Alma's Will by Anel Viz Page A

there something going on between you and Liv?"
    "Not openly, and nothing she's aware of."
    "Want to tell me about it?"
    "It's just that business with her mother's house. She's making such a big deal of it. It's all she can talk about; it's all she thinks about."
    "She must be very attached to that house."
    "That's just it, Harv. She isn't. She couldn't care less about the house. What's eating her is what Alma—that's her mom—wants… wanted… to do with it."
    "You said she left it to some kind of charity, if I remember correctly. Did you say what?"
    "I didn't, not that it's any great secret. The will stipulates that it be turned into a shelter for runaway gay teenagers. When Liv heard that she was livid." He thought a second about what he'd just said and chuckled bitterly: Livid Liv .
    "Not big on queers, is she, Eric?"
    "Apparently not."
    "But you must have known that already."
    "Yeah, I knew, but I never dreamed she would obsess over it. Look, gays aren't exactly my cup of tea either, Harv, but it's not worth making a fuss over. You know, live and let live. There I go again."
    "What do you mean?"
    "Never mind." He was thinking, Liv… let Liv .
    "So it's just that obsession of hers? She'll get over it once the case is settled."
    "I wouldn't count on it, not right away anyway. She doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell of winning. But there's more to it than that. There's the embarrassment, too. I mean, this is a worthy cause, isn't it? Going along with her makes me feel like some kind of redneck. It's not exactly my favorite charity, but it's not one I'm going to fight against, either. Gays are just about the last thing I'd think of if I were going to make some kind of major philanthropic contribution, and the idea of trying to instill in kids some kind of affirmation of their gayhood, or whatever the word is—"
    "Gayness."
    "—doesn't exactly appeal to me, but, Christ Almighty, isn't it better than them being out on the streets, hustling, or turning to crime to survive, or dead?"
    "There are regular shelters they can go to."
    "I hear they get bullied there, and the people in charge don't do much to protect them. A lot of them run away or kill themselves. But even if that doesn't happen, is that any reason not to have special shelters for them?"
    "Have you told Liv how you feel about this?"
    "She knows. Maybe I haven't expressed myself as forcefully as she has, but after all, it's not something I obsess over."
    "Aren't you?"
    "I don't think so; I'm just being realistic. She's throwing all this time and money and energy into something she can't win, she's tearing the family apart, staying out there fixated on this thing when she could just as well be home, she's… As I said, what bothers me most is that it's become an obsession with her."
    "It's funny that she and her mother should be miles apart on an issue like this one. Maybe this is more about her anger over her mother disagreeing with her than about homosexuality."
    "No, it's the gay thing. And I've found out what gave her mother the idea of making the house a safe home for gay kids. Liv hid it from me, but she had a brother who was gay, and her parents threw him out. And all the time I thought she used to have a brother and he died, and there she was, bad-mouthing gays, not constantly like now, but often enough, and…" Eric broke off, blew out the breath still in his lungs, and shook his head.
    "When did you find out about him?"
    "A couple of days ago."
    "I thought it had to be recently. It sounds like she was too ashamed to tell you."
    "Well, now he's shown up; he didn't die, and, as you can imagine, he's opposing her on the will."
    "Is that what you meant when you said she doesn't stand a chance?"
    "Yeah. And you should hear her now talk about her brother, her own flesh and blood. I can't help wondering how she'd react if one of our kids turned out gay. It's not impossible, you know. After all, her brother is."
    "It's the business with her brother that's