| Subject: Second Generation - Parts #47-50 |
Author:
Wanda
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Date Posted: 21:50:27 12/07/03 Sun
PART #47
Delbert had discovered that Mr. Wilbur knew Hollingsworth well, and that he liked to talk. He decided he would use that to his advantage to find out some things about Hollingsworth. He knew he would have to be careful so as not to draw suspicion. If Delbert made up his mind to do something, he would not rest until he had accomplished what he determined to do. He knew he was going to do whatever it took to find information about his biological father. He felt he deserved to know his father, even though he was now dead. He had been deprived of his father all of his growing up years, and he could not rest until he had a complete picture of WHO his father really was.
Delbert was asked to work on some customer files, and update information as to new addresses and telephone numbers. Mr. Wilbur said, “I hope you won’t see this as clerical work. I personally feel it helps you to become acquainted with the clientele. I will send for the files.”
Mr. Wilbur picked up the phone and said, “Juliana, would you please bring me the customer files beginning with A and going through D? I think that will be enough for now.” Soon the door opened, and Juliana wheeled in a cart with file cards A through D. When she saw that Delbert was there, she smiled shyly. Delbert said, “Good morning Juliana.” She said, “Good morning Mr. Cummings.” He asked, “Have you run into any more strange new men in the bank?” She immediately became flustered; and said, “No, Sir, I haven’t, and I do apologize for my clumsiness yesterday.” Delbert laughed; and said, “I am fine except for a badly bruised rib where you crashed into me.” She apologized profusely, and Delbert began to laugh. He said, “Juliana, I am teasing you; please forgive me.” She blushed, and fairly ran out of the office.
Mr. Wilbur watched Delbert as Juliana left the room. He said, “She’s not a bad looking young lady.” Delbert said, “No, Sir, she is pretty amazing.” Mr. Wilbur said, “I can see you are pretty taken by her.” Now it was Delbert’s turn to be embarrassed. He asked, “What is her last name, and what do you know about her?” Mr. Wilbur said, “Delbert, you don’t waste any time, do you?” She is the daughter of Bow and Catherine La Faye. They own the Le Bleu plantation outside of Lake Charles. Mr. La Faye owns the ship yards here at Lake Charles. He is an old timer in the import-export business. They’re a nice family. They have a son who is presently engaged to Hollingsworth’s daughter, Lucia. They will be getting married soon. At least that is what I hear by the grapevine.”
Delbert said, “Does Hollingsworth’s family members work here at the bank?” Mr. Wilbur said, “Oh my, no, they don’t.” Mrs. Deverall rarely came into the bank; he didn’t seem to want her to come to the place where he worked. I have heard she had a terrible drinking problem. He wouldn’t say much about it, but most of the employees felt really bad for him. He did talk a lot about his daughter though. Wow, she sure is some looker. I did pick up on one thing about Deverall’s daughter.” “What was that?” asked Delbert. Hollingsworth certainly did not like the thought of her dating Boudreau La Faye. For some reason he hated that young man. I never knew why, for Boudreau has always seemed like a real nice young man. Come to think of it, Hollingsworth didn’t seem to have much love for Bow La Faye either.” Delbert said, “I guess I am surprised about Mr. La Faye’s daughter being hired to work at the bank.” Mr. Wilbur laughed, “Hollingsworth was dead before she was hired. I can assure you if he were still alive, she would not have been hired.”
Delbert was going through the files; and making the necessary adjustments on the names and addresses. He flipped through the D’s and saw the name Mrs. Hollingsworth Deverall. He saw the address where she lived, and mentally memorized the address. He knew he would be driving by that home, and seeing where his father had lived. He hoped that he might have the opportunity to see Lucia. He wondered if there would be any family likeness. Delbert hoped there would be the opportunity to become acquainted with Lucia. He doubted he would ever be welcome at that house; but he would like to meet, and talk with Lucia.
Delbert’s mind raced ahead to certain possibilities. If he became acquainted with Juliana, perhaps through her he could get to Lucia. If Juliana’s brother was engaged to Lucia, there might be a way to accomplish that feat. He determined he was going to try to build a relationship with Juliana. What would his father think if he knew that Lucia was going to marry Boudreau, and his son was interested in dating Juliana, the sister of Boudreau? He wondered why there was a problem between Hollingsworth and Boudreau La Faye. He decided that was something he was going to check out; and see if he could find the reason for this hatred his father had felt toward Boudreau.
PART #48
After Delbert had finished the A – D files of the customers, he called for the E – H files. Mr. Wilbur had left the office for a few minutes to get a cup of coffee; and Delbert was alone at the desk when Juliana wheeled in the second group of customer files. Delbert looked up from the desk and said, “Juliana, how would you like to do me a huge favor?” Juliana said, “What can I do for you?” Delbert said, “I don’t know much about Lake Charles; I wonder if you would be willing to go out with me to dinner sometime, and show me around the city. I would enjoy getting to know some people too.”
Juliana looked closely at Delbert to see if he were teasing her once again, but he seemed serious enough. She said, “I would be happy to do that for you. Since you said you would like to meet people from the area, I could start with my family. Would you like to come out to the plantation tonight for our evening meal? I could introduce you to our family.
Delbert could not believe his luck. He looked at Juliana and asked, “Would this be too much for your mother for me, a stranger, to come to a meal? Juliana laughed, “You don’t know my mother; nothing thrills her more than having a group of people seated around her dining room table and eating lots of food.” Delbert asked, “You will call and ask her if it is all right for me to come, won’t you?” Julia answered, “I promise you I will call and ask, but I can also assure you it will be fine. We eat at seven o’clock.” Delbert smiled; and said, “I will be there at that time.”
Juliana called Catherine, and told her she had invited the new bank employee to come for the evening meal. She asked, “Will that be all right, Mother?” Catherine said, “Of course it will be all right. Boudreau told me that Lucia and her mother will be coming as well. I believe that Katerina is inviting Jean Baptiste, so we should have a full table. I will make sure that Cook prepares lots of food for those hungry young men. We are going to have southern fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and gravy, fried okra, sliced tomatoes from the garden, and a fruit bowl. I believe I heard Cook say she would bake some berry pies. Do you think that sounds all right?” Juliana laughed for her mother was always asking if her menu sounded all right. No one had ever complained about the menu at the La Faye house. It was always bountiful and delicious.
Later in the day Juliana stuck her head into Delbert’s office; and said, “I have checked about tonight, and it is fine if you come. There will be some other company, but that will help you to get better acquainted with some of the people from Lake Charles. Delbert smiled; and said, “I will be there approximately ten minutes before the meal. May I bring something along with me?” Juliana laughed, “Oh my goodness, no you are not to bring anything but yourself and your appetite.” “That, I can do,” said Delbert.
When Delbert left the bank, he drove until he found a florist shop and purchased some fresh flowers for the table. He waited until they were made up into a centerpiece. He didn’t feel right about walking in empty handed. He knew fresh flowers were always important to his mother, so he thought he couldn’t go wrong in taking some flowers to the La Faye home for Juliana’s mother.
Delbert went back to the hotel to shower and change. When he walked into the hotel, the manager saw him and said, “Mr. Cummings, you had a call from a Ruth Cummings. She asked that I give you the message that she will be in tomorrow at 5:15 P.M. She asked that I tell you to please see that she was picked up at the train depot. Delbert smiled; and said, “Would you reserve a room for Mrs. Cummings? I am not sure how long she will need it, but I will give you twenty-four hour notice of her leaving.” The manager had him fill out a card and said the room would be ready for her.
Delbert went to his room, took a shower, shaved, and dressed. Someone had placed a newspaper under his door, and he saw that it was a weekly chronicle. He had some extra time, and he decided to sit down and look through the paper. It was not a large paper, but it looked like it did contain some local news. In the mid-section of the paper he saw a picture of a young couple announcing their engagement, and saw that the names were Boudreau La Faye and Lucia Deverall. So, that was his half sister. What was it Mr. Wilbur had said? Oh yes, he remembered what he had said, “She’s a real looker.” Delbert had to agree that she was very beautiful. As he turned the page, he saw another couple announcing their engagement; and it was Jean Baptiste Sheffield and Katerina La Faye. Delbert guessed that had to be Juliana’s sister. He was beginning to think the southern women were all quite lovely in appearance.
Delbert put the paper where he hoped a maid would not seize upon it. He wanted to keep that to show his mother when she came tomorrow. He knew she would be interested in seeing Lucia’s picture. As he put the paper away, he thought, “I do hope I will get to meet her sometime soon.”
PART #49
Delbert drove out to the Le Bleu plantation, and arrived precisely at the time he had told Juliana he would be there. He rang the doorbell, and was invited into the home by Juliana. He could hear people talking in the background as he walked through the door. Juliana said, “We do have several people here this evening, and I hope you will enjoy getting to know my family.” Delbert handed the flowered centerpiece to Juliana; and said, “I brought this arrangement for your mother. I hope she will like it. My mother loves flowers; and always has fresh flowers on the table, so I thought maybe your mother would enjoy these.”
Juliana took the flowers, and thanked Delbert for his kindness. She asked, “Are you ready to meet some people?” “Sure, that sounds good to me. Lead me in the direction, and I will follow.” Juliana walked into the dining room carrying the flowers, and placed them on the center of the table. Boudreau, Horace, Bow, and Jean Baptiste were seated in the dining room when they entered the room. Juliana said, “I want to introduce you to one of the new bank employees. His name is Delbert Cummings.” Bow stood, and extended his hand to Delbert. He smiled; and asked, “Are you the young man Juliana ran into when her arms were full of files?” Delbert laughed; and said, “Yes Sir, that would be me.” Boudreau also stood, extended his hand; and said, “Welcome to Lake Charles, Delbert. I hope you will like it here.” Horace remained seated, but smiled and waved at Delbert. He said, “Hello Delbert, I’m Horace.” Delbert waved back at Horace; and said, “Pleased to meet you Horace.” Jean Baptiste stood, smiled, and greeted Delbert by saying, “I’m not one of the La Faye’s but I happen to be engaged to Katerina La Faye. I’m glad to meet you.”
The women were out in the kitchen visiting while the finishing touches were being put on the food. Catherine had heard the doorbell, so she went into the dining room carrying a bowl of fruit which she placed on the table. She said, “Hello, my name is Catherine. You must be the young man from the bank.” Delbert said, “I guess you could say that. My name is Delbert Cummings. I work with your daughter, Juliana.” Catherine looked Delbert over and thought, “I can see why Juliana would be taken with this young man.” She said, “Gentlemen, if you would like to gather around the table, we will bring the food to the table.”
Catherine returned to the kitchen; and said, “Ladies, you may go out to the table now. Cook and I will bring the food out to the table.” Katerina, Lucia, and Lenore walked into the dining room. As soon as Delbert saw Lucia, he recognized her from the picture he had seen in the newspaper. He also recognized Katerina. He saw the older woman walking behind Lucia, and wondered about her. Could that possibly be Lucia’s mother? Everyone took a place at the table; and Juliana said, “I would like to introduce you to one of the bank’s new employees. His name is Delbert Cummings.” Lucia dropped her water glass to the floor. The glass was broken, and water was running everywhere.
Lucia immediately apologized for her clumsiness. Lenore was ashen, and beyond words. She sat there frozen in the chair. Catherine had walked into the dining room with a platter of fried chicken, and heard the introduction given by Juliana. When she saw the look of shock on Lucia’s face, she knew something was wrong; but of course, she did not know what it was. Delbert could see his presence had been a terrible shock to Lucia; and he assumed, also her mother. Catherine called for Cook to bring a mop and something in which to put the broken glass. She said, “Don’t worry; everything will be cleaned up momentarily.”
Everyone seemed to be looking at their plates, and Lucia could see her mother was shaking. She had to figure a way of getting her out of there. The shock was too much after all she had been through. She could not believe her father’s son was already in Lake Charles, and he was working at her father’s bank. She felt physically ill. She looked at Boudreau, who was seated next to her on one side; and whispered. Boudreau, I am ill; please excuse my clumsiness, but I must go home. Would it be all right if you took Mother and me home?
Boudreau stood; and said, “Folks, Lucia is feeling ill, and I am going to run her and her mother back to Lake Charles. Please excuse us.” Lucia helped her mother to stand. She was fearful her mother would not be able to walk out of the room. Lenore straightened her shoulders; and with a great deal of determination walked over to a shocked Catherine, and thanked her for preparing a lovely meal. She told her they would have to try this again when Lucia was feeling better.
Catherine walked to the door with them; and gave Lucia and Lenore each a hug. She said, “Boudreau, you take good care of these ladies.” He smiled, “Mother, I will do just that.” They walked out the door to the car, and soon Boudreau drove away.
Catherine returned to the table; and said, “Let’s get this food passed around before it gets cold.” Soon everyone had a full plate, and people were exclaiming how wonderful the food tasted. Jean Baptiste teased Katerina about cooking the meal. She said, “Surely you know better than that. This food was prepared by Cook and Mother.” Catherine laughed, “Jean Baptiste, you may have to do the cooking when you are married or hire a cook.” Jean Baptiste said, “I thought we would be taking our meals here at the plantation.” Katerina kicked him under the table. He moaned, “Ouch, Katerina, stop kicking me. That’s no way to treat your prospective groom.”
Delbert looked around the table at the La Faye’s and knew they were ignorant of what had just happened. They knew nothing about who he really was, and that was just fine with him. He wondered how long it would be before Lucia or Lenore told them who he was. Hopefully, they would keep his secret. He knew in his heart there was coming a time when he would have to work this out with them. But, he had just learned it was much too soon for that. They needed time to adjust to the shock of him being there in Lake Charles.
PART #50
Boudreau drove Lenore and Lucia back to Lake Charles knowing why they had been so shocked. He had read the letter that Hollingsworth had written to his son, Delbert Cummings. Lucia had shown it to him the day she and her mother found the letter among Hollingsworth’s things. He found it extremely strange that this young man would come to the La Faye home for a meal. He had to wonder if this was all perfectly innocent. Did he come with an ulterior motive?
Lenore was dabbing at her eyes on the trip back to Lake Charles; and Lucia was patting her arm. Boudreau didn’t feel like he could say anything because he didn’t know if Lenore was aware he knew about Delbert Cummings being Hollingsworth’s son. He wasn’t sure that Lucia had said anything to her mother about showing the letter to Boudreau.
No one said anything for awhile; and finally Lucia said, “I can’t believe Delbert would show up for a meal at your parents’ home Boudreau.” Boudreau said, “My parents do not know this young man. He was invited by Juliana who works with him. I didn’t know he was coming, or I would have said something to you.” Lucia said, “Mother, Boudreau does know who Delbert Cummings really is.” Boudreau said, “I can assure you no one in my family knows his true identity.” Lenore said, “Neither Lucia nor I knew about Delbert until after Hollingsworth’s death. I am sure the young man would rather no one know his true identity.” Boudreau said, “I can certainly understand that.”
Lenore said, “Boudreau we knew he would be coming because the lawyer was to let him know there was a job waiting for him at the bank. I guess we never thought it would be this soon. It was really quite a shock to learn about this son, and now to see him in the flesh was an even greater shock. He may actually be a fine individual. I felt, at one time, his mother was one of the nicest people I had ever met. I am not so sure I would say that now, but we have all made our mistakes.”
Lucia asked, “Boudreau, what are you going to tell your parents about this evening? Surely they are going to wonder what happened that caused us to bolt out of their home in the midst of the evening meal.” Boudreau said, “I will tell them you were ill, and wanted to go home. I don’t feel I have to reveal the true identity of Delbert unless you feel I should.”
Lenore looked at Boudreau and said, “I really hate to ask you to not say anything about Delbert. But, I do think that would be best for the present time. The fewer people who know Delbert was Hollingsworth’s son the better it will be. I can’t say I am excited for the people of Lake Charles to know that Hollingsworth had an affair years ago that resulted in this son being born. It is a humiliation for Lucia and for me. I would just prefer it not be known.”
Boudreau said, “Please don’t give it another thought. I will not mention the true identity of Delbert. But, I am going to keep an eye on him. He is not about to do things that will hurt either of you. I consider you as part of my family now, and I plan to take care of you. If he tries any thing that would cause you a problem, let me know, and he will have to deal with me. I certainly am not afraid to let him know that I do know who he is.”
Lucia said to Lenore, “Do you see why I love this man so much?” Lenore responded by saying, “Yes, I do see why you love him so much. Boudreau is a wonderful young man. You are very fortunate to have found him.” Boudreau laughed, “No, I am the fortunate one Lenore.”
Boudreau drove into the Deverall driveway, turned off the motor of the car, got out and opened the door for Lucia and her mother. The three of them walked into the house. Lenore said, “Who is hungry? Lucia answered, “I am sort of hungry, and I know you don’t even have to ask Boudreau. We are going to have to come up with something pretty good to make him forget that table we just left.” Lucia said, “We can raid the pantry, and see if Cook left any goodies around.” Soon they were seated at the table with thick sandwiches of roast beef. Lenore said, “It’s not like fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and gravy, but it will fill the stomach.”
Lenore looked at her daughter and Boudreau sitting across the table from her. It was obvious they were deeply in love. She was thrilled that Lucia would be marrying into a family that had so much love for each other. She said, “Lucia, there is going to come a time we will have to meet with Delbert. I am sure this is difficult for him as well. He never knew about his father until now. I am sure he has many questions. He probably feels he lost out on what you had Lucia. He was kept from his father, whereas you had your father. We do know that your father loved you very much. I guess I would have to say, “He loved Delbert too because he was willing to stay away from him, and let him be raised by Ruth.”
Lucia said, “Mother, I am not going to rush out and strike up a brother-sister relationship with him. We must give this some time. I certainly am in no hurry to become acquainted, are you?” Her mother said, “No, I can’t say I am anxious for a relationship with him either. There’s still too deep a wound over all this.”
To be continued...
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