Chapter 11 - GIDEON CALLS
He called me six days after the portrait.
I almost did not answer.
Then did.
“Dominic.”
“What?”
“I’m sorry.”
“For?”
He hesitated.
Good.
“Standing there.”
“While your mother pulled Elsie?”
“Yes.”
“You didn’t pull her.”
“No.”
“You let yourself be used as the replacement.”
Silence.
“Yes.”
That mattered.
Then:
“I didn’t know she would touch Elsie.”
“I believe you.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
He sounded relieved.
I continued:
“That doesn’t fix the rest.”
Relief disappeared.
Good.
He admitted helping with the presentation.
Why?
“I thought the foundation needed someone younger visible.”
“Then apply for a board role.”
“I have.”
“You withdrew twice.”
“Because everyone assumes you decide.”
“I don’t.”
“You do informally.”
That was uncomfortable.
Sometimes true.
Then:
“Did you think excluding Elsie improved your chances?”
Long silence.
“Yes.”
There.
Not noble.
Not monstrous.
May you like
Human.
He had accepted a child’s humiliation because it benefited a status fight he lacked courage to have openly.
