WORTHLESS ELIJAH LAWTON

They all walked back inside, Timothy and Alora extremely proud of themselves. That was when they heard a crash in the back courtyard.

They all picked up their pace to go towards the sound of the heavy crash.

It was none other than Elijah Lawton. He was standing beside the shattered pieces of Madame Williams sculpture. The same one her son, Barry, had gifted her at the start of the party this evening.

He held his champagne flute in his hand, looking a little chagrined at least.

Madame Williams shrieked. “Lawton!!! You have destroyed the sculpture my treasured son made of me. How dare you?!”

Allison didn't even have to say a word for everyone to conclude that he had destroyed the sculpture. She stood there with a smug, satisfied smirk, her hands folded under her breasts in a way that pushed them up even more.

Elijah stumbled back as his wife raced beside him, she held his hand. “Lawton, what have you done?”

“You wriggling worm of the earth! You have destroyed mother's beautiful sculpture.” Charles also came forward, standing before the crumbled pieces of his gift.

The courtyard was lit up brightly, and the pieces of the ruined sculpture lay on the ground, unfixable.

Madame Williams walked in three angry strides to Lawton and slapped him across the face.

“How dare you take your clumsy worthless self near my precious gift and ruin it with your cursed hands?”

Amanda gasped. She never liked it when Lawton was yelled at or insulted. And now her mother had hit him. An insult to him was an insult to her.

“Mother, stop it!” She came to stand between her mother and her husband, shielding him with her smaller body. “Don't hit him. You said you didn't like the sculpture!”

Her mother turned furious eyes on her immediately. “Of course you would take his side. Ever since you married this unfortunate imbecile, your mind has shriveled into a peanut!”

Amanda frowned. It was a gift their mother had and had even passed on to her siblings. The art of inflicting pain with words. She could write an entire dictionary of words that destroyed a person and left them empty.

“Even if I didn't like it as much as my other gifts, it was still a gift given to me on my 50th anniversary. And from my first son.” Madame Williams finished in her shrill sounding voice, breathing fast and furious.

“And the nincompoop can't even rebuild it. He has no money and no skill.” Alora said from the back with a pained hiss.

Amanda turned on her immediately. “Don't you dare call him a nincompoop. He's smarter than your dummy ass husband that allows mother and you to use him.”

Alora chuckled sardonically. “Well, if your husband were of any use, maybe someone would be interested in using him too.”

Laughter rang out in all directions as Alora laughed out loud, pleased with her crack at Lawton.

Lawton, the man of the moment, finally spoke up. “I am sorry, mother in law. It was an accident, really.” he gestured to the spot where the sculpture used to be, his hard expression pinned on Allison.

“Save your poor man apologies, dummy. Priceless art is fragile, didn't your pea sized brain tell you that?” Charles yelled, turning and glaring at Lawton.

“I don't know how Amanda survives being married to the man, I tell you.” Someone said.

“She must really be strong.” Lady Clarissa commented dryly, the pity and sick humor clear in her tone.

Allison finally spoke up. “Maybe he couldn't see properly with his malnourished, poverty stricken eyes. How would we even expect him to understand how priceless that sculpture was?” she sneered.

Amanda's eyes raked through all of them. “If you do not want us here, we will leave!” she said vehemently.

Lawton tugged at her hand. “Don't do that, Amanda,” he whispered close to her ear. “It's your mother's anniversary.” He was well used to all the insults but he always hated for Amanda to suffer with him.

She shook her head, every bit as stubborn as her father. “No. If they do not want us here, we will go.”

“Get out!” Madame Williams' hand flung out, almost catching Lawton in the face again, but he and Amanda stumbled back, her nails narrowly missing Lawton's cheek.

“No one wants Lawton here. Amanda, since your father fell sick, I have implored you to use this opportunity and divorce this cretin, but you have refused to listen to me. My dear friend,

Clarissa's son, wants to marry you but you don't ever agree.”

Amanda breathed in and out, trying to calm down. “Look mother, enough of this talk. I will not divorce my husband just because you said so. He has done nothing to you!”

Madame Williams sneered, looking poor Lawton up and down with a heavy look of disgust and disapproval. Lawton was a good looking guy. He had black hair and gray eyes. He was also lean and tall, sporting a light beard.

But for Madame Williams, money was the true good looks.

“He has done everything wrong, Amanda. Just by being poor! By being a nobody and daring to even be married to my daughter, he has done everything wrong!”

“I blame your father,” Madame Williams continued. “He should have never given you in marriage to this lowlife, this scum, just because one of his old friends had brokered the arrangement.”

“Now get out. You and your flea ridden husband.”

Alora cackled brazenly and the whispers and stares of disapproval and pity from all of Madame Williams' friends followed Lawton and Amanda as Amanda angrily pulled Lawton with her through the courtyard to the front, ready to go home.

Everyone despised them, but they could not despise themselves too.

Lawton threw back the last remaining drink in his champagne flute, and didn't know what to do with the glass.

“Oh, please,” Amanda sighed in exasperation, and snatched the glass from him, hurling it into

the trimmed bushes for the groundskeepers to find later.

Back home in their tiny one bedroom apartment, Lawton's mother was standing outside the door, wringing her hands.

Ever since Chairman Willis fell sick a year and some months ago, Amanda's mother and siblings had thrown them out of the house, since Amanda refused to live by her rules and divorce Lawton.

She said they could go away and stop leeching off the family, as if that was not what the others

did.

Lawton's mother stood up from the bench resting against the wall on the front porch. They had rented the tiny bungalow on the edge of someone's property to manage in, and though it wasn't big and comfortable, it was at least their home.

Until now.

Lawton's mother approached with a worried look on her face. “Lawton, Amanda. The landlady said she is coming with some thugs to throw us out.”