Tryin’ to Sleep in the Bed You Made by Virginia DeBerry & Donna Grant

Author:Virginia DeBerry & Donna Grant
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 1997-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

“ … there’s more than one way to skin a skunk.”

“There are almost as many security agents as guests.” Pat handed Minnie Littlefield a glass of lemonade. Minnie, perched on a wooden porch glider, looked fragile to Pat, but she had remained feisty, even after Dorothea died. “I guess that’s what happens when the Vice President says he’ll drop by your party.” This year the Hughes annual Illumination Day affair felt as formal as a state dinner. Secret Service had sealed off the perimeter two blocks around the house. Nobody got inside without an invitation and a name on the official list. Pat was

Minnie’s ‘… and guest.’

Minnie eyeballed the seersuckered sentry posted at the front door of Hughes House. “This is ludicrous. We’ve had dignitaries on the island for years. I don’t know why he wants that man here in the first place. I must speak to Turner. This party has become a spectacle!”

“Turner’s got to stay politically connected because of business, and the last thing you’d want is for the Vice President of the United States to be injured at a Black man’s party.”

“Lord, yes. They’d put us all on boats for sure then!” Minnie agreed.

Even though Minnie didn’t cotton to the Vice President’s party affiliation, the thought of Turner, her father, playing host to such a prominent figure made Pat swell with pride. She anticipated the arrival of the honored guest as much as anyone, but more to the point she wanted to see Turner, and he hadn’t made an appearance yet. Out of the corner of her eye, Pat saw William and Indianola Lewis strolling up the walk and decided to duck into the house to avoid a conversation where P.J.’s name would undoubtedly come up.

“There’s too much hot air in there for me. I’ll be along later, dear,” Minnie said.

Pat paused at the main stairs to gaze at the portraits. They had stayed so vivid in her mind that she could hardly believe it had been almost a decade since she had last seen them. Just as stern and imposing as before, but this time she felt more secure that she would live up to their challenge. She let her mind wander, to a time when she could trot up these steps and be met by a hug or a kiss on the cheek, what any daughter could expect.

“Can I help you, miss?” The agent, posted at the curve of the banister looked wilted in his dark suit, but he was obviously alert. “The upstairs quarters are off-limits.”

“Just admiring the pictures. There’s a lot of history up there, you know.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Like he cares. She swung into the dining room, heading straight for the bar for something to quiet her jitters. She assured herself this was no big deal. She’d been introducing herself to strangers since she could remember, but none of them was her father.

Fortified with a gimlet, she entered serious mingling mode, always on the lookout for Turner. She chatted up a bank chairman who had met Hughes at a Colorado symposium for corporate bigwigs.

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