The Monroe Legacy - G.1. Chapter 15 - Finding Marilyn

DISCLAIMER - This chapter contains adult references and scenes which some readers may find upsetting.

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'Hello Marilyn', stuttered Marlie, staring into the blue eyes that were so like her own. Before she could stop it or think of some obvious explanation for the events of the last minute her mouth supplied,

'Aren't you supposed to be dead?'

'Hah!' spluttered Marilyn, the tension broken. 'If you'll come inside I'll try to explain. It may take a while.'

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Marilyn's story

'I was born Norma Jeane Baker, a fabricated name to cover the true circumstances of my birth, but to tell you everything I have to go back even further.

In 1939 the world was at war and most of America had yet to become involved. A few young men however, desperate to prove their valour and righteous in their defense of freedom went to Europe to fight the good fight. Among these men was Hank Monroe. Hank left behind in the city of Bridgeport a beautiful young fiance by the name of Georgia Bright.

Georgia was lost in Hank's absence, he was her father figure and supporter and without him to distract her she spent her days taking care of an ailing alcoholic of a mother and working long shifts at a local bar. 

It was in this bar where she caught the eye of  a man named Theodore Churchill. Theodore was a dynamite young politician from a long line of politicians. He had money and charm to spare and a taste for beautiful young women.

Despite Georgia's complete obliviousness to him Theodore began to pursue this innocent young thing. He bought her gifts, took her out, treated her in a way that Hank had neither the money or the charisma to do. Within a month Georgia was besotted, Theodore knew that he had won the game and claimed his prize greedily. While Georgia began building castles in her head, Theodore knew it was time to move on, he had his precious reputation to cling to - how else would he become President.

Everything almost went to plan. Theodore was about to leave for his new constituency with his blue-blooded fiance in tow leaving an oblivious Georgia with nothing but a diamond bracelet and a memory, when Georgia discovered she was pregnant. 

This changed everything. Theodore knew it could ruin him, he screamed at Georgia when she told him, accusing her of trying to trap him. But it was Georgia who was trapped, Hank had a jealous streak, she knew the consequences of her betrayal could be deadly if he found out and she begged Theodore for help, promising anything if he would protect her and their baby.

After a long wait and extensive legal consultation an agreement was reached. Georgia would stay with an old employee of the Churchill's family until the baby came. Everyone would be told she was on an exchange programme. When the baby was born it would be given a new identity, one with no link to either parent and the employee, whose name was Zadie Baker , would raise the baby as her grandchild - for a fee.

Nine months later Norma Jeane Baker was born and moved to the small town of Brenchley to live what should have been a comfortable but unremarkable life. I was to be given everything a child required but no more and kept completely separate from anything which could link me to my father. My only link to my parents was a small picture of my mother which I treasured,

Georgia Bright returned to her life with a hole in her heart and married Hank Monroe when he returned injured three months later. Two years later she gave birth to Hank's daughter, a little girl who she named Marlie. Hank was hardly home but they lived a happy enough life, though Georgia was wracked by guilt when she looked into the blue eyes of her little daughter, they reminded her so much of the one she'd given up.

She wrote letters to me and sent them to Theodore. Once a year I would receive a delivery with hundreds of letters inside and read them, imagining a day when my mother would come and take me away from Mrs Baker. She told me that I had a baby sister, she even sent a photograph. Some days I would imagine you as a playmate but more often I was jealous that you had what I didn't - a mother and father.

Mrs Baker liked nice things but she didn't like to pay for them. She was paid annually for my upkeep - a fact she was not meant to share with me - but she relished the process of counting out the cash and then showing me the things she'd spent it on, from fur coats to televisions. She wasn't cruel to me but she made it clear that she didn't care one jot for me - I had a home until I was eighteen and that was the extent of her obligation.

One night I as I slept on the sofa which I used for a bed, Mrs Baker had never got around to upgrading me from a crib, I was woken by the doorbell. 

Mrs Baker slept like the dead so I crept to the peephole to see who it was. I recognised her instantly from the single photograph I kept in my secret hiding place. It was my mother!

I wasn't sure what to say to her, what if she didn't like me? Nobody else seemed to. But she rushed to me and scooped me into her arms, saying over and over again how sorry she was that she'd given me up.

We walked about the garden talking and she asked all about me. I told her about my school and my love of acting. I said that it made me sad not to have more friends.

It was all going well until I told her about Mrs Baker and her rages, a look of fury spread across my mother's face. 

'I have had enough of people walking over me and my children. She will never raise her voice to you again!' she spat, before storming into the house and dragging Mrs Baker out of bed.

'HOW DARE YOU! How dare you treat a child you are being paid to raise as your own with such coldness and indifference. She doesn't even have a bed?' she accused.

'And who the hell are you to tell me what I can and can't do, you palmed her off happily enough' retorted Mrs Baker, unmoved by her display of passion.

My mother slapped Mrs Baker once, hard, then told me to gather my things because I was coming with her. There wasn't much to gather but I knew that now things would be different.

My mother took me to a tiny house that she was renting, it took us almost an hour to walk there but I felt as if I was home. She insisted I take the only  bedroom before picking up the phone and making several hushed and urgent phonecalls.

This next part I only discovered later from reading Georgia's diaries.

The day your mother left you Marlie, she spent a week in hospital. She had three broken ribs and a severe concussion. It was a miracle she had made it out of the house on her feet. Somehow Hank had found out about Theodore and he was determined to make her pay. Since his last tour he'd been abusive, he'd always had a temper but the things he'd seen had caused something in his head to snap and Georgia became his stress reliever. Now he knew about Theodore he had no reason to hold back, the sweet little wife he adored was dead to him.

After that last beating Georgia knew she couldn't go back to Hank, she prayed that your father would continue to keep his fists away from you until she could find a way to get you out. Georgia also decided that with Hank out of the way she would try and find Norma Jeane, to make sure that she was living a good life.

She tracked down Theodore in a house in Washington which took up an entire block, he lived there with his wife and two children and was already a Senator. He wouldn't see her but she convinced one of his aides to locate the address he sent her letters on to every year.

Georgia spent the next six months working in a gentleman's bar in Vegas - she didn't write much about it but I know that she hated it. She used the money to buy a ticket down to find me at Mrs Baker's, to rent a house and to buy a plane ticket which she sent to you, Marlie with money and instructions of how to get to her. 

Those first months Georgia and I lived in the little cottage she would spend hours looking out of the window to watch for any sign or news about the little girl she'd left behinfd, checking the mailbox three times a day. But nothing came.

When Theodore discovered what your mother had done he was furious. He told her that she'd put his career in jeopardy - everyone was looking for dirt on him and someone somewhere would be able to link him to her and possibly to me. He demanded that I be returned to Mrs Baker, threatening to ruin her and to never send another penny my way. 

Georgia calmly told him to do his worst. So he did.

Whilst I spent my time going to school and attending acting classes, Georgia searched for a job. She applied for everything in town, from scrubbing toilets to waiting tables but nobody would employ her even when she begged. The local fusion bar even went so far as to ban her from the premises, she became the town pariah and she was soon desperate.

She had heard that the local criminal gang were looking for employees, they weren't specific but the job was based at a dive bar they owned, it was grimy but she didn't mind that. To her shock her resume was accepted and she soon received a call instructing her to report for her first shift that evening.

She arrived quietly, introducing herself to the bar manager saying,

'Hi I'm Georgia, I'm your new waitress I think!'.

The woman just smirked at her and said,

'Oh no honey, you'll be working the downstairs bar with the VIPs'.

Georgia couldn't see a downstairs bar and this definitely didn't look like the sort of joint that VIPs would frequent. She was beginning to think this was yet another cruel joke when the woman nodded at a blank section of wall and told her to pull on the torch.

The wall opened to a reveal a secret elevator leading to a basement club joined to the neighbouring criminal warehouse by a tunnel. As she emerged into the club she was greeted by a chorus of catcalls and men yelling at her to lose the dress. 

As Georgia realised what this was she ran into the bathroom in tears. She was penniless and out of options, she had a daughter across the country who needed rescuing, a daughter right here who needed protecting, what choice did she have. Although she'd sworn that Vegas was a one time thing, here she was again, with no choice but to take her clothes off for money. She gritted her teeth, unbuttoned her dress and pasted on a smile. She would not fail her daughters - as she climbed on to the bar she told herself this is for Marlie and Norma, for Marlie and Norma...

At home I was growing up oblivious to my mother's secret shame. As a teenager I became more charismatic and more confident than ever. I decided that I would become an actress or a model and I spent hours preening, practicing my posing and thinking about boys.

My mother lived a double life. She cared for me, working doubles to give me everything I wanted which I barely noticed at the time. She also tried to steer me away from my dreams of fame and fortune, pointing out the risks and the dangers but I naively laughed off her advice and went back to my vanity.

She wrote letter after letter to you with no luck, she sent a plane ticket every Christmas and birthday with no success. She even hired a private detective to hand deliver the note but your father intercepted it and beat him to within an inch of his life. At the end of every shift she would run to the chapel and cry for forgivedness at having left little Marlie behind, praying for your safety and happiness. She would tell me stories about you, show me you pictures and ask my advice but I used to brusg her off. I was always a little jealous that it seemed like for years she'd chosen you over me - I figured it was my turn now.

I grew older and more distant, I only had time for my own life and ambition and I didn't notice how pale and thin Georgia was becoming. I pushed her away even further when I found out what she was doing to make a living, I was young and embarrassed and I couldn't appreciate that she was only doing it because she had no other choices. She was doing it for me. 

I was sixteen the day the police came to tell me they'd found her body in a local park. 

They said that the results were inconclusive, given her job it was probably a drug overdose or gang related. They didn't say it explicitly but their behaviour and attitude to the case made it clear that either way to them, she was just another dead stripper. 

I was distraught, my only comfort that she had died in her favourite part of town. I would imagine that rather than anything tawdry, she'd just slipped out of life in the sunset, surrounded by flowers.

I moved to Los Angeles soon afterwards, determined that I would make my life mean something in her honour. I changed my name to Marilyn Monroe and gradually rose to fame by way of a lot of slammed doors and a couple of casting couches. I knew that you were out there somewhere, Marlie, but I didn't want to be reminded of all the ways I'd failed to help my mother out after the sacrifices I now knew she'd made for us. I drowned my guilt in work and men and alcohol.

As I reached the height of my success I became embroiled with one of the most powerful families in the country. I had flirted with all the men, as was my wont - I'd learned early that my looks would get me ahead -  but with two of the brothers in particular.

At first it was all in good fun, I was shiny toy and they would fight over me, but it soon turned ugly. Threats were being made, neither wished to marry be but they both wanted to possess me. You'd have thought I'd have learned from my mother not to mess with politicians but it was too late. They demanded I choose, I just wanted to be free.

My health began to suffer, I would suffer acute panic attacks during filming, I was paranoid, convinced I was being followed and I started to see a psychiatrist, Dr Ralph Greenson.

 I don't know how it happened but we fell in love. It was the most dangerous thing I could have done and when I realised I was pregnant a month later the danger was greater than ever. I didn't know who the father was, and once the news was out the brothers would close ranks and do whatever it took to remain innocent in the public eye. With my star status I was under intense scrutiny with no hope of hiding the truth. I went to Ralph desperate and told him everything and we hatched a plan worthy of Shakespeare.

 Ralph began to put out that I was depressed, suicidal even. We booked a hotel with lousy security and set up the scenario. Ralph would surround me with empty vials before putting me to sleep with a sedative which, to all but the most perceptive, would mimic death. He would discover me, declare me dead and as my doctor oversee all the arrangements and transport of my body, topping up my sedative when needed,  right down to my sleeping through my open casket funeral. We would then escape together and live out our days with my baby as two ordinary people in a tiny town where nobody would find us.

The only flaw was you finding us. I had foolishly given my mother and Hank's wedding picture to a magazine passing it off as my parents, it looked better than the truth and that led you to me. When you found Ralph the day before the plan was set it was too late for us to hesitate. Ralph tried to give you the encouragement to live your life and I hoped that in time it would be safe for me to make contact.

We spent the next five years running, afraid of recognition.My son was born in a motel room somewhere in Georgia, he looked like the brothers and my heart broke a little for Ralph. We watched aghast as my death became a media circus - we were constantly expecting somebody to discover the fraud. The brothers put on sad faces, but I could see disbelief in their expressions. Ralph kept in touch with a few old friends and we knew that their family was investigating. I dyed my hair and changed my look as much as I could to protect my son and Ralph.

When tragedy struck both my former lovers dead within six years of one another I couldn't believe what a gift fate had given. Ralph and I stopped moving, foolishly settling down in Utah where we were shocked to discover you had also ended up. 

In the interim years I'd tried to send you help, I sent you your mothers guitar after Ralph risked discovery to retrieve it from a safe-deposit box, she'd always told me how much she wanted you to have it. Now we were so close I began to try and find out more about you - even driving by the house a few times. I learned that your life had been no easier than mine and I wished our mother had been able to realise her dream of getting you away from the ugliness of Hank's life and raising us together.

I bought a house, went back to calling myself Norma and I married Ralph. Within months somebody had joined the dots and a guy in a base-ball cap arrived at my gate. I recognized him instantly as someone who had worked security for the brothers. The kind of security that you don't survive.

We fled that night. It's taken another eight years and most of the money we were able to extract from my accounts before I "died" to neutralise the threat this man posed. We never did discover why he was intent on tracking me down but I can say with certainty that he will never again darken my door - or yours for that matter.

I'm Norma-Jeane now, Marilyn is dead and you must promise to keep my secret, even from that handsome husband of yours, for your sake as well as mine. There are still many people who would like to make a fortune exposing me.'

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Marlie sat back on the sofa before standing and pacing Mari- no Norma's opulent living room. Her whole life had just been rewritten by the revelations of what had happened behind the scenes.

What else in her life was not as it seemed?

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Thanks for reading - believe it or not this is the short version! So many story lines to weave together. 

What did you make of all of these big revelations? Chime in in the comments!

Next time in The Monroe Legacy - Marlie struggles to lie to Brody, Norma comes to call, Lola has a date and the twins make an appearance.

Read it now in The Monroe Legacy - Chapter 16 - First Dates and Heartbreaks