The Pepper in the Gumbo (Men of Cane River #1)(44)
Andy made a noise in the back of his throat.
Paul hurried on. “I’m doomed if I don’t get a handle on my need for revenge. I came here to show off to all these people who thought I wouldn’t amount to anything. I wanted to rub my success in their faces, make sure they saw how rich I am, how I don’t need them and their bigotry.”
“And how’s that going so far?” Andy gave him a sly look that was just short of a smirk.
“Pretty well. You know I got everything I wanted without even trying: the site, the building permit, everything.”
“And that’s a problem? I don’t see why we have to try to fix what’s not broken.”
Paul leaned forward. “If it’s for the wrong reason, then it could be a very big problem.” He thought back to Tater, the way he described the Commander. “Right now, I’m the guy everybody loves. I’m invincible. But give it a few weeks and I could be knee deep in small-town politics because I’m obsessed with being right.”
Andy nodded. “Okay, I can see it. So, you’re over it? We’re going home and just coming back for the opening?” He took a sip of his water. “I can’t say I’m complaining. This humidity is unbearable. I feel like I just stepped out of the shower, all the time.”
“No, my epiphany wasn’t that I shouldn’t care. It’s that I need to put my bitterness to better use.”
Andy raised an eyebrow. “Like building computer labs for all the schools.”
“Right.” Paul looked up, glancing around the crowded diner. He’d been walking around, his defenses up, waiting to run into people he used to hate and who had kept him from exceling. Now he looked to see if there was someone he used to know that needed help.
Andy sat back and let out a long breath. “I’ve always admired you, Paul. I admire your work ethic and your fire. You were determined to prove everybody wrong and it drove you to study the hardest, work eighteen-hour days, find a way around a problem when everyone said it couldn’t be done. I could count on you to never give up even when our CEO left us in the lurch, and our first big launch was ruined by that massive bug.”
“You think I’ve lost my fire? You think I’m going soft now?”
Andy shook his head. “No. Just the opposite. My dad worked two jobs to help put me through MIT. When I graduated I thought he’d be proud because I’d done what he never got to do, get a college degree. One night I asked him if he thought about those high school teachers who wouldn’t help him apply for college. I was sure he’d say he pictured them every time he got four hours of sleep or worked the graveyard shift.”
Paul could feel a pulse pounding in his head. He knew just what Andy’s dad had said. Paul thought of all those people who’d stood in his way. Every time he was too tired to go through some code that wasn’t working, he thought of them. And he gave it one more shot. Paul didn’t want those people to win. Even now, he could bring up the memory of their names and faces at the merest suggestion.
Andy leaned forward. “He told me he never gave them a second thought. The only thing that got him out of bed in the middle of the night was the idea of me getting to go to college.”
The words sank deep, resonating with truth. Paul stared down at his glass.
“Bitterness can get you pretty far in life. But love always takes you farther,” Andy said.
“You’re a wise man, Andy.” Paul heard the roughness in his own voice and cleared his throat.
“One who’s proud to call you friend,” he said. He reached out a hand and gave Paul a fist bump. “And now that we’ve streamlined your new plan to take over the city, I hope the food is on its way. I’m going to start eating the napkins soon.”
Paul snorted. Neither of them enjoyed heart-to-heart talks. This was about as deep as they’d ever get. But it felt good to know Andy understood.
Paul thought of what was coming that evening, that he’d decided to tell Alice he was Browning Wordsworth Keats. It would be perfect. He was sorting things out, making a new start. He opened his mouth to tell Andy, but the waitress arrived, bearing plates of hot food.
The food derailed his thoughts. By the time he’d worked his way through half the sausage links and all the hash browns, Paul thought maybe he’d wait a little longer to drop that particular bomb on his friend. A guy could only handle so much drama in one day.
Chapter Thirteen
The march of science and technology does not imply growing intellectual complexity in the lives of most people. It often means the opposite.—Thomas Sewell
Alice pulled her hair back from her face and frowned at her reflection. The music was as loud in her bedroom as it was outside on the stage outside, with the first band starting off the night with a bang. She turned her head, squinting at her reflection. Mamere always said it was better to tame her curls than let them loose, but Alice felt as if her whole life had been spent trying to tame the untamable just because her grandmother had said so. She secured the top in a loose bun and let the rest fall around her shoulders. It wasn’t a great style for dancing with the swing and jitterbug moves, but she didn’t care. Not tonight.
Alice passed over the tube of beige lipstick and uncapped a bright red. Tonight was one of the few nights where she could really dress up, and it wasn’t for the shop or for a date. This festival connected with the deepest parts of her family heritage and she honored it the only way she could. She would overcome her introverted self, head to that dance floor, and show the tourists how real zydeco dancing was done. Her childhood friend Julien Burel would be there, along with his four brothers, and probably every one of his cousins. Alice never longed to be the center of attention, but tonight she would step onto that stage and dance for every member of her family that couldn’t.