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Barbara's Scripts Living in Shadow’s Way, the ante-bellum home built by her great-grandfather, Elaine Chavier charms her bed ‘n breakfast guests as a twentieth-first century Southern Belle. Across the street, lives Elaine’s other shadow, John, the Archbishop, and head of the Mobile archdiocese. Years ago Elaine had become the Archbishop’s mistress in order to hold on to the family home. At that time, John was an up and coming Monsignor, making the Archdiocese one of the richest in the South. Shadow’s Way was in disrepair with years of unpaid taxes hanging from its rafters. As a child, the Archbishop’s family had been share-croppers on the Chavier estate, and as a teenager, John had fallen madly in love with Elaine, but she scoffed him and left for California to pursue an acting/modeling career. Years later, when she returned to care for her deceased sister’s child, Serena, she was penniless and about to lose the home stead, a prospect which her pride would not allow. Still resenting the rejection which compelled him into the priesthood, John offered her the proposition that if she secretly became his mistress, he would pay the back taxes and allow her to live there free with the understanding that she was never to get married;if she did, then Shadow’s Way would go to the Church. Elaine accepted this arrangement and slowly turned Shadow’s Way back into its original pristine condition by renting out rooms, and then transforming it into one of the most desired and lucrative bed ‘n breakfast homes in Mobile. During this time, Elaine never thought of herself as a mistress because as Elaine, she never slept with the Archbishop; she always sent one of her alter-egos to service him. These other personalities ranged from Trixie, the dissolute whore to Sister Jane Patricia, the holy nun. Elaine created this charade in order to keep herself untouched and to satisfy her penchant for acting. Even though John wanted the person, Elaine, the arrangement appealed to his kinky nature, and over the years, he came to think of himself as having not one mistress, but eight. This double life works well for Elaine up until the humid summer of 2002 when the Archbishop decides that the Church needs Shadow’s Way as a place of refuge for priests accused of child molestation. This summer also brings back to town her niece, Serena, now a playwright living in New York, and the handsome and unscrupulous Mike Arcadia. Mike is a set builder and director, who has agreed to direct Serena’s newest play, scheduled to debut in Mobile. When Elaine discovers John’s plan for her beloved Shadow’s Way, she orchestrates an affair with Mike, thinking this will force John to change his plan. But her scheme backfires when Elaine realizes that John is more interested in skirting a Church scandal than in carnal pleasures. So with the help of Cecil, John’s despised twin brother, Elaine embroiders a bizarre murder that is committed by one of her alter-egos and goes undetected. Or does it go undetected? John’s twin, Cecil, the dark one, completes the crime, but keeps Elaine in the dark. Thinking that she’s totally responsible, Elaine then becomes the psychological prisoner of Cecil. She still has her beloved Shadow’s Way, but that’s not enough to keep all the egos in check. Finally one ego takes over, leaving only a shadow of the Southern Belle, Elaine. |
