Page 70 - Too Much and Never Enough - Mary L. Trump

During the most crucial juncture of the Steeplechase deal, its unraveling, and its aftermath, Donald did a fair amount of armchair quarterbacking. Freddy, who had never developed the armor that might have helped him withstand his father’s mockery and humiliation, was particularly sensitive to being dressed down in front of his siblings. When they were younger, Donald had been both a bystander and collateral damage. Now that he was older, he felt increasingly confident that Freddy’s continuing loss of their father’s esteem would be to his benefit, so he often watched silently or joined in.
My father and grandfather were conducting a Steeplechase postmortem in the breakfast room that, on Fred’s side, was acrimonious and accusatory and, on Freddy’s, was defensive and remorseful. Donald casually said to his brother, as though completely unaware of the effect his words would have, “Maybe you could have kept your head in the game if you didn’t fly out to Montauk every weekend.”
Freddy’s siblings knew that their father had always disapproved of what was now merely Freddy’s hobby. There was a tacit agreement that they wouldn’t talk about the planes or the boats in front of the Old Man. Fred’s reaction to Donald’s revelation proved the point when he said to Freddy, “Get rid of it.” The next week, the plane was gone.
Fred made Freddy miserable, but Freddy’s need for his father’s approval seemed to intensify after Marblehead and even more after the demise of Steeplechase. He’d do whatever his father told him to do in the hope of gaining his acceptance. Whether he realized it consciously or not, it would never be granted.
When they first moved into the Highlander, Freddy and Linda had been concerned that the other tenants would bother the landlord’s son with their complaints. Now they found themselves at the bottom of the list when they needed repairs.
The windows in my parents’ ninth-floor corner bedroom offered expansive southern and eastern views, but they were also vulnerable to strong gusts of wind. In addition, the Highlander had built-in air conditioners in every room that hadn’t been installed properly, so condensation accumulated between the drywall and outer bricks whenever the AC was running. Over time, the built-up moisture seeped into the