Backwater

by Morris L. Striplin

Josh Wagner became the pride of Backwater even before his was born. His ancestors had helped settle Southeastern Louisiana. And his great-great-grandfather had been granted the first license to practice law in the state. As a result, his name had been mentioned in court records for over a hundred years. True to form, and as predicted by his father who himself had become one of Backwater's most respected and wealthy attorneys, he begins to live up to his advanced billing by the time he graduates from high school by his popularity and prowess on the football field. Much to everyone's surprise, he leaves for college without having a serious relationship with a single member of the opposite sex. A weekend visit home from college brings a chance meeting with an old high school acquaintance, Ellen Pike, who was his equal in every way, but without all the social advantages that money can bring. Searching for something to say, he asks her to join him for a weekend in New Orleans. Much too both their surprise, she accepts. During a wildly wonderful weekend in the Crescent City, they both recognize that they have finally found what they have so desperately searched for in each other. Before the weekend is through, they decide to commemorate the visit with a special tattoo placed in such a way that it would forever remain a secret between the two of them. After several weekend visits, the father learns of the relationship and disapproves. When he becomes perplexed over the situation, his oldest and dearest friend comes up with a sensible strategy and they approach the young woman with a compromise. Then without warning, Ellen disappears. Each and every avenue Josh pursues in an attempt to locate her, only leads to a dead end. He is finally forced to believe Ellen has indeed left of her own free will and never wants to see him again which serves to force him into a deep state of depression. To help him get out of his depressed state, his mother plans a huge party at the family mansion. All his friends are invited, including his best friend's sister who is secretly pregnant. Since the father of her child refuses to marry her and wants her to have an abortion, which she absolutely refuses to do, she discovers Josh in an advanced state of inebriation. She uses his helpless condition to take him away from the celebration, and then maneuvers him into thinking that she is pregnant with his child. Obsessed with responsibility, even though he cannot clearly remember the exact details of the conception, they marry. When the two beautiful, identical twin daughters are born, he claims them for him own. And from that moment on, the three of them develop a very special relationship even though his marriage is far from ideal. After enduring many years of a loveless marriage, primarily held together by his infinite love of the twins, he eventually discovers his wife in bed with the true father of the twins he thought to be his own. Finally learning the awful truth, they immediately divorce. Following their divorce, he forces his former wife, very much against her will, to tell the twin girls the truth of their parentage. Even after learning the truth, they still prefer to think of Josh as their father. Upon receiving their mother's permission, they move back home with Josh. When that happens, their special relationship and their lives become normal once again. The twins make a new friend at school who will become almost a part of their family, and will inadvertently solve the mystery of Ellen's disappearance by the discovery of the tattoo Josh received many years before. That will bring forth-another secret, bringing the story to a happy ending.

420 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2003