“Why don’t you shut the hell up when my mother is speaking! She asked you, but I’m telling you.” Delilah snapped.
Abigail’s brows lifted and then lowered. She narrowed her eyes on Delilah. She held her tongue. Instead, she smiled. She turned her gaze back to Delores. What Delilah saw go between the women chilled her. Abigail had some kind of power over her mother that looked dangerous. The same type of control she had over her grandmother, Delilah supposed. But what else could there be?
“Ask yourself this,” Mother Abigail spoke. “And I’ll be quiet.”
“Ask what?” Delilah mumbled.
“Why did Charles have a vasectomy before he married you. Why did he cover it up? And why did he let you become pregnant with another man’s sperm?”
Delores stood and placed the picture of Noah back on the mantle. “That’s enough Abigail. This isn’t about Charles. This is about me and you.”
Mother Abigail chuckled and winked at Delilah. She chose to ignore the rage blazing in her chest and focus on her mother. Delores continued. “Like I said, daddy was promoted to manager at the factory. He never got over my mothers’ death. He never remarried. Several years later, Daddy was hurt. Shelves collapsed, and several men were pinned under them. I was studying hard to get into college, convinced I was getting the Montgomery scholarship. I wanted to be a teacher. Not rich like the Montgomery’s. A teacher. That’s all I wanted. And I didn’t go to you begging for a scholarship like a lot of these poor kids in this town,” she addressed Mother Abigail, “I applied and got it on my own. Until you found out, it was for me and snatched it away. You think I don’t know you did that? I know you did.” Delores looked back at her daughter. She gave her a sad smile. “She did.”
“I had a friend. A close friend. He was the same age as me.” Delores stopped speaking.
“Who Ma? Who was your friend,” Delilah asked.
“Mother Abigail’s oldest son,” she said in a hushed voice that sounded like shame.
“Tyson?” Delilah asked. She knew Tyson was not Abigail’s. He was from Charles's first wife. He was the son that Charles Sr. favored over them all until Charles Jr was born. Tyson was the same age as her mother, but the two of them never looked each other way. She hadn’t considered their lives as kids in this town, but they had to know each other.
“I got a job at the Montgomery law firm,” Delores continued. “It was because of Tyson. He knew I needed the money for school, even with the scholarship. We became close. Very close.” Delores tried to continue, but Delilah saw it was hard for her. “I should have known that Mother Abigail would disapprove of our friendship. The moment she found out about our dating and working at the law firm, she went crazy. I was fired. She told me the truth about my mother and how she died. She told me she would tell my dad if I was following my mother’s steps if I got involved with her son. And then she offered me another job. This one was at Mayfair. During winter and summer breaks at the community college. It kept me on that cold mountain and away from her family, away from Tyson.”
“I didn’t know you dated Tyson when you were young. But okay? Who cares?” Delilah said. “What is the point of rehashing all of this?”
“I’m not done,” Delores went on. “Life went on. I dropped out of college. After finding out the truth of my Mama’s betrayal of my father, I just didn’t have the desire for it. I had started to hate her. Blame her. I just wanted to be there for my father. Then I met your daddy, and everything changed for me. He reminded me of being special and loved. He was different. Tyson found out, and all of a sudden, he wanted me again. He begged me to run away with him and not marry your father said he was wrong for letting Mother Abigail fill his head with lies about me. He said his mother had changed. I knew she hadn’t.”
“And?” Delilah asked.
“I didn’t fall for him or his sorry promises. I was older and wiser. I made a better choice for two reasons. First, because I was in love with your daddy, deeply. And second, because I was carrying you. Baby, I never slept with Tyson once things ended. I’ve never betrayed your father. Ever.”
“Oh, good lord. You have skipped a lot of the story!” Mother Abigail said.
“It’s the truth,” Delores said. “I told her what she needed to hear.”
“That’s the problem dear. What she needs is not my concern.”
Delores cut her off. “Tyson thought I was some prize for him to claim. Your father had already stolen my heart, Delilah. I told Tyson. I thought he’d go away. He didn’t care; he said he wanted to raise you, and he’d have the law, which the Montgomery’s own in this town, send your daddy back to South Carolina. He became obsessed with breaking us up. He was the one that got your daddy fired from his job in Mayfair. He threatened to do worse. So I told Mother Abigail, and she got between us, she backed Tyson off. In exchange, she paid for my wedding and secured a good job for your daddy. And I let her. Not because I wanted her money, baby. But because I wanted Tyson to see that he and I could never be anything. I wanted them out of our lives. I really did. I swear it to you. I was going to change this town myself.”
Mother Abigail gave a slow clap. “Bravo. Great performance. Make yourself the hero before you tell your daughter the truth. I understand the play. I’ve done it myself before. But you’re not getting out of this, Delores. And neither is Delilah. It’s only fair that you get a taste of your own medicine.”
Delilah sighed. “I’ve heard enough!”
“No, you haven’t!” Mother Abigail hissed like a serpent.
“Yes. I have. I know the truth about Tyson and your sons. Charles told me everything about the game you played with your children,” Delilah said.
“What did Charles know?” Mother Abigail laughed. “Charles is the most clueless of them all!”
“Delilah, no! Please, wait! You have to hear this from me,” Delores said.
“Get the hell out before I bounce you out on your—” Delilah shouted.
“Wait! I’ll tell you the reasons she’s here. Wait!” Delores pleaded. “You and your friends are the real reason why she is here.”
“My friends? What?” Delilah asked.
“Queen and Shelly. When you were in fourth grade, remember what happened? Everything that happened.”
“We aren’t discussing that,” said Delilah
“Yes, we are,” Mother Abigail chuckled.
“Your father wanted to kill that monster. All the father’s did. The school tried to bury what happened to you girls. The town was divided. The blacks and Natives felt he was guilty; the whites felt he was innocent. Mother Abigail feared it would bring the wrong kind of attention into this town. It would also interfere with Tyson’s first run for the Senate.”
“Why? It had nothing to do with them! What happened to us happened to us,” Delilah said.
“Of course, it had something to do with us,” Mother Abigail interjected. “We were a blended community. All races here got along in harmony. We had shared history in this town to protect. Blacks, whites, natives, Hispanics. Where else in this country do you see us all prosper together.”