America 1982-Chapter 402 - 50: Not a One-Man Holiday
On a winter night in New York, Colin, holding a can of light beer cheaper than bottled water, leaned lazily on the living room sofa. Without turning on the television, his gaze was tenderly fixed on Bessie, who sat in front of the roaring fireplace, her cheeks aglow with the firelight, discussing extracurricular reading topics with Mrs. Morgan, the family tutor.
Although he couldn’t understand what exactly Mrs. Morgan and his daughter were talking about, it just felt warm.
His son Tommy at the far end of the living room, was quietly conversing with Sophia about something. If he could replace Sophia with Odelia, and add Tony and Ashley beside them, Colin would feel his life was nearly complete, with nothing left but to wait for God’s call to ascend into heaven and reunite with his wife Alida in the kingdom above.
After finishing his conversation with Sophia, Tommy too walked over, picked up a can of beer from the coffee table, opened it, and sat down next to his old man. He glanced in the direction of Bessie, then curiously asked his intensely gazing father,
"What are you looking at?"
"The Immoralist." Colin turned his head to look at Tommy as he spoke.
Tommy paused for a moment, glanced again in Bessie’s direction, and then realized that his dad wasn’t condemning him, but saying that Bessie and her tutor were discussing a French novel titled The Immoralist.
"What do you think of the character Michelle’s actions in the book, Bessie?" Mrs. Morgan, a stern and precise old lady who had retired as a headmistress from a church girls’ school in Providence and was a committee member of the Rhode Island Educational Advocacy Association. She wouldn’t be easy to hire as a private tutor if it weren’t for fundraising for her association’s initiative to increase homework for elementary and secondary students, and she wouldn’t simply accept payment to teach. Now she pushed her reading glasses up on her nose and looked intently at Bessie.
Although her father was waiting for God’s call, Bessie was convinced that God did not exist in this world.
Because since she was seven years old, every night before going to bed, she would pray sincerely to God that Tommy would lose money in business, at least so much that he could not afford the fees for her private tutor. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦
Or she would pray earnestly for God to bless Mrs. Morgan and all the various teachers who oppressed her on Tommy’s behalf with all sorts of emergencies, such as accidental pregnancies or sprained ankles, anything that would prevent them from being able to tutor her on time.
But now she was fourteen, and those earnest prayers had never once been answered. Instead, the stakes kept increasing. As she grew older, she gained even more extracurricular activities like dance, fencing, equestrianism, and tennis. Her classmates could spend the weekends in big cities attending live concerts of stars, whereas she could only go to symphony concerts she did not enjoy.
Bessie felt that watching a group of ducks quacking and swimming chaotically by the lakeside was more interesting than sitting in a gown below the stage, watching a bunch of people play all sorts of instruments in unison.
Finally coming to New York to enjoy a vacation and family gathering, her dear brother Tommy considerately arranged for their personal nightmare, Mrs. Morgan, to be brought to their New York vacation home by private car. Before she could even catch her breath and take off her coat in her bedroom, Mrs. Morgan had already started inquiring if she had finished yesterday’s homework.
Why were Tony and Tommy allowed a carefree childhood, with Tony knowing Ashley since they were little, the two being childhood friends, and Tommy had his own two bosom friends, Dennis and Pam?
While her own childhood was only accompanied by a witch like Mrs. Morgan.
"After reading it, all I can think of is my brother Tommy." Hearing Mrs. Morgan already clearing her throat slightly, Bessie quickly snapped back to reality and answered Mrs. Morgan.
Mrs. Morgan was stunned for a moment, and both Tommy, who was comfortably drinking beer on the nearby sofa, and his father, who heard Bessie’s words, straightened up involuntarily. His father was even happy to say to Tommy, "See? You’re Bessie’s idol. She says you’re as outstanding as the celebrities in the book."
Tommy licked his lips and whispered to his dad, "I’m not so optimistic about your view."
"What do you mean? What do you mean by ’your brother Tommy’?" Mrs. Morgan was a bit perplexed by Bessie’s first sentence, but it wasn’t strange for a student to give any answer; what mattered was the ensuing explanation.
Bessie turned to glance at Tommy, then looked back at the cover of The Immoralist in her hand, "I think Tommy is a lot like Michelle, a person who defies morality. Tommy wasn’t always like this, I mean he used to take me to the forest to catch butterflies, or he chased a dog that made me cry and taught it a lesson for two months, until the dog would howl and flee whenever it saw me. But I don’t know when it started, he betrayed himself. Just like Michelle, he put on layer after layer of clothes, he began to love studying, his conversations were always about God, no life, only work. He would even give up family reunions for the sake of earning more money."
"I think she’s just starting off by complaining about you a bit before seriously thanking you." Colin said somewhat awkwardly, feeling the need to amend his earlier statement a bit.
But again, the father was wrong. Bessie, eyes occasionally darting to Tommy, went on more incisively, "Michelle knew full well he didn’t love his wife Marceline, but he still married her because Marceline was gentle, considerate, beautiful, and virtuous. Tommy is the same, I think. He doesn’t love Odelia that much or rather, apart from himself, he doesn’t love anyone."
