Adrian Hunter
Romance, Coming of age
happyhugo
37,949 words
Copyright (c) 02/15/10
A Brattleboro, Vt Tale
Readers score 7.62
Adrian's life goes to hell when he is ten.
His father is a con man and his mother is
in prison. In the next few years he collects
a young stepmother and some half siblings.
A stepmother where there is some attraction
between them. Read how it all plays out.
It has been twelve years since I left this town. Before that time, Sis and I had been living with Dad on a little side street in West Brattleboro, VT. Today, I had traveled over Route 9 from Albany, NY. I had never traveled this road before, but there was a sense of nostalgia. I was looking for traces of my mother---where her body was and what had happened to her. When last here, Dad was breaking up our home and he said we couldn’t take anything with us.
'Burn everything were his orders.' “I have to go downtown to the bank and clear out my accounts. Everything in the desks and drawers gets burned. We will be leaving here by daylight tomorrow.” Andrea helped me pick up the stuff of Mom’s that we had been directed to dispose of and take it out back to the burn barrel. We collected everything. There were many pictures, our school papers, including some even from as far back as when Mom went to school. The box that was under the bed held a bunch of stuff that Sis and I had never seen before. There was a mountain of papers out by the incinerator barrel when we collected everything we could find.
Big Sister put herself in charge. “I want to say good-bye to Sally. Please, will you burn this stuff, Adrian?” I started, but the papers burned slowly, especially if you put too many on top of the fire at once. No way did I want to stand around doing this while she was saying so long to her friends. I chucked some of Mom’s old school stuff in the barrel and still had boxes to go. It would take another two hours to burn it all and I was sick of it! I scooted across the street to one of my friends. I felt like the world was coming to an end and I wanted to get him to help me.
Mike Bickford convinced me to store what I had left in his attic where we often played. Why did I do this? Some of it was because I didn’t want the chore, and some was because the pictures were the only ones we had of Mom. Maybe someday I could come back and give them to Mom when we were together again. Some of the stuff I might like to keep for myself right now, but Dad was insistent that everything we had was to be trashed or burned.
Mom was in prison and Dad was too ashamed to stay here in the Northeast. He had secured a new job in Texas. He convinced us that we should start a new life for ourselves some place where people wouldn’t know about our mother. We were leaving behind what had been a terrible three months for all of us. Mom had been caught on I-91 coming up the thruway from Springfield, MA. She had fifteen hundred dollars worth of drugs in the car.
She was always a loving person to Sis and me. She was small and slightly voluptuous. As far as we knew she wouldn’t break any law, and especially not one like she was charged with.
Mom claimed that she didn’t know anything about drugs. The State Police had received a tip, stopped her, and searched the vehicle. Of course she gave them permission, because she was unaware. When the drugs were discovered, she was soon on her way to jail. The stash was found under the front seat. Dad bailed her out and she was home. He hired an attorney to represent Mom. She cried most of the time until her trial, not believing this was happening to her.
Andrea and I couldn’t believe it either. Sometimes it didn’t seem as if Dad was supportive enough. For the last year or so, he had been cold toward Mom. He wasn’t loving like he used to be with us either. It came down to Dad being the boss and he brooked no arguing back from any of us. He often fought with Mom and cussed her out, stating he didn’t know the woman he had married. When her trial came up, there was no chance for her. A known dealer testified that he was supposed to receive the drugs. He claimed this was after Mrs. Hunter had approached him earlier, saying she was going to have a load to sell.
Sis and I heard the verdict and only had a few minutes to hug Mom before she was led away. Two weeks later she was sentenced to three years minimum in prison. A week after Mom was installed in her prison cell, Dad gave us the orders to burn everything.
Dad was never a father to be demonstrative. Very seldom had he ever raised his voice to us, or ever spanked us when it was deserved. There were never any hugs or kisses either. Looking back, I guess Dad could be considered without emotion. And we had never seen much affection displayed toward Mom during all of their time together either. They had slept in the same bed, but kept to their own sleep schedules.
The house we had been living in was rented. Dad told us the furniture was to be sold to a second-hand dealer. Our stuff was given to a place that sold everything and the money went to benefit the elderly. Included in this were all of our toys, the kitchen utensils and the dishes. Dad even sent what few tools he owned to the same place for them to sell.
He packed a few bedclothes and blankets in the back of the van and we headed for Texas. Losing your mother and moving from the only home you have ever known, was traumatic to a girl of eleven and a boy of ten. Not only that, we had to have trust in someone who had never shown much affection for either of us.
“When will we see Mom again?”
“I can’t say, Andrea. It will be at least three years. That is the minimum time she was sentenced to. If she doesn’t follow all of the rules and regulations, it might be longer. We can only hope. It would be best if you didn’t think about her. She committed a crime and now she has to pay for it.” That was all of the sympathy we received from our father. Immediately after reaching Texas, I wanted to write to her. Dad said to write the letter and he would mail it from his office.
It was hot and very dry in this section of Texas. Dad worked in an accounting office in a larger city near the town we lived in. He had rented a small house, and we were expected to keep the house clean for him and get our own meals. We didn’t have to get his, as he always ate in the city before coming home. Our diet was pretty limited, consisting of mostly cold cereal for breakfast, and either hot dogs or hamburgers for the other two meals.
School was a shock to both of us. These people were very different from the ones we grew up with. This was a German community and there were also Mexicans everywhere. Many spoke in their own language when in their own homes. Also the Texas drawl was hard to understand at first. And---we were Yankees. This may have been a holdover from the carpetbagger days. We certainly were harassed about our origins.
To compound the situation, Andrea and I were quite intelligent and that bothered our schoolmates. We were taunted daily and it was a trial for us to leave the school grounds at the end of the day without getting into trouble. Our savior came in the form of an elderly spinster who was a displaced Vermonter. She had been teaching in the area for thirty years. We were invited to her home after she helped us escape a pair of bullies.
She instructed us in class behavior, so that it wouldn’t challenge those that were envious of our capabilities. “Never get more than ninety-seven on a test. When answering a question, hem and haw as if you don’t know, and then the answer will be a surprising guess to you as well as to the teacher if it is correct. At this point in your life, it isn’t going to matter what test score you are marked with as long as you know the subject. Things will change for you when you attend a larger school and your roots won’t be so evident.”
Miss Rena Harris became the friend and mother we were so lacking. When Dad sat us down and informed us that Mother had been stabbed to death during a fight while in prison, Rena Harris was the only one we could go to for consolation. She was the only one that cared and she cried not only for us, but with us. I was twelve at that time. Two weeks later, Dad moved a woman into the house. In some ways our life became easier. Sandra Beeman could cook, so finally we had meals that were at least a change from our usual diet.
It also had its drawbacks as well. The house was small and Dad was a pretty randy person. I don’t know what you call a woman like that, but Sandra met Dad bed-bounce for bed-bounce. Two months after her arrival, Andrea and I had a new stepmom and we would be having a half-sibling in just a few months. I hated Dad and Sandy---Dad mostly. Maybe it was just jealousy. I was too young to know my feelings.
A larger dwelling was purchased and we moved to a more populous area in the city where Dad worked. Our student troubles largely disappeared because we could lose ourselves in the body of students. We didn’t forget our Miss Harris and anytime we could find bus fare, we made the trip to visit her. She encouraged us to learn, learn, learn. “You don’t have to let everyone know how smart you are. Someday your knowledge will pay off. You children have had some unhappy times, and they may well continue. You must find satisfaction in yourselves and in your accomplishments.”
Our stepmother was a lot younger than our own mother had been. She was only twenty-three when she and dad married. We never knew, of course, how dad had acted around our mother when they first married. If he had acted the same way toward her as he did around Sandy, we felt he would have loved us more and would have been more supportive of Mom during her troubles.
Andrea and I couldn’t forget Mom, and we often talked to each other about how life would have been if she hadn’t gone to prison or had not been killed while incarcerated. We held each other and cried on the date we had marked on the calendar when she should have been released. We couldn’t understand why we never received replies to the many letters we had sent off either. The prison officials should have allowed her to send us a birthday card, or cards at Christmas.
It was only natural that we turn to Sandra as we were always with her. We helped with her babies. Two of them were born by the time Andrea graduated and the third came on the day of my own graduation. She never talked about her life before we knew her. We were aware through various slips of the tongue that she was from the Northeast. I guess she must not have known much about our mother because we would be thinking of Mom and go ask Sandra for an answer. She never had much of a reply and the subject always seemed to change.
I said we helped with our half sister and brother. For awhile Andrea was intrigued with having a newborn in the house, but as she got older, the babies were a bother to her when Sandy asked Sis to care for them. I was just the opposite. I wanted nothing to do with them at first, but as they grew from baby to little individuals with personalities, my love for them grew as well. And too, Sandy seemed to appreciate it. I would do most anything to hear praise from my stepmother. Was this surprising? I never thought much about the relationship we had, but we certainly were fond of each other.
Andrea had a full ride to college. After all, she had graduated in the top one percent of her class. She went back east to Pennsylvania to study. Her hope was to go out in the field for some government agency or one such as the CDC. Medicine and agriculture held many opportunities.
I was lonely. This was the first time that Andrea and I had been separated. Dad expected me to help more with his young family. Two kids and one pregnant wife before the third one came. Six months before this one was due, we had our first full blown row and when the dust settled I had no place to live. Sandy cried as I informed her I couldn’t live there anymore. Still though, in the back of my mind, I was looking for some love from my father. I would have returned it at any time if he showed any affection at all.
Sandy’s sorrow touched me as nothing else could have. I had other thoughts about my stepmom as well. One time I was asked to baby-sit Phyllis while Dad took Sandy out to dinner. When they arrived home, she hugged me by way of a thank you. God she smelled nice and at almost fifteen I was well aware of her figure. Two months later she started to swell with her second child, a baby to be named Richard. It didn’t matter for I carried the memory of that hug down through the years.
Miss Harris again was my savior when I had to move out of my home. Maybe I was her savior as well, for she was as lonely as I was. We made quite the pair as we sat across the table from each other. Me studying and Miss Harris correcting the papers of her students.
Knowing that Dad and I probably would never reconcile, I doubled my efforts studying and was one of two up for valedictorian at graduation. Not bad to miss the award by only one person. It was just that I wasn’t as well rounded. Sports and extra curricular activities had been difficult to take part in because of the situation at home. Andrea came all the way from Pennsylvania to congratulate me and stayed with me at Miss Harris’. Dad wouldn’t attend graduation and Sandy couldn’t because this was the day she birthed my half sister. I didn’t know this until I saw it announced in the vital statistics. The baby’s name was Tammy.
Andrea did come to visit our father, but he was as unsociable to her as he had been to me. His thought was that both of us should have stayed in his home to help his wife. Sis escaped to college and I might have stayed at home if he hadn’t been so difficult. My leaving had put more of a burden on Sandy, which bothered me, but I couldn’t take Dad anymore. Andrea and I began to see that Dad was extremely penurious, especially with those he had little love for.
Not so, Miss Harris. She had known us for six years. Just before Sis left for the east where she was working the summer between classes, Miss Harris came up with a generous surprise. She informed us that she was setting up an account that Sis and I could draw on if we were ever short of funds. This was also to be used to make our life more pleasant, so if we saw a concert or ball game we wished to attend---the money was there. The amount was in excess of $50,000. “This is for being so kind to a lonely old lady who doesn’t have a family. I have so enjoyed knowing both of you.”
We considered her as family. She was the only one we knew who loved us. “That old lady will always have a home when she retires. You and I will have a home of our own by that time. One of us will see that she is taken care of. Think about it. She is the only one that has shown us affection since they took Mom away.”
“You are so right, Adrian.”
I worked the summer after graduation in Texas, servicing the pumps that extracted oil from the wells. I joined my sister in Pennsylvania the last of August for my first year of college. I was attending a university near where she was enrolled, so we arranged to live together in an apartment. It was like old times again. For the first time in many years, I felt I could relax. Before this, I had eschewed having a car to drive or going out on dates with a girl, but now we purchased a vehicle together. Not that I hadn’t been out occasionally, but my studies had been my first priority. Sis had lived much the same way.
This changed. Now we both knew where we were headed in life and saw there was time to broaden out just a bit. I dated some of my sister’s friends and she dated some of mine. I suppose this was watching each others backs. She never introduced me to someone she felt was wrong and I did the same for her. Both of us were sexually active to a degree, but not overly so. Our apartment was big enough so we both could entertain dates and not disrupt the other.
Neither of us worried about becoming rich. That wasn’t our goal in life. Andrea wanted to help mankind. Harking back to when our mother had gone to trial, I still felt justice had not been served. Andrea and I couldn’t have known about justice at the time, but we felt it just the same. I intended to study law some time in the future with the goal of becoming an attorney.
I was faithful to my studies and, finding them not overly difficult, I looked forward to when I could go back to Texas to visit Miss Harris. My time with her was short the next year, as I was able to land a job on one of the oil drilling rigs in the Gulf for the summer. It was rough, dirty work, just the opposite of what I did at school. So far neither Andrea nor I had touched the account set up by Rena, our benefactor.
The next three years passed. Dad’s oldest child, my sister Phyllis, was seven. I hadn’t been to see Dad and his family for two years. I made the effort as I planned on staying somewhere in the east when I completed my fourth year of schooling. There was tension when I was resentfully invited in. Sandy seemed more glad to see me than my father was. I received my second hug from her and I had the evening meal with them. Dad went out for the evening and Sandra glared after him as his car left the yard.
“I’m beginning to hate your father. I don’t think he loves me, if he ever did. He is so cheap it is hard to feed the family with what he allows me. I’m so tired all of the time. He has enough money for us to live better than this. He has always had money, he just never spends it.”
“I can’t believe that. We have always been poor.”
“Not since I married him. I brought almost a hundred thousand dollars to the marriage. He claimed your mother left him more than that when I hesitated turning over what I had for him to manage. He let me see a statement showing upwards of a half million. This was so I would agree to name him manager. He doesn’t know it but I know where he keeps the spare key to his lock box.”
“Sandy, do you have any way to protect yourself if he leaves?”
“He is my husband. If he left, the court would give me half. I’m not really worried. It is just that he is so cheap.”
“Does he act the loving father with the kids?”
“Not really. Not like he did when they were first born. Why?”
“Because that is the way he acted around Andrea and me. Over time, he just drew away from us. You must have noticed. I hope things turn out okay for you. Both Sis and I feel Dad pushed us out of his life and he doesn’t want anything more to do with us. You know until my blowup with Dad, I enjoyed living here. It was just that he demanded so much from me, I couldn’t take it. I think he was happy I left when I did. I do think of you sometimes. I don’t know as there is anyway I can help you in your situation, though. I’m going back to school in a week. I’ll stop by again before I go.”
“Thanks Adrian. It has been nice seeing you again. You’re a pretty nice guy.”
I told Andrea all about my talk with Sandy and we wondered if Dad was getting ready to dump her and her kids. “I wonder if he wasn’t glad Mom got caught with drugs so he could dump her. He must have been happy when she died so he didn’t have to split his money with her. He immediately took up with a new woman that had a few dollars. I bet he is worth more than a million dollars by now.”
“Well if he dies, I think we should put in for some of it. Mom must have contributed to some of his wealth. I guess there is no way to find out so we will never know.”
Andrea had completed her courses and graduated from college. She was now taking a post graduate course. This kept us together for another year. When I graduated, I planned on going to law school. More and more, Vermont drew me back. The state had a very fine accredited law school and that was where I applied. I would be racking up some serious debt, because my scholarships ended when I graduated.
Rena Harris was still backing Sis and me, so we weren’t worried about running out of funds. The account had gained almost thirty percent, because we tried to replenish the funds we used while working summers. The route I planned to take to see the law school campus was to fly into the Albany, NY airport and then rent a vehicle. I decided to detour to my old hometown of Brattleboro while I was there.
Chapter Two
It had been twelve years since I had been in this town. At that time Sis and I had been living with Dad and Mom on a little side street in West Brattleboro. Today, I had just come over Route 9 from Albany, NY. I was here for a purpose. When last here, we were breaking up our home and Dad said we couldn’t take anything with us.
Now I was in the state to look at the campus of the Vermont Law School. That was my purpose, but I remembered my childhood and the mother that my sister and I had lost twelve years previously. We had never heard directly from her since the day she was sentenced to prison and been led away. Our father told us she had died in prison two years after incarceration. Maybe I could find out the details from the local newspaper archives.
Coming down off the mountain, I pulled into Fleming’s gas station and convenience store. There was a Subway shop inside that I didn’t remember. Sometimes Sis and I had walked up from the street where we lived to get an ice cream or candy bar. We had lived on a dead end street called Edward Heights, closer to town from the convenience store. I gassed up the rental and bought a sub, chips and a soda. I ate my lunch in the car. There was a Dunkin Donuts where the car wash used to be. Across the street the Mountain Home Trailer Park was still there and it looked as if it had been expanded.
Everything changes over time, I guess. Look at me. I left here a scared, sad, lonely kid, with a mother in prison. I was back twelve years later. Some of those feelings were still with me, but I had matured enough to know that you took what life tossed you and moved on. I drove up Edward Heights and passed by my former home, seeing that it was well preserved and well cared for. Across the street was where I had stored the boxes of stuff I hadn’t burned when I was told to. There was a different name on the mail box. This was no more than I expected.
I wasn’t old enough to have been familiar with the town before when I was forced to leave. I went into the post office and asked where the newspaper office was located. I should have bought a paper at Fleming’s, but hadn’t thought to. I received directions to head north at number 2 on ramp and go to exit 3. I was to turn south and take the first road to the right at the lights onto Black Mountain Road. Follow the signs.
Was the newspaper office the friendliest of places? Maybe to some people, but I didn’t find it so. I found I could search the morgue, but it would cost me. I decided I didn’t want to bother and asked directions to the police station. They weren’t much better at giving me information at first. The officer I spoke to didn’t appear much older than I was. Finally he said he would ask one of the officers that was on the force at the time I was asking about.
I was in for my first major surprise. This officer was much older and I explained what I wanted and what my relationship was to the person I was searching for. In his memory, he couldn’t recall that there ever had been a female prisoner who died in prison from a stabbing. Not in Vermont anyway. He had been on the force fourteen years. “How old were you when this might have happened?”
“I was twelve. She went to prison when I was ten.”
“You say her name was Barbara Hunter, wife of an Aden Hunter? She was charged with selling drugs?”
“That is correct.”
“Well let me check. If she didn’t die and moved back to town, we must have a record of her somewhere.” The officer closed the window and I was alone with my thoughts. I sat on the bench in a little enclosed area that opened to the hall of the municipal center. Was my mother dead or still alive? I didn’t dare hope or believe she could be alive.
After twenty minutes, he came back and opened the window. “Call this number to find out if this is the woman you are searching for.”
“Do you have an address for her?”
“Just a minute.” He was gone only a minute this time. “Son, I guess if this is your mother, it would be better to have her meet you at the door, rather than answer a question over the phone. Good luck in your quest. I hope the woman is who you are looking for.”
The address given me was in West Brattleboro, not far from where we lived before. It was across the street from Fleming’s filling station in the trailer park. It was easy to find as it was on the first level. I parked across the street to observe the trailer.
If the woman I was looking for worked, she might be coming home about now and I could get a look at her before I went to the door to confront her. There wasn’t any vehicle parked near the trailer, so some one of the occupants had to be away. Suddenly a very old man came out and slowly went to a little shed with a bag of trash.
Twenty minutes later an older Honda Civic pulled up and the woman got out. Was this my mother? I willed it to be her. I was wishing so hard it had to be! The woman, who I couldn’t identify yet, parked her car facing east, which put the car between us from where I was parked across the street. She was getting some groceries from the rear seat. I had to wait a few more minutes for her to come clearly into view. It was my Mom. I jumped out, not even shutting the car door and dodged across the street. She heard me come up behind her before she reached the deck leading into the mobile home.
“May I carry those in for you?” She was struggling with arms full of groceries.
“Yes.” She glanced at me. “I don’t know you. Were you coming here?”
“Yes I was. I’ll explain if you would give me a few minutes.” Mom now went ahead and opened the door for me.
“Put the groceries on the kitchen table. Come into the living room.” I didn’t want to sit down. The old man was sitting watching a sitcom on television. He shut it off.
“Who’s with you, Barb?”
“Don’t know. Now young man, tell me what you wanted to see me about?” Mom stared intently at me and I stared back. I knew I looked similar to my father. Every mother has to know her own son. It wouldn’t take her long to get the connection. It didn’t!
“Adrian.” All I could do is nod. We were suddenly in each other’s arms. Tears were flowing down both our faces. She finally pulled back and looked at me. “How?”
I answered the first question although that one word asked several. “Dad told us you died in prison. I came looking to find out more about how you died and the police gave me this address. I didn’t know you were alive until you got the groceries out of the car a few minutes ago. Andrea doesn’t know you are alive yet.”
“Aden told you I was dead? That bastard! So just as I suspected, he did it for your inheritance.”
“What do you mean?”
“Your grandparents left a trust for you and Andrea when they died. It was almost three hundred thousand dollars. Do you know where Aden is now?”
“Texas, the last I knew. He has a wife and three children. My stepmom thinks he is getting ready to divorce her, though.”
“I bet she had some money. Did you say married? He can’t marry her, he is still married to me. I just didn’t know where he was.” She stood there shaking her head, trying to get the straight of this. Suddenly she realized that I hadn’t been introduced. “Paul, this is my son Adrian, who I had given up hope of ever seeing again. Adrian, this is Paul Black. I am his housekeeper. I had to have a job when I got out of prison and he gave me one on his farm. He is retired now and I still keep house for him.”
“How long were you incarcerated?”
“Locked up, you mean. About two years. The prison was crowded and I got out about eleven months early.”
“That must be about the time Dad said you had been killed. Mom, can I stay here with you tonight? We have a lot of the past to go over. We should call Andrea too. She might even come up if she can get away.”
“Where does she live?”
“We live together in Pennsylvania. We have an apartment while we are going to college.”
“You both got to go to college? How can you afford it, with that cheap bastard for a father?”
“We have done it on our own. We both earned full scholarships and by working summers, we make out pretty well. I’ll tell you all about it. Actually I’m up here to check out the Vermont Law School. I’m going to be an attorney. I just came here to Brattleboro to find out about your death.”
“And you found out otherwise.” She hugged me ever closer. “Let’s call Andrea.”
I had four days before I had to be back in Pennsylvania. They were busy ones. I did stay the nights with Mom and Paul, sleeping on the couch in the living room. Mom’s room was down the hall before the bathroom and Paul’s was way down on the end. The kitchen was just to the right of the living room on this end. It was okay for two people, but crowded for three.
“Mom, do you ever go down the hall beyond the bathroom? I don’t care if you do, it just would seem natural.”
“Sometimes, not often though. I’m primarily Paul’s housekeeper, not the fill-in for his dead wife or for my missing husband. Birthdays, either his or mine, and Christmas sometimes. Always on New Year’s but never on Thanksgiving. That day is a special family day for both of us and time to remember when we both had family. Paul is pretty old and can’t do much, but we are fond of each other. That’s about it.”
“That sounds fine, Mom. What are we going to do about Dad? He shouldn’t be able to get away with what you say was Andrea and my inheritance. You must have had money as well. You say you don’t have any papers to prove it. The banks must know something. Do you remember which one?”
“The Peoples Bank, but that has merged several times. I doubt we could find out anything.”
“Do you remember Mike Bickford who lived across the street from us? He was my friend and same age as me.”
“I remember him. His parents moved to Wantastiquet Drive. It is a bigger house than the one they lived in in West Bratt. Why?”
“When Dad told Andrea and me to burn all the papers and pictures, Andrea skinned out to her friends and I kind of did too. I took three boxes of stuff over there and put them up in the attic above the bedrooms. There wasn’t much room, but Mike and I were allowed to play up there. Is Mike around so I can find out?”
“I have no idea, but you could call his parents.” I called the Bickfords and it took a long conversation for them to understand what I was talking about. She knew who bought their former house and spoke when they met. Mike had never mentioned that he stored anything in the attic and so it hadn’t been moved and might still be there. Otherwise everything would have been thrown out.
I asked Mrs. Bickford if she would call the new owners and see if they would push up the trapdoor in the ceiling and see if the boxes were still there. They had no value except to the Hunter family. An hour later, the owners called back asking for an Adrian Hunter. They said there was some stuff they could see way down on the end and it looked to be covered up by a tarp or blanket. I remembered we had covered the boxes with something.
“You may come and get them if you want to crawl around up there. It is terribly dusty and you will need a stepladder if you can’t pull yourself up through the hole.”
I hung up and turned to Mom. “There will be some family pictures in one of the boxes. I don’t know what all else. Remember I was only ten years old when Andrea and I collected this stuff. I don’t think I burned more than a half box. Some that I burned was your old school papers and yearbooks. Let’s go treasure hunting.”
The owners of the former Bickford house were extremely nice and very helpful. They moved their bed so that I could set up the stepladder. Mom said she would help the lady vacuum and polish as there was a cloud of dirt and dust that came down as I moved the boxes to the opening and handed them down to Mom. The offer was pooh-poohed. Mom’s graduation picture was the first item Mom saw when we opened the first box. Tears trickled down through the dust and dirt on her face. The lady shed a few tears with Mom for she knew they were tears of happiness, touched with nostalgia.
I helped right the room and we stayed for coffee when it was offered. We didn’t offer many details, because we didn’t want this couple to worry if they found out Mom was a felon. Mom only scratched the top of the many pictures that we had retrieved. We left thanking the two profusely and they were happy for us as well. They knew that if they had found the boxes, they probably would have disposed of them.
There was more joy for Mom when we got back to the trailer park. Sis was waiting for us. Talk about family reunion! We had the best time anyone could imagine. We thanked Him as we sat down in The New England House for the evening meal. Paul Black was with us and he became quite jolly as the meal progressed. We three Hunters kept away from mentioning the subject of father and husband that bound us all together. We would save that until after Paul had gone down the hall to his bedroom.
This happened before nine that evening and we now had the chance to go through the keepsakes we found as we opened the boxes. Mom exclaimed, “There are all of my missing papers here. Here is the will of your grandfather and grandmother. This is the record of the trust he set up so you could go on to college when it came time. Hey, look at this. These are the papers I signed giving Aden the right to manage my money. Look at this clause. I can go in and withdraw any or all of it.”
“Mom it isn’t deposited in a bank here in town anymore.”
“It shouldn’t matter. This is an agreement between him and me, not with any bank stipulation. Your trust---it says you can demand what was left you by my parents any time after you reach your majority. He has to turn it over to you with a full accounting. Let’s head for Texas and get it.”
“We better get an attorney or we can wing it with the information that Sandy has. Just as soon as we are sure that we are entitled to it, an attorney can get a judge to freeze all of his assets. Your call.”
“I think I would like to get more information first.”
“Mom, you know there is someone else that is going to be hurt by all of this. That is Sandy and her three children. I think she believes she is married to Dad. If he never divorced you that would make him a bigamist. I know for certain my stepmother let him handle her assets just like he did yours. I think your case is the stronger one, but any court will look out for the minor children.”
We went round and round half the night. Nothing could be settled. One of us---Mom, maybe, questioned how expensive this was going to be. Andrea and I thought of Rena Harris at the same time. She would be so happy that I had found our mother alive and would help us if need be.
I had two more days before I had to go back to Pennsylvania. Mom and Sis rode north with me to South Royalton where the law school was located. On the way, Mom told us how she had coped with being in prison. The worst of it was that she received no messages from anyone. Not Dad, nor me, nor Andrea. “But we did write every week at first and then when we realized you weren’t going to answer us, we still wrote on the holidays and on our birthdays.”
“That bastard! I think kids, I am married to a con man. This Sandra you say is married to Aden, is worse off than I am. She can’t even be married to him even though she thinks she is. What are we going to do about it?”
“Get even somehow. He seems to be in this for the money. Sandy has seen some of the balances of his assets. Maybe I can get her to give me a copy somehow. We’ll take the money from him to get even.”
“Is she nice, Son?”
I blushed. “I think she is. Don’t you think she is, Andrea?”
“Okay I guess. You lived with her longer than I did.” Sis saw me blush. “Don’t tell me you are attracted to her?”
“Maybe not attracted to her, but she did stand up for me when Dad kicked me out. Don’t forget she gave us two sisters and a brother. I wonder what’s going to happen to them? Actually, I think I’m feeling sorry for her.”
Mom broke in, “I can feel sorry for her too.” The subject of how I felt about Sandy was dropped, thank God.
“I have to ask a question about the time you were stopped for contraband. Were you really carrying drugs to that dealer? It isn’t going to make a difference how I feel about you. I’ll always love you.”
“I swear I didn’t know there were any drugs in the car. I had never heard of the dealer. As I think back, Aden wouldn’t testify, saying he couldn’t be required to. That seemed like an admission that I was guilty and he wouldn’t confirm it. I didn’t reach that conclusion until I was in prison and talked to some of the other inmates.”
“Is the drug dealer still in town now?”
“I think so. In fact I think he is waiting on another trial for a drug related offense. One more conviction after this and he will be declared a habitual offender. That’s what the newspaper states anyway. The time he testified against me, he wasn’t charged with anything, which didn’t seem right.”
“How come you went to Springfield, Massachusetts?”
“Your father sent me down to one of the malls for some special footwear. He said it was the only mall that handled that brand. When I asked about the shoes they said they never carried that brand. Only L.L. Bean carried that item. I forgot about him sending me until later. You can’t blame me. I was a mess when I was charged and put into jail.”
“I think Dad was trying to get rid of you. It had to be for the money.”
“I guess you are right. You two have paid an awful price. Almost more than what I have.” Nothing more was said until, “The Randolph exit is just ahead. Andrea and I will wait in the car while you are looking at the school. Take your time and see everything. This is your future.”
By the time I finished touring the school, I knew that several prominent jurists had graduated from this campus. Many worked in the environmental law field and I hoped someday I would be counted among them. Also I felt my roots were here and although the stem had been pruned early in my life, it was time I returned to grow from those roots again.
Before we reached Brattleboro, Mom knew almost everything about our life in Texas. She was very interested in our Miss Harris and certainly wanted to meet her someday. I couldn’t detect any hatred for Sandra, the other Mrs. Hunter, either. Some sorrow maybe, she for being as gullible about being taken in by my father as she was.
“What’s next, Adrian? Aden has to pay.”
“I think our best bet is to get Sandy on our side. I really think Dad is planning on giving her the shaft just as he did to you. It probably won’t be the same kind. I couldn’t even guess what he is planning for her. Something just as diabolical, I’ll warrant. I have to leave tomorrow. My tests are coming up next week. The week after, I’ll go to Texas and see what I can do.”
“You better take a copy of my marriage license and all of the account statements that were in the boxes. The will that left you and Andrea money is there. Also he managed my money and that agreement is there as well. This must be enough to convince her that she could be in trouble and if Aden ran out on her, she might possibly have no way to support her children and could lose them.”
“I’ll see what I can do. Don’t you want to go with me? Miss Harris would love to meet you.”
“Really. I don’t know.”
“It would add a lot of weight to what I’m trying convince Sandy of.”
“Okay, I guess I can do that.”
“Do you have any money for traveling?”
“Paul will lend it to me. I’ll talk to him as soon as we get home.”
“That would be generous of him. I think I may have spoken too quickly. Let me meet with Sandy and then if I think it will do any good for you to come to Texas, I can phone you.”
“Okay, tomorrow morning, I’ll get copies made and you can take them with you. Oh, I hate to think of you leaving when we have just found each other.”
We spent more time that evening going through the three boxes, finding all sorts of treasures to take us back down memory lane. I was a long time getting to sleep on the couch. I could hear Mom and Andrea still talking as I drifted off to sleep. It was very busy in the morning. Mom and Andrea took care of doing the copying that was needed. I spent an hour on the phone arranging to fly out of Hartford, Connecticut. I could turn my rental in there and save an hour’s travel time. An hour that I could well spend with the mother that my father had intended on denying us ever knowing again.
I reached Pennsylvania and the apartment and put my thoughts to the tests I would be taking during the coming week. Sis came in two days later. She had no tests to take and helped me bone up on my last one on Friday.
I flew out on Saturday morning for Texas, arriving in the early afternoon. I was sitting down with Rena Harris for dinner at six that evening. We went through the copies of the papers I had brought with me. She had little to say.
“What is your next move and what do you want to accomplish?”
“I want Mom to get the money that Dad took from her. She wants me and Andrea to have what was willed to us. I’ve given a lot of thought to Sandy and her situation. I want her to get what she deserves as well.”
“What would that be?”
“I see Sandra in a worse situation than the rest of us. I would like to see her get the money she handed Dad back into her own control. She has three little children and she doesn’t have any standing as far as being married. She is a victim and if Dad walks away, which I have a feeling he is about to do, the kids are going to be terribly victimized as well. I want her to protect herself the best she can.”
“You really like your stepmother, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“How much and in what context?”
“I can’t answer that. She isn’t old enough to be my mother. She is too old for me to consider as a wife. There are all the other complications. She has three kids that are related to me by blood. I don’t know what the legal ramifications are if my father is a bigamist. What a mess if I thought enough of her to declare my love and she accepted. Mostly I try not to think of her and you know I don’t visit her but seldom because of that.”
“How does she feel about you?”
“I don’t know, but she is always very happy to see me and she wishes I would come see her more often.”
“My advice to you is to get the present situation straightened out first. You still have years of school. She will have the care of three young children and unmarried if her so-called husband is a bigamist. She is certainly in for a lot of trouble. None of her own making, I hasten to add. You can always help her from a distance.”
“That is what I will do. Thanks Rena. You know, if you were forty years younger, I would marry you. I love you that much.”
“I wouldn’t turn you down if I was thirty years younger.”
“I’d ask if you were thirty years younger.”
“I believe you would. Oh well, that’s one of those things we will never know about for sure. So you must have some plan. Tell me.”
“I’d like to ask you to do me a favor. Would you baby-sit the kids if I can get Sandy alone so we can talk? I don’t want the kids to know I’m back in town.”
“Sure. I’ll even call in case your father is home. I’ll set it up.”
Dad was home when Miss Harris called. Sandy said my father was in the other room. Before she hung up, it was agreed that Miss Harris was a friend she had met at the grocery store and was offering a trip to the zoo. Sandra was going to feel faint and stay in the car. I would meet her there while Miss Harris and the kids looked at the animals. When Rena went to the door, she was introduced to my Dad and the cover story was used.
I saw Rena’s car enter the zoo parking lot, and waited until she and the kids went inside. I eased into the driver’s seat and drove the car to the back side of the lot next to my own. I turned to my stepmother. “Hi. I miss you.”
“I miss you too. Now tell me what this is all about? Why the secrecy?”
“Sandy, I have some things to tell you about my father. I need to keep him from knowing I know these things for a little while and I would like to have you keep them a secret as well. First, how are you two getting along?”
“Not good. We are almost two strangers living in the same house. Why the questions?”
“This is the way he treated my mother before she went to jail. Sandy, I thought for twelve years that my mother was dead, having died in prison. She is alive and living in Vermont. My father lied to me. I spent some time a week ago with her. Andrea came back just this last Thursday from visiting with her. We all think that Dad is planning something so he can leave you just as he did Mom.”
“He wouldn’t leave his kids.”
“Dad might. Sandy, it gets worse. He and Mom were never divorced. Dad isn’t even married to you. He bugged out with all of the money that was left to me and Andrea by my grandparents. He also took all of the money that Mom had as well. We were told Mom was dead and a week later he brought you to live with us. We think that was the time he managed to get control of your assets.”
I sat back and waited for questions. Sandy was as shocked as I expected her to be. She made the statement, “That would make him a bigamist.”
“I know.”
“What do you want from me?”
“We want you to help us recover the money he has taken from all of us. We understand that you should come first, as you and the kids are the biggest victims. I have some papers here that will confirm what I am telling you. Would you take a look at them?”
“Let me see what you have.”
Sandy was convinced and we set about figuring the best way to get our hands on the money and put it into an account Dad couldn’t touch. Sandra thought she could find out how much he had in various accounts. This would give us an idea of what he was worth. Maybe the accounts were divided up so we could identify where each account originated. I impressed on Sandy that she had to act as normal as possible. She said she could and would do it.
“What are you going to do about Aden after we get the money?”
“That is more up to you than me and Andrea. We are going to make sure he can never go back to Vermont without paying some kind of penalty. Mom and you can have him charged with having multiple wives. That would give him jail time, but he still has to support your kids. I doubt Mom would want to bother pressing any charges against him, but then she may want to clear her name. She is still listed as a felon. The main witness against her is still living in her town. Anyway we thought getting you free is the first order of business.”
“Somehow, I have the feeling it is you who is looking out for my interests.”
“I admit that I feel you should come first in this. You were too young to be my mother, but you were my friend when I needed one. I’m trying to be one to you now.”
“Is that all Adrian? Is that the only reason?”
“I’ve given it a lot of thought, and it has to be. I might wish differently, but I don’t see how it can be otherwise.” This was making me uncomfortable. “I think you better go find the kids and Miss Harris. She will swing by your house at noon on Monday to see if you were able to get your hands on what we need. I’m making my home with her for a few days. Andrea is coming out next week and Mom will be with her.”
“Question Adrian. Aden is your father. Don’t you have any love for him?”
“On some level, I suppose, but remember he put my Mom in prison, just so he could loot our accounts. I’m still waiting for some show of affection. I’ll make up my mind how I feel about him if and when I see any sign of love from him. Now, I have a question for you. Why did you have kids with him? That doesn’t seem as if it would follow his plan to get your money.”
“I insisted on having children or it was no deal with handing over the money. I told him I wanted three babies and he reluctantly agreed. He bitched every time I became pregnant. I gave in to his wishes four years ago and had my tubes tied when Tammy was born.”
“You know this might be a wake up call. He might accept that you control the money and become the loving husband you thought you were getting when you married him.”
“But I am not married to him. He already has a wife. That tells you something doesn’t it?”
“You are so right. But then Mom intends to divorce him so he will be free.”
“I don’t want her leftovers and I’d be divorcing him even if I was married.” Sandy was shaking her head violently in the negative. “There is your Miss Harris coming out with my kids.” I started to get out of the car. “Adrian.” She leaned over and brushed my cheek with a kiss. “Thank you.”
Monday noon, Miss Harris got what papers Sandra was able to gather. They contained a full list of his accounts that Sandy had found in his locked box. All were in long term Certificates of Deposit, except for one that was a Money Market account. These wouldn’t draw the most interest, but they could be easily cashed in with only a small penalty. Even so, they would double in less than ten years at the present rate of interest. He also might have accounts that weren’t listed in the box.
I determined that the MM account was what Dad used to store his current finances in, as there were deposits and withdrawals and it had check-writing capabilities. Apparently he wasn’t worried about the bank going bust at anytime. The money was all in Jumbo CDs in the same institution. I knew this was poor management of a person’s money from a safety standpoint.
The way the accounts were set up opened up an easier way for us to recover what was ours, and I didn’t see any way he could object if we put enough pressure on him. I was a co-owner of one account. Mom, Andrea, and Sandy were listed each the same way as co-owners of separate accounts.
If he was ever caught, he could claim he was just managing the accounts. This gave him an easy out. Of course I’m sure he didn’t ever intend to split it with us, because we wouldn’t know about the accounts. To me this was another indication that at some point he was going to lose Sandra and the kids from his life. I could be wrong, but I didn’t think so.
Thursday morning Mom and Andrea arrived and I picked them up at the airport. Mom had changed. Now she looked and acted as if some great burden had been lifted from her. She had a future ahead and it included the people dearest to her. She and Rena Harris were taken with each other. Mom thanked Rena for watching over her children while the family was separated.
Mom brought the original paperwork with her, the most important being her marriage certificate showing that she and Aden Hunter were husband and wife. Also she brought a present for Dad. He was to be served with divorcement papers when and where found, citing irreconcilable differences. He would get these as we left the bank if all worked out as planned.
We needed Sandy to promote the sting operation. Rena Harris was again the one to take the three kids to an afternoon snack at McDonalds. Sandra could come and discuss our plans and needs without interruption. When she came in, she hugged me, Andrea, and was introduced to mother. The two Mrs. Hunters didn’t have time to get acquainted, because we needed to plot a plan quickly. She readily agreed to what we came up with.
Ten o’clock Friday morning she called Dad’s accounting office. “What do you want? You know I don’t like you calling me here.”
“Aden, there is a man at the door who says I have won a prize for sending in one of those game puzzles I’m always playing. It is for $10,000, but I have to sign a form for it to be deposited into our bank account. I don’t know the account number. Would you come home and see if it is legitimate?”
“Don’t sign anything until I get there. This may be a scam. Tell him I’ll be there in twenty-five minutes.”
“Okay, but I don’t want to lose the money. Hurry.”
Chapter Three
Dad made it in twenty minutes. He came through the door. I was sitting in the living room watching as he came into the kitchen. “Where is he? You shouldn’t have let a stranger into the house.”
I spoke from the chair I was sitting in. “There is no one, Dad. I wanted to see you and I knew you wouldn’t come home just to see me.”
“What in the hell do you want? I thought I’d seen the last of you. You can turn around and get out.”
“Does that hold for me too, Daddy? It has been three years since I’ve had a chance to visit.” Andrea put in her two words.
“Yes, you too. There is nothing here for you to hang around for. You get out too.”
Mother stepped from the bedroom, facing her husband. “Remember me, Aden? I’m your loving wife. You know, the one with a felony on her record.”
Dad was speechless. Then, “I divorced you. I’m married to Sandra now.”
“That’s funny. There is no record of a divorce. Not here and not in Vermont.”
Sandra spoke. “That tells me that I’m not married and that I have three illegitimate children. I wonder what the law is going to say about that.”
“Barbara will want a divorce and we can be married. No problem.”
We all stared at my father. He realized it wasn’t going to work. “Okay, what do you want? Who set this up? You, Barbara?”
“No, but I certainly am in accord with what Adrian is doing. He has figured out how he and Andrea can recover their inheritance. I think he has figured out how much I am due as well. I want it all back.”
“I guess that can be arranged.”
“You didn’t let me finish. There is more. We feel that Sandra and her children need protection and should be compensated for the situation you have placed them in.”
“Are you speaking for her? She is nothing to you.”
“No Dad, I’m speaking for her. She is going to get her money back just the same as your first family. We may leave you something, but you are going to set up a fund for your three kids from your own really flush Money Market account. I figure there might be about $10,000 left in it when we walk out the bank door.”
“No way in hell am I going to agree to this.”
“Her name is on the account, or, how does three years in prison and a $200,000 fine for bigamy sound? That is the average sentence.”
“You bastard, you can’t do it. You can’t make me give up all I’ve worked for. It took me twenty-six years to put this in place.”
“Yes, and think of all the heartbreak and pain you have caused us. If we take your assets, you still haven’t paid your whole debt. You denied Mom the pleasure of seeing Andrea and me grow up. You took our loving mother from us and made us think she was dead. You---you never told us you loved us. You couldn’t, because you didn’t.”
I couldn’t go on for a minute. “Okay, we have some business to transact at the bank. All of the CDs are going to be put in our names. Hey, that is pretty neat, you keeping track of the money for us. You thought that would keep you out of jail. It will, but then you won’t have the money either. So let’s go. Dad, I’ll ride with you. I don’t think Mom wants to be in the same vehicle. Sandy, would you drive Mom and Andrea?”
Dad drove. He was pissed and didn’t know where to turn. He was mumbling under his breath. “What did you say? Speak louder.”
“Son-of-a-bitch, son-of-a-bitch, son-of-a-bitch.” Dad was repeating this over and over. Before we turned down the avenue where the bank was located, he pulled to the curb. “I’m not doing it. There is no way you can force me.” He looked hopefully at me thinking I would capitulate.
I just pulled my cell phone out and started dialing. “Hello, may I speak to someone about my father? I think he has more than one woman he---”
I was cut off by Dad screaming, “Okay, you get your money.” He started the car and pulled back into traffic. I could see that Sandra was right behind me when I looked out the side mirror. Dad was very unhappy, but resigned. Did I feel sorry for him? Some, but he had screwed up so many lives. That wasn’t all, I figured he wasn’t through doing this to one of us either. That would be Sandra and she was being treated just as we had been a dozen years earlier.
We still had no idea what he had planned for Sandy. It probably wouldn’t have been the same thing that he had done to Mom. After all, there were three young kids involved ... all under nine years of age. He should have had a smidgen of affection for them. “How are you going to handle this, Dad? Am I going to have to worry about you causing trouble in the bank?”
“No, I will play it straight. I am worried about Sandra having the same name as mine. There can’t be two Mrs. Hunters. What will I say if they start asking questions?”
“Dad, you make a terrible con man. I can think of dozens of ways you could have done better in setting up a way to get rich off other people. You have left so many loopholes in your planning.”
“Maybe, but that doesn’t get me out of this problem. You tell me if you are so damned smart.”
“Try coming up with an imaginary much younger brother that has passed away. She can be your sister-in-law. That should get you out of this particular problem. I predict that someday though, you are going to wish that you had taken the love Mom had for you and returned it. Now have you got straight what we want from you? You are going to have to act as if this is all your idea. Any glitch and you know you can be in a cell by evening. Repeat how you are going to do this.”
“Yes. CDs that you and I own together transferred to your name. Andrea gets the same treatment. My wife Barbara and I are separating and she gets the CDs and I get the house. That’s the story. What Sandra gets is what I have been holding for her in her dead husband’s memory. The same with half the MM account for his children.”
“No, you keep $10,000. All of the rest goes to her dependent children.”
“You are some kind of bastard. How did I ever sire you?”
“If I can stand to be in the same room with you, we’ll have to talk about who is the worst sometime. I think it is you.”
We drove into the bank parking lot. Sandra pulled up next to us and we all got out. I spoke to Sandy. “If Dad has to explain your having the same last name, you were married to his younger brother, Allen. He is so sad and offered to watch your money until you got on your feet. Now he is transferring the money back to you and your children. Have you got that? Don’t volunteer anything else.”
Sandra giggled. “Oh yes, you were quite fond of your Uncle Allen as I remember.” Dad couldn’t see the humor.
It really did go quite smoothly inside. Mom wanted her funds distributed to Andrea and myself, equally. I was surprised, as was Sis. Then I remembered that Dad was going to be named in a divorce suit very shortly. Mom didn’t want her money in her name. We would square up at a later date. Mom excused herself while Sandra was getting her funds into separate accounts and went outside.
The bank was pleased the funds were not leaving this institution. Mom came back in and heard the banker ask Dad if his other accounts needed updating. Mom spoke for him. “Just give us a list and I will advise him. He really is doing a wonderful job of managing our money.”
Dad looked pretty disgusted that he had to disclose to us that he had more money than what we had known about. He could have killed the banker and wanted to tell him not to bother. I had my cell phone in my hand. We got the list and Mom put it in her pocket. This concluded our business inside the bank.
There were two men standing at the foot of the steps leading into the bank. One stepped forward. “Mr. Aden Hunter residing at 737 Cactus Lane?”
“Yes, that’s me.”
“You have been served.” Dad looked stunned as the process server handed him some papers. He first looked at Sandy and then at Mom.
“It was me, Aden. I’m suing for a divorce.”
“Okay Barbara, I expected that you would. You certainly haven’t lost any time.” Dad’s troubles were not over.
The other person that was standing at the bottom of the steps, flashed a badge and came up and circled behind my father.
“Mr. Aden Hunter, put your hands behind your back. There has been a claim that you are a bigamist. I’m taking you down to headquarters to get it straightened out. You may call your attorney from there.” He was read his rights as the handcuffs were put on his wrists. His spirit broken, Dad was shoved into a cruiser.
Sandy spoke then. “I made the charge. Barbara, would you provide your marriage certificate to back up my complaint? I’m to go down to the precinct in a half hour to confirm. It would help if you went with me.” She turned to me. “Adrian, would you get the children from Miss Harris’s care and take them home? They trust you. Tell them I have some business and will be home as soon as I can.”
“Okay, sure. Andrea, you’re in this with me. The kids don’t know you as well as they do me. It is time you got to know them.”
I related to Rena what had taken place at the bank. While Andrea was getting the kids ready to leave, I pulled Rena aside and told her that Mom had my father served and Sandy had him arrested on a complaint of bigamy. “You know Dad is crushed. I could almost feel sorry for him. I suspect he will be spending some time in jail while this is all sorted out.”
“Don’t forget that your father has caused everyone connected to him a lot of pain. It is time for him to feel some now.”
“You are right of course. I wonder if right at this moment he wishes he could have a do-over. It certainly isn’t going to happen.” Andrea and I waited until after seven that evening before Sandra and Mom arrived at the house.
“He is in jail tonight. He will be arraigned sometime tomorrow on a charge of bigamy. He made his one phone call. Bail will be set when he is charged. The policeman said it would be high. They are going to take into consideration his leaving Vermont and coming to Texas. To them, that indicates a risk of flight.”
“I didn’t know you were going to have him arrested. That was a total surprise. I threatened him with it to get him to give up the accounts. This really must have been a shock to him.”
“Adrian, I don’t know what my position is in all of this. I was advised to get a restraining order to keep him away from here. I have done that. Aden doesn’t even have a place to call home anymore. It is going to be equally hard for me to survive. I’m not trained for anything. The worst of it is, I don’t know if I have done the right thing.”
“I’m sure you have done what is best for you.”
“Adrian, would you go to the arraignment with me in the morning? I want to meet Aden’s lawyer and see what I’m up against before I hire one to see to my interests.”
“You should have one already.”
“I know, but the police said it would be a few days before I needed one to speak for me.”
“I guess. I’ll pick you up then. Do you want me or Andrea to stay here tonight with you?”
“You. The children know you best. They always get so excited when they know you are coming.”
“I get kind of excited myself.” Sandra flashed me a glance, but didn’t hold it. Maybe I was still a teenager to her---one that was growing up. She couldn’t think that. I was twenty-two. I honestly didn’t have any hidden meanings. At least until she glanced at me.
Aden was brought before the judge in the morning. It was found out at that time that my father hadn’t hired an attorney. His one call was to his place of business. When he told why he wanted the day off Monday, after asking for Friday off, he was told that they didn’t need him anymore.
There were several exchanges between Aden and the judge, ending by the judge asking how he pleaded.
“Guilty as charged, your honor.”
“I won’t accept that. Get yourself an attorney. Bailiff see that he is represented by next week Thursday. When he is represented, I’ll consider bail. Until then he is remanded to his cell.”
I went around to the desk sergeant and asked to visit my father. I had ten minutes with him. At first he wouldn’t speak. “Dad you have to get a lawyer. Sandra needs to have the children’s situation defined. You can’t do this sitting in a cell.”
“I blame you for this, Adrian. You said if I turned over the accounts, I wouldn’t be in trouble. Now look at me. No job, no home, and almost no money.”
“Dad, you are going to have a lot of time to think in the next few days. Think about who is to blame for your situation. I’ll admit, I didn’t realize that Mom and Sandra were going to be as vindictive as they are. I can understand it. Mom spent time in prison and you denied Sis and me a mother for ten years. Sandra has three kids, who you apparently don’t give a damn about. Her life is totally screwed up.”
I had said enough. I rapped on the door to be let out. Before it opened, I contained my wrath. “Dad, is there anything you need?”
“Yes, get me a lawyer.”
When I got back to Sandra’s house, Mom was there and they were discussing hiring an attorney together. I advised against it. “There may be some conflict between you two at some time. Get separate ones. Dad wants a lawyer now and I’m going to hire him one. That doesn’t mean I’m at cross purposes with you, but he has a right to one.” I laughed. “That’s the future attorney in me speaking.” Sandra and Mom both smiled.
Rena Harris had to return to her classroom on Monday. The school administration had covered her being out for personal reasons by hiring a substitute. It was nearly the end of the term, with only three weeks to finish. Mom and Andrea were heading east in a couple of days. Mom to Vermont and my sister back to Pennsylvania.
Mom’s suit for divorcement was to be handled in Vermont. She did want representation when Aden was brought before the judge again. Sandra’s attorney had a list of demands that she was going to insist on. Some of these were much the same as they would be in a normal divorce---except there had been no marriage. The crime itself was between the state of Texas and Aden Hunter, not between Sandra Beeman (Hunter) and Aden Hunter.
There was to be no redress for the pain and suffering that Sis and I had encountered during the years that Dad had taken us away from Mom. It was just one of those situations where it happened and nothing could be done about it.
Again I had signed up to work on an oil rig for the standard ten weeks. I was as reluctant this time as I could be. Now money-wise, I was in a position to be able to refuse. But when I signed, it was as if I had shaken hands and given my word. Sandra’s children finally realized that the man they called Daddy wasn’t living with their Mom anymore. I don’t think it bothered them very much, for he had shown them little affection lately. They were saddest when I said I was leaving for my summer job.
The kiss that Sandra and I shared as I was getting ready to leave, was one that shouldn’t have happened. There was just too much passion in it for a stepson and stepmom to indulge in. “Go Adrian, your taxi is waiting. Forget we did that. Please? I don’t know what I was thinking.” She whirled and went into the other room.
“Sandy. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have shown so much feeling. You do know I think you are special, don’t you?”
“Yes, but there can be nothing between us. Radio me when you get to sea, but please nothing personal.”
“Okay Sandy, I’ll be back in August. Maybe things will change by then. Could be I’ll fall in love with a mermaid.” I opened the front door and slid into the waiting taxi.
There were changes when I arrived back in Texas. My Dad had been sentenced to a year in county jail and a $10,000 fine. Sandra had received everything she had asked for. One thing she asked specifically for was to be able to retain the name of Hunter and have it made permanent. She requested this so she would have the same last name as the children.
She had a monthly payment that would be alimony the same as if she had been married and then divorced. Of course there was the child support payment for the three children as well. This money was paid out from some of Dad’s assets that the bank had inadvertently disclosed. Earning no salary now, Dad would become poorer as the months rolled by while he was incarcerated.
Dad had tried to plead guilty when first arraigned. This time in court he did the same over the objections of counsel. He did come away with the right to visit the children when he was discharged from jail. This was by his request, which was a surprise to us who knew him.
When I returned from sea, I went to the jail for a visit. “I wondered if you would come to see me. Andrea was in town but she didn’t come near me. Son, I realize what an asshole I have been. Sandra comes in once a month to bring me pictures of the kids. She comes in for the kids, but not for herself.”
“So what do you do here all day?”
“I have chores and I help the other inmates by listening to their problems about their financial situations. Ain’t that a hoot? I’m in jail for planning on screwing my loved ones out of their money and I’m asked to give financial advice. I’m thinking a lot about different things. I’ve written to your mother. She has an address that lists a Paul Black. Do you know anything about him?”
“I’ve met him. Nice old guy. He gave Mom work on the farm, so she could get out of prison early. He’s retired now. Mom’s his housekeeper.”
Dad thought for a minute. “He must be about sixty-eight or nine then.”
“No, he is over eighty. Those Vermont farmers don’t plan on retiring until they have one foot in the grave and it better not come before eighty, either.”
“So what are your plans? I understand you want to be an attorney and are going to school in Vermont. You’ll be living near your mother?”
“That’s the plan.”
“I won’t be seeing you for sometime then. How did you get to be so smart, anyway? Andrea is the same way, so Barbara writes me.”
“It was you Dad. We were getting nothing from you and if we wanted to be something, we realized we would have to do it ourselves. We had the advice of a nice old schoolteacher to guide us to take the place of what we didn’t get from you.”
“I just never knew did I? Well, I’m pretty proud of both of you. Thanks for stopping by. When you get an address, would you send it to me? If I have time, I’ll drop you a line.” I got a crooked grin from this man who had screwed up so many lives. Was this jailhouse humor?
I returned it in the same vein. “I’ll do that. I don’t guess your address will change either.”
“Nope. Nine and a half months more. Go on, get out of here, you have better things to do than to hang around with jailbirds.” I swear there was tears in Dad’s eyes as I left.
I was staying at the house with Sandy. “Hi, I’m back.” I was wondering if I would get a hug. I didn’t. I had been hoping all the time I was absent, but it wasn’t my decision. I certainly wasn’t going to force myself on this woman.
“Hi Adrian. I thought you would be showing up in a day or so. How have you been?”
“The same. I looked forward to talking on the phone with you. That has been my only bright spot this summer. The work is a grind, but it pays well.”
“I know. Adrian, let’s talk a minute. I know you think you are attracted to me, but I’ve decided we can’t go there. Look, my life is still mixed up. I don’t know if it will ever straighten out. You aren’t going to make it difficult for me are you?”
“No. I’m twenty-two and you are ten years older than me. I try to tell myself it doesn’t matter, but we both know it does. You wouldn’t want to hook up with a younger man.”
“Age has nothing to do with it. You’re half brother to Rich, Tammy and Phyllis. How would we explain the relationship to them when they got old enough to understand?”
“Okay Sandy, I can just be your friend. Now, I’ll change the subject. I went in to visit Dad this morning. He is different, somehow. He is acting more like a father should. I can tell he is ashamed about being a jailbird. He mentioned it a few times. He is feeling now what he put Mom through.”
“He does. I have been in three times to show him pictures of the kids. He is supporting them, so he should see what he is getting for his money. He has mentioned your Mom. He has some crazy scheme to rectify what he did to her. I told him I didn’t want to hear about it. I can see though, there is a big change in him.
“You know, I half thought he would be either very angry at me or want to get me to marry him for real when he got out. He doesn’t show any hatred or affection toward me at all. I’m really kind of disappointed.”
“How do you honestly feel about him?”
“What I just said was what I felt the first time I visited. Now, I want him to help me with the cost of raising the kids. That’s all.”
“Sandra, you don’t want me and you don’t want him. What do you want?”
“I want a man that doesn’t mind having a woman that was gullible. God, how could I have been so stupid. I’m responsible for three kids and can never have another. What man would want me?”
“All I can give you is platitudes. Don’t give up hope. For all your inadequacy, you are young and very attractive. More so than the last time I was here.”
I received a look of pleasure for what I had just stated. She changed the subject. “Have you seen Rena, yet? She is looking forward to your visit. She is planning on selling her house you know. She is going back to live in Vermont after almost forty years. She says it is time she went home.”
“I didn’t know. I hope she ends up in the southern part of the state with me and Mom. That way she will be near us and I can see both at the same time.”
“She does correspond with your mother. I’m going to miss her when she does leave.”
“Go with her. Then I can see my half brother and sisters. Where are they anyway?”
“Across the back lot at one of my friend’s houses. They’ll be home shortly. I can’t take the kids away from Aden. It is all that keeps him from going crazy.”
“You don’t have to go right away. Tell him you are thinking of it next time you talk to him. He might surprise you.”
“I will. Are you staying here tonight?”
“I was going to, but after I visit the kids for awhile, I think I will sleep over at Miss Harris’s house. You understand why, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
I started law school. It was an eighty mile drive from where I was staying with Mom in Brattleboro. There was one good thing about the traveling. The thruways were nearly empty of traffic the hours I was on them and I could zip right along. I did have a back-up room that I could stay in, if the weather was bad, or if I needed to study for a test. It was crowded in Paul Black’s mobile home, but I didn’t mind. Mom and I were getting to know one another again. We knew that eventually we would have to find a home more sizable to live in.
Rena Harris called me in October, asking what my living arrangements were. She was contemplating moving to Brattleboro. I explained that this was a high tax area, so anything she found would be expensive. Not to worry, she guessed she could afford it. Would my mother be interested in living with her in the same dwelling? I couldn’t answer and turned that over to Mom.
There was a large New Englander that had been made into three apartments on Western Avenue. Mom took one apartment, Rena took one, and the last was still empty when they moved in. I leased Paul’s trailer and he transferred to a small bedroom in the apartment with Mom. She was still going to care for him. I was happy with this arrangement because when Andrea came north to visit, she could stay with me.
I worried about Mom running out of money, but Paul had transferred all of his assets into Mom’s name in return for caring for him until he passed away. This was all tied up legally. I suppose Mom was quite well-to-do by some standards, but she had certainly earned every penny. I still held almost $160,000 in my account that she had transferred to me before the divorce from Dad.
Rena and Paul spent hours together talking about Vermont. Both were republicans, and bemoaned the fact that Vermont had shifted from its republican roots to democratic ones. Mom still clerked in a convenience store on Canal Street and this removed the burden of her worrying about him during the hours she spent working.
The mobile home gave me a quiet place to study. Sure, I was spending three hours a day traveling, but I was comfortable with doing my studying on the weekend so it worked out fine for me. I didn’t have a social life like I did when I was with my sister in Pennsylvania, but I wanted this start in life and the other could come later.
I didn’t ever feel alone. I called my sister once a week and I called Sandy as often. My calls to Sandra lasted longer as the kids spoke with me and wanted to know what I was doing and all hoped to see me someday. In some way I was a surrogate father to them. Sandy and I were very careful to not let any feelings show in our calls to each other. My father was interested in me as well, according to her. It started at Christmas time. I sent him a card and immediately got one back in return. There was a long note in it telling me how much the card meant to him. From then on I set aside a few minutes once a week to send him a note.
January saw Mom and Rena fixing up the apartment in their house. I know, for they had me down doing some of the work in my spare time. They set about furnishing it. One bedroom was a little girl’s room. The largest bedroom, they hired a carpenter and had it divided into two small bedrooms. They wouldn’t tell me who they were getting it ready for, but I knew.
Dad had relayed the fact that Sandy was moving to Vermont. My sisters and my brother wouldn’t be living very far from me. “Son, would you kind of watch out for Sandra? When she finds someone to love, would you check him out and make sure he isn’t or isn’t ever going to be a jailbird? God what a fool I have been all my life. I’m still so thankful that you think enough of your old man to take the time to write or I wouldn’t feel as if I could ask this favor of you.”
Dad had been a con man of the worst kind, preying on the gullibility of Mom and Sandra. Had he changed or was he still trying a con on me? Then I thought about how his con had worked in his favor for many years. But he did get caught and hopefully he has learned his lesson. I wanted him to have changed. Everyone wanted to respect their parents and up until now he certainly didn’t deserve my respect.
I had some weird thoughts sometimes. I hated what Dad had done to all of us. What would I do if he changed for the better? Could I trust him to follow his good intentions? Would I want him a lonely old man without any family to love him? No one would blame any of us involved if that is what his future held. Setting aside the feelings I had for Sandy, wouldn’t she be better off with him if he could and did change. I had made several overtures to remain in his life. So far I didn’t feel any regrets about keeping in touch with him.
Sandy and the children arrived during the winter school vacation. What a change in climate for them. Sandy was more beautiful than I remembered. Phyllis was almost eleven now, Rich was eight, and Tammy would be seven in June. The kids were very excited and told me how much they missed me. They hung onto Rena and she clasped them to her. When introduced to Paul they went to him and shook his hand. He beamed all over as he declared what wonderful kids they were.
Sandra’s apartment was the largest and that is where we all got together for our reunion. Mom apologized for the small rooms for Sandra and Rich to sleep in. “Don’t worry about it. I’m here amongst my friends and I can live and sleep anywhere. Rich can too. Besides we have this huge living room and large kitchen.”
The kids went to bed. Mom and Paul went back to their apartment and Rena did the same, leaving me and Sandra alone. “Adrian, I have missed you. Not for what I feel for you, but for what you did and are doing for us. Your father had his attorney give us the money to fly here at your suggestion. The attorney even arranged to have the transportation ready to travel from Hartford to here. I’ve been so lonely since Rena left, but that is all behind me now. I feel like I’m back in the arms of family tonight.
“I still say there can be nothing for you and me. I do have one request. Before you commit to another, would you tell me your intentions? I will do the same before I commit to someone. Before I make such a commitment I think we should talk. Now I think you had better leave. It wouldn’t do for you to stay too late.” I puzzled over her remarks, but I was caught up in my studies and nearly forgot them.
Dad had four months of time left to serve. I wondered what he was going to do when he was discharged after completing his sentence. I called Sis during spring break and we decided we had enough feelings for him to make a visit. God, was he happy to see us. He was lucky he was in jail and not in prison or we wouldn’t have been able to visit him for several hours each and every one of the four days we were in the city. “So, what are your plans when you get out?”
“Son, I’m going back to Vermont. I’ll find me a little place and see if I can find some work. I still have a little money. Your Mom and Sandra didn’t take it all. I thought when Barbara got the list of my assets she would demand them. As it was, she only took what was due her. I still have three kids to support and that’s eating into my assets at a rapid pace.
“I’m hoping Sandra finds the man she deserves. I know that certainly won’t be me. Your mom should have someone as well. Maybe I can help her out a little financially if I can find that job I’m hoping for.”
He turned to Sis. “Andrea, you and I have never been close. Not like Adrian has been to me. What are your plans for the future? You have been in college for six years so you must have some plan.”
“I have. Vermont has a republican governor and he is pushing energy conservation. He has set up an agency specifically dealing with those matters. I’m going to work for them, starting in June. It doesn’t pay much for what training I have, but it can be a stepping stone in some other state that pays better. I have to start somewhere.”
“Smart girl. Adrian, you have two more years of school. What are your plans?”
“I don’t have any yet. I have a job this summer working in a law office in Brattleboro. They do some environmental work involving the Connecticut River watershed council. I might even run into Sis sometimes. It is a small state. Vermont Law School is a private school, but it is 17th in the country out of the 195 that have the same curriculum. I’m doing well or I wouldn’t have been able to pull down this summer job.”
I hesitated and made an offer that had more to do with my two half sisters and their brother. “Dad until you get settled, you can stay in my trailer for awhile.”
“Thank you. I’ll be seeing you about the first of June then. God, I feel I am just getting to know what fine kids I almost threw away. I have to confess that was my intention for way too long. I set my sights on having a couple of million in the bank and then I was going to bug out and go to Canada to live. That doesn’t seem at all attractive now.”
“Dad don’t forget Tammy, Rich and Phyllis. They are good kids. If you are around, I’m sure Sandy won’t keep you from them.”
“I know. She has been very good about keeping me informed while they are growing up.” He sat there shaking his head at all of the wrong thinking he had up until a year ago. There were tears in his eyes when we went in the last time, just before we headed back across country.
All three of the young kids attended the Academy School, just up the avenue from where they were living. This was the same school that Andrea and I had gone to. They were reveling in their new surroundings. The week they arrived, the town was having its annual Winter Carnival. They had a chance to go to some of the functions, such as the sugar on snow treats. All winter they were able to slide at the park. They took to cold weather immediately.
At first Sandra was able to find part time work at the 7/11 up the street. She wanted and needed more hours. She applied at Gillies restaurant across from the fire station. Mom and Rena watched the children in the evenings while she waited table there.
This was a happy household and I gave little thought to the dark feelings against Dad that had plagued me before my return to Vermont. First there was Mom and her screwing up by selling drugs and getting caught. Dad intimated she was totally to blame. Then it seemed as if Dad had little love for Sis and me when he didn’t console us for being motherless. Then it was the area he settled us in when we ended up in Texas. Hot, dusty, and it put us where we had to deal with unfriendly inhabitants.
When he brought in a stepmom, it was really bad for us. Not long after she arrived, she kept getting pregnant and I suppose I resented the children as they arrived. I will say, as Dad withdrew the obvious affection for his new wife, she was in much the same position as Andrea and I were. Andrea had left for school and Sandy would stick up for me, that is until I was asked to leave. I guess from that point on, I saw that my Dad was behind all of my unhappiness.
Now I didn’t harbour such hateful thoughts. Maybe it was the acceptance that this was life. Bleak at times, but it could show that a person could put those thoughts away and let a little happiness in if he chose to. The jury was still out on my Dad, although I had let him know I was willing to go more than halfway toward letting him be the father he should have been.
I expected to hear from him when his time was up. I didn’t, so I called down to the Texas County Jail and found he had been discharged on time. Maybe he was going to disappear. I was disappointed that he hadn’t contacted me. I thought he most likely had hooked up with another woman who had more than a little money and was working to get it away from her. I called Sis and we discussed it, coming to the same conclusion and that I was right in my assumptions.
I was immersed into the world of lawyers and paralegals, and how they handled different clients as they were approached by a myriad of problems that needed to be resolved. Sometimes I thought that the paralegals did the heavy work in the office. There was one in the office where I worked. She had a phenomenal memory for detail about cases---those of the past and those that were still open. The attorney who she was assigned to was very successful. If another attorney in the office lost a case, his comment was always---we didn’t have Rachael with us on this one.
I soon discovered there were politics in a law office. There were office romances as well. I kept a low profile so that I wouldn’t become gossip at the water cooler. I was too young to become embroiled in anything such as this. I might not even come back to this firm next year, but I supposed it was the same wherever I worked.
Chapter Four
August fifteenth---it was a Wednesday, I came home and Dad was sitting on the deck to my trailer. “Hi Son.” I didn’t answer him as I unlocked the door. I motioned him to enter.
“You son-of-a-bitch. I was worried about you. I know you got out of jail when you were supposed to. Where in hell have you been?”
He was shocked at my outburst. “I said you would see me. I’m here. I didn’t think I meant that much to anyone anymore.”
“Damn it Dad, some day you are going to realize that in spite of yourself, there are people out there that care what happens to you. Sandy has three kids and whether you know it or not, she has never trashed you to them. You’re the kids’ father. They remember you. I almost got away from thinking you are a shithead, but you make it damned hard for me.”
“How are the kids?”
“Fatherless and feeling it. I try to do what I can, but they know I am their brother.”
“Are you saying that Sandra would take me back, now that I am free?”
“I doubt it, but that is between you two. It is about time you started stepping up to the plate and doing your duty by us all. Andrea and I don’t feel as if we ever had a father and we could use one, even as old as we are now.”
“How is your sister?”
“She is good. Andrea is working for some state energy agency. She’ll be here in a couple of days for the weekend. Dad, you’re going to be proud of her. Andrea not only is intelligent, she is beautiful as well. Mom says she must have got it from your side of the family, because she and her ancestors didn’t have such beauty.”
“How is your mother?”
“Fine. Happy now that she can see me and she does see Andrea fairly often. We are family again.”
“I don’t suppose family would include me, would it?”
“Afraid not. Mom went to jail and you grabbed her money. Dad, you have destroyed so many people, I don’t know how you can look at yourself in the mirror.”
“I don’t much. You’re so right. I have a question. Does the firm you work for take all kinds of clients?”
“Yes they do. Do you need an attorney?”
“I think I should have one. I’m going to see if I can right the wrong that I did your mother. I know I can’t replace the two years that she was in prison or the pain that came after she came out. I would like her to have her record cleaned up. I expect I might even have to spend some time in prison myself. That I’m not looking forward to, but I’m willing to do time if I have to.”
“I’ll introduce you to the head of the firm tomorrow. Now tell me what you have been doing to keep from coming here as soon as you were released?” I was ready to reevaluate my feeling toward my father. Was he serious about righting some of the wrong he did to Mom? I certainly hoped so. I listened to the answer to my question.
“I had a job. The sheriff didn’t consider bigamy too serious a crime. I guess he had a girlfriend as well as a wife. You see, I did some accounting for the sheriff while I was incarcerated. Anyway, I worked for one of the church missions near the jail. The sheriff suggested to the padre that I be employed to straighten out some of the mission’s finances. I thought a few bucks earned wouldn’t do any harm in case I got put in jail again. I really do want to stand by the three young kids I have with Sandra.”
“Dad, you aren’t just blowing smoke are you?”
“No Son. I’ve had a lot of time to think in the last year. I can’t say as I like myself very much. You and Andrea seem to have done okay, but these young ones are going to need a boost in life. I can’t really be a close part of it, but maybe I can make it easier for them down the road.”
“I hope I can believe what you are saying.”
“You’ll see that I am serious. Are you going to let me stay here for the time being?”
“Yes, of course. I’ll start supper. Do you want the others to know you are in town?”
“Just Andrea, until after the weekend. I want to start the ball rolling on getting Barbara straightened out before I say anything.”
“Okay then, that is the way we will play it.”
The evening was spent with us talking. I started by asking questions. I guess I was more at ease with my father than I had ever been. I could talk to him as an equal. “Dad, I’m going to be an attorney. You are basically a person who has broken the law. I’ll be dealing with your kind in one form or another the rest of my life. Tell me how you thought it was okay to railroad Mom into prison, steal her money, deny her the love of her children and eventually steal their money as well.”
Dad sat there on the couch with his head down. I could tell I was hurting him. I didn’t care, he had hurt me enough. “Son, put the way you just did, it sounds terrible. I don’t think when I married your mother I ever intended to hurt her, or later, you. But then this money came from your grandparents. I had the managing of it, but suddenly I wanted it for myself. I thought I had a foolproof plan to get it. I became a crook when I made that decision. I have no excuse. It was pure greed.
“Later after I moved you to Texas, I thought Barbara was far behind me in my past. I met Sandra. She is younger and attractive and had a nice little nest egg to go along with everything else that was desirable about her. She wanted marriage and she wanted kids. I gave her the children she wanted and suddenly with the increased responsibilities she wasn’t so attractive to me anymore. I confess I had plans for her similar to the ones I had for Barbara.
“To be honest, I had belittled the knowledge that my two oldest kids would someday acquire. I thought you and Andrea would grow up and have forgotten your mother by this time. You were only ten and eleven years old. I suppose crooks play out a scenario, not taking into consideration that you can’t control every little variable. I guess you were the biggest variable in my scenario.”
“That sounds about right. So what are you going to do next?”
“As I say, I’m getting a lawyer to see if he can get Barbara’s record cleared. I’ve paid my dues to Sandra by spending a year in jail for bigamy. Whether it is enough, it probably isn’t. I intend to keep paying support for the three kids. That will help.”
“What are your expectations for the rest of your life? You are still short of fifty.”
“I don’t have any at this time. It would be nice to have a stable job again, and yes, I would like to find love again. I’m going to be so honest with everyone from now on. You can help with that.”
“How so?”
“I expect you to clue everyone I’m associated with about my past.”
“I can do that.”
This was my last week of work before I went back to college. Dad went into the law firm with me. I asked if Attorney Smith could give me a few minutes when he came in. I had an appointment at ten to see him. Dad sat out in my car until just before the hour. He waited in the reception area until I asked him to come with me.
“Sir, this is my father, Aden Hunter. He has a problem. He wants to make a confession. He just doesn’t know who to go to. As long as I am working here he thought this would be a good place to start to get some advice.”
“I’ll listen to your problem and we’ll see if we can help you. You know Mr. Hunter, Adrian has been a real asset to the firm this summer. He is going to make a fine attorney someday. Now tell me what is troubling you. Adrian, you can go back to what you were doing.”
“Sir, would it be possible for him to stay here and listen? This concerns my former wife, who is his mother. Since I was incarcerated last year, Adrian has been the glue that has held the family together.”
“Yes if you wish.” Smith turned to me. “You understand that what is said in this office is to go no further?”
“Of course. Understood.”
“Okay, continue Mr. Hunter. Tell me your story. I can give you an hour.”
It took Dad forty minutes to hit the highlights of his transgressions. Attorney Smith had been taking notes and now he looked up and said, “Let me get this clear, you want to confess to someone so that your former wife’s prison record can be expunged. You realize that the statute of limitations on any crime you committed at that time is beyond anything you can be charged with at this late date?”
“Maybe, but can anything be done to clear her record? I owe it to her. To Adrian and Andrea as well. I’m willing to go to jail myself just to get this done. I have some money set aside to pay your fees if you would take this on.”
“Tell you what. Let me make some phone calls and get back to you. Where are you staying?”
“I’m staying with Adrian at present.”
I interjected, “That will be his home address for awhile.”
Dad said he was going to go over to his former employer to see if he could be hired. “I’m not trying to put anything over on them. I’ll tell them a little about my history so they will know I’m not hiding anything. Does the bus still go to West Brattleboro like it used to? If it does, I can get to the trailer. I’ve got some laundry to do. I’ll see you at home tonight.”
Dad was jumpy when I got home. He was nervous about what he had done by hiring an attorney. One positive thing had happened, he had a job at the concern he had worked for years before. He was to start this coming Monday.
I had word for him as well. “Dad, you now have an attorney to represent you. John Smith will take your case. He has never had a case such as this one before. Now don’t think this is going to be resolved very quickly. It may take as long as a year or more. There will be a lot of paperwork and depositions to take and stuff like that. Each time something is done, it will have to be reviewed by the State Attorney’s office.
“John thinks it can be done. Mom’s record will be wiped clean. He doesn’t think you will have to do time for it either. This will be a low priority case, so it will be set aside many times for more important cases. Actually the firm is excited about it. There may be a precedent set and that’s always good news for the firm that is connected to a case.
“Mom is going to have to get her own attorney though. Do you want to tell her about this?”
“No, I would like you to do that for me. That way she will know I am serious. Wait until Andrea gets here. When is she coming?”
“Tonight, sometime. Dad, how do you feel about Sandra? Do you still love her?”
“It doesn’t matter if I love her or not. She wouldn’t have me back, I’m positive.”
“I only asked because I didn’t want you to get your hopes up.”
I guess I was prying. There was no doubt but what I was attracted to Sandra. She had given me no opening, but she did know how I felt about her. Also I knew there were some feelings she had for me. But what would I ever do with three children to care for if anything ever developed between us. I read in her the feelings, the kids were her first consideration. Better and simpler for me to be just the older and loved brother.
Sis came breezing into the trailer dressed in shorts and a halter. She didn’t realize I had company. She came and kissed me on the cheek the same as always. “Hi Adrian. Long trip down from Montpelier. How you can spend so much time traveling that road is beyond me. So what’s new?”
“Dad is here. Right behind you in fact.”
Andrea didn’t turn around for a minute. Then she whirled and faced him. “Dad, Adrian has been worried about you. Myself, I wondered if we would ever hear from you again. Damn-it Dad, you still don’t treat us right.”
“Andrea, Adrian has already sworn at me for not keeping in touch. I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you would care.”
“There you go again. You put thoughts and feelings into how other people would think about you. We shouldn’t care, but we do. Someday you are going to have to stop disappointing us.”
“From now on, Baby, you have my promise.”
Andrea was now twenty-five. Twenty years previous, Baby had been how she was addressed. She must have remembered for suddenly tears were pouring down her cheeks. His eyes were wet as well, but he tried to cover the fact. My sister didn’t go to him. I don’t think she knew how. The moment passed and both composed themselves.
“My, you get more beautiful every time I see you.”
Sis smiled brightly. “I have been known to turn a few heads. Thanks for the compliment, Dad.” After this exchange, it was an easy evening for all of us. Dad told Andrea he already had found work and then I explained that he had hired the firm I worked with to see about getting Mom’s record cleaned up.
Mom called in the morning. “Adrian, Sandy isn’t feeling well. Could you handle your brother and his sisters this morning? Rena and I have planned a shopping trip. I’ll drop them off.”
“Sure I can. Andrea is here with me. We can find something fun to do. We can keep them all day if you wish.” When she hung up, I turned to Dad. “Your kids are coming to stay the day.”
“Christ, I don’t want to see them. I hardly remember them. I’ll stay in the bedroom and you can take them somewhere.”
“Nope Dad, they are your responsibility. How about if Sis and I take off and let you get reacquainted with them?”
“Don’t, please.”
“Okay, but you have to meet and talk to them. I’ll make it easy for you. I was going to suggest that Sis and I might go up to Wilmington to the Farmers Home Day fair. That’s on this weekend. They have rides and eats and always some farm animals. You must remember. I think you took us when Sis and I were little kids.”
“I remember. That was before your grandparents left you all of that money.” He must have remembered what the money had caused him to do for he looked at us and went down the hall to his bedroom.
I said to Andrea, “Dad is finally remembering a lot of things and how bad he treated you and me and Mom. Well, he has a chance to have a do-over. Lucky for him.”
By the time Mom drove up with the kids, Dad had shaved and changed. His clothes were kind of wrinkled as they had just come out of his suitcase. He did look decent to meet his kids. It had been sixteen months since he had seen them in the flesh.
The two youngest came busting through the door and threw their arms around Andrea. The oldest, Phyllis, now eleven, came in and shut the door behind her. She shyly said, “Hi Adrian, you don’t mind watching us do you?”
I knew she had a small crush on me, her big brother. “No Phyl, it is always my pleasure to be with you.” She blushed as she came near enough for me to peck her cheek. Suddenly she stiffened. I knew she had spotted our dad.
“Tammy, Rich, your Dad arrived a couple of days ago. He came to see you. Say hi to him.”
Dad did know enough not to push himself onto his children, for he was a virtual stranger to them. Tammy, barely six when he had been put in jail, was the first to make a move. “Hi. Mom has been saying all summer that we would see you soon. I’ve waited and waited and wondered where you were.”
“I had a job and couldn’t come as soon as I wanted to.”
Phyllis spoke up. “What happened? Did you do something to be put in jail again after you got out of the last one?”
“No, I really was working. In fact I was helping some padres at a church.”
Phyllis acted as if she didn’t believe him. She turned to me to see if I believed him so that she could believe herself. “I think he was. He got here day before yesterday and has a new job already. He wants to be a part of your life again. He loves all of you and wants the chance to prove it.”
Still not convinced, she said, “I’ll bet.” This hurt her father. Hey, he had brought this on himself and now he was going to have to prove himself to his oldest daughter. She had reached the age where she didn’t believe everything that she was told.
Sis diffused the situation by telling them that we thought we might go up to Wilmington and go to the fair. We ended up taking two vehicles. Andrea, Dad, Tammy and Rich went together and Phyllis and I went in the other.
For the twenty miles to the fair, I was questioned about our father. I suspected that Phyllis was old enough to feel ashamed that she had a father that had been in jail. I countered that somewhat, by stating that I knew how she felt.
“Look at me. Both of my parents have been imprisoned. You knew your Aunt Barbara has been in one. You are friendly with her. You will forget your father was in jail after awhile. Especially if he treats all of you the way he should. I really think he plans to do that. You know why? Because he knows I will be watching him.
“In a way he has done more against Sis and me than he has done toward you younger kids. He now has a chance to make things right. You don’t have to one day hate him and the next day love him. Just give him a chance to earn your love.”
“Is he going to be living with us again?”
“I don’t know. That is up to your mother. She and I haven’t talked about it. Ask her. He may be able to earn her love again. I hope so, for every family needs a father and mother when the kids are growing up.”
“You had Dad and my Mom you mean?”
“No, that wasn’t the same. Your mother wasn’t my mother, although she was awful good to me.”
“Andrea doesn’t feel as if Mom was very good to her.”
“I know. They were never as friendly as I was with your Mom.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know that either. Maybe because Andrea thought your Mom was taking my Mom’s place with our father. Women are like that. They have funny ideas.”
Phyllis looked at me and giggled. “I’m almost old enough to be a woman. Will I get funny ideas?”
“I’d almost bet on it.”
Chapter Five
I do know one thing. Dad was going to be one tired puppy by the time we left the fair. He did it all. The rides, the ring toss, the gambling booths and the shooting gallery. He watched the horse pull and walked through the animal barns. He took them through the craft displays and I think they sampled every food booth on the grounds. Phyllis was reserved at first, barely speaking to her father.
Dad caught me alone for a minute. “Phyllis is watching me every minute. Why?”
“I think she is looking to see if you are worth becoming a friend with. Don’t disappoint her. I wouldn’t push too hard either. She will come around.”
“I hope so. She is so much like Sandra. God Adrian, what a fool I have been.” He turned and went to meet the kids as they came up the bank where I had been watching the horse pulling.
Andrea sat down next to me. Tammy and Rich decided they needed another hot dog, so Dad got up and went with them. Phyllis stayed with us. It was hot and the sun was shining. I dozed where I was lying. Andrea and Phyllis were talking in a monotone. There were hundreds of people all around and it was noisy. I guess I dropped off. Suddenly I felt some lips brush mine and linger for a minute. Then a whispered, “Thank you.” I felt the person get up and I heard her run down the bank.
I opened my eyes. Andrea was looking at me. I asked, “What was that all about?”
“Adrian, that was Phyllis saying good-bye to the man that has been closest to her recently. One she has always looked up to. I told her that things were going to be a lot different for her with her father here. She said she knew that. She asked if I thought it would be okay for her to kiss you. I said I thought it would.
“I do know one thing. If Dad treats these kids like he treated us, I just may end up in jail for killing him."
“Amen to that.”
Rich was my passenger for the ride home. He slept the half hour it took. Dad stayed at the trailer with Andrea, and I took the kids down Western Avenue to their home. I didn’t go in. Let them be the ones to tell Mom and Sandy that their father was in town.
The phone was ringing when I reached the trailer. Sis picked it up as I came in the door. “Dad is staying here. Adrian, as you know, is going back to school Monday. I’ll be leaving tomorrow night. Dad has a job so he will be working during the daytime. That’s all I know about anything.”
She listened and then again said, “Dad is living here in the trailer. Look, if you want to talk to him, call him in the evening anytime.”
She hung up and turned to me. “That was Sandy. I’ll tell Dad she called.”
“Where is he?”
“He went for a walk as soon as we got here. Boy am I glad I’m leaving tomorrow. You can get in the middle of Dad and his wives if you want to, but not me.”
“I’m not coming home for a week. Things should be all settled down by then. I wonder what is going to happen.” I looked at Sis and then we both started to laugh. “Maybe I won’t come home for a month.” This set us off again.
I didn’t get a chance to get home to see Dad until Thursday evening. He was sitting on the couch when I arrived. He glanced up at me, but didn’t say anything. “How’s your job?”
“It’s fine. It’s just as if I never left so many years ago. In fact I’m working on an account from the same business.”
“You seem down. Want to tell me about it?”
“I saw Sandra. She came by last night. I wish someone would kill me. She is beautiful. Not only that, she seems to be happy without me. There just is no hope for me. I called your mother. She spoke to me, but hung up just as soon as she could. Son, I should have stayed in Texas. At least I had a dream that things would get better and all of my problems would go away.”
“Dad, Sandy is going to let you see the kids isn’t she?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, make that enough for awhile. I admit right now it doesn’t seem as if you have much going for you. Remember that there are other women out there. Of course you may never find one as nice as what you had. Remember also whose fault it is. You can call it retribution if you want to put a name to it. You eaten yet? I’m hungry.”
“Steak in the fridge. I’ve been saving it until we could eat it together. Oh, Barbara wants you to call. That Paul Black she cares for is in the hospital.”
I went with Mom to see the patient. The nurse informed Mom that Paul’s life had just about run out. I tried to talk to her about Dad.
“Adrian, I want nothing to do with him and I have no feelings left at all for him. I just wish he would go away.”
“I don’t think he will do that. He had a great time with the kids at the fair last weekend. He’s working and plans on being a part of their lives.”
“I know. The kids told me about going to the fair and how much fun they had. This has upset Sandy as well, you know. Personally I think she still loves him a little.”
“He doesn’t know that. He was crying on my shoulder when I got home tonight. I didn’t give him any sympathy.”
“I haven’t got any for him either. I hope he is as lonely as I was for so many years.”
“You are divorced from Dad. Don’t think about him. Mom, I don’t need a stepdad, but when Paul dies that will give you some more freedom. Find someone for yourself.”
“What chance would I have to attract a man?”
“At least try if the opportunity presents itself. Mom, I have to get some sleep. I have to go back to school in the morning. I’ll be home again on Saturday. We’ll talk some more.” Paul passed away on the following Monday. I was down for the funeral Friday, as was Andrea. Dad didn’t attend as this was a part of a life he wasn’t involved in. Paul had outlived all of his relatives and most of his friends. It was a small, short ceremony. Sandy, all of the kids, and Rena were there. Rena shed a few tears on Mom’s shoulder for she had enjoyed living in the same house with the old man.
It finally came out what Dad was trying to do for Mom by having her record cleared up. She had been approached about having a lie detector test. Mom made a hurried call to me while I was in class. My advice, “Get a lawyer. This is going to be played out in the courts and the Department of Corrections. Dad has been planning on how to right one of the wrongs he did. Go with it. I doubt you will ever have to testify. If you do, just follow your attorney’s advice.”
I didn’t hear Mom saying so much against Dad as she did when he first arrived. I think she was looking forward to having her record cleared up. She had to give Dad the credit, for he was the one behind the effort.
Sandy was seldom mentioned by Dad. He did see the kids every chance he could. Maybe he thought the way back into Sandy’s heart was through their children. It might just work, too. They had always been her first concern. After he purchased a small vehicle, Dad often asked if he could take them to McDonalds or a Saturday matinee. Sandy never refused him that pleasure.
I went up to Montpelier about one weekend a month and spent it with Andrea. She was dating and sometimes she would have a blind date for me. Sometimes I even got lucky, but I always cautioned my date that I still had one more year of college before I would even get serious with a woman. Usually it didn’t matter, for these dates Sis found for me had the same goal as me and weren’t too anxious to settle down.
In late September the whole state was being splashed with color. The fall foliage was beautiful. I took Mom and Rena on a tour and we stayed overnight up in the Northeast Kingdom. It would take a couple of weeks for the full color to reach its peak in the south, but the two women could drive part way up the state and see it as it progressed.
Rena informed me at Thanksgiving time that she was considering moving from the apartment and across the street to Melrose Terrace where she could live by herself. Those places were small and compact and were taken care of by the Housing Authority. She was part owner of the house with Mom and Sandy. She worried about keeping the building up.
“What brought this on? I thought you were happy with Mom, Sandy and the kids?”
“Adrian, I think your Mom is considering moving out as well. That would leave just Sandy and the children. The property is way too big for her. We have talked it all over and have decided to sell.”
“Mom has a boyfriend?”
“I guess, but I’ll let her tell you about him.”
“Have you met him?”
“Of course. He teaches at the high school. It started with him coming in to get a coffee in the morning at the store. It took awhile but he asked her for a date.”
“Does he know about Mom’s past?”
“Yes. She told him all about it on their first date. She was so happy when he asked her for the second one.”
“I’m happy for her. She deserves every bit of happiness that comes her way.”
Dad was still living in my trailer. He had taken over paying the park rent and he kept the home immaculate. This surprised me no end for he never lifted a finger to do household chores while he was married to either Mom or Sandy. I asked him how things were going with getting Mom free of the black mark on her record. Sometimes he was up if there had been a new development. The evening he told me that Mom had passed the lie detector test with flying colors, he could hardly be contained.
The last big hurdle was to get on tape the drug dealer admitting that he had accepted $500 to lie in court. Dad had actually bought the drugs from him and was the one to place the drugs in the car. When Dad told me that, I almost hit him. What a bastard my father was! That wasn’t the issue now. The issue was to get Mom free of the black mark on her record.
Andrea and I had suspected all along that Dad was the one behind Mom getting set up for the felony. To have him tell me this sent a feeling of hatred through me. He was aware, as it brought me halfway out of the chair I was sitting on.
“Go ahead Son, if you want to hit me. I deserve every bit of it. I can’t make it up to her and I can’t make it up to you and Andrea. I would if I could.” I had to believe him.
Christmas was celebrated in Sandy’s apartment. This was the first time that my father had been allowed into the apartment. I think Sandy was very surprised at the affection the kids displayed toward him. Tammy sat on his lap and Rich was always standing by him. Phyllis sat on the floor in front of his chair while opening her presents.
Mom and Sandy sat on the opposite side of the room talking together, but they were very aware of what was taking place across from them. Dad had asked me what he should or could get Mom and Sandy for a present. “Buy them a poinsettia plant. Get one for Rena as well. That won’t be too intimate, but they will know you thought of them.” He received a “Thank you Aden,” from all three women.
Andrea received a gold bracelet with her birthstone in it. He gave me a silver ring with an onyx stone in the center. For the young children, he gave age appropriate gifts. Phyllis received a laptop computer, which earned Dad a kiss. Rich had some kind of electronic game and Tammy had a beautiful doll.
I suspected that Dad was slowly finding his way back into Sandy’s heart because she seemed pleased with what he was doing for her children. I happened to catch her looking at him and then her glance swung to me. She actually flushed when she saw that I had read the thoughts that were in her mind. Not for me to make her uncomfortable. What could have been a difficult day actually turned out quite enjoyable for all of us.
Mom called and said she was going out to a New Year’s party. “Adrian, would you come for dinner tonight before I go out. I want you to meet someone. It is a person that I enjoy being with and he feels the same about me. We have talked some, and although he hasn’t asked me yet, I think we are going to be an exclusive couple. Andrea will be here for dinner as well.”
“Sure Mom. I’ll be over and meet him before we eat.” Of course I knew everything about this man that Sandy also knew. She had kept me or Andrea informed as the dating progressed. Both of us were extremely happy about Mom’s new friend. We found out his name was Peter Franklin.
I was going out to a party myself. It was being hosted by the attorney who I worked with during the summer. I found out that if you had two attorneys in the same room together, shop was being talked.
A man and woman about my age came in. I took note that the woman, girl actually, was beautiful. She had short dark auburn hair. She wasn’t tall, only about five-five, but with a nicely proportioned figure. She seemed to know everyone and made the rounds speaking to all present. My glance swung to the man with her as he was introduced. He did look familiar, but I couldn’t place him.
It came to me. This was my childhood friend standing beside her. “Hi Mike, it has been a long time.”
“Well I’ll be damned. Adrian Hunter. Mom wrote me that you were back in town. I’m just home from a tour in Iraq. I’ve been stationed in Germany and this is the first time home in almost three years.”
It was nice to see my childhood friend, but I wanted to meet the woman with him. I asked, “Is the woman with you, your wife or girlfriend?”
“Nah, she is my little sister. It is hell to go out partying with your sister, but I’m glad I did. Cindy remembers you, but you probably don’t remember her. I wouldn’t let her hang out with us when we were kids. She wanted to play with dolls all the time.”
“And now she is a beautiful doll herself.” Where those words came from I didn’t know. They certainly got her attention.
She grinned at me. “Boy, you are going to make some kind of lawyer. You do have a way with words. I should know. I’m a paralegal and I work in O’Connor’s law office on Main Street.” We stood talking and finally Mike said we should get together and tell each other about our lives. Cindy wandered off to talk to others, but my eyes followed her.
“Adrian, when we get together, I suppose you want me to bring my sister with me?”
“That’s a definite yes.”
“I thought so. You could return the favor and bring your sister too. That is if she isn’t married or anything.”
“She’s not committed at the present. I bet you don’t even remember her name.”
“I do. It is Andrea. I bet she never told you that she kissed me one time when I was at your house waiting for you. I thought it was awful at the time, but I never forgot her.”
“You’re shitting me.”
“Nope.”
“I’ll see that we get together before the holidays are over. She lives upstate, so that isn’t too far away.”
I cornered Cindy before the New Year came in. “Would you go out to dinner with me on Saturday?”
“I’m sorry, but I have a date already. I would like to go out on a date with you, though. How about Sunday evening, early?”
“Is your Saturday date with someone you are serious with?”
“No, not really. He is a good friend and would like to get serious, but I don’t feel that way about him. So do we have a date for Sunday or not?”
“We do. I’m getting together with Mike on Tuesday. I wouldn’t mind if you were with him.”
“Maybe. I’ll let you know Sunday. Is your sister going to be with you?”
“I don’t know what her plans will be until I ask. Can I call you tomorrow?”
“Boy, you don’t lose anytime do you?”
“Cindy, I have been out with a lot of girls, now I want to go out with you. This has never happened so suddenly before.”
“Okay, I will give you my number. My bag is with my coat, I have paper and pencil. Follow me.”
I didn’t realize it was so close to midnight. Horns went off as we stepped through the door. Cindy turned to me. “Happy New Year, Adrian.” She came into my arms. What a welcome for the new year! I didn’t want to let her go. I felt this was a kiss I had been waiting for all of my life. It lasted too long for just a New Year’s kiss.
Finally, “We better go out and kiss some of the other guests. Our hostess anyway. My number---I live with my parents. They are in the phone book.” I received a blinding smile and a giggle. There was no chance to see Cindy again before the party started to break up. I was one of the last to thank Mrs. Smith for a fine time. Cindy and Mike had left by this time, but I didn’t see them leave.
It was two-thirty when I reached the trailer. Dad’s car was there and I assumed he was already asleep. Sis came in while I was brushing my teeth.
“I met the girl I’m going to marry tonight. Do you remember Mike Bickford? It is his sister, Cindy. Mike claims you kissed him back when we were kids.”
“He was your friend wasn’t he? I remember. Sally dared me to kiss a boy and he was the only one I could think of that would let me. Why?”
“Because he has carried that kiss in his mind all of these years. It was his first.”
“It was my first too.”
“I’m meeting Mike on Tuesday to talk about things since we left town. He asked if I would bring you with me. I’m supposed to tell Cindy if you will be with me when I call her tomorrow.”
“I can’t be there. So do you have a date?”
“Sunday afternoon. Sis, you have fixed me up with a lot of girls over the years, but I have never been as excited about one as I am with Cindy. She is also in my line of work. She is a paralegal for O’Connor’s law firm.”
“If you can put the meeting off until next Saturday, I’ll go with you. I want to see this woman that has my brother so enthralled.”
“That’s right, you have to work Tuesday. Mike really sounded as if he was anxious to meet you. I’m not going to scrub the meeting with him, and I want to see Cindy every chance I get. I’ll call you after that.”
“What does Mike do?”
“He is in the service. He said he is just home from a tour in Iraq. We didn’t have a chance to discuss it at the party. I’ll know more after we meet.”
“Okay. I’m leaving tomorrow morning to go back to my apartment. Tonight I’m staying with Mom. She has the extra room since Paul died. Has Mom told you how much money Paul left her?”
“Yeah, a couple of hundred thousand dollars. Now that he has passed on, it is all hers. The trailer which I have been leasing from him, came to me, so when I sell it I’m going to share half with you. Until then Dad is paying me. It isn’t much, but it does help pay my traveling expenses.”
“What are Dad’s plans? Do you know?”
“He is just marking time, hoping Sandy will let him back into her life. She may because of the way he has taken over being a father to the kids.”
“How do you feel about that?”
“I guess I’m okay with it. Dad has changed a lot since he came back to Vermont. Sis, if I tell you something, would you forget it?”
“Sure. It is about Sandy isn’t it?”
“Yes. You know, for awhile I was being a father to her kids. They looked up to me. For a time I felt I had some rights to Sandy. I think she was attracted to me as well. We never acted on it, because it just didn’t seem right. I still wish I could make love to her one time. Dad’s here now, so I don’t suppose it will ever happen. Maybe if I can find someone like Cindy, I can forget about Sandy altogether.”
“I do know how both of you have felt about each other. I guess it will be one of those things that can’t be resolved.”
Chapter Six
My date with Cindy was nothing special, except there seemed to be an immediate attraction between us. I took her out to dinner and then I took her home. She told me what her life had been like, where she went to school and how she became a paralegal. She didn’t think she wanted to advance to becoming an attorney and was very happy doing just what she was trained to do.
We sat in my car in front of her parents’ house for over an hour. She had told me so much about herself, I had to tell her about what some of my life had been like. “I guess you could say I come from a dysfunctional family. My mother and father are divorced. Both have been in jail or prison. That was my father’s fault, not my mother’s.”
Cindy laid her hand on my arm. “I know, my firm represents Romaine Darcy.”
“What has that got to do with it?”
“He is the drug dealer who testified against your mother.”
“Oh, then I guess I shouldn’t say anything more. I will tell you off the record that my dad is trying to right the wrong he did my mother one time. He isn’t trying to send anyone to jail, he just wants Mom to have a clean record.”
Cindy smiled and didn’t answer. She changed the subject. “You know I told my date last night that I wouldn’t be going out with him again. I’m going to see you Tuesday evening when you see Mike. I’ll tell Mike that Andrea is looking forward to seeing him next Saturday on our date. Now walk me to my door. It’s cold out here.”
“I didn’t ask you for a date.”
“I know, but you were going to.” I stepped into the warm entryway for my goodnight kiss. I didn’t linger. Somehow I felt slow and easy was the way to this woman’s heart.
I chose to meet Mike and Cindy at the New England House. When I told the hostess that I was having a reunion with some friends, she put us into a small private alcove. Mike had the floor Tuesday evening. He told about joining the service right after high school. At the time it looked like a career for him, but now has decided that he was getting out. He has a MOS as an electrician. This could be easily transferred to a civilian application. Mike already had been interviewed by IBM and is waiting on them to see if he has a job.
I didn’t say too much in the early part of the evening. Cindy had little to say either. We did watch each other and there were smiles and glances that passed between us. Needless to say, I was becoming enamored with this pretty woman sitting across the table from me.
Suddenly Mike said, “Enough of me. What’s your story, Adrian?”
I told it all to Mike and Cindy, starting from the day Mike and I put the boxes in the attic of his previous home. No, that’s not correct. I left out all of the feelings I had for the woman I thought for years was my stepmother.
I did say that when Sandra had my father charged with bigamy, I felt I had some responsibility to see to the children's welfare. In a big brother role, so to speak. Not that I had done much, but I saw that they were taken care of. “My father is back in town now, and he has resumed his parental responsibilities. He has always been the one to support them financially. I haven’t done any of that, although I guess I was the one to make sure Sandra got the money back from him that he once conned her out of.”
“Are they getting back together and getting married?”
“I couldn’t say. I’m not in Sandy’s confidence anymore. I can say, it wouldn’t surprise me.”
“Adrian, I don’t know your business at all, but it seems as though most of the troubles that beset you are in the past. Just a year and a half and then you can pass the Bar Exam. Your father is here to take over the care of his children whether he marries their mother or not. You are financially better off than most men of twenty-six. What you need is to find some nice young woman and get laid once in awhile. All it takes is to promise to make a commitment somewhere down the road.”
“Mike, shut your mouth!”
“Why Sis, am I embarrassing you?”
I came to Cindy’s defense. “Cindy, I just knew Mike would embarrass one of us tonight. He used to do it to me all the time and we were only ten years old. You wait, our time will come.”
“Thank you. Having an older brother is such a pain sometimes.” Pain, maybe, but I could see she adored him just as I did my older sister.
We had spent two hours together. I looked at my watch. “I think I will head north tonight. It is supposed to snow by morning and I have an early class. So are we still on for Saturday?”
“I’m in.”
“Me too.” I collected a hug from Cindy as Mike got into his car. I went back across the street to the park and told my father that I was going back to school tonight.
“When are you coming home again?”
“Probably not before Saturday morning. Sis will be coming in sometime during the day as well. We are going out with friends.”
“Okay Son, have a good trip.”
I guess if you tell someone your plans, they are going to believe that you are never going to change them. Circumstances changed mine. My professor was sick Thursday and Friday. Too sick to hold class. Thursday, I completed all my homework and studied for an upcoming quiz. I slept at the campus Thursday night and awoke early Friday morning. I decided I could get to Brattleboro in time for breakfast with Dad.
It was 5:45 when I parked in front of the trailer. Sandy’s car was parked next to Dad’s. A pang of jealousy swept through me. Screw it. None of my business. I let myself in. I could hear Dad and a woman’s voice coming from Dad’s room. I had to relieve myself and when I got to the bathroom and nearer to his room, I could hear they were doing more than talking. Still none of my business.
I made coffee, found eggs, bacon, and put bread in the toaster. They were still involved when I slid the dirty dishes into the sink. I let myself out and drove down to the house on the avenue. Where Sandy’s car was usually parked, a strange vehicle was there. I went up to Mom’s apartment and knocked on the door. Mom’s man friend, Peter, opened it. He was dressed, ready for school.
Mom was sitting at the kitchen table with just a robe on. Talk about a red face! “Adrian! Oh my God!”
Peter stood there, surprised, but not embarrassed or in any way ashamed. I stuck out my hand. “Good to meet you again Peter. Things going well for you, I hope.”
“Yes, very well thank you.” He turned back to Mom. “Will I be seeing you tonight Barbara?”
“I don’t know. What are you up to Adrian?”
“I think I planned on having dinner tonight with you and Peter. I’ll even get it if you are working.”
“Okay. Peter, come back here then. Adrian is a fair cook. He did the cooking when he and his sister lived together.”
I hit Mom with the question when Peter had gone. “Who is watching the kids? I notice Sandy isn’t home, or at least her car isn’t.”
“Rena. Sandy spends some nights with your father. Instead of coming home when she gets out of the restaurant, she goes up to the trailer. She’ll be here in time to get the kids off to school.”
“This been going on long?”
“Since Christmas. Does this bother you?”
“Nope, I think it is what should happen. Why doesn’t he move in here?”
“Not enough room. We do have an offer to sell the place. It isn’t as much as we hoped, but we are going to accept it. Rena is moving into Melrose Terrace the first of April. Peter has asked me to move in with him. I want a May wedding, but if I have to move in with Peter before then, I can.”
“What are Sandy and Dad going to do?”
“I don’t know. She hasn’t committed to anything yet.” Mom paused and then looked into my eyes. “How do you feel about them sleeping together? I know you have been very close to her. For all of what has happened in the last few years, right now, both are single adults.”
“Not my place to think about.”
“It is too. Son, it has been you that has done the most for all of us. Not one of us would have any happiness if you had sat back and let the world dictate how things turned out. I know Aden is the one to gain the most and I still resent that. But he is trying to make up for some of it.” She listened. “Sandra is home. I just heard her car pull in. Stick around, she will be over after she gets the kids off to school. I’m going to work. You want to talk to her here or in her apartment?”
“I’ll go over. I’ll see the kids for a moment. I feel sometimes as if I was neglecting them.” I hesitated. “Mom, congratulations on finding Peter. He seems like a man you can be happy with.”
I knocked on the door and Phyllis opened it. She screamed, “Adrian is here.”
I received hugs from all three of my siblings. “When did you get here?”
“I came this morning. I ate breakfast at the trailer, stopped to see your Aunt Barbara and heard your mom come in, so here I am.”
Tammy spoke, “Mom has to work all night sometimes, but Gram Rena is here so it is all right.”
Rena came into the kitchen and glanced at me to see if I would accept what one of the kids told me. I made it easy. “That is terrible her having to work at night. We can hope she doesn’t have to do that for too long.”
Rena hugged me and whispered, “You’re such a fake. You always think of the kids. Before you leave today, can you come see me?”
“How about lunch? I’m going to be here all day. I promised to make dinner for Mom and Peter.”
When the kids were dressed for outdoors, I offered them a ride to school. Sandy had been rushing around and said hi, but that was all I got from her. As I went out the door, I turned to her and asked if I could have a cup of coffee when I returned. Still she didn’t look directly at me. “Okay, you probably want to catch up on all the news.”
“Yeah, although I think I know most of what is happening.” No answer to that comment. I went up to the 7/11 from the school and got some doughnuts.
The door was unlocked when I came in. I walked in and found Sandy sitting in an easy chair in the living room. I poured us coffee from the pot and put the doughnuts on a plate, setting it on the end table between the two chairs.
“Adrian, I don’t know what to say. I was so shocked when Aden and I realized that you had been in the trailer and most likely heard what we were doing.”
“I did hear you and Dad. Remember though, that I have heard you two before doing the same thing. I was only twelve when I heard you the first time. It didn’t bother you then. Are you saying it bothers you now?”
“Of course.”
“Why? You’re consenting adults.”
“I know, but it was you who heard us. I feel I owe you so much and to do this behind your back just doesn’t seem right.”
“So what did you plan to do? Did you plan on asking my permission? That’s crazy! Sandy, stand up.”
She stood. I took her in my arms and hugged her to me. “Kiss me.”
She tried to pull away, but I held her. “I can’t Adrian. I just came from your father. It wouldn’t be right.”
“Would you if you hadn’t just come from him?”
“I would want to, but I would feel guilty about it.” I let Sandy go and she sank back into her chair. “Understand, if there was no Aden and only you, I think we could make a life together and be happy. But you aren’t the children’s father, Aden is. I think he has changed enough and he will become a good parent.
“He acts like he is really trying to be. He wasn’t with you and Andrea, and he wasn’t much with our kids until you pointed out that man isn’t an island. You have showed him that by not giving up on him. Where would he be if you weren’t concerned about him and had left him all alone in Texas. So blame yourself if we are never going to have more than a stepmom, stepson relationship.
“Sandy, I think you are going to be the best stepmom a guy ever had. You tried being that to me once and it didn’t work. I have faith it will this time. So who is in control now, you or Dad?”
Sandra actually giggled when she saw I was serious. “I am. I definitely am! Aden will do anything to please me. If I want something for any one of the kids, it is there as quickly as he can get it.”
“Are you talking marriage?”
Sandra turned serious. “Do you remember when we were talking one time and I asked you if and when you were about to make a commitment to someone? I asked you to tell me before you did. I would do the same for you. I guess that time is now. I have held off until I saw you. I am very strongly considering marrying Aden.”
“Sandy, I haven’t got very far with a girl I’ve just met, but I think I love her already. That was one of the reasons I came down a day early when the chance presented itself. What were your intentions when you asked that of me?”
Sandy’s face flamed. “I was going to get you alone for a weekend and make love to you. I thought I owed it to you and it was a way I could thank you. I suppose if you demanded it even now, I would go through with it.” She looked hopefully at me to not ask.
“No, I’m not asking. If this was back when I was a teenager or during the summers when I came back from working in the Gulf, I would. You were in my dreams most of the time back then. Life seems to have settled down for all of us. And I’m glad about that.”
“Adrian, I had my dreams back then as well. I wished all the time that Aden would be more like you. This was when he was pulling away from both me and the kids. I’m thankful I didn’t follow through with some of the thoughts I had.”
“I’m thankful too. Not once have you done anything that would make me disrespect you. ‘Close, but no cigar,’ as they say.”
Just then there was a knock on the door. I opened it to my father standing there. He looked at me before entering. “Dad, I’m glad you’re here. How about a cup of coffee? I brought doughnuts.”
“I guess so. I’ll be late for work, but I wanted to see you. You were at the trailer earlier?”
I grinned. “Yeah, but I figured you were still sleeping,” I paused, “or something.” He looked across the room at Sandy.
Sandy had a smirk on her face. “He heard us. I have just finished explaining.”
“Okay, then you know I’m hoping Sandra will marry me. She has been reluctant for some reason to say yes.” He looked at Sandy. “Sandra, would you excuse us? I want to speak to Adrian privately.” Sandy turned and went into the other room.
“Son, do you have any money I could borrow? I know Sandra has as much as I need, but I took money from her once and I don’t want to do it again.”
“How much and what do you need it for?”
“I need seventeen thousand dollars. It is for a down payment on a house. The one I’m hoping to purchase is off Greenleaf Street. I have eighteen thousand, but I need thirty-five thousand total.”
I thought for a few minutes before stating, “No, I don’t think I can do that. Oh, I have the money okay. Somehow I will figure out a way for you to buy the house, but I want Sandra, my brother and two sisters protected. I’ve just started to trust you again, but I’m still not that sure of you.”
Dad looked crushed at first and then he brightened after thinking for more than five minutes. “We can figure it out. I was going to put Sandra’s name on the deed anyway. If you want the kids more protected than that, I’ll set up a trust in their name with the trust as third owner. I’ll even name you as administrator of the trust. Would that satisfy you?”
“I think that would work. Your name is the one on the mortgage though. I can’t have the children’s trust in anyway responsible. Come on, let’s have coffee. You go ahead and start the process for purchasing the property you want, and I’ll have the money ready when you need it. It shouldn’t take too long for the trust to get set up, but it will have to be in place before the signing.”
I didn’t stay with Sandy after Dad went to work. I went up to Rena’s apartment and hung around for lunch. She followed me next door to Mom’s apartment and helped me get dinner for Mom and Peter. It was like old times hanging out with Rena when she mentored me as I was growing into manhood back in Texas.
As usual, she had a few words of advice. “Adrian, I envy you. You are really just starting out in life. The future you worked so hard for is almost at hand. You tell me you have met a young woman you are attracted to. You have been involved in everyone else’s lives except your own. Let everyone take care of themselves for a change.”
Rena was still there when Mom came home at three, and without much persuasion, she was induced to stay for dinner at six o’clock. Peter came in an hour after Mom had arrived. Peter opened up about his life to me. He told about how happy he and his wife had been and how much he still missed her. “Barbara understands that she isn’t replacing my wife in my heart. She wants me to still cherish the fond memories I have of her. This is what attracts me so much to your mother.”
I left fairly early, walking Rena across the hallway to her door. We lingered for a moment, discussing Mom, and then I went up to the park, where Dad was watching television. I told him about Mom and her new love. “I’m so glad she found someone. Maybe she can have some happiness.”
Andrea came in shortly after I got to the trailer. Dad didn’t want to be present when I told her about finding him and Sandy having sex this morning. He went down to his bedroom.
Sis of course was aware of my attraction for Sandy. “That must have been a shock to you finding them having sex.”
“Yeah some, but it was no different than what we heard when we were kids.” I grinned and then we both burst out laughing. “In fact their rhythm hasn’t changed that much either.”
“I guess you are okay then?”
“Yes I am. I was at her apartment when she got home. She is still the same. Looking after her kids, I mean. Dad came in there on his way to work. He wants some money from me to purchase a house. He has one all picked out.”
“Are you going to let him have it?”
“Yes. On the condition that the property is to be tied up with the kids having a third ownership, through a trust fund. I’m to be the administrator.”
“And who would be watching out for Dad and Sandy’s kids now?”
“Sis, I don’t want Tammy, Rich, and Phyllis left in the lurch the way you and I were.”
“You’re closer to them than I am. I think that it is wonderful of you to be there for them. Have you seen Mom lately?”
“I cooked dinner for her and Peter. I like him. He seems like a very nice person. They are comfortable together. Mom needs that. Change of subject. What are we going to do tomorrow with Mike and Cindy?”
“Let’s go skiing. Mount Snow isn’t that far.” When I called in the morning, Cindy and Mike thought that a great idea. We spent the day on the slopes. When we returned to Brattleboro, we had dinner at Gillies. I wanted Sandy to meet Cindy and I knew she was waiting table tonight.
It was kind of comical to see the two women. Of course Cindy didn’t know how close I had been to Sandy over the course of my life. Sandy had on a starched blouse and tight black slacks for a uniform. Sis said as we were shown to our booth, “Hi Mom, we’re starving, what’s the specialty? Oh, meet Cindy and Mike Bickford, this is our stepmom. Has been and soon to be again.”
“Adrian told you. I’m so excited to have a house all by ourselves with your dad and the kids again.” The restaurant was busy so we didn’t have much time to talk to Sandy. Mike invited us to his folks house after we had eaten. Cindy and I cuddled up on the couch while Mike and Sis sat in the kitchen talking and getting to know each other. Cindy stretched out and put her head on my lap.
“I had fun today. I like your sister too. She is a lot like you. How soon do you have to leave tonight?”
“I don’t have to leave yet.”
“Good, let me lay here like this. I’m so comfortable, I might even close my eyes for a minute.”
“Go ahead, I’m not going anywhere.” I sat there looking down at this lovely creature. Her short hair was tousled and I could plainly see the freckles that bridged her nose. The blouse she had on had opened slightly and I could see that her upper body was covered with freckles as well. At that moment I remembered a saying I had heard as a kid that we all thought was hilarious at the time. I started shaking with laughter.
“What’s funny?”
“I remembered something about freckles.”
“Share with me!”
“I can’t.”
“Kiss you if you do.”
“Ask your brother. I’ll bet he remembers.”
She sat up. “Hey Mike, do you remember anything about freckles I should know about?”
Sis and Mike came in from the kitchen. “You mean like, ‘She has freckles on her, but she is beautiful,’ or you can say it differently as in, ‘She has freckles on her butt. She is beautiful.’ Is that what you are talking about?”
“That’s the one Mike. Have you Cindy?”
“Have I what?”
“Freckles on your butt?”
“Maybe, but you aren’t going to find out tonight.”
“I can wait if you promise some day to show me.”
We all had a great laugh and Cindy leaned in and kissed me. She whispered, “Someday you will know one way or the other.”
We decided a scrabble game was called for. We sat around the kitchen table. The game had been going on for an hour when Cindy spoke. “Can all of you keep a secret if I tell you something? It would mean my job if it got out.”
“We promise.” None of us had any idea what she was asking us to keep secret.
“Adrian, I told you my firm is representing Romaine Darcy. We are getting very close to having him give a deposition to the fact he was lying when he testified against your mother. He has resisted the taking of the deposition since first approached about it. The problem is, he is afraid it will cause him to have another strike on his record. He is so close to being named a habitual offender that he has been terribly reluctant. We will know Tuesday if he is going to comply.
“Now don’t tell anyone I told you this. Promise? The firm has given their assurance he won’t be charged with anything, but he is still worried.” We all promised and went back to our game.
I had to study all day Sunday, so I had to be content with the promise to see Cindy next Saturday. The kiss I received when this date was made would have to keep Cindy in my mind all week. It would.
Chapter Seven
Dad may have felt he was just about finished paying back for how he had treated his first family. He hadn’t and the next payment was going to have a lot of physical pain in it. I hadn’t planned on coming down from law school during the week. I received a call from Mom at three Tuesday morning. “Your father has been shot. Sandy was injured as well. They are in the emergency room at the hospital right now. Don’t worry too much because we are told that the injuries aren’t life threatening.”
“What happened?”
“Aden and Sandra went to the late show at the movie theater. They went into the bar next to the parking garage where their car was and stayed there until it closed. Aden was unlocking the door on Sandra’s side when this guy said something to him and then fired at him. He is hit in the stomach on the lower left side and another bullet smashed his elbow. Sandy has a broken right arm. I don’t know the particulars.”
“Did they get the guy who shot Dad?”
“Yes. He ran from the third level down the ramps and out into the street just as a car came by. He was hit and knocked down. The driver got out of the car and kept him there while his wife in the car called 911 and the police were informed. When the police came, they saw a gun partly under the car. Just then Sandra staggered out of the garage and told the police that your father had been shot and was on the third level somewhere. No one knows yet why Aden was shot. Would you call and inform Andrea?”
“Sure. You think Dad is going to be okay?”
“Yes. He is conscious and Sandy is in the room with him. Sandra is going to call me back after they fix her arm. If you come down, be careful and don’t hurry.”
“Okay Mom, I’ll be careful. Have the kids been told yet?”
“No. I was kind of hoping you would be here when we did. Sandra asked me if I would inform you. I think she is depending on you to make sure the kids don’t get too upset.”
“I’ll be there in a couple of hours. Before they get up, for certain.” I made the arrangements to leave, having my roommate inform the professor why I wasn’t in class. I called Andrea and headed south. It came to me as I was driving that this had to be connected to the deposition that Darcy was to give today. I couldn’t say anything or get involved. Unless---
I made Brattleboro before six. Rena was up, of course, and welcomed me with open arms. “I’m so glad you are here. I think we should let the kids sleep until the last minute before waking them. Barbara will be over to help get them ready for school. We are depending on you to keep them calm, but I think they should go to school the same as usual.”
“Good idea. I think I can handle it okay. Have you heard anything more?”
“Sandy called back. Her arm is going to be set early this morning. She thought the doctor would let her come home before noon. The way she got injured, Aden was in front of her unlocking the car door. Sandy heard a man ask if he was Aden Hunter. Your father confirmed that he was. Almost immediately a gun was fired. Aden lurched back into her, knocking her down. She landed in an awkward position and that is when she broke her arm. Sandy’s other hand is messed up with some cuts and abrasions from a broken beer bottle that she landed on.
“When she realized what had happened, she crawled from under your father and staggered down the ramps to the entrance. The cops were already there. Rescue went right up to care for your father. She was so lucky that there were people around at that time in the morning.”
“She say anything more about Dad?”
“Not much, except he was moved to a room and is heavily sedated. They will examine his elbow more closely later. They are still saying there isn’t much to worry about and he will fully recover.”
Mom came in and we had coffee together. She had little to say. When it came time to get the kids up, I went into the girls’ room and said it was time to get up. They were excited to see me and bounced out of bed. I stepped in and spoke to Rich. He smiled and said he was glad to see me. He was a lot slower to get out of bed and I had to speak to him again, telling him he was going to be late.
Mom put pancakes on the table. This was a better than usual breakfast for them, so they knew something had happened. “Kids, your mother and father had an accident last night. Both are going to be okay. Your Mom will be home this morning and your Dad will be out of the hospital in a few days.”
“How bad are they hurt?”
“Your mother has a broken arm and your Dad has a bad elbow. He also has a small puncture wound in his side. Your Mom arranged for me to take you to school this morning and I’m going to pick her up and bring her home from the hospital before noon. She’ll be here just like always when you get out of school. Now hurry up and get ready. It is almost time to leave for class.”
The two youngest kids ran to get dressed. Phyllis waited a minute. “What really happened? You didn’t tell me how they got hurt.”
“They were attacked downtown in the parking garage as they were getting ready to get into their car. Someone called Rescue and they were there to take care of your parents almost immediately.”
“You’re not telling me everything are you?”
“I don’t know everything. Your Mom can tell you when you get home from school. Now get dressed, it is getting late.”
Just then the phone rang and it was Sandy. She spoke to the kids just a minute, telling them she would see them after school. When she finished talking to them, she asked if I would pick her up at eleven. I agreed to.
When I returned from the school, Rena and Mom had both left. Mom’s car was gone and I assumed she had left for work, tired as she must have been. Rena, who had watched the kids all night, I’m sure was sleeping. I wasn’t that wide awake myself. I brought the alarm clock from Sandy’s room and set it so I could get her at the agreed time. I had an hour and a half that I could doze on the couch.
I reached the hospital and asked for the room my father was a patient in. He was awake, although quite doped up. “Hi Son, you came to see me. Guess this proves you love your old man.”
“I don’t know what my feelings are for you most of the time. How are you?”
“The doctor tells me I’m going to be okay. He did say I am going to have an elbow that I won’t be able to use much. My arm will be locked with a partial bend to it. Not straight and not where I can bend it closed. He said if the bullet had been of a larger caliber than a .22, it would have taken my arm off.”
“What about the other wound?”
“That’s no problem. I’m getting antibiotics to prevent infection. There again it was a small bullet and didn’t do much damage. Are you here to pick up Sandy? She has almost as many injuries as I have.”
“Yeah. I haven’t found her yet. Is she on this floor?”
"She is still in the operating room I think. She is supposed to come back here when they finish. She has her right arm broken and some nasty gashes on her left hand. She won’t be able to do much for a few days. Rena is going to care for her until she gets better.”
“What about you? Are you going to be okay in the trailer alone?”
“They tell me I will be all right. The police have been in twice to talk to me. They suspect that Rome Darcy is behind the shooting. The actual shooter is a kid about nineteen and someone who isn’t too bright. He has been known to hang around Darcy. All the police have to do is link the two together and get one of them to confess.” Dad was silent for a minute.
“You know, Barbara may never get her felony record cleared up. My lawyer said that the only thing holding it up was Darcy’s deposition. He evidently got scared, believing that giving it would put him behind bars for life. Well, if he is linked to this, that should do it to him for certain.”
“Dad, I’m not too worried about Mom. She has lived with a record for so many years and it hasn’t hurt her that much. She has found a nice man and it isn’t bothering him.”
“I know, but I wanted so to do something to right the wrong I did her. Guess I’ll have to give up on it and let her think the worst of me forever.”
I looked up as Sandra pushed through the door and into the room. Her arm was in a cast that was strapped across her body. The left hand had a sizable bandage wrapped around it. She looked haggard. “Good, you are here Adrian. I want to go home and go to bed. Aden, you get well as soon as you can. We need to get a place so we can live together as soon as possible. The kids need you as much as I do.” I put her coat on with left arm through the sleeve and draped the rest over her right shoulder.
Sandy was rambling. I said my good-bye to Dad. Sandy leaned down and kissed him as I turned to the door. There was a wheelchair for her to ride in waiting in the hallway. We went down the elevator with her being pushed by a volunteer person who helped with some of the more mundane tasks. Sandy was paused in the lobby while I brought my car to the front. It was awkward getting her into the vehicle. She leaned back and closed her eyes.
“Hurry Adrian. Go as fast as you can. I have to pee. I should have done that in the hospital where a nurse could have helped me.” At that moment I wondered who was going to help her when we reached her apartment.
I found out. I hurried her into the house and to the bathroom, dragging her coat off her shoulders as we went. I opened the door wide and she turned to me. “Take my slacks and panties down.” My face flamed. I glanced at her when her clothes were puddled around her ankles, but couldn’t read any expression except the need to be sitting. I steadied her and then there was the look of relief to go along with the sound. I backed out and shut the door.
It got much worse before I had Sandy installed in bed with a nightgown on. She had managed to kick her slacks and her panties off of her feet by the time she called me in to help her stand. “Take me into the bedroom and I’ll tell you which drawer my nightgown is in. You can unstrap this sling from my chest so you can remove my clothes. You’ll have to unhook my bra and then I can get into my gown.”
All of this time she hadn’t looked at me, just giving me directions. When we reached the bedroom, I loosened the sling and took it off. She was able to rest the cast her arm was in on the bureau while I first removed the sweater and then her blouse. Hesitating, I went behind her and unlatched the three hooks that held her bra together. I didn’t remove the foundation, just asking where her gown was located. It was across the room.
My intent was to put the gown over her head and take the rest of her underwear off as I slid it down over her. When I turned around she had shrugged the bra down and it was hung up on the cast. She stood there looking at me from across the room. “You know, for years I have imagined what it would be like for you to remove my clothes like you just did.”
“Yes and I wanted to take them off of you ever since I was fifteen years old.”
“Where do we go from here? I’m about as vulnerable as a person can be.”
“Why are you doing this to tempt me? Sandy, I don’t think it wise for me to go anywhere further with you, as helpless as you are. I’d like to tell you how beautiful you are and I’ll probably never get the image of you out of my mind.”
“I suppose I am tempting you. So what are you going to do?”
I debated for a couple of minutes, staring at Sandy all the while. I came to a decision. I shook out the sleeveless gown and walked across the room and behind her. I put the gown over her head and then I could see this wasn’t going to work. I wouldn’t be able to get her cast through the arm hole. I took it off and put the cast through the sleeve hole and resumed putting the gown over her. All of this time her breasts were on display.
I was feeling used. She was teasing me and it was wrong. My turn now. Still behind her I said, “I guess the gown is pretty rumpled. I should smooth it out the best I can.” I turned the collar down, slightly tickling Sandy’s ears. I smoothed the cloth over her shoulders and down her sides. I slid my hands under her arms and smoothed the gown slowly over her breasts, pausing long enough to make sure her most sensitive points were awake.
Moving away, I ran my hands over her butt, caressing each globe under the gown, before moving lower. I brought my hands to her lower tummy just an inch or so from the junction of her limbs. Sandy gave an audible intake to her breath. I paused, for it was stop now or continue.
The pleasure was there waiting at my fingertips. I hesitated. If I went forward with my inclination, there was no one to stop me. Sandy certainly wasn’t going to! But what about the future? My Dad? I could easily do this to him and use his treatment of me in the past as an excuse.
My sister Phyllis? I was her big brother. I would be so ashamed if she ever found out. What about myself? Would I feel guilt? Sandy was tempting me. Did she know what she was doing? She was on medication. How would she feel after it was over? One of us had to be strong!
Cindy and her beautiful auburn hair and freckles came floating insistently into my mind. Was it conscience that made me stop? I knew I could never go to Cindy with a clear mind if I didn’t stop now. Who knew what made me hesitate? Maybe it was divine intervention.
I backed away. “Come Sandy, let me get you into bed. You must be very tired. I’ll get a cool cloth and wash your face. The kids will be home in about three hours. Phyllis can do for you everything you need done at that time. I want them to have a good meal tonight and I’ll start it cooking.”
“This is the end of everything between us?”
“No, not the end. It does have to be the end of the wanting and needing of each other. You’ll soon be marrying Dad. I don’t want any guilty feelings to bother me the rest of my life.” There were tears in Sandy’s eyes when I washed her face. What they meant, I didn’t even ask.
Chapter Eight
Sandy slept for an hour while I busied myself in the kitchen. When I looked in and saw her awake, I took her in a peanut butter sandwich. “You want to talk?” She nodded, yes. “Okay, I have a question for you. Andrea and I have often wondered why we never knew anything about your life before you married Dad. Would you tell me?”
“I have never talked about my early life. Aden doesn’t know much about me either. You think that you had a hard life growing up. I know all of your past, but it is nothing to what my family life was like.
“Think drunken father and a mother---well, loose woman to put a barely acceptable name to her lifestyle.”
I stopped her. “You lived somewhere in Massachusetts, right?”
“Yes. How did you know?”
“Your accent. Andrea and I had a friend with the same way of speaking while we were in college in Pennsylvania.”
“Yes, we lived in Roxbury. To go on, I had a sister a year younger than I am. She was raped when she was only fifteen by some black youths. Two months after the rape, she committed suicide by cutting her wrists. I found her and I suffered terribly from the trauma. I suppose the clinical term would be depression. I was only sixteen when this happened. I swore I would get away from my folks and the section of the city I was living in. For years, Roxbury had one of the worst crime statistics in the country. I don’t know where they stand now.
“Summers, I made my way to the Cape and waited table. I knew if I ever ran into a man that would take me away, I would do anything to get him to let me go with him. I did graduate from high school, but I don’t think I am very intelligent. I knew what I wanted and I latched onto a young man my age. He was a guest at the resort I worked at. He was much like you are right now. He fell in love with me and we were married a very short time later.
“Do you think his parents were happy about his choice of a wife? Ha! You can’t believe how miserable they made me. My husband didn’t see it and couldn’t understand my dislike of his parents. I found him out to be a Mama’s boy. I was aware that over time, my mother-in-law would prevail, and I very well could be right back where I came from.
“Fate. Do you believe in fate? I didn’t, but now I don’t know. I do know sometimes the results are good and sometimes they are bad. I’ll give you an example and then you can decide. My mother called me and said she wanted to see me. She had caught a disease and didn’t have long to live. I asked my husband to drive me back home to visit.
“We drove into Roxbury and it was only about a block to my former home. A car came up beside ours and we could see the window being rolled down. A gun appeared and several shots were fired and then the car sped off. My husband died before I could say good-bye. The car crashed into a utility pole and I miscarried a two-month-old fetus. My husband never knew about the coming baby. Gone, everything gone!”
Tears were rolling down Sandy’s cheeks. She didn’t stop talking. “That fate I mentioned---I’m here thirteen years later and I almost lost another man from a gunshot. Not only that, I almost let another man seduce me. No, that’s not correct, it was me that tempted you and I can plead that there was a reason. Adrian, you could be a twin brother to my first husband. You are a stronger, better man than he was though. Please forgive me for letting you know sometimes I have had this attraction for you. Several times I almost gave in to the desires that came, not from you, but from my past.”
“Forgiven. Don’t think about it. I have to ask about one thing. Again Andrea and I have always wondered about something. Where did you get the money that you brought to your union with my father?”
“That was from a life insurance policy. My name was on it. My husband had transferred the title less than two months before this from his mother to me. Needless to say she thought it should be paid out to her. It was going to be a battle and so I took the money and ran. I met your father a year later. I confess, I have never had as much love for Aden as I did for my first husband. Aden had money, for he showed me an account of his assets before I would turn mine over to him to manage.”
“Kids. Why did you want the children?”
“Because I lost my first baby through miscarriage. I was unbelievably happy when I found I was pregnant. I wanted to recapture that feeling of happiness again. And I have! Three times to be exact.”
“One more question. How did you feel when you found out that Dad was a bigamist and you weren’t really married?”
“It didn’t matter so much at the time, because I had the children. You managed to retrieve my money and the interest it earned. You watched over me to see that I was treated fairly by him and the rest of your family. Now Aden has changed for the better as well. I honestly feel you shamed him into treating our children the way they should be. I know how he treated you earlier and I know how he feels about you now. I can see you are beginning to have respect for him again. That makes me respect him as well. I seem to follow your lead in everything.
“I suppose you could tell Andrea what I have shared with you this afternoon, but only if you need to. I would just as soon all my secrets remain with you.”
“There may never be a reason to share them. Look, you must be needing the bathroom again. I’m going to see if Rena is awake. She can help you.” I grinned. “I had my turn. And---you will soon be wanting another pain pill. It is about time to pick up the kids and I’ll do that as promised.” This brought a smile to Sandy’s face. I wasn’t going to share with anyone what had happened today, but I wouldn’t easily forget it either.
Her parting words were, “Adrian, I hope the woman that you introduced me to Saturday night is the one for you. You two make a lovely couple. She better be good to you too. I could turn into the wicked stepmother if she doesn’t treat you right.”
I was waiting in front of the Academy School as classes were let out. Rich ran and jumped into the front seat of my car, leaving the rear seat to his two sisters. “Is Mom home?”
“Yes she is and has had a nap. Her arm is in a cast and when she is up it has to be strapped across her chest. Her other hand is bandaged, but that will be only for three days, so she tells me. I spoke to your father and he is doing great. His elbow was injured and the doctors were going to repair it this afternoon. I’m going in to see him this evening.”
“Mom can get out of bed?”
“Of course. Phyllis, you may have to help her in the shower. Both arms will have to be shielded from getting wet. I’ll show you what to use and how to tape some plastic bags over them.” Ten minutes later, Sandy had her three children standing beside her bed. Rena was in the apartment and she and I set about getting dinner for everyone.
Phyllis came out into the kitchen and stared at me. “What’s up, Phyl?”
“Adrian, tell me how Mom got undressed and into bed. She couldn’t do it by herself and I already know Gram was sleeping.”
Rena was standing on one side of the kitchen. I think she was waiting to see how I would answer, as much as Phyl was.
“I helped her. I helped take her clothes off and I found a nightgown for her to wear. I was standing behind her when I put it over her head. Just once I touched her bare skin and that was after she was in bed, when I washed her face with a cool washcloth. Your Mom is a beautiful lady. I want to stress the term lady. She needed help and I was the only one here at the time. I trust if I was hurt and needed help, I could count on you to do the same for me as I did for your mother.”
“I just wondered how she got in bed, that is all.”
“Okay then, that is how.” I watched as Phyllis went down the hall to rejoin her mother.
“Did you lie to the child, Adrian? She is growing up and when she asks about something happening, she needs the truth in her answers.”
“No Rena, I didn’t lie to her. Our relationship hasn’t changed or shifted that much, except we might be a little farther apart in one way and maybe a little closer in another. We talked a lot and I found out several things that I have always wondered about the early years before my father. What she told me lets me understand her better. She asked me to keep her confidence and I will. Sandy has always been a good woman and she still is.”
When dinner was over, I asked Phyllis to go to the hospital with me to visit her father. Dad was sleeping, but we could tell he was restless and hurting. He came awake as we were talking in low voices and his eyes lit up when he recognized his daughter. “Phyl, how is your Mom?”
“She’s okay Dad, but she needs to take a lot of painkillers. It was she who insisted on getting out of bed for dinner tonight. She is back in bed now. Rich and Tammy want me to tell them how you are, so you have to tell me everything.”
Dad was going to have a serious problem with his elbow. The joint was totally smashed. The police had found hollow point bullets in the gun, which explained the amount of damage. The other wound was not as serious and his flesh did not give enough resistance to expand the bullet. It had passed on through the soft tissue of his side. We didn’t stay very long for it was a school day tomorrow for Phyllis.
The kids went to bed shortly after we returned from the hospital. I was going to sleep on the couch and Rena was to get me up first thing in the morning so I could get on the road in time for my first class. Rena offered to come in and stay with Sandy all day. Mom would help with getting the kids ready for school.
It was eight o’clock when I made a call to Cindy Bickford. When she came to the phone I said, “Hi, I came down this morning to help with some family problems. I imagine you have heard about my father getting shot in the parking garage after midnight.”
“Oh Adrian, I wanted to call you. Yes, I heard about it. Is he going to be okay?”
“His elbow is going to be useless. The other wound will heal without any trouble. Sandy was hurt at the same time. Dad fell into her when he was shot and knocked her down. He landed on her arm and fractured it below the elbow. Somehow her other hand was lacerated at the same time, but she will regain the use of it as soon as it starts to heal.”
“Can I help in any way?”
“I think she has everything covered, although you might run up at noon to say hi. You will meet a lady named Rena Harris if you do. She is the woman that helped my sister and me the most when we were teenagers. I love her as much as I do my own mother.”
“I will go to visit your stepmother. Count on it. Adrian, is there any connection between the man that shot your father and the person our office was to depose today?”
“I have no idea. The thought did cross my mind. I talked to my father and he was wondering if Romaine Darcy did give the deposition.”
“Not for me to say. You understand?”
“Of course I do. I won’t be back in town before the weekend. Are we still on for our date Saturday?”
“Yes. Can we make a day of it?”
“We will. I’ll call when I get in. I tell you what, meet me at the Chelsea Royal Diner about nine on Saturday and I’ll buy you breakfast.”
“It’s a date. I’ll see you and will be waiting.”
I couldn’t think of much more to say and reluctantly said good-night. The memory of Cindy lingered though. Everyone had settled down for the night and I made ready to lay down on the couch. I stepped in to say good-night to Sandy. She was awake and lying in bed with just the night light on.
“Phyllis was questioning me how you got undressed and into bed this morning.”
“I know, she asked me too. Thank God we didn’t have to lie about anything. I would feel so guilty if we had gone beyond what was appropriate.”
“I would too. Look, I may not see you in the morning. I’m heading north early. Rena and Mom will get things going in the morning for you.”
“Adrian, thank you for everything. You know this whole family would fall apart if it wasn’t for you.”
“Whatever. I’ll see you on the weekend.” I went in and crawled onto the couch. It had been a long day for me and I went right off to sleep.
“Adrian, please come help me.” I roused up and instinctively knew it was very late. This call came from Sandy’s bedroom.
I got up and went to see what she needed. That would be the bathroom. “I’ll get Phyllis. She has to learn some responsibility.” I went in and shook my sister. “Wake up, your mother needs you.”
“What for?”
“She needs the bathroom.”
“You helped her this morning.”
“I know, but there was no one else here to help at that time. You are here and it is better that you be the one to do for her now.”
“Okay, I understand.” I went back to my couch.
Dad was allowed to leave the hospital late Friday. It was decided that he would bump Rich from his bed and would stay in Sandy’s apartment. Sandy had regained the use of her left hand by then, although it was stiff and sore. She had to be cautious about bending her finger joints as the scabs tended to crack open and bleed.
Mom didn’t go in to see him at all, leaving his care up to Phyllis and Rena. I stopped in Saturday morning to see how they were managing. I was pleased when Dad said how useful Phyllis was to her mother and now to him. The only real news he had for me concerning what happened was that Rome Darcy was in jail awaiting arraignment. He had been arrested late on Friday. This was on the local news.
I went up to Mom’s apartment. She and Peter had plans for the day. “Have you talked to Dad?”
“No. I can’t bring myself to be in the same room with him. Oh, I know I was at Christmas, but now I can’t stand him. You know what? I don’t even mind that he got shot. He deserved it. Say what you want about all of his good intentions lately, if he hadn’t hired that man years ago, he wouldn’t have been wounded now.”
“I know Mom. I feel somewhat the same way about the situation. How about Sandy? Do you hate her because she is going back to him?”
“No, of course not. She has her children to look out for. He is responsible for them and it is best for all. It isn’t like you and Andrea who had to grow up on your own.”
“Do you mind that I’m helping him then? Helping both he and Sandy, I mean?”
“God no. I have come to expect it of you. I’d be more surprised if you didn’t. Just don’t ask me to be friends with him. I have found Peter and he is going to make me very happy. He already has for that matter.”
“I’m glad. Hey Mom, I have to run. I have a breakfast date.”
“This is the Bickford girl you introduced to Sandy a week ago?”
“That’s the one Mom. How soon can I bring her home to meet you?”
“I’ve met her already. She has been up during her noon hour and she got out of work early on Thursday to visit Sandy. Sandy brought her over to meet me. She’s nice.”
“I think so. I’ll see you sometime before I return to school. Love you.”
I waited in the parking lot of the Chelsea Royal Diner for Cindy. She was a few minutes early. Could I read something into this? I certainly hoped it was because she was anxious to see me. The bright smile I received made me think she just might be.
Breakfast was over. When we got outside she asked, “What’s on for today? I don’t want to go skiing again.”
“Your choice this time. Sis and I chose last Saturday.”
“Okay, have you ever been to an antique shop? There is a great place in Chester called Stone House Antiques. There is a lot of old stuff just as it comes out of somebody’s attic. It is only forty miles from here.”
“You’re in charge. I warn you, I know nothing about antiques.”
“You can learn. Antiques are my passion. I’m collecting a little. Items are expensive as hell, but if you choose well, it can be a good investment.”
“What do you have so far?”
“I have a child’s oak fall front desk that I paid $95 for. I sent a picture to a site that makes a guess from the details you send with it. They gave me an estimate of $250 to $430. I also have a child’s convertible that was made in Morrisville, Vermont in 1870. It is in almost perfect condition. I saw a picture of one for sale on E-bay. Buy it now for $1075. I only paid $145 for mine.”
“And what would a child’s convertible be?”
“It’s a child’s high chair that folds down and converts to a rocker. The mother can rock the child with her toe as she is sitting down knitting or reading. At meal time it can be extended again so the child can be at the table with the family. Quite ingenious, really.”
“I’ll have to see it sometime.”
“You can see it the first time I allow you into my bedroom.”
“If I’m ever allowed into your bedroom, I don’t think I’ll be looking at some centuries-old chair.”
“What would you be looking at?”
“Hopefully a young and beautiful woman.”
“Flattery such as that, just might get you to see whatever you want to.”
Cindy and I spent five hours inside the antique center. This was what is called a group shop with many different dealers and individuals putting their items in separate booths. The tags listed the selling price, the booth number and an identifying number or symbol. Sometimes these tags had a discount if it was purchased by another dealer. Also again, sometimes all of the items in the whole booth were marked a percentage off.
Cindy was far ahead of me looking for bargains where I had to look at each item. With many items and tools especially, I tried to figure out what and how they were used by our ancestors. After awhile Cindy came back and we went through each booth together, with her explaining many of the things I wasn’t knowledgeable about. She went into a different section of the shop that held mostly old furniture.
I was looking for some little thing that I could purchase that I could give to Cindy for her to remember this day. I found it on the far wall displayed in a locked cabinet. There was a large tag that had some tiny writing on it on the same string that held the price tag. I went to the clerk and asked to have it taken out so I could view it. The silver spoon was laying half encased in cotton in an open 10-inch box, covered in soft leather. It had hardened over the centuries and the leather had cracked in places. There was a logo imprinted on the box of a Boston silversmith.
I inspected the spoon and from some of the things that Cindy had told me to look for, I thought this had everything, but for now I had only the written tag to go by. The silversmith mark told who cast the spoon and the year was indicated on the underside of the handle. It would be wise to check this in a book of hallmarks, but the clerk believed it to be authentic. Oh well, if it wasn’t, it would be just another high-priced serving spoon with the letter “C” engraved on the handle.
“If you buy this, I can polish it before I box it.”
“Would you please? I want to give it to the lady I came in with.”
“She’ll love it.” Cindy was still busy in the other section of the shop. I quickly made my purchase and went in search of her.
“Oh, you found something to buy. I haven’t found a thing. Maybe next time. I’m done, I’m hungry and there is a diner across the street. Let’s eat something and then we can come back so you can finish seeing everything. What did you buy?”
“Just an old spoon. I’ll show it to you sometime.”
When we got back into Brattleboro, I thought Cindy would want to go home. Instead of going out to dinner, she asked if I couldn’t make something for us to eat. I didn’t know about taking her to my home in the park and said so.
“I’m an adult. I want to see where you live and if you do anything I don’t like I will tell your Mommy on you. Not only your Mommy, but maybe your sister too.”
“Which sister? I have three of them.”
“Guess which one I would tell?”
“Ordinarily I would say, Andrea, but she wouldn’t believe you. Not Tammy because she is too young to know what you are talking about. It would have to be Phyllis. She is just becoming aware of what is right and what is wrong. I’m her big brother, so if you told her something I did wrong, it would hurt her terribly.”
“Adrian, you are a sensitive, caring person. You really did guess correctly. I don’t care who I speak with in your family, they all have the greatest respect for you. Love too, for that matter. I have to confess I get the same awareness when I talk with Sandy about you.”
“That’s very possible. She and I have always got along well together.”
“Was there ever anything more? I have to ask because she is so attractive.”
“Physical you mean? No. I love the kids, but I couldn’t be a father to them at the same time as a brother. I’m not saying if my father hadn’t turned himself around and become to them what he should have, I might have tried to fulfill that role. I’m glad I didn’t have to.”
“Why not?”
“Because if I had, I wouldn’t have been free to court the one I fast am becoming so very fond of.”
“You’re so sweet!”
I set about making dinner. There wasn’t much in the trailer to make dinner with. I found a Polish sausage that had been stored in the freezer compartment. I cooked a cup of elbow macaroni and heated the sausage through in water.
“Cindy, would you go over to the Cumberland store and see what they have for rolls? Hard rolls would be good, but anything will do.”
There was almost a pound of cheddar cheese that had dried around the edges. Cutting this off, I had more than a cup left. When the macaroni was tender I melted the cheese and a little milk together and cubed the sausage, putting everything into a casserole dish. I crumbled some saltines and stirred some melted butter with them. Everything was cooked, but I wanted it heated evenly, so I slid it into the oven for fifteen minutes.
I took a bottle of wine from the top cabinet and put that into the freezer compartment. When Cindy returned with the bread, I split and buttered it well, shaking some garlic powder liberally over it all and slid these in beside the casserole. Forty-five minutes after starting the macaroni, I sat Cindy down and clicked glasses of the barely chilled wine.
“Not much imagination, but certainly wholesome and tasty. I love key-lime cake and I have one left for dessert. I buy three at a time and store them, but we are in luck tonight as it was going to get eaten anyway. The luck part is having you here to share it with me.”
We drank the whole bottle of wine. It wasn’t that big and we didn’t get more than a little buzz on. “Do you want to see what I bought in Chester today? You can tell me if I spent my money foolishly.”
“Yes, love to.”
I handed the box to Cindy where she was curled up on the couch. She opened the bag and withdrew the box. She looked it all over. “Well, I can tell you the box was made between 1770 and 1813. It is in fine condition. This was made for a silversmith to put his creations in. Actually this smith was a contemporary of Paul Revere. He never became as famous, but his work is fully as fine. Am I going to find some of his work when I open the box?”
“You tell me. You are the expert.”
With hesitant fingers, Cindy lifted the cover off. The spoon was wrapped in cotton and caught the light as it was revealed. The handle came first into view and the beautifully engraved “C” was very visible. She paused and looked up at me. “My God Adrian, you bought this today? This is a real antique! The workmanship is superb!” She turned it over to inspect the marks stamped in the handle.
“My first present for you. I wanted you to remember our day.”
“I honestly believe the spoon goes with the box. I can’t accept this. It is too much.”
“I knew you were going to say that. Cindy, I don’t have a good place to store stuff, so if you say it is too much, would you keep it for me? Some day when you can accept it, you will already have it at hand. Even if we don’t make it together, I’ll never ask for it back. It really is a memento of today, that is all.”
Cindy searched my face. “You really want me to accept it don’t you?”
“Yes, very much and I don’t expect more than a thank you. The tag says it is coin silver. What does that mean?”
“It just means that it is made of melted coins. The coins could have originally come from anywhere. They might even be melted down pieces-of-eight. Those were Spanish coins minted right here in the New World. Many of the colonists were rich. Not by today’s standards, of course.
“Most people back then worked hard and prized fine things. When they had extra money, they wanted to display their wealth. They bought beautiful furniture, dishes and jewelry. Even the common utensils made of pewter often had some design. Working people had the same wants as their more well-to-do neighbors. Today people buy the best car they can afford. Same difference.”
“Wow, a spoon and a history lesson all in the same day.”
“I’m not just a pretty face, you know.”
“I am very well aware of what you are.”
“What are you aware of?”
“Not telling. Can we change the subject? Let me ask you a question. Do you plan on getting married someday?”
“Yes, of course, aren’t you?”
“Just as soon as I fall in love and the person I meet falls in love with me. It will have to be awhile for me, though. I have the rest of this year and all of next year to complete my studies before I can even think about it.”
“That would stop you from getting married?”
“It wouldn’t be fair to the woman.”
“It might if she loved you enough. She might not want to wait that long to get married. Maybe she would want to get married sooner and help her man with his studies.”
“That would be nice. Kind of like facing the future together.”
“Something like that.”
The subject changed again. “Has Andrea said anything more about her date with Mike?”
“Not much. They had fun together last weekend skiing. I don’t think she is sitting by the phone waiting for him to call. Why?”
“Mike didn’t get the position at IBM he had applied for. He floated his resume among several companies. One company that is located in California is interested enough in him to spring for airfare to give him an interview.”
“Andrea will never leave Vermont.”
“That’s what Mike gathered. He is hoping she will still consider him a friend, but not to expect more from him.”
“I don’t think she does. It’s not like me and the way I feel about you.”
“Adrian, we need to get to know each other better. We have only had a couple of dates and it is too soon for you to tell me how you feel. However, I think I feel the same way and want to continue dating.” We left it at that. I studied all day Sunday, except for a half hour conversation on the phone with the woman who was always in my thoughts, before heading back to South Royalton.
Through the rest of the winter I continued to date Cindy. We were together every weekend and I made sure I saw her once during the week. One night in March, I looked for freckles and I’ll never tell what I found or where. Three dates later after a loving session, I asked, “Would you be okay with my asking your folks for your hand in marriage?”
“Is this a proposal?”
“Yes it is.”
“I was hoping you would ask. You don’t have to ask my parents, but they will love you if you do.” We then started making plans.
Other things were happening as well. Mom moved across town and into Peter’s home, leaving Rena alone on the second floor of the house. The living quarters at Melrose Terrace were being held up for renovations, so she couldn’t move in as soon as planned.
The apartment house that Mom, Sandy and Rena owned had been sold and they had three months to find somewhere else to live. I suggested to Rena that she move into the park and stay at my mobile home for the time being. She agreed to make this move when Dad and Sandy signed the papers on the house he had wanted to buy.
Finances were going to be tight for Sandy and Dad. Both had been injured at the time of the shooting and had lost some weeks of work. Desperate, Sandy begged to become hostess at Gillies with the promise she could return to waiting table as soon as she could carry trays. Dad’s injured elbow pained him most of the time, but he went back to work as soon as he could control the pain with Tylenol and aspirin.
Romaine Darcy was being held without bail until his trial came up in September. Cindy and I never discussed the case at all, but if there was any news in the paper, she made sure I read about it. Dad’s efforts to get Mom’s record cleaned up were certainly on hold and might never happen. He and I discussed it some. We were hoping when Darcy came to trial and Dad had to testify about his past dealings, a motive would be established for shooting Dad. The motive of the shooting was to prevent Dad from testifying about Darcy’s false testimony against Mom. It still might happen and Mom’s felony record would be expunged.
As Cindy and I became intimate, we had a hard time finding a place to make love without the whole world knowing about it. Rena was living in my trailer, so that was out. Cindy claimed she didn’t mind if Rena heard us, but it didn’t seem right to me. On occasion we used Cindy’s room if her parents were absent, but again what would they say if for some reason they returned early? Again this bothered me more than it seemed to bother Cindy.
The situation eased when Mom and Rena were discussing our problem. The next weekend when I came down, Rena informed me that she was staying in Mom and Peter’s guest room for the night. I felt bad about displacing Rena on such short notice, but I forgot about it the minute Cindy was in my arms. My elderly mentor gained much at the same time. Cindy started spending evenings with Rena and eventually stayed many nights with her new friend.
The plans we were making to get married were subject to many revisions. I had warned Cindy I didn’t want to tie the knot until I had finished my education and had passed the Bar. As spring approached, and we became closer to each other, I didn’t see how I could wait another whole year. Cindy would have gone down to the Town Clerk and had the words said over us any day I would agree to. Finally we approached her parents and asked what they would advise. A day in June there was going to be a wedding. We had a short honeymoon.
I was working for the same firm this summer that I had the previous one. I knew when fall approached I would be traveling the same distance as I had for the past two years. What I really wanted was to get out of class, go home, have dinner, study and then take my bride to bed. Cindy felt the same way. We had talked about this, of course, but now that the time was fast approaching for me to return to classes, it weighed on us more heavily.
She was the one to come up with the first sensible suggestion. “Why can’t we find a house to rent close to the law school? I’ll find a job to keep me occupied and we can be together every night without all the traveling.”
“You’d quit your job at O’Connor’s?”
“To be with you I would.”
“Okay, then let’s start looking for a place to live.” We ended up leasing an old farmhouse in the town of Sharon. This was about halfway between White River Junction and the law school in South Royalton. Cindy and I took the following Monday off from work and she found a position with the Veteran’s Administration in White River as a patient advocate. This would give her something to do day times. In actuality she was making a bit more of a salary in her new position than she did at the law office.
The house we rented had been fully renovated three years before we signed the lease. It was in fine shape and all systems were up to date. I knew we were going to be very happy here in our first year of marriage. We moved into it the Monday after the Fourth of July and traveled together to Brattleboro for the rest of the summer.
This was a large house with three bedrooms in the main house and a small mother-in-law apartment in the rear. “Cindy, I want to ask you something about Rena. You have become friendly with her in the last couple of months. She has been more of a mother to me than my own has been and I was wondering if--- ”
“Stop right there Adrian. You want Rena to move into the small apartment out back don’t you?”
“Only if you agree. Andrea and I talked about this one time and we thought that if Rena didn’t have a home, one of us would provide one. I don’t think she is too thrilled with moving into Melrose housing. So what do you think about it?”
“Hand me the phone. I’m calling her right now.” Rena was somewhat reluctant, but finally agreed to our impassioned pleas that she move into the apartment. This might have seemed strange to anyone without examining it fully, but Rena was a part of my life that I couldn’t let go. She was soon to be sixty-six. You wouldn’t know it for I firmly believed she was of the same Vermont stock that Paul Black had been. Therefore we hoped, although elderly, she was to have many years left to live.
We were all waiting anxiously for the Darcy trial to start. It did not go well for the prosecution. The young man that the state had pinned their hopes on testifying that Rome Darcy hired him to kill Aden, didn’t work out as planned.
The boy’s trial came first and it was clear that he had acted on his own in shooting my father. The boy had heard Darcy ranting about wanting to kill Dad, but hadn’t suggested or paid him. The boy was just too dumb to lie and had to be believed by the jury. Much of the trial centered on how the boy found and identified Dad in the parking garage, but it was explained. The boy might be bumbling, but did have certain cunning about him.
The kid got ten years and when Darcy was tried, he was acquitted. This didn’t help Dad in his quest to get Mom’s record cleared. Rome Darcy wanted nothing more to do with Aden Hunter and Dad’s lawyers were stymied in even getting any more hearings. So Romaine Darcy still is a free man and still on the edge of being locked up as a habitual criminal. Mom and Dad are both resigned to never having the record cleared, but each for different reasons.
By this time Cindy and I had been married three months. Cindy was working in White River and I was daily at the law school. Back in Brattleboro, Phyllis was attending middle school. Dad was working full time. He had to, with the mortgage on the new house and three children and a wife to support, he needed every penny. Some different than when he lived in Texas with a million dollars of our money in the bank.
I was proud of Dad in a way. He made the transition from con man to working stiff and seems much happier for it. Gillies restaurant is opening up a seafood retail outlet and Sandra is hoping to become involved in the management of it. Her salary might not be quite as much at first, but it would be steady, not like working for mostly tips, waiting table.
I sold the trailer in the park where I had discovered Mom years and some months ago. I did as I had said and split the proceeds with Andrea. Andrea has given up her apartment in Montpelier and is living with a man that she met at work. Cindy and I see them quite often and the four of us are planning on taking Tammy, Rich and Phyllis to Disney during the spring vacation.
I’m planning on taking the Bar exam in both New Hampshire and Vermont as soon as I graduate. I guess you could say my life has turned out extremely well. It could have been different if I had made a different choice. I’m talking about Sandra here, of course. I did make the right choice, I know that, but sometimes I awake in the night. Cindy is lying beside me, so warm and comforting. The vision of a naked, and vulnerable Sandra intrudes momentarily, tempting and teasing me. I determinedly push the vision away and snuggle a little closer to my wife. Thoughts of Cindy saved me once and they saved me again tonight. I smiled.
The End
No comments:
Post a Comment