The Devil You Know: Chapter 26

As the sun rose the next morning, Blair found her bed empty. She quickly looked around for Todd and breathed in a sigh of relief when she saw him sitting in a chair looking out at the city skyline.  “Hey, did you sleep?” she asked as she reached for her robe.

“Do I ever sleep?”  Blair kneeled in front of him and took his hand.  He smiled at her and kissed their intertwined fingers.  “I’ll be fine.  I have to be.  The kids are probably going to have a lot of questions.”  He looked at his watch.  “We’d better make sure their up and ready.  We’re meeting Harry at ten.”

Amazingly, the Manning kids were up and had gone ahead with room service.  Starr had made sure they ordered enough for their parents, including chocolate chip pancakes, and Todd and Blair ate up.  Finally, the it was nearing nine and they set out for the cemetery.  Before they got there, thought, Starr had the driver stop at a florist and she bought two bouquets, much like her father had done the week before in Llanview.

As the car pulled up, Todd noticed a figure standing alone amidst the graves.  When he got out, he saw the man, who was coming over to them, was older, but tall, wearing a black overcoat and black hat. 

“My goodness, you really haven’t changed that much, Todd.  Well, except for the cane.  One too many hits on the gridiron?” Harry Redding asked smilingly as he reached for Todd’s hand.  He gave it a firm shake.  “It truly has been too long.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Todd replied.  “This is my family, my wife, well, almost wife, Blair and our kids Starr, Jack and Sam.”

“Hello, Mr. Redding,” Blair said, offering a smile.  The kids followed suit.

“Why don’t we go over and visit Barbara,” Harry said, a sad smile forming on his face.  When Todd was led to the grave, he looked down and noticed it was marked ‘BARBARA JONES REDDING, 1946-1984’. All trace of Manning had been erased and Todd couldn’t be more pleased.

“Barbara,” her widower said as he patted the tombstone, “look who’s come to see you.”  Part of Todd wanted to view this display as pathetic, an old man talking to his dead wife’s headstone.  Yet another part was grateful that someone had loved his mother enough to see her as still being a part of the living.

Todd stepped forward and, leaning on his cane, placed the flowers on the ground. With a whisper from Blair in his ear, Sam followed suit, then hugged Todd’s leg.  “Is that my grandmother?” he asked Todd as he point to the grave.

Todd nodded.  “Yes.  She was my…mother.”  Todd’s voice was cracking, as was Blair’s heart.  She remembered how much he had loved her, from when he received the letter Peter had held on to for years to the ring he had given her before their first wedding.    Blair rushed to him, hugging him tightly.  After a few minutes, he collected himself. 

Harry had tears in his eyes then tugged at Todd’s arm.  “Let’s go to my house.  I have a lunch waiting for us and some surprises as well.”  They walked back to their cars and Harry gave the driver his address. 

It took a good half hour to get to Harry’s house in Evanston, Illinois.  Harry went to unlock the front door and allow the Mannings in.  Once inside, they all gasped.  It seemed like there were pictures of Todd on every available surface.  There were baby pictures of him of him alone, with Bitsy, even with both his parents.  School pictures, many of them framed, showed a smiling, happy boy.  When Starr saw what looked like a first Christmas portrait, she let out a gasp.  He did look so much like Jack at that age.  Blair moved further into the house and saw a baby grand piano, with the picture from piano recital article. 

Todd seemed to not see any of the pictures of himself.  Instead, he picked up Bitsy and Harry’s wedding portrait.  Harry saw this and said, “It broke Barbara’s heart that Peter wouldn’t let you come.  She really wanted you to walk her down the aisle.”  Then he noticed Blair by the piano and walked over, removing his coat.  “Barbara was very talented.  She gave lessons until she died.  But she said Todd was her most promising student.  She had hopes he’d go to Julliard or maybe even here to Northwestern.”

“But he stopped playing after that night, right?” Blair asked quietly, giving him a knowing look.

Harry got the message and nodded once.  Then, seeing Todd finally look at the other pictures in the room, he said, “I was the neighbor who found him.  I used to live down the street, my first wife and I.  And I was the one who wanted Barbara to bring the charges.”  Then, turning back to his guests, he said, “Let me go grab the platter I ordered out of the fridge.”

“I’ll help,” Starr offered.  She followed the older man into the kitchen and as they got the food together, she asked, “You’ve had all those pictures all this time?”

“Yes, I did.  They were all Barbara had left of Todd after the divorce.  Then when she died, I couldn’t bare to throw out what she so treasured.” he said as he moved around.  “So, Starr?  An unusual name.”

“My mother named me after a Christmas gift my dad left her before…before we thought he died,” Starr admitted.  When Harry gave her a shocked look, she merely said, “It’s a long story, to go along with all the other long stories in our family.”

Their work finished, Harry had the family sit in the dining room.  As they ate, he turned to Todd.  “Did you ever find your biological family?  I think Barbara knew who they were beyond Peter’s cousin, but she was seemingly sworn to silence.”

After a moment’s hesitation, Todd said, “I learned just after my twenty-fifth birthday that my father was Victor Lord.”

“The Victor Lord?  Newspaper magnate Victor Lord?”  Harry nearly sputtered the question out.  He wiped his mouth thoughtfully.  “Well, that would explain why Barbara never revealed his name.  But he was dead by then, right?”

Todd smirked at the question.  “That depends.”  When Harry gave him a curious look, he waved it off.  “In any case, I found out I had as sister.  Well, two sisters and just recently, a twin brother.”  Harry blinked and Todd shrugged his shoulder.  “It’s a long story.”

“Like the one about that cane?  You can’t be injured from your playing days?”

“I was shot recently.  Three times in the back.  They had to perform surgery to prevent permanent paralysis.  The cane is only temporary, though.  I’m still in rehab for it,” Todd explained.  Then he looked back into the living room.  “That was very nice, putting out all those pictures for me and my family to see.”

“Well, when you called me a few weeks ago, I went hunting for them.  As I told your daughter, they were all Barbara had left of you.  Peter wouldn’t even allow visitation.  He told the court that she was a drunk and he didn’t trust your safety around her,” Harry said.  “Yes, she did have a drinking problem.  But when she left Peter, she checked herself into rehab and went to AA meeting for the rest of her life, religiously.  It was around that time that we got together, as I had been a widower for many years.  I tried to petition the court numerous times for custody.  Then her heart got worse and I knew I would never be awarded custody.  I was grateful to Peter for letting you come to her funeral.”  He looked over at Todd again.        

At the comment about Peter, Todd stood up quickly and left the room.  It shocked everyone at the table.  Blair let out a breath and caught Harry’s look.  “Im sorry, but Peter…”

“He hit Dad,” Jack said.  “He..he didn’t really want him, just the money from Victor Lord.”

When Harry looked over at Blair, she nodded in confirmation.  “It wasn’t a happy childhood and it effected him in ways you wouldn’t even imaging.”

“How?” Harry asked.  When Blair was reluctant to continue, he turned to Starr and Jack.  “You know, there’s a whole other box of pictures of your dad in my study.  Maybe you kids would like to see them?”

The older kids took the hint and took Sam into the study, passing by the living room and seeing their father staring out the window, seemingly deep in thought.  Starr knew better and left him there alone.

Back in the dining room, Blair gave him an overview of many of Todd’s past crimes, including the rape.  The man was shocked.  He had known Todd since he was a little boy.  To hear him commit such crimes went against everything he had ever seen.

“Sadly, that wasn’t the worst thing he ever did,” she continued.  “When Starr was little, we got back together for a time and we were planning to get remarried.  But Todd was suspicious and untrusting and it fell apart.  But by then, I was pregnant.  Because I was as paranoid about him as he was of me, I told him another man was the father.”  Then she told him about the lie about Jack, how he had given him away, only to be told later by her that the baby had been his and how Todd had spun a web about Jack needing to be adopted.  “He told Jack and the rest of us, that he was afraid that he would treat another man’s baby like Peter treated him.  It’s wasn’t a justification, but it was his fear.  And I think he still has it, that he’ll turn into Peter.”

After hearing all that, Harry leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.  “I could have done more.  I should have, even after Barbara died.  Why didn’t I?”

Before Blair tried to elevated his guilt, music was coming from the living room.  It was quite good, and Blair went there, hoping the person who was playing the who she thought. 

Sitting at the piano was Todd, his eyes closed as if playing from memory.  The melody of ‘Send in the Clowns’ was wafting through the house.  The kids approached from a different direction, their eyes round with surprise.  Blair’s eyes were bright with tears.  She wanted to go to him, but she didn’t want to ruin this beautiful moment, one that looked like the most peaceful Todd had had since the day at the Palace Hotel, as they were showered in gold balloons. 

The song finished and Todd opened his eyes.  He still seemed in a trance until he heard applause coming from all around him.  I was only then he noticed his family.  Giving off his usual sheepish smile, he said, “What’s with the clapping?”

“What’s with the clapping?  Dad, that was amazing!”  Starr exclaimed, giving her father a hug.  “I can see why you won that acclaim at the recital all those years ago.”

“Is this the first time you’ve played since then?”  Sam asked as he point to the picture from that day.

Todd looked at his smiling, seven-year-old self and his smile dimmed.  He knew Sam was looking for an answer, but there was something about it that was scaring Todd.  Finally, he said, “Yeah, I guess.”

“Maybe you can perform at the Nurse’s Ball?”  Starr asked.  “Yeah, you and Mom together.”

“Starr,” her mother said, cautioning her.  Starr saw Blair’s expression and back off.  Then she stood next to the piano.  “Todd, are you remembering something?”

“You, know, we should get going.  We’ve taken up too much of Harry’s time,”  Todd said quickly.  “Harry, it was great to see you.”

“Todd, you don’t have to leave--”

“No, really, I have an, ah, appointment I have to get to,” he replied.  He began hustling Sam and Jack out of the room.

Blair turned to Harry.  “I’m sorry,” she apologized.  “I think something triggered in him.”

“From what you’ve said, it wouldn’t surprise me.”  He handed her his business card and wrote something on it.  “Listen, give me a call if you get a chance.  I’d like to visit with you again before you leave.”

Blair took it and nodded.  She gave him a kiss on his cheek and he blushed.  The kids then came over and said their goodbyes.  Then Todd came over.  “Thanks again.”

“Look, Todd,” Harry began.  “I’d like to meet with you again.  I could come into the city and we could have dinner.”

“Really, I’m very busy.  Got that meeting and we’re leaving in a few days--”

“I’m not taking no for an answer.  We’ll have dinner tomorrow night.  You, your wife and me.  I’ll call you with the when and where,”  Harry declared sharply.  Then he softened.  “I am so happy you got in touch with me.  I look forward to continuing this talk.”

Todd nodded but said nothing.  It was Blair who finally said, “We look forward to that as well.”  Then the Mannings left, with Todd leading the way.  It was as if he was running from his past, again.

But he knew, he couldn’t run forever.        


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