The Wrong Side Of The Tracks (Leighton) (10 page)

"I read online that Aunt Sandra was arrested a few weeks before her accident, what happened?"

There was an awkward silence, and for a second Alex thought maybe she had taken it too far.
  Nobody wants to discuss anything bad about their dead daughter; they only want to remember the good things. 

"Well
, I’m not exactly sure.  When it happened your grandfather said he would take care of it, then she passed away so it was never really brought up again."

"Do you know why she was arrested?"

"Yes. But she didn't do anything."

Alex cocked her eyebrow at her, as she took a drink of water.

"Grandma, nobody’s perfect, remember?  If she did do something you can tell me, trust me I'm not in a position to judge anyone."

"No, really I don't think she did anything.  She came downstairs one morning, and your Grandpa and I were in the kitchen.  She looked st
artled and tried to cover up but it was too late.  I saw bruises all over her neck.  Sandra kept denying anything happened, but I wouldn't let her leave the kitchen until she told me.  Finally, she admitted some boy she was seeing did it to her.  Your Grandpa had the cops there within ten minutes and made her press charges against him."

"So how did she end up getting arrested?"

"That afternoon, she went to the police station and told them she made the whole thing up.  They dropped the charges against the boy that hurt her.  Then they charged her for lying to them.  Telling the police lies is a big deal."

"So, you think she lied the first time she talked to the cops or the second time?"

"I think he threatened her so she went to the police station later that day and dropped the charges."

Alex nodded, that's what the note she found upstairs was about.  Her Grandma was probably right, she was scared of the guy, she even said in the note he was going to kill her.  She couldn't imagine what it must have been like t
o have someone you cared about physically hurt you so badly.

"Poor Aunt Sandra."

Her Grandma nodded blankly.  She looked exhausted, like she had drained all her energy on their conversation.  In a way she looked relieved too, maybe talking about Sandra so openly really was helping her.  Alex felt guilty though, like she had hidden motives for talking to her Grandma.  Not that she didn't want to help her, of course she did.  But, was she taking advantage of her Grandma's quest for open communication, and using it to further her own quest for answers.

"Yes, my poo
r baby.  Well, I'm going to head upstairs and take a long bath.  Then I'll be turning in for the night.  Sorry I'm not much company, I'm just exhausted.  I made the bed in the guestroom for you, and there are some frozen dinners in the freezer."

As she passed Alex she bent down and hugged her, and added, "For the record, I think what you did to for your friend was very brave and loyal of you."

"Thanks, Grandma.  Good night."  Alex tried to hide her wide toothy grin.  That was the first praise she had received since she got arrested.   

She waited until she heard her Grandma running water in the bathroom, then she got up and grabbed the cordless phone off the kitchen counter.  She paused for a second as
if her parents knew what she was doing, then shrugged to herself and dialed Kenzie's number.  She was at the point where she really could care less if her parents knew she was calling her friends, what else could they possibly take from her?

"Hello?"

"Hi, it's Alex."

"Oh my God!  I've left you like twenty messages!  I thought your parents sent you away or something."

"No, not yet.  That's definitely still a possibility though.  They took my phone, so I haven't been able to talk to anyone.  You're not mad at me?"

"Mad at you?  Are you crazy girl?  You saved our asses!"

"No, I mean because I didn't tell you who I was."

"Well, yeah I was hurt that you didn't trust me.  But, after what we went through last weekend I think we all
have a little new-found trust for each other.  You know?"

"Even Karter?"

"Oh so you do like Karter?  Too bad we don't live in West Virginia."

Alex laughed, "I didn't say I like him like that."

"Right.  Can you escape from Raker's Island tonight?  You should try to come over, I miss you!"

"Umm ... I can get out for a bit.  But I'm at my Grandma's and it's kind of far.  I would have to walk through the woods past Lost Creek and I'm scared
, it’s so dark out."

"Oh damn, well maybe tomorrow?"

"I can come over tomorrow.  I would tonight I just don't want to walk that far through the woods in the dark.  Wait, what do you mean 'too bad we don't live in West Virginia'?"

Kenzie let out her raspy laugh, "Cause ya know kissing cousins?"

"No, I don't know?  Who is kissing their cousin?"

The other line
got quiet for a moment; the laughter disappeared from Kenzie's voice.  "When we got home I told my Mom she was right, you were a Raker.  And, she said that she knew you were Sandra's daughter the day she saw you.  And your parents must have taken you in as their own when she passed away."

Alex's heart raced, there had to be some kind of misunderstanding.  No one ever mentioned Sandra having a baby.  How could everyone keep that a secret?  Unless they kept it a secret because they didn't want her to know sh
e was the baby.  "What are you talking about?" she stammered into the phone.

"You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?  Shit..."

"I need to talk to your Mom."

"U
gh I don't know Alex.  She's kind of out of it"

"I don't care,
she’s always out of it, give her the phone," she snapped.

Alex waited, while she heard shuffling and whispering on the other end.  Her mind was
jumbled; none of this was making sense.  No one ever mentioned Sandra having a baby, or even getting pregnant.  The obituary didn't mention her leaving behind any children.  And, the article in the paper said she died Halloween night, October 31st 1997.  Alex's birthday was April 11th of 1998.  She was born six months after her Aunt was put in the ground.

A sleepy voice crackled into the p
hone, “Hello|?”

"Hi, Mrs. James
, it's Alex."

"I know Kenzie told me.  Look I didn't want to start any problems honey, I was probably wrong."

"Why would you think I was Sandra's daughter?"

"Well when she died she was like seven or eight months pregnant.  So
I just thought that maybe they were able to save the baby."

"I was born in April though."

"Then see?  I was wrong.  I didn't mean nothing by it honey, you just are a spitting image of Sandra.  So, I got a little confused..."

"Who got her pregnant?"

"Excuse me?"

"Who was going to be the father of Sandra's baby?"

"Maybe you should talk to your family bout this.  I don't think it's really my place to get involved."

"My family couldn't tell the truth if their lives depended on it, please Mrs. James..."

"My brother, Omar, he was going to be the father of her baby."

Alex was quiet for a moment.  She was still trying to take in everything she had just learned.  Whenever she thought she figured out something about her Aunt, it turned out to be the tip of the iceber
g and petty compared to the next thing she learned.  Just twenty minutes ago she was stoked because her Grandma explained the mystery behind the strange note she found, then BOOM she finds out she had a baby?

"Alex? Alex are you there?"  Kenzie had gotten
back on the other line.

"Oh yeah sorry, I was just trying to figure this stuff out.  Look I got
to go. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

She heard Kenzie asking her if she was all right as she removed the phone from her ear and pressed the end button.  She slum
ped down on the floor in the kitchen against the cabinets.  She grabbed her purse and dug around in the inside pocket, and took out a stale half-smoked cigarette she had been carrying around wrapped in tissue with her hot pink lighter.  She lit the end and inhaled deeply. 

Was it possible she was Sandra's baby?  The Rakers were rich and powerful members of the community.  They had to know someone at the hospital that would fake a birth certificate, and back then there was no internet so
no one would really be able to prove otherwise.  That would explain why her Mom never seemed to bond with her the way she did Donavon, and why she hated Sandra so much.  She got stuck raising her kid for her.  She flicked her cigarette in the garbage can next to her.  No wonder she looked and acted like her Aunt Sandra instead of her own Mom. 

Alex stood up, and took her body spray out of her purse and spritzed it around the kitchen, half-heartedly covering up the stench of cigarette smoke.  Honestly, she could care less at
this moment if her Grandma caught her smoking.  She leaned over the sink and splashed water on her face.  She felt like a baby lying in her crib, with one of those mobiles with the tiny toys dangling above her head.  The truth was dangling above her and no matter how many hours she spent kicking, squirming, and grasping, she couldn't get a hold of it.  Adults just kept coming into her room and laughing at her kicking and flailing after the truth.  It would only take one of them two seconds to pull down one of the tiny toys for her but they’d rather watch her struggle. 

"Are you sick Alex?"

Her Grandma was standing behind her in her bathrobe with her soaked white-gray hair plastered to her head.  She looked concerned and confused as she stood in the smoky kitchen looking at Alex bent over the sink.

She spun around
aggressively and talked through her teeth, "I know...”

"You know what? 
You’re scaring me sweetie, come sit down."

"Cut the shit Grandma, I know! 
I know Aunt Sandra was my mom!"

Her Grandma almost
looked like she was trying to hide a giggle, "Alex, what in God's name are you talking about?  Do you have a fever?"

Alex was starting to second guess
her theory.  Her Grandma seemed genuinely confused.  Maybe she had been left out the loop, and she was in as much of the dark as she was.

"Was Aunt Sandra pregnant?"

Her Grandma threw up her arms, obviously irritated.

"I don't know Alex!"

"How do you not know if your daughter was pregnant?"

Her Grandma lowered her voice, the argumentative tone slipping from h
er words, "She gained some weight, wore baggier clothes, all the tell-tale signs. I asked her a few times and every time I did she swore she wasn't.  I didn't push the issue."

"Well she was.  I just talked to her best friend, and she said she was seven or
eight months pregnant when she died."

"I don't believe that."

"No, you don't WANT to believe that, there's a difference," Alex snapped.

"Regardless of whether she was or wasn't pregnant, trust me you're not her child.  I s
aw your mother every day when she was pregnant with you, went to sonograms with her, and I sat in the waiting room at the hospital while she gave birth to you.  Alex, you are Keri's daughter."

Alex stared at her defiantly, "Well, I don't believe that."

"Or you don't WANT to believe that? Just because you and your mother aren't getting along right now doesn't mean she's not your mother Alex."

Alex let her shoulders sag a little in defeat, but she wasn't ready to let go.  She loved her Grandma to death, but there were obviously a lot of thi
ngs her Grandma didn't know about her daughter and this could be one of them.  "I'm going to bed,” she announced and headed up stairs to the guest-room.

DNA DOESN’T LIE

Alex knew her Grandma
was awake; she listened to her moving around downstairs for about an hour.  She kept forcing herself back to sleep, hoping that eventually she would leave the house and she could sneak downstairs and use the bathroom without having to see her.  She wasn't angry at her, she just felt awkward after their argument last night.  Despite their new open-door policy, it probably wouldn't have hurt to wait until she got a little more supporting evidence before she revealed her "I'm Sandra's Baby” theory.

The guest-room door opened, and Alex squeezed her eyes
shut, hoping her Grandma would assume she was still sleeping and just leave her be.  She didn’t leave though; she sat down next to her and shook her gently.