The silence was absolute. I could hear the clock ticking on the wall, the distant murmur from the kitchen, my own heart beating in my ears.
“As for connections,” I continued, “look around this restaurant. See that man in the corner booth? He’s the mayor of this city. He dines here twice a month. The woman by the window? She’s a superior court judge. The group at the large table are executives from the biggest corporation in the state.”
“All of them know me. All of them respect me. Not because I have money, but because I built something valuable, and I did it with integrity.”
Michael had slumped into a chair, his face in his hands, his shoulders shook with silent sobs.
“But do you know what’s the most ironic part of all this, Marleene?” I said, leaning slightly toward her. “That promotion Michael is waiting for—the one your uncle is supposedly going to get for him—I could make one phone call and secure it in five minutes.”
I saw Marleene’s face tighten.
“The CEO of that company dines here every Friday. I’ve known him for six years. But I never did it because I believed Michael should earn things for himself just like I did.”
Marleene looked dizzy. She held on to the back of a chair for balance.
“And as for status,” I continued, addressing all of them, “now let me explain something to you about real status. It’s not about how much money you have or what clothes you wear or what car you drive. It’s about how you treat people when you think they can offer you nothing in return.”
“It’s about integrity, compassion, and respect.”
I looked at them, one by one.
“And by that measure, all of you are absolutely penniless.”
Marlene’s mother let out a choked sound as if she’d been slapped.
“Tonight, you tested my character,” I said, my voice softer now, but no less intense. “You humiliated me to see what I would do. If I would cry, if I would beg, if I would leave in silence.”
I paused, letting the room hang on my next words.“But what you didn’t expect was this. You didn’t expect me to have power.”
“And now that you know I have it, you want to take it all back. You want to pretend nothing happened. You want us to be family again.”
I shook my head. “But family doesn’t work that way. You can’t turn it on and off like a switch to suit your convenience. You can’t mistreat someone and then expect everything to go back to normal when you find out that person has something you want.”