Baby Love (Baby #2)(87)

"Go on Aunt Maggie please. Tell me what happened after that."

"I hated Matthew after that. I realized what a sick bastard he was. I knew that I needed out of his sick and perverted life. He didn't care about anything or anyone. It was just about the money. Naturally I was laid up for awhile after the 'miscarriage,' so Matthew was more driven than ever to get Marla involved as a whore in his money-making scheme."

"She was clueless where men were concerned. She was still a virgin at eighteen. Matthew instructed me to get her dressed up and made up for an evening out. He had been invited to a high rent bachelor party. Some connections he had told him that some circuit judge from Baton Rouge was marrying a very wealthy girl from New Orleans. The party was to be hosted at a very exclusive hotel in the French Quarter."

Maggie was starting to get groggy. I needed her to finish this story.

"Please Aunt Maggie - just get to the part about my mother."

"Matthew took Marla to this party telling her he wanted to introduce her to some young wealthy attorneys and professional men. Of course there were other 'prostitutes' there but the young judge took a shine to your mama."

"She didn't realize that he had paid Matthew a great deal of money for her to spend the night with him in his hotel room. When Marla got home the next morning she was furious with me for setting her up like that. Claimed the man had taken her virginity and then apologized afterwards telling her he had no idea and how sorry he was. He said that he had been under an entirely different impression."

Maggie chuckled weakly at the memory.

"Well over the next couple of weeks Marla kept getting flowers from him delivered almost daily. He kept calling her on the phone wanting to talk to her. He finally showed up at our duplex. He told Matthew he needed to see Marla. Matthew let him in and called Marla down to talk to him. When Marla came back upstairs later she had the two blue velvet boxes that had those antique earrings and the necklace in them."

I knew the ones she was talking about very well.

"He told her that they had belonged to his grandmother and that he wanted her to have them. He said he was sorry that he had ruined her; that if he could get out of marrying his fiancé he would."

"He said that Marla fascinated him and intrigued him. He told her if she ever needed anything she should contact him. He gave her his card. He said he was to be married the following week but that he would never forget her. She said he leaned down and gave her the sweetest kiss ever and held her to him tightly. She said he whispered 'I love you sweet Marley' in her ear. I think she actually fell in love with him right then and there."

I got tears in my eyes finally knowing that my mother was not cut from the same cloth as Maggie.

"A few months later Marla discovered that she was pregnant with you. I figured Matthew would make her get an abortion like he did me but he saw an opportunity. He paid a visit to the newly wed Mrs. Tylar with the news and some supporting photos that he apparently had arranged to be taken of your mama and the judge's night together."

"Marla never knew about any of this. She was content just to be carrying his child even though he was married to someone else. She didn't want to cause any problems for him."

"In the meantime, Matthew was getting the funds he needed from Mrs. Tylar. He told her that the funding needed to continue because DNA testing was all that was needed to confirm her husband's infidelity. It was rumored that Preston Tylar was on a short list for appointment to a federal judgeship. Mrs. Tylar was not going to let a scandal get in the way of that."

Maggie's voice was getting weaker and she was getting groggier.

"When you were born your mama named you Tylar Jamie Renaud. She loved you like there was no tomorrow. She breast fed you; she said she wanted you to be healthy and strong. She was never apart from you. When you were about six or seven months old she told Matthew that she was going to take you and move back up to Mississippi. I wanted to go with her to get the hell away from him."

"Matthew wasn't going to allow that to happen. You were his golden goose. She and I were almost to Mississippi on the Greyhound bus with you when Matthew caught up with us."

Maggie visibly shuddered at that particular memory.

"After Marla passed away you became my responsibility. I resented that I had been given no choice in the matter. I hated Matthew and the control he had over me and my life. You just wanted a mama. You tried to make me your mama but that just wasn't in the cards don't you see?"

"Aunt Maggie did Matthew ever see me when we lived in Kentucky?"

"Yes a couple of times when you were very young."

(The man from my first memory with the swing set!)

"How did my mother die?"

(I had to know.)

"Poisoning," Maggie whispered before slipping into unconsciousness.



CHAPTER 32



Trey received a call Sunday evening from Sandy Meyers. She had been keeping in touch with us daily letting us know Maggie's condition. There had been no change since Friday afternoon when we had been there with her. She was still in a coma but holding her own. The doctor said part of the coma has been induced because of the heavy duty pain-killers she was being given.

Right after Trey got off of the phone with Sandy Tristan called him. He let Trey know that he would be in Atlanta tomorrow and would be staying for the week to get the transition of ownership taken care of with Gina. I had kept my BFF promise to Gina and not mentioned anything to Trey about Tristan coming in or where he was staying.