Page 112 of The Woman Who Couldn't Scream
She was embarrassed to look him in the face. “What adumbassI was.”
“No. No, you were wonderful.” He smiled at her with such charm. “You reminded me that life could be joyous. You taught me I shouldn’t give people a handout, but a hand up. You believed in the inherent goodness of mankind.”
He had not convinced her. “Thensomeone tried to kill me. As I said, a dumbass.”
His smile vanished. “Not someone. My aunt and uncle.”
“Why? I didn’t do anything to them.”
“They had chosen me to inherit the family business and to carry the torch of brutal industrialization and profitable exploitation into the future. You changed me.”
“Not for long. Aren’t you still their chosen one?” Before he could speak, she said, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry! I appreciate you trying to make me feel better about myself, but your aunt and uncle succeeded. Merry Byrd is dead and she left nothing. Nothing. I should be grateful to them for killing her before she screwed up her life any more. Or yours.”
He picked up his phone off the floor and pushed a few buttons. “Video call,” he told Merida.
Merida heard a woman’s weary voice say, “Hello,” and in the background, a chorus of crying children.
He said, “Sounds like we’re having an evening there.”
“The identical twins are identically teething and everyone wants to cry about it.” The voice sounded familiar to Merida.
“Where’s your help?” he asked.
“Everyone is here who is scheduled to be here. It’s simply one of those nights.” The familiar voice called, “Larry, do we have any morecoldteething rings?”
“I won’t keep you long, but I have a friend here who would like to meet you.” He turned the phone to face Merida. “Ms. Sandvig, this is Merida. Merida, this is Ms. Sandvig. Ms. Sandvig directs the Baltimore Inner City Day Care and Preschool.”
“I know.” Merida tried to speak, to express her delight at seeing her old friend once more. When no sound came out—she should be used to that by now!—she gestured, nodded and smiled.
Ms. Sandvig smiled back. “Are you Benedict’s new friend? I’m delighted that he found you at last. He was so upset when you disappeared.”
Benedict turned the phone toward his face and looked meaningfully at the screen. “Ms. Sandvig. I was hoping you could tell Merida about the work we’re doing in Baltimore.”
“Oh! Yes, right, Benedict. Merida, I don’t know if Benedict has told you anything about our operations, but we provide twenty-four-hour day care for parents in need. Not just women, we help single fathers, too.”
“I know.” Merida’s fingers shook as she spelled. “I used to live in Baltimore.”
“Do you know we care for over one hundred children twenty-four/seven? We have our new preschool and after-school programs.”
“One hundred?” Merida couldn’t believe it. When she had been there, they had never been able to care for more than ten at a time, and turning desperate parents away had been heartbreaking.
“We teach the children so much. When our children go to public school, they perform so much better than their similarly underprivileged counterparts and—”
Benedict turned the phone toward him and made the cut-off gesture.
Ms. Sandvig laughed ruefully. “I’m sorry, Merida, I do tend to get carried away. We can always use help and of course if you can’t help in person I promise your donation will be used in ways that will make you proud.”
Merida nodded and indicated she would send money.
Ms. Sandvig sobered. “I don’t know if you realize how much of our work is possible because of the man sitting next to you. He has given his time and influence in every way, and every penny it took to construct the Merry Byrd Classroom Facility was his and his alone.”
Again Benedict made the cut-off gesture.
“All anonymously,” Ms. Sandvig said hurriedly.
Merida’s lower lip quivered.
Benedict brought the phone back to his face. “Thank you, Ms. Sandvig. I think you convinced her.”
