The Color of Law_ A Novel - Mark Gimenez [55]
“Hey, Bobby,” Boo said.
“Girls.”
Pajamae said, “Whereas, Mr. Herrin.”
Scotty had introduced Bobby to the girls earlier. Bobby now joined them, dropping his feet into the cool water.
“Where’s your mother?” he asked Boo. “Haven’t seen her since I first got here.”
“Back inside,” Boo said. “She hates these parties.”
“What about you?”
“Oh, I love them. I try to guess what these people’s lives are like when they’re not sucking up to A. Scott for a job.”
Bobby laughed. “Scotty said you’re nine going on twenty-nine.” He pointed the pork rib at one of the male students. “Okay, tell me about his life, the skinny one with the black glasses.”
Boo studied the student for a moment and said, “He’s incredibly smart. He went to law school only because his dad is a lawyer, but he wants to do computer stuff. He’ll graduate top of his class, hire on with A. Scott’s firm, and quit after one year. He’s never had a date, he’s terribly shy, and he’s wishing right now he was back home at his computer, where he’s happiest. He’s always going to be alone.”
Bobby stared down at the child in amazement. “That’s pretty good. Okay, Pajamae, your turn. What about her, the blonde over there with the, uh…”
“Store-bought boobs?”
“Uh, yeah, that one. What’s her story?”
“She’s way dumb, but she doesn’t know it. She’ll marry a rich lawyer and live happily ever after.”
Bobby found himself nodding in agreement.
“You girls are good. Okay, Boo, what about this guy?”
Boo moved her eyes about, scanning the pool crowd.
“Which guy?”
Bobby was now pointing the pork rib at himself.
“Me.”
Boo considered him for a moment, then dropped her eyes to the water and shook her head.
“Hey, come on, tell me.”
Boo looked back up; her eyes seemed sad.
“No, Bobby.”
Bobby laughed and said, “What? I’m a big boy, I can handle it,” figuring she was going to say he was a pathetic loser and always would be. Hell, no surprise there. He told himself the same thing every morning in the mirror.
But Boo was quiet. Then, without looking at him, she said: “You secretly loved my mother, but she married A. Scott. You’ve never gotten over it. You’ve always wondered what your life would’ve been like if she had married you instead.”
Bobby hadn’t figured on that. He had to take a deep breath. He pushed himself up but looked down at her.
“How?”
“I saw how you looked at her when you got here. Your eyes went all over the crowd, kind of frantic like, until you saw her. Then you just looked at her for a long time. Like, forever.”
Bobby walked directly to the beer cooler.
From the windows of the master suite on the second floor Rebecca Fenney was looking down on the backyard scene at two of the three men who loved her: Scott, surrounded by law students and cheerleaders and one buxom blonde in a black string bikini giving him the come-on; and Bobby, alone by the beer cooler. Poor Bobby. She had known he loved her back when he and Scott were in law school, but he had kept it to himself, never one to challenge for any of Scott’s possessions. Not that he could have won her; everyone knew Bobby Herrin wasn’t going places, just as everyone knew Scott Fenney was. So Rebecca Garrett had signed on for the Scott Fenney ride. And it had been quite a ride: eleven years ago she had been living in a sorority house, driving a used Toyota, and leading cheers for the SMU Mustangs; today she was living in a mansion, driving a Mercedes, and vying to be chairwoman of the Cattle Barons’ Ball. But now she found herself feeling anxious and afraid and wondering: Is the ride coming to an end?
Rebecca Garrett had grown up in a working-class suburb of Dallas. She hated having less; she wanted more. So for her college education she looked no further than SMU. For poor Dallas kids, SMU was their entr