Tuesday, September 7, 2010

The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes...Chapters 36-50

We were out of town and I missed posting this yesterday. I'm only going to post my thoughts on the book as I read it. I FINISHED the book so I don't want to answer the questions in case I might give something away! (I LOVED it, though!)

* Chapter 36:
- Jack proposes that the girls try out for a play. Dru is cast, Cory is not. Eve calls the lady in charge of the play and asks her to cast Cory in a small, walk-on roll that won't require any lines. She offers a group part to Cory who excitedly accepts. Later, Cory finds out what Eve did and is furious.
- Cory feels more and more like an outsider and asks her mom about her father. Eve tells her that his name was Patrick Smith but that she didn't know any of his family. Eve asks if she'll call all the Smiths in Portland to see if anyone knew Patrick. It's obviously a lost-cause, but Eve does it anyway to make Cory think she's trying.

* Chapter 37:
- Eve has begun having horrible hand and feet pain. She has seen several doctors and finally one diagnoses her with Rheumatoid Arthritis. There is no cure, but there are treatments and they begin to seek one. Cory is worried Eve might die from the disease.

* Chapter 38:
- Cory doesn't want to go away to college but they all realize it's time. She decides (unenthusiastically) to go to UNC. The idea of going to Chapel Hill scares Eve. She's worried someone will recognize her.
- The new president of UVA is the former governor, Irving Russell. Eve is scared to death to be working for him.

* Chapter 39:
- Because Eve is scared of meeting the governor, she suggests that they move. Jack balks at the idea because he thinks she's trying to move near Cory.
- They take Cory to UNC.
- When they return home from Chapel Hill, Eve has an email that reads, "Dear Eve, Friend of N and F's needs place to start over. If you can help, reply. If not, peace." (I realize it's not necessarily hard to come up with someone email address, but this is sort of out-of-the-blue in my opinion. It's been like 17 years!) She deletes the email.

* Chapter 40:
- Eve literally runs into the governor at the faculty get-together when school starts back. He shakes her hand (and squeezes too hard so he hurts her). She is overwhelmed with guilt when she meets him.
- Cory emails and calls several times a day. She hates school, hates her roommate, hates her roommate's friends. By November, they agree that she can come home. She agrees to see a counselor.

* Chapter 41:
- A new RA medicine works for Eve.
- Cory has gone back to UNC after two years at UVA and three years of therapy. Her emails are less frequent and she rarely calls. Cory asks Eve not to call so often. Cory emails one day to tell Eve that she's met someone special, a man named Ken Carmichael who is a TV reporter. She doesn't say much else about him. She isn't coming home for Thanksgiving. When Eve speaks to Cory on the phone it's like she's talking to someone else. Dru announces that Ken is divorced and 12 years older than Cory. They're also coming for Spring Break and they'll be staying in the same room, much to Eve's dismay.
- When Cory and Ken arrive, Eve dislikes him immediately. He reminds her of Tim Gleason. They only drink special bottled water. They don't eat the same things Eve and Jack eat. Ken suggests changing her diet as a means to "fix" her RA. Eve is disgusted by this, especially since he, himself, doesn't HAVE RA!
- After dinner, Cory tells her parents that she wants to see and talk to them even less. She feels like her mom has been hiding things about her dad from her all these years. She also tells Eve that she feels like her fears were caused by her mom not letting her do anything. Eve and Jack think she's being brainwashed. I have to say that even though I feel like Eve didn't do the right thing to begin with, she's the only mom Cory has and she has tried to be good to her. Cory is being absolutely hurtful and ridiculous.

* Chapter 42:
- Cory refuses mail from Eve. (It's actually in Ken's handwriting so she may not have even received it.) She hasn't been home in two years.
- Genevieve Russell's body is found. A gun is found with her, although we don't yet know if it has finger prints on it. Eve calls her friend, Lorraine, who works for the news station to see if she can learn more. The governor hasn't commented yet. They find out she wasn't pregnant when she was buried. Eve literally gets sick at the thought of all that is going on. They learn that Ken has been assigned to cover the case. (Back to chapter 1!)

Chapter 43:
- Eve calls Cory the next morning to talk about the case. The police have found a gun and a knife. Eve (who is really reverting back to CeeCee) tries to remember if she had gloves on the whole time. Cory also says she didn't get a letter her mom sent. I think Ken is just as coniving as Tim!!

* Chapter 44:
- Eve becomes obsessed with the case. She watches the news constantly.
- Fingerprints weren't recovered from the knife or gun.
- The police say they have reason to believe others were involved which makes Eve obsess even more.
- She says she hopes Tim and Marty are deep underground., which makes me want to SCREAM! I hope she's not still covering. I can understand if she just doesn't want them to find her, but not if she's hoping they won't get into trouble.
- There's speculation that the baby was born, Genevieve was killed, and the baby was thrown into the river. That makes Eve feel sick.

* Chapter 45:
- They find Tim Gleason and extradite him to NC. He was living in California and was turned in by a cousin. Marty died of a heart attack in 1998.
- Eve spends her free time at work watching the news and cannot concentrate on her meetings because she's so wrapped up in "what if" scenarios.

* Chapter 46:
- Eve goes to visit Marian, who is now living in a nursing home. Eve asks her if the police have visited her and the woman tells her not to remind her of her past. She dosen't need to remember the details in case the police do visit her.

* Chapter 47:
- The postpone Tim's trial and Eve is certain it's to track her down.
- The whole situation causes Eve to get sicker and sicker. She's lost 15 pounds and her RA has flared up again.
- Eve watches the recap of the trial each night, waiting to hear about her part. Irving Russell testifies, then David Gleason (the cousin who turned Tim in), then the man whose house they used to phone the governor. The cousin and the other man admitted they knew what the men were up to, but were young and stupid and didn't want to get them into trouble. One thing that stands out to me is that Tim contacted his cousin a year later to tell him his new name. Why is it that Eve had to completely die to her old self, but he was allowed to hold onto something? Jeannie, Bets' roommate testifies that the girlfriend knew what was going on but couldn't have played a part in the kidnapping and murder at all.

* Chapter 48:
- Tim's trial begins. He describes the kidnapping and how he took Genevieve to the cabin, but totally leaves CeeCee out of it. He says he doesn't know how the bullet got into the ceiling of the cabin (CeeCee fired the gun to get Genevieve's attention). Vivian (the governor's daughter) shouts at him and calls him a liar.
- Eve has taken the day off to watch the trial. She doesn't tell Jack, but he finds out anyway.
- Eve is shocked that Tim is lying to protect her. She begins to feel guilty and thinks that she would hate it if he was proven guilty of an incident in which he was innocent. Eve thinks out loud that he should've accused Marty. It catches Jack off-guard.
- Jack asks if she called in sick to watch the trial. She lies, but feels as "...out of her control [as when] she was sixteen and Tim's partner in crime."

* Chapter 49:
- Cory is pregnant. Eve emails her to congratulate her (since Cory only rarely speaks to her) and tells her red-haired women often hemorrhage after birth so she should bring it up with her doctor.

* Chapter 50:
- Tim is convicted of kidnapping and murdering Genevieve and the baby.
- Eve begins to consider telling the truth.
- Jack and Dru both think that she's having mental issues from her RA flare up.

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