Chapter 19

We drove home again in silence. I was upset with myself for fleeing the Coulter house, but, at the same time, vastly relieved not to still be there. It was obvious to me that Anne Coulter had serious problems. It seemed obvious also, that the drinking was more a symptom of her problems, rather than the actual problem. She was still a relatively young woman.

"Dad, can we drive over to Uncle Bunny's office? I need to see him about the Coulter's."

"Maybe you should take a few days to reflect on it, Kenny. You don't want to initiate anything that you'll regret later. Those people are already leading miserable lives."

"I know that. I don't want to sue them or anything. I feel sorry for both of them. I want to see if Uncle Bunny can do anything to help them out." My dad looked over at me for a minute, before making a right turn at the next corner, and heading over to Uncle Bunny's office. When we got there, both of us went inside. Uncle Bunny's secretary waved us right into his office, as soon as we came through the front door. When he saw us, Uncle Bunny stood up from behind his desk and approached us with a questioning smile on his face.

"Tommy and Kenny. What can I do for you two today?" For any lawyer, people coming to see him must have usually meant more business. For relatives, it usually meant more business, but with little prospect for being paid. Still, Uncle Bunny seemed happy to see us.

"Uncle Bunny, you said you'd set up a trust for the money that Mama and Dad gave me?"

"That's correct, Kenny. Do you need some money?"

"I'm not sure yet. I want you to represent me with the Coulter's."

"You want to file suit against them, or press criminal charges?"

"No, neither of those. I want to try to help them. You might need to use the threat of that against them, to get them to do what I want. I want both of them to get checked out by a competent doctor. Anne Coulter will probably need to be hospitalized, to get her to quit drinking. I'm not sure about Anne's mother. I also want to hire some people to fix up their house. It smells really bad in there, and nothing is being taken care of. The outside needs to be painted and all the screens on the windows need to be replaced. Someone should fix up their yard too. I'd like to get someone hired to look after them, to make sure they're getting the right food to eat."

"Kenny, you can't force people to change their behavior. You'd need their permission before you did any of these things. It would be expensive too. The money you were given was for you, to make you feel comfortable with having money. It is never a good time to spend your principal. There is income already that you can spend, but probably not enough yet to do all of this. Perhaps you should start slow?"

"Uncle Bunny, this is something I need to do. They threw me away, but I never want to be anything like them. I can't help being worried about what's going to happen to them. I'd be doing this for my own peace of mind. Now that I've seen how they live, I realize they did me a favor by throwing me away. That might not have been why they did it, but that's how it has turned out. I want you to go see Sister Clara too, and see if she has anything she wants or needs."

I saw Uncle Bunny and Dad looking at each other. It looked like Uncle Bunny was waiting for my dad to give his approval of my request. I looked over at my father too, and saw him nod his head affirmatively at my uncle. Uncle Bunny seemed surprised at my father's approval, but he kept silent. We spoke for several more minutes, with Uncle Bunny repeating the tasks I'd asked him to handle for me. My father reminded Uncle Bunny that both the Coulter's were afraid of any police contact because of the insurance fraud, and possible other transgressions.

"Bunny, do what you can to convince them to cooperate fully. If they refuse, I'll go see Ken Dyer, and have him go out to ask them a few questions. He still owes me some favors, and I'm sure he'd cooperate with us on this. His mother and mine were drinking buddies when we were kids. We both watched what the prolonged drinking did to them."

Uncle Bunny had taken some notes while we had been talking. He said he'd get right on it, and would be over for dinner soon, to let us know how he was progressing. When we left, he walked us out to Dad's car. On the way out, Uncle Bunny started discussing the cost overruns on the lodge over at the golf learning center. Mama kept making changes in the plans that made it more expensive for the contractor to build it. Dad said he'd have another talk with her, but neither of them looked like they believed it would do any good.

Back at home, I sat down in the kitchen with Mama, Gerta and Hans, filling them in on what had taken place at the meeting, and telling them of my decision concerning aiding the Coulter's. Mama didn't say anything about me helping them out, but Gerta made it known right away that she was against me having anything further to do with them. I didn't try to explain or to justify my decision to her. I wasn't sure that it was the right thing to do myself. I just knew I'd feel better if I did it.

Elizabeth came into the kitchen from somewhere in the interior of the house. "Did Gerta tell you yet, Kenny?" She looked over at Gerta angrily.

"Tell me what?" I hadn't seen Elizabeth since before I left a week ago.

"She's given me two weeks to find another job and a new place to live. Just because of Aunt Mildred and Cousin Anne. How is any of that my fault? I hardly know them." I looked over at her again, everything finally clicking into place for me. She looked like me because we were related. She was my second cousin. Mama, Elizabeth, and I were all staring at Gerta after that information. Gerta got up from where she'd been sitting and turned away, walking over to the refrigerator.

"Gerta, is this true?" I found it hard to believe that Gerta would fire Elizabeth because she was my relative.

"We don't need anyone here now. I can take care of your mama and do my other work. You don't need to always be reminded of those people. She would always remind you of them."

"Gerta, that's crazy talk. I'm a closer relative to them than she is. Are you going to ask me to leave too?"

"No, of course not, but she's different. You belong here, you're family."

"Gerta, if I'm family, then she's family too. She's my cousin. Those people, they're my family too. You can't change that by pretending they aren't." I looked over at Mama. She seemed uncertain about anything that was taking place there in the kitchen. "Mama, tell Gerta this isn't right. She shouldn't fire Elizabeth just because we're related to each other."

"Kenny, I've always left the household staff up to Gerta. This is her decision to make, and I won't overrule her." I stared at Mama. It was obvious to me now that she felt the same way Gerta did. Whatever her words, by not interfering, she gave her approval to what Gerta had done. I took a minute to think about this. I might not like the decision, but I couldn't claim they both didn't have the right to make it. I made up my mind quickly.

"I'm sorry Elizabeth. It isn't my place to interfere with their decision. Let me speak with my Uncle Bunny, and we'll find a good place for you. What kind of work do you like to do?"

"In North Carolina, I worked in a pet store. I liked working with the animals, but it doesn't pay anything. I worked for the Simpson's, over at the feed store, but I didn't like it." Her voice had little inflection to it. I wondered if she was smoking marijuana before she came in.

"Uncle Bunny has room over at his house, maybe you could take care of him. Do you think you'd like that?"

"Take care of him, how?"

"Keep his house clean, do the cooking, make sure all his dirty clothes get washed, or sent out to the cleaners."

"No funny business?"

"He's a nice guy, how much funny business were you hoping for?" Gerta and Mama laughed at that, but Elizabeth didn't seem to think it was very funny.

"I'm not going to be that kind of a live in, Kenny. If that was what you were expecting." Elizabeth was serious. I wondered why she would think that of any of us. I'd never given her any reason to think that of me. Maybe Gerta told her stories about Bea and I, or Bea and Uncle Bunny, and she just assumed we thought it was part of her job description.

"Elizabeth, I don't think anyone expects those kinds of services from you. I don't even know if Uncle Bunny wants anyone over at his house. I was trying to find something that wouldn't be too hard, and where you could have a nice place to live too. If you start out with a chip on your shoulder, no one is going to want to hire you. Do you want me to ask him, or not?"

"I guess so. I can always quit, right?"

"Yes. We're also looking for someone to look after your Aunt and Cousin. Would you rather work for them?"

"No! I don't like them. We've never had much to do with them. They were my dad's relatives. No offense to you, Kenny."

"None taken. I don't know them either, except for Sister Clara, and she was nice to me."

"Donna is okay, but Clara left for the convent when I was around eight years old. I see Donna in town sometimes, and we always say hi to each other. How old is your uncle, Kenny?"

"He's forty eight I think, and he's single too. He's an attorney. You might be too old for him. His last girlfriend was nineteen years old."

"What about my smoking?"

"You have to ask him, Elizabeth. If it were cigarettes, I'm sure he'd have no problem, as long as you didn't smoke indoors. I've never seen you smoke regular cigarettes, so I guess you meant smoking marijuana?"

"That's what I meant. I'm not going to work for him if he gets all uptight over a little smoke."

Gerta and Mama laughed again. Uncle Bunny had gone through a phase when he was younger, where he smoked marijuana too. I didn't tell Elizabeth what they were laughing about. If Uncle Bunny wanted to tell her, he would. I excused myself and went up to my room to phone my uncle. I got him just as he was leaving for lunch. At first, he thought I was calling him to see what progress he'd made with the Coulter's, but I quickly assured him that this was a new problem I was calling about. I explained the situation, and Uncle Bunny had already met Elizabeth and was aware of her marijuana smoking.

"Kenny, I don't want any live in help. I value my privacy. I'll look around to see if anyone I know is looking for a live in housekeeper and cook, but I doubt that I'll find anything for her."

"I hate to bring this up, Uncle Bunny, but you really have to do this for me. All I'm asking is that you give her a fair trial."

"Why do I have to do this?"

"Do you remember what you promised me that time I helped Mama come out of her withdrawal?" There was a pause on the line, a lengthy pause, before Uncle Bunny replied again.

"That isn't how family treats each other, Kenny. I'm disappointed in you."

"I'm sorry you feel that way, Uncle Bunny. She's being fired because Mama doesn't want to be reminded that she's a blood relative of mine. She's already had a lot of bad stuff happen to her, and she doesn't deserve this. You're the only one I can turn to. I'm not demanding it because of what you promised that time. I'm only asking, but it's very important to me. Remember when I helped you out with Bea? I did it because you asked me to. She asked me how old you are. She knows you're rich, and she's seen you in person. She's twenty eight years old, and her husband has been dead for a few years now. She doesn't date."