PaulPallazola
October, 1982 Gloucester, Massachusetts.
Donna Marie took up with Errol and had a few weeks of bliss before he graduated from Brandeis. Errol’s parents disliked Donna Marie intensely. They cooked up an ingenious evil scheme to separate them. After Errol’s graduation his parents paid for a flight to Turkey so Errol could spend 2 weeks with his grandfather. They did this knowing full well that Errol had dual citizenship and was subject to conscription in the Turkish Army, and that his Visa did not indicate that he was a student. Within a week Errol received notice that he was going to be drafted.
In 1982 Turkey was under military law. Errol’s grandfather had been one of the last civilian leaders of the country before the Army had taken control. A national referendum was about to take place to legitimize the military rule. The vote was a sham… Soldiers stood watch over voters who were given transparent ballots to cast, so that it would be readily apparent who dissented.
Back in the states Donna Marie, who was now calling herself Mariah, waited for news, worked a waitressing job, and wondered if Errol would return before their baby was due. She asked Jeanine if she could move into the apartment we rented in Lanesville. She told Jeanine Errol’s parents were rich and they’d have no problem paying their share of the rent. I told Jeanine that the Rubins knew the whole story: Errol’s mom and dad hated Jeanine a.k.a. Mariah and had told her she should get an abortion and stay away from their son. If we were going to see rent money it wasn’t going to come from the prospective grandparents.
Ultimately we made a leap of faith and told Donna Marie,…er Mariah that she and Alycia could move in, and we’d keep our fingers crossed that Errol would find a way home.
What a fucked up family. Please tell me he never spoke to them again…
Quite the opposite. After Jeanine kicked them out of the apartment Errol and Donna Marie & Alicia made a pilgrimage to upstate New York to reconcile with them. I guess once they were assured that their grandson looked like Errol they grudging accepted Donna Marie. By contrast neither of them ever spoke with me again after Jeanine asked them to leave. I’m told that Donna Marie was involved in introducing Kathe Camara to Deacon (“Up Against The Shaman”) a year later, and I’m suspect Kathe was struggling with a choice between Deacon and I Errol & A.K.A Mariah would not have put in a good word for me. I guess that’s how Ms. Kathe Camara became Mrs. Deacon Banks.
They don’t know who their friends are, then they deserve what they get…
Thank you Georgi !!!! 🙂
Well done! Nice post!
Interesting story, why am I not surprised. Mind you a caring parent would worry about their son being drafted to the military.
Eventually Errol’s parents came to accept Donna Marie and their grandchild. I am not sure what thought process made them prefer to see their son in the Turkish Army over being married to a pretty French-Italian girl from Methuen.