Chapter 6 - CLAUDIA’S BRANCH
Claudia had spent her entire life near the center of the Ventresca family without ever being at it.
That sentence sounds ridiculous unless you grow up in an old Mafia clan where adults can turn seating charts into psychology.
Her father was my father’s younger brother.
Good man.
Bad timing.
My father inherited the main family business interests because the old structure favored senior sons. Later reorganizations equalized some economics but not social visibility.
Claudia grew up watching my branch receive attention.
I became the obvious Ventresca.
She became cousin.
Then she had Evelyn.
One child.
Brilliant.
Artistic.
Quiet.
Claudia wanted her visible.
Nothing wrong with that.
Then my daughter Ruby was born.
My child had my surname too.
More importantly, she was Emilia’s daughter.
After Emilia died, relatives projected meaning onto Ruby.
“Little Emilia.”
“Her mother’s flowers.”
“Her mother’s eyes.”
Every comparison Claudia’s daughter had once received through the program shifted naturally toward Ruby.
Claudia felt Evelyn being displaced from a role Evelyn had never requested.
That was the emotional engine.
Then the practical one.
Claudia had made herself indispensable to Growing Forward.
Her identity became tied to the program.
If Ruby eventually became involved simply because she loved her mother’s work, donors might shift attention.
Not because of law.
Because stories.
Claudia began protecting Evelyn’s symbolic place before competition existed.
Again:
Adults inventing rivalry between children.
Then I found messages between Claudia and her sister.
CLAUDIA:
Once Ruby is old enough, everyone will pretend the program belongs to her.
SISTER:
Doesn’t it kind of? Emilia started it.
CLAUDIA:
No. The foundation built it after she got sick.
SISTER:
You built a lot.
CLAUDIA:
Exactly.
Then:
I’m not letting Evelyn spend years beside me and then be treated like temporary help when Ruby turns ten.
There.
Future resentment projected backward.
Ruby was four.
May you like
The flowers were not a current threat.
They were preview.
