Chapter 12

I took my sister to the little restaurant that I had discovered some time ago, the one between the two apartment buildings. We got a booth in the back, with me sitting so I could keep an eye on the door.

We put in our order for drinks, and I ordered the Fries Basket, and a side of tartar sauce. Yeah, I know it sounds weird, but I like tartar sauce with fries. Debra raised her eyes at me. She claimed she was not hungry.

"Something I picked up while I was in England. Eating french fries with tartar sauce is quite good, really," I said with a smile.

"Oh! You've been to England? How nice," Debra said sincerely.

"So, what brings you to my graduation?" I asked curiously.

"First, I want to say I didn't find out about your mothers death and funeral until weeks after it happened. I'm sorry; and I promise you, I would have come if I had known," she said earnestly.

I nodded, confused by her feelings. What did it matter to her?

"Second, I have been interested in you since I found out you lived so close. When your dad, our dad, left me that little insurance policy, I was shocked. My mother had always told me my biological father had died years ago," she said intently.

I nodded again. So far this was something I could understand.

"I just recently discovered that my mother had been intercepting all letters from your, my father, from years ago. She did not want him to have any contact with me. Your father finally stopped writing, but my mother kept all the letters to me. He used to write me about three times a year, plus birthday and holiday cards, until I reached ten years of age, and had a stepfather. He stopped writing at that point.

"My mother didn't want anything to do with your, my father. But she is a compulsive saver, and can't bear to throw anything away. I was looking for something in her attic some time ago, and ran across every single one of your dad's, our father's letters to me, saved by date," she paused, lost in reliving the scene with a distant look in her eyes.

"Anyway, I visited your farm to see where you and your family lived. It looks like a nice place for a child to grow up. It must have been fun," she half stated half asked.

"It was. I can't think of growing up any differently, really," I said with a smile.

"I found out which college you were attending, and a few people remarked it was a shame no one was going to be at your graduation. So I decided that I was family. I grabbed my camcorder, and here I am," she said.

Her eyes were almost begging me to accept her. I wondered how her life had been, growing up.

"Well, thank you for coming. I had wondered about you, off and on since I found out in Dad's will that you existed," I said kindly.

While we had been talking, I had noticed one of my shadows enter, and take up an unobtrusive seat at the counter.

My sister practiced law for a firm in Chicago. She took vacation time just to make it to my graduation. Her mentioning that she was in the legal profession made me wonder if I had any legal recourse to being followed by my government.

I was also stunned that someone that I really didn't know, took time out from her own life -using vacation time- to come to that unknown person's graduation. I told her as much. She waved that away.

"I really don't know what my mother's reasoning was for keeping your, our father a secret from me. Your father respected my mother's wishes... up to a point. He did insist on writing to me. Like I said, I never saw those letters until recently," she said a bit grimly.

Apparently, her mother was in the hospital for some long-term care for a broken hip. Her mother had requested something from the house, which was upstairs in the attic. That's when she ran across the letters.

She asked about my life. I told her about growing up in a small town. I told her about my jobs for a janitorial service, and about learning how to invest, so I had some good investments. I said I was happy about getting my degree in programming. I told her that I had come into money recently, but not how much, and that I was planning on doing some traveling.

I finally asked if I could ask a legal question. She grinned and asked if this was a 'real' or a 'what if' kind of question. I asked her what difference it made. She said her company bills her time at 125.00 dollars an hour. I choked on my coke as she said that. She laughed and said she was kidding.

So I gave her the scenario that had happened to me recently, just telling it as a hypothetic. She listened and said this was Federal law, which she did not practice. She was into civil litigation, and criminal law.

"Aren't those two separate specialties?" I asked curiously. After all, most attorneys specialized in one branch of law.

"Yes, but I started out in one, and got so much spill over from the other, that I studied both. My firm is very pleased with my abilities, and I am up for full associate at the end of the month," she said with a smile.

"I'm sorry to have to ask, but is that good?" I asked her a bit embarrassed.

She laughed. "Don't feel that way. Yes, it is good. My next step from there would be junior partner, then full partner. I am doing very well indeed," she replied.

Time slipped away, and the place started filling up with the supper crowd. I was hungry now, so I said I was going to order and I would be glad to treat her. She agreed and asked me what was good.

This was meatloaf night, and I had to admit, it was the best non-home cooked meatloaf I ever had. Debra agreed with me. We both had it as well as mashed potatoes, gravy, and corn.

I was having a good time with my half-sister. She was tall, brown haired, and had my father's eyes, green and spaced just a bit wider than normal. That was one reason I had thought she looked familiar to me when I first saw her. She was ten years older than I was, too.

While we were eating, my shadows changed shift. I noticed all this, without noticing that Debra had caught onto my watching my watchers. After we were finished with out meal, she pushed her plate away and look at me.

"Tom, I have noticed you watching someone or something over my shoulder all afternoon. Care to fill me in?" she asked me.

I pondered what to do for about five seconds, then thought, to hell with it. So I told her about my finding a sword and map at a flea market. There was no way I was going to tell her the whole truth! I said that I had decided to return the two items to the family in England, when my research showed that they belonged to the descendants of a family there.

To read this story you need a Registration + Premier Membership
If you have an account, then please Log In or Register (Why register?)

Buy at Bookapy.com

The Gift - Book I

Volentrin

$3.00

Get the collection (2 books) at Bookapy.com

The Gift

Volentrin

$5.00