The UnKnown (A Novel) (7 page)

Aunt Silvia wiped her eyes and watched me closely. “Come, let me show you your room. Dinner is ready and Russ should be home from work shortly. He is eager to meet you.” I wondered if he was as nice as my aunt seemed to be.

“I’m going to go now. I think you’re in good hands. I wanted to make sure you were ok,” Drake said after what seemed like a lifetime of silence.

“Thank you again for everything. Do you have my number? Please call me tomorrow.” He grabbed my hand and smiled like I had just made him the happiest man alive.

“Of course I do, Peaches. I’ll call you tomorrow.” He pulled my hands up to his lips and kissed the back of them like the true gentleman that he was.

“Until tomorrow, Peaches.”

“I’ll talk to you then.” He turned and said goodbye to my aunt.

“Well he is a nice young man. Is he your boyfriend?” she said arching one eyebrow.

“A girl can only hope.” I did hope we would be more than just friends.

Aunt Silvia took me up a path of steep wrap-around stairs. We went past several closed doors until we came to the end of the hallway. She opened the door and there was the most beautiful room I had ever seen. There were blue and white curtains that followed the length of the two picture windows. There was the biggest bed I had ever encountered. It was covered with a silky baby blue comforter and sham set. I was in pure heaven.

“Is blue still your favorite color?” How did she remember that?

“Yes it is. This room is beautiful. It is too much.”

“No, Misty, it’s not enough. Make yourself at home and I will come and get you when Russ gets home. We like to eat as a family as much as possible.” She turned and looked at me one last time before she left. “It is good to have you here, Misty. I have missed you so much.”

“I’ve missed you too.” She smiled and walked out the door, shutting it behind her.

I walked all the way into the room and twirled around like I was a princess in a castle. This was my new home. I had a place to call my own. No one could take this moment away from me. I knew this was the doing of my mom and dad.  I figured I could take a quick shower before dinner, but hadn’t seen one when we came up to the room. Digging in my bag I pulled out a clean pair of jeans, underwear, and my favorite Van Halen t-shirt. I opened the door to my new room, looked down the hall and spotted the bathroom. I tip-toed out like I was on the prowl for something; then dashed over to the bathroom and shut the door quietly behind me. The bathroom was immaculate along with the rest of the house. There was a white porcelain claw tub with a standing shower next to it. The bathroom was so big that it was the same size of my room I just left. The dark granite counter tops matched perfectly with the dark cherry-wood cabinets. My aunt seemed to have impeccable taste
. “I think I’ll have a bath,”
I said to myself.

I turned on the water and let the tub fill to the semi top.  Letting my clothes drop to the floor, I stepped into the water and slid down to make myself more comfortable. I knew I couldn’t stay in long, but it felt so good to wash all my worries away. I was drifting off to sleep when I heard my name being called.

“Misty, dinner,” Aunt Silvia yelled. I could hear the chatter of people down stairs. I washed my body quickly and put my clothes on. I decided to take the towel with me to my room because I could reuse it. I dropped my belongings off and proceeded down the stairs. I wondered if this was how my life would have been if I had had a real home. When I rounded the corner to what seemed to be the dining room, I saw two little faces looking up at me. They were the same two faces from the photo.

“Hi, I’m Lizzy, and that over there is Lee.” She pointed over to who I assumed was her bother.

“Hi, I’m Misty.” I smiled down at her. She couldn’t have been more than six or seven.

“I know. Mommy told us you were coming. She told us your mommy died and that’s why you’re here.”

“Lizzy Michelle Harris! That is a rude thing to say. We don’t talk about people’s misfortunes,” Aunt Silvia stated with a cross look on her face. “Now go sit down next to your brother. Dinner is ready.” Lee still hadn’t said anything to me.

Lizzy raised her chubby little face and grabbed my hand. “I’m sorry. Will you come sit next to me?” I couldn’t get over the fact of how much we looked alike, but then again our mothers were identical twins.

“Sure, I’ll sit with you.” Lizzy’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. She pulled me over to the table and sat down, patting the chair in between her and Lee.

I sat down. Lee was just sitting there playing with some sort of handheld gaming device. “Hi Lee, I’m Misty.” He looked up for a moment, nodded then continued playing his game.

“He doesn’t acknowledge people much. He has to get to know you first. He has Asperger’s Syndrome.” I had heard of this before but never came into contact with anyone who had it.

“Well Lee, it is very nice to meet you. I’m your cousin Misty and I will be here for a little while.” I smiled at him but he just continued to play his game.

“He’ll come around, I know it. My twin sense is tingling.” OMG, twins. I should have known. They looked a lot alike except one was a girl and one was a boy.

Lizzy started to say something when her father entered the room. He was a dashing older-looking gentleman. He was well built, with graying black hair, and light brown eyes. I could see why my aunt found him attractive.

“Hi, Misty, I am Russ Harris. I am Silvia’s husband and father to these two mongrels.” Lizzy dashed up and ran into her father’s arms. He seemed so loving and caring, just as my father was.

“Hi, Daddy, Misty is sitting next to me. Mommy said we can have ice cream after dinner.” Lizzy was talking a mile a minute while Lee still sat there playing his game. I wondered what was going on in that head of his.

“Hi, Mr. Harris, it is very nice to meet you.”

“Please, call me Russ. We are family.” Family - the word was like music to my ears.

“Come on you two, take your seats so we can eat,” Aunt Silvia said as she sat a dish of lasagna down on the table.

Russ and Lizzy moved into their sets. “Russ will you say the prayer.” My aunt has prayer before meals. My mother always had prayer before meals. I had no idea if I was in heaven or hell. This place truly made me miss my parents. It even made me miss my friend Lucy. Speaking of Lucy, I needed to look her up tomorrow. Russ said the prayer and the family began to pass the food around. I couldn’t help but smile. Even little Lee put his game down and was engaging in the meal. They talked about their days and their plans for the weekend. They reminded me of the Cosby’s. I honestly didn’t think that families like that existed. I thought about the story Drake told me, and maybe, just maybe, it could come true one day.

“So Misty, what are your plans?” Russ asked, breaking me from my thoughts.

“Um, I don’t know. I thought I’d try to find a job. I don’t have any skills though.” Russ rubbed his head.

“I think I can help you out. I know the owner of the diner over on Pico Street. I can give him a call and see if he has any openings for a waitress.”

“Oh honey, that would be great,” Aunt Silvia said before I could answer.

“That would be great. It would cut out time looking for a job.”

“Done, I’ll call them tomorrow.”

“Thank you so much Russ. I don’t even know how to thank you.” I picked up my fork and continued to eat.

“It’s not a problem, Misty, we are family.” There was that word family again. It was so nice to sit around a table and eat together, and the food was amazing.

“This lasagna is amazing Aunt Silvia.” She winked at me and I had two more platefuls before I stopped eating. I was as stuffed as a pig. I didn’t think I could remember a time that I ate so much.

“Mommy, can I show Misty my room,” Lizzy asked.

“Not tonight honey. We got a late start. It’s bath time and then off to bed. You have school in the morning.”

“Aww, but that’s not fair.”

“I tell you what, Lizzy. As soon as you come home from school tomorrow, you can show me your room. We can have a tea party.” Her eyes got big with excitement and I couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Oh, I can’t wait! Mommy can I be excused?” Aunt Silvia nodded and Lizzy shot up and ran up to her room. She was such an animated girl that I couldn’t help but feel bad for Lee. He was just so quiet and reserved. Made me want to know what was going on in that head of his. I was going to have to go to the library and look up Asperger’s. I wanted to know effective ways to try and communicate with him. Once the kids were upstairs Aunt Silvia and I went to the living room. Russ (or Uncle Russ) went into his office.

“Ok, baby girl. Let me have it,” she looks at me with worry and sadness in her eyes.

“What do you mean?” I knew she wanted to know what had happened over the years. I didn’t want to talk about those dark times.

“Tell me about your life. I have missed so much of it.” She sipped a cup of piping hot coffee she had brought with her to our chat.

“I will admit it wasn’t all fun and games, but I survived it. It isn’t something I like to rehash. It’s over and I’m here with you now. I want to move forward with my life. No looking back.”

“Baby girl that is the saddest thing I have ever heard. No 18 year old should sound like the world is a doomed place. You are supposed to be happy and carefree. I guess this is my fault.” She started to cry again. I reached over and wiped the tears off her cheek. I felt a small electric spark when I touched her. I didn’t know what it was, but I felt an instant connection to her. I think she felt it too because she stopped crying and had a puzzled look on her face.

“I’m tired. Do you think we could continue this conversation tomorrow?”

“Of course, you must be dead tired.” She hugged me and pointed for me to go up to my room.

“Goodnight Aunt Silvia,” I said going up the stairs.

“Goodnight baby girl.”

Once inside my room I changed and crawled into bed. All I could think about at this point was having a relationship with my aunt and family. It was a good thought as I drifted off into a deep sleep.

Chapter 10

Drake

When I saw her fall to the ground my heart almost stopped. She had been through so much earlier in the day. She couldn’t take too much more. I got out of my truck and ran to her aide. Her aunt seemed to be a lovely woman. I waited until I thought she was safe before I left. When she told me to call her I was overjoyed. That meant she wanted to see me again.

The drive to my parents’ house seemed to take an eternity. When I finally pulled up to what I called a baby mansion I stayed in the car for a bit. I wasn’t ready to go in and face them about my life choices. It was completely dark out and I could see the lights in the house were on. That meant they were home. Sighing, I got out of my truck and made my way up to the garage to punch in the code to get in. I decided to greet my parents before unloading the truck. My dad would probably help me get the stuff out. Our house was the biggest on the block. We had a 4,000 square foot home made completely of fire red brick. The trim of the house was a creamy gold color. It was very pleasing to the eye. My mother was a wanna be decorator. She never made a real business out of it, but she did decorate quite a few homes and businesses.

As the garage door pulled up I was taken back to the time Sara and I got caught having sex in there. We had just gotten back from the beach and we were hot for each other all day. We swam, we ate, and we made out. I wanted her so badly when we got home that I took her right then and there. Well needless to say, my mother walked in on us. She was not at all happy about her son doing it in the garage at the age of sixteen. She had my dad have the sex talk with me. If they only knew Sara and I had lost our virginity to each other six months earlier. With the garage door finally up, I walked to the door that leads into the house and opened it. I saw the last thing I expected.

I saw legs in the air and groaning sounds coming from the couch in the living room. Oh God, did I just walk in on my parents? In twenty-one years of life I have never once walked in on them. It could be due to the fact that they were never around. I cleared my throat as hard as I could. My dad popped up from the couch.

“Shoot, son! We weren’t expecting you for a few hours.” My father’s face had turned  beet red.

“Yeah, I got in a little while ago, but I stopped at a friend’s house before I came home. I made really good time.” Misty was no friend of mine, she was my future. My mother poked her little head up and smiled sheepishly.

“I’ll just go get my stuff out of the car and pretend this never happened,” I said.

“Good idea. I’ll help you in a few minutes,” he said, as I turned to walk back out. I heard my mom giggling and saying something under her breath. Yeah, now that image would be burned into my head forever. I just shook my head. At least they still had that fire in their relationship. When I got to my truck, I began to unload the contents when my phone buzzed. I hoped it wasn’t Sara. I didn’t want to be bothered right now. I pulled it out and started smiling from ear to ear. It was from Misty.

Hey Drake. It’s Misty. Just wanted to say Goodnight before I went to sleep. I had a lovely dinner with my family. I’m really tired. I hope you call me tomorrow. TTYL

Me: Goodnight Peaches. Glad you had a nice dinner. I wouldn’t miss calling you even if the world were ending.

I put the phone back in my pocket, took a box from the trunk and turned around. My dad was standing there. He nearly scared the piss right out of me. I jumped back so hard that I dropped the box I had in my arms.

“Jesus Dad!  You scared the crap out of me!” He was laughing so hard he was hunched over.

“Sorry I thought you heard me walk up,” he said after slowing his laughter. I noticed a difference in my father. It was like he had softened up a bit. He was no longer the inaccessible attorney who had been hard on me, always pushing me to be the best. Seeing him look so carefree was odd to me.