the secret life of ceecee wilkes, chapters 11-20.

it's monday & it's time to discuss the next ten chapters of the secret life of ceecee wilkes.  we talked about the first ten chapters last week.  if you're interested in participating, it's not too late!  just click here for the details.

1. Where do you think Tim and Marty are at this point in the story? are we talking mentally or physically?  mentally - i think the both of them are far gone.  they are wrapped up in saving their sister.  and, i think that as much as ceecee believes that tim really cares for her, i almost believe it's evident in his actions that he's using her.  i mean, you can almost sense it or feel it as you're reading.  sadly, ceecee doesn't {although i did find it funny that she faked the big o on their last night together - come on, who's fooling who?}.  physically - i know they discussed what "the plan" was...where they would pick up genevieve, where they would take her {the cabin}, but after that it was never really clear.  they would just be hiding out elsewhere while they communicated with the governor.  the "covertness" of this whole kidnapping plot makes me think that things are going to take a turn for the worse...become more dangerous.  let's hope for ceecee's sake that it does not.

2. What were your thoughts as CeeCee was helping Genevieve deliver her baby?  holy moly.  seriously.  holy moly.  it would be one thing if the circumstances were different {okay, no, it would still be a nerve-wracking ordeal}.  you know, if genevieve wasn't being held hostage, if ceecee wasn't in a snow white mask & wearing gloves, if they weren't in a secluded cabin deep in the woods.  i think that ceecee was very fortunate that genevieve was semi-calm & knew what to do.  i know that if it was me i would be freaking out.  it was at that point, i believe, that ceecee knew within her gut that this whole "plan" was NOT going to be a cut & dry as tim and marty said it would be.  perhaps the birth of the baby could be seen as a symbolic transition into just how difficult things would end up being.

3. After Genevieve died, what would you have done with her baby if you had been in CeeCee's shoes?  i would have gone straight for the police or somebody.  turning the baby in and confessing at that point would have been the right thing to do.  but, that's me.  of course, if i were ceecee, i would have probably just left the baby with naomi & forest and bolted.  but, ceecee is in the woods, she doesn't know her way around...yikes.  i don't think i could have kept the baby like ceecee did.  my conscious {and the guilt} would eat me alive.

4. Why do you think CeeCee/Eve is still holding onto hope that Tim will come for her?  oh, there is that young, hopelessly in love thing again.  ceecee truly believes that tim will find her.  didn't he say he would?  i can't remember.  but, there she is again, holding onto a false hope.  she was used for one thing and one thing only...to help spring andie out of prison.  sadly, she didn't realize that tim would never come back.  it was up to naomi to pretty much tell ceecee that from that day forward she would never be ceecee again.  ceecee had a boyfriend named tim.  eve did not. 

5. How do you think Eve will establish her new identity in Virginia?  oh, this is a tough one.  here she is - 16 years old - setting off on a road trip with a newborn baby driving a car she could barely drive going to a place she didn't know to stay with a woman she had never met before.  whoa.  if anything, you just have to hope that naomi & forest really do care and have set eve up with someone trustworthy enough to help get eve back onto her feet.  and, you also wonder, too, if eve will crack and just give up.  or, will she persevere and really hold onto the new identity she's been given.  there's a lot at stake.  there's also a lot to have to remember...stories to keep straight...goodness gracious, it makes my head hurt just thinking about it!

6. What do you think of CeeCee/Eve now after she has gone through with the kidnapping, the delivery of the baby, the escape, and the relocation?  i feel sorry for her.  very sorry.  so sorry that i'd love to grab her by the shoulders, shake her and say, "what the hell is wrong with you, woman?" she's only sixteen.  sixteen!  she's been through so, so much already in her young life.  she's endured more heartache & sadness than what most of us will even have to deal with in our own lifetime.  part of me feels sorry for ceecee/eve.  the other part of me doesn't.  after all, she allowed herself to be fooled into this situation.  she made her decision with her heart and not her head.  unfortunately, now she must pay for the consequences of her actions/decisions/choices.  choosing to keep the baby as her own & start over somewhere new will be a constant reminder of what she helped tim & marty do.