Andrew Wallace was a real estate developer and created Wallace Town in 1973. It’s close to Knoxville, Tennessee. Andrew wanted his new development to be different, so he made it car-free. No cars or trucks are allowed in the town. The people get around by trolleys, bicycles or walking. That’s how Wallace Town earned the nickname “Walkville”.
When Andrew died in 1989, ownership of Wallace Town went to the Wallace Trust, which was controlled by his direct descendants. At age 18, all direct descendants of Andrew Wallace become members of the Trust’s board and are eligible for profit disbursements.
My father was a jackass named Jeffrey Wallace. He was a direct descendant of Andrew, and that made me a direct descendant too.
I’m Ellie Wallace, and this is my story.
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DECEMBER 6
I played guitar and sang backup vocals for the Orange Morning Sunlight band. We didn’t make much money so everyone else in the band had a day job. I lived on the $300, 000 a year I got from the Wallace Trust. It wasn’t a bad life for a 22 year old girl.
We finished our last set at one o’clock in the morning and there were still a lot of people in the bar, so we stayed for a while to drink. Our lead singer Trevor always had beautiful girlfriends and his latest whispered in my ear, “Trevor wants to watch me with another girl. Want to help me out, Ellie?”
I was tempted because she was a hot little blonde, but I whispered back, “I don’t perform sex acts for the amusement of men, Shelly.”
“Are you sure?” she asked coyly. She leaned in to kiss me and I allowed it. Her lips tasted like the rum and coke she was drinking.
“I’m sure,” I replied.
Beautiful Shelly pouted. “You’re no fun, Ellie.”
I laughed and challenged her, “Ditch Trevor and come home with me. I’ll show you how much fun I am.”
She considered it for a moment before shaking her pretty head. “I want Trevor’s dick tonight.”
“Your loss,” I told her. I put a hand behind her head and drew her to me for another kiss. My tongue stabbed between her soft lips and she sucked it like a good girl.
“Ellie, are you trying to seduce my girlfriend?” I heard Trevor tease.
I reluctantly pulled my lips away from the sexy girl and replied, “I’m trying but not getting anywhere.”
Shelly grinned and gave me a quick peck on the lips. “Maybe some other time, Ellie.”
“Time for me to go home, guys,” I announced to the group. “I’m beat.” I stood and my head spun. Fuck. I was drunk again. It happened too often.
I grabbed my guitar and took a taxi home. The night was frosty cold and a light snow fell.
==
DECEMBER 7
The next morning, I woke to someone knocking on the front door of my apartment. “What the fuck?” I groaned. My head throbbed and my tummy grumbled. Stupid hangover.
My clock read 9:00. The shithead at the door knocked again.
“Okay! Okay! I’m coming,” I called out. I pulled on my robe and stumbled to the door. I looked through the peephole and saw my mom standing outside. I yanked the door open and whined, “What the heck, Mom?”
She walked right in and demanded, “Why aren’t you answering your phone?”
I checked my phone and noticed that I’d silenced the ringer. Oops. There were 8 missed calls. 6 from the Wallace Trust and 2 from Mom. I suddenly had a very bad feeling. “What’s going on?” I asked.
Mom visibly braced herself. “There’s been an accident,” she explained. “A terrible accident.”
“What happened?”
“All the other Wallaces were on a private jet, coming back from a family trip to Florida,” Mom told me. She swallowed hard and struggled to continue. “The plane crashed. There were no survivors.”
My mouth hung open and it felt like my heart stopped. I knew there were 8 adult members of the Wallace family other than me receiving payments from the Wallace Trust. “They’re all dead?” I asked.
Mom nodded sadly.
A terrible thought occurred to me. “What about their kids?” There were 4 Wallace children who were too young to receive payments from the Trust yet.
“Them too,” Mom replied. Her voice quivered and she began to cry.
My legs wobbled and I sat on the sofa. Mom sat beside me and we hugged.
I’d never met anyone in the Wallace family. My father, Jeffrey Wallace, dumped Mom and divorced her while she was pregnant with me. Mom vowed to never have anything to do with the Wallaces ever again. She moved from Tennessee to Maryland, and that’s where I’d always lived.
I also lived by Mom’s vow to have nothing to do with the Wallaces. Nothing except take their money, of course. If they wanted to send me truckloads of cash just because my father was a Wallace, I was all for it.
I’d vowed to never go to Wallace Town… and now I’d inherited the place. Fuck.
I returned the calls from Jack Warner, CEO of the Wallace Trust. He wasn’t in the family; but he was the top employee who managed the operations of Wallace Town. “My condolences, Ms Wallace,” he immediately said. He was an older man with a deep voice. I’d talked to him a couple times when I turned 18 and had to sign papers to begin receiving payments from the Trust.
“Thanks,” I replied. “I never met them but it’s still heartbreaking. Especially the kids. Are you sure nobody survived?”
“We’re sure,” he gravely informed me.
“You must have known them well. I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you. We’re all in shock and disbelief down here,” Mr Warner replied. “Has the media contacted you yet?”
I hadn’t thought of that. “No. Will they?”
“When they figure out that you’ve inherited Wallace Town and the entire Wallace family fortune, they will descend on you like locusts.”
My head spun and my stomach churned. “I don’t feel good, Mr Warner,” I quickly told him. I handed the phone to Mom and dashed to the bathroom.
Puking my guts out was the cherry on top of a terrible, rotten, fucked up morning.
Mr Warner persuaded me to go to Wallace Town right away. Lots of business and family issues needed my input and approval. Yay for me.
I didn’t want make decisions for some fucking place where I’d never been. And I didn’t want to deal with whatever issues arose from the deaths of relatives I never met. Fuck fuck fuck. My poor stomach twisted in a knot again.
Obviously I wasn’t a business person. I was just a 22-year-old girl who played guitar in a band. I wanted to go back to yesterday when my life was simple.
I tried to convince Mom to come to Wallace Town with me, but she was a dedicated teacher who’d rather educate her students than go to Tennessee to do whatever it was that I was headed for.
“But I don’t know anything about business or money,” I groaned.
“They own real estate, Ellie. It’s not rocket science. When they explain things I’m sure you’ll understand,” Mom told me. “If you really want me to go I will, but I think you can handle this.”
I sighed. “Okay. I’ll go by myself, but expect phone calls from your confused daughter.”
Three hours later I was on a flight to Tennessee.