Rescuing Patty Hearst by Virginia Holman

Author:Virginia Holman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: 2001-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

2000

Dad got a job with Blue Heron Properties selling commercial real estate in Newport News and began living with us full time. He hated the job, but it was a job. My freedom outside the cottage increased. I went for long walks and had secret hiding places in the woods, beaches, and sheds. My favorite place was deep in the trash pines a quarter mile up the road, where the grave of my great-grandfather and two small children’s graves were located in an overgrown tangle of periwinkle and pine straw. The children’s headstones were pocked white marble, the names and dates worn smooth. Even on cold days, I would go out there and hunker down in my snug little nest and dream while the sky and leaves moved above me.

Mom’s reaction to Dad’s daily presence in the house was at first a straightening up. It started with her hair. In the mornings she used both hands to twist it—as if wringing out a wet shirt—into a rope. And then she twirled it around and around until it looked like a honeybun. Then she’d get a mouthful of bobby pins and practically staple the thing to the back of her head. She looked older like this and not quite like my mother. She started wearing work clothes, slacks and plain shirts. Her satin zebra gown went to the closet, as did her little sun-dresses and winter coats. She tried not to discuss the secret war, especially in Dad’s presence, but her efforts in this direction led to frustration and then to secrecy. She kept her notebook hidden in the breadbox and confined her war efforts to the hours when my father was at work. This clandestine routine produced at first a heightened urgency, but after a while even this settled down some and since this was as good as things had been for a while, we all set about trying our hardest to act like the life we were now leading was normal. Mom kept house and made suppers and took care of Emma. Dad mowed the field and cleared the thickets and tried to winterize the house as best he could. I guess during this time Mom went into a sort of remission.

Yet I couldn’t let go of the secret war just like that. I tried to keep it alive and set about trying to speed things up.

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