Virginia Ménage

"Carl, it's all pretty straightforward. He left everything to you with a couple of exceptions and stipulations. You get the house and farm as well as his place down in the Smokey Mountains and the cottage on Folly Beach. 80% of VA-Kraft is yours. The other 20% is to be distributed to the employees. There is a whole book of stipulations to that effect we have to work through but I'll take care of most of it. He also left $500K in stock and bonds to his close friend Mrs. Cecilia Saunders.

"Now, with regard to the twin girls of your mother, he wants you to have a paternity test done to confirm whether or not he is the father. If he was, then 2/5ths of the non-property assets will be split between them when they reach the age of 25. If he was not the father, then he is giving each of them $250K when they reach 18.

"Carl, now I also want to add my own observation and conversations with your Dad. He had come to know the girls over the last year and became fond of them. Whether he was their natural dad or not didn't seem to bother him and if you repeat this I'll deny it; he even expressed some lingering fondness for your batshit crazy mother. I'll never understand it so help me God."

We wrapped up a bunch of legal signings and papers and he told me it would all be filed with the court that afternoon. Before parting he gave me a DNA kit for the girls and myself and instructed me to return it sealed to his office and he would submit it along with the DNA sample from Father. I did as he requested and got samples from the girls although I did it without telling Mother. I figured the less she was involved the better. Besides the Gypsie Rhodes was spending more time around Mother's place lately and I didn't want to be around him for some reason.

I couldn't put my finger on what it was but I didn't want Lucy around the guy much either. She just dismissed my concerns and continued spending as much time at Mothers as she wished. For the life of me I didn't understand it.

I received the paternity tests back from the lawyer's office about a month later and sure enough, Father was the daddy of the twins. The executor of the estate put everything into motion and trust funds were established for Tammy and Tonya Harvey. The funds were seeded with a total of $6 million that would grow until they reached the age of 25. The allowable early withdrawals were for educational purposes; college or some form of higher education and a stipend for living expenses while going to school. The balance of the estate less Mrs. Saunders $500K was $8.5 million. I thought it was time for a 'family' meeting.

They were all gathered in the living room; Mother, Tammy, Tonya, even the Gypsie. Mother insisted she would not come if he couldn't be with her and I almost decided to proceed without her but she needed to be knowledgeable about the trusts since they were her underage daughters. Shit for brains could hardly keep from rubbing his greedy fingers in anticipation of something, God knows what. Lucy was by my side.

"OK, so here is how it all goes." I started. "As part of Father's will and testament I had the twins tested for paternity -"

She cut me up short.

"Carl Jr. why would you go and do that behind my back?" Mother asked.

"Because, you were never available for me to talk to you in private or just family, just like now" I replied. That seemed to shut her up so I continued.

"So, as I was saying, I had the paternity test done as Father requested and the results came back a few days ago. Carl Harvey Sr. is the natural father of Tammy and Tonya Harvey."

Mother had another one of her smiles on her face now.

"I told you so." She said when she found the words.

"Yes you did." I replied and persisted. "Since they are the natural children of Carl Sr. the executor of the estate has established a trust fund for each girl in the amount of $3 million each. I am named the administrator of the trusts and they are not to be generally available until the girls reach 25 years of age."

I thought I saw a glint of disappointment on the Gypsie's face and I immediately thought of emasculating the bastard if he ever made a move on the girls. I handed certified copies of the will to each of the girls and told them to look them over and when they were ready I would take them back and keep them in my safe if they wished. They were already executed so they were for info purposes only.

At that point, I asked everybody except Mother to leave us for a bit. I wanted a conversation, privately.

"OK, Mother, this time I want the truth. Why did you really leave Father?"

She was fidgeting with her fingers and took a sip of her drink.

"I left your Daddy because he, well, asked me to, no, let me rephrase that. He told me in no uncertain terms to leave and not come back so I packed my bags and left for New York City."

"Why did he tell you to leave?" I asked in reply.

"He found out I was having an affair with Ted Saunders, one of his production managers." She said nervously.

Some things started to come back to me that I had forgotten about. Ted Saunders had died suddenly just a short while before Mother made her disappearing act. He also happened to be the widow of Cecilia Saunders, Father's long- time friend with benefits and named beneficiary in his will.

"Jesus Christ" I exclaimed. "Just how did he find out about it?" I didn't tell her about Cecilia although I suspected she might have known in any event.

"Ted died while were, well, doing it, right after his wife walked in on us in the middle of it. He had a heart attack and rolled off the bed dead as a doornail before he hit the floor. She scared him to death."

Mother couldn't help it at that point. She both cried and laughed and the laughter won out in the end. Then she got serious again.

"Your Daddy was a fucking hypocrite, Carl Jr. He had been screwing around with a couple of women for at least 2 or 3 years. I just didn't spend any money to prove it. He knew it and I knew it. Then, I discovered I was pregnant right after Ted's funeral. We both figured it was Ted's baby since I had been predominantly with Ted except one night when your father and I had sex but he was so piss drunk he didn't remember any of it.

"So I took my bags, shipped my belongings to an apartment I bought in the City and left him cursing on the step. I decided to have the baby and when they turned out to be twin girls, I refused to tell Carl Sr. anything about it. As soon as I saw their faces and hair, I knew they were his. Hell, look at our hair, your hair, your father's hair for Christ's sake! Every one of us is blond and Ted's hair was nearly black. No, your Daddy threw me out, treated me like a whore while he stuck his considerable dick in who knows how many other women. So I kept his daughters from him ... and regretfully, you too, Carl. For that I'm real sorry.

"So you see I didn't need a paternity test. I already knew the sperm donor and as far as I was concerned that's all he was at that point. So that's the answer to your question. I never laid eyes on Carl Sr. again until your wedding and I did what he told me, to stay to hell away if I knew what was good for me.

"Honestly, he had mellowed by the time I saw him and he knew he was the daddy of those girls. He even mellowed with me at the end. I wish I had the opportunity to talk with him like two adults before he died but I didn't."

The conversation kind of shattered a few perceptions I had held of Father over the years and cast a better light on why Mother had been 'missing' all these years.

"So what is it with Dale Rhodes?" I asked when the conversation went silent.

"What do you mean, Carl?" She replied.

"I mean the guy is almost 20 years young than you. He's a fucking Gypsie lothario and has calluses on his finger tips and tongue for all the gold digging and ass licking he's been doing."

"He's not a Gypsie, Carl. He's from Cyprus originally but he's lived in NYC since he was 5 years old. Look at me. I'm 56 years old. I'm not going to make it big on Broadway. Nobody buys my paintings. All I have going for me is a small family fortune, fading looks and my girls... and you. All that really matters are my kids. Everything else is all dross. That's all Dale is, dross at the end of the day but don't tell him that. He thinks I'm his meal ticket and I am ... for now." She winked at that last part.

"Mother, I'll tell you this so you know up front. Lucy is very impressionable around these kinds of dickwads. She's a lot like you in that regard, sad to say, and I know the bastard has been filling her head with all kinds of art and theater crap. I'd tell her to stay away from him and I have for that matter but she is the most stubborn woman I know. I knew what he was the first time I saw him. He's a seducer, an interloper and I don't trust the smarmy prick as far as I can throw him which is a good ways if he crosses my path."

She just looked at me and grinned.

"Put her over your lap and tan her naked butt then put a baby in her belly. You haven't had kids yet and neither of you are too old especially her. She's 32. Get it done."

With that she rose and joined the others on the patio. The twins gave me back the copies of the will and the bunch of them headed back to Mother's place. Lucy and I stripped off and headed for the pool...

--

As the primary owner of VA-Kraft I had a host of new duties and responsibilities to tend to. First was to find a replacement not for my father but for my old position. My first choice was Jim Reed, my floor supervisor in manufacturing, but he really was not interested in the job. He was trying to help his wife with a start- up business that she was busy with. I didn't really have anybody else so I turned to an outside headhunter to recruit for the position.

I ended up with a stack of resumes for the Production Manager's job and spent a weekend weeding through them before settling on three candidates to interview. All three were good people but the last candidate came in with a spark and fire for the role. Her name was Kathy Hansen, 36, divorced, no kids and a MS Engineering grad out of Blacksburg with a dozen years of hands on manufacturing experience. I made her an offer and she started three weeks later.

Next order of business was to roll out the ESOP program for the 20% ownership of the company that my father left the employees. Our legal department and my father's executor worked out the details and Tommy Jones and I rolled it out in a series of group meetings to widespread acceptance and thanks.

We are a commodity business making recycled linerboard for use in folding cartons, cardboard to the layman. As manufacturing goes, it's not terribly complex. We collect old used corrugating medium, cardboard boxes, newspapers, just about anything that has unbleached kraft pulp in it from 150 distribution and recycling centers around the state of Virginia. All that fiber ends up getting pulped up with a lot of water and is then formed on a board/paper machine to make rolls of linerboard which is then sold to converting box plants around the country.

Kathy worked in a mill during summers when she was an undergrad so she had a good background with the process and she took to everything right from the start. Some of the men were a bit stubborn at first as well as besotted. Kathy is very beautiful and carried herself with a natural ease around everybody. I think a lot of the men were falling in love with her just from working on the same floor. While I certainly admired her for her beauty and charm, I had my own beautiful wife to go home to every night.

Lucy continued working for Tommy in HR although I could tell he was a bit uncomfortable with it since I was now the corner office guy. I helped him out a bit by moving my office out onto the mezzanine over the production floor and let him know I wouldn't interfere in how he managed his group.

For whatever reason, Lucy and Kathy just didn't mix well. Kathy tried but Lucy just couldn't warm up to her and I didn't understand why. Lucy was uncomfortable. Maybe it was the beauty competition. She wasn't the only hot chick in town now but I wouldn't have expected that from Lucy. She never struck me as insecure until Kathy started working for me.

After a few months, Lucy decided to stop working and focus on the classes she was taking at one of the community colleges nearby. I was all for it and if it made her happy, I was thrilled. She had signed up for a few art and theater classes and all seemed to return to normal.

When Father ran the company he dealt with many of the customers making site visits and attending the various conferences that several companies networked in to stay abreast of the industry. I had traveled with him a few times when I had the Production Manager's position but now the responsibility was primarily mine and the sales managers as well as Kathy Hansen who was now in my old job.

We would hit the road via airport once or twice a month for customer visits and attend conferences somewhere every other month. After a while, about half my time was spent on the road. Kathy would accompany me on a third of the trips, sometimes more depending on the time of year and I never gave it any thought. On one trip in particular we were at a conference in Atlanta with me, Kathy and Dave Barton my sales manager. Before the wrap up on Friday afternoon, Atlanta was hit by an unexpected ice storm. It shut down everything; all roads, the airport, everything for miles around. We were staying at an airport hotel so we were safe with our rooms and someplace to eat and ride it out.

I called Lucy to let her know we were stranded in Atlanta until the storm passed but I couldn't reach her that evening so I left her a message. Later that evening after drinks and calling it a night, I tried to reach her again to no avail. I had no reason to be suspicious or alarmed so I just decided to try her again the next morning. I set the phone on the dresser and drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, I went down to an early breakfast and met Kathy and Dave coming down at the same time. The storm was breaking and we should be able to catch flights later that afternoon. After eating I grabbed a quiet spot in the lounge and called Lucy.

"Hello?" I heard the rustling of what sounded like sheets and what I thought was a very faint unfamiliar voice, a man's voice as I waited for her answer.

"Oh Hi, Carl; Hey, I am so sorry about the phone last night. I was charging it on the dresser and forgot about it until I crashed out. "

Everything about her tone and inflection and her manner on the phone seemed off. Call it intuition or something else but something was just not right. I decided to deflect.

"Listen, Honey, that's OK. Shit happens. I thought you had your ringer off instead of charging but that's OK. Hey, we have new flights out of here this afternoon and I should be home by early evening. I'll see you then. Love you."

I cut it off at that. Something was wrong in the Harvey household. Now, in the age of technology, there are a lot of tricks and tools to keep track of things. One of them is GPS history, at least on our phones. I have our phones set up on an auto-log in case they are ever stolen or lost but I've never bothered to use it since neither has ever happened.

This time, I opened up my laptop and pulled up the locator and history.

The first result showed me at the Atlanta Airport Doubletree Hotel which made sense since I was sitting in the lounge of the hotel. The second result showed Lucy's phone located at 2200 Crossover Road. A review of the history, at least every hour, showed her phone arriving at 2200 Crossover sometime after 10PM the night before. I knew the address. It used to be the old Jamison place, now occupied by one Ms. Deborah Harvey and on occasion by a gilded prick named Dale Rhodes. The problem here was that Ms. Harvey, my mother, was down in Savannah, GA and I didn't know if Rhodes was with her or not. I did know my wife was with somebody and it wasn't me. So, I called her.

"Mother, is that Rhodes with you?"

"Well, hello to you too, Carl. Why? Do you want to talk to him?" She asked.

"Mother, I just want to know if he is with you there." I replied.

She paused for a moment and I could hear her talking to somebody.

"Yes, Carl, Dale is here in Savannah with me. What is this all about?" She actually sounded a bit concerned.

"I was just trying to locate Lucy this morning and I didn't want to call over there if the prick was there. I'll call the twins and see if they have seen her." I replied.

"Oh, yes, they have seen her. Lucy was house sitting for me last evening since the girls were out with another family until later that evening. Give them a ring and they might know where she is."

That threw a wrench into my concerns and theories but it also made me feel a good bit better.

"OK, Mother, I'll call the girls and see if they can hook me up. Maybe her phone died or something. Talk to you later."

We disconnected. I didn't call the girls as I had already talked with Lucy. She could have told me she was at Mother's but I dismissed it. As for the voice I thought I heard I just figured I was mistaken.

I got back to the house later that evening and Lucy greeted me in her au natural costume and from there we worked our way back to the bedroom and stayed there until the sunlight broke through the curtains in the morning.

"Why didn't you tell me you were house- sitting for Mother when she left?" I asked her after waking her with a kiss.

She looked at me a little oddly and hesitated with her reply as if she had to think before she answered.

"I didn't think it would matter. I had my phone with me." She replied.

"Except that you didn't answer it." I countered.

We ended the matter when she bounded up and took her beautiful naked ass to the shower. I didn't really give it any more thought until it happened again several months later.

This time, I was on a customer visit with Kathy and Dave again and we decided to extend our road trip another couple days and visit a customer four hours' drive from where were. When we arrived at the hotel we were staying at that Tuesday evening and checked in, I gave Lucy a call just to let her know I was extending the trip until the following Thursday morning. It was around 7PM and she didn't answer so I left her a voice message and joined Kathy and Dave downstairs for dinner.

Later that evening I called Lucy again and still there was no answer. Instead of leaving a message, I hung up and pulled open my laptop. The GPS History Tracker opened up with a single click from my home page and showed my phone being right where I was, the Hilton Garden Inn. When I pulled up Lucy's phone it showed her at an address I didn't recognize, 124 Jardine Lane. When I google mapped it and did a street view it was the address of an apartment or townhouse community a short ways away from the community college.

OK, logically Lucy could be at a girlfriends house from school after classes let out that evening, logically at least but why not answer the phone? Instead of trying to call her again, I sent a text message.

"TRIED CALLING EARLIER, NO ANSWER. WHERE ARE YOU? - CARL"

After an hour there was still no message from her and since I had business in the morning, I tried to put the matter out of my mind so I could get some sleep. To say that failed would be an understatement. I tossed and turned until around 3AM before finally getting a couple hours of sleep.

That morning, Kathy looked at me and half- heartedly smiled.

"Rough night, Captain?"

I know I must have looked like shit so I just begged off with the insomnia excuse. About half way through breakfast, Lucy called me but I let it go to voice mail. She followed that up with a text.