Music City (23 page)

“
Tracy.” Vani reached over and took her brother’s hand.  “What makes family? Is it genetics, the color of your hair? Or is it a common life, common experience, all the memories of the time spent together, the time spent being a family?”  She brushed an invisible stray hair back into place, “I know that if someone walked in here right now and told me that you weren’t my biological brother I wouldn’t feel any different about you.  I’d be upset, of course, but my feelings for you wouldn’t change.  I say just leave them be.”

Tracy wasn’t convinced,
“I don’t think we should do nothing.” He said adamantly.  “What good would it serve?” asked Derek. “Family is your circle of love. Telling them about a possible switch at birth isn’t going to change that circle. I suggest we discreetly make some inquiries about some of them. I’m sure that along the way, some of them have gotten sick, or needed help from blood relatives. Let’s see if we can find anything else out before we jump to any conclusions or talk to anyone about anything.”

Derek stood and continued, “Because honestly folks, we do not know if she switched them, or she just paired up on paper who she thought would
have made a good switch. Heck, the names in the book might not even be pairs, I mean, who knows what she was doing with this book? We certainly don’t and she can’t tell us. Remember who we’re talking about here. She switched her own children, because in her mind, she was protecting them, providing for them. She had nothing to gain by switching hundreds of other babies, absolutely nothing. She didn’t strike me as the type of person who would do anything unless it was going to in some way be beneficial to her.”

Alex stood and stretched, “I say we
just burn this book and concentrate on finding the people we know, or at least are fairly certain, were switched.”

***

It was a difficult week for Shelly and for her family.  There seemed to be a dark cloud hanging overheard, just thinking about Maye’s diary and the possibility of so many lives altered, saddened all of them, and their thoughts never strayed far from that diary. Shelly found herself looking at people she saw and wondering if she were related to them, or if Maye had somehow touched their lives too.

They decided that
while they weren’t going to take immediate action concerning the diary, they weren’t going to burn it either, so it just hung there, the albatross that all of them had to bear, the elephant in every room.

Finally, Friday morning, Shelly had had enough.  She and her children were enjoying a hearty breakfast of biscuits and gravy when she said, “I’m sick of this, of feeling like this.  Let’s all get together tonight and hash this thing out once and for
all, we need to make a decision about the diary, and honestly, I need to know what happened to the rest of my siblings.  I hope that the two of you don’t get mad at me over it, but I need to know, I need the closure.”

Vani shook her head, “Momma, we’re not mad at you, you have a right to know, I’ll call Derek this morning, or Tracy, you can mention it to them at work.”

Tracy shrugged, “You better go ahead and call Derek,” he smiled, “I’m going in late today, I have some errands to run first, and Momma,” he looked at his mother, “I can’t be here tonight either.”

“Oh?” Shelly wondered.  “What do you have going on?”

Tracy blushed, “I h
ave a date with Brandy and I really can’t cancel. We’re invited to her parents’ house again, and her momma is planning a big supper. It’s Brandy’s birthday, I can’t miss that.”  He paused for a moment, “If you need me here, can we get together tomorrow night? Mila is singing and Brandy will be busy with her, so tomorrow would work out better for me.”

Vani was intrigued, “What did you get Brandy for her birthday?  You don’t want to go overboard… I think you….”

Tracy cut her off, “I’ve got it covered, and I don’t need you to go shopping for me.” He teased. 

Vani pouted a little, “Well, don’t blame me if she doesn’t like what you get her.”

“Tracy, are you going to be able to keep this from Brandy?” interrupted Shelly. “You can’t just blurt it out to her on her birthday. Are you sure it’s a good time to be with her? And another thing, Tracy, where was Brandy born? Did she come from North Carolina? Because there’s no evidence that Maye ever left there. What if there’s another girl with her name? We really don’t know that much.”

“Anytime is a good time to be with her, Mom. And I can keep a secret as well as the rest of you. I won’t do or say anything to hurt Brandy. I’ll leave that up to Derek or Alex. Better them than me. I don’t know where she was born, I just know I saw her name on that list.”

“Well, then, let’s see what we can do about tomorrow night then, Alex and Derek should have come up with some sort of plan by then, or at least made a decision about how far we should take this.  What a crazy old fool, thinking she could play God!”

Considering all that was on their minds, the workday was a normal one, with no mention of Maye’s book. Derek and Alex were out of the office most of the day, which left Tracy
to man the phones and catch up files and schedule appointments.

He took some time after work to shower, shave and dress a little more carefully for his date with Brandy. He stopped by the gallery on his way to pick her up. He had secretly snapped a photo of Brandy the night he first met her and he
had gotten the photo enlarged, and taken it to the gallery to be framed. He looked at it now, it was absolutely stunning in the charcoal colored frame.

There she was, on the porch of the cottage sitting on a
chair, looking wistfully out at the activity across the way.  That evening, Tracy had noticed her long before she had any inkling he was even there. She wore faded jeans and a white blouse.  The red scarf she wore at her waist added such a splash of color and radiance to the photo.  Her dark curly hair was falling out of her hair tie and blowing gently in the breeze. The photo was beautiful, she was beautiful.  An ethereal light was radiating from her, it seemed. She never even knew he’d taken her picture. If he lost her after all this baby switching madness, at least he had a copy of her lovely image.

“It’s a lovely picture of a lovely girl,” said the gallery owner, “You do beautiful work. Are you a professional photographer?”

“Oh no,” said Tracy, “I just enjoy taking pictures, and I’ve got a pretty good camera.”

“Then this must be a special young lady, because you’ve captured her inner beauty
perfectly. It’s very well done.”

Anxious to be on his way, Tracy said, “Thanks, I appreciate that. You did a great job with the frame
.  I appreciate the rush you put on it.”

“
It was my pleasure, I’m sure that your friend will love her gift.”

Tracy had carefully placed the framed photo in the trunk of his car, and made his way to the apartment that Brandy and Mila shared near the campus.  He rang the bell, and Mila answered the door. 

“Hi Tracy, come on in. Brandy will be ready in a minute.
Make yourself comfortable, would you like something to drink?”

Tracy smiled, “Sure, what have you got?”

Mila walked to the fridge, and opened it, “We have chocolate milk or strawberry milk.  Pick your poison.”

“Did you really say strawberry milk?  Seriously?  I didn’t think anyone over the age of eight drank strawberry milk!”

“
Well, what’s good at eight is good at twenty eight!  Live a little, how long has it been since you’ve allowed yourself  the luxury of a glass of delicious, ice cold strawberry milk?” Mila teased.

Tracy laughed and held his hands up in surrender, “Okay, you’ve convinced me.  Strawberry milk it is.  Thank you Mila.”

Mila picked up a photo album from a shelf and handed it to Tracy, “Here, amuse yourself with this until Brandy is ready, it’s full of pictures of Brandy.” She teased again then went back to the kitchen area to get Tracy’s milk.

“Mila!” Brandy could be heard from behind a closed door, “don’t you dare show him that album!  Oh, Tracy!  Please don’t look at that album, it’s embarrassing.”

Tracy  laughed, “Too late, I’m already looking.  Hey, you were just as cute as a kid as you are now, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about.

Tracy continued to look through the album enjoying seeing Brandy grow up before his eyes. 

Brandy came from behind the closed door, she looked lovely in a short, form fitting dress, and for a moment, Tracy forgot about the photo album.  “Wow, you look great.” Was all he could manage to say.

Brandy beamed, “Thank you.  Are you ready to go?”

Tracy smiled, “Not before I finish my milk.” 

Mila piped in, “Yes, Brandy, he hasn’t had strawberry milk since he was a kid, let him savor the milk!”

Brandy crossed her arms over her chest.  “I can see when I’m outnumbered, but we really do need to leave in just a few minutes.  My parents expect us to be there by six.”

Mila sat on one side of Tracy, and Brandy sat on the other as he carefully turned the pages in the album. He listened attentively as Brandy named off each of the people who were in the pictures.

They were about midway through the photo album, when
Tracy noticed some new faces in older pictures. Brandy explained that they were relatives of her parents, most of them deceased long before she was born.

“Brandy, who is this?” Mila asked,
pointing at a picture on the left side of the album.

“
I’m pretty sure that’s my great aunt Paulina, I think.  She’s my grandfather’s sister, or maybe she was my great grandfather’s sister, I can’t really remember.  She was an artist, and my Dad has one of her paintings somewhere, I’ve lost track of it.  It went from a back room wall to a closet, and I’m not sure where it is now.  My dad always said her family considered her the black sheep because she was an artist.  I hadn’t thought of her or her painting in a long time. She was gone long before I was born. I wonder if they still have her painting somewhere?” Brandy giggled. “We should get it and hang it here in the apartment. Aunt Paulina would be proud.”

The room got quiet.

She turned to face Tracy. He looked a little startled.

“What
wrong, Tracy? Is the milk sour?”

“
No, I’m just fine, I was just noticing how much you look like your Aunt Paulina.”

“Brandy,
I have to agree,” Mila said as she pulled the album closer to her, “You look a lot like her, she could practically be your twin.”

Brandy looked at the picture again, “Hmm, maybe I do, I’ve never really thought about it.”  She turned to Tracy, “We need to get going or Momma is going to be calling asking where we’re at.  Mila, are you sure you don’t want to come with?  There will be plenty of food.”

“No, I’m good, y’all go and have a good time.  I’ll see you in the morning Brandy.”

“Hey, Mila,
I’ll ask if I can bring Aunt Paulina’s painting back with me!”

Tracy walked with Brandy up the steps to the front door of her parents’ home. He held the package under his left arm and he held Brandy’s hand with his right.

“Tracy, you didn’t have to get me a gift. You really didn’t. I’m just so glad you were able to come with me tonight. You being here with me
is
my birthday present.”

“It’s not a big deal, Brandy, it’s even homemade. But it’s something I hope you’ll like,” grinned Tracy.

“When can I open…” Brandy started to say, just as the door was opened by her Mother.

“Hi, Mom
ma, we made it.”

“Happy Birthday, Sweetheart,” said her mother
as she gave her a hug.

“Thanks, M
omma, we’re starving. Where’s Dad?”

“He’s
in the den waiting for you. Tracy, it’s so nice to see you again. We’re glad you could join us.”

The meal was great and the atmosphere was lighthearted. Mr. Anders
talked to Tracy about many different subjects, and Brandy was happy to see it.  Her father had never spoken much to other boys she’d dated through the years.  After they were finished with their meal, Brandy’s mother brought out a beautifully decorated cake with a circle of candles on the top of it blazing. 

Tracy took out his camera and took several shots of Brandy as she was blowing out the candles, the light from the candles cast a beautiful glow on her face, and Tracy knew one of these shots would printed and framed and find a special place in his home.

Finally after the cake, they retired to the living room so Brandy could open her presents.  Her parents gave her a beautiful new leather bag from one of the hot designers Tracy had heard his Momma and Sister talk about, along with a gift card to one of Brandy’s favorite department stores.  Brandy was absolutely thrilled, but when she opened Tracy’s gift, she was speechless, almost.

“Tracy, this is amazing, when in the world did you take it?” She wondered.

Tracy shrugged, “It was the night we met, I was walking around taking a few shots, and when I saw you sitting there, the light hitting you just so, I must have taken thirty pictures of you before I got up the nerve to introduce myself.”