I smile. “See, Dad? I am smart. Are you proud? You wouldn’t have gotten anywhere without the pills from Blanchard Hospital, so you had to keep Augustus happy and protect his son from scandal, all while lining yourself up to inherit when Augustus died. That’s why you tolerated Killian, too, even though you hated him. He was the connection to the Sons you needed. Maybe he’s even the one who brought them in, helped you mastermind it. When did it start? I know you were holding meetings at night in your office when I was a kid. What were you doing—planning drug runs? Figuring out how to expand your territory, manipulate the Sons? Is that why you started saying prayers to dark gods in those white stone circles? Were you begging for success?”
His eyes widen. “You couldn’t possibly know—”
“Ever told me about the circles. Did you know your God wouldn’t listen?”
“It wasKillian,” he snaps. “Killian and his guilt. After Célestine died he was obsessed with her rituals. Trying to piece her back together after he tore her apart. He performed one the night before Jebediah and the Sons were supposed to take down one of our rivals in New Orleans. We were expanding our territory. It was risky, dangerous, but I saw a path. And the ambush worked. Tom and Fred were convinced it was because of Killian’s ritual. So the next time we had a shipment going out, he did it again. He brought a rabbit into my office, slit its throat right there on the floor. A bloody sacrifice. And it worked.” My father shakes his head, as if he’s still mystified. “That’s when I realized what shapeshifters our God and Lucifer are. They were speaking to me anew through this paganism. The Queen Mother and the Low Man—just different names for the same powers.”
“When you beat Everett, was it part of a ritual?”
“Ruth, stop,” my mother gasps.
“Did you need a sacrifice, and thought, why not this little boy? He was as powerless as a rabbit, after all.”
My mother whips to my father. “This has crossed a line. Tell her to stop talking.”
“Everett wasweak,” my father spits out. “He came from a corrupt family. We taught him his place early. It was a mercy.”
His words pierce my heart. “Everything you did to protect yourself from the Low Man tells me you knew all along what you were doing was wrong.”
“James—” my mother starts.
“Enough, Adele. Jesus Christ,enough.” He whirls to her, and she blinks in shock. “What is a wife’s role?”
“I—”
“Answerme. Does she question her husband, or is she his faithful lieutenant?”
I can see her pride warring with her sense of duty. Finally, she lowers her eyes. “His lieutenant.”
“Then be silent.” He spins to me and I take an instinctive step back. “And you. Listen to me. All I’ve ever done was be the leader this town needed.Imade it a God-fearing place.Igrew Holy Fire.I’vedrawn in people from Forsythe, Port Sulphur, Houma, all over the state. And to do it—to serve the Lord—I needed money. Earthly power. Everything I’ve done was to expand the Kingdom of Heaven.”
“To expandyourkingdom.”
“Of course it’s mine,” he shouts, seizing the armchair and shaking it. “My kingdom and God’s kingdom are one and the same. I am theway, child. God came to me in a vision when I was younger than you and gave me this mission. And what are the laws of men compared to the will of God?”
“That’s what all of this has been about? The apotheosis of James Cornier?”
He hits the wall with his fist; a photograph falls to the floor and cracks. “That’s how He’s worked His will on earth since the beginning. He calls some of us to be his emissaries. And there are always doubters. Their fate is to burn with the rest of the nonbelievers.”
I stare at him, watching his chest heave. “You don’t get to pretend that it’s God who wants you to be powerful.”
“God speaks to me—”
“Did He tell you to do nothing while Everett was beaten? Look the other way while Fred hurt his daughter? Let Lila drive off with Herman? Did God tell you to do all of those things?”
My father rolls his neck, as if I’m trying his patience. “The end justifies the means, Ruth. That’s a thing you’ll learn as you get older. Sometimes regretful things happen on the path to greater good. And you should be grateful to me. I’ve shielded and protected you your entire life.”
It echoes back, the memory of him pulling me away from Herman.He’s right—I alone was protected. Compared to Everett, Lila, Beth, and who knows who else, I’ve been as cosseted as a princess. A deep sense of debt wells inside me. “I never asked you to do that.”
“You didn’t have to. You’re my daughter. Everett and Beth were bad seeds, anyway. You have to take a firm hand with children like that. And when it came to Herman, well, the most important thing was keeping the town on the right path to prosperity. I had to focus on the bigger picture.”
“The bigger picture is you’re killing people with opioids. At best, making them sick. How could that possibly be part of God’s plan?”
“We’re all sick, Ruth.” My father delivers the words like he’s back on his balcony, preaching. “We’re all born sinners, in need of redemption. But not all of us are destined to be saved. That was never God’s plan, to let everyone into Heaven. It’s some men’s fate to fill the bowels of Hell. Look around our country and you can see it. A great sickness sucking the marrow out of once-great towns. The whole nation falling to atheism and immorality. But not here. In Bottom Springs, we’re protected. Their wickedness can’t hurt us. On the contrary, it fuels our growth, the beauty of our parks, the might of our businesses. Why shouldn’t addicts’ and sinners’ bad choices enrich us? Let them be good for something.”
“How can you—”
“Like you,” he says, as if I haven’t spoken. “You never obeyed—not in your heart. You claim you’ve grown into a God-fearing woman, but inside you’re still the same sad and silly teenage girl. ‘Pay attention to me, Daddy, but don’t punish me when I’ve done wrong.’ Here you are again, in my house, taking my time, demanding I explain myself. Well, there are bigger things than you and your feelings, Ruth. It’s time to grow up.”
