Ruby (Landry 1)

have no right to act superior. Few Cajun people I've

known would stoop to do the sort of deceitful,

horrible thing you tried to do to me."

"How dare you shout at me like that?" she said,

trying to recover her superior demeanor, but her lips

quivered and her body began to tremble. "How dare

you!"

"How dare you do what you did at the

institution!" I retorted. "My father is going to hear all

about it. He's going to know the truth and . ." She smiled.

"You little fool. Go on upstairs to him. Go on

and gaze upon your savior, your father, who sits in his

brother's shrine of a room and moans and groans. I'm

thinking about having him committed soon, if you

must know. I can't go on like this."

She stepped toward me with renewed

confidence.

"Who do you think has been running things

around here? Who do you think makes this all

possible? Your weak father? Ha! What do you think

happens when he falls into one of his melancholic

states? Do you think Dumas Enterprises just sits

around and waits for him to snap out of it?

"No," she cried, stabbing herself with her

thumb so hard it made me wince, "it always falls to

me to save the day. I've been conducting business for years. Why, Pierre doesn't even know how much

money we have or where it's located."

"I don't believe you," I said, but not with as

much confidence as I had at first. She laughed. "Believe what you like. Go on. She stepped

back. "Go up to him and tell him about the horrible