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CHAPTER 8
Sutton
Sitting in Alice and Reena’s formal visiting room, I could hardly see the plastic covered furniture or overabundance of knickknacks. All I could do was stare at the faded documents that Knox had given me.
In a matter of moments, my entire life had just been turned on its ear.
“My mother’s name is Judith Landry Coswell?” The words came out of my mouth, but I could hardly believe they were true.
When Candice and I first arrived in town, Knox asked that we meet over at Alice and Reena’s. It was highly unusual, but then most things in this town were done ass backward, so why not this as well?
The older women had ushered Candice and me into their home with open arms—and a box of tissues.
This should have been my first clue.
I have to admit, when I first arrived, I flushed beet red thinking about their sordid affair with Earl and then Max. There I was, a grown woman, and I felt like a five-year-old.
But instead of the cougars that they had been painted to be, I met the same old Alice and Reena. They smothered me with hugs and kisses and then cooed over my belly. I had tears welling up in my eyes.
No matter what anyone said, these people were my family.
It wasn’t until after we sat down that I looked around the room and had the sneaking suspicion that they were staging an intervention.
There, in that tiny sitting room were, was Candice, Knox, Martha, Earl, and Mad Max. And to make matters worse, they were all staring at me.
“What is going on here?” I demanded.
It seemed that as Knox began unraveling the story, I became more wide-eyed.
It was as if he were telling me the plot to his favorite thriller on television. Not the actual events of my mother’s life.
She had a family who was wealthy and had searched for her for years. My mother, who sold her body for drugs, was a college graduate.
I shook my head as bile rose in my throat. She had married young. Her husband was abusive, both physically and emotionally. Earl and Martha left everything behind just to protect her and then later to protect me.
I excused myself and barely made it to the bathroom before throwing up.
“Honey, are you okay?” Candice handed me a roll of tissue so that I could wipe my mouth.
“There is a new toothbrush under the sink,” Reena called out from behind Candice.
I would have laughed had I not been so shaken. Here they were, still caring for me all of these years later.
Alice and Reena had not been shagging Earl or Max. When Earl and Martha came to them for help, they dove all in. These elderly women threw caution aside and jumped to help.