Free Eden Hill by Bill Higgs Page B

carried away sometimes.”
    “What do you mean, ‘carried away’?” Mavine’s voice was rising. “Vee needs to behave in church and pay attention to the Sunday sermons. And he needs to know the facts of life.”
    “He doesn’t need to know all of that at his age. Vee asked me what adultery was, and I didn’t know quite what to tell him. He thinks it just means being a grown-up, and can’t figure out why it’s such a sin. Couldn’t you just have him read the Hardy Boys or cowboys and Indians or something?”
    Mavine stood and returned to her shelf of classic books. “Virgil, I know you don’t see the value in classic literature, but it’s good for Vee. If I left it up to you, he’d be reading Zane Grey. Or worse, a Louis L’Amour. But all right then, here’s James Fenimore Cooper. So you get your Indians, anyway.”
    Virgil followed her into the living room and frowned at her choice of reading material. “Mavine, just what are you so unhappy about?”
    “Virgil, he was being disobedient and obstinate. Probably sulking up in his room.”
    Obstinate? Something bad, apparently. “All right, Mavine, so Vee was smoking. He knows better and probably ought to have some kind of punishment for it, but that’s no reason for   —”
    “Virgil, I have such high hopes for our son. He’s a smart boy and is making such good grades in school. I want him to go to the university   —I’ve always loved the idea of a university education. To be successful in life. That’s why I givehim good books to read; I want him to have the same love for literature that I have. To make his world bigger.”
    “And you think making him read on a snow day is going to help? I have high hopes for him too. The hardest thing for him right now would be to think about his friends having fun out on their sleds while he’s stuck in here reading.”
    She looked to one side, not a good sign. “Virgil, I kept my schoolbooks after graduation instead of selling them, even though my family could have used the money. They were about the only thing that kept me going with the war on and all. You were stationed at Fort Benning, so you never knew how much they meant to me. Vee’s learning to love them too, even if he doesn’t realize it yet.”
    “Vee loves other things right now,” said Virgil, “like being a good, healthy kid. I don’t see what you’re getting at.”
    “I want Vee to make something of himself, Virgil. Something he’ll be proud of. I don’t want him to end up like you.”
    Virgil might as well have been smacked in the face with Mavine’s steam iron. He said nothing for several seconds, trying to sort out the words he had just heard. Mavine clapped a hand over her mouth, then dropped the book on the table with a heavy thud, turned away, and buried her face in both hands. She seemed to be trying to say something, but no words were coming out.
    For his part, he bit his own tongue, not sure he could trust the words he might say in return. He loved their son too. Didn’t she understand that? Somehow, in one sentence, she’d reduced him to a nobody. Anger and confusion welledup inside him, and his thoughts were fuzzy and whirling. Was Mavine angry, hurt, disappointed, or confused? All of these? He couldn’t tell, but he knew any response he might make right now would be one he’d likely regret.
    Virgil stood, nearly knocking over his chair, only to find himself surprisingly unsteady on his feet. He leaned on the table for balance and took a breath, trying to quench the fires inside and pull his thoughts together into something that made sense. “So, Mavine. Is there something wrong with who I am? I may not have much schooling, and I haven’t read all those classy books of yours, but I think I’ve done pretty well.” His voice was rising in both pitch and volume, so he paused, looking for words that wouldn’t make matters worse.
    “I work hard to put this food on your table, keep you in clothes and buy you the