A Silken Thread - Brenda Jackson [129]
Griffin chuckled. “Excuse me, ma’am, but I don’t give a royal damn about any legacy. Erica and I have been telling you for years we weren’t in love but you wouldn’t listen. What you tried doing to April and Brian was unforgivable.”
“Unforgivable?” she snarled before bursting into tears. “Do you know what the two of you have done? That curse needed to be broken or else…”
“Or else what, Mom? Why are you so obsessed with that curse? Why does Aunt Blair think it’s linked to what Granddaddy did to April’s mother?”
At the shocked look on her mother’s face, Erica said, “Yes, I know all about Aunt Blair being alive and what she saw that day to make her get into a car accident. I also know about the lies you told April to keep her and Griffin apart and what you paid Jaye to do to Brian. He was set up by your orders and I doubt I can ever forgive you.”
“But do you realize what the two of you have done? I was trying to protect your daughters.”
“Protect our daughters how?”
Karen was rubbing her hands together. “Until that curse is broken any Delbert male that is born will have a hunger to lust after his daughter, his own flesh and blood. I know about it, trust me.”
Erica went speechless at the implications of her mother’s words. “Granddaddy abused you?” she asked her mom softly, hoping against hope that assumption was wrong.
“Yes. Both Blair and me. When I got older and realized what he was doing was wrong, he explained things to me. He said it was all because of that curse and until it was broken he couldn’t stop it. Blair was to marry Simon to stop it, but she didn’t. She freaked out when she walked in on what he was doing to Latonia. That caused her accident. Blair had threatened to tell Simon what he was doing to her so Dad turned his attentions to others like Latonia. Blair blamed herself for it happening.”
Erica thought she was going to be sick and dropped down in the armchair. How could her grandfather use the curse as an excuse for his demented behavior, and how could her mother have believed him?
“The curse had nothing to do with your father’s behavior, Mrs. Sanders,” Griffin told her. “He was a sick man to do that to you, Blair, Latonia or any other young girl that he touched. He lied to you to cover up his actions. He was nothing but a bona fide pedophile, who should have been locked up with the key thrown away.”
Karen turned on him, her eyes flashing fire. “How dare you! He was an outstanding member of this community. One of this town’s forefathers. I understood why he was coming into my room and so did Blair, until Latonia came into the picture working as the laundry girl. She messed up everything.”
Erica could only stare at her mother. She had been truly brainwashed by Omar Delbert. “Griffin is right, Mom. There is no excuse for what he did to you, Blair or Latonia, and no telling how many other young girls. He was a sick man and I’m glad I never got a chance to know him.”
Her mother ignored her words as she continued to rant and rave. “It will be your fault, mark my word,” she screamed, pointing at them. “You should have married each other. Now it will take another generation for the curse to be broken.”
“No, it won’t,” Griffin said angrily. “If you really believe in the curse then you know it officially ended four days ago when a Hayes married a Delbert. April has just as much Delbert blood running through her veins as you and Erica.”
He then turned and walked out of the house. Erica glanced back at her mother. “He’s right, so your curse is now broken.”
She turned to leave and her mother called out, “Erica, don’t go. My heart. You know what the doctor said about my heart.”
Erica rolled her eyes as she turned around. “Then I suggest you take your sugar pills and yes, I know about that lie, too.” She didn’t wait to hear her mother’s denial. “Oh, and over the next couple of weeks, I’m putting my house on the market and moving to Dallas to be with my husband.”
She had thought about taking her aunt Blair and putting her in a facility