“The police think the intruder, or intruders, were disturbed. It was probably the sound of your car in the driveway that scared them off, before they could take anything else.”
Did she believe him? Leonard was a convincing liar. He’d been fooling people for years.
People only ever saw the good side of him. Plus, they liked that he looked a lot like Morgan Freeman, the actor. He was younger though. He could hold people’s attention for long periods of time and was also the kind of person who demanded respect.
His devout followers had no idea who he really was. Grace wondered if they would still hold him in such high regard if they had any idea what he said about them behind their backs.
Then as usual, his mood changed in an instant. “Will you get some dinner ready? I’m starving.”
Grace nodded her head.
“I’m going to go fetch Marcus from school. He phoned a few minutes ago. He sounded upset.”
Their father had insisted Marcus return to school a few days after their mother had been buried. For once Grace had agreed with her father. The routine would be good for him, plus he had exams coming up soon.
She was frying some chicken when her father returned with Marcus in tow. Marcus dropped his school bag on a chair. He went over to Grace and hugged her.
“You OK?” she said and returned his hug.
“It’s been a bad day, but now I’m home I’m OK. That chicken smells good.”
“Go wash up and it’ll be on the table in a few minutes.”
“You sound just like Mum.” There was a catch in his voice.
“She’s like her mother in a lot of ways,” Leonard said, as he walked into the kitchen.
Grace didn’t know if he was trying to praise her or insult her.
She kept quiet as she dished up the food. She noticed her father had a tumbler of whiskey in his hand. The family was halfway through their meal when Leonard placed his knife and fork down on his plate. He looked first at Grace and then at Marcus.
“There are a few things I need to tell you about your mother. She was not the person you thought she was.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Marcus exclaimed.
“I thought I should be the one to tell both of you the truth. I don’t want you to listen to what other people might say about her.”
“Mum never did anything!” Marcus was beginning to get angry. “She was always here in the house, except the times she went to church. What is she supposed to have done?”
“I’m talking about at the time I met her,” Leonard said and took a huge gulp of his drink. “She’d already had Grace, and she had no idea who the father was.”
Grace just stared at him. She knew he was lying about what he was saying. But she had no idea why he would lie.
Marcus’s mouth dropped open.
“Grace was a year old at the time,” Leonard said, with a self-satisfied grin on his face.
“Lots of single women have babies,” Marcus said. “It’s no big deal.”
“That may be so.” Leonard got up to refill his whiskey glass. “But your mother was working as a prostitute.”
Grace stared at him, shaken and confused.
***
Tell us what you think: Could this be true? Is it right that prostitution is a crime in our country?