Chapter 6

Lena and Harry graciously welcomed us four Saxons into their grand home. My sisters repeated the same open-mouthed surprise at the luxurious surroundings but did not comment. My outrage and anger by this point had gone down from a rolling boil to a low simmer. I guess the strongest feeling I had was bitterness; I’m sure it was all showing on my face.

Mom glanced at me but immediately turned away. Her face was drawn and pale; I knew she hadn’t slept well since I had blown up at her. I saw that she actually shuddered from the abrupt transition from the warm outside to the air-conditioned interior.

We all sat around their large dining room table, declining food and drink, as I had ensured we had a full restaurant breakfast before coming. Lena began by addressing the sisters.

“I’m sure you understand why we’re here now. There’s going to be some difficult subjects...”

“Lena, we know our mother is a hooker. Otherwise, we would have starved.”

Cherie followed her sister.

“When she doesn’t find men to fuck, we eat garbage.”

Their voices were flat, a little lifeless. Guilt took me over, and I realized my words against their mother had also hurt them deeply. Trying to get my mother’s attention, I had crushed their hopes for the future. I was too angry with Mom at the time to fully appreciate their anxiety.

“We are part of this,” Cherie continued. “We’re staying.”

I have to say, Lena and Harry handled the four of us masterfully. First, they gave our mother a chance to speak to us from her heart: to apologize and to explain, as best she could, her philosophy and ideas. Most of all, she loved us, and she was ready to make changes for our benefit and needs.

Next, Harry filled out his personal history for us, going well beyond the brief description I had heard from Lena toward the end of my first time with her. Gently, he showed how she failed to conceal her actual life from him while they were talking that night. Lena interrupted him.

“Can you see why I love this man so very much? He’s one in a billion.”

Third, it was time for their plan for Thea. Informally, she was going to be their parent’s aide. They shared a bed in a nearby apartment, and her duties would include helping them with their (impaired) mobility, their medications, and various household duties like cooking and cleaning. For this job, they set a schedule of 25 hours a week at a very generous hourly rate.

Beyond being an aide, there was going to be a long-term project to rebuild her identity, recover her social security number, and so on, so that she could join the regular work world. This way, along with providing for her family, she would be eligible for social security, medical insurance, and so on. There were a million details—too many to go into on this day.

Eventually, she would be able to live financially independent of her current benefactors.

Fourth, we three children would be going to school. Lena explained their approach and plans for obtaining high school diplomas and college.

“We’ve covered a whole lot of topics and materials. I’d like to take a break. Let’s have some drinks, hit the bathrooms, that kind of thing.”

Sometimes, Cassidy strikes me as being just a little more assertive than her sister. When we were all reassembled at the dining table, she stood abruptly and spread her palms on the table. Then she stared each of us in the eye, one after another.