Music City (19 page)

As Maye talked to the woman, she knew if Eric and Shelly’s father ever tried to take away her children, she would at least be able to keep Shelly, if a paternity test showed that she didn’t belong to him. So, after they had both given birth, she
simply switched the single identifying band on each baby and then switched the name cards on their bassinets. She didn’t even have to touch either baby. At that time, she explained, all babies born in the hospital wore exactly the same thing and were wrapped in identical blankets. The only difference was their name bands and they were attached loosely around each baby’s ankle, so they were easy to remove. Neither the other mother nor the nurses ever knew the difference.

Maye reasoned that her own child was given a life she would have never had with her and she would never lose her children to their natural fathers. She felt it
was the best decision she could have made and after Shelly’s switch, the rest was easy. Maye was an obstetric nurse, she had privileges the other mothers did not have. She knew before her births what women were scheduled to give birth about the same time she was, she knew what kind of families they were and she picked out potential parents for her own children before they were even born. She reasoned that her children would have a better life with someone else. She never gave any consideration at all to the children she took as her own to raise.

Alex had figured as much, “Which children were switched Maye?”

Maye shook her head as she struggled for breath, “If I knew, I would tell you.”

Alex was confused, “What do you mean, if you knew? If
you
don’t know, who would?”

Maye barely lifted one shoulder in a shrug, “No one, that was the point.”

“How many of your children did you send home with different families, Maye?” Derek demanded.

She shook her head again, “I
think that I switched all of them, but I can’t say for sure, I just don’t know. My mind isn’t always clear, you know, and I don’t with one hundred percent certainty remember which ones I switched and which ones I thought about switching, but didn’t. After Eric died, I did whatever I could to forget. Problem with that is, I forgot about everything. Everything got so mixed up sometimes... and like I said, I would tell you if I could, but I can’t.”

Derek looked at her, astounded. “What in the world would you say to your children? The ones you raised and the ones you gave away?”

Maye Taylor, recovering from yet another coughing attack, shook her head and shrugged. “Just tell them I’m sorry.”

After Derek and Alex left, Maye Taylor put Alex’s card on the end table beside her. She pulled out her photo album and began looking at the pictures of her children, photos of when they were small and actually happy. Her Eric
was such a beautiful boy... how things might have turned out differently if he had he lived. She looked at the newspaper clippings she had of Shelly, of Shelly with her husband and finally of her beautiful grandchildren. They could say what they wanted, but Shelly had turned out just fine with Maye as her mother.

She sighed, a tear rolled down her cheek, and for the first time in her adult life, she cried. Her soul
was bared that afternoon to two perfect strangers and she felt at peace. She prayed for forgiveness in all she had done to her children, both those she gave away and those she took. She leaned back in her chair, and after yet another coughing fit, drew her last breath.

Derek and Alex decided it would be best to approach Francine and Murry Dawson as investigators acting on behalf of an estate that needed to be settled. They felt that the Dawson’s would be more eager to talk to them if there was a remote possibility that something was possibly ‘in it’ for them, most people would.

The preliminary investigation revealed that Francine and Murry had given up their farm and moved to a house in a suburb of Charleston. All three of their sons lived within a twenty mile radius of them, and all three worked in various manufacturing jobs. All were law-abiding citizens, just normal everyday people working to make ends meet. Derek hoped that they would be, not only cooperative, but able to help them find the answers they needed about Maye Taylor and Shelly’s family.

Francine and Murry Dawson lived in a modest ranch house on a quiet side street, right on the edge of Charleston. According to the information Alex had, they were both in their mid-sixties. When Francine answered the door, she was very polite and well spoken, which surprised them a little.

Francine invited them into her home and offered refreshments. As they sat at her kitchen table, she explained that Murry still worked part-time at the County Extension Office and wouldn’t be home until after five.

Alex began, “Mrs. Dawson, our client has hired us to find the living relatives of Dorothy Taylor, which is why we started with you.”

“Oh my goodness, how is that child?” Francine asked.

“She’s as well as can be expected,” Alex added, “she recently lost her son and his father in a terrible accident.”

Francine shook her head, “Oh no, I didn’t know that. Well, bless her heart. So, I guess that’s why you are here? I’ve heard trying to get estates through probate is sometimes a nightmare.”

Alex nodded, “It can be, yes. That’s why we were hoping you could help us.”

Francine was confused, “I haven’t seen Dorothy in nearly twenty years, I don’t know how I could help you.”

Derek nodded, “Yes, we know that, we’ve talked to Miss Taylor and know she lived with you. We’d just like you to tell us all you remember about when she came to live with you and what you remember about her mother.”

Francine sat back, “Oh, what a sad situation that was. Maye fell apart after her baby died. She just ignored that sweet little girl she had, her name was Maye too, after her Momma. She ended up running away when she was just thirteen or so I believe.”

Derek encouraged her, “Oh really?”

Francine nodded, “Yes, well, Maye, that’s Dorothy’s mother, we just called her Maye, and the little girl, she was Mayelynn. Anyway, she started going downhill after Eric’s father left. She was pregnant with Mayelynn at the time, and he just up and left her, no letter, no good-bye, nothing. It tore her up pretty bad, she talked many times of giving the baby up for adoption, but seems she changed her mind. When it was time for her to have the baby, she didn’t call anyone, just showed up at the family reunion that year with the new baby. Pretty little thing, that baby, didn’t look a thing like Maye or her father... we all had our suspicions, but you know, some things you just don’t talk about.”

Alex probed, “Things like what?”

As Francine continued, they found out that after Shelly was born, Maye began drinking, not that it affected her job, but Francine felt like it affected her ability to be a good parent. That became apparent when Shelly’s brother, Eric, who
was four at the time, wandered from their home and fell into a pond behind their home and drowned. After Eric’s death, according to Francine, Shelly’s mother completely fell apart.

Francine said in a whisper, “Why, she just took up with anyone and everyone. It didn’t matter to her whether they were married or not, I know that Dorothy’s father was married to someone else when Maye was dating him. She always stayed sober while she was pregnant, I think that may be why she was always pregnant. She told me once that while she was pregnant, well, it was the only time she felt like she was worth anything at all.”

Derek spoke up, “Seems to me I read somewhere that she had four or five children that were taken away from her? Do you know where those other children went?”

Francine shook her head, “Can’t rightly say that I do. We took in Dorothy, and that was all I could handle. I always regretted that we couldn’t adopt her ourselves, but we just couldn’t afford to. The two boys were kept together, I remember hearing that. They, meaning the state, found a relative of one of their fathers who took both boys. I believe they lived in Columbus, Ohio. Now, the one baby girl, I heard she went to a family down by Bristol, Tennessee, but I don’t know for sure who they were or if they were related in any way, and I don’t know who took the youngest baby, Mandy. Why, she wouldn’t have been more than a few months old at the time.”

Alex spoke up, “Did you ever hear anything about Maye switching babies?”

Francine paled visibly, “Well, now, that was just speculation on some of the family’s part, based on some comments Maye made. There were never any formal charges brought against her, you understand.”

Derek nodded, “We understand that, believe me, it may just seem like family gossip to you, but to us, it could mean a big difference in being able to find all of the children or even Maye herself.”

Francine nodded, “Maye is still close to or in Raleigh last I heard, working in a nursing home, or was, if her health hasn’t held out. Who knows, last I heard, she had emphysema and liver cirrhosis. If she is alive, and I'm pretty sure she is... I think I would have heard otherwise... Raleigh is where she would be.”

Alex asked again, “She switched babies in the hospital?”

Francine wrung her hands, “I don’t think she went about switching just any babies… I think maybe she just switched her own.”

Derek was astounded, “Why would she switch her own babies?”

Francine shrugged, “So if the baby’s fathers ever came back to her for a paternity test, they wouldn’t match,” Francine sighed, and then continued, “Maye was over at our other cousin
’s house, Nancy, one night. Nancy had a little cookout for one of her kid’s birthdays. So, Maye, she’s pretty well drunk when she got there and had a few more while she was there. When Maye drinks, she gets talkative. So, she was talking, and we really never paid it much mind at the time, but it always bothered me a little and I always wondered if it was true.”

“If what was true?” Alex encouraged her to go on.

“Well, she said her babies were all switched with babies from rich families, so that her kids would have a chance in life. That’s what she always said. Eric, he was her own, no doubt about that, but I think it started when she had little Mayelynn. I think she was so mad at Eric’s dad for leaving them, and then afraid he would come and take them away. So, she switched Mayelynn to make sure he couldn’t take her. After she did the first one, I’m sure the rest were pretty easy to do.”

Francine continued, “I asked her about it once when she was sober and she said she didn’t know what I was talking about. She said she always thought it would be fun to play God like that, sending poor kids from mill worker families home with the families who owned the mills, but she reminded me something like that would be illegal.”

Derek leaned forward, “Francine, tell me honestly, do you think she did that to her own children?”

Francine nodded, “Not only do I think she did that to her own children, I would bet money she did just what she said, she switched babies who were from poor families with babes who
were born to rich ones.”

Alex shook his head, “You realize what you are saying has a potentially earth-shattering effect on who knows how many lives?”

Francine nodded, “Yes, I do, but at least now, the burden I feel like I’ve been carrying all these years is lifted. Even if nothing ever comes of it, I feel better for having told it.”

Derek spoke up, “Francine, I’m glad you feel better, I am. You said Maye was in Raleigh, we’ve searched for her, and we can’t find anything at all recent on Maye Taylor. It’s like she disappeared. You’re sure she’s alive?”

Francine nodded, “Like I said, I can’t be one hundred percent sure that she didn’t die yesterday, but I just know if something had happened to her, I would have heard. Why, just a couple of years ago…” She suddenly stopped talking.

Derek leaned forward, “Just a couple of years ago what, Mrs. Dawson?” Derek knew he had to keep her talking, she couldn’t stop now.

Francine sat there, playing with the napkin in front of her. She looked to be deep in concentration.

Alex tried to get her to continue, “Francine, what is it?”

Francine looked from Alex to Derek. “Harris.”

Derek was confused, “Harris who?”

Francine laughed, “Not Harris who, Maye Harris, that’s why you can’t find her. You said her trail ended about eighteen years ago?”

Alex and Derek both nodded.

“Well, that’s about when the state started keeping records on the computer. Before that, well, it was really hard to check records. Someone moved from place to place and gave a name. Nobody could really check it out for sure. Why, even social security numbers didn’t match up so well, as long as the number was right, they didn’t really pay that close of attention to the name. Not like they do now, what with computers and all.”

Francine seemed quite pleased with herself, but Derek was still confused. “I don’t follow you here Mrs. Dawson, what are you talking about?”

Francine smiled as though she were talking to a small child, “Y’all have been looking for Maye Taylor. She’s been Maye Taylor for more years than I can recall. I don’t know whether she never married Eric and Mayelynn’s daddy, or if she just didn’t mail in all the paperwork to change her name. But, just a couple of years ago, she was rushed to the hospital for something or another. She had a card on her that listed me as next of kin, so the hospital called me. Of course, when they asked me about Maye Harris, I told them I didn’t know who she was.”