“And as for status,” I continued, addressing all of them, “now let me explain something to you about real status. It’s not about how much money you have or what clothes you wear or what car you drive. It’s about how you treat people when you think they can offer you nothing in return.”
“It’s about integrity, compassion, and respect.”
I looked at them, one by one.
“And by that measure, all of you are absolutely penniless.”
Marlene’s mother let out a choked sound as if she’d been slapped.
“Tonight, you tested my character,” I said, my voice softer now, but no less intense. “You humiliated me to see what I would do. If I would cry, if I would beg, if I would leave in silence.”
I paused, letting the room hang on my next words.“But what you didn’t expect was this. You didn’t expect me to have power.”
“And now that you know I have it, you want to take it all back. You want to pretend nothing happened. You want us to be family again.”
I shook my head. “But family doesn’t work that way. You can’t turn it on and off like a switch to suit your convenience. You can’t mistreat someone and then expect everything to go back to normal when you find out that person has something you want.”