the case, but she inevitably volunteered information, and as far as he could tell it wasn’t going anywhere.

“We met their lawyer today,” she told him, “a woman from Atlanta. Mr. Worthy says she’s very competent. Only one of the men from next door was there, the black man.”

“Baron.”

“Yes. The other, that Jay, is keeping out of it for some reason. I’m glad. I don’t trust him. I caught him talking to Li’l Eric the other day.”

“Did you find out what about?”

“Don’t you think I keep an eye on the children when we’re there? His ball went into their yard and that man threw it back.”

“That sounds innocent enough.”

“I still don’t trust him. Aren’t you going to ask me how it went?”

“How what went?”

“You know exactly what I mean. The lawyer.”

“OK, how did it go?”

“Ronnie was there. He’s supporting them; he’s on their side.”

“Ronnie? Ronnie who?”

“My brother.”

“The one who died?” he began. And then it hit him. “You mean he didn’t? Liv, that’s wonderful news! Your brother! You must be so excited!”

“What’s to be excited about? Anyway, it seems he didn’t die, unless the man’s an imposter. It wouldn’t surprise me if he were.”

“But how could you not know if your brother died or not?”

“Because he disappeared. It wasn’t until later that Daddy and Mama told me he’d died.”

“I don’t understand. I mean, if he wasn’t dead... I mean, didn’t they look for him? It couldn’t have been all that difficult. The lawyer found him easily enough.”

“I don’t think Marker found him. Those men next door did.”

“All the more reason...”

“My parents didn’t want to find him. Ronnie was a fag.”

Eric was speechless; he couldn’t believe his ears. To Liv, his silence could only mean one thing: he was horrified that her brother was gay and somehow felt that she shared in his shame. In a sense he was right; otherwise she would have told him about it.

“Eric? Are you still there?”

“You never told me that.”

“You never asked.”

“So you don’t want to have anything to do with your brother?”

“Why would I? Would you believe he’s married, and to a man? And proud of it?”

“I didn’t know they could do that.”

“Apparently they can in some places.”

“But you’re dropping the case now, aren’t you?”

“I’m more determined than ever.”

“What is it you really hate, Liv – all homosexuals or your brother for being one?”

“What’s that supposed to mean? Is there a difference? Honestly, Eric, it’s hard enough doing this without your support. You don’t have to fight me on it too.”

“Drop the case, Liv. Can’t you see it’s hopeless?”

“It wouldn’t be if our laws supported family values. And we have people on our side. Plenty of people – most people – think the way we do.”

“Outsiders. And I wouldn’t be so sure.”

Perhaps he ought to have contradicted her on the “we”. She knew well enough he didn’t approve of her fighting the will. But it would start an argument that was certain to turn venomous. He could hear the anger in her voice.

“You can’t begin to imagine how much support I’ve gotten here,” she said. “I wish you were half as supportive.”

He tried reasoning with her. “This is going to go public, Liv; I’m sure it will. A woman who disowns her gay son and years later wants her house, the same house she threw him out of, to be made into a shelter for gay teens – it’s too good for them to pass up. There’ll be a stink. Have you thought about how it would affect the children?”

“It will be worse for them in the long run if we don’t stand up for what we believe in.”

Again that we. “Won’t you come home, Liv? Please. You’re doing no good where you are. The results will be the same whether you stay or leave.”

“If I’m here I can hurry things along.”

“Does it look to you like they’re hurrying? And hurrying to what? You’re going to lose, Liv, whatever happens.”

“What makes you so sure of that?”

“Ronnie, for one. How can anyone doubt Alma’s intentions now? His very existence explains why she wrote the will she did. She never got over having rejected her own child. It was tearing her apart.”

“She didn’t reject him. He rejected us. He could have stayed with us if he’d been willing to turn to Christ and be healed.”

How could she be so stubborn and dense? Wasn’t it obvious the same thing could happen to her? Had she not picked up on it or had she chosen to ignore it? And what was with this “turn to Christ”?

“Have you thought of this, Liv? There’s mounting evidence that homosexuality could be genetic. Your brother’s homosexual. What if Li’l Eric...”

She cut him off. “You don’t believe that crap, do you? It’s all a lot of gay propaganda.”

“But if your own son...”

“How could it be genetic? Wouldn’t that line have died off long ago? Nature meant us to reproduce. God created...”

“Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve. I’ve heard all that.” Homophobes always spouted those religious arguments. Now Liv was spouting them too.

“Even if they were born that way, they’re still freaks. They have no place in a God-fearing society.”

Where did all this talk about God come from? They’d never been very religious; they hardly ever went to church. It had to be Jessie and Dennis saying grace and all that Christian literature they had on the coffee table rubbing off on her.

“I know my Bible too, Liv, believe it or not. The Old Testament says that cripples, the infirm, deformed people mustn’t enter the Temple. But Jesus’s message includes everyone. He went out and healed the sick.”

“As God would heal homosexuals if only they’d turn to Him. I don’t know my Bible well enough to answer you, Eric, but Pastor Rich could shoot down all your arguments in a second.”

“Pastor Rich?”

“The minister in Dennis and Jessie’s church.”

“You’ve been going to church with them?”

“Once or twice, to be sociable. What harm is there in that? The children enjoy the singing.”

Sweet Jesus, he thought, what poison were his kids being exposed to?

Harvey Anderson

Harvey Anderson, Eric’s boss, called him into the office.

“You seem really down today, Eric,” he said, “more than usual. I’ve noticed you’ve been looking kinda down lately. Miss the wife and kids?”

“Of course I miss them.”

“It’s only been a few weeks, and you’ve been down since you got back. Is it that this house thing is going to take a long time? It would be easy enough to fly down for the weekend a couple of times a month. We could find work you could take care of over the Internet if you’d like to stay for a longer stretch occasionally. It would only mean moving a couple of accounts around.”

“Thanks, Harv, but I’d rather stay here. The last place I want to be right now is in Macon.”

“Is there something going on between you and Liv?”

“Not openly, and nothing she’s aware of.”

“Want to tell me about it?”

“It’s just that business with her mother’s house. She’s making such a big deal of it. It’s all she can talk about; it’s all she thinks about.”

“She must be very attached to that house.”

“That’s just it, Harv. She isn’t. She couldn’t care less about the house. What’s eating her is what Alma – that’s her mom – wants... wanted... to do with it.”

“You said she left it to some kind of charity, if I remember correctly. Did you say what?”

“I didn’t, not that it’s any great secret. The will stipulates that it be turned into a shelter for runaway gay teenagers. When Liv heard that she was livid.” He thought a second about what he’d just said and chuckled bitterly. “Livid Liv.”

“Not big on queers, is she, Eric?”

“Apparently not.”

“But you must have known that already.”

“Yeah, I knew, but I never dreamed she would obsess about it. Look, gays aren’t exactly my cup of tea either, Harv, but it’s not worth making a fuss over. You know, live and let live. There I go again.”

“What do you mean?”

“Never mind.” He was thinking, “Liv... let Liv.”

“So it’s just that obsession of hers? She’ll get over it once the case is settled.”

“I wouldn’t count on it, not right away anyway. She doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of winning. But there’s more to it than that. There’s the embarrassment too. I mean, this is a worthy cause, isn’t it? Going along with her makes me feel like some kind of redneck. It’s not exactly my favorite charity, but it’s not one I’m going to fight against either. Gays are just about the last thing I’d think of if I were going to make some kind of major philanthropic contribution, and the idea of trying to instill in kids an affirmation of their gayhood, or whatever the word is...”

“Gayness.”

“...doesn’t exactly appeal to me, but, Christ Almighty, isn’t it better than them being out on the streets, hustling, or turning to crime to survive, or dead?”

“There are regular shelters they can go to.”

“I hear they get bullied there, and the people in charge don’t do much to protect them. A lot of them run away or kill themselves.”

“Have you told Liv how you feel about this?”

“She knows. Maybe I haven’t been as forceful as she has, but after all, it’s not something I obsess over.”

“Aren’t you?”

“I don’t think so; I’m just being realistic. She’s throwing all this time and money and energy into something she can’t win, she’s tearing the family apart, staying out there fixated on this thing when she could just as well be home, she’s... As I said, what bothers me most is that it’s become an obsession with her.”

“It’s funny that she and her mother should be miles apart on an issue like this one. Maybe this is more about her anger over her mother disagreeing with her than about homosexuality.”

“No, it’s the gay thing. And I’ve found out what gave her mother the idea of making the house a safe home for gay kids. Liv hid it from me, but she had a brother who was gay, and her parents threw him out. And all the time I thought she used to have a brother and he died, and there she was, bad mouthing gays, not constantly like now, but often enough, and...”

“When did you find out about him?”

“Just yesterday.”

“I thought so. It sounds like she was too ashamed to tell you.”

“Well, now he’s shown up; he didn’t die, and, as you can imagine, he’s opposing her on the will.”

“Is that what you meant when you said she doesn’t stand a chance?”

“Yeah. And you should hear her now talk about her brother, her own flesh and blood. I can’t help wondering how she’ll react if one of our kids turns out gay. It’s not impossible, you know. After all, her brother is.”

“It’s the business with her brother that’s pushed you over the edge, isn’t it, Eric? The more I listen to you, the more serious this sounds.”

“The woman needs counseling, but try convincing her of that! She’s convinced that God is on her side. She’s been going to some redneck church down there, taking the kids. I don’t want my kids growing up prejudiced like that. Can you imagine what it’s like suddenly finding out you and your wife have such fundamental differences? We never fought, we hardly ever disagreed, and now I find myself wanting to grab her by the shoulders and shake her over a political issue.”

“You’re thinking of divorce, aren’t you? Isn’t that forcing her to choose between the house and a husband? She’d choose you, but she’d resent it.”

“It’s not between me and the house; it’s between our marriage and her insane compulsion to show the world she hates gays. Look, I never had much sympathy for gays. It was more you leave me alone and I’ll leave you alone. But we don’t leave them alone, do we? I mean as a society. The way Liv’s reacted kind of opened my eyes, and frankly I can’t live with such irrational, all-consuming hatred. And I don’t want her influencing my kids.”

“Then you should get yourself a lawyer.”

“I already have.”

Brindell, Worthy, Fripp & Thurston

Other people besides Eric considered Liv’s pursuit of the house an obsession. Christian Worthy had complained about her several times to his senior partner, Lewis Brindell.

“That Redding woman is driving me crazy. She calls about the Enslik estate nearly every day. She thinks I’m stalling.”

“Are you?”

“To tell the truth, I wouldn’t mind doing that, Lew, but it’s not necessary. You know how slowly these things move.”

“It’s natural she’s impatient. Even when there’s not much money involved, there’s a huge emotional investment mixed up in a parent’s will.”

“It’s more than that. She’s obsessive. I hate to think what it’ll be like when she loses.”

“And you’re sure she’ll lose.”

“No question about that. It’s clear the old woman knew what she was doing, and now we know why.”

“You don’t want to win this one, do you, Chris?”

“Would you? It’s a good cause.”

“Helping gays?”

“Getting kids off the streets, keeping them safe. It won’t make the firm look good, fighting that.”

“The liberal press would go to town on us. But don’t forget this is the South. Taking the other side wouldn’t help our image much either.”

“They’re saying even Harris Cole may recuse himself. A probate judge recusing himself! Have you ever heard of that happening before?”

“Can’t say I have. On what grounds?”

“She’s living with his court stenographer.”

“Jessie? He’s not the only judge she works for. If they all try that we’ll need a change of venue.”

“Well, it hasn’t happened yet, and it won’t. More than one of them would jump at the chance to rule against her. Then there’d be an appeal, and before you knew it the politicos would start jumping in. Remember Terri Schiavo?”

“I don’t think that’s a likely scenario. This isn’t a matter of life and death. Nobody’s going to stick his neck out over something as trivial as a will.”

“I wonder.”

“Look, would you rather someone else handled it?”

“Who? I don’t suppose you’d want to take it on?” Brindell brushed the idea aside with a wave of his hand. “See what I mean?”

“There’s Thurston.”

“Jerry? You know what he thinks of gays. He’d go at it with a vengeance; he’d shoot off his mouth to the press. Do you think you could stop him? It would embarrass us all, and she’d still lose.”

“At least she’d have an ally. But I guess you’re right. Jerry is the last person we want to get involved. What about Fripp?”

“He wouldn’t touch it with a ten-foot pole. Besides, he has more than enough to do.”

“Maybe he’d trade one of his heavier cases for this one. It doesn’t require much.”

“He’d sooner work himself to the bone. He knows what I have to go through, listening to her ranting.”

“So you have asked to trade.”

“No, just bitched to him about it. Really, I don’t think I can take much more of it.”

“Make it sound like you are stalling. Maybe she’ll take the case somewhere else.”

“Fat chance.”

“Then it looks like you’re stuck with her, doesn’t it?”

* * *

“Mrs. Redding called,” the secretary said.

“Again?”

“I told her you were in conference. She wants you to call back.”

“Watch me rush to the phone.”

She laughed. “She said it’s important.”

“She always does.”

Jerry Thurston was busy leafing through some documents by the filing cabinets. “What’s this all about?” he asked.

“Mrs. Enslik’s will. She left her house to charity, and her daughter isn’t at all happy about it.” He didn’t say what charity.

“Bad business, contesting charitable donations. Is the woman that tight-fisted?”

“I really couldn’t say what’s eating her, and I don’t want to know.”

“You have my sympathy,” he said, and carried a pile of folders back to his office.

“Don’t say a word to Jerry,” Worthy whispered to the secretary.

“About the gay safe home? Don’t you think I know better than that? It is tempting to give her a piece of my mind, though.”

“But you won’t, will you? She’d turn around and sue us too.”

* * *

Liv waited all day for her lawyer to return her call, and all the next day. Finally, she called again.

“Hasn’t he returned your call?” the secretary said. “I passed on your message.”

“No, he hasn’t. Can I speak to him now?”

“I’m sorry, but he’s in court this morning.”

“Well, ask him to call me as soon as he gets in this afternoon.”

“Will do.”

She’d complained to Eric that her lawyer kept putting her off. It didn’t seem to bother him.

“Lawyers are busy people,” he told her. “They never return calls unless they have something to tell you.”

“But I have things to tell him.”

“Then leave a message what it’s about with his secretary.”

“She doesn’t like me. I can hear it in her voice.”

“You don’t have to give details. Or you can ask for his voicemail.”

Eric didn’t want to have anything to do with the case, she thought bitterly. He knew how important it was to her, but he just didn’t care. She just had to go it alone. Thank God for Jessie and Dennis – at least they listened to her! She wished she could say something to Pastor Rich, but she’d promised Jessie she’d keep it quiet. That judge had told her not to talk about it, and she didn’t want to get her friend in trouble.

* * *

“You gotta listen to this, Lew,” Worthy said. “Now she’s leaving me voice messages. I’d like to throttle whoever told her about the invention. Let’s hope she doesn’t think of emails.”

Brindell listened. The message went on and on and said very little.

“You’ll have to answer her, Chris. Just say you’re working on it and these things take time. It’ll be enough if you answer every three or four of ’em.”

Kate Ansel

“Did you see that the California court invalidated all those same-sex marriages they performed in San Francisco last winter?” Liv asked Eric when he phoned one evening.

“Yeah, it must be in all the papers everywhere.”

“Now what are they going to do?”

“Beats me.”

“There was a long article in the paper here about it. I don’t know if you saw it in Idaho. And to think my brother’s married to a man! I can’t get over it. Honestly, these people get everything they ask for.”

“Maybe not everything.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning that their marriages were declared illegal.”

“Are you sure that’s all you meant? I could swear you were thinking of a certain safe home in Georgia.”

“OK, I admit it, Liv. You’re a mind reader. But I thought we had agreed we wouldn’t talk about that.”

“It isn’t true anyway. What’s keeping them from having all the safe homes they want? I just don’t see why they need to use my house.”

“It’s not your house. It was your mother’s, and she left it to them.”

“There you go, talking about it again. I tell you, she was coerced.”

“I doubt it. The men next door were as surprised as we were.”

“Maybe not directly, but they must have planted some kind of idea in her mind one way or another. There’s no other explanation.”

Eric knew better than to go into the other explanation. “Let’s just drop the subject, huh? Tell me about the kids.”

“The kids are fine. They’re thriving. They do miss you, though. Right now they’re watching some program on television and there’s no dragging them away. It’ll be over in about ten minutes. You can talk to them then.”

“OK, then tell me about that article.”

“What article?”

“The long one you just asked me about – in the paper there.”

“Oh yes. Well, it had these little interviews with couples who got married. One of them really got to me. Two women. I forget their names. Just a second. I’ll go get it.”

“Don’t bother.”

“No, I want to.”

She was gone less than half a minute. “Here it is. The woman’s name is Kate Ansel, and get this – she says they wanted to get married so she could adopt her partner’s child from a previous marriage.”

“Couldn’t she do that anyway?”

“How would I know that? You’d think they could, wouldn’t you? She wants to be sure that if anything happens to the mother the child will stay with her.”

“Why should that get to you?”

“Well, what about the boy’s father? He must have one somewhere.”

“Exactly – somewhere. We don’t know if he’s been part of the kid’s life.”

“Of course he has! We know why they got a divorce. It really is scandalous that they gave custody to the mother under those circumstances.”

“We don’t know why they divorced. It could’ve been before she met that... What did you say her name was?”

“Kate Ansel.”

“For all we know she could have left him before the child was born. Or he could have left her. For that matter, what makes you so sure they were married?”

“There you go making up scenarios.”

“You made up the scenario. I’m just saying there are other possibilities. If you ask me, I think the kid is better off living with a parent who’s raised him.”

“Dennis says a boy needs a father.”

“I agree, but not all boys have one. At least this kid would have someone. Isn’t that better than putting him in a foster home or an orphanage?”

“Or a safe home for gay children?”

Eric ignored the dig. “Only if he’s gay. From what I’ve read, kids brought up by same-sex couples turn usually turn out like everyone else. Is that so hard to believe?”

“You’re always taking their side. It almost sounds as if you approve of people of the same sex marrying each other.”

“I don’t. I’ve always thought marriage should be between a man and a woman, and I can’t see how anything would make me change my mind. On the other hand, if they’re allowed to do it I can understand why they do.”

“What kind of church would marry a same-sex couple? That’s what I don’t understand.”

“I suppose a church that doesn’t consider it a sin.”

“How can they not consider it a sin? Do they go by the Bible or don’t they? And how can they call themselves a Christian church if they don’t?”

“Ask them. What do I know about religion?”

“Not very much, it seems. You know, I’ve been thinking that church going is something that’s been missing from our lives.”

“That’s quite a turnaround from when we were first married.”

“I don’t mean for us. More for the kids’ sake, really.”

“A religious education?”

“Not just that. They make friends there. It gives them a feeling of belonging.”

“A sense of identity.”

“Yes, of knowing who they are. And a religious education wouldn’t hurt either. The schools are so much more secular nowadays than they used to be. They don’t teach them moral values anymore.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that!”

“It’s true. You should hear what Jessie and Dennis have to say about the public schools.”

“The schools are supposed to be much better here than in the South, and as far as what the Heymers have to say... Well, they don’t have children of their own, so they don’t know first hand, do they?”

“Pastor Rich agrees with them one hundred percent. He was asking me if I’d be sending the twins to his church school this fall.”

“And you told him they’d be going back to Idaho, right? You did, didn’t you?”

“You know I’m hoping this will all be over by then.”

* * *

Eric went to see if he could find the interviews Liv had told him of or something like that in his local paper, but there wasn’t anything. His curiosity got the better of him, and he googled Kate Ansel to get the whole story.

Pastor Rich

The rain was beating down on the church roof. The twins, unable to take a break and go outdoors to play, were more restless than ever. Liv had to make them sit on either side of her and Li’l Eric to keep them from talking.

A sudden clap of thunder made them and everyone else in the congregation jump.

“You see?” Liv told them. “God’s reminding us to pay attention.”

Pastor Rich seemed to find inspiration in the storm. “Rain is God’s blessing, brothers and sisters,” he said. “We can’t live without rain. We need the rain to make crops grow. Without rain there’d be no water for us to drink. But God can also use rain as a punishment.” Not that far away in Mississippi, the Pearl River had overflowed its banks again and driven thousands of people from their homes.

“Listen,” Liv whispered to Li’l Eric. “Now Pastor Rich is going to tell us about how Noah built the ark and brought two of every kind of animal in the world on board to save them from the flood. You like that story.”

“Why only two, Mommy? Had the animals sinned against God too?”

“There was only room for two of each, sweetheart.”

“Yes, but why two?”

“Shhh, dear. Listen to the preacher.”

“God also punishes us for our sins with fire. Fire, too, is a blessing. It keeps us warm and cooks our food. It can light our way in the darkness, as God led the children of Israel through the desert to the Promised Land surrounded by a pillar of fire. But at the same time it is the most terrible of all His punishments. Fire and brimstone, the punishment He reserves for unrepentant sinners in Hell. It’s the punishment He visited on Sodom and Gomorrah, those evil cities where every day the people committed the most unspeakable of all sins, an abomination in the sight of the Lord. When He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah He revealed to the world what Hell is like.”

A sprinkling of amens and a lone Hallelujah! rose from the congregation.

Liv felt uncomfortable. Was this an appropriate subject for a sermon when all the children were inside to hear it?

“And what does it tell us in the Bible, brothers and sisters? The Bible tells us that this sin is so terrible, so unthinkable, that God Himself couldn’t believe in such wickedness. He sent his angels to test them, so He’d see for Himself. Sent two of His holy angels, and He saw. And only one man in the whole city would offer them protection. They wanted to spend the night in the street, because God had sent them there as a test, but Lot wouldn’t hear of it. He took them in under his roof to keep them from the lustful mob.

“Then the mob came to his door and said, ‘Bring them out to us, so that we may know them.’ Lot offered to send out his daughters in their place – his daughters, beautiful young virgins. That, too, is a sin, brothers and sisters, but a lesser sin, understandable because the flesh is weak. What the men of Sodom wanted is unforgivable.”

Several people in the congregation nodded their agreement, their eyes flashing with anger.

“So the Lord rained his punishment down on Sodom and Gomorrah. Not the wet, drenching rain we hear beating down outside” – there’d been another clap of thunder – “but a rain of fire, the fire that burns eternally in Hell, worse than lava that spews forth from the bowels of the earth, where Hell is. I tell you, the lava that flows down the slopes of the volcano destroying everything in its path is but a tiny sample that escapes from God’s fiery furnace.”

Li’l Eric tugged at his mother’s sleeve. “Can it really rain fire, Mommy? What do people use for umbrellas when it does?” Liv looked at him and put a finger over her lips.

“Lot escaped. He fled from the devastation of the city with his wife and daughters, warned by the angels of what God was about to do. But when God’s fearsome thunder and the echo of the city’s walls crumbling to dust and the despairing cries of the people who lived there reached her ears, Lot’s wife turned back. She was wistful, and regretted her days there and the comforts she had known among the most godless of sinners. For that the Lord turned her into a pillar of salt.”

More chorused amens and Hallelujahs!

“Look around you, oh my brothers and sisters, and tell me what you see. Sinners like the men of Sodom parading their iniquities through the streets of our nation in obscene celebration, openly flaunting their defiance of God’s commandments. And what excuse do they give for this disgusting display? Pride, they call it! Pride, the first sin that mankind committed against its Maker, a sin that only the precious blood of His Son could wash away.”

Murmurs of “Shame!” and “How can we let these things happen?” and “What’s the world coming to?” swept through the congregation.

“And what does the government of our Christian nation do about it?”

“Nothing!” someone shouted out.

“Worse than nothing, brothers and sisters! It gives them children, innocent children, to raise and corrupt. It allows them to teach in our schools. It tells them they have the right to sin, to disobey God and turn all of Nature and everything holy on its head! And we stand there and watch and put up with it. TV sitcoms pretend it’s harmless. They joke about it and call those jokes entertainment, and we gawk and laugh. Will we go on looking when God empties His arsenal of fire and brimstone on their abominations? Go on looking and be turned into pillars of salt?”

“How come he doesn’t tell the story?” Clara whispered. “He just talks about it like we know it already.”

Liv asked Li’l Eric, “Do you understand what the preacher’s saying, angel?”

He shook his head no, and she felt reassured.

Patty and Clara

Patty had exciting news for her father when he called. “Li’l Eric wet the bed!”

“Did he, honey? I hope you didn’t make fun of him.”

“No, Daddy.”

“Are you kids having fun in Georgia?”

“Yeah. It rained yesterday, and Rags got all wet and muddy and had to stay on the porch. He smelled awful. Miz Jessie wouldn’t let him come in the house.”

“You like playing with Rags?”

“Not when he stinks.”

“What else did you do yesterday? Did you go to church?” He hated asking that; it made him feel as if he was spying on Liv. But he had to know.

“Of course. We go to church every Sunday.”

“Do you like it?”

“It’s OK. We get to wear the new dresses Mom bought us for church, but Li’l Eric doesn’t like what she bought him. He says it’s uncomfortable. And we get to play outside with the other kids too, only yesterday it was raining, and we had to stay inside for the whole service. They call it a meeting here. I got bored. So did Clara.”

“Don’t you like the singing?”

“Some of it. And I like some of the stories Pastor Rich tells.”

“What kind of stories?” He could hear Clara talking in the background.

“Yesterday he told about a lady who got turned into a pillar of salt because she looked back. Quit it, Clara! You’ll get your turn. OK, I’ll ask him. Daddy?”

“Yes, honey? Does Clara have a question?”

“Yeah. Why it’s bad to want to know angels. Mom says we wouldn’t understand.”

His heart sank. “I give up, honey. Why is it bad to know angels?”

“It isn’t a riddle, silly. It’s part of the story Pastor Rich told us. These people in the city of Sodden Granola want the angels to come out of the house so they can get to know them, so God sends a confla... I can’t remember the word, but it means a big fire, and He sends it to destroy them.”

“Conflagration.”

“Yeah, that’s it – and He sets fire to the cities and their planes. Anyway, Pastor Rich says that what they did was an adnomination, or something like that. He uses very big words sometimes.”

“Maybe that’s why Mom says you won’t understand. Let me speak to Clara now, and then I’ll talk to Li’l Eric and then Mom. OK?”

* * *

Eric couldn’t get his son to tell him much about church; the boy didn’t want to talk about it. He said that Pastor Rich’s sermon had scared him and gave an even more garbled version of the story than his sisters had, something that sounded like God “burning up all the sodden granola”.

“It’s only a story. Do you know what ‘sodden’ means?”

“Uh-uh.”

“It means soggy. Tell me about Rags.”

“He’s a dog. Can we get a dog?”

“Who would take care of it? Mommy and I both have to go to work.”

“She doesn’t work in Macon.”

“That must be nice. She has lots of time to spend with you.”

“She doesn’t take us to Grandma’s anymore. She says the house is all packed up.”

* * *

“I’m worried about Li’l Eric,” he told Liv. “I don’t think he’s happy there.”

“He’s just tired. You should call earlier.”

“Patty says he wet the bed.”

“So? It happens. He’s just a little boy, after all.”

“I don’t think he’s happy in Macon.”

“He’ll get used to it here. It seems strange to him. Do you know what he said the other day? That people in Macon talk funny. He meant their accent.”

“I understood that.”

“And he said that I’m starting to talk like them. Can you imagine?”

“You are.”

“Am I really? Well, I always had a bit of an accent.”

“It’s gotten much stronger.”

“Has it? I hadn’t noticed. Well, I guess that’s normal enough. I’ll lose it back in Idaho.”

“When are you coming back? There’s nothing left to do in the house. Li’l Eric says you finished a while ago.”

“You know the answer to that. When this matter’s been settled. Not until then.”

“Patty said something else. She says you go to church every Sunday.”

“Is that so very bad?”

“Going to church? No. But I’d prefer they went to our church, yours and mine.”

“That would be good. We ought to go to church more often. For the children’s sake.”

“From what the girls tell me, it doesn’t sound like I’d feel at home in the church you’ve been going to.”

“It’s the same religion, except that people talk funny here, like Li’l Eric says.”

“It doesn’t sound like the same religion to me. I get the impression that what the girls hear there confuses them.”

“It wouldn’t if they paid attention and listened to the preacher. They’re always fidgeting and whispering to each other.”

“And Li’l Eric?”

“You know Li’l Eric. He’s an absolute angel in church.”

“I tell you he doesn’t sound happy.”

“You’re imagining things.”

“Am I? Do you know that the Sodom and Gomorrah story frightened him?”

“It did?  I wasn’t happy that Pastor Rich told it when all the children were in church.  I didn’t know how to answer their questions.”

“I told Li’l Eric it was just a story.”

“I’m not sure that was a good idea.  The kids are too young to be told that not everything in the Bible is true.  It will only confuse them.”

“We wouldn’t have to face that problem if they went to a different church.  You know, Liv, I’ve been thinking it would be a good idea if I came down and brought them back to Idaho as soon as I can get a couple of days off.”

“That’s crazy! Who would take care of them? You have to work.”

“You don’t have a job anymore, Liv.”

“I told you that I’m staying here for now. Do you want to take my children away from me?”

“I’m not taking your children away. I’m taking them home. To your home.”

“This is where I need to be. Can’t you understand that? This is all about Li’l Eric wetting the bed, isn’t it?”

“Of course not. It’s how he sounds. As I said, I’m worried about him. And the kids will have spent the whole summer without seeing their friends. I promised to take them fishing, remember?”

“Dennis took Li’l Eric fishing. Didn’t he tell you?”

“No.”

“I’m surprised. He helped Jessie cook them afterwards. He had a blast.”

“I’ll bet he did. But let’s get back to bringing them home. What about school?”

“Are you afraid I’ll send them to the church school? Well, I won’t, because you asked me not to. I don’t cross you, Eric. I listen to what you say.”

Eric ignored her reply. It was her way of going on the offensive. “You haven’t answered my question,” he said calmly. “What about school?”

“I thought I’d home school them for a while. Jessie said she’d help.”

“You know what I think about home schooling. Kids need to be with other kids. School is where kids go. I thought you agreed with me on that.”

“Honestly, Eric. It would only be a stopgap measure. Anyway, school doesn’t start for another three weeks. We can think about it again when the time comes.”

“I don’t like the idea.”

“I said we can think about it. In the meantime, I think it would be a good idea if you did take a couple of days off and came down to see the children. They miss you.”

“And you?”

“What a foolish question! Of course I miss you!”

Scott Ballard

He left a message for his lawyer.

“Scott, this is Eric Redding. I think it’s about time we did something. She’s gone too far. Everything I was afraid was happening is happening. Call me when get a chance, OK?”

Scott Ballard had handled many divorce cases. In fact, he did little else, although he’d never intended to make it his specialty. He represented women more often than men, and he almost always managed to get them very generous settlements, so much so that, on the whole, unless they were unusually wealthy, he felt sorry for the men who were up against him. This case was different, and not only because he’d be acting on behalf of the husband. Redding didn’t care about the settlement; he was willing to pay through the nose if he had to. What he wanted was custody of the children, a trickier thing to arrange, especially given the grounds for the divorce.

The grounds were unusual too. “Irreconcilable differences” was common enough, but that generally meant sex or money or in-laws or the like. He’d never had a client where political differences were at issue or the couple was at loggerheads over fundamental moral values.

“It almost sounds as if you’ve taken on gay rights as a personal cause,” he told him.

“Not by a long shot, but at this rate I may. Say that I’ve made it a personal cause not to be roped into the fight against them.”

So Ballard had counseled prudence, that they follow a wait-and-see policy. He saw no reason to rush things, and Redding hadn’t actually decided he wanted to go through with it. On the whole, he thought his client was exaggerating. Now it seemed he wasn’t. Not according to him, anyway. He’d have to wait to hear what had happened.

If Redding was right about his wife’s homophobia, if it was really that virulent, then Scott tended to side with him. Unfortunately, his own mild liberalism wouldn’t make any difference. The courts rarely ruled against the mother when it came to custody. And if the wife responded by filing for divorce in Georgia, the man didn’t stand a chance, not even if they forgot about the homophobia and tried claiming abandonment or that Livia was an unfit mother. She hadn’t abandoned the children, after all, nor did they have any cause to believe she was neglecting them while she pursued the matter of the house or that she was putting them in harm’s way by staying there.

The results might well be the same in Idaho. The State Constitution expressly forbade same-sex marriage and did not recognize civil unions, including those contracted abroad or in another State, nor could same-sex couples adopt a child.

Public opinion would be against them. So your kids grow up hating homosexuals – big deal! So you’re acting on principle. So is your wife, and, frankly we like her principles a lot more. His client would do better to ask his boss for a transfer to Massachusetts or Vermont or New Jersey, or even right next door to Washington or Oregon, where domestic partnerships were legal. Idaho? Forget it!

They could make it a question of religion, but the courts would still favor the wife. All in all, it seemed best to wait and hope the whole thing would blow over when she lost the house and came home. It was conceivable they’d be able to work things out once her current mania had passed. Ballard couldn’t imagine that the latest development – whatever it was – was a real crisis. But the decision was Redding’s.

* * *

Eric’s story convinced him that he hadn’t exaggerated, and Scott could see that things were coming to a head. He was sure he’d have wanted to intervene if his own kids had been involved, but knowing the law as he did, he’d have thought better of it.

“I sympathize with you, I really do,” he explained. “Believe me, I don’t like what she’s doing. I have a good friend who’s gay. But if you want to keep the kids – and that’s really what this is about, isn’t it? – I think we need to find other grounds for the divorce. For the time being your main concern is getting them back here. We might try the argument that school will be starting soon, though I don’t see what would prevent them from attending school in Georgia.”

“Liv’s been talking about home schooling.”

“Then scrap that. Home schooling is all the rage nowadays. Do you think she’s qualified?”

“No, and you know why.”

“Not a good why for our purposes. You say the kids, the boy especially, sound disturbed?”

“The girls are pretty confused too. I get the feeling Liv’s keeping something from me.”

“You might ask, as a concerned father, to have them evaluated by a child psychologist. But not a word about your wife’s homophobia. Say you’re worried they’re having trouble adjusting to their new environment, or that they’ve expressed anxiety over the separation; that it must seem to them that you and your wife have split.”

“That doesn’t address the issue.”

“Think of it as a stopgap measure. We can’t afford to address the real issue. You have to face the facts.”

“I can’t believe this is happening. I never thought I could care so much about something like this.”

“Have you thought of counseling for yourself?”

“Do you think I need it? When you get right down to it, I’m proud this matters to me as much as it does.”

“But it’s still a problem for you. I meant marriage counseling, though. Have you thought about going down there and seeing a marriage counselor? Make sure to keep the focus on not breaking up the family.”

“Liv will bring up the gay thing.”

“Then say you don’t care about it one way or the other, you’re just hurt that she doesn’t put her family first. Point out how she’s not needed there. Say you feel rejected. That’s true, isn’t it? It might get her to come home. And once she’s here you may be able to work things out.”

“I’ll give it a shot.”

“I think you should. Why be stubborn when there’s so much at stake?”

Bill Enslik

Eric’s intuition was right; Liv had been holding something back from him. It wasn’t the first time their son had wet the bed. He’d done it every night for... how long? When had it started? About the time Ronnie reappeared in Evan Marker’s office, wasn’t it?

If something was disturbing him, the sooner she found out, the better. She’d noticed other signs as well. He whimpered in his sleep. He’d begun clinging to her. He hadn’t made friends with the other children and stopped going outside to play with them when Sunday meeting went on too long for them and they got antsy. Instead he sat close to her, his eyes fixed on the preacher, listening to things he couldn’t possibly understand. He seemed withdrawn. He stayed home all day and played quietly by himself. He’d become less talkative and would go for hours on end without saying a word. Luckily, he opened up a little more when his father was on the phone.

“Wouldn’t you like to go outside and run around the yard with Rags?” she asked. “It’s such a nice day!”

He shook his head.

She put her arm around him. “Why not, angel? Is something the matter?”

He turned away.

“Fresh air is good for you, you know.”

He shook his head. “I’m having fun here.”

“But you used to like going outside.”

“I’m scared.”

“Scared? Scared of what, sweetheart?”

“Of being touched.”

Her body froze. She forced herself to look natural. “Like this?” she asked. Her arm was still around him.

“Somewhere nasty.”

“Has somebody touched you?”

He didn’t move. “Who was it? You can tell Mommy.”

No reaction. “Was it one of the kids at church?”

He shook his head. “A grownup?” She could barely see his nod.

“Did he hurt you?”

He shook his head no. So it was a man!

He wouldn’t look at her. She knew better than to press him. They’d find out who soon enough.

“We’ll talk about it later, shall we? That will give you time to think about what you want to tell Mommy.”

* * *

She called Eric at work. “He hasn’t said what happened. As far as I can tell, the man only fondled him. That’s traumatic enough. I ought to know.”

“Did he say who did it?”

“No. He didn’t want to talk about it, and I was afraid of upsetting him more. But I’m sure it was one of those men. Who else could it be?”

“You called the police?”

“Right away. They said I shouldn’t say anything to him about it. They want a social worker to question him, a child psychologist, someone who knows how to get children to open up about these things. Oh, Eric – do you think they’re right?”

“You’d best listen to them.”

“You’re coming down?”

“I’ll be there tomorrow,” he said, “or the morning after at the latest if I have trouble getting a flight. No – tomorrow. If I can’t get to Atlanta, I’ll fly to Nashville... or to New Orleans... as close as I can get... and rent a car.” Then he hung up.

After he hung up, he wondered, “What did she mean by that? – ‘I ought to know’.”

Eric brushed the thought aside and promptly forgot about it. He had too many other things on his mind, too much to take care of. “First thing, I have to tell Harvey,” he thought. “He’ll find me a flight. And then call Ballard.”

* * *

She was on his lap again, her head on his chest, in the rocking chair where they used to sit. “You’ve gotten so much heavier, Princess,” he cooed. “You’re a big girl now.”

She opened her eyes to look at him, and saw that the rocking chair wasn’t on the porch where it belonged. They were sitting around the table in Evan Marker’s conference room. The three lawyers were talking softly together by the window, looking at the will. They paid her no attention, but the four men across the table stared intently at them, their hands in their laps, smirking, menacing. Through the table she could see their knees brush against each other.

They rocked slowly back and forth.

They were all in on it, the four of them together. Ronnie had put them up to it. He drew his tongue slowly across his upper lip.

“Ronnie’s grinning at us,” she whispered.

The lump twitched beneath her. “Let him. He’s just jealous. He’s nothing to us, Princess; he’s gone plumb out of our lives. Tell him to go away and leave us alone.”

“Listen to him, Livvie,” Ronnie said. “Tell me.”

She didn’t answer him.

“Tell me,” he repeated.

“You saw,” she said.

“I saw.”

“You saw and you didn’t tell.”

“I told.”

“Who?”

“Him. Why so angry, sister? Did you tell anyone?”

“Faggot!” she screamed. “Faggot! Faggot!” Her voice rang out in two discordant pitches, alto and bass. Like church bells, it hung quivering in the air.

Startled, the lawyers turned toward her.

“Are you going to let this happen?” she asked. “Now that you’ve seen, aren’t you going to do anything to stop him?”

The lawyers looked puzzled.

“See what?” Ronnie asked sarcastically. “Do you guys see anything?”

“Nobody ever sees,” Jay said quietly.

Daddy was gone and everybody was staring at her. She wanted to get up from the rocker and run away, but however hard she struggled, something held her there in an iron grip.

“Faggots!” she screamed at them in her own voice. “Faggots!”

* * *

The scream hadn’t woken Li’l Eric. She went up to the kitchen and made a cup of tea.

Jessie joined her.

“Oh, it’s you! I thought I heard somebody moving around in here. What are you doing up so late?”

She told her.

Jessie gave her a hug. “How terribly awful! You’ve told your husband?”

“He’s coming tomorrow. I’m afraid he wants to take my children away from me.”

“Take them away? What makes you say that?”

“He’s been talking about bringing them back to Idaho.”

“Of course he has! He misses them! That isn’t taking them away, honey; they live there. But children this little belong with their mother.”

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