by ANDREA SMITH
“What happened then?” I asked.
He seemed a bit uncomfortable discussing it.
“She started coming in a little later on her work days; generally she seemed as if she wasn’t feeling well. We don’t know anything for certain, Ms. Preston, but Martha seemed to suspect your mother was possibly pregnant.”
“Pregnant?”
Oh my God. That was always her worst fear. It was unimaginable. He nodded, and continued.
“It was just Martha’s suspicion, though. Martha and Maggie would talk some on the one day a week they worked together. Maggie – your mom, well she didn’t divulge a lot of detail about her personal life. She never had. Why, it was years before we even knew she had a daughter. Martha got the impression that your mom had met someone that she was really serious about. I guess Martha just put two and two together, but who knows, Martha may have come up with five on that one.”
I was stunned by the possibility. I knew Mom was young enough for more children. It just shocked the hell out of me that she would want any. All she had ever done was complain about me.
“Thank you for your time, and for producing these copies for us, Mr. Sneed.” Trey spoke up. “We will be meeting with the prosecutor today to press criminal charges against Mrs. Preston. Let me make it clear that there is nothing indicating your firm actively participated with the criminal activity, however, you know as well as I that here is an issue of liability for criminal activities conducted under the auspices of the employer, in this case - your firm, that could
result in a civil suit.”
“We are a Limited Liability Partnership, Mr. Sinclair,” Sneed responded.
“I understand that, Mr. Sneed, however, I will need to examine how Kentucky regards limited liability partnerships with respect to tortious injury resulting from negligence in the administration of Mr. Preston’s trust. I will be back in touch with you should I need further information. Good day, Mr. Sneed. Tylar?”
Mr. Sneed nodded, definitely not a happy camper. I thanked him, bidding him good-bye as Trey, hand on my elbow, guided me out of the office.
“Where to now?” I asked once we were back outside on the sidewalk.
“I think we need to gather as much information as possible as to where your mom might have gone. Obviously, she has left the current jurisdiction, but that doesn’t preclude us from making a criminal complaint. It puts an active warrant out for her at minimum, which will show up in any other state should she get stopped for a traffic infraction. The more information we can provide the prosecutor’s office, the more attention they will give the case.”
I had no clue as to who could shed any light on the whereabouts of my mother. We had no relatives according to my mom. She wasn’t one to have many friends. The only one that I recalled was Mona, but I hadn’t seen her since high school.
She had stopped over at our house one Sunday afternoon, crying. She had told mom that Laurie was pregnant. She had wanted Laurie to have an abortion, but she wouldn’t. Mona was crying, saying that she had wanted better for Laurie than to end up in the same place Mona had. I remembered that my mom had gotten kind of defensive with her.
“What the hell is wrong with where you’re at, Mona?”
“Oh, come on Maggie. Is this the life you would choose for your daughter?”
“Hey, if it’s good enough for me, it’s good enough for her!”
“You can’t mean that, Maggie,” Mona said shocked.
“I like what I do, Mona. I love the way men look at me, touch me, and want me. I love the money I make for doing something that I love to do, something that I’m really good at. My only problem is that they’re starting to look at Tylar more than me. I don’t want the competition.”
Mona had a horrified look on her face. I was in the kitchen, but I heard their conversation. Mona noticed me sitting there then, whispering something to my mother.
“I don’t give a shit what she hears,” Mom replied. “She needs to face the reality of life. It’s use or be used. Simple as that.”
I tuned the rest of their conversation out as I went upstairs to my room. Another memory to be hidden away.
“Hey, Tylar?” Trey’s voice cut into my thoughts.
“I’m sorry, what?”
“I asked if you have your house key.”
“Oh, yeah. I’ve got it.”
“Good, let’s head to Radcliffe.”
It took us about forty-five minutes to get there from downtown Louisville. Radcliffe was about the same size as Bristol, Va. Population was approximately twenty thousand residents. It was best known for being located very close to Fort Knox.
I directed Trey to our street, Lincoln Trail, pointing out my house on the right several blocks down from where we turned. He pulled the SUV into the driveway. I dug my house key out of my purse.
On the porch, the mailbox was stuffed full. I pulled all of the envelopes, catalogs and fliers out of the mailbox, handing Trey my key to unlock the front door.
He held the door for me, allowing me to go in first. I went in, heading down the hallway to the kitchen. I put the stack of mail on the kitchen counter. The house was stuffy, and empty of all furnishings.
It was surreal being there. Seeing everything familiar gone. Every piece of furniture and appliance was gone. I went room to room viewing the total emptiness. I climbed the carpeted stairs to the second floor. It was simply more of the same.
I went into the bathroom at the end of the hall. There was a roll of toilet paper left hanging on the holder. I opened the medicine cabinet. The only thing left in there was a box of condoms.
Trey had followed me from room to room. He hadn’t said a word. I hadn’t said a word either. What possible reason would she have had to dessert her home? What possible reason would she have had to take all of my belongings with her? I looked up at Trey, the confusion evident on my face. He pulled me close to him, wrapping his arms around, me hugging me tightly.
“I cannot understand why she would leave her house, Trey? I mean if she needed money that badly, she could have sold the house. Why did she take my trust? This house is worth more than twice that I would think.”
“Maybe it’s not her house, Tylar. She’s proven to be a master of duplicity to this point. We need to check with the county auditor.”
I nodded. Trey was right. Radcliff was in Hardin County. The county offices were in Elizabethtown, about twelve miles away. I grabbed the mail off of the kitchen counter. Perhaps some clues could be found there. Trey locked up the house and we headed to Elizabethtown hoping to find answers there as well.
The visit to the county auditor’s office revealed that the house I had grown up in had never belonged to my mother. It had been purchased in 1991 by a company called T.J. Property, LLC. The taxes were paid current by the same company. The auditor’s office did provide Trey with the address of the LLC. It was a post office box in Jackson, MS.
The whole trip was starting to feel like a giant exercise in futility. On the drive back to Radcliff Trey asked if I wanted to talk to any of the neighbors to see what they knew. By this time, I was convinced my mother had carefully and meticulously planned her disappearance. I told him that I didn’t.
By late afternoon, we had met with the Jefferson County prosecutor in Louisville. I had signed a criminal complaint against my mother. The law firm where she worked had provided Trey and I with her social security number. We didn’t have much as the prosecutor pointed out. Trey told them he would be back in touch with any additional information we turned up. There was no more to do.
We returned to the Crowne Plaza. Trey went in to the bathroom to take a shower. I sat on one of the two queen sized beds, and sorted through the stack of mail I had taken from my mom’s mailbox.
Most everything there was junk mail, unpaid bills, final request for payment demands and finally shut-off notices. There was a letter that had arrived for me from Virginia Intermont College. It was postmarked two days prior. I opened it. My fall classes had
been dropped due to failure to pay the registration fees on time. Nothing else in the stack provided any clues as to where my mom had gone with my money.
Trey came out of the bathroom with a towel draped around his lower torso, his damp and mussed up from the towel drying he had given. I was momentarily distracted from my depression watching him and wishing I could pull that towel off of him.
He glanced over at me while he was fishing in his luggage for whatever he planned to wear.
“Anything interesting?” he asked.
(Oh my God, I was busted.)
He was calling me out on my lustful thoughts which must have been fairly obvious as he caught me staring. I hadn’t meant to be that freaking obvious. I immediately felt the color rise to my cheeks.
"Tylar - did you find anything interesting in the stack of mail you brought back from the house?"
Thank God, he hadn’t busted me after all.
“Uh, no, not really. I’ve been dropped from the fall schedule it seems thanks to good ‘ole mom.”
“I’m sorry, Tylar,” he said softly. “We’ll figure something out about your tuition, okay?”
“There’s nothing to figure out Trey. I can’t afford it until I get my trust money back; if I get it back I should say.” He gave me a look that basically told me that the subject was not closed, but it was closed as far as I was concerned.
Trey was dressed casually. He put on a red polo golf shirt that complimented his broad shoulders. He wore a pair of putty colored Dockers that accentuated his flat stomach, narrow hips and very tight ass. He slid into a pair Bruno Magli casual loafers. He went back into the bathroom to blow dry his hair.
When he finished he came out of the bathroom, fastening his Rolex watch.
“I’ve got an errand to run,” he explained. "I should be back here in about an hour. Get ready; we’re going to dinner when I get back.”
Yes Mr. Bossy I thought.
“Okay,” I answered.
With that, he was gone.
I rummaged through my suitcase to see what exactly Trey had packed for me. I pulled out a short red summer skirt, and a red, black and white printed cotton tee. There were a pair black heeled sandals that would go nicely with the outfit. I got clean panties and bra and went in to take my shower.
It felt good to be under the warm water, washing all the grime off of me from the visit to my former home. I wondered what Trey thought about my ‘roots.’ What was that saying? The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree? I hoped he didn’t think I was anything like her. I was going to share with him what I had promised I would. I would do that tonight, after dinner.
By the time Trey returned, I was dressed and ready.
He drove us to a very trendy restaurant called Bistro 301 on Market Street. We were seated in a booth and given menus. The waitress returned for cocktail orders. Trey looked over at me.
“What would you like, Tylar? Wine?”
Seriously? He was going to let me have a drink? I glanced quickly at the cocktail menu and ordered something off of the ‘Skinny Girl’ section called vodka sonic. Trey looked slightly amused. He ordered a bourbon and water.
When the waitress returned with our drinks, Trey ordered calamari appetizers. I had decided on salmon, Trey ordered pan-seared trout for dinner. The waitress did the normal gushing over Trey and finally took leave. I took a long sip of my vodka sonic.
“You’ve been very quiet today, Tylar,” Trey observed.
“Well, that’s about to change,” I remarked, smiling, and downing my drink.
Trey frowned. The waitress passed. I flagged her down and asked for another. Trey frowned deeper.
(Tough titties)
I started to giggle. He looked at me uneasily.
“Look,” I said, “I need just a bit of liquid courage to get me to the point where I can tell you what I said that I would tell you last night. I had an epiphany.”
“An epiphany,” he echoed, “I see.”
(Oh that sounds patronizing, Counselor!)
“Was this epiphany after you finished most of your wine?” he asked.
“Don’t be flippant with me,” I ordered.
(Wow where did that come from?)
Trey continued watching me, waiting for the enlightenment.
“If you’re going to be as ass, then just forget it.”
“I’m sorry, Tylar,” he replied. “Please go on.”
“Okay,” I started just as the waitress set my next drink down. I took a sip.
“While I was watching ‘Revenge’ last night on TV, it came to me. The stuff about Daniel, my Daniel. The stuff from all those years back. The reason that you heard what you heard when I was reliving it in my dream at the hospital.”
“I’m listening,” Trey said.
“My senior year of high school Daniel was my boyfriend. We’d been seeing each other almost the whole year. He was a star football player; he had a full ride to Purdue in the fall. He was way too good for me, and I knew that.”
Trey frowned with a heavy sigh when I said that, I gave him a look that said ‘don’t interrupt.’
“It was the night of senior prom; my mother gave me the pearl drop earrings and the gold necklace with the teardrop pearl. She said that they were the only things that my father had ever given her, except for me. She said it was only right that I should have them. Prom was wonderful. Daniel and I danced and kissed. Up until that point, he really hadn’t got past second base with me. I was determined I guess to make it a special night. All my friends had lost their virginity. I was ready to part with mine. Mom had put condoms in my purse that night. I was horrified that she had done that, but she said she wanted me to be protected in case Daniel hadn’t thought to bring protection. She had given me permission to go to the after-prom parties with Daniel, which lasted all night long.”
I took another sip of my vodka sonic.
“As I told you, I got really ripped that night on Jell-O
shots. I threw up all over myself in Daniel's car. He brought me home around one in the morning. My mom had him take me upstairs to the bathroom. They made a bed for me right next to the toilet. I eventually passed out in there. When I came to I felt fairly sober except for the headache. I went to find my mom, but she wasn't in her room. I heard voices downstairs."
My eyes started tearing up at this point in time. Trey reached across the table and took my hand. The waitress delivered our calamari. Trey served me a portion of the appetizer and waited for me to continue.
“When I went downstairs to where I heard the voices, I discovered that my mom and Daniel were in the den off the kitchen. They didn't see me."
I faltered, embarrassed and ashamed at what was left to tell. I took a big swallow of my drink. I decided just to blurt it out and be done with it.
“My mom was on her knees giving Daniel a blow job. Trey, I would prefer not to go into all of the horrible details; suffice it to say, they enjoyed each other thoroughly that night in every way possible. My mother made Daniel promise to dump me. She said that now that he fucked her she wouldn’t tolerate sharing him with me. He said that it was no problem.”
I took another drink, and bowed my head. He reached for my hand again.
“Baby, it’s no wonder you pushed something like that from your mind. That had to be horrific for you.”
“It’s not just that Trey. There seems to be all sorts of things that I have pushed from my mind, trying to believe in some way that my life was normal. I mean as normal as it could be without my father in the picture. And now, you tell me now that my mom was never even married to my dad, or anyone else for that matter. Do you know what I am?”
“Tylar, don’t,” he said.
“I am not just a bastard, Trey. I’m the bastard daughter of a prostitute.”
“Tylar,” Trey said firmly, “You are what you have made of yourself despite whom your mother is or was. Don’t you understand that? You are smart, funny, kind. Yes you are also stubborn, willful and argumentative
. The point is you are your own person. And, you are a very exquisite person at that.”
Trey was being so kind. I didn’t want kindness out of pity though.
“Trey, I know that I am kind of ‘slow’ getting with the program. My childhood proves that with my constant denial as to just what my mother was. I’m done with that. You know as well as I do that my dad was – what do they call it, one of her “tricks?”
“Tylar,” he scolded. “I will not sit here and listen to you degrade yourself like that. I mean it.”
“I have a point to this, Trey, if you would please bear with me?”
He nodded allowing me to continue.
“My point is, whoever this guy was or is there was a reason that he kept my mom financially stable for eighteen years; and looked after me. I really don’t think the ‘looking after me’ part of it was at her insistence. I don’t know, maybe the guy has a heart or a conscience or something. I just wish that I knew more.”
The waitress brought our entrée’s just as Trey’s cell phone rang. He glanced down at his Blackberry.
“I have to take this. Will you excuse me? Go ahead and start.”
He left the table. The waitress put the last plate on the table. I held up my empty glass.
“I’d like another, please?”
I wasn’t sure who the hell Trey was on the phone with, but I managed to finish off my next drink without him being any the wiser.
He came back and we proceeded to eat our dinner in silence at first. Trey didn’t feel the need to let me know who he was on his phone with for the better part of fifteen minutes. The waitress cleared the table and asked if we wanted dessert. I was stuffed and politely declined. Trey ordered coffee for both of us. (Buzz killer, I thought to myself.)
The coffee had no more than arrived when once again, Trey’s Blackberry rang. He looked at his caller I.D.
"This is my partner," he said. "I've got to take this. Our verdict might be in."
Once again he left the table. I sat there sipping my buzz killer when the waitress brought me a fresh vodka sonic.
I was confused. I started to say something but she pointed over to the bar.