have no right to act superior. Few Cajun people I've
known would stoop to do the sort of deceitful,
horrible thing you tried to do to me."
"How dare you shout at me like that?" she said,
trying to recover her superior demeanor, but her lips
quivered and her body began to tremble. "How dare
you!"
"How dare you do what you did at the
institution!" I retorted. "My father is going to hear all
about it. He's going to know the truth and . ." She smiled.
"You little fool. Go on upstairs to him. Go on
and gaze upon your savior, your father, who sits in his
brother's shrine of a room and moans and groans. I'm
thinking about having him committed soon, if you
must know. I can't go on like this."
She stepped toward me with renewed
confidence.
"Who do you think has been running things
around here? Who do you think makes this all
possible? Your weak father? Ha! What do you think
happens when he falls into one of his melancholic
states? Do you think Dumas Enterprises just sits
around and waits for him to snap out of it?
"No," she cried, stabbing herself with her
thumb so hard it made me wince, "it always falls to
me to save the day. I've been conducting business for years. Why, Pierre doesn't even know how much
money we have or where it's located."
"I don't believe you," I said, but not with as
much confidence as I had at first. She laughed. "Believe what you like. Go on. She stepped
back. "Go up to him and tell him about the horrible