Chapter 3

Randall Adams lived about fifty miles from where Ginger and I first met at the beginning of summer. It was that much closer to Minneapolis. Ginger and I left Minneapolis to get to her father's before dinner that evening. He welcomed us with a kiss and a hug for Ginger and a handshake for me. Wendy, his wife, was ten years younger than he. The twins were just walking and excited to meet some new persons.

They didn't remember Ginger and she hadn't seen them for awhile. Dinner was almost ready and Wendy with Ginger's help put it on the table. I had a beer with Randy, as he preferred being called. The twins were all over him and soon all over me as well. The only small children I had been in contact with were in England with Jim and Arlie's two.

I was therefore comfortable with these half brothers of Ginger and fooled with them until Wendy came in and announced dinner was ready. She had to calm down the boys as I had them wired. We were almost finished eating when the phone rang. It was a close friend of Wendy's who said she and family were going to stop in for a minute. They would be here in a half hour.

Wendy explained, "Emily Whitmore has a little girl just a bit older than my two. I was telling Emily the other day that Randy's daughter was coming to visit. For some reason she said she would like meet her. This was when I said the man who was like her mentor would be with her. When I questioned her, she said she had lived in Minneapolis as a child and wanted to know how Ginger liked living there in the city.

"I must say Emily is a little strange sometimes. She, like I am, is married to an older man. I think Robin Whitmore is thirty-five or six, whereas Randy is thirty-eight. She came to work for my father and worked with Randy until her daughter, Amy was born. Now she stays home the same as I do. We are together all of the time. You will like her, I think."

Ginger enquired, "How old are you?"

"Emily and I are the same age. That's all I am going to say. Neither of our husbands really robbed the cradle and we were both in our twenties when we married. I think Robin was a guardian or something of Emily when she was younger. When she got older, they found love and it seems to be a good match."

I figured I would stay in the background when the Whitmore family arrived, so I found a chair in the corner of the living room. The Whitmore's came in through the kitchen and I couldn't see them from where I was sitting. Robin and the little girl came in to talk to Randy and meet me. The boys and the little girl got into the toy box in another corner and were happily playing.

I stood and was introduced to Robin. "Hi, Pete, is it? I'm Robin. I understand you live in Minneapolis?"

"That's right. I like it. I haven't been there much recently. I went to university for four years on the west coast until this summer. I just returned a couple of weeks ago from England where the firm I work for sent me."

"I grew up in Minneapolis. I have a brother who lives there. I don't see him that often although we do keep in touch."

I became aware of someone standing in the doorway to the kitchen. I looked at Emily Whitmore, who was staring intently at me. I immediately knew this person. The hair was different. The figure was fuller, as it should be. The same sadness was there that I remembered from years ago. That soon changed as I could read hope and anticipation in her face. There was anger and despair in her face the last time I had seen my sister.

She met me in the middle of the room. "Roberta?" She could only nod as she was crying too hard to speak.

Finally, "Pete, little brother, you're quite the grown up man."

"Roberta, you are more beautiful than I remembered. Just as soon as I was settled into my job I was going to start looking for you."

"I heard. I couldn't believe it when Randy started talking about this wonderful person who had taken his daughter under his wing. I also couldn't believe it when I was hearing about the person's mother, Harriet, who was also mentoring his daughter. That's not the mother I know."

"No, I guess you wouldn't know Mom anymore. It has been ten years. We will have to talk about this. For now, though I am a guest of Randy and Wendy."

I turned to them. "Please excuse my inattention to you all. This is my long lost sister, Roberta. What a coincidence that she would know your father and we would meet like this. It has been ten years since she left home." Roberta led me to the couch where we could talk. All were interested so they listened in.

"Pete, I just couldn't take mom and her hate for me anymore. That is why I left. She was so wrong about me. It is going to take a long time to explain what happened and why. I now think different about our father than I did back then. I can more fully see Mom's point as well. At the time, there were so many hateful things said, I don't know as we will ever be mother and daughter again."

"Ginger may be able to help with that if we can get permission for her to stay with mom for her senior year of school."

Randy interjected, "I have my ex-wife's permission for the near term letting Ginger continue to live in Minneapolis. I will have custody of Ginger as soon as we can get a judge to hear this in family court. Ada's new husband doesn't want a teenager living with them. I need to see that Ginger is well cared for and happy. The place for her as long as she is happy is with you and your mother."

"Dad, thank you so much. This was what I was hoping for. Pete, I'm going to make Roberta my sister as well. You now have two sisters. I'll make Harriet love her as much as she loves me, too."

There was too much to think about all at once. So much was going on. I was going to get my sisters' side of what happened back when it seemed as if everyone hated each other except me in my family. I was happy for Ginger and how her situation was being resolved. I asked a question of my new found sister. "Roberta, this is your and my family business. How much do we want to display our dirty laundry?"

"Robin knows it all, for in many ways he has been my savior. He knows everything, but wasn't involved at first. You weren't involved either until after the fact. Mother with her closed mind doesn't know the half of it. I understand that Randy is going to bring in a mattress for you to sleep on tonight. Robin and I have an extra room.

"Would you stay with us tonight so I can tell you about what happened twelve years ago? Later we can share with Ginger. Randy and Wendy will learn some of it, and I am okay with that as well."

"Is there any chance you and mom can get back together?"

"If she will open her mind and listen to me, she should, but I can't speak for her. You might help with that."

"Okay, I'll go home with you. At the time I was too young to know what was going on in the family. I have always been curious what happened to cause the rift. I just knew it was very serious. Father pulled me aside one time and said things that made me feel as if you weren't the terrible person mom painted you."

I turned to Ginger. "Ginger, you won't mind will you? Wendy and Randy, will you excuse me if I talk to the sister I haven't seen for so long? Roberta and I will have this cleared up by evening tomorrow and I can spend time with you."

"Sure, go ahead. I've always known Emily was keeping something in her past hidden from us all. Wendy and I still won't pry into anything that isn't our business."

"Pete, I hope you find out something that will make Harriet love Roberta again. It is a terrible weight on her mind. You know that."

"I do Ginger. Roberta, can we go now?"

"Pete, can you think of me as Emily? I haven't been addressed as Roberta for many years. I was married as R. Emily. Emily, if you remember, was my middle name? The Roberta you knew is in the past and should remain there."

It would take some time, but I guess I could remember the name change, but I didn't think I would use it. Her whole demeanor had changed as well. I remembered Roberta as a screaming, crying, pouting, unsatisfied bitch. Possibly I thought of her as unstable as well. Roberta wasn't like this at all.

I smiled. "I'll try."

I received a "Good Luck" and a hug from Ginger as Robin, Roberta, and Amy followed me out to my car. Randy and Wendy were standing in the doorway watching as we got into our vehicles. Before I could follow the car Robin was driving, Roberta jumped out of it, coming back and sliding in next to me. "I'll ride with you. Pete, I've wondered about my baby brother."

I was bitter. "Not enough to let me and Mom know that you were alive. Roberta, you have a lot to make up for."

"Will you call me Emily, please, if you can? Pete, I wasn't ever mad at you. It was mother. We seemed to always be angry at each other." The name Roberta was what I grew up with, and I doubted I would ever think of her as Emily.

"Did she have reason to act the way she did?"

"Some, maybe. Pete, let's not talk now. We will tonight before going to sleep, I promise. I think your feelings will change about me. Yes, and about Dad, too."

"Wait then. Robin drives fast and I'm concentrating on keeping up." Roberta relapsed into silence the rest of our trip, which was of only twenty minutes duration. Robin had a nice well-kept house in a nice neighborhood. Roberta immediately started getting Amy ready for bed.

When she was tucked in, my sister asked me to come in and give my niece a kiss good night. "Good night Uncle Pete. May I have a kiss? "I leaned down and kissed her on her cheek. I received a big smile and then she turned over with a happy little sigh.

"She is a sweet little girl."

"I know and I am going to make sure she is going to stay that way. If you make things unpleasant for me or her, I will make you sorry."

"Threats, Roberta?"

"Forgive me Pete. I don't mean that. I'm just so protective of her. I had a terrible start to life. It is a wonder even to me that I could ever be as happy as I am right now. Come, sit in the living room. Robin is much a part of this. He will fill in some of the blank spots if I miss any."

Robin had a beer waiting for me when I sat down, and indicated a chair in the corner of the room. There was a love seat at right angles. Robin hitched this out so both could face me more directly. "Pete, what do you remember of Dad?"

"Gee, I don't know. I guess I always considered him a gentle giant. He never seemed to cross Mom when she was screaming at him. I guess you were the one to always come to his defense. You would give it right back to Mom when she was at her worst. Why was that?"

"Because Dad didn't have any spine. It took me years to realize this. What has Mom said about him? About me for that matter?"

"She told me just a few weeks ago that she caught the two of you in bed together. This was when she went up to the cabin before things got really bad around home. She said you were into incest."

"Pete, I swear on the bible, that we weren't. Robin can tell you that I was a virgin when we married. I know I was accused of incest, but I was trying to protect Dad and the other person who was involved. Dad asked me to do this and to promise never to tell of these things he wanted kept hidden."

"And what would that be? I think it is time you cleared the air. Mom, if she doesn't know should also be told."

"I agree and that is why I am telling you everything. Pete, Dad and I were especially close. There never was any sex involved and he never touched me inappropriately. I did promise to keep his secrets and that is why Mom and I fought so much. When I finally decided to tell her, she wouldn't listen, saying I was just trying to find an excuse for the bad things Dad and I did together. That is when I gave up and left home.

"And what was this deep dark secret that you promised Dad you would never tell."

Roberta's eyes swung to Robin. He took over the conversation. "Pete, I told you I have a brother in Minneapolis. He is older than I am. In fact he is the same age as your father was. There is no way I can escape telling you something that has always been hidden. I hope you won't broadcast it widely either. You see my brother, George, is gay. He still is in what is called the closet and wants to remain there.

"The only reason that I'm telling you this is because you have been the biggest victim in this whole affair. You lost your father and you lost your sister. Emily has asked that you be told. That is why we came to visit the Adams' tonight and let you know your sister is still alive. We are hoping you are mature enough to handle it in an adult manner."

This made me a little defensive. "It has been ten years. I can handle everything as an adult. I'm not a kid anymore."

Robin ignored this and continued, "Randy Adams has been telling us about the young man who was mentoring his daughter. Emily and I are his friends and when we heard the name of Pete Brown connected to his daughter, we have pumped him for information about you. You come off as a pretty good person, so we are trusting you to understand what went on and who was responsible."

"You want to know the truth so you want to know if you can trust me?"

Roberta spoke, "That's right. Dad died twelve years ago and for what? It really is time to move on. It took me a long time to realize this. I want Mom to know the truth. She wouldn't believe me once and from all indications she might not now. I'm asking you to help me convince her."

She had my full attention. "There is one other person that is involved and would be damaged if this is made public. At this late date, no one in our immediate family will be hurt more than they have been, but it would still destroy him."

"Roberta, whom are you talking about?"

"I want to tell you and I will shortly. For the minute, I want to get back to mother. There is also Ginger to be considered. I understand she and mother are quite close."

"She is. Mom was near a breakdown before Ginger came to live with us. I don't know who has gained the most. Ginger was almost a lost soul when I first met her. She felt unloved and unwanted. Mother felt the same way. I had just finished school, but had to leave the country concerning my work leaving her all alone again for a period of time."

"This makes me believe that you can convince Mom what I tell you is the truth. I have faith we should be able to come out alright."

"Roberta, you have a lot of faith in your baby brother."

"I do. Pete, I am so proud of you. I also want to know all about your life. What you do for work. I know you went to college on the west coast, but not what you studied. I know you went to England, but I don't know what for. I have gleaned this from Randy and Wendy, with Ginger telling them about the people she has been living with."

"You will know everything before I leave in a few days. There is a lot I need to know about you and Dad as well. I want to know all about your life after you left home. I guess I want to know about Dad and this brother of Robin's. I take it they were lovers and for how long? I'm guessing this because you have been dancing around what was wrong about Dad."

"Pete, I can answer that. Dad and Robin's brother met in college and started their affair at that time. The affair continued until dad's death. He left a mess when he took those pills. I have come to resent this more and more as I have grown older. Suicide may be the easy way out, but it is hell for those of us who are left to deal with it after the person dies."

"I agree." We had been talking for a long time and I had driven since early morning. I asked to be excused so I could get some sleep. I was shown the spare room and I soon slid into bed. I was wide awake, my mind in turmoil. The door opened and Roberta asked softly if I was asleep.

"No, I'm awake. Come, lay on the bed like you used to when you would get so upset with mom. You used to come in and ask if you could lie beside me for a few minutes. I hated it with everyone shouting at each other. You would come in and talk to me so I could go to sleep. I was able to sleep and think everything would be okay when I woke up in the morning. It never was though."

"It will be this time, Pete. I promise."

It was fairly early, but I soon went right off to sleep, the uncertainty of what had happened to my sister was making me happy. I knew where she was tonight and she was right beside me. I had to get up once for a bathroom break. Roberta had left. The house was quiet. I lay in bed when I returned. Revelations had come today. I thought about my father, my sister and some about my mother.

What I had heard about Mom today was a surprise to some extent, but then I remembered how shrill and nasty she had been to my older sibling in the past. For now I was going to listen to Roberta. Yes, she was still Roberta to me. I would continue to think of her with that name.

About my father and he being gay with a partner, I suppose I could deal with that okay. I would find Dad's partner, George Whitmore, and talk with him. I guess he was okay, but he had destroyed my family. He must have a few good points, for he had seen to Roberta when she was troubled enough to leave home.

But then he almost had to have when Roberta came to him for help. He would have wanted to keep his sexual preferences hidden, most likely more so than my father had, especially if he was a school teacher and had young kids as his charges. My father had worked in an art gallery as a curator and restorer. Being known as gay wouldn't have cost him his job or reputation. I gave it up, turned over and went back to sleep.

"You slept late Peter. Amy is already down for the first nap of the day. Come, I just made a fresh pot of coffee and muffins to go with it. Remember them? Dad said I always could make them better than mother. You used to sneak an extra one when no one was looking."

"God, Roberta, you speak as if you still remember our father with love. He was the cause of most of our heartbreak."

"I do remember Dad with love. He and I were always close. No, not the way Mom thought we were. Dad had one love and never should have married a woman. That said, he thought it wise to marry to throw everyone off about him being gay. Looking back, he should have told Mother and then divorced her. But everyone makes bad choices. And that was one of them."

"How did you find out about him and this other guy?"

"I was eleven years old when I saw Dad go into a beef house downtown. You and I were down there with a babysitter. Mom was at some meeting someplace. I ran away from the woman caring for us. She couldn't follow me inside, because she had to watch you.

"I went inside and for some reason I hesitated to approach Dad. I saw him sitting down with this man. They were holding hands and looking into each others eyes. I had seen enough movies so I recognized lovers when I saw their actions.

"I watched them for awhile until a waiter came by and asked who I was with. I ran out and found you and the babysitter. She was about wild with worry, for she thought I was lost.

"Soon after we got back, Dad came home. I charged into his room and asked him what he was doing with the man I saw him with. At first he told me it wasn't him as he had been nowhere downtown that day. I looked him right in the face and told him he was lying. I knew my own father, didn't I?"

"And then what?"

"I said I would ask Mom about him and the man I had seen him holding hands with. Then he said he was with a person he did business related to his job. Again, I called him a liar. No man in business would hold hands like he did. He was silent for a few minutes and I thought he wasn't going to say anything. Then he said that he loved me and would I please forget what I had seen. He would do anything or give me anything I wanted if I would forget about what I had seen.