Broken Trust

For reasons known only to him, Francis Teague hadn’t told anyone about his adolescent years during the 1940s in Monticello, Florida. But that all changed when his granddaughter, Erica Bass, a Leon County paramedic decided she wanted to know about them. Her mother initially discouraged her as whenever the subject came up by her or Erica’s grandmother, he clammed up and avoided the subject altogether. But Erica was determined. Urged by her boyfriend, Aaron, she visited her grandfather on his eighty-sixth birthday in an attempt to get him to agree to talk to her and hopefully write a book about his life as a teenager. Surprisingly, he agreed to talk to her and the book. But with the condition, she wrote everything he told her and from his point of view. Erica accepted, and the project began. Her grandfather not only talked about his adolescent years but revealed secrets he’d never told anyone not his parents, Erica’s grandmother, nor Erica’s mother. Some were emotionally charged, some were highly personal, and some were mysterious and suspenseful. Others were stressful, and some were downright humorous and entertaining. But Erica was overwhelmed when she discovered a shocking family secret.