IMAGE OF A PERFECT SON
BOOK ONE : THE RISE
by
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Frank swayed slightly, an attempt to keep his balance.
“You’re drunk!” Aaron said with disgust. Their attention was not on him. They hadn’t heard Tony on the stairs. Halfway down he stopped, not wanting to eavesdrop, but not wanting to acknowledge their quarrel, either. Frank was backing towards the stairwell, trying to find something to steady himself.
“Yes, I am, aren’t I?” Frank’s hand found the generous curve of the staircase. Without looking up, he leaned against it and said sarcastically, “Not like your other sanctimonious son...” He smiled slightly, then frowned. “Isn’t that true, father? You want me to be more like Tony...good and perfect and kind to animals--I’m kind to animals, father--I swerved to miss a deer--we do have deer out here, you know! Yes, my beautiful Lamborghini is...in the ditch at the fork, I think. I’ll...have to send someone out to get it....” He straightened, looking straight into his father’s eyes. Aaron hadn’t looked up either, too intent on his own anger. “I’m not so drunk, father, that I don’t know you despise me, that not a day goes by you don’t wish I were more like him--like your precious Antoinne--your perfect son!” In the surfacing of his emotion the drunkenness seemed to evaporate. His eyes locked into those of his father. “Well, I’m not him, father. I’m me, Franklin Hart Whitney--not some image of perfection you wish me to be--and I’ll not spend another day under this roof hearing what Tony would do and what Tony wouldn’t do--I’m sick of him and his perfection--I’m sick of being compared to him--your precious golden son! You can have him and his nickel-plated saintly image! I’m getting out--gladly--and the two of you can go straight to hell!”
He turned to ascend the stairs, and looked straight into his brother’s eyes.
*****
“I don’t want this, Frank. I’m not against you, and I never have been.”
“You sanctimonious hypocrite!” Frank snarled. “Everything and everyone in this household revolves around you and your bright star--even Beth lives in your shadow! And don’t tell me you haven’t been well aware of it all these years--using your status to your own advantage! There has never been any consideration in this household for anyone but you!” His voice changed. His cigarette glowed fiercely in the darkness as he inhaled. “It’s much too late for vindication. I’ve lived in hell too many years because of you.” The voice dropped to an even deadlier tone: “Walk softly, little brother...Take care...take much care.” The cigarette glow suddenly vanished, pinched out.
“Make no mistake! I don’t like you and I never have. I am capable of much more than you comprehend!” He suddenly vanished into the labyrinth of the night.
His last words left Antoinne Whitney cold.
*****
She laughed outright. “For what? Daddy, I’ve been trying and not succeeding to get Tony in bed with me since I was twelve years old!” She laughed so hard the tears came to her face.
Shocked, Peter exclaimed, “Lori--do you know what you’re saying?”
“Yes, Daddy. Yes, I’m still a virgin--but not because I want to be. Don’t think all the boys don’t try – even now they do. You know why? Tony’s moral. He’s good. But everybody knows he’s a religious fanatic who doesn’t make one move unless his God says so. So what is he after, Daddy? How do I handle this one? You’ve never told me anything about God – he’s never been a part of our lives! You talk about obsessions, Daddy. Tony isn’t obsessed with me! He’s obsessed with this God of his, and I don’t know how to handle that! I could deal with another woman, but – God? How do you handle something like a God who doesn’t let people do what comes naturally?”
She was dealing one shocking hand after another. He said, “Well, Lori...I don’t know anything about God, either, but it seems to me you..can’t win this one. It seems to me...you’d better break it off before one of you gets hurt, because it might be you who gets hurt the worst. From what I’ve heard and seen, people hooked on religion aren’t easily unhinged from their God.” He paused, looking at his daughter as though seeing her for the first time. “Surely he must know how you feel. How do you handle that?”
“The same way I handle everything else: I pretend, Daddy – I pretend!!”
“My god”, Peter exclaimed. “I can’t believe I’m hearing this! And you think when you marry, you can drop the pretense? You honestly think you can continue fooling such a brilliant young man with such an outrageous lie? Just to get what you want?” He shook his head in disbelief. “This is a very dangerous game you’re playing, young lady. What if this God strikes you down for toying with one of his? I’ve heard he’s a very jealous God!”
“It hasn’t happened yet,” she said. And I won’t let it!
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Book Details
About the Book
Image Of A Perfect Son series begins as Book One
opens the door to the past: Lori Jeffreys returns to the scene of tragedy and
loss. Her memory recedes to 1958, to
Antoinne, her lost love; to Frank, his brother Cain: and all that led them through
the doors of hatred, jealousy, and murder.
In bitterness, she blames God for robbing her of the
only man she ever loved – yet not failing to see her own part in the folly,
realizing too late the snare of evil into which she has plunged them.
Antoinne Whitney – rich, famous, successful. He loved her – until two forces pulled him
in different directions: one sinisterly evil, the other the light of a love she
could not fathom and could not accept.
In a plot ridden with suspense, secrets, and the rendering
apart of the human condition, “The Rise” carries the reader to an exciting
climax leading to Book Two, "The Fall", in which the many characters
endure drastic changes and are carried along in the current of events which
destroy or build men's lives in the power struggle of good against evil.
Coming soon: The completed Image sequels which end
the 1958-1960 era.
About the Author
The author graduated from Irene S. Reed High School
in Shelton, Washington in 1958. The
seeds of this novel took root in the summer of 1957. When asked how on earth she dreamed up her character, Tony, the
author's mother replied, “She met him in a berry patch in Oregon.”
The author married a military man, has four
children, Sheri, Tammy, Anne and Scott.
She went on to plunge into a misadventurous life, living through two
murder attempts and several natural disasters.
She has seen angels, danced with wolves, danced with Little Jimmy
Dickens, and been hugged by Billy Walker.
An authentic Christian American cowgirl, artist,
writer, she continues her misadventures under the grace and mercy of the Lord.