Peggy Holloway - Judith McCain 01 - Blood on White Wicker (21 page)

After riding along in silence for awhile, I said, “Tell me about my parents, Mimi.”

“Let’s stop at this restaurant up ahead that I keep seeing advertised. It’s called Paw Paw’s. According to the signs, they have crab cakes. That sounds good to me. Then we can sit and talk. I won’t be concentrating on getting used to driving this sports car.”

We found the restaurant a couple miles down the road. It looked like a shack, but I loved it right away. We had a choice of sitting out on the porch or the dining room inside. We chose the porch. We both ordered sweet iced tea to go with our crab cakes.

The waiter told us that the restaurant was built on top of an ancient sand dune. The porch was jutting out over the ocean. We sat and watched the waves until the waiter brought our iced tea. Even though it was toward the end of November, it was still quite warm.

As we were sipping our iced tea, Mimi began to talk.

“Your dad was an only child. He was always a good-natured little boy. When he was a baby, he didn’t seem to mind whether he was laid down or held. When he began to talk, we knew he was smart. He made all A’s. In high school he was what you’d probably call a nerd, but he made friends easily.”

Just then the waiter brought our food. It looked and smelled delicious. He asked if we needed anything else and Mimi told him we were all set. When the waiter walked away, Mimi continued.

“We had hired a nanny for him when he was about two,” Mimi continued, “Her name was Hannah, and she was allowed to bring her own little boy with her. Her little boy’s name was Mark. Now understand, Judith, we hired a nanny because we were in the process of building up McCain Oil. I was helping with all the secretarial and technician work.

“Phillip had taken on a partner, Charles Reynolds, who we thought was our friend. At first, all the money was going out and not much coming in. Phillip and I had both grown up poor, but Phillip had worked for Gulf Oil out of college, and we had saved up to start our own company. We found we hadn’t saved nearly enough, so when Charles wanted to come on board, we welcomed him. He had been working for Shell Oil.

“We were renting a big old house in the Montrose area of Houston. It was a huge house but cold in the winter and hot in the summer. It was large enough for us to fix up separate quarters for Hannah and Mark.”

I was so engrossed in what Mimi was saying that I didn’t, at first, hear the waiter. “He asked if you wanted dessert, Judith.”

“Just coffee,” I said.

“Same for me,” she said.

We sat in silence watching the pelicans dive for fish until we got our coffee. Mimi continued.

“Where was I? Oh, yeah, we were all struggling along until finally we found our first big oil field in offshore Gulf of Mexico. We bought both Phillip Jr. and Mark brand-new bikes. Phillip bought me a mink coat and bought himself a Jaguar. I cringe now when I think of that coat. I will not wear animal fur today.

“Anyway, your dad was in the second grade by then. A lot of money was coming in really fast, and we soon moved to the River Oaks area. Our house had servant’s quarters in the back, and that’s where Hannah and Mark lived. Since both boys were in school by then, Hannah helped with the housework also.

“I did all the cooking because I like to cook, and I had more time now that I didn’t have to work in the company anymore. We were soon involved in all the high society functions, charity balls and things like that. Phillip also had more time because he was able to hire some other geologists and geophysicists.

“It wasn’t until two years later that Phillip began to notice something wrong with the books, and he hired an accountant. Of course, I already told you this part.

“If Phillip would have sent Charles to jail, you would have not been kidnapped. But what good does it do to look back? When they were in high school, Mark started dating Jennifer, your mother. He dated her for about three years, until they all went off to Austin to the University of Texas.

“There, they all started hanging out together as they would say. Before long, Mark had noticed another girl named Gloria and he started dating her. And your father and mother started dating. When they all got home, Mark and Phillip Jr. went to work for McCain Oil. Jennifer got a job with Merrill Lynch as a stockbroker and did very well.”

The sun was going down, and we had two refills on our coffee. Mimi looked at her watch. “I can’t believe it’s so late. What do you want to do?”

“I can show you around down on St. George street. Actually, they have a lot of good shopping there but not like shopping in a mall. I think you’ll like it. Julia took me there when I was here before.”

We ended up on St. George Street and I found out that my grandmother loved to shop. She bought shoes, purses, jewelry and even a sharp looking dress for herself. She bought me several things but my favorite was a purse she bought at a place called The Bag Lady. It was the prettiest purse I had ever seen.

“I just love this place,” she said. “Why didn’t I know about it before? I would have made a special trip just to shop here. We have to come back here Judith.”

When we got back to the bungalow, it was almost eight o’clock and there were two messages on the answering machine. One was from Dr. Anna asking that we call her anytime after eight a.m. the next day. The other one was from Tracy She asked that we t call her as soon as we got in.

As soon as Mimi rang her pager and hung up, the phone rang. Mimi didn’t comment much but just listened.

When she hung up she said, “Tracy found Mark and he wants to see us. He said he has something to tell me. They’re coming over now. I’m going to make a cheese and cracker tray and open a bottle of wine. It’s been about eight hours since we ate and I’m starving.”

We also found tins of sardines, steamed clams, and some containers of caviar. We were just finishing up our little picnic when we heard Tracy’s car.

When they came in, Mark went straight to Mimi and took both of her hands in his.

“Mrs. McCain, he said, “I’m so sorry about all of this. I should have come forward, but I didn’t want to admit what I thought I knew. Now I know for sure. You continued to let me live there even after my mother disappeared. I can’t tell you how sorry I am.”

“Mark, you’re not making any sense. Sit over there on the couch, and start at the beginning. But wait a minute. Judith, pour us all some wine. I have a feeling we’re going to need it. You can have some too.”

I exchanged looks with Mark and I’m sure he was also remembering that night at Dave’s when he took the second glass of wine out of my hand.

When we all had a glass of wine, Mark began at the beginning, “Again, I apologize in advance because the things I’m going to be telling you will hurt you. And let me finish before anyone comments, please or I won’t be able to get it all out.”

We all agreed and he went on, “Remember when your husband bought both me and Phillip those new bikes?”

Mimi nodded and he continued, “I asked my mother why he had bought me a bike too and she said it was because I was also his son.”

I gasped and I could hear my grandmother gasp also, but neither of us interrupted.

“My mother said she had slept with Mr. McCain just once. He met her at a geophysical convention. My mother was a model and was there to stand by the drilling equipment so people would stop and look. You know how they did that at those shows. He bought her a drink later on in the evening and then they went to her apartment.

“They both realized their mistake afterwards. My mother claimed that she didn’t want anything from him, but when she found out she was pregnant, she contacted him. By then he was in no position to help her financially, but he did the best he could and promised her that he would take better care of her later on when he made it big. Of course she didn’t tell me any of this part until I was much older. It was no accident that Mr. McCain found my mother to look after Phillip.

“Apparently, my mother was happy with this arrangement until she got greedy. Now some of this part, I’m kind of fuzzy on because I got a lot of it from Henrietta Hendrix, my grandmother.

“When I met you Judith, I knew who you were right away. You looked just like your mother. I hated seeing you there, but I wasn’t sure what was going on. I had thought all this time that you were dead. Now I find out that you’re both alive.”

He got tears in his eyes. “There you were at Dave’s, my niece. I wanted to throw my arms around you and just hold you and I did get to hold you later on, all night long.”

I couldn’t help it. I broke down and started crying so hard that I got the hiccups.

 
“I know I promised I wouldn’t interrupt but I think we all need to take a little break here,” Mimi said.

We walked out on the porch. “Whose car is that?” Tracy asked, pointing to the Porsche.

“It’s my rental car,” Mimi said.

Tracy threw back her head and roared, “The more I find out about you, the more I like you, Mrs. McCain.”

“Please, can’t you call me Vera after all the things we’ve been through together? If you want to drive it you’re welcome to it. Just don’t drive like you did the other night.”

During this exchange, Mark and I just kept looking at each other but we didn’t say anything. Mimi pretty much ignored him and I think I understood why. I knew it was going to be hard for her to admit that her husband had strayed.

We ended up settling down on the front porch and then Mark continued. He took a deep breath and let it out real slowly like he was trying to calm down,

“I didn’t realize you had gone to see my grandmother, Judith. The next day I went to see her, to see if she knew where my mother was. She was very agitated and said that Jennifer had been to see her and she didn’t know how that could be because she knew Jennifer was dead.

“When my grandmother died, the nursing home called me because apparently my mother had given them some fake address and phone number and they couldn’t get in touch with her. There was a male nurse named Tom who told me what my grandmother had said when she was dying, so I knew what I had suspected all along was true. I have been trying to do some investigating on my own and still can’t find my mother.

“When I went to the Kit Katz that night and saw you dancing, Judith, I was relieved that you were away from Dave, but I didn’t like you working in a club either. I wanted so badly to hold you and tell you that I was your uncle.

“Tracy here found me this afternoon and took me to FBI headquarters for questioning and I told her all of this.” He looked over at Tracy and winked. She actually blushed.

Mimi said she didn’t want to have Mark around her right now because she had mixed feelings about him. “I know you haven’t done anything wrong Mark but I just can’t be around you right now.”

Mark said he understood and hugged me, but not her and left with Tracy. I tried not to act very excited about finding my uncle, because I knew Mimi was upset by all this.

It was after midnight when we finally said good night to each other.

CHAPTER 19

The phone was ringing but the sound fit into the dream I was having, so it took me awhile to realize what it was. Mimi had answered it and came into my bedroom.

“Are you awake, Judith? Here, talk to Anna. She wants you in some group or something. I’m going to put on some coffee.”

I looked at the bedside clock as I took the phone. It was 9:30 a.m. I cleared my throat, “Hello?”

“Judith, it’s Dr. Anna. How would you like to participate in a group therapy session today? This is a group that I do for just my patients. I don’t usually put someone in there this soon, but since Julia might be in denial about sexual abuse, I think this will help her,”

She paused, “and you too.”

When I didn’t say anything, she went on. “You won’t have to say anything and I’ve already told Julia she didn’t have to say anything, but just observe. So, how about it Judith, are you open to it if it will help Julia? The group starts at ten thirty so you can probably make it.”