Piecing Things Together

Mavis sat in her living room with her brother Langston sitting next to her. She had been waiting to hear from him and had tried to be patient and not bother him and now he had finally come back to her.

He was now sitting next to her in an expensive navy blue suit. He was a bit nervous, she could tell. He looked at his watch and she saw the silver cufflinks he wore with his initials on them and his white French cuffs. He had expensive taste, she could tell. Well, he could afford it! She couldn't get over how much he resembled his father…her father...the same gray eyes only his wasn't as serious or sad.

He was her older brother. It was hard to believe, yet it was true. He was watching her like her father used to watch her when he came to the Matheson home and it made her stomach jump with the memory.

"Mavis I haven't read everything yet" he was saying as he ran his fingers over her mother's journal. "But I have read enough to come back and talk to you and clear up a few misconceptions."

Mavis watched as he then ran his hand through his snow white hair. She now knew that he did this when he was nervous. He then surprised her by taking her hand in his and she looked at him curiously. She could see that he was struggling for words and smiled back at him for encouragement.

"Alright, Langston. Go ahead" she heard herself saying.

He looked down at her hand in his as he talked. "My father and your mother were in love. She said so in her writings. He didn't rape her."

Mavis snatched her hand away from his. "I don't believe you! He raped her! I know he did!"

"How do you know that?" Langston persisted. "Who told you? Did your mother say so?"

Mavis looked away. "No. It was Miss Trudy. I overheard her saying that to Mr. Alvin when I was small. She was mad and I only heard a little bit, but I heard that!"

Langston reached out and took her hands again. "Mavis, I think she was talking about statutory rape. Your mother was fifteen and my father was thirty five when they became involved. It was consensual. I know that Miss Trudy didn't like it and felt that he took advantage of your mother, but it wasn't rape. Did you ever talk to your mother about our father?"

"How could I? Every time he was around, he was all over her every chance he got. My mother didn't talk about him to me...and I was too afraid to ask her about him."

Langston opened the first book he bought back with him and began to read Lilly's writings to Mavis. She sat there silently and listened as he read. Langston read all the way to the entry when Mavis was born and then closed the book. He looked at Mavis who had tears running down her face. She looked at him, her expression sad.

"She loved him?" she asked with a mixture of total disbelief awe.

"Yes, Mavis…and he loved her. That much is obvious to me." He put his arm around her. "I don't condone what my father did but it did make me feel better to know that he wasn't such a brute. He loved her...and he loved you too."

He reached in his jacket and brought out an old yellowed envelope and handed it to her.

"What's this?" she asked wiping her eyes.

"This is the money that my father sent to your mother that she sent back. The money was for you. You should have it. The bills are old though and may be worth more than their face value."

Mavis stared at the envelope a moment. "I don't know if I want this. My mother refused to take it from him."

"I can't keep it. It's yours" Langston persisted. "If you don't want it, give it to your daughter that resembles your mother."

Mavis laughed. "My daughter's dead. If you're talking about VaLysia she's my granddaughter."

"She looks just like your mother" Langston replied.

"I know. I get comfort in that" Mavis replied putting the envelope on the table.

"I hardly ever saw my father" Langston said staring at his hands "He was always in Washington and then he was with the Matheson's at Christmas. He bought me things and I know he cared for me, but his mind was always preoccupied. I know now that he was thinking of you and your mother." He rubbed his eyes and pinched his nose not looking at her. "I always thought something was wrong with me…that he didn't love me…that he blamed me for my mother's death…." His voice trailed off as he tried to remain composed, the pain in his voice was obvious.

He handed her the two pictures that were in the book. Mavis gasped as she saw the picture of him and her mother with a baby in his arms that she knew was her.

"Who took this?" she gasped.

"I don't know" Langston replied. "Perhaps it was Miss Trudy."

"Probably…" Mavis replied still staring at the picture. She looked up and saw him wiping his eyes. It was at that moment that she then realized that he was affected by all of this just as much as she was.

"Langston, I'm sure your father loved you…I think he just got in way over his head. Mr. Emitt Matheson was a mean man. I'll never forget him. Miss Emily has a lot of her grandfather's ways, but she's just the opposite of him in temperament. I'm not surprised that Mr. Emit blackmailed our father. He liked having a hold on people. Miss Emily is not like that."

"You mean your adopted daughter?" Langston asked.

Mavis smiled. "She calls me her Mama, but I never adopted her. I raised her though after Miss Trudy died. Mr. Alvin was away a lot and Mr. Emitt was there too. Then Mr. Alvin got killed in a car crash and there was just Mr. Emitt. He died when Miss Emily was twelve, I think and I've been her mother ever since."

"It appears that Emitt Matheson was blackmailing our father. Most likely it was about his relationship with your mother."

Mavis nodded. "I realize that now"

"How did your mother end up in that household, anyway" Langston asked. "She was thirteen when she started writing. Where were her parents?"

"She was an orphan" Mavis replied. "Miss Isabelle, that's Ms. Trudy's mama took her in after her mother died. Her mama used to do washing for Ms. Isabelle and Mr. Emitt. She stayed in a small shack on their property. My mama said that one day she couldn't wake her up. She didn't know that she was dead. I think she was about ten when that happened."

"What do you remember about our father?" Langston asked quietly.

Mavis was quiet a moment. "I just remember that he was always touching my mama and I didn't like it. She never complained and I thought it was because she had no choice in the matter. Now it seems that it was their way...lover's way of communicating. Mama used to send me to Cissy's room when he would visit and I'd sneak back because I thought he was hurting her. She was always crying after he left."

Langston looked at her. "Did you ever talk to her about it?"

"I tried" Mavis said softly. "She just said that it was grown folks business and I couldn't be concerned. I remember telling her that if he touched her again I would get a knife and stab him in the heart and she slapped me. She said 'No matter what you think, he's still your father and you need to show some respect.' "

"Did he try...you know to talk to you...have a relationship with you?"

"I was afraid of him" Mavis replied. "He'd watch me a lot and not say anything. I didn't understand that...he always looked sad..or mad. I was never sure. I thought it was me...but I guess it could have been that he was upset about his situation. He never tried to talk to me. I guess he thought it best to leave it be. I remember Mama told me that I couldn't call him daddy. I had to call him Mr. Oxford especially when visitors were around. I guess I drew my own conclusions."

Langston sighed and stood up and looked at her. "So now where do we go from here?"

Mavis looked at him a moment and paused and then smiled as if an idea entered her head. "I know...we head to the old Matheson home place in Frederick, Maryland."

Val waited expectantly for Matheson at her apartment. He had promised to take her to the new seafood calabash restaurant that had opened.

She stood in front of the mirror in her bedroom and stared at her reflection. She ran her hands over the brass colored silky dress she wore and wondered if Matheson would like it. She didn't wear brown often, but she liked this dress. It complimented her figure and she ran her hands over it as she looked at her reflection.

She heard a knock at her door and hurried down the stairs. She was surprised when she opened the door and saw her grandmother standing there.

"Nana!" she said shocked.

"Valysia" Edith Chamberlayne responded coolly. "Aren't you going to invite me in?"

Val looked over her shoulder and saw Tameka sitting in the car. She backed up and allowed her grandmother to come in.

"What's this all about, Nana?"

Her grandmother looked around the apartment not trying to hide her distain.

"I came over here to try to talk some sense into you." her Grandmother said sitting on the edge of a nearby chair.

Val stared at her a moment. Her grandmother's hair was pulled back in her trademark braid that reached the middle of her back. She was dressed in a black suit with a white blouse.

"I don't know what you mean." Val said walking over to her.

"That man...the one that you brought to my home-"

"You mean the one that Tameka has been stalking and we came to your home because you demanded that we come!" Val snapped interrupting her.

"Whatever!" her Grandmother snapped back. "All I know is that he's an arrogant bastard! You're talking about marrying this white piece of trash. Who cares if he has a little money! He's still trash!"

Val bristled. "He's my man, Nana. I love him. You will respect him!"

"He doesn't deserve my respect!" she replied. She stood and faced Val. "I've done a little background check on your precious Matheson Hendricks. He's nothing more than a closet redneck! I have done my homework! His whole family are a bunch of racist pigs!"

Val crossed her arms across her chest. "I'm not listening to this crap!"

"You watch your mouth, young lady!" Edith replied.

"You don't care about me!" Val replied as the tears began to flow. "You've never cared about me! All you cared about was my father and you never could accept the fact that he loved my mother. That's what this is really all about! Now I'm about to get married to a wonderful man and you can't be happy for me. Well that's just fine...just get out of my house and get out of my life!"

Edith brought her face closer to Val's. "I'm still your grandmother, Missy. You can't change that!"

"I wish I could" Val replied truthfully wiping her eyes.

"He doesn't really love you" Edith hissed. "He has another agenda and you're too blind to see it. I'm just trying to warn you-"

"You're miserable and you're trying to make me miserable! Get out, Nana. Get out now!"

She opened the door and was surprised to see Matheson.

"I could hear the yelling all the way to the street. What's going on?" he asked. He walked in and saw Edith.

"What's she doing here?" he asked surprised.

"She came over here to warn me that your family is racist" Val replied.

Edith pointed her finger at Matheson. "You don't fool me one bit, buster!"

"Well that's good to know" Matheson said laughing.

"You think you're pretty clever." Edith continued.

"Am I?" Matheson asked sounding amused.

"Yes, you'll parade my granddaughter around to try to show that you love our people. It's all a business ploy to increase sales with your company! "

"You mean that I'm only marrying Val as a promotional ploy to get increased African American sales at Hannah's?"

"Exactly!" Edith snapped. "Your own grandfather admitted as much to me!"

"What?" Matheson replied clearly surprised. "What has he got to do with this?"

"He paid me a little visit and opened my eyes!" Edith hissed. "I knew you were up to no good when I first saw you!"

Matheson rolled his eyes. "If for a moment I thought you were concerned about your granddaughter, I'd try to convince you of my love for her. You could care less about Val."

Val walked over and opened the door. "Please leave, Nana."

Edith ignored her and looked at Matheson. "Your own family won't accept her-"

"I will deal with my grandfather in my own way" Matheson replied. "However read my lips Mrs. Chamberlayne!" he hissed his voice deadly serious. "I am going to marry her and I don't give a damn if you don't like it, my grandfather don't like it or if the whole damn world doesn't like it. Now get that through that thick head of yours!"

"Hmph!" Edith replied walking towards the door. "I came here because I was concerned after your grandfather came to see me! It's obvious that he doesn't approve of this union and neither do I! Both of you need to wake up!"

"I will handle my grandfather!" Matheson snapped "As I said, nothing is going to stop me from marrying Val. I love her and she's the one for me so the two of you had better just get over yourselves!"

Edith looked at Val. "Don't say I didn't warn you. You don't realize what you're getting yourself into."

Val opened the door wider for her grandmother to exit. "If I thought you really cared for me, Nana I'd give your words some consideration. But all you ever did was hurt me and put me down. I can't listen to anything you tell me."

Edith looked back at Matheson and then at Val. "We'll see."

Val slammed the door after she left and stared at it a moment trying to get herself together. She stood that way for several minutes until she felt Matheson's arms going around her waist and he put his chin on her shoulder. He then kissed her on the cheek.

"I love you" she heard him whisper in her ear. She broke her glare at the door and turned to him. His face was full of love and concern. Why couldn't their families just accept them? Why couldn't they see that they were in love? No matter what they said, she knew that she loved Matheson and that he loved her.

"Love you too, Pancake" she said and giggled when she saw his puzzled expression.

"Pancake? Where did that come from?"

"I think of pancakes when I see you all covered with flour. I think it's soooo sexy!" she whispered.

"Oh really? Shall I get some syrup and pour it all over myself for you to lick off?" he asked pulling her closer.

"Ooooh I think I'd like that" she said kissing him.

"Good. That'll give you something else to think about besides our crazy relatives!" he replied.

It was several days before Mavis called her brother back and instructed him to meet her and Emily in Frederick, MD. She gave him the address to the home and Emily came and picked her up to meet him there.

"Isn't it exciting to go back to the home place, Mavis" Emily asked clapping her hands together as they got in the car.

"I don't know" Mavis was saying slowly as she looked out the window.

Emily watched her a moment and didn't reply. All this seemed so strange. Mavis had a brother...a Senator no less! She hadn't been to her home in a while. She had people keeping it up and she'd used to go up once or twice a year to check on things. She had many offers to see the place, but she never could bring herself to do so. Several attempts had been made to try to wrangle the property from her, but none had succeeded. It was Matheson's inheritance and if he wanted to sell the place that was up to him.

Mavis watched as they turned off the road onto the property. You couldn't see the house for the road because of the trees. After about a quarter of a mile the trees ended and there were the fields where they used to grow their own vegetables and the house sat back beyond the fields. It still looked the same to her, but didn't seem quite as large as it used to. It was a huge white frame Victorian home with black shutters. Five steps led up to the wrap around porch on both sides and it was three stories.

The house had a lot of rooms and Mavis remembered cleaning them all. The foyer was huge followed by the front room where guests were received. Then there was the family room and across from that, the library and then the large office where Emily's father would conduct business. Next there was the kitchen and the dining room. A large storage room was behind that as well as a small bathroom that was added when she was small. Actually it had been a servant's bedroom that they later converted to a bath. There was the "round room" as Miss Emily would call it which was a sun room or breakfast nook that she would eat in and look out the window. Upstairs there were six bedrooms and two bathrooms, one off from the master bedroom. Since Emily had loved the "round room" the bedroom above it which also had three bay windows like the round room she ate her breakfast had been her bedroom.

The third floor was used for storage as well as two additional bedrooms that the servants occupied. This was where she and her mother had stayed when she was younger. There were always a lot of guests in the house. Mr. Emitt always had something going on or someone visiting including her father.

They got out the car and Mavis stared up at the house as they walked up the steps.

"Are you alright, Mavis" Emily asked looking worried. She put her arms around Mavis.

"I'm fine" Mavis replied. "Just thinking...that's all."

"We did have some good times here, didn't we?" Emily asked watching her. "I mean...I know my grandfather wasn't the easiest person to get along with, but Mama and Papa were good to you, right?"

Mavis patted her hand. "I loved your Mama. She was the sweetest thing...just like you."

Emily smiled. "People used to say I was just like my Grandfather."

"You got some of his ways, that's for sure!" Mavis replied laughing. "But only the good parts."

Emily took out her keys and opened the door and quickly pressed the code in for the alarm that had been installed. It was as if she was a child all over again. Nothing much had changed. She hadn't changed any of the furniture. She had updated the plumbing and put on a new roof. She had installed an alarm system, but everything else was the same as it always had been.

They walked into the library and Mavis looked at the pictures on the wall. So many memories. Mr. Emitt stared back at her from a large portrait and she quickly looked away. She walked over and picked up a picture of Trudy Matheson. It was her wedding picture and she smiled back at Mavis. Everything was covered with dust and resisted an urge to start cleaning.

"It's a mess in here" Emily was saying. "I should have had some people come and clean the place up before we arrived."

"That's alright" Mavis replied setting the picture back down.

"What are we looking for?" Emily asked curiously. "There's lots of papers and stuff in the library. I never cleaned out Papa's things. I just wish that I could remember more about my daddy. He died when I was so young!"

"He traveled a lot and he got killed in a train wreck" Mavis replied. "Your mother had only been dead a year when it happened."

Emily stared at the wedding picture. It was black and white but appeared to have been "colored in" like a lot of the old photos. "It seems everyone in the family was a redhead including my father."

Mavis didn't reply. She didn't know if Emily realized that her father and mother were distant cousins in a marriage arranged by her grandfather.

Just then they heard a car door shut and Emily ran to the front of the house. "It's your brother" she said clapping her hands together.

Mavis stood in the doorway as Langston walked through the foyer. He was dressed in a simple polo shirt and navy blue slacks. She stared at him looking so much like his father. Her father...their father. She stared at him unable to take her eyes away and unable to hold back the tears.

"Mavis!" Emily gasped clearly alarmed. She ran over to her leaving Langston standing helplessly in the foyer.

"I'm alright." Mavis sniffed.

"Have I upset you?" Langston asked walking over to her. "We can do this some other time."

"No, I'm fine" Mavis said looking at him. "It's just all the memories...and then you walked in..." she let her voice trail off.

"And I look just like him, right?" Langston finished for her.

"Yeah" was all she could say.

"I know this was a bad idea" Emily snapped. "We should just leave!"

"No!" Mavis snapped back. "I wanted to come here. It was all my idea. We need to find out the truth!"

Emily sighed. "Where do you want to start?"

Mavis looked at Langston and didn't reply.

"I guess we could look at anything your grandfather may have kept concerning my father." he replied. "I just wonder why my father got mixed up with him for in the first place. I'm in the midst of reading all of Lilly's writings. I can't find much from my father. Did your mother keep a diary? Could there be something there?"

Emily thought for a moment. "I don't know...I'd have to check the rooms. A lot of stuff is still here. I haven't gotten rid of much of anything. I just don't know where to begin."

"I remember Ms. Trudy did read a lot and she did some writing but I don't know if she kept a diary" Mavis responded. She turned to Langston. "Why don't you search the big office and Emily and I will go up to her parent's bedroom."

"You sure you can navigate those stairs?" Emily asked worried.

Mavis rolled her eyes. "I used to take them two at a time so I know I can still make it up there!" Mavis remarked laughing "Though I doubt if it'll be two at a time."

Emily watched protectively as Mavis walked up the stairs. They stopped on the landing a moment for her to catch her breath and then continued on. She didn't remember her mother at all and Emily depended on Mavis to fill in the blanks.

"Do I look like her at all?" she asked Mavis as they stood outside of the bedroom door.

Mavis had heard this question many times before, but it had been a while since Emily had asked her that question.

"You do" she replied. Emily pushed open the door and they walked in. The room still looked the same. The large mahogany poster bed took up a good portion of the room. Emily walked over to it and sat down. "It's dusty in here" she remarked.

"Well what did you expect?" Mavis asked laughing and sat down beside her.

They began to search the room and the found several old pictures of Trudy when she was young. There were pictures of her mother and father early in their marriage and Mavis watched as Emily stared down at them. She looked up at Mavis. "You're all I've got left of them." she said sadly.

"Nonsense!" Mavis shot back. "You have Matheson. He's a part of them too you know."

Emily broke out in a grin. "I hadn't thought of that. Although Matheson looks just like his father's people. He doesn't look like my family!"

"He has their ways" Mavis replied. "That's even better. His eyes remind me of your Mama's. They are large like hers."

Emily smiled and patted Mavis' hand. "Thanks for saying that."

"It's the truth!" Mavis replied. "Now come on let's look through some of this stuff."

Emily's Grandfather                               Emily's Father

Trudy Matheson (Emily's mother)