A Timely Vision

“That’s okay. I know she means a lot to you. Maybe if you can get something about the power of attorney from her, another piece of the puzzle will turn up with it. All we need is a little of that hard evidence you hate so much, except in our favor.”

“I guess I wouldn’t hate it so much then.” I laughed. “I just don’t like it when it goes against me.”

“I don’t think anyone ever does.”

By the time we arrived in Elizabeth City, the rain was completely gone. It was hot, the sun steaming the water from the streets. It might still be raining off the coast at home. It wasn’t unusual for the weather to vary significantly along the hundred-mile stretch of the Outer Banks.

The small facility where Miss Mildred was being kept was painted a sterile white. A sign, barely visible from the road, led us into a parking lot where the armed attendant took down our names and the license plate number of the truck. “It’s a good thing you had GPS,” I told Kevin as he looked for a parking place. “I don’t know if we could’ve found this without it.”

“People don’t like to advertise this kind of place. Not that the people here will be the worst of the worst. I don’t think they’d send someone like Miss Mildred to a place like that. But you have to be aware the people here are prisoners like those in Raleigh. Some of them have done terrible things.”

It was a sobering thought. I looked at the whitewashed walls and thought about being unable to go outside or make personal decisions for myself. Miss Mildred might not have a lot of time left to live her life. She deserved better than this. I knew it was up to us to provide the evidence she needed.

They checked our IDs again as we started inside the building. I had to leave my purse at the front desk. The smell of antiseptic filled the air. But there were no open hallways here as there were at Sea Oats Senior Care. The few people standing around were uniformed guards with handguns and large batons in their belts. I’d been with Gramps to the county jail in Manteo many times growing up, but I’d never felt the oppression I did here. Maybe it was simply an adult point of view. When I’d gone with Gramps to the county jail, I was a child.

“Mr. Brickman, Ms. O’Donnell.” A grim-faced woman in a bad green sweater shook both of our hands, then led us through the security door that buzzed open. A dark maze of hallways leading in various directions lay before us. “I heard the rain has stopped.”

I stared at her for a moment, not really believing she was making small talk in this terrible place. “Yes,” I finally managed to say. “The sun is shining.”

“Well, we needed the rain.”

It’s amazing how people can find the most mundane things to talk about when they don’t know each other. I knew I was supposed to stick out my hand and introduce myself as the mayor of Duck, big smile plastered on my face, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t ignore or put aside why we were there.

I glanced at Kevin, and he didn’t seem able to put it aside either. On impulse, I grabbed his hand as we walked what seemed like forever to find Miss Mildred. He smiled at me and squeezed my hand back. I thought it made us both feel better, and for once, I wasn’t wondering why.

“Here she is.” The woman in the bad green sweater unlocked the plain white door with a card key and held it open for us. “Mrs. Mason, you have visitors.”

I looked at the woman as I walked past her, my hand accidentally covering hers as I caught the door. The contact lasted long enough for me to get a small image from her. “We all call her Miss Mildred. She doesn’t believe she’s old enough to be called Mrs. Mason, you know. And you left your umbrella at the restaurant where you had lunch. It’s not in the car.”

Kevin stifled a laugh as the woman choked out questions, wondering how I knew. I shivered as I broke contact and left her thoughts.

The tiny room contained only a hospital-type bed, a metal chair and a small desk. There was a TV hanging from the ceiling and metal mesh covering the only window. It was difficult to make out anything outside through the metal.

“Dae? Is that you?” Miss Mildred rose slowly from the metal chair. “Child, I never thought I’d see you again.” She put her thin arms around me and squeezed with all her might. I could hear her crying quietly as I hugged her back. She’d lost so much weight in the short time she’d been gone. There was hardly anything left of her.

“It’s me, Miss Mildred,” I assured her, tears sliding down my face. “And look, I brought a friend. This is Kevin.”

She tossed her white hair, which looked as if it hadn’t been brushed that day. “Oh, I know him. He was crazy enough to buy that old white elephant we call the Blue Whale. I guess somebody knew what they were doing when they sold that property.”