Chapter 12

The following Friday, we once again had guests for supper, Larissa, Latoya and Frank Morely. I was gradually getting used to the idea of Morely dating Latoya. They seemed to be an item. I still didn't trust the son of a bitch. I hoped that he wasn't another like her high-school sweetheart. Once again, Latoya might be too trusting. In any case, Morely's articling would soon be over. I promised myself not to let the incident in the coffee room influence my evaluation of him. But his description of Stacie as a "cute little armful" with big "fun-bags" was disturbingly like Latoya's former beau describing her as his "nigger cunt from the projects." I put all that out of my mind as best I could. The point of the evening was to have fun.

Much of the conversation around the table had been office gossip about happenings at Mack and Jack. Larissa put a stop to that. "I get enough of this horseshit at work," she said, "and I'm sure that it's not very interesting to Charlotte. If we're eating her food, we can at least have the courtesy to include her in the conversation."

There was silence for a moment and then noises of assent. Latoya was the first to introduce a new topic. She directed a question at Stacie and Charlotte, "Have either of you heard from Sydney lately?"

The two looked at each other. "I invited her tonight," Stacie said, "but she told me she couldn't come. She's very busy with something."

"Yeah, I know. I ran into her the other day when I was visiting my parents. She tells me that she's frantically planning for a trip. She's going to Calgary. Sounds like she's considering moving out there. Alberta is booming, and Syd says she's going to check out the job market."

Stacie said, "I don't understand. The last I knew Sydney had a pretty good job here. How's she just going to pull up stakes and take off for Calgary?"

Latoya shrugged. "I asked her the same thing," she said. "Syd says her job here is a dead end, She thinks she can do better out there. And she's got a place to stay until she gets on her feet."

I said, "Now wait a minute. As far as I know, the only person Sydney knows in Calgary is Heather. Her folks have a big place, but, unless they've changed radically, they're not in the habit of putting people up for extended periods." Then the penny dropped. I remembered hearing the sounds of sex coming from Heather's room when she last stayed with us. "My God," I said. "Of course. Heather must be the reason she's going to Calgary."

Stacie said, "I don't understand. Of course Heather and Sydney are friends. They seemed to get along really well from the start. But that doesn't really explain why Heather and her folks would offer to let her stay with them. Or why Sydney would suddenly decide to go clear across the country."

Charlotte patted Stacie's hand. "Child," she said, "I think what Jack means is that Heather and Sydney are more than friends."

Stacie furrowed her brow. "More than friends," she said. Then she looked at Charlotte in astonishment. "Do you mean..."

"Yes, child. I do mean that. They're lovers."

"But Heather's just a kid!"

"She's not too young to fall in love. How old were you when you fell in love with Jack?"

"But that's different."

Charlotte said, "Why? Because they're both girls? Do you mean that gay people can't fall in love just like anyone else?"

"No," Stacie said, "I've known for a long time that Sydney was gay. And that's never affected our friendship. But Heather... I just don't get it."

"Darling," I said, "do you remember telling me that Heather sometimes made you uncomfortable? You said that she had a way of looking at you and touching you that you didn't like."

"Yes, but you said it was probably just a phase she was going through."

"I've been wrong before," I said.

Latoya said quietly, "How do you feel about this, Jack? If it's more serious than we thought between them, I mean."

"How do I feel about Heather?" Latoya nodded. "She's my niece, and I love her. I'd hope that I'd feel the same whatever her sexual orientation might be."

Charlotte said, "I'm sure that Sydney and Heather will let us know if there's anything serious going on. So let's talk about something else. Larissa, I mentioned to you on the phone the other day that Stacie has asked me to head up this scholarship fund she's starting. And it scares me to death. I have to tell you that if anybody but Stacie asked me to do something like this, I'd refuse."

Latoya asked, "What's this all about?"

Stacie said, "It's the money from my dad's insurance. I want to establish a scholarship for girls."

Charlotte said, "It's an awful lot of money. Just the interest every year will be a lot. And Stacie wants the interest to go to a girl who deserves it. A girl who couldn't pay for university on her own. It's a great idea, but I just don't think I'm the right person to look after this. I've never done anything like this. Never wanted to, either."

Larissa patted Charlotte's hand affectionately. "Don't worry, honey," she said, "you'll do a great job. And this old broad will be happy to help you. Any way I can."

"I'll help, too," Frank said, "and I hope I can speak for Toy as well." Latoya nodded. "It would be good experience for both of us to help with some of the legal stuff."

Charlotte smiled. "That makes me feel a world of better," she said. "But I still don't know if I'm up to it."

Frank said, "Don't worry. The three of us, Larissa, Latoya and I, will look after the legal stuff. Of course you'll also need an expert investment advisor if you're going to make that interest every year."

Stacie said, "We're already looking into that. Do you remember Jeff Richards, the guy who represented me at my parents' trial?" Frank nodded. "Well, his wife, Shari, has a similar sort of charity, and she's offered to have her people work on my fund. At least until we can get someone permanent to look after it."

"The money stuff and the legal stuff may be in good shape," Charlotte said, "but there's still the matter of getting the scholarship to the right person. I don't have any idea how to go about that."

Frank smiled. He said, "That might be the least of your worries. The way these things are usually run is to put together an impartial panel of experts. You know, educators and such. You let them look at the applications and make a decision. That way you won't have charges of favouritism or bias. It's all in picking the right people for the job."

Charlotte sighed. "You people are great. I already feel better. Maybe we can put this thing together yet." She smiled at Larissa. "And you've always been there for me ever since I met you."

Larissa blushed and looked into her wine glass. I had to grin. I'd never seen this self-styled "tough old broad" at such a loss for words.

The scholarship fund started shaping up right away. Between them, Larissa, Frank and Latoya drew up the basic documents. I took a cursory look at them and was impressed. They seemed to have done their homework.

On the weekends, Larissa became a fixture around the house. She and Charlotte had been fast friends from their first meeting. Now they seemed almost inseparable. They usually worked in Charlotte's apartment. I'd often hear peals of laughter coming from the basement.

I came home from a late meeting one evening to find a full-fledged council of war going on in my kitchen. Stacie, Charlotte, Latoya and Frank were seated around the table, which was covered with papers. Rather than disturb what appeared to be a productive meeting, I offered to make myself a sandwich and take it upstairs. As I got the fixings together, Charlotte said, "Let's make a deal. I'll make your sandwich, and you give me some advice. Latoya came up with this crazy idea that I should go on TV to promote the fund. Have you ever seen a less telegenic person than me?"

I grinned and put my arm around her. "Charlotte, don't sell yourself short. You cut quite a figure when you want to. I can easily understand Latoya's point. If you're going to get the best applications for the fund, people have to know about it. There should be a spokesperson. Someone people can relate to. And why shouldn't it be you? After all, you're in charge."