“I thought that was your mother’s influence” Melvin commented continuing their earlier conversation. Bette glanced sideways at her father while keeping an eye on the road. She wasn’t even sure that he’d absorbed any of what she’d said about Allyn Barnes being the reason why she pursued a career in art, but his comment about her mother seemed out of the blue since he rarely spoke of Maxine.

Maxine Wolff Porter was a renowned artist. She died suddenly of a brain aneurysm when Bette was nine, but by then she and Melvin had already been divorced for six years. Due to the antagonistic nature of the divorce Maxine got full custody of their daughter, but it was never Maxine’s intention to keep Bette from seeing her father. The court had awarded visitations, but very often it was Melvin that broke the commitment which limited his physical presence in his daughter’s young life between the ages of three and nine. Unfortunately for Bette he wasn’t emotionally present either; less so after her mother passed away.

As any child following the death of a parent, Bette was inconsolable. She was alone in her grieve and never properly processed the loss. Whenever she tried to talk to her father about her feelings he would drop the subject refusing to talk about her mother. Most of the time Bette felt like an inconvenience to her father, so she mostly stayed out of his way. To this date, she had abandonment issues that were never addressed or dealt with.

Melvin had a list of excuses for his relational shortcomings. His type A personality, having a demanding law career, pursuing his political ambitions, his itinerant lifestyle, two failed marriages. Even the fact that he had an older daughter, Katherine from his previous marriage didn’t predicate any paternal instincts.

When Maxine died, he found himself in a situation where he had no idea what to do with this precocious child that had become his sole responsibility. His only recourse was to managed Bette the way he did most everything in his life; he compartmentalized and took a utilitarian approach to her upbringing. Fortunately for Melvin, Bette was an obedient child. She rarely rebelled against his wishes. It wasn’t until Bette was in her late teens and ready to go off to college that she challenged him, but mostly the little girl inside the woman just craved his approval, yearned to feel wanted, and did everything she could to please her Daddy.