Grace Seeks Justice.

Grace instantly felt sick by the words being shouted out, but the voice that was speaking those words made it ten times worse. If she had known that her father would be attending the conference, then she might well have given it a wide berth

Grace quickly realised that she was now stuck on the horns of a dilemma. There was a large part of her that wanted to turn around right now and leave, telling anyone that asked why she was going that she was feeling unwell. That would not be a total lie, as the bile that was coming out of her father's mouth was making her stomach churn. She could also say that she had received a call from home, and that there was an emergency that she had to go and deal with post haste. However, such a move was the easy way out of the situation, and in some ways to flee in the face of such homophobia was a betrayal of her brother, her dead brother-in-law, and so many of their friends…

She realised with a sense of irony that the fact she was feeling an urge to stay and intervene was down to words that her father had said to her himself, more than two decades ago. He had told her that a Duval never ran away in the face of a challenge; instead they took a stand for what they believed to be right, and did not flinch in the face of adversity. A Duval stood up for what they knew to be the truth, and what they knew was right. It seemed however that her father's views of what was right and her own were diametrically opposed, and that fact still had the power to sadden her.

She freely admitted that in her early teens, she had idolised her father, back when the Duvals were a happy and contented family in the town of Woodstock, Illinois. Of course, with all of the benefit that hindsight could give, she realised that it had all been a carefully created sham. Her father had already been cheating repeatedly on her mother when she started at high school. Of course, his opinions on the gay community had also been in place then, not that she could have known it; nor did she know that the decision of her little brother to come out would be the catalyst that blew her parents' marriage apart….

She took a breath, and her decision made, she took a step towards the door of the room in which her father continued to pontificate. She stopped on the threshold, shocked to see so many people in the room. Then she noticed something else which almost broke her resolve, made her heart lurch. Her father was not alone on the platform….

Her first thought was that she could still run, but if anything the idea of doing so was dismissed all the quicker on this occasion. She began to wonder if the man at her father's side was even allowed to be in the city, given that the 100 mile exclusion zone had been granted until further notice, and surely someone would have contacted Cooper if that decision had been altered in any way. Whatever, it was a defiant looking Jonathan Anderson that sat by her dad's side. She had only met the man that was technically her father-in-law that one time, but that brief encounter had been long enough for her to conclude that he was every bit as right wing, narrow minded and bigoted as her own parent…

Speaking of him, he was still at the lectern, speaking, and suddenly she found his words coming to her clearly. "At this very moment, this fine country of ours is being steered towards a proto-communist utopia by a Democrat whose popularity must be largely due to his surname. People vote for Kennedy as they yearn for the country that we had when his illustrious relative was in charge; and that Kennedy is probably spinning in his grave at what we see now. We should return to the America of 1960, when people knew their place, and the importance of a good, Christian, family life. The homosexuals were arrested and treated for their sickness; the communists cast out and silenced; the rule of our laws was respected at all times. People also lived according to God's Holy Law, and did not deviate from the righteous path he had set out. That is the America that we need to return to."

Her father paused, as if waiting for applause that did not come. Undeterred, he continued, "We do not need to hear the liberal claptrap that is spouted by our corrupted Commander in Chief, words written with the collaboration of a black woman and a flaming homo; the latter married to an Irish terrorist. That sham marriage should be annulled, like those of all same sex couples. The participants in those shams should be dealt with, and their children sent to good, Christian homes, so that they can be raised to be good heterosexual members of society. The socialists that advocate more rights should be imprisoned, or deported, as long as their voices are silenced. Women should return to their place in the home. We need to curb the so called rights of people. We cannot allow this free for all, do as you like attitude to prevail any longer."

He stopped again, and this time there was applause, although the amount of clapping was small to Grace's delight. Inside, she was boiling with rage. There was so much hypocrisy in his words. He was hardly a good, shining example of a Christian man, and in her opinion, the whole world needed to know…

"Does a good Christian man cheat on his wife with the wife of not just one of his colleagues, but half a dozen of them?"

Grace was startled to hear someone shout out those words, and she wondered if her mother was in the room, unseen by her so far. Then she realised that she had been the one to cry out. Her father was looking at the door, glowering towards her. Suddenly she realised that from where he was standing, she was invisible in the darkness, and so she walked forward, into the lights of the stage…

"I shall ask you that again. Does a good, wholesome, all American, Christian father cheat on his wife so often with the wives of his work colleagues that he is eventually forced to leave not only his workplace, but the state of Illinois, uprooting his whole family? Some of those here will know this, but for those that don't, I will repeat what is already public knowledge, after your spectacular defeat in winning the nomination to represent Westerville, Ohio, for the Republicans in the 2016 Congressional elections. That was largely due to the fact that at a town hall meeting on the campaign trail, a gay school teacher was able to rip your record to shreds…"

Jonathan Anderson was on his feet now, recognising who she was, but before he could speak, her father, straining to see who she was, shouted back, "Young woman, you have no business to come in here and dredge up the past. That is something that liberal minds like yours do. They ignore the fact that we need to seek a better future that owes so much more to our collective past."

Grace smiled, then replied, "I will admit that I have a liberal mind, so guilty as charged. However, I am proud of my liberal views, as they survived the attempts of a dominating bully to drive them out; the bully that raised me. Then again, you already know all about that, don't you, dad…"

There was the briefest of flashes of recognition in her father's eyes then as around the room fell silent at the gravity of her words. Mr Duval now saw before him the daughter that he had tried his best to create; the cold hearted lawyer that would stand her ground and attack at every opportunity. Unfortunately, as far as he was concerned, her mind had been corrupted by the liberal rubbish that she had been fed at college in Colorado, and by her affection for the abomination that he had once called his son. He looked briefly at his companion on the stage, another man that like him had been mistreated by fate, whose own children had also turned out to be such disappointments. At least one of his sons had done him the great service of dying. They were two men cursed with bad children and wives that had proved weak. The world would of course claim that they were related by the marriage of their eldest children, but not as far as they were concerned…

Words came back to him then, and he said, "Of course, the other major issue we find with the liberal minded is that those minds are all too often on the verge of mental instability. As they push us all towards their bland and costly utopia, they often begin to form delusional tendencies; they begin to identify complete strangers as their parents. I have no idea who this young woman is, but possibly she has wandered in here from the street, having escaped from Bellevue or Wards Island."

Grace shook her head, and replied, "Oh, so that is how it is going to be. Deny that I am your daughter, and presumably state that Nick isn't your son; that you have no children? Well, suits us both fine if that is what you wish; we are both getting along just fine without your influence. Nick is happily married to his husband, Jeff, and they have a son as well; your attempt to stop their wedding on the 23rd of August 2014, at the New Yorker Hotel, was a complete failure, rather like you were as a loving father. Fortunately for you, of course, Nick continues to show no ill effects from the head injury that he sustained when you pushed him to the ground on the day that he came out. He now works at the United Nations, by the way…"

Grace paused, noting that several people around her had their mobile phones out and were using Google to check out the date of the wedding, and possibly even the staff lists from the UN. "As for me, dear father, I am a senior partner in an all female law firm, and have twins, a boy and a girl, and a wonderful husband - who just happens to be the son of Mr Anderson there. I am actually quite surprised to see my father-in-law, after he was convicted of trying to steal my husband's inheritance, and was banned from being within 100 miles of him and his family after a psychotic episode in which he claimed a French tourist was his dead son and tried to abduct him in Times Square. Of course, as my husband is currently at home here in Manhattan, his presence is an issue of a legal nature…"

That revelation provoked a further ripple of conversation around the room, and more Google checking. Grace also noticed that the security guard that she had seen heading in her direction from the corner of her eye had now stopped, and was speaking quietly into his radio. She looked back to the stage and had to marvel at her father's composure, as he didn't even appear a little ruffled…

"More lies! This young lady obviously requires her medication. I do not have a daughter, and I most certainly do not have a queer pervert for a son…"

"…not to mention three grandchildren that mercifully, you have never met, and never are likely to, thank God…"

"Well I very much doubt, Grace, that the good Lord will have much time for your brother, and will cast him into the fires of Hell."

"Well, all I can say is that being such a bigot has to hurt. It must hurt all the more, given your right wing tendencies and bile that you spout, to know that your son has your middle name. Is that why you no longer refer to yourself as Adolphus Nicholas Duval? Then again, my husband also swiftly dropped Anderson as his surname after his father, the man next to you, could not be bothered to return from a Caribbean holiday when his youngest son was attacked, nor would he pay for his funeral when he later passed away, broken with grief at the death of his boyfriend. By the way, seen any other ghosts lately, dear father-in-law? Oh, and if you do not know who I am, Mr Duval, why did you just call me by my first name, Grace?"

As Mr Duval realised his slip up, the room erupted in noise; she had aimed several low blows, but she had managed to achieve a bullseye…

"Ma'am, I need you to come with me," came a voice in her ear amongst the hubbub, and she turned to see the security guard at her side.

"Oh, that will be no problem. The atmosphere in this room is awful after all; it smells like the White House did from the election of 2016 to that of 2020," Grace said as loudly as she could. "Please do continue with your little hate session, dad; as you know, us liberals are great believers in free speech. I will let mom and Nick know that you were here…" With that, Grace turned on her heel and walked swiftly out of the room and back into the corridor. She spied a chair just a little way along, and she headed for it, sitting down as her heart pounded. She knew that she had to phone Nick and tell him what she had just done; now that she thought about it, he might not be all that pleased with her…

She dialled his number, then became aware that the security guard was staring at her. She put her cellphone on speaker for a moment, then dug in her purse. She found it where she knew it would be, tucked away in her pocketbook. She kept it there as she had always hoped that her father might have a moment of enlightenment, and come back to them all, asking for forgiveness. It was a copy of the Duval family Christmas photo from 2012, when Nick had still believed that he was heterosexual, and she had still had immense admiration for the man that was no doubt spewing hate again just yards away. Looking at it now, she could see the look in her mother's eyes; a week later, she had broken down and told her daughter exactly why they had been forced to leave Illinois…

"Ma'am, you will have to leave; we can't have…."

"….a successful New York lawyer calling out her bigot of a father?" said Grace, showing him the photo as she did so. "There he is, with the two children that he never had, and our mom. I say it myself, but I don't think that I have aged too badly in the last decade or so…"

"No, ma'am, you certainly have not, and trust me, I am firmly on your side in this. The stuff he was saying… What I was going to say is that we can't have you sitting out here when the cops arrive. I checked; Mr Anderson is still banned from being in the city, and they are on their way to arrest him. When they do, your presence could create a hell of a scene…"

Grace had to agree that he had a point, and although a large part of her wanted to witness the moment that her father in law was carted off by the NYPD, and even film it, the lawyer in her swiftly overruled that notion. She got up and followed the guard, and as she did, her brother finally answered his phone. "Hello? I am assuming that this call must be vitally important as you held on for so long and did not take the sensible option of leaving a voicemail when prompted…"

"And hello to you too, little brother," replied Grace with a hint of anger in her tone. "It is rather important as it happens, although once I tell you exactly what I have just done then you might want to scream your head off at me…"

"I do not like the sound of that at all. What have you volunteered me for this time?"

"Nothing, Nick, I swear! Look, you know that I am at the conference, the one I asked you about?"

"The one that I was not invited to, dodging the bullet because of the fact I work for the UN and have to sit on the sidelines in national agendas? I do recall that you were not looking forward to going one little bit."

"I am torn about that now. You see, when I came in, filled with existential dread, I overheard a loud, strident voice telling people that they believed folks should have less rights, not more, unless of course they were older, white and very heterosexual…"

"Sounds like dad!" joked Nick. He waited for his sister to speak again, and when she did not, the reason for her long pause quickly dawned on him. "Oh, Lord! Please tell me it wasn't him…"

"I regret to inform you that I cannot say that, and well, I might have called him out in a moment of righteous insanity, and I might have dragged your name into my little tirade…"

"I'm sorry, you did what!" yelled Nick. Then he groaned, and said, "What on earth have you just done!"

"Look, don't worry, it all ended quite well. I made my point and destroyed his. On top of that, the disturbance that I created attracted the attention of security, but then, given that darling daddy was actually accompanied by our old friend Jonathan Anderson, it ended up being a reason to call in the NYPD…"

"Wait, Blaine and Coop's dad was there? I'm sorry, but isn't he…?"

"Oh yes, he most certainly is, and by the commotion that I can now hear coming from the room in question, I think that he might be resisting arrest again. Look, dad might know you work at the UN, but he doesn't know that you live in the West Village. I think that if he heads anywhere it will be to Murray Hill…"

"If? You really think that will be an if? I mean, he will know exactly where you live, because Mr Anderson will have told him! Have you called Cooper to warn him?"

"Well, not yet…"

"Okay, so I will just say that I am not exactly best pleased with you right now, dragging my name into things without asking for my permission first, but if it really ended up making dad look stupid, I might be able to forgive you in due course. I will need to call my boss, and tell her what's just happened, and hope it doesn't matter too much. As for you, hang up and call your husband before the cops call him to say his dad is in town; warn him that our father might turn up - and if he isn't at home, then tell Nils to keep the door locked and not answer it to anyone."

Nick rang off, and Grace could just picture him standing there, shaking his head, then calling in to Miss Worthington to advise them what his sister had just done at a national conference. Suddenly it hit her that if they were not best pleased about it, then it could affect his chances of promotion in the upcoming reshuffle; she felt guilty at once, not even knowing if it had done so. However, her brother had also been right about one thing, and that was where her dad might head in a rage now…

She turned her attention back to her phone, and called Cooper, hoping that he would answer quickly; it was a pretty straight run from the Javits Center to Murray Hill along 34th Street in a cab after all… "Hello, my love! Bored of the conference already?" came her husband's voice.

"I can't say that it has been boring so far, but that is largely my own fault… Look, CJ, I have a confession to make. I opened my mouth to protest about something without thinking of the consequences first, and the long and short of it is that I have just had your father arrested, or at least escorted out of the city…"

She stopped as at the other end of the call her husband began to laugh. "I'm sorry, Gracie, this line must be bad, or you have taken something you shouldn't have. I mean, I thought you just said my dad…"

"CJ, I am being serious. Your dad was here, in the company of mine, trying to convince people that we needed to curtail people's rights, not increase them. So I got angry, and I spoke out, and yes, your father is currently with the cops, and as for my dad, if he gets away with it, then he will be straight on his way to an address your dad will have given him…"

"Meaning here, Murray Hill. Right, I will go and lock the doors, warn Nils, and whilst I am at it, call mom. I want full details of what is going on as soon as you know any more. Just promise me that you will watch out for yourself. I mean, your dad might come looking for you first…" As Cooper hung up, Grace suddenly realised that he had a very good point…

"Right, ma'am, you can come back out of there now," said the security guard as he walked back into the room. "The cops have been, there was a scuffle, and the pair of them have been taken into custody. They want to talk with you when you are ready, but you will be glad to know that virtually everyone in that room is behind you, and glad that you stood up and showed them up. I mean, pardon my French, but your dad is a total douche. I am assuming that your mother has had the common sense to leave him a long time ago?"

"She did, thank goodness, and now she works full-time for a decent congresswoman. Republican, alas, but much closer to the centre than most."

Grace got up from the chair she was sitting in, and headed out into the corridor, intending to head for the exit. She was swiftly steered in the other direction by the guard though. "You don't want to go that way, ma'am, for two reasons; number one, there is a media scrum up there, and if they see you, you'll never escape. Secondly, the cops are in a room in the other direction; best to speak to them now whilst it is all fresh…"

Sure enough, Grace soon found herself talking to two sympathetic cops, one of whom immediately asked if she would like a similar restraining order placed on her father to the one that existed on Jonathan Anderson. She thought about it for only a moment, then answered with a lot of conviction, "Yes, that would be more than welcome, but only if it can encompass my mother, brother, grandparents and our families. Actually, whilst I think about it, could it also extend to a school called Dalton Academy in Ohio…"

Now that she was armed with the knowledge that her father had been taken into custody along with Mr Anderson, Grace decided that there was no reason why she should not remain at the conference, and take part in those sessions to which she had been specifically invited. She sent text messages to her brother and her husband first, just to update them on the situation, and calm them a little. As she hastened to the first of the sessions, running just a little late, her phone buzzed with two replies. The first, from Cooper, was short, and consisted of just two words, which was exactly what she would have expected him to say had he been with her. The reply from Nick was a little longer - 'So they have actually arrested dad, presumably charged him, and are now going to ban him from coming anywhere near us ever again? You're forgiven; to be honest, you are actually kind of my hero at this precise moment! By the way, I might have told mom what you did, so expect a conversation later…'

Grace laughed to herself at her brother's words, but she had to admit that the chat she would be having with her mother would probably be interesting. She was pretty sure that her mother would approve of what she had done deep down, but at the same time, like all parents, she would have to take a disapproving tone over her recklessness in achieving it…

She switched her phone to silent then as she entered the room in which the seminar on women's rights was about to begin. She looked around, and spotted a few fellow lawyers from other firms in the city that she knew well, and then spotted an empty seat by a young lady that she had known since law school, and whose career path had also brought her to New York. She beckoned her over with a smile, and Grace headed in her direction gladly. "I heard that you were one of the people that was due to be here at the conference, so I saved a spot next to me just in case you were going to be in this particular seminar. I also hear that congratulations are in order. Well done on dealing with those two jerks, although why they would even allow an anti-rights speaker to be here at a conference about rights I do not know."

"I guess they would say that they have as much of a right to air their views as we do, however warped that viewpoint may be. It also let the world see exactly what we are still up against even now in the United States. Of course, what made it worse was the fact that the two jerks in question happened to be my father, and my father-in-law. Still, that's the two of them arrested and given a restraining order, so not a bad morning's work…"

Grace fell silent then as the speaker that was chairing the seminar had arrived, as beside her, her friend sat open-mouthed at what she had just said…