Turtle Rock

Jeanette and Pam soon found themselves living with Sugarloaf and family again. Jeanette and Sugarloaf were working at a truck stop together while CB was still working as a printer for the Washington Post, living in the DC area during the week and commuting home on the weekends.

One Saturday morning, while bouncing Pam on his leg, she said, “Grammie Sugarloaf slept with Josh last night.” Josh as it turned out, was a man that Sugarloaf met at the truck stop.

The cheerful mood suddenly changed as CB called Sugarloaf into the room. He then proceeded to direct Pam to tell Sugarloaf what she had just told him. Head bowed and now fidgety, she didn’t want to say anything at all. CB assured her that she wasn’t in trouble and it was okay to repeat what she had just said. Keeping her face down, she said it again. CB then put her down, walked to the bedroom, packed his clothes and left. Walking to the bus station, he boarded the bus to Washington DC, where he resigned his job and went to Beckly, West Virginia where he lived with his brother and his wife while working odd jobs, washing dishes, cleaning toilets and the like.

Jeanette and Pam got an apartment of their own and Sugarloaf and Josh started seeing each other on a regular basis. When Sugarloaf and Josh went to visit Ohmer and Granny, Josh immediately witnessed Ohmer mistreating one of his mules. Josh yelled down at him asking if he’d like to try that on him. Ohmer said, “if you think you’re man enough, come on down.” CB charged down the hill to settle the score. Ohmer reared back and knocked him out cold in his own tracks. As it turned out, Josh didn’t make much of an impression that day. As a matter of fact, Josh never did make much of an impression on any of them after that day. Cheryl and Susan, young teenagers by this time, especially didn’t like him and for good reason. He was very abusive and they wouldn’t sleep at night without a bat or a broken bottle nearby, anything to protect themselves from him. When he attempted to assault Cheryl, she knocked him down and threatened to tell her mother. “Go ahead. She won’t believe you,” he told her.

When she did tell Sugarloaf, she called her a “damn liar.” After calling Darlene, Cheryl then moved in with her and her husband.

Things continued to deteriorate between Josh and Sugarloaf until one evening in the hallway, he pointed a pistol at her, discharged it and the bullet narrowly missed her. She called the police and had him arrested. As they took him away, she yelled out that she was going to have him committed. Shouting back, he said that no one would ever do that to him and that he would kill himself first. He was subsequently released on bail only to be found dead of asphyxiation after missing his subsequent court hearing.

Jeanette had remarried after dating a man that she knew since she lived with Bullpuncher and his wife. She had fallen in love with the way he affectionately treated Pam, as if she was his own daughter. They married and later, when Jeanette told him that she was pregnant, he wasn’t a bit pleased. He didn’t want children of his own. Their relationship changed from that moment on. He became physically abusive towards Jeanette and it continued for years. He and Jeanette had a second child together and the abuse escalated. She eventually left Mike and after a couple months he begged her to come back, promising to change his ways and even attend church with her. The physical abuse was only replaced by his emotional abuse and he never kept his word about going to church with her.

Thinking about her half brother again, she decided to hire a private investigator. After ending his investigation, he couldn’t tell her any more than she already knew. Then while at the county fair, she decided to see a psychic there. She learned a couple things but only enough to later seak the help of yet another psychic. While reading Jeanette’s palm she declared, “I see you have a brother, but then you don’t have a brother. Does that make sense to you,” she asked. Acknowledging that it did, she continued to inform her that he was still alive, “living in one of the C-states.”

Encouraged by what she had learned, she contacted the woman who she thought had set up the exchange at the bottom of the mountain. She told Jeanette that it wasn’t her, but it was her older sister, Dot, she was looking for.

Now living in Michigan, Dot told her that she didn’t remember much about the couple, believing that their name was Hawkins, Hopkins, or Haskins, “something like that,” she said. Unfortunately, the one who would know was her brother, but unfortunately, he was no longer living. Making headway now, Jeanette grew even more determined. Her next step was to pay her mother another visit and ask her again. A tough cookie, she had always denied it in the past.

Driving to Sugarloaf’s apartment, Jeanette found her cooking in her kitchenette. She nervously asked her if it was true that she adopted her brother out. Sugarloaf stood silently, unsure how to respond. The ice had finally been broken. Jeanette then said, “don’t stand there and deny it because Granny told me and I know she would never lie to me.”

Suddenly Sugarloaf roared back, “Hell yeah I adopted him out and if I had it to do all over again, I would have adopted every damn one of you out! And if you don’t get the hell out of my kitchen, I’ll throw this damn boiling water right in your face!” Jeanette now had heard what she had waited for years to hear from her mother. Maybe more than she wanted to hear. She left before she could find out whether or not Sugarloaf meant what she said.

Jeanette and Sugarloaf were both working in the same manufacturing plant when someone told Jeanette that her mom was in urgent need of her help. Emotionally upset, Sugarloaf asked Jeanette to take her home. Once in the car she told Jeanette that sometimes she felt like she was losing her mind adding that she had done a number of things that she wasn’t proud of.

Assuring her that no matter what she may have done, Jeanette believed that she did what was best at the time and she could talk to her about anything without fear of being judged. Moments later, Sugarloaf dropped a bombshell, admitting that she had had a baby boy and ended its life as soon as it was born, placed it in a plastic bag before throwing it into a dumpster. Sugarloaf had said some pretty cruel things throughout her life, but this was even darker than Jeanette ever expected to hear from her. When she got her home, she stayed with her until she had calmed down and felt sure that she would be safe after she left.

Deception was always in her black bag of tricks. No one really knows if it really happened or if it was a figment of her wild imagination. I suppose it was possible that she had made it all up to throw Jeanette off the trail in hopes she might give up her desire to find her half brother. Maybe Sugarloaf experienced feelings of guilt after giving me away. Is it possible that she always wondered what ever became of her baby that she decided it best to destroy this one and have that closure? Unfortunately, we can only speculate now. However, Jeanette believes that her mother was always so cold that she never gave me a second thought over all those years.

Learning of Alice’s passing, a neighbor on the mountain and close friend of the family, Jeanette attended her funeral service. That is where she first met Alice’s brother, Haywood. As they talked, she asked him if he knew anything about her half-brother. “I didn’t even know you had a brother,” he replied. He did, however, say that he knew the date she was born, taking her completely by surprise. When she asked him how he knew, he told her about the letter he received from Sugarloaf when he was in Korea. He had always believed that he was Jeanette’s father and he even told her that he could tell her the the details of when it happened. Intrigued as she was, that part was more than she wanted to know.

When Jeanette told me that she felt a popping sensation in her lower back one day at work, it resulted in two herniated discs that required surgery to correct it. I was now satisfied that my doctor’s explanation of my identical injury was genetic. I wish my mom and dad were alive to hear that.

Receiving news of the passing of Doctor Powell, Jeanette asked his older son if she could have a sample of his dad’s DNA so she would know for certain whether or not he was her biological father. He asked her to put her request in writing, providing the reason she wanted it and bring it to him in his office the following morning. She did as he asked, but he denied her request. Before leaving, she told him that he only need look at her to know that she was his kin.

Knowing the people at the funeral home, she asked them if they would give her a few moments alone with the body so that she might get a sampling of his hair for a DNA test. She was allowed in the room with him behind locked doors. Standing over his body, a feeling of guilt came over her, preventing her from doing it.

One evening at work, a man told Jeanette that she looked exactly like his wife. She asked him what his wife’s name was and he said Bunny. Jeanette replied, “Oh no! Not another one.” Bunny was Doctor Powell’s daughter and there was a strong resemblance between them.

Jeanette knew Bunny and she later asked her if she would do a DNA test with her. Apparently Bunny didn’t express a problem with it and told her that she would let her know the following morning. The following morning came and went. Bunny remained elusive over the following few weeks. Jeanette repeatedly called her on the phone. After a number of failed attempts, she learned that Bunny had decided not to do it. Jeanette suspected that she had talked with her older brother who recommended against it. Apparently, there had been other illegitimate children who had done DNA with family members who had taken part of the Powell estate as a result. Jeanette assured them that she wanted nothing more than peace of mind but she was ultimately denied.

After Haywood continued to insist that he was Jeanette’s biological father, she decided to do a DNA test with him. When the results came back positive, they shared the news with the rest of the family, some of whom adamantly denied the results even though Darlene, a registered nurse, tried to explain the science behind it.

After decades of searching for her half brother without knowing his name, Jeanette received an envelope from Dot. Inside it was a copy of a fifty-year-old Christmas card. Accompanying the card was a baby picture with the date and name, Teddy, written on the back and signed by Bobbie and Les Haskins. A hand-written note simply said, “Found this in the attic yesterday. These are the names you’ve been looking for.” The postmark on the original envelope, was from Orange. The state of origin, however, was illegible.

Surmising that the psychic’s “C-state” must be California, a newly energized Jeanette called the telephone operator in Orange, California and asked if she could have the phone numbers of all the Haskins in the area. Overwhelmed by the quantity of Haskins’ in that area, the telephone operator told her that she would have to charge her for them. Feeling like she must have hit the lottery, Jeanette proceeded to tell the operator her story. So touched by it, she gave Jeanette all the telephone numbers without charge.

Calling the first two phone numbers on her list, Jeanette got no response. The third one stirred a cranky old man whom Jeanette told that she was looking for an adopted Haskins. Snapping back he said that he was one of fifteen siblings and not one of them was adopted before slamming the phone down on her. As soon as Jeanette told me that story, I knew exactly who it was. I remembered my dad’s brother, Sam, telling him about such a phone call and that sounded exactly like something he would have said and done.

Jeanette ordered personalized license plates for her car that read “LKG4TDY.” A curious observer stopped her in a parking lot after noticing them and asked if her plates meant “Looking For Today.” Understandably, I don’t know if I would have reacted much differently if I had seen them myself.

Jeanette’s son, David told her about a private investigator that he knew and trusted, assuring her that he would do right by her as he was very honest and trustworthy. Still a bit skeptic after feeling ripped off by the first investigator, she did, nevertheless, call him and invite him to the house.

With her husband Mike, Jeanette sat with Mr. Tonker in the living room talking it over. He told Jeanette that he didn’t know if he could find her brother, but she could be sure that he would try his best and wouldn’t charge her an exorbitant amount of money and would only work on it when time allowed. Mike didn’t like the idea, explaining that he had seen her crying too many nights and being taken advantage of by others who just wanted her money. When Mr. Tonker said he wouldn’t do it unless they both agreed, Jeanette assured him that she would be paying him with her own money so Mike had no voice in that decision. Mr. Tonker told her what he would do and he would keep her posted on his progress, only asking for more money when it was needed. That’s when she asked if he would accept payment in rolled quarters she had saved. That’s when it occured to me that maybe that’s why he told me that he didn’t think she had much money. Shrugging his shoulders, he said that they will spend just as well as anything else. He called her from time to time over the following months, giving her updates. It wasn’t until nearly one year later, on Christmas Eve day, he called Jeanette to tell her he believed he had found her brother but needed a little more time to make sure.

More to come