Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 97951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 490(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 490(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
“I’ve had some beautiful women in my life, Lenny. Before your mama. A few after. None of ’em compared. She was just as lovely on the inside, too.” His voice cracked, and he quickly turned away. “So, so smart. Erotic. Witty. Faithful. Trustworthy. Great mother. Wonderful wife. Worked hard. She got that degree, all right. A business woman, an amazing doctor, and damn near a saint. Saints aren’t always perfect. We all have a past.” He swallowed, then sighed. Took a drag of the cigarette. “She was open and honest with me. I protected her secrets.” His voice trembled, and Dad gripped the back of the chair, squeezing it hard with one hand.
“And that’s why I could never love another woman the same way. Believe me, I tried. There was no point in getting remarried. I would only compare the lady to your mother, and none of them could compete. Nobody wants to be alone.” He pulled the chair he’d been standing behind out and slinked down onto it. He stared at his food on the plate while Lennox ate slowly. His appetite was waning.
“You’re right. I’ve got someone important in my life now, too. Someone I’d protect from everything. Even from someone who brought me into this world if necessary.” Their eyes locked. “Why are you talkin’ to me about this right now?” He shoved the plate away.
“Because you don’t care for me too much, Lenny.”
“That’s not true. I love you. I just think that—”
“No, no. You think I do everything wrong, and some stuff I did do wrong, but the one thing I did right was to fall in love with and marry that woman. Your mother.” Dad smashed his cigarette in the ashtray, extinguishing it. “The second thing I did right was to make her the mother of my two children. Well, I guess that’s three things right, technically.” Lennox picked up the glass of milk and brought it to his lips. “…Your grandfather called me last night.”
“I knew you were up to something.” Lennox burst out laughing, showing his disgust in a big smile as his heart rate accelerated. He shook his head, sick of it all.
“Stop. Let me finish.” Dad put his hand up. “It’s nothing crazy. He says he wants to meet with you soon, is all. Discuss things man to man. Maybe come to a mutual agreement.”
“The only thing I can agree with Grandpa about is that we all must pay taxes and we’re all going to die one day. Other than that, there is nothin’ mutual about us, ’cept my last name. There is only one man in this equation, and it isn’t Grandpa. Demons aren’t human.” He took a big swallow of milk and set the glass down.
“Lennox, you could at least hear Daddy out.”
“Me and your father have absolutely nothin’ to talk about.”
“Lennox… I fear he’s going to move forward with contactin’ your mother’s family. Is that what you want? And he won’t stop there. He’ll make sure it gets back to their neighbors and friends about your mama escorting. He said lust is a terrible sin, and you know how Daddy feels about that sort of thing.”
“Lust? That’s like a lush blade of grass getting angry at a tree because its leaves are green. You can’t be for real? Dad, that old fucker screws a different, random woman almost every day of the week! He’s a king-sized pervert, and a king-sized hypocrite, to match his king-sized sexual appetite, at his ripe old age. If it’s true that the good die young, he’ll live forever. He’s probably a vampire. I damn sure wouldn’t be surprised.”
Dad’s complexion deepened as he drummed his fingers against the table.
“I know your grandfather is a ladies’ man.” Lennox rolled his eyes. What a nice way to put it! “I get that, but his beliefs are important to him, son. He believes in God, and he reads his Bible assiduously. My father is far from perfect, but nobody can say he isn’t religious. He is very involved in the church. Hell, he puts his money where his mouth is. He owns the ‘Christ Pages,’ book chain, and—”
“I don’t give a shit if he owns the damn old school yellow pages! I don’t give a dog’s lick on a cat’s pink ass about him owning that Christian bookstore chain, all of the donations he gives to the Baptist church, all the speaking engagements at these Christian cult-like conventions he gets paid thousands of dollars to speak at for just a few minutes. That’s something to cover the true him. The one that looks at the Bible and goes, ‘Let me say I do everything in here, but in fact, I do the exact opposite.’ In fact, I bet Grandpa thinks he is the second coming of Christ, when really, he’s the Anti-Christ. He’s completely delusional and insane. He uses religion to control people, and he warps scripture to suit whatever it is he’s yapping about.”