Chapter 2

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 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 watch 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 road. 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."