The Pecan Man(51)

And so now you have the complete and total truth. Bless Clara Jean’s heart, she has sat and taken dictation for hours on end as I told my long and ragged tale. She has assured me her ears heard nothing that her mouth could ever tell, but her sure and able fingers would set down for me to disclose as I see fit.

Eldred Mims had not run away from his life in Alabama as much as he came home to his family in Mayville when he showed up here in 1975. When Blanche was born, Eddie left to join the new all-black Air Force in Tuskegee, Alabama. He said he always intended to come back, but time went by and he started a new life with another woman. Not wanting to make the same mistake, he married the mother of this child, the one they named Tressa.

I think Eddie really wanted to do the right thing, but addiction is sometimes stronger than the person it holds. And sometimes, like Eddie said, it’s just too late to go back. I don't know why he never told Blanche, but I almost think she knew. My Lord, Blanche knew everything - everything. Always.

I should have told Grace the truth after her mother died, but I didn't and there are more reasons why than I have time to tell. For now, Clara Jean is helping me pack. I don't know if I'll be going to jail or to a nursing home, but I can no longer live by myself regardless, so I'm going to one or the other.

I'm going to do the first selfless thing I've done in years. I'm giving my home to the girls, outright, free and clear. Well, not precisely free, but that's a tax issue that Howard worked out. But, they're paying only enough not to consider it a gift, but a purchase.

Patrice is handling the details of my confession. I didn't ask and I really don't want to know what the process will be. My goal is to clear Eddie's name and to admit what I did to help conceal who really killed Skipper Kornegay. As I said when I first began this story, I reckon there will be a few who wish I had kept my mouth shut. The ones who would truly be impacted are dead, though, and can surely rest in peace. As for me, I've not had a moment's peace since the day my first lie was told. I'm determined to go to my grave with a clear conscience, and I just can't do that until I tell the truth about Grace.

Maybe now, that precious girl can face her real demons and find her way in the world. I hope so. Lord knows I pray that she does.





A Note from the Author





I was born and raised in Central Florida and, except for three formative years in Thomasville, Georgia and three more in Charlotte, NC where I met my true love and best friend, Perry Selleck, I have lived in Florida all my life. Sometime in the 90’s my parents retired and moved to North Florida to escape the rapid (or maybe I should say rabid) growth that had made what I call my “hometown” nearly unrecognizable. In 1998 Perry and I bought a piece of land on the Suwannee River that included a single-wide mobile home on stilts, intending to build a weekend home of sorts. Using chain saws and help from my brothers, we split that trailer into three parts, pushed it off its moorings and hauled it to the salvage yard. We spent nearly every weekend for the next three years driving to Mayo to work on our river house. Not long after it was livable, we decided we’d had enough of the growth ourselves and moved our family, which included our daughter Emily and our yappy little redhead Lucy, to the river. Thus began an adventure that almost immediately gave birth to the characters in The Pecan Man. (Note: the title word is pronounced Pee’-can)

One day in 2001, while coming back from the grocery store in Live Oak, I passed an old man riding a rumpled and rusted old bicycle down a narrow country road. Shortly after that, I passed a man picking up pecans in the front yard of his weathered old house. By the time I got home, I had the bones of my story and the three main characters, Ora Lee Beckworth, Blanche Lowery and Eldred Mims formed in my mind. Once I wrote the first chapter or two, the characters began to live and breathe and I allowed them to write the rest of their story. I make no apologies for my choice in writing the dialect as I hear the characters speak. These voices are as real to me as the characters themselves. And while they are all completely fictitious and are not intended to represent any real person, living or dead, I must admit that they all have characteristics of many people I have known.

The setting is the fictional town of Mayville, but some of the landmarks will be familiar to those in my hometown of Leesburg, Florida. Growing up in Central Florida during such a pivotal time in the Civil Rights era definitely influenced my perspective on the issue of race. I hope readers will forgive Ora her mistakes and celebrate her growth. She is a flawed character to be sure, as are we all.