Chapter 52

8:30 p.m. Friday

Regan was still stinging from some of Andy's accusations when they pulled into the miniature golf complex behind Chris' Toyota. If she were honest, she had little interest in this version of golf. She had played golf since she was 10 but she doubted those skills would translate to carpet.

She had never played before but she had taken Andy's word that she would have fun. Now she was beginning to have her doubts.

She saw Paul and Elizabeth standing out front and they waved when they recognized the new arrivals. Andy's first query did nothing to ebb Regan's unease.

"How's Lupe getting settled?" he asked Elizabeth as soon as he saw her.

"Pretty well," Elizabeth told him. "She helped Mom and me redo my gown. She seemed to really enjoy just spending time with ... normal people, I guess. Sorry, that came out mean."

"You're right, though," Andy said. "She doesn't know many people would fall into the 'normal' category. How's Chuck? Is he behaving?"

"I hate to admit it but he's been an angel," Elizabeth said. She saw the look of anger flit across Regan's face for a moment but didn't understand it. "He gave her his iPad this morning and he's going to clean off the hard drive of his laptop so she can use it. He was pleasant at breakfast and nice at supper. It sort of scares me."

"You need to watch her," Andy advised, echoing Rico's sentiments. "She might fixate on him if he's nice to her. She's not used to that."

"Like she 'fixated' on you?" Regan asked sharply.

"Sort of," Andy admitted, ignoring Regan's tone. "Like I said, she's not used to having people do nice things for her."

"It sounds to me like people are lining up to do nice things for her," Regan said bitterly. Paul, Chris, Joy and Ruth just stood by watching with wide eyes.

"Are you fucking insane?" Andy asked in a tone that was just as angry as Regan's had been.

"Regan, she's had a terrible life," Elizabeth cut in, trying to play peacemaker. "Her mom was pregnant at 14. She didn't want a child but her parents refused to sign the consent for her to abort. They're Catholic and the only thing worse that having a child at that age would be to abort it. Lupe was ignored for years. Her mother didn't enroll her in Head Start or kindergarten. She didn't even go to first grade until a neighbor called Child Services about a month into the school year.

"Her mom used to go to the liquor store and sell her food stamps for pennies on the dollar to get booze and weed. Lupe learned to read from the sex shop posters in the area. Rico said she barely weighed 40 pounds when she started school because her mother refused to feed her. Her mom got pregnant again when Lupe was about six or seven. Right, Andy?"

"Sounds right," he replied, still looking at Regan. "Her oldest brother is around seven or eight. The girl is five or six, I guess. There's a baby but I've never seen it."

"That's when Lupe became her mother's unpaid, live-in nanny," Elizabeth said, shaking her head. "She would leave the babies with Lupe sometimes for two or three days. She was nine years old and caring for two little kids."

"Where was Rico then?" Regan asked sarcastically.

"They didn't live in the building then," Andy said. "They moved, I don't know, Elicia's parents kicked her and Lupe out when Lupe was two, I think. They caught Elicia turning tricks, I've heard. That's her mom, Elicia. They didn't move back until Lupe was maybe 11."

"She was 10," Elizabeth corrected. "Her mom got clean for about a year and actually met a nice guy. Lupe said he really looked after them – and made Elicia take care of them. They got the apartment in your old building about that time. He was a day laborer but he made decent money, I guess. Lupe said he fell off a crane and died when she was 12."

"Yeah," Andy said. "And Elicia was already pregnant with Baby Number Four. She went back to her old habits. That's when Rico stepped in and started to look after Lupe."

"She's never had a piece of clothing that didn't come from Goodwill," Elizabeth said. "She's never had cable television or the Internet. She's never owned a single electronic device that worked. Even when her mom was dating – do you know his name, Andy?"

Andy shook his head. He had only heard third-party stories of Lupe's life. He didn't know the details.

"Even when her mom was dating the baby's father, Elicia would never allow him to buy things like that for Lupe," Elizabeth said sadly. "She seemed content to pretend her oldest daughter didn't exist. So I think Andy's right when he says that she's never had anyone be nice to her before. Even Rico and Tomas weren't particularly nice. They're not exactly warm and cuddly guys, you know. They looked after her – made sure she had enough to eat, kept the vultures away, that sort of stuff. When we sat down to supper tonight, it was the first time she's had a home-cooked meal in two years – unless you count macaroni and cheese that she made herself."

Regan closed her eyes but still felt tears coming. Rather than admit that she had been wrong, she headed inside the building and raced to the bathroom.

Elizabeth started after her but Joy put a hand on her arm.

"I'll go," Joy said. "I've listened to a variation on this all week. For some reason she's jealous of Lupe."

"Christ," Andy muttered. He couldn't figure out why anyone would be jealous of someone who had so little.

"You spent a lot of time with Lupe this week," Ruth pointed out diplomatically when Joy headed into the building.

"Yeah, well, somebody had to," Andy said, looking at the front entrance to the building. "What the fuck did she want me to do?"

"Then you suggest going out in a group instead of just spending time with her," Elizabeth mentioned, ignoring Andy's question.

"I asked her what she wanted to do," Andy replied in frustration. "She said she didn't care. I told her that you and Paul had talked about coming here since it was low-key. It's not like we could do anything alone anyway. She invited Joy and Ruth to spend the weekend with her – no offense, Ruth."

"It's cool," Ruth said. "I think she wanted us with her when she met your grandmother and father but she thought we'd split off after that."

"And I was supposed to know this?" Andy wondered. "I'm not a psychic. If I ask her and she says she doesn't care, I assume she doesn't care."

"Is that what you were arguing about in the car?" Ruth wondered.

"No," Andy said. "This is just a continuation of what we were arguing about. You all treated my grandmother like she's never taken a shit in her life. As soon as we get here, she talks about Lupe likes she's a dog – and she gets pissed because I think she's an elitist. What the fuck would you think?"

"We weren't that bad," Ruth protested.

"Oh, Jesus," Chris said, joining the conversation for the first time. "You three were so fucking weird that it creeped me out. I sort of got the impression that Anne didn't want to be treated as anything special – and then you all acted like ... well, like Andy said. That she was one step removed from Mother Teresa or something. It made me wonder if I'd committed some unforgiveable sin by kissing her on the cheek and Andy would hate me. That's just the way I greet my grandmother and I didn't even think about it."

"You didn't offend anybody," Andy said. "She loved it."

"It sort of seemed like she was trying to ... downplay, I guess ... all that royalty stuff," Chris said. "But as soon as she'd try to change the topic, someone would bring it right back up."

"It was just ... interesting," Ruth said, frowning. "I can see what you're saying but I didn't mean to fawn over her. I was just really excited to hear what life as a British aristocrat was like. I didn't mean to be such a..."

"Dumbass?" Chris supplied with a grin.

"That's as good a word as any," Ruth admitted with chagrin. "Looking back, I can see it. She was trying to move the focus off her and Evan and get to know us. I'm really sorry, Andy."

"It's fine," Andy said.

"I don't think Regan is that way though," Ruth added. "I think that she was just so intent upon making a positive impression on your grandmother and father that she reverted back to how she always acts around people like that. Lupe is just jealousy. The girl got all of your attention this week. Every time Regan would call, you'd be in a meeting with someone because of her or doing something for her."

"And when I'd have a minute, Regan was studying or going swimming or doing whatever with you and Joy," Andy protested. "You don't see me going mental about you, do you?"

"She felt guilty about that," Ruth admitted, referencing their Sunday night activities. "She worried that you'd be upset. Then Joy didn't help things any."

"What did she do?" Andy asked. Elizabeth, Paul and Chris had moved away to let them talk privately.

"She pointed out how little you and Regan really have in common," Ruth told him. "I chewed her ass over it. You and Regan don't know what you have in common yet. But tonight sort of brought it up again. She's never been to a place like this. She's never been mini golfing."

"Neither have I!" Andy practically shouted. "We're here because I asked Paul where a large group of people could do something fun and still talk and laugh. You can't do things like in a movie theater without risking gunfire. I knew my grandmother would want to go to bed early so the suite was out. She didn't offer to host anything at her house so I thought that her parents might have something going on. This was just a fucking place, Ruth! It has no significance whatsoever. Why in the hell won't she just tell me shit like this? Why am I expected to guess?"

"I think a lot of goes back to the shit they teach us at that fucking school," Ruth said angrily. "Last semester, all senior girls had to take an etiquette class. Most of us knew it was bullshit but Regan didn't have a frame of reference. It's like with the driving thing. That's one of the things they taught – guys make the plans; guys drive the car; guys hold the door; guys buy the meal. It's one of those courses the Gargoyle put in to make sure a few girls come out of C-B every year thinking it's still the 1940s. I guess Regan is one of them.

"She'd never been on a date and she really didn't have any friends to tell her it was all crap. Most of us just laughed it off but I guess maybe she didn't. It sort of explains how she acted with your father and grandmother. Joy and I have never been around ... people with a pedigree, I guess. I know Regan has. But that was one section of the class – how to treat influential people. Shit! I should have thought of this earlier. She was just trying to impress them."

"That doesn't explain how she acted toward my mother," Andy replied, not buying the argument. "My mother holds far more influence with me than those two."

"She was rude to your mom?" Ruth asked incredulously.

"God, no!" Andy told her. "She was perfect with Mom. She was funny; she was friendly. She was the Regan that I know. Tonight she was ... obsequious."

"Don't use words I don't understand," Ruth said with a wink. "You don't need to impress me."

"All the other descriptions have already been used," Andy said. "Fawning, ass-kissing, you know, that sort of thing."

"I actually knew what it meant," Ruth said, rolling her eyes. "It might not make sense to you but it does to me. With your mom, Regan knew she could just be herself and it would be enough. Tonight, she wasn't sure. So she fell back on what she knows. They told us that some classes of people expect a certain amount of deference. She just overdid it, I think."

"I sure bollocksed that up," Evan said as he sat down with Camille over a glass of wine. Anne had retired since it was the middle of the night in England and her body hadn't had time to adjust to the change.

"I think it went OK," Camille replied. A call had come into the towing company just as she got ready to leave and she had arrived at the suite just before the group departed. She had missed most of the evening.

"It was rubbish," Evan said, shaking his head. "The girl was ... she wasn't like anything Andy has told me. Mum tried to make everyone comfortable like she did when you visited. She was cutting up and making jokes – mostly at my expense, mind you. One of the girls – I can't recall which was which – joined in but Regan seemed intent on pulling the topic back to how important the Duffields are. She reminded me of those simpering girls that threw themselves at me in school when they learned I had a title."