Family Affairs Chapter 5

“Jack? Jack? I’m losing you…”Virginia could get nothing but static and hung up the phone. “Michael, we have to get home. He has the boys.”

Michael didn’t quite know how to comfort Virginia. “The boys will be fine. When we get to the inn we’ll call them back and see what’s going on.” Michael held Virginia in his arms as she wept. “What did the note say?”

“He said that he took the boys away from shore and… and… and that he’d see me soon.”

“Is there a place I could take you to? I mean if you don’t want to stay at the inn, if you’d rather go home to your boys, I’d be glad to take you.” Leah’s soft voice was barely audible over the steady beating of the rain.

“No. You’ve been too kind already. We live very far away, and I couldn’t ask you to drive any farther than necessary in this weather. We’ll stay at the inn until the weather settles down. We won’t be doing any good by risking our lives and making them worry about us.”

“So, Leah are you out of high school yet?” Michael decided that the best way to relieve the tension was to start some small chatter.

“Yes sir, I graduated last year.”

“Are you going to college?” Virginia tried not to worry the girl any more than she already was worried.

“No ma’am. I’ve bee working at the AMOCO station since my junior year. We decided it was best for me to wait until after I have the baby to go to school.”

“You’re with child? How far along are you?” Virginia smiled tenderly at Leah.

“About five months now. We expect the baby sometime in October.”

“Do you know what it’s going to be?” After her initial outburst Virginia seemed to be handling her situation fine.

“It’s going to be a girl. We picked out the name Faith Marie.”

“That’s a lovely name. I wanted a girl at first, but instead I got three boys. I wouldn’t give them up for the world though.”

“We’ll be coming up on the inn pretty soon. It’s nothing fancy, but my grandma makes real good food and we’ll have plenty of room, if the hurricane don’t swamp us. Usually my grandma takes in lots of those who don’t have a place to go when the weather gets real bad. She and her friends own a bunch of little inns around here.”

As they pulled into the driveway of a plantation style house Virginia noted how far away from town it was. “Do you get many visitors being so far away from town?”

“Not too many people wander upon us, usually they’re sent to us from someone in town. Usually its just visitors on their way through.”

“It’s beautiful.” Virginia said. The sheer magnitude of the house took her aback.

“I don’t see any cars or trucks so I’m assuming, there’s no one here but my grandma and Billy.”

“Who’s Billy?” Michael asked.

“Billy Leeman is our repair man… He’s also the baby’s father.” Leah parked the car in the circle drive and led Michael and Virginia into the house. “Grandma? Billy? I’m home.”

“Oh Leah, thank heavens you made it back safe and sound. Oh, you have guests, well why didn’t you say you were bringing company over?” A plump lady came hobbling down the double staircase. She was dressed in a flowery dress and an apron whose stains indicated that she had recently been baking.

“Grandma, these folks were stranded at the AMOCO station. I gave them a ride and told them they could stay here until the storms over.”

“Well blessed be my child, you always did have a kind heart. Now what’s your name sonny?”

Michael extended his hands towards the old woman and she took his hand in a very firm handshake. “I’m Michael Sikes, and this is Virginia Kennedy.”

Virginia extended her hand to meet the old lady’s hand. “Virginia Kennedy? That name sounds familiar…Are you familiar with the McRoberts’ family?”

“No I can’t say that I am. I’m sorry, I hate to be pushy, but is there a phone we can use?”

“Sure, Leah take her to the phone; I’m going to get this gentleman settled in so they can join us for supper.”

“Yes grandma, right away.” Leah led Virginia off into the parlor.

“Um, I didn’t catch your name ma’am.” Michael followed as the old lady led him upstairs.

“They call me ‘Grandma.’ They always have. I don’t like that ‘ma’am’ stuff or ‘Ms. Whatever;’ makes me feel old.”

“How much will the room cost? If you can’t take a check, I’ve got some cash on me, but not much…”

“Honey, in a storm like this, I’d pay you to take a room. No one needs to be out in this weather and no one needs to be paying for a room when it’s needed. My mother always taught me to treat strangers as if they’re family.”

Michael studied the old woman as they reached the top of the stairs. She was blunt and had a wise southern aura about her. She was a big woman, nothing at all to suggest that her and Leah were related except their smiles. Michael couldn’t take his eyes off their smiles. They were almost exactly alike, except that where Leah held naivety in hers, Grandma held a knowledge that only comes from years of experience.

Grandma led him down a long corridor to a set of double doors. “This is you and your lady friend’s room.”

When Michael stepped into room, it was as if he had traveled back in time to the days of the civil war. Most of the room was draped in a deep red velvet color. “Why do I feel as if I’m in a scene from Gone with the Wind?”

Grandma laughed heartily, “This is my favorite room. The bathroom is over there, and there are some robes in the closet by the bed. If you need to write something, there is paper in the desk drawer, and a bible in the nightstand. Go ahead and get washed up and come down for a nice hot meal. Don’t be scared if you see Miss Scarlett O’Hara’s ghost either.” Grandma walked out of the room closing the door behind her.

Michael tried not to think about the boys. He flopped down on the bed and wondered if Virginia had gotten a hold of Jack. He knew that if he thought about Steven, then he would worry; and worry is useless when you can’t do anything about it.

Steven did not realize that he had dozed off until he heard knocking at the door. “Come in,” he called as he sat up on the bed.

A tall, lanky boy opened the door and peeked in. “Granny McRoberts sent me to fetch you for supper.”

Michael stood up, “I assume that you’re Billy?”

Billy stepped fully into the room and held out his hand to Michael as he was approached. “Yes sir, Billy Leeman.”

“You’ve got quite a girl on your hands Billy.”

“Yes sir. Leah’s real special to me. We plan on getting married soon.”

“It’s not many people, especially pregnant women who will take strangers into their homes; not even where I come from.”

Billy led the way down the stairs. “Leah’s always been very kind hearted. Even as a kid she always was nice to strangers.”

“Have you two lived here all your lives?”

“Pretty much, yes sir.”

When they had come to the table in the dinning room Michael noticed that Virginia was not there.

Leah spoke up, “She’s still trying to reach those people on the phone. She’s in the parlor across the hall.”

Michael headed into the parlor. “Did you get through?”

Virginia looked worriedly at him, “No. The phone line is busy. I can’t get through at all.”

“Maybe they’re trying to reach you on your cell phone. Do you have it with you?”

“No, I left it at the AMOCO station. I just can’t stand not knowing what’s going on.”

“You know what I always say, ‘there’s no sense in worrying about something that you can do anything about.’”

“Michael, how can you not be worried about Steven right now?”

Michael wrapped his arms around Virginia, “I am worried about him. But, riling myself up about it isn’t going to help him or me. Come on, I’m the chief of police. I have faith in my men and you should too. We’ll get the boys back… I promise.” Michael leaned his head down and kissed Virginia’s forehead. “Now let’s go eat some hot food and we’ll try to call the house again. If we can’t get through, we’ll get some sleep and try again in the morning… Okay?”

Virginia merely nodded her head and allowed Michael to lead her to the dinning room. Virginia and Michael sat down to baked salmon and rice.

The silence that filled the dinning room was almost unbearable. It felt as if someone had turned a heater on full blast in the middle of July. The only sounds in the room were the steady fall of rain and the occasional compliment to Grandma about the food. Finally Billy decided to break the silence.

“So what do you two do where you’re from?”

Michael cleared his throat, “I’m the chief of the police force.”

“I’m a realtor for the Wolfe Agency.” Virginia spoke as if her heart were void of all feelings.

“Do y’all enjoy your work?”

“Well there’s not much to do in our town. It’s a pretty good neighborhood. I usually just give out the occasional parking ticket and stop the local hoodlums from vandalizing the storefront windows.”

“I enjoy my job. I get to look at a lot of interesting and old houses. I’m more of an appraiser than a saleswoman. I just go over the house from top to bottom and make sure it’s up to par and estimate the worth of the house for the owners. It’s a nine to five job that keeps my mind off of other things.”

“So Billy, what do you do?” Michael asked.

“I work at the repair shop in town, and I do all the maintenance for Grandma.”

“This is an old house; it must take a lot of work to keep this place up and running. How old is it?” Virginia inquired.

“This house has been around since the civil war days. My great-great-great-grandfather built it for his wife before she had her baby in 1834. It’s been passed down to the eldest born female in the family. It’s survived seven generations including my daughter Eliza and her daughter Leah.”

“Does Eliza live here as well?” Michael asked.

“No. She moved away some years ago. She died a few years ago after her divorce. Leah came to live with me.” There was a pain in Grandma’s voice that showed more than just the natural loss of a child. She, like the rest of our family is buried in the family cemetery in the back near the woods, so, if you go out there looking at the garden, don’t wander too far.”

Leah started to clear the table. “On to happier subjects… Grandma made lovely peach cobbler for dessert; we can have ice cream on the side. Billy will you help me clear the table.” Leah seemed to be perturbed by the conversation about her mother. She and Billy cleared the table and headed into the kitchen to get the cobbler, ice cream, and dishes.

“Don’t mind her. She’s never gotten over the death of her mother.”

“How did she die?” Michael inquired.

“When she was about thirteen, she found her mother on the floor in the bathroom of their apartment; died of a drug overdose.”

“Does she have any siblings?” Michael asked.

“She has a twin brother, but after the divorce she’s never been able to locate him.”

Virginia choked on the coffee she had been sipping. “What was her brother’s name?”

“Oh, I don’t remember now. It’s been so long since she tried to find him. I’m sure she’ll tell you all about him when she comes back in here.”

“Tell them all about who Grandma?” Leah came into the dining room followed by Billy. She carried several saucer bowls and he carried the cobbler and a tub of ice cream.

“That brother of yours you keep trying to find.”

Leah set the bowls in front of everyone and started to dish out the cobbler and the ice cream. “What do they want to know?”

“What was the boy’s name?” Virginia asked as she sat forward in her chair.

“Tyler, Tyler Glenn”