The Drawing of the Three

In 1964 New York, civil rights activist Odetta Holmes is being driven home by her chauffeur, Andrew. The daughter of wealthy businessman Daniel Holmes, Odetta was detained in Oxford, Mississippi, for three days because of her racial affiliation and political stance. She knows that her fame and her father’s wealth were the only reasons she was left alive in the racist town. When Andrew mentions a newspaper article describing the recently assassinated President John F. Kennedy as “the last gunslinger” (208), Odetta argues against the piece. She tells Andrew that the violent description is far from Kennedy, whom she saw as a man of peace. The term “gunslinger” gives her goosebumps for some reason. Andrew sees Odetta rub her temples, a sign that she’s on the verge of a migraine and one of her spells of disappearance. Odetta often goes incommunicado for days and doesn’t ask Andrew to drive her anywhere; when Andrew later asks her about the time she was away, she looks puzzled.

What Andrew and Odetta don’t know is that Odetta has dissociation, a condition in which a person can develop two or more identities that are distinct from each other. The identities may or may not be aware of the other.