| Subject: Second Generation - Parts 59-62 |
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Wanda
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Date Posted: 18:00:00 01/07/04 Wed
PART #59
Boudreau went to the Deverall home for dinner that evening following the conversation he had with Delbert. He wondered, “Do I tell Lucia and Lenore about my visit with Delbert?” He thought back on the conversation and felt pity for Delbert as well as Lucia. It was obvious that Delbert had been kept in the dark just like Lucia had been kept in the dark. The only difference he could see was that Delbert had been kept from a knowledge of his father; whereas, Lucia had been kept from a knowledge of her half brother.
Boudreau wondered if there would ever be a time when the matter would be resolved. He wasn’t quite sure how to read Delbert. He seemed like a sincere enough person. He knew that Juliana was quite taken with him. But, Juliana was young and impressionable. Delbert was a good looking young man and would probably appeal to half the young women in Lake Charles. He thought it would take time for him to see if Delbert was the person he tried to portray to him that morning.
Boudreau arrived at the Deverall home at seven o’clock. Lucia came to the door, and opened it for him. He was surprised to see her dressed so casual. She usually dressed for dinner. She saw him look her over, and she laughed, “Boudreau, you look surprised.” He said, “I am somewhat surprised, for you are always so formal in your appearance. I like the casual look though; it is becoming.” She said, “It was always Daddy’s idea we be formally dressed for dinner. Mother and I have always liked casual.” Boudreau asked, “Does that mean I can remove this jacket and tie?” She said, “Let me take your jacket, and I will hang it in the coat closet.”
Boudreau had brought along a box and he placed it in Lucia’s hands. She smiled, and asked, “What is this?” Boudreau said, “It is something I designed today for you.” She opened the box and found a necklace with a silver cross hanging from the chain. She said, “Oh, I love this. You made this? You are a very talented silversmith.” Boudreau helped her to put the necklace around her neck. Just as he hooked the clasp, Lenore walked into the room and greeted him. She announced that dinner was ready, so they walked into the dining room.
While they were eating, Boudreau said, “I did something today that I hope will not be offensive to you ladies. I have been wondering for several hours if I should say something to you. I finally decided it would be best to tell you. I went to visit Delbert today at the bank. I wanted to see what his intentions were with the two of you. I talked to him about you receiving the news about his existence through a letter found in Hollingsworth’s study. I think you may be interested to know that Delbert knew absolutely nothing about his father prior to Hollingsworth’s death. He had never been told anything about his father. Also, Delbert did not realize you knew anything about him. He claimed he knew nothing about Hollingsworth having been in organized crime. He told me he had no intentions of hurting you ladies. I guess to be perfectly honest I don’t know whether to believe him or not. I told him I would not permit you being hurt anymore than you have already been hurt.”
Lucia said, “Boudreau, you are so sweet to try to help us in this way. Somehow I don’t think hurting us is Delbert’s intention. I can see why he would want to know about his father. He has every right to know about his father. Actually, I have a curiosity about Delbert. Lenore gasped when Lucia mentioned her curiosity about Delbert. Lucia said, “Mother, I’m sorry; and I didn’t mean to shock you, but I would like to visit with him now that some of the initial shock has passed.” Lenore asked, “Lucia, do you really think that is wise?” Lucia answered, “Mother, what could it hurt?” Lenore said, “If you insist on meeting with him, please don’t do it alone. Please take Boudreau with you.”
Boudreau looked at Lucia and could see the determination in her eyes. He knew she would not rest until she had met Delbert. He said, “Sweetheart, if you feel you must do this thing, I will be happy to go with you to see him.” Lenore said, “Thank you Boudreau, that makes me feel so much better knowing you will be there too.” Boudreau said, “Lucia, you know it is possible that Delbert will not want to meet with you.” Lucia responded by saying, “I believe he will want to meet with me for he knows I can give him the information he is seeking.” Boudreau asked, “Sweetheart, do you want me to set up a meeting with him?” Lucia answered, “Boudreau, I will give him a call, and I will let you know the time and place. I think it would be best if I call and talk with him. He might feel more comfortable if he knows this is coming directly from me.” Boudreau said, “Whatever you want my love is fine with me.”
PART #60
Delbert had gone to bed that night feeling frustrated and angry with his mother and his deceased father. He tossed and turned for hours wrestling with all the information he had received thus far. He thought, “It’s a shame children can’t select their own parents. I would never have selected a member of the mob for my father and his moll for my mother.” After the thought crossed his mind, he felt guilty for thinking such a thought. He knew his mother had shown him love all though his childhood years. He also knew she was convinced she had done right by him by not telling him the truth about his father. He had to wonder if she would have told him about his father if Hollingsworth had not died. Was she really that fearful of what would happen to him?
Because he wasn’t having any success in sleeping, Delbert got up and paced around the hotel room. He thought about his office at the bank. It had been fully decorated for him BEFORE his father had died. Was his father going to send for him, and tell him about his heritage? He wondered what his father would have said to him. Were all those things that Boudreau told him the truth? Had his father put out a hit on Boudreau so he could separate him from Lucia? How would he ever know for sure? He didn’t dare tell Boudreau he had found out his father was in organized crime. Part of the stipulation of the will was that Delbert was to tell no one he was the son of Hollingsworth Deverall. He wondered if the threat of the mob was as great as it had been painted out to be. He didn’t want to have his mother and himself or Lucia and her mother harmed by the mob. Somehow he had to meet with Lucia and get her perspective on all this. He wondered if she would be willing to meet with him.
Delbert continued to pace the floor; and he thought of Juliana. She was a sweet person. Perhaps he would invite her to go out to dinner with him and his mother tomorrow evening. This would be a way his mother could meet Juliana. It might also help with the tension between his mother and himself. He knew she wanted him to find a young lady to marry. He smiled when he thought of Juliana’s bouncy curls and dimples. He had to admit he did like the young lady. He thought his mother would be glad to know he was interested in pursuing a relationship with a young lady.
Ruth also was pacing the floor in her hotel room. What had she been thinking? She should have realized this news would be difficult for Delbert to absorb. She should have told him sooner. Why had she been so fearful when he was an adult? Did she fear his reproach more than she feared the mob? She had hoped one day he would understand, but he seemed to be so angry with her.
Ruth knew she had made a terrible mistake getting involved with Sammie. By the time she discovered she was pregnant it was too late to back away. She had wished many times over she had not met and fallen in love with Sammie. She had loved him, but she also feared him and what he stood for. She knew how much this child meant to him. If she had tried to get away from him, he would have found her and taken Delbert away from her. She couldn’t bear that. This son meant the world to Sammie. She decided early on she had made her bed by getting involved with Sammie and getting pregnant. She had to forget her own wants, and do what Sammie said so she could keep her child. Ruth devoted her whole life to raising and protecting Delbert. She could only hope and pray that he would understand that. When she agreed to do what Sammie wanted her to do, he treated her like royalty. He was kind, he was generous, and he was loving. But Ruth had seen the other side of Sammie. He could be violent, and she knew it was no use trying to get away. She remembered going through the pregnancy and the delivery by herself. When Delbert was born, and placed in her arms, she had looked down into his eyes, and thought, “I will sacrifice everything to keep this child.” That is exactly what Ruth did in the years ahead.
She wondered if Delbert would ever understand that what she did in the past years was done to keep and protect him. She had to believe Sammie when he told her there was a standing hit out on him. He told her the mob never forgot a score they wanted to settle. Sammie had seen to it that one of the other family’s hit men had been given a pair of cement boots; and thrown into the river, never to be seen again. Sammie laughed as he had told her, “Benito sleeps with the fish.” Benito was the one who had shot and killed Tito. Sammie did not rest until Benito was eliminated. Shortly thereafter, the two men posing as salesmen visited Sammie’s home accusing him of killing Benito. That was the night he staged his own death and disappeared.
Sammie had shared all this with Ruth when he told her he had to leave Pennsylvania. He told her no one knew she was the mother of his son, and they had to keep it that way to protect her and Delbert. She believed him and lived the rest of her life in such a way so as not to draw attention to herself or Delbert.
Ruth wondered why life had to be so cruel. After all she had sacrificed, would she now have to lose the son that was so dear to her? If Delbert was still so angry in the morning, she felt she must book a train and go back to Pennsylvania. She didn’t want to cause heartache and suffering in his life. He was just getting started with his life independent of her. If she must she would walk away for she did want him to be happy. She had given up almost everything for him; could she now give him up too? Tears flooded her eyes, and fear filled her heart. She went back to bed at four o’clock and finally fell asleep around five o’clock. By that time her tears were spent.
PART #61
At seven thirty the next morning, Ruth was awakened by knocking on her door. She was groggy, and her head hurt. At first she was not sure she was awake. She wondered if this was a dream. She sat up and put her feet on the floor. Again, she heard the knocking and a soft, “Mother, are you awake?” She grabbed her robe, put it on, and went to the door. Opening the door, she saw Delbert standing outside with a tray of coffee and pastries. “May I come in?” he asked. She opened the door wider for him to be admitted. She noticed he looked like he had not slept much. He placed the tray on a table and turned towards her. He saw she looked distraught. He walked to her, took her in his arms, and said, “I am truly sorry for some of those things I said to you last night. I am still trying to work through the emotions of all that’s happened. There has been much information dropped on me recently. Mother, I will always wish you had told me about my father before his death. But I will say, “I am sure you did what you felt was best in the situation, and I have to respect that.”
Ruth said, “Delbert it was never my intention to hurt you. What I did was for your own personal protection. Sammie knew the mob through and through; and he always feared something would happen to either me or you or both of us. Time and again he told me, “Ruthie, you must keep silent about your connection to me. You must never tell Delbert about me, for it would put him in mortal danger. It is better if the other families think I am dead and gone.”
Delbert sighed, “I am trying to understand; and for now, I just want to drop it. I don’t feel like we can keep chasing this around in a circle. Let’s talk about something positive. I was wondering how you would feel about me asking a young lady to go out to dinner with us this evening. Would that be all right with you? Her name is Juliana. I work with her in the bank. I do think you will like her when you meet her.”
Ruth’s face brightened up, and she said, “I think that would be a lovely idea. I would enjoy meeting your co-worker. Is she a close friend?” Delbert answered, “Mother, I have only been here a short while. I can’t say we are close friends at this point. She started work at the bank the same day I started work. She comes from a very nice family. I was invited out to her family’s plantation for dinner one evening. I had an opportunity to meet her family. I might tell you that Juliana’s brother is engaged to marry Lenore’s daughter, Lucia.”
Delbert could see his mother wince at the sound of Lenore Deverall’s name. “Didn’t you tell me these people know who you really are?” she asked. Delbert replied, “I believe the only member of Juliana’s family who really knows who I am is the brother who is marrying Lenore’s daughter. Lucia showed the letter addressed to me and the copy of Hollingsworth’s will to Boudreau. He was so concerned about me being the son of this man, and perhaps coming to town to do something terrible to Lucia and her mother. You might say, ‘He came to warn me not to cause the two women any trouble.”
Ruth said, “Oh my goodness Delbert, you would never do anything to harm anyone.” Delbert looked at his mother and said, “Mother, they don’t know me, but they did know my father. His actions are pretty well known in this area. How are they to know I am any different from my father?”
Ruth could see how troubled Delbert was from everything that was taking place. She looked at him, and asked, “Delbert, do you want me to go back to Pennsylvania today? I really don’t want to cause you anymore grief. None of this is your fault. If staying here is going to be a problem for you, I will go back.”
Delbert said to his mother, “Let’s give it a couple days. I want you to meet Juliana, and we will take it a day at a time. Is that all right with you?” “Of course,” said Ruth. Delbert looked at his watch and said, “Mother, I have a paper with the want ads and for sale real estate lying on the coffee table. Why don’t you look it over and see if you can come up with something that looks good in a small home? I will call you later, and see how it is going. Right now, I really need to get to work.”
Delbert walked into the bank and saw Juliana making a pot of coffee. He stepped into the coffee room and asked, “Juliana, my mother would like to meet you, and if it is all right, I would like to take you out to dinner tonight. How do you feel about that?” Juliana said, “I would love to meet your mother.” He said, “We can go over to the hotel after we get off work and visit for awhile; then we will go to dinner.”
Later on in the morning, Delbert heard light knocking on his office door. He called, “Please come in.” He looked up to see Lucia and Boudreau standing in the door opening. Lucia asked, “Would it be possible to talk with you for a few moments?”
PART #62
Delbert seemed surprised to see Lucia, but welcomed her warmly. He stood up and shook Boudreau’s hand, and asked, “What can I do to be of help to you?” Boudreau answered, “Lucia wanted to come and talk with you Delbert. I hope that is all right with you.” Delbert said, “Of course it is all right, please sit down.” Delbert sensed the visit had nothing to do with banking needs.
Lucia sat down across the desk from Delbert and said, “Delbert, I would like some information from you. Perhaps there are things you would like to ask me, and there are things I would certainly like to ask you.” Delbert responded, “I have a feeling this has nothing to do with your accounts here at the bank.” Lucia said, “You are correct in that assumption. I felt there were probably things you would like to know about our father that I can tell you. Perhaps we could exchange information. Would you like to be first in asking me questions?”
Delbert was somewhat shocked at the boldness of Lucia in coming to see him. After the reaction to his appearance at the La Faye plantation he felt she would stay as far away from him as she could possibly get. He asked, “Are you sure you want me to ask questions?” She answered, “Delbert, I am the one who came to you. I am offering you the opportunity. I came because I wanted to come.”
Delbert said, “I don’t know that I have many questions; but I would like for someone who knew him well to tell me about my father. I never knew about my father until after his death. My mother would never discuss my father with me. I had no idea of who the man was or why I was never given a name. I guess you might say I do have a curiosity about the man. So, what can you tell me?”
Lucia looked at Delbert and she said, “I had a feeling that is what you wanted to know. First of all I want you to know that I had no clue that you existed. My mother did not know about you either. We found out about you about the same time you found out about our father.”
Delbert said, “Boudreau had already told me that, but I do thank you for telling me as well.” Lucia said, “Now, let me see what I should tell you about our father. I first remember Daddy when I was about three calling me his little princess. He took me with him whenever he went to the barber shop; and he took me for rides out in the country. He treated me special, telling me often that he loved me. Whenever I would go with him, he would buy me an ice cream, and laugh when I dribbled ice cream down upon my dress. He came in at night and kissed me good night when I was younger. As I grew older, my Daddy changed. He was gone from home more and more. When he was at home he had people coming and going all the time. Some of the people were fierce looking individuals. He tended to dote on me and wanted to control every area of my life. He kept a beautician on staff for my mother and me. It was her responsibility to keep both Mother and me finely dressed and groomed. Daddy always wanted us to be available to be on display. Delbert there was a sinister side to Daddy; he treated my mother cruelly. He was indifferent to her when I was younger, but that grew to coldness, then to cruelty. My mother lived such a life of sadness there was a period of time she drank heavily. My father plied her with alcohol, and then he ridiculed her for drinking. He called her a lush. What Daddy didn’t know is that mother was brave enough to stop drinking. She made plans for us to leave Lake Charles, for she had found out that Daddy hired someone to kill Boudreau. Daddy was into control and power. Whatever he touched he had to control. When he saw that Boudreau and I were falling in love; and he couldn’t break up the relationship, he decided to have Boudreau killed. It happened that Mother went to the police, and told them about Daddy’s plan to kill Boudreau. The hired assassin had stabbed Boudreau, and since he had failed to kill him, Daddy had another man put on the case to get the job done. Delbert, this is probably shocking to hear, but our father was a sinister and evil man who would stop at nothing to get what he wanted.”
Delbert watched Lucia as she spoke, and saw the sadness, the bittersweet remembrance, and the anger all rolled together as she talked of her father. He sighed, “I see it is all true what Boudreau has told me.” Lucia responded by saying, “I can assure you that what Boudreau said is absolutely true.” I might also tell you when the police were closing in on our father, he was racing his car to get away from them; and ran into a lumber truck that was pulling out on the highway from one of the saw mills in the area. He was killed instantly in that accident.”
Delbert looked at Lucia and said, “Lucia, I do thank you for being truthful with me. Now, what is it you want to know from me?” Lucia said, “I do want you to know I do not mean to hurt you; but there are some things I do feel is pertinent for me to know and understand.” Delbert said, “Go ahead and ask what you want to know.” Lucia said, “Delbert you said you did not know about our father until he died. Why would you leave an area you have known all your life and move to Lake Charles? Was it curiosity on your part to find out about us? Was it the job here in the bank, or the estate that was left to you that drew you here? Are you going to be satisfied living here and not creating more problems for my mother and me?”
Delbert sighed, “Lucia, I have no intention of creating problems for you or your mother. I humbly apologize for upsetting both of you at the La Faye home last week. I admit I did know about you and was curious about you. After all, you are my half sister. I wondered about you, and what you would be like. You asked why I was drawn to Lake Charles. I guess you could say I was curious about my father, what he was like, and of course I will not deny that the job and the estate left to me had its’ drawing points. I will not lie to you about that. I will tell you I was shocked the day I walked into this bank and was led to this office that had already been decorated as it is today. Your father’s picture was hanging on the wall behind my desk, and my mother’s picture was on the desk. He had this office all ready for me. I am wondering if he had planned on calling me to share the information about my heritage. I don’t know really, but it all seems so strange.”
To be continued...
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