Chapter 1

There is no scientific evidence that hair can turn white overnight due to some traumatic experience. However, legend has it that both Thomas More and Marie Antoinette suffered a hair colour change to white the night before their executions.

Legend ... not necessarily fact.

Folklore says that trauma in ones life can change ones hair color.

Folklore or folktales ... not necessarily fact.

My daughter, Genevieve, the name is of French origin and is derived from the Germanic name “Genovefa,” which means “white wave” or “fair one. was born with a full head of shoulder length stark white hair. One thing for sure ... I am going to have to live with her for at least 16 years ... I am not naming her Genovefa.

I wasn’t planning on being a single parent. Amy and I were ‘expecting’ a ‘significant event’ ... not unexpected ... what was unexpected was the storm.

You know the drill ... It was a dark and stormy night ... a scream ... a shot rang out ... all that drama. The night was stormy ... the shot was lightning striking a transformer that blacked out the neighborhood ... the scream was Amy ... her water broke. She told me. And since we were already in the car ... I whipped a u-turn and headed for the hospital.

“Where are you going?” my better half asked.

“Hospital,” I replied ... boy ... that was a dumb question.

Ah ... the mom look. “Not without the babybag.”

“I’ll come back for it.”

She knew I’d forget.

“No ... get it ... now.”

Another U-turn ... ah yes, capital U. She smiled.

The babybag was just inside the door ... had been for a week ... it’s not like we weren’t expecting ... we were. Of course ... the gods threw a couple of buckets of rainwater ... one bucket going to fetch ... the other bucket on the way back to the car. I was soaked ... Amy was smiling ... through the Woosh woosh huff huff puff woosh woosh accompanied by facial contortions and severe ripping at the seat cushions. As soon as I was seated my right thigh was substituted for the car-seat cushion.

First child ... can you guess? Yup ... all that ... and the drunk driver ... we must not forget the drunk driver. The very drunk ... and excessively wealthy drunk driver driving the one of rarest automobiles in the world ... a 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Coupe. He ran the still operating traffic signal. Tee-boned the passenger side of my car. Amy and I were smashed nearly through the drivers side door. Did I happen to mention he was drunk? Just making sure. It’s a regularly occurring fact of American life... 44 thousand times a year ... traffic collisions a year take someones life. Alcohol is involved in many.

And just how do you know this, you ask.

The local TV station’s weather reporter was reporting the weather live at that particular corner ... it’s all on video tape and live broadcast ... it was quite the storm.

The court judgement was immense. The judge was incensed ... a concerted effort had been made by the drunk’s family to destroy all weather files.