"It was more than a suggestion. It was more than a request. Becky was ordering me to write a second letter. The next day at lunchtime I pushed a folde...d sheet of paper across the table to her as soon as we took our seats. I watched her unfold the paper and was rewarded with a delightful smile of anticipation. Becky paused when the paper was open and in front of her, looked at me, pursed her lips in that special way, and began to read.January 15, 1987Dear Alice,You end some of your letters by. “The thing is Mom ... I know now that that’s just all an idle threat.”“What?”“Do you want to know where I am? Do you want to know who I’ve just been talking to?”“What? Where?”“I’m at Paul’s. Yes, Paul’s. And I’ve just been speaking to Mr Brown. You know, Daddy’s lawyer. Well, Daddy’s friend, apparently. And, I guess, he’s my lawyer now too.”“What?”“And do you know what he told me? He said you can’t stop me from having Daddy’s money. He told me it’s not only up to you but up to him and Mr. Not every item turned to gold. Finally, she gave us a peek at some new product ideas that hadn’t yet arrived, or as in some cases, the decision to add them hadn’t yet been made. I could see a further shift to more complex and sophisticated products. They brought higher reward, but also higher risk. What was interesting was that a number of them were pre-sold to customers who had encouraged the company to find the products and have them produced on the customer’s behalf. I liked that idea. It. Okay, I don’t like it, I don’t think it’s right, but whatever. Leaving Esther behind?”Next to them, Esther sat quietly, staring off into space, tears oozing down her cheeks.“She doesn’t understand,” Gloria said.“I do so,” Esther muttered.“Yeah, yeah, mentally you do, you’re not a moron,” Gloria went on. “But emotionally? If you understood it emotionally, little girl, you wouldn’t be crying.”“You’re crying!”“Yeah ... well, I’m on my way to getting drunk,” Gloria said, wiping the tears from her.