Shot in the Heart - Mikal Gilmore [36]
Bessie got the hint. Maybe she should have learned a bit more about the man and his history before deciding to spend a life with him. Bessie explained that Frank had always been tight-lipped about his past, that it had even come as a surprise to learn he had a living mother. Fay just sat there, watching Bessie silently as she spoke, not volunteering anything. Bessie decided to take a more direct approach.
“Tell me about Frank’s first wife,” she said. “Why did she give up Robert to him?”
Bessie said it with such genuine innocence, it caught Fay off guard. “Frank’s first wife?” she said, laughing. “Oh, honey, he really hasn’t told you much, has he? As far as I can tell from my count, you are likely Frank’s sixth or seventh wife, but then you have to remember I lost track of him quite a few years ago, and he hasn’t really filled me in on all his in-betweens. Also, Robert wasn’t Frank’s first child—more like his fifth. Frank has left families scattered all over the nation.”
Fay went on to tell her about Frank’s marriage to Robert’s mother, but Bessie was dazed enough only to remember a few particulars. The woman’s name was Nan, and Frank had married her about 1919, in Chicago. She was a real beauty, Fay had heard, and she came from a prominent Illinois Mormon family. She might not have married Frank, but he got her in trouble, and even though Frank was not a Mormon, Nan’s parents insisted she marry him to try to make up for her sin. For a time, Frank—who had been raised a staunch Catholic by Fay—even thought about converting to Mormonism. He occasionally went to Sunday School with Nan, and even read that god-awful Book of Mormon, said Fay. In 1920, Frank and Nan had a son and named him Robert. Frank loved the boy, Fay said, but only because he loved the mother so much. Fay had never known a woman to get to her son like Nan. His letters were filled with praise and hope.
Then, the letters stopped coming. Fay wrote to his Illinois address, but the letters were returned. One day a few months later, there was Frank at her door, with Robert, not even a year old. Frank was a mess. Hadn’t shaved in days, been drinking, and needed to borrow some money. Seemed he owed a man who helped him get to Sacramento. Then Frank told Fay the story. He came home early one day from his job as a newspaper ad salesman and found his beautiful Nan in bed with a church elder. He beat the man up bad—Frank was a mean fighter; he could knock a man across a room easily—and then he took the baby Robert and walked out on his home. That was the last that Frank or the boy would ever see of Nan. Brought the child to Fay. That was his punishment on his wife. For that matter, Fay was a bit surprised to see Frank show up years later with Bessie, another Mormon woman. “Last time I saw him,” she said, “he had a powerful hatred for the Mormons.”
But, asked Bessie, didn’t the police ever try to find Frank and Robert? Didn’t they know where Fay lived?
“No,” said Fay, “I don’t think so. You see, he didn’t use the name Frank Gilmore during that marriage, so they didn’t really know who to look for. Hell, Frank’s lived under more names than he’s had wives. In fact,” added Fay, smiling, “I do believe that you may be the only woman he has ever married under the name he was raised with. Though, I might add, Gilmore isn’t his real name either.”
“What is his real name?”
Fay studied Bessie’s face for many moments before answering. “Weiss,” she said finally. “But don’t ever tell anybody I told you that. Don’t even tell Frank.”
Now the questions poured out of Bessie. Who had been Frank’s other wives? And what were these other names that he used? Where did they come from, and why did he use them? Fay’s face shut down momentarily as Bessie rattled off her questions. The old woman was aware she might be on the verge of saying too much. “I’ll tell you a few things,” she said. “I figure you’re entitled to that much. But there are some things about Frank’s life and affairs