Second Chair, A Stan Turner Mystery, Vol.4
Page 13
*****
A little while ago, Nate and I were talking on the phone when I noticed Joyce pulling up in her Lincoln Town Car. She got out of the car, slammed the door and stormed into the house. She gave me an evil glance as she walked by heading toward her bedroom. Then she went inside and slammed the door. I wondered what was wrong so I said goodbye to Nate and went to her bedroom door and knocked.
"Mom, what's wrong?" I said.
She yanked the door open and glared at me.
"Don't call me Mom. I’m not your damn mother. I'm sick and tired of being second fiddle to you around here. Your father better decide pretty damn quick who he's married to or it's going to be all over for us."
"What happened, did you two have a fight?"
"Your father stole my jewels and used them as collateral on your bond. I can't believe he did it!" Joyce collected fine jewels as an investment. Her father was a jeweler so she learned how to pick and grade them. She had acquired quite a collection mainly from estate sales, pawn shops and wholesalers trying to get rid of inventory overstocks. She was very proud of her collection.”
"Oh, shit," I said suddenly feeling very guilty.
"Why did you let this happen? Don't you know anything about birth control? What are you some kind of retard? Damn it! You should have got an abortion as soon as you found out you were pregnant."
I looked at her incredulously. "I thought you and Daddy were against abortion?"
Her face turned red with rage. “Don’t try to blame this on me, young lady.”
“I’m not, but-”
“You could have given the baby away.”
“I was going to but–”
She grabbed my shoulders and began shaking me and screamed, "Then why didn't you? How could you suffocate your own flesh and blood?"
I tried to push her away. "Let me go. You have no right to treat me this way. I didn't kill my baby."
"That no good Jew, what's his name? Steinberg. He was the father, wasn't he?"
I broke away and backed off from Joyce.
"His name is Richard Stein. He was the first man who treated me with a little respect. Hell, he was the first man who gave me the time of day. If it wasn't for his drug problem, I'd still be with him. And, for your information, I'm not so absolutely positive he was the father."
I was shocked by my own statement. Why had I said that? An uneasy silence ensued as we stared at one another. "Oh my God!" Joyce screamed shaking her head. “You’re nothing but a whore. . . . If your father only knew the truth about you.”
"Ha! If my father only knew the truth about you. You're a pathetic excuse for a mother! I’ve hated you from the moment I laid eyes on you and if I never saw you again for the rest of my life I’d be ecstatic.”
Before she could respond I turned and walked away, not daring to look back.