Lost Cause, Chapter 28
Whitney, Simone and TC stood outside of the Crane Mansion.
“ Why are we here, Daddy?”, Simone asked.
“ Because Julian thinks we need to talk to him.”
Whitney pushed the doorbell. “ Before we changed our minds.”
The maid smiled at them as she opened the door. “ Mr. Russell. Will you
and your daughters come in?”
The Russells came into the Crane foyer.
“ Mr. Crane said to show you to Living Room.”, which she did. TC, Simone
and Whitney all sat down. Soon Julian entered.
“ Well, good morning. Would any of you like some breakfast? Bagels, croissants,
fruit, juice?”
Simone got up and took a bagel. Whitney poured herself a glass of juice.
“ What do you want, Julian? Why did you summon us here?”
“ I didn’t summon you, TC. I thought that we should talk about Eve.”
“ I do NOT need to talk to YOU about MY wife!”
“ I disagree, TC. Like it or not, we’re all in this together.”
“ You know, you could just back away.”, Whitney said quietly.
Julian shook his head. “ I’m sorry, Whitney, but I can’t. I let your mother
down years ago, and I won’t do it again.”
“ And I’m just supposed to grin and be happy about it?”, TC asked.
“ You don’t have to grin or be happy. You just have to deal with it.”
“ Well, there you are wrong. I don’t have to deal with it!”, TC jumped
up and made his way to leave when Simone called out.
“ Daddy, please don’t go? We have to work together.”
TC turned to look at his daughters. He went back and sat down.
“ Good, now that we’re all here, we can talk about how we’re going to handle
the issue of Eve and my son.”
“ Your son?”, Whitney asked.
“ Yes. I was thinking about it. I placated Eve for a little bit, with my
lies about our son being in the Navy. But, her relationship with me is the
only thing that she remembers, which means that she’s going to focus more
on it than her life with you. What was your plan when you saw Eve?”, Julian
asked, to no one in particular.
“ I brought all the photo albums. I thought if we could show Mom the pictures,
then maybe it would help jog her memory.”
Julian shook his head. “ That’s what I thought. You can’t do it.”
“ Why not?”, Simone asked.
“ Your mother doesn’t remember you or Whitney. The only child she remembers
having is my son. She’ll immediately ask you for pictures of him.”
“ But, we don’t have any.”
“ Exactly. And when you tell her that, she’s going to ask you WHY don’t
you have any, and then what will be your explanation?”
“ Oh.”
“ Yes. You can’t show her any pictures of you and Whitney, because we don’t
have any of our son. We need to go over the backstory.”
“ You want us to lie to Eve?”, TC asked.
“ Yes. Eve is awake. That’s all. She’s very sick. She can’t handle thinking
her son is dead. “
“ You don’t know that.”
“ Yes, TC, I do. And, are you willing to test out your theory with Eve’s
health?”
TC sighed. “ No.”
“ Ok. Now, he’s in the Navy. He works on a submarine. His job is classified,
which is why we don’t hear from him for months at a time.”
“ We already know that part of the lie, Julian.”, Simone said.
“ Well, he needs a name. It’s Ellis.”
“ Ellis?”
“ Yes. Eve’s favorite singer is Ella Fitzgerald, and if she was going to
have a girl, it would have been Ella. A boy, Ellis. She’ll believe it.”
“ Fine. Ellis it is.”, TC said.
“ See, that’s why we needed this meeting, TC. How is Eve going to believe
anything about her son with your attitude. How is she going to reconcile
being a parent and raising her child with a man who obviously hates her son?
Eve might not have her memory, but she’ll know enough about herself to know
that she wouldn’t stand being married to a man who wasn’t good to her child.”
“ You’re right, and I’ll work on it.”
“ Good. Simone, Whitney, you have to work through your issues too. Eve
has to believe that you love your brother.”
Simone rolled her eyes. “ You’re enjoying this.”
“ Actually, I’m not. I know that we’re on thin ice, and our lies can backfire
at any moment, and I’m sick just thinking about what would happen to Eve
if she found out that we were lying.”
Simone looked at Julian. “ Are you finished?”
“ For now. But, no pictures. Of anyone. Tell her you had a housefire recently
and they were destroyed.”
“ We get it, Julian. No pictures. Simone, Daddy and I will do our best.”,
Whitney told him. She went up to Julian to talk to him personally. “ I’m
trusting you, Julian. Everyone tells me that you’re a Crane. But, the man
in the elevator. He was a kind. Gentle. I believed in his love for the woman
he spoke of with such warmth and emotion. I’m trusting you to do the right
thing. To not use this to your advantage. “
Whitney then went to her father. “ Let’s go, Daddy.”
“ What did you say to Julian?”, TC asked.
“ I reminded him that I don’t share the town’s opinion of him.”
The Russells went to leave and just then, Fox came in.
“ Well, hi Simone. Coach Russell. Whitney.”
“ Hi Nicholas.”
TC and Whitney went on their way towards the car while Simone stayed behind.
“ Why were you here?”, Fox asked.
“ Your father wants us to lie to my mother about our brother.”
“ Oh.”
“ Can we trust your father?”
“ Simone, what am I supposed to say to that?”
“ How about the truth?”
“ How about I know how my father feels about your mother.”
“ See, that’s the problem.”
“ Is it? I think my father should be given a chance. I think ‘ I’ should
be given a chance.”
Simone shook her head. “ I told you. I can’t deal with you. You. Me. We’re
not possible.”
“ That’s not fair.”
“ But, that’s life.”
Simone heard TC blowing the horn.
“ Bye Nicholas.”