Sydney found himself being examined naked by the Carville physicians and pronounced infected. He had just minutes to assume a name – no longer was he Sydney Levyson, now he was patient #746 or Stanley Stein, the name he chose for himself. Stanley could have given up, but he didn’t. He decided to make as much of his life within the walls of Carville as he could. Stanley started a newspaper – one that would eventually be sent out worldwide. And the purpose of the paper was to educate people about the truths of leprosy. He longed to remind the world that the patients were people – people with hopes and dreams and families and abilities to do great things. Stanley drew the attention of Tallulah Bankhead, the movie star. And they began an unlikely association. She became an advocate of Hansen’s disease. By this time Stanley was blind and Tallulah commissioned a bust be made of herself because Stanley hungered to know what she looked like. When Stanley died, it was the first time he had been allowed to go home and he was buried alongside his family with his real name on his tombstone. In many ways, Stanley was lucky.
Sensing she was being watched, Savannah came to the point. “Can you tell me about my parents?”
Walking the few steps into the room with her, Mrs. Hodges sat down and took a file out of the desk. “This is highly irregular. We do not normally go against a sealed request. But since all parties involved are dead, including the one that requested the document be sealed – the court has relented.” Mrs. Hodges didn’t even notice what her words had done to Savannah.
Oh, she had known in her heart that her family was dead – it wasn’t a surprise, but to hear the final verdict spoken so off-handedly – Savannah nearly doubled over with pain. The folder was handed to her and she slowly opened it as Mrs. Hodges continued to talk. “It was your grandfather, Pastor Elisha Renfro who requested that no one ever know your true identity.”
“Why?” A lifetime of anguish came out in the one word she spoke.
“He was a televangelist – a faith-healer. If it had become known that his only daughter had come down with leprosy and that he had been unable to make her whole again – his whole kingdom would have toppled.”
Savannah didn’t miss the censure she heard in the director’s voice. It seemed her story was not news to the woman. “So, my mother’s condition and my birth were hidden.”
“Especially your birth.” A harsh laugh echoed in the room. “I was here when he visited, right after Georgia had gotten pregnant.”
“Georgia?”
“Your mother was named Georgia and your father was named Miguel Cardova, but their Carville names were Genevieve and Michael Casey.”
So that explained her skin coloring. At last, Savannah could make sense of what she saw in the mirror. She was half Mexican. “Tell me about them.”
“Your mother was a sweet, beautiful girl. She adapted quite easily to the lifestyle here. But she was lonely. Your father was a charmer – a poet. He met your mother in the infirmary and after that they were apart only as little as possible. We didn’t encourage that the residents get married, but no one could deny those two much of anything. They were sweet. We all cheered them on.”
Did they die of leprosy?”
“No, they died in a car crash trying to get to you.”
*****
The cemetery was deserted. She was the only living person there. But she wasn’t alone. Savannah could feel the presence of the dead. Mrs. Hodges had told her the approximate location of her parents’ graves. That they were coming after her was wondrous and amazing, but that they died doing it was equally horrible. Setting her bag down, she pulled out the Frank’s box and turned it on. A roar of white noise assaulted the night air, but a few seconds later there was a acophony of voices. Some were shouting, some were screaming and some were crying – Savannah held the instrument out as if it contained a poisonous spider. She didn’t have to be told what she was hearing – it was the voices of the dead of Carville and all of them were vying to get her attention.
“Excuse me,” she began. “I hear you. And I wish I could help all of you. Maybe I can get some friends of mine to come back and talk to you.” Every time she turned the box back on, the same jumbled up racket of cries assailed her ears. Then above all the uproar, one voice stood out. As it grew louder, the others faded away. “Savannah! Savannah! It’s your mother, Savannah. I love you!”
Savannah almost dropped the box. “Mama?”
Again, “I love you, Savannah!” There was no way she could stay on her feet, Savannah sank to her knees.
“Oh, Mama! I have longed for you all of my life.” She bowed her head and just sobbed her relief. When she raised her eyes what she saw made her gasp. There was a column of light directly in front of her. It was a warm, beautiful light. Savannah held out a hand toward it. The more she
