Page 76 of Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Book
“Not on Mr. Minter. He didn’t have anything to do with the beauty pageant. We got the idea fromVictor/Victoria.But Mama’s threat worked on us. We did what she wanted until we turned eighteen and graduated from high school. Then we hit the road.”
“I’ve seen people say on Facebook that we ran away.”
Moxie’s diadem gleamed as she shook her head from side to side. “Nope,” she said. “Despite everything, we still loved our mother. We always planned to come back to see her. But then she went and lost her damn mind.”
Talia took a deep breath. “Oh dear. What did she do?”
“She came to one of my first performances in Atlanta, but she was too chicken to go into the club. She must have been sitting outside in the parking lot when she saw Mr. Minter coming out. He was only there to support me, but Lula was so envious that she decided to destroy him.”
Talia’s eyes went wide. “Ooh, you were right, Moxie. Thatispretty evil.”
“Told you so. Lula started a whisper campaign against the man who’d once saved her son. Made Mr. Minter’s life a living hell, from what I’ve heard. All because she was jealous.” Moxie looked around at the crowd. “I sure hope none of y’all got hoodwinked by Mama’s lies. I’d hate to think any of you good people played a role in running an innocent man out of town.”
Half the crowd looked down at their shoes.
“I didn’t think I could ever forgive her after that,” Talia admitted.
“Me, either,” said Moxie. Then she paused as though confused. “So why did we?”
“Because Mr. Minter called and asked us to.”
Several gasps could be heard in the audience.
“You’re saying the gay man Lula Dean set out to destroy wants her children to forgive her?” Moxie asked.
“Yep, he told us that people can learn from their mistakes, and we should give Lula a chance to redeem herself.”
“What do y’all think?” Moxie asked the crowd. “Should we forgive her?”
“Yes, yes!” cried Kari Kelly. The response from the rest of the crowd was half-hearted at best.
“I was just trying to be a good mother.” Lula finally spoke up in her own defense.
“Y’all want to know how to tell if you’ve been a good parent?” Moxie asked the crowd. “It’s real easy. If you have a family that loves each other and children who want to spend time with you, then you’ve been a good parent.”
Talia shook her head at Lula. “Sorry, Mama. Guess that means you failed,” she said. “But thanks to Mr. Minter, Taylor and I are willing to give you one more chance.”
“But first all this nonsense needs to come to an end,” Moxie insisted. “Disband the book committee, bow out of the mayor’s race, drop all the charges against Lindsay Underwood, recognize my fabulousness, and never ever utter another homophobic or racist word again.”
“Those are our conditions,” Talia said. “Either you accept them or we leave right now and you never see either of us again.”
“What do you say, Mama?” Moxie asked.
There was a long pause while everyone waited for Lula’s answer. For years to come, folks in Troy would wonder if it was Lula’s love for her children or the dogeared copy ofTaken by a T-Rex, which was making its way through the crowd, that finally inspired her to admit defeat.
“Fine,” she agreed. “Let’s head on home. Y’all want some pie?”
“Lord, no,” Talia said. “We’ve been punished enough.”
Chapter 31
Battling the Big Lie
“Can we get your names, please?”
“I’m Ken Kelly.”
“And I’m Kari Kelly.” She giggled. “We are such big fans of yours! We watch you every night!”
