Wedding Bell Blues - [56]

intend to show that whether they are married or not, Lily McGilly and her husband of convenience cannotprovide a morally fit home for Charlotte Maycomb’s daughter. The only home they can provide is onethat lacks moral fiber and will ultimately harm young Mimi.

“If the value of a child is beyond that of gold and diamonds, we would be selling Mimi short byplacing her in an environment that values sodomy over Sunday school. The future of a child is in yourcapable hands, Your Honor, and I pray that you make the right decision.”

Lily’s mind reeled. What was this “videotaped evidence” Hamilton had mentioned? Was it one ofthose loony antigay documentaries produced by the Christian right? Or—Lily shuddered—hadn’t she andCharlotte videotaped themselves having sex once? But they had erased it after they’d watched it. Hadn’tthey? Lily was so busy panicking she didn’t even hear the judge ask Buzz to make his opening remarks.

When she looked up, she saw Buzz standing before the judge in a suit that looked as if it had beenslept in last night and then used as a napkin this morning.

“Your Honor,” Buzz began, “I wanna tell you a little about my client, Lily McGilly. Mrs. McGillyis an award-winning author and illustrator of several books for children. In her hometown of Atlanta, shedid a great deal of volunteer work for organizations that helped women and children. She has volunteeredto teach art classes for after-school programs for underprivileged youth and has helped prepare food insoup kitchens that feed hungry children and their parents. Mrs. McGilly’s love for children is so strongthat when her friend Charlotte Maycomb made up her will, she knew that Mrs. McGilly would be the bestperson to care for her baby girl.

“And when Lily Fox married my other client, Mr. Benny Jack McGilly, whom we believe to beMimi Maycomb’s biological father, they entered into marriage in the spirit of creating a stable, lovingfamily for Mimi to grow up in. Through the testimony of members of the McGilly family, I intend toshow that Mr. and Mrs. Benny Jack McGilly have created a stable, loving family. Charlotte Maycomb’swishes should be respected.”

“Is that all?” Judge Sanders asked.

“Yes, Your Honor, that’ll do it,” Buzz said, returning to his seat.

Lily had serious doubts that Buzz’s opening remarks would “do it.” Not only were they briefcompared to Hamilton’s, they lacked Hamilton’s sense of theater. Also, while Hamilton’s entire argumentwas built on the perceived evils of homosexuality, Buzz didn’t even touch on the gay issue.

Lily looked at Ben, whose face was an unreadable mask. He might still be under the impressionthat the McGilly family name would get them out of this mess, but Lily thought differently. Thingslooked bad.

Hamilton’s questioning of the Maycombs only made it worse. When Ida Maycomb took the stand,Hamilton spoke to her in soft, gentlemanly tones. “Mrs. Maycomb, I know this is a difficult subject foryou, but I want you to recount for us a conversation your daughter had with you six years ago, after shehad met Mrs. McGilly.”

Ida Maycomb was the very image of the tragic, martyred mother. On some level, Lily was sure,she was enjoying her role in this drama. “She called me up one day and said there was something she hadto tell me. . . and it had to be in person. So she invited me to lunch the next day. Of course, I was dying toknow what it was she had to tell me. I thought to myself, maybe she’s finally found a man who’s agreedto marry her.” She shook her head sadly. “But of course, that wasn’t it.”

Ida looked down and cleared her throat. “I went to her apartment for lunch. I remember she’dmade a tuna salad that had too much celery seed in it. Charlotte never was much of a cook —”

“Mrs. Maycomb,” Judge Sanders interrupted, “in the interest of our getting to have some lunchtoday, could you please stick to the topic at hand?”

“I’m sorry, your honor. It’s just that it’s so difficult ...” She began to sniffle. Hamilton pulled asmall packet of Kleenex from his jacket pocket. She took one and dabbed at her eyes. Lily wondered howmany times they’d rehearsed that little exchange. “Continue when you’re ready, Mrs. Maycomb,”Hamilton said soothingly.

Ida took a deep breath and continued. “We sat down to lunch. Charlotte was just playing with herfood, not really eating, and she said there was something she’d been meaning to tell me for a long time,but she had just kept putting it off. Now, she said, she couldn’t put it off any longer. ’ Mama,’ she said tome, ‘I’m. . . I’m a. . . lesbian.’ “ Ida said the word lesbian as though she was sounding it out from adictionary’s pronunciation key. She wiped away another tear.

“And why,” Hamilton asked, “was it that your daughter felt that after all this time she had to tellyou about her homosexuality?”

Ida looked at him with wet eyes. “She said she had fallen in love ... that was how she put it, justlike it was a normal thing to do. She said she’d been seeing this woman, and they had decided to settle