1983
In May, Eve graduated with honors and a bachelor’s degree in psychology, and in June, she and Jack were married in the wedding chapel on the grounds. Jack’s family was there, along with Marian, of course. Lorraine, who was now a production assistant at television station Channel 29, was Eve’s maid of honor, even agreeing to wear a dress for the occasion, and Jack’s brother, Rob, was his best man. Cory was supposed to be the flower girl, but she had an attack of nerves at the last minute and wound up sitting next to Marian in the pew instead.
Jack taught high-school drama now, and a few of his students attended the ceremony, along with several of Eve’s classmates. It was a quiet, simple wedding, with Jack as serious as Eve had ever seen him. There were tears in his eyes when he spoke the vows he’d written. He promised to be faithful, devoted and honest. She said nothing about honesty in her own vows and hoped no one noticed.
They moved into a small rental house a half mile from the university and within walking distance of Marian’s. Although Eve felt a huge loss in leaving her safe haven at Marian’s house, she was more concerned about leaving the older woman alone. Marian was sixty-seven now and starting to show her age. Eve noticed it for the first time when everyone gathered outside the chapel after the wedding. The sun illuminated every wrinkle on Marian’s face and left shadows under her eyes. She wanted to let Marian know she would always be there for her. She and Cory would not have survived the past six years without her help. Maybe the time was coming for her to return the favor.
That summer was one of the most stable and comfortable periods Eve could remember enjoying in her life. She, Jack and Cory were a true family. Jack taught summer school, while Eve looked for a job she could start in September. She planned to work part-time, while Jack began a graduate program in drama so he could teach at the university level. Eve understood. He missed being part of UVA. She already felt the same way.
Eve and Cory puttered around in the mornings, going to the park or visiting Marian, who would play “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” on her cello while Cory sang along. But the day really began for them when Jack came home. They would go to a museum or a movie or have a barbecue with friends. At night, they’d crowd into Cory’s bed and read a book together.
In early August, Eve and Cory spent a week at a cottage in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, right on the beach. The cottage cost them nothing; it belonged to one of Marian’s friends, who encouraged them to use it. Eve missed Jack, but she loved having the quiet, bittersweet time alone with her daughter. In a few weeks, Cory would start kindergarten and everything would change.
A few days before Cory started school, Jack legally adopted her. Cory quickly took to calling him “Daddy,” and her occasional questions about who and where her father was came to a halt.
Kindergarten, though, marked the end of their idyllic, celebration-filled summer.
Cory’s elementary school was two blocks from their house, and Eve walked her there on the first day. Cory was quiet at her side, holding tightly to Eve’s hand, ignoring the other children who raced past them on the sidewalk.
“Your new shoes look adorable,” Eve said to her. Marian had bought Cory a first-day-of-school outfit: blue pants, a blue floral T-shirt and navy-and-white sneakers that looked like little saddle shoes. Cory had put the outfit on very slowly, a somber expression on her face as though she were dressing for a funeral.
Inside the school, Eve saw that Cory was not the only child in distress. A mother tried to calm her weeping son in the hallway, and the teacher, an extremely tall black woman, coaxed a little girl into the classroom. The teacher, Mrs. Rice, looked scary even to Eve. She was fortyish, with blue-black skin and teeth as white and smooth as porcelain. She wore her thick, straight hair in a bowl cut that framed her face. Cory took one look at her and started to whimper, her arms wrapping around Eve’s legs like a vise.
“Oh, my, now,” Mrs. Rice said, walking toward them where they stood just inside the classroom door. “What’s going on here? Oh, you’re a lovely girl. Isn’t she?” She looked at Eve as if for confirmation.
Eve nodded. “Yes, but a bit nervous about the first day.” She whispered the word “nervous.”
“Well, we’re going to have so much fun today,” Mrs. Rice said. “We’re going to play some games to help us get to know one another.”
“Cory, did you hear what Mrs. Rice said? You and the other children are going to play games this morning. And I’ll be back in just a few hours to pick you up.”
“No, Mommy!” Cory hugged her legs, looking up at her with her pleading blue eyes. “I don’t want to stay here!”
Eve’s armpits suddenly felt damp. “Maybe she’s not ready for kindergarten,” she whispered to Mrs. Rice.
“Oh, I bet she is,” the woman said. “Maybe her mama’s not ready, though.” She smiled at Eve with her porcelain teeth, and the look in her eyes said, Gotcha!
Mrs. Rice excused herself to talk with another parent, and Eve knelt down in front of Cory, putting her hands on her arms. “See all the other boys and girls in here?” she asked. “Most of them are already having fun together.”
Cory sniffed, her lower lip trembling as she looked around the room. There were a few kids seated on the edge of an indoor sandbox. Others worked with clay or played with blocks. The weeping boy trudged past them, rubbing his eyes with the backs of his hands as he walked toward the sandbox. His mother rolled her eyes at Eve with a smile as she left the room. “He’s my third child to have Mrs. Rice,” she said. “And my third to scream the first time he laid eyes on her. In a week, the kids’ll think the sun rises and sets on her. You wait.”
“Thank you.” Eve appreciated the reassurance.
She stood up as Mrs. Rice returned to her and Cory.
“Okay, Cory.” Mrs. Rice had a singsong, upbeat voice now. “It’s time to come into the classroom and for your mama to go home. You loosen up now, Mrs. Elliott. Come on. You’re holding her tighter by the minute.”
Was she? She looked down to see the white of her knuckles where her fingers clasped Cory’s shoulders. Opening her hands, she took a step back, leaving Cory in Mrs. Rice’s grasp.
“Perfect!” the teacher said. “You go now. Go.” Eve took another step backward, this time into the hallway, and Mrs. Rice closed the door between her and Cory.
“Mom!” Cory wailed. “Mommy, don’t leave me!”
Eve put her hand on the doorknob, let it sit there for a moment. If she opened the door, she had the feeling Mrs. Rice would throw something at her. She let go of the knob and walked quickly from the building and into the sunlight, and she swore she could still hear Cory screaming as she crossed the street to walk home alone.