"Blackwater - 06 - Rain" - читать интересную книгу автора (McDowell Michael)

In the summer of 1963 Lilah got her driver's license, and the following fall she simply drove up to Auburn to all the Pi Eta parties. She would not let Tommy Lee come home at all until Thanksgiving, for she did not want to miss anv of her weekends away from Perdido. She was furious that the death of President Kennedy caused the biggest of the Pi Eta parties to be canceled.
It came time, in the spring of 1964, for Lilah herself to apply to college. Tommy Lee assumed that she would want to come to Auburn since she seemed to like the place so much. The rest of the Caskeys, however, knew better than to make any such assumption. It wasn't forgotten that Miriam had not announced her intention of going to school anywhere until the very day that she left Perdido. They ex-
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pected no better treatment from Lilah. And they were right to do so. If Lilah had applied anywhere, she had told no one. Miriam suspected, and even confided to Elinor, "Mama, I think Miriam's planning something." She evidently was, for she extracted promises from Miriam and Malcolm not even to look at return addresses on the letters that arrived for her in the mail.
Elinor and Miriam would both have denied that they were growing close, but they were mature women, well-settled into their routines and their identities. Miriam was in her early forties, and Elinor, by anyone's accounting, must have been at least twenty years older. Miriam loved coffee, in fact was almost addicted to it. She would remain at the dinner table long after everyone else had wandered off. Usually Elinor remained with her, with a cup filled with cooling coffee set before her as a pretense that she remained only for that.
"You're going to be lonely when Lilah goes away," Elinor warned her daughter. "You're going to be as lonely as I was when you took her away from me."
"You've gotten over it," Miriam said with a shrug.
"Not entirely," said Elinor. "I still miss her."
Miriam smiled. "Do you want her back?"
"The way she is now?" asked Elinor rhetorically, shaking her head and frowning.
"What do you mean, 'the way she is now'?"
"She used to be a sweet child," said Elinor.
"Lilah was never sweet," said Miriam.
"Neither were you. But at least I could keep Lilah in check when she lived over here. I didn't always let her have her own way."
"And I do?" asked Miriam.
"You give her anything she wants. You give her much more than she needs."
"I like giving Lilah things," said Miriam. "I wish Grandmama and Sister had given me things when I was her age. Everything I've ever gotten, I've had
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to get for myself. I've worked hard and I've earned everything I have."
"And Lilah hasn't worked two minutes in her entire life. She's never earned anything."
"Lilah graduated valedictorian of her class. I never saw a girl as smart as Lilah. She could have gone to college two years ago if they would have let her in."
"Lilah never had to work for those grades," said Elinor. "I'll say it again. Lilah never had to work for anything. And I think you've neglected to point something out to her."
"What is that, Mama?" asked Miriam.
Elinor didn't answer right away, but fingered her black pearls with a smile, and seemed to savor the word Mama.
"Lilah is the only member of this family who doesn't have anything in her own right."
"What does that mean?" said Miriam.
"That means," explained Elinor, "that everybody else has been left moneyЧand left a lot of moneyЧ by somebody or other. Everybody else, even Malcolm and Tommy Lee. They've all got money, and a great deal of it. I've seen Billy's reports every month. And Lilah's the only one of us who doesn't get one."
"Aren't you leaving her anything in your will?" asked Miriam. "She's your granddaughter."
"I'm not telling you what's in my will, Miriam. You're not going to find that out until I'm dead, and I'd advise you not to be impatient. I may be alive for a long time to come."
"Well," said Miriam, "someone is going to leave Lilah something. BillyЧwhat about Billy?Чwho else is Billy gone leave his money to? Or Oscar. Oscar's got plenty. I'm not worried about Lilah. You don't think I'm gone let her go without, do you?"
"No," said Elinor, "I don't. I just think it might be to her advantage if you pointed out that she ought to feel just a little gratitude to you for all that you've done for her."
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"I'm not looking for thank-yous, Mama. And if I
want one, I'll get Lilah to send me a Hallmark card."
"She'll send it if you buy itЧand lick the stamp."
Miriam called Zaddie out of the kitchen, and Zad-
die, without having to be told, brought out a fresh
pot of coffee.
"Mama," said Miriam, "what do you think Lilah's going to do about college?"
"I don't know. Why don't you ask her?" "It's none of my business," said Miriam. "It's her decision. She knows more than I do about which schools are good and which aren't. I went to school during the war. Everything's so different now." "You'll be paying for it. You have a right to know." "Tommy Lee thinks she'll go to Auburn." Elinor shook her head. "I doubt it. That's only what Tommy Lee thinks she'll do. Anyhow, I don't think you need to worry about where she's going to school. I think you ought to be worried about whether you'll ever see her again once she does go off."
The summer drew to a close, and still Lilah had said nothing. Toward the end of August, Miriam had to go to New York, and as a matter of course, asked if Lilah would like to accompany her. Lilah packed her bags, and she and Miriam and Malcolm left the following day. They stayed four nights at the Plaza. While Miriam attended to business during the day, Lilah led Malcolm a merry round down Fifth and up Madison avenues, shopping for clothes. Malcolm carried the packages and signed the checks, and never ventured a complaint as to how much money Lilah was spending.
On the afternoon of the fourth day, Malcolm, laden with packages, staggered behind Lilah into a restaurant on East 57th Street. When they were seated, and she had ordered him a drink, Malcolm said, "You know, Lilah, there's one thing you've forgotten to buy."
"What's that?"
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"A couple of more suitcases to get all this stuff home in."
"I won't have to," said Lilah.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean I'm staying here."
Malcolm looked around the restaurant in perplexity.
"At the Plaza? By yourself?"