“Nice to meet you, Mr. Smith.” Mira smiled.
“Please call me Daniel. Your brother has spoken very highly of you. I’m indebted to you for coming all the way here.”
Mira glanced at Wade before responding. “I must admit it wasn’t easy. I kind of like had to bribe my boss to give me the time off after Wade explained how serious your situation was.”
“I can’t thank you enough, Dr. Cullen.”
“Mira’ll do just fine.”
“All right.” He smiled. “Please sit down. Can I get something for each of you? Coffee? Tea? A hearty breakfast?”
Wade and Mira each chose a coffee, and Daniel summoned the waitress who quickly took their orders.
“How was your flight?” he asked Mira.
“Smooth, thank goodness! I just got in a while ago, actually.”
“I flew in from Florida yesterday. I hate planes, but I have to travel overseas a lot.” Daniel said. “I understand you’re a physician, like your brother here.”
Wade looked on, silently.
“Yep. We have that in common,” Mira replied. “I guess you can say the family is mostly comprised of healthcare workers.”
“That’s admirable. Really admirable.”
“Well, you haven’t done bad for yourself,” Wade chimed in. He turned to Mira. “Did I tell you he’s the founder of a fortune five hundred company with headquarters based in New York City?”
“You did.”
“And that’s not all. This bachelor owns a chain of luxury hotels throughout the United States, Europe, Australia, and The Caribbean.”
“Really?” Mira was stunned.
Their coffee arrived and they all thanked the waitress. She had deep-seated blue eyes and black, stringy hair. From the size of her, it might appear that her orders book had been a bit heavy to tote, let alone the tray bearing the three smoldering cups of coffee.
Daniel cleared his throat. “I’m sure all I’ve acquired looks very good to those standing on the outside of my life looking in, but to me, they don’t mean much. They’re all just material things: Things that some persons would base their success and entire value upon as a human being. Yet, I see them for what they are: just things. That’s all they amount to. Nothing more… nothing less.”
Wade and Mira were surprised by the way he downplayed his achievements.
Daniel interlaced his fingers. “If I had the opportunity to give up everything I’ve ever gained to simply know the truth surrounding my mother’s death, I would in a heartbeat. I would give it all up. People have been saying all sorts of things over the years and I never paid much attention to anything other than what was already proven in a court of law, but things have changed now.” His focus was on Mira. “If I could just know the absolute truth and put all the lingering theories out there to rest, I might be able to finally have some peace for the first time in my life.”
The Cullens looked on sympathetically. They could see the pain in his eyes.
“All these years, I’ve tried my best just to survive and thought for a while, if I could do some outwardly phenomenal things, somewhere up in Heaven Mom would be proud and I could be contented. So, I worked my way through law school, landed a job with a major firm and was there for a number of years before I branched out on my own. I invested in a few startups, stocks, bonds — you name it and eventually amassed significant wealth in a short period of time. Wade knows this, but I’m not sure if he mentioned it to you just yet, Mira, but throughout that outward display of so-called success, I tried to end my life a few times: A couple of overdoses of antidepressants; the last attempt was a bullet to the head, which unfortunately, didn’t do the job.” He pointed to the scar near his right temple.
“My God!” Mira spoke almost in a whisper. “Wade said you were having a really tough time coping as you were in desperate need of answers, which he hoped somehow I could provide. He mentioned you had been suicidal, but I had no idea you’d actually attempted to end your life several times.”
“I thought I’d allow Dan to explain himself,” Wade spoke somberly.
“I know it’s a miracle I’m still alive and kicking. That gunshot should’ve killed me.” Daniel sighed. “Anyway, after that last suicide attempt, while I was in the mental facility where they automatically placed me after I recovered, I started to think about some of the conflicting stories I had heard all my life and figured since I bungled the suicide job, there’s probably a reason I’m still here. That maybe it was time for me to seek answers to the obvious question of why Jackie Smith felt the need to murder my mother because of her affair with my father. If, as I believe she, in fact, did so. They say you can’t help who you fall in love with, but I do know, unless we’re mentally incapacitated, we all have the ability to choose our paths and control our own actions. Look Mira, I’m aware that no answer would be good enough in light of the horrendous deed that was committed, but I’m thinking the truth and the whole truth would be enough for me to somehow get on with life and not always feel every morning like waking up is a chore.”
“I’m really sorry about all you went through, Daniel.” Mira reached over and gently touched his hand. Doing so, instantaneously sent telepathic signals through her body and scattered images flashed in her brain similar to the experience she had when Karlen Key had reached out to her for help all those years ago. She witnessed hundreds of men and women on a large open field laboring; a woman in a little house eating at a table with several small children; another colored woman laid out dead in a wooden box; a head-on collision before which she heard the loud, rubbery sound of screeching tires.
“Are you all right?” Daniel had broken Mira’s uninvited reflections.
“Yes, yes. I’m fine.” She slipped her hand away from his.
“Are you sure?” Wade asked.
“Uh huh. Just felt a bit hot. I’m good now though.”
Daniel opted to switch the conversation to a more light-hearted one. They spent another half hour in Al’s Diner sipping coffee and getting better acquainted.
“Are you ready to see the place?” Daniel asked Mira.
“Ready when you are.” She nodded. A minute later, they all got up to leave.
“I’ll see you later.” Wade kissed his sister on the cheek.
The three walked out together. Wade headed across the street to Tinnedale as Daniel and Mira made their way over to the parking lot where Daniel’s Suburban was parked.
2
_________________
Fresh breeze brushed across Mira’s face as they cruised eastbound on the “airport road”, a highway which ran parallel to a large, glistening lake situated on the northern side. Beethoven classics flowed seamlessly through the speakers of Daniel’s rental car and Mira thought it a perfectly serene setting for both of them, especially for Daniel.
“Wade said you guys met at a conference earlier this year,” she said.
“Yeah, we did,” Daniel affirmed. “And to think I was having second thoughts about going! What happened is one of the partners at the firm ended up in a car wreck the day before he and I were scheduled to leave. Suffered a fractured femur and a few other non-life-threatening injuries. The poor guy was in bad shape when I went to see him at the hospital, so I felt kinda guilty about leaving him behind. I’d pretty much made up my mind that I’d be missing the conference.”
“But he convinced you to go ahead without him.”
“Yeah. How’d you know?”
“Lucky guess.” She smiled. “You know, every time I manage to come here for a visit, I see why Wade and Norma decided to make this island their home.”
“Yes indeed. It’s a beautiful place.”
Mira studied him for a moment. “I guess, deep inside, you don’t really view it the way most people do because of what happened, huh?”
With a sigh, he glanced her way. “You’re right. I guess, in spite of this amazing nature being all around us, I can’t help but associate the islands mainly with what happened to my mom
. But I’ve tried to counter that by making a number of investments here, one being the guest house. What helped with my decision in doing so is I recognized that not only did my mother take her final breath here, although this wasn’t her home, my father – the man she loved with all of her heart was born in Nassau – right here on this soil.”
“Did you live with your dad after your mom passed?” Mira asked.
“I couldn’t. He had his family here. I represented for them, I’m sure, what amounted to my father’s wife being imprisoned and their family being torn apart. I was the bastard child.” He recalled what Lucille had said, and as much as he hated the sound of it when she uttered those words, he, in this particular moment, accepted that she was right.
“So who raised you?”
“A couple of my mom’s relatives in Florida took turns ‘til they thought they could no longer afford to do so, since they had kids of their own. They turned me over to the system when I was seven.”
“That’ rough,” Mira said.
“You’re telling me?” His mind drifted for a few seconds to the first day he’d found himself in a foster home. The middle-aged couple had taken him in, yet in his young mind, they were clearly ‘over-the-hill’. The Sponaks were quiet people that barely spoke to him – or to each other, apparently. They fed and clothed him, ensured he was taken care of, but the few months he spent at their house, he wondered if Mister or Mrs. Sponak even liked him. In hindsight, he was certain the lack of communication there had fed the loneliness he’d already felt due to the absence of his mother. “Mira, I’m sorry Wade dragged you away from your family and work on account of me,” he said. “I’m a hopeless case, for sure.”
From what she’d heard that morning, Mira couldn’t blame the guy for feeling like he’d had a crummy life. However, she had no intentions of fueling his despair. “I don’t think anyone is a hopeless case,” she remarked. “I think as long as we’re breathing, we have a chance to experience something better than what we’re getting. Know what I mean?”
He looked at her. “Maybe you’re right.”
Just then, she noticed his right cheek twitching, not slightly, but rather prominently, and figured it might be some sort of nerve problem or spasm from the near-fatal gunshot wound he’d suffered.
“Watch out!” Mira shrieked as Daniel, suddenly catching sight of the oncoming mishap, rapidly swerved away, missing the old lady who had been crossing the street, by mere centimeters. He shifted the gear to ‘park’ and dashed out of the car to her. Mira followed.
“Are you all right, Miss?” He gripped her shoulder, looking to see if she was hurt.
“I’m all right,” she answered shakily. A tattered, white cane helped her to balance after the close call. She had light brown freckles on her skin, was quite thin and stood at about five feet four inches tall. Strands of gray hair initially held up by a few, long hair pins were rebelliously hanging in different directions over her forehead. As she looked up at Daniel, her head tilted slightly to the side and a grimace formed. “You’re the one that don’t look so good,” she said.
Daniel was startled by her statement.
A silver sedan pulled up nearby and a short, heavy guy wearing blue jeans and a green tee shirt got out. He’d left the engine running. “Is everything okay?” he asked.
Daniel was hesitant to respond.
“Everything’s just fine, young man,” the woman answered. “This nice gentleman saved me from being a victim out here on these streets today.”
“Okay.” The man stared at them for a few moments. “Well, all right then.” He glanced at Mira, then headed back to his car and slowly drove away.
“As I was saying, dear, you’re the one that don’t look so good. He’s comin’ for it, you know.”
Daniel scowled. “I’m sorry, ma’am. Who’s coming – for what?”
Those dark brown eyes of hers were mysterious. “You know how it is when you have somethin’ that really don’t belong to you; more like a loan?”
“Yes.”
“Well, sometimes people give somethin’ away and then after a while, for whatever reason, they get mad and want it back.” She gave Mira a crazed glare, then pointed at her. “You! You! You’ll tell him; won’t you?”
Though taken aback, Mira kept quiet.
Daniel grinned. He was convinced the old lady was straight-up bonkers. “Can we give you a lift somewhere, ma’am?”
She gripped the small paper bag she had been carrying a bit more securely. “Oh, well, was getting my morning stretch-of-the-legs, but I guess I can use a lift now. Not going far, just up the road there to New Life.”
“You mean New Life Guest House?” Daniel asked.
“Yes. I’m staying there for a few days. My daughter and her children wanted me to stay with them, but I like my privacy. I never stay with them when I come down for a visit from the island. You know where it is? The guest house, I mean?”
Daniel laughed. “I certainly do. I happen to be the proprietor.”
She was clearly caught by surprise. “You are?”
Daniel quickly nodded. “Yes. Yes, I am.”
Smiling, Mira uttered: “What a coincidence.”
“There’s no such thing as coincidence!” The woman blurted.
Daniel looked at Mira and shrugged his shoulders. Shaking her head, she did the same. He started helping the lady to the car. “I didn’t get your name, by the way. Mine’s Daniel.”
“Minerva. Minerva Watkins. They call me Nervy for short.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Nervy, despite the circumstance.”
“Likewise, young man.” She sat down. “A pleasure indeed.”
As Mira headed back to the car, her gut told her this senior citizen was no ordinary woman.
3
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New Life was a quaint, three-storey establishment which sat on the corner of Townsend and Sycamore Street in the central part of the island. Souvenir shops, jewelry stores, banks, clothing stores, and restaurants filled the area, and scores of tourists and locals strolled along the sidewalks. However, fifty years earlier, the scene was vastly different. The district was comprised of mostly colored people with small businesses, “Mom & Pop” shops, guest houses and nightclubs being some of the main ones. But in recent times, a diverse group of people, including white natives and foreign investors occupied the vicinity with primarily commercial, but also residential properties.
Darkly stained wood siding encircled the guest house and a high-pitched gable was, by many accounts, one of its most prominent exterior attributes. Wide, blue shutters were stretched open above each window and to Mira, New Life just looked like an old, large house, and it was -- since it had been standing for the better part of sixty years.
Nervy took her time and went ahead of them through the spacious lobby. Along the beige walls sat four black, leather couches, two on each side of the room. From her viewpoint, Mira could see another room several feet away which branched out from that one.
“Brenda, I’d like you to meet Dr. Mira Cullen,” Daniel told his receptionist. Brenda Braithwaite’s station was near the front entrance. Wearing her tinted prescription eye-glasses and the black long-sleeved coat suit, complete with a white, frilly blouse made her look quite smart behind that mahogany desk.
“It’s indeed a pleasure to meet you, ma’am.” She smiled.
Brenda’s perfectly white teeth glared at Mira. “Nice meeting you too, Brenda.”
“I’ll be taking her on a quick tour of the place,” Daniel said.
“Well, have fun!” Brenda waved as they headed off.
Just off the lobby was a sitting room, wider, but not as long as the lobby area. The four walls were covered with old photographs of the guest house, as well as of the immediate vicinity and larger community. Snapshots of men, women and children going about doing whatever it was they did all those years ago gave an insight of life in Nassau back in the day.
Mira noticed a boy who
appeared to be around twelve or thirteen years old, wearing a straw hat and holding a bucket. He was retrieving water from a city pump.
“Are any more of those pumps around?” she asked Daniel.
“From what I know only a few are left in the inner city, but many homes have long been modernized and have their own indoor plumbing, filter systems, etc. Back in the day, it was commonplace for folk to regularly get water for the family’s needs from a nearby public pump. Since I never lived here to experience it, I only know these things due to the fact that when I was considering purchasing this property and investing in others here, I had a couple of mentors – all old-timers – who gladly filled me in on a lot of history. One of them knew my father really well and that was a plus for me as he told me some cool things about him that I never knew. After all, I’d only seen him a couple of times after my mom was killed: All before I was turned over to the ‘system’. I guess it must’ve taken a lot out of him to make those few visits to Florida after what happened.” He reflected. “Anyway, sadly, all my mentors have since passed away.”
Daniel’s eyes drifted to the very top of the wall. “These are my parents.” He was referring to two framed photographs which were larger than the others.
Mira craned her neck to have a closer look. “Your mom was an absolutely stunning lady,” she remarked. She knew it was the same woman she’d seen in bed through her mind’s eye, while in the diner, soaked in blood.
“Thank you. Her name was Ellen.”
The black and white photograph depicted Ellen posing cheerfully in a casual knee-high skirt and short-sleeved matching blouse. Ellen’s eyes appeared to have had a soft glow which made Mira curious as to what color they were. “Were your mom’s eyes hazel?” she asked.
“Yes, they were. How’d you know?”
“I can tell by the soft glow in the photo they were really beautiful.”
The Cornelius Saga Boxed Set Page 30