Jason again looked at Nola, who gazed at him with a curious stare.
“I didn’t . . . handle your grandpa’s death very well. I’d just gotten a divorce, and I wasn’t ready to lose him too.”
“But you and Paw Paw weren’t close,” Nola said. “Mom has told us that.”
Jason lowered his eyes to the floor. “That’s true. We weren’t. But . . .” Jason trailed off. This was a question he’d gotten a lot at the PAC, and he still didn’t have a great answer. “Look, I’ve made a lot of mistakes since Dad died. My life went off the rails, and I ended up in rehab. I stayed away from y’all, because your mother . . . has always made me kinda crazy. She says things . . . does things . . . that make me feel like I’m less of a person. She’s done that since I was a kid, and . . . after the divorce and Dad’s death . . . I just couldn’t take it anymore. I couldn’t be around her, which meant I couldn’t be around you guys. I’m sorry.”
“You were the only normal family we had,” Nola said, her voice practically monotone compared to Niecy’s. “We always looked forward to seeing you, because you actually stood up to Mom’s BS.”
Jason didn’t know what he was more surprised by, being referred to as “normal” or the difference in Nola’s and Niecy’s demeanors.
“I was a junior in high school the last time you were here,” Niecy said, her tone still intense. “I was looking at colleges, and you said you’d love to show me Davidson, where you went. We even talked about meeting up for spring break in the Carolinas and looking at a bunch of other schools. Remember that? Wake Forest. UNC. Duke. Maybe even the College of Charleston. A road trip with my uncle Jason . . .” Her lips began to quiver again. “You remember?”
Jason did. He closed his eyes, thinking back to Christmas three and a half years ago. He’d been excited about Niecy’s college choices, and they’d mapped out a trip, clearing it with Jana and Braxton.
“Why didn’t you call me?” Jason asked, but he knew what she was going to say before the words came out of her mouth.
“I did call. I left you messages on your cell and office phones. Emails. Facebook messages. And you know what I got in response? Nothing. Zilch. Zero. Squat.”
“I’m sorry, honey. I—”
“Don’t call me that. Don’t call me anything. Don’t even look at me.” She brushed past him without looking. “Nola, I’m going out. If you want to come with me, let’s go now. I’m not going to hang out with this loser any more than I have to.”
“Niecy, wait,” Jason said. “Please. Stop. I went to see your mom in the jail.”
Niecy stopped on a dime and turned toward him. She placed her hands on her hips. “And?”
“And she wants me to represent her.”
Her laugh was high, sounding off. Almost hysterical. Jason wondered when was the last time Niecy had gotten any sleep. He noticed that her eyes were red rimmed, probably from fatigue and crying. “You? The billboard PI lawyer? Isn’t a criminal case out of your league?”
Jason raised his eyebrows.
“Oh, I’m on the prelaw track at Southern. I’m going to be an attorney too, Uncle Jason. But not a snake oil salesman and ambulance chaser like you. I’m going to be a corporate lawyer. A real attorney like Paw Paw.”
“Good for you,” Jason said, growing tired of her act. “Is that ‘snake oil salesman’ a line your mom used? Or perhaps you heard your grandpa call me that.”
She didn’t answer.
“There’s no telling what you’ve heard about me.” He looked back at Nola. “Well, you can bet that ninety-nine percent of whatever your mother has told you is a lie.”
“So you’re not an ambulance chaser?” Niecy challenged.
“I’m an attorney who represents clients who’re injured in accidents. I’ve obtained almost $30 million in settlement money for my clients.”
“Put it on a billboard,” Niecy said.
“I did,” Jason said. “It’s on the one on Highway 431 that you pass every day when you go into town. Any other suggestions?”
At this, Niecy cracked the faintest of smiles. “If you’ve stayed away from us all these years because your life was in shambles and you can’t handle Mom, if Mom is such a liar, then why would you even think about taking her case?”
Jason opened his mouth to respond, but nothing came out. Why indeed.