04.3 Bloodline

Sidney Martin worked as a nurse at a hospital in Cornelius, North Carolina, where she met Anton Benedict Cyril in 1959.

One of the Cyrils was living with family by the lake in Davidson; a small town north of Cornelius. Anton Cyril often visited his brother and enjoyed boat rides in Lake Norman. One hectic day, one of his nephews had an accident on a fishing expedition; a hook cut deep into his palm. It was a nasty cut. Trippers pulled the boat by the waterfront and rushed him to Novel Health in Cornelius. Nurse Sidney was at their service.

Anton fell for her charming manners instantly. That kindness and openness in a casual encounter made him talk and ask her out. Anton continued to see her by visiting his brother in Davidson more often. However, his business travels to offices in New York and Chicago kept him away. He felt like losing her. Anton was sixty and fell for her. He asked her to join him on a trip to an island in the Caribbean.

In 1962, Anton and Sidney, who was twenty-six, got married secretly in Barbados. On their return, Anton arranged her stay in Whiting in Lake County, Indiana, few miles out of Chicago where he would be present mostly. On July 24^th in 1963, she gave birth to Savon Martin.

Sidney worked as a nurse at St Catherine where her colleagues came to know she was married to a rich man. She lived in a house on Reese Avenue. All paid for by Anton Cyril. It was kept a secret from his wife, Sinéad, and their children. He would drive to Whiting if he was in Chicago. In the following years, Anton Cyril came to know of her family roots linked to Charleston and the Crape-Myrtle House; the story all over. Sidney’s mother gave the album that belonged to Mia Crape; her grandmother. She heard stories Mother Sophia told. She knew her mother treasured these valuables.

Anton Cyril took Sinéad to Charleston in search of a house. A rich couple interested in buying a house. By then the house was left unattended for several years. The swimming pool and the gardens filled with dry leaves. He and his wife fell in love with this place. Anton bought the property in 1969 and restored to former glory. Anton and Sinéad lived there until her death in 1980. At that time, the wall placard read; Anton Cyril House.

Three years later, in his sickbed, an eighty-three-year-old Anton Cyril confessed to his eldest son, Thomas Cyril, that he was married to Sidney Martin who drowned in a lake in a car accident seven months ago, survived by a son, Savon Martin-Cyril; a half-brother to Thomas Cyril. He pledged on his eldest son to bestow the property of 69 Church Street to Savon Martin upon his death and that a law office in Hammond, Carmen, protected a will.

Anton Cyril demanded in his final plea, “I want you to see that I keep my promise and resolve this matter peacefully in the family without embarrassing me.”

“I will, father,” Thomas promised.

Shortly afterwards, Anton Cyril died.

For the first time, Thomas Avon Cyril heard the other half of Crape and Myrtle; the story all over.

She emptied the glass of milk and leaned back. “Oh crap! I didn’t get a thing!” She wrapped up.

As she drove to the hotel, she was thinking over it and getting nowhere. She kept hitting back at the will. Exactly why Savon Martin had to be eliminated at the end of the family tree!

She caught a view of Doubletree by Hilton. That was quite a scene, warm yellow lights lit the ground level shelter parking. Some orange light spread on the leaves of the trees standing in the sidewalk. Natalia had to make a pass around to the other street to catch the entrance. It was late and she felt hungry.

She grabbed the camera case and climbed up to her room on the fifth floor. Natalia rang room service an ordered a Doubletree Burger with white wine.

Natalia sat down to go through the story all over. This time making notes on a timeline chart so that she could easily refer to the links about the crêpe of things. She got it all pictured on one page on her black notebook with her silver pen.

There came taps on the door. “Room Service!”

“Come in!” Natalia called from the table, seated topless. The waitress carried a tray of a large portion for a midnight snack. “I can stay whole night awake,” cried Natalia getting up from behind the table to reach for her purse.

“Eggs, ma’am, it makes you sleep well,” said the maiden and dropped her gaze in a discreet manner not to look at her flat chest, “May I open the wine!”

“Please do!” Natalia read her body language and came with twenty dollars, pausing there for the maid to pour the wine. When she got done and caught the tip, she held back. The girl blinked. Natalia uttered, “It is alright. You can look. I am actually a guy.”

She blinked again.

Natalia had a bite and glanced at the magazine cuttings that mentioned two deaths of women in Whiting – those clippings from The Hammond Times. Whiting – the residential town of Sidney Martin.

Natalia picked the two lifestyle tabloids of Vixen and Virago in the case. It was a June ’80 edition of Virago. The copy she collected from Jenel was November ’85 with the article ‘Nicotine Overdose’ written by a man called Jeff Lonnell. A model named Linda Linz appeared pausing in bikini on beach on the front cover of March ’84 Vixen in the camera case.

She just opened a Pandora's box – this ‘mystery’ deepens. And she had a feeling it was not going to be that easy to solve it. She stumbled to bed and fell asleep.