When they came back into the living room Renee set her tray down and started the explanation, “You boys all knew our grandmother Grace and while we always thought she was strict, she was also cruel.You see, I learned this from Grandpa Jed.The day he died, he asked for me to come see him.He had something to tell me but he made me swear to keep it a secret.He told me he was in love with our grandmother Grace and he did things for her that he didn’t like.But because she was his wife, he did them.The week they got married she asked him to build a smaller cabin on some land the Hogan’s owned for a cousin of hers.The cousin was Sharon Langley.The whole Langley family had hidden her away all her life.Why?I asked grandpa.He told me there was nothing wrong with Sharon but she was different, not bad, just different.He told me she was albino and the family couldn’t have that known.When I asked him why he told me that our grandma reasoned it would be, that people thought being that white was something that people would talk about, maybe even think she was a freak of nature.Then grandpa told me that Sharon wasn’t a freak, that she was a woman of great learning and she had always thought she was just different than most people but he said grandma didn’t want anyone to know about her and her defects.”Renee wiped her tears away and went on, “Grandpa told me Sharon was a very kind woman and she told him Grace’s rejection had hurt but that was just the way her family treated her all her life.They all thought she was a freak.”
Teige and Ragan frowned.
Then Jordy added, “But she couldn’t help it.That’s just cruel.”
Renee nodded.“It’s more than that.Our grandma treated her own cousin like she was less than a real person.It doesn’t seem like much but being treated like that really messes with a person’s wellbeing.Grandpa said he would bring her food supplies once a week and show her how to live in the swamp when he visited.But after a while he didn’t have to tell her much.Sharon had figured out how to live here all on her own.Then one day Grandma came along with him and that’s when she found out that Sharon had a boyfriend and that she was pregnant with his child.Grandpa told me she was angry right from the start.She told Sharon and her boyfriend that they should never have got together and that her child would bring down the whole family.She had to get rid of both the boyfriend and her child.Sharon fought with her over the baby but grandma had it so hard for the boyfriend that soon after the baby was born, she forced him out.Called the constable at the time said he was trespassing.So he took his daughter and moved away.”
“Was her daughter an albino too?”Ragan asked.
Maudie stood and shook her head.“No sirree, dat baby was natural.She had a good strong cry and got all pink right away.I know because I helped deliver dat baby.But Ms.Grace wasn’t happy and she wouldn’t let them stay.She never wanted anyone to know about her cousin, you see.”
At this, Sonny growled.
Looking angry, Clive nodded in agreement.
Harry just sat there staring at Renee.
“Sharon lived a good long life,” Renee finally said.“Grandpa Jed told me that Grandma was a good woman but because she had a cousin with albinism she would never talk about her, she never hardly went to see her.Then after she made the boyfriend take the baby and move away she never went to see her cousin again.He told me that when she passed away she begged him to forgive her for what she’d done to Sharon but grandpa told her that he didn’t know if he could.He would try but he’d seen her cruelty over the years and he just didn’t know if he could ever forgive her for what she’d done.He told her if they met in the afterlife she could ask him again and then he could give his answer.So when she died, he could see the heartbreak in her eyes.”
The room went silent for a long time.
Chapter Five
Harry broke the quiet, “Well, I don’t know if I could forgive her either.I mean she always told us that we needed to be kind to others and then we hear what she did to her own cousin?That’s hypocritical and dishonest, isn’t it?”
Colt nodded.“Yeah, it is.And being albino ain’t a crime that I ever heard.”He shrugged.“I mean it is different but it’s not criminal and for a whole family to treat her like she’s a freak?That’s just wrong, brother.And what they did was wrong too.Treating her like she was a freak?Over something she couldn’t help.Your grandmother was lucky the family didn’t know about this until today.”
King crossed his arms over his chest and nodded.“But now we have another worry.”
Everyone in the room stared at him.
Teige looked over at King and asked, “Like what?”
“Maudie showed us where Sharon lived all those years ago.The cabin Jed built for her is still standing.Whoever lives there now has put in a garden and has kept the place up, but we also found a grave.The marker had Sharon’s name on it and the date she died.It also had thewords Daughter, Mother and Grandmotherengraved on it.”King looked around the room.“Sharon died ten years ago.And we figure that she was almost 90 when she passed.Grace died fifteen years ago and Jed died five years after she did.So who stayed at Sharon’s cabin all these years?Who planted that garden?”
The room went silent again and this time no one broke the silence for a long time.
