“Mordecai!” Lily called. “Down, boy”
Mordecai wagged his stump of a tail at Lily and moved his bulk to rest in front of her and Mimi, creating a physical barrier between them and the Maycombs.
“Oh, I see how it is.” Mike rose from his chair. His plaid pants looked suspiciously damp to Lily.
“You invite us down here so you can make a mockery of us. You sic your dog on us —”
“Now hold on a minute, buddy,” Big Ben interrupted. “We didn’t sic our dog on you. He was shut in the bedroom upstairs.”
“He musta heard you yelling at Lily,” Jeanie said. “Ever since Lily got here, Mordecai’s just took to her. It’s like he’s her protector —”
“My knight in shining flea collar,” Lily said, hoping a joke would lighten the bleak situation. It didn’t.
“Well...” Ida was holding her purse in her lap. “It’s getting awfully late.” She looked at Charles hopefully.
He picked up his cue. “Yes, it is, and we’ve got a long drive ahead of us. Thank you for dinner—”
“Wait,” Ben said. Everyone’s head turned toward him. “My wife and I asked you here tonight in hopes that we could settle our differences outside a court-room. Now, Lily and I have talked about this a lot, and we both agree that you can see Mimi as often as you like— as long as you agree to respect the terms of Charlotte’s will.”
“I loved my daughter,” Charles began. “But no matter what my feelings for Charlotte were, I can’t uphold her will. We...just feel that Charlotte was under some ... undesirable influences” — Lily felt Charles’s disapproving stare. “ — when she wrote the will. And it was bad enough for those influences to affect my daughter. There’s no way I’m going to let them affect my granddaughter!”
Lily was seething. They always made it sound as though Lily had converted Charlotte...corrupted her into leading an “undesirable” lifestyle. Charlotte had known she was a dyke since she was twelve years old! “Charlotte was a grown woman —”
“I think what Daddy is saying,” Mike interrupted as he headed for the door, “is that we already have a lawyer. Maybe you should think of hiring one, too.”
“Oh, don’t you worry about that, funny boy.” Big Ben was making no effort to hide his anger.
“We’ve got us a lawyer. We was hoping we wouldn’t have to use him, but there’s just no talking to some people. I believe you can find your way back to the interstate exit. And I reckon the next time we’ll see you will be in the Faulkner County Courthouse.”
Mike glowered at Big Ben. “Fine. This seems like a decent town. I’m sure they’ll do the right thing.”
Big Ben grinned. “I’m sure they will, too. Don’t let the door hit your ass on the way out, now.”
After the Maycombs’ car had backed out of the driveway, Big Ben said, “Okay, who wants a beer now that the Baptists is gone?”
Everybody but Mimi raised a hand.
CHAPTER 9
