Twisted Proposal (5 page)

No, I needed more time.
I nodded. “Okay, what are they?”
It was him.
I already knew, but still held my breath.

“Stuart is your biological father and once he receives the clearance from the judge, you’re leaving with him.”

It felt like someone had sucked all the air out of the room, and I slumped forward. “Can he do that?” I whispered, as a mixture of emotions hit me at once. They couldn’t make me go. I would run away again. Only not get caught this time.

              “Yes. Legally you’re his daughter. And he lives in California, so it’s only natural you follow. Not to mention, you’re a minor.”

              “California?” I couldn’t go to California. My life, my home was here. “That’s across the country.”

“True, but think of it this way. It’s closer to the college you want to attend. Weren’t you just telling me how you wanted to go to Stanford?”

“College is the farthest thing from my mind. Don’t I have a say in this? It’s not like I’m some stupid child.”

“No one’s saying you’re stupid, but you’re a minor, and the law says you’re under his care for the next two years. It’s his responsibility to provide for you.”

“But I don’t know him, let alone trust him. He can’t do this.” I jumped to my feet and started pacing the floor, tugging at my pony tail, like Elizabeth did when she was upset.  “Are we sure he’s the only living relative?”

“Yes. Addison, Sandy’s been through your file several times. Neither your mother or aunt left behind a Will or even any contacts to family members.”

“Wait…wait, I found this letter…to some guy name Henry Maddox. Maybe I could stay with him.”

“Okay, who is he?”

“Uh…I don’t know, but someone my mother wanted me to live with.”

“So, you don’t know where this man lives?”

“No, but I have his mailing address. Can’t the police look it up? I…I think he lives in Florida. ”

“Addison, do you hear yourself? You’re not making any sense.”

“I am, too.” I squatted down against the wood paneled wall and squeezed the sides of my head to stop the pounding. 
Why was this happening to me?

“Have you considered that everything happens for a reason?”

Sliding back up the wall, I asked, “What reason could this possibly be? My mother and aunt weren’t supposed to die. One of them was supposed to live. I was supposed to go to college. It was all planned out.”

“There are some things in life that can’t be explained.”

I gripped the back of the chair, leaning forward. “You think I don't know that? Nothing has gone according to plan my entire life.” Warm tears ran down my cheeks.

“Look, it’s not the worst that can happen. Just think, you could be staying here and spending your days at an orphanage or worse, juvenile hall. If I were you, I would be counting my blessings. You have a chance to re-invent yourself. Start over fresh, so to speak.” 

I knew she was right, but it wasn’t what I wanted to hear. “You’re right, I should be thankful that everything I know about my family has been a lie. And it’s too late to ask them the truth because they're dead. They’re dead, and I’m alone. I’m
so
thankful
that I was given this opportunity to start over.”

“You’re not alone. I’m here.” She said.

I wanted to believe her, but she’d broken so many promises over the years. I was jaded. Promises meant nothing.

“Bottom line. I don’t want to go.”

              Her eyes softened as I sat back down and began to chew my nails, whimpering.
Damn, I wish I had a stiff drink.
I grabbed a handful of Kleenex and blew my nose, wincing at the pain it caused and glared down at the smeared makeup.

“It’s not going to be easy.” 

“Yah think?”

              “Addison, I know it may not seem like it now, but this could be a move in the right direction.”

“You keep saying that, but I don’t think it is. Everything is so messed up. What am I going to do?” I shuddered, hiding my face in my hands.
I didn’t want to leave.

“You’re going to begin living your life for you.” Dr. Franklin said, sitting next to me and wrapping her arms around me.

              “I can’t…I mean…I don’t know how.” I rested my head on her shoulder. She pulled me close and kissed the top of my head.

              “You’ll learn.”

The door opened, and we separated. Sandy, Stuart, and an older man I had never seen before walked in. I wiped at my eyes, embarrassed that I was crying.

The man I didn’t know was dressed in a grey suit. He glanced first at me and then at Dr. Franklin. “I hope those are happy tears young lady, because the judge has granted Stuart full custody.”

I sat back in the chair, shocked.
No!

“It’s so nice to see a happy ending for once. Nice work, Grant,” Sandy gushed.

What was she saying?
This wasn’t a happy ending. “What if I want to stay here, to finish school and stuff with my friends?” I posed, gripping the edges of my chair.
Not that I had any friends.

“Well that’s always up for consideration. Who would you be staying with, dear?” Grant asked, glancing at Sandy.

Good question.
I thought about saying Henry Maddox, but I didn’t even know if he was a real person or not. There was no one. I shrugged, feeling powerless. As far as I knew, this was my only option, although I’d never admit it.

“Uh huh, well in that case, you’re leaving with your father, Addison.”  Grant said, as if he was bored.

“So you’re just letting him take me?” I directed at Sandy, my eyes shooting daggers of betrayal her way.

              “He
is
your biological father,” she stated.

              “But I don’t know him.” I hated the desperation in my voice.             

              “You’re right,” Stuart added and sat down in front of me. “But we’ll get to know each other. Now I know it’s not going to happen overnight. I get that. It will happen. I promise you.”

              He sounded so sincere that I think I would have believed him--if he hadn’t glanced at his watch as if he were on a time constraint.   

“Show me the test results,” I demanded. There was no way I was going to just let him take me without proof.

“As you wish.” Grant opened a folder and slid over a piece of paper.

I willed it to be wrong as my eyes scanned the chart comparing his DNA to mine, but at the bottom of the document, it stated that there was a 99.99% probability that he was my father.
There had to be a mistake.

“Sorry to cut this short, but we have a plane to catch,” Stuart said. To emphasize that he was a busy man, he pulled out his phone and began scrolling through the messages.

“Of course,” Grant said, smiling.

“But he’s a complete stranger. He could some kind of serial killer or something,” I complained.

Grant laughed.
Was he nervous?
“I highly doubt that, he works for one of the most prestigious law offices in California. But to ease your mind young lady, I ran a full background check on Stuart. He doesn’t even have a parking ticket.”

              “That means nothing,” I snapped.

              Grant's eyebrows rose about an inch.

“Addison.” Dr. Franklin placed a firm hand on my shoulder, reminding me to settle down. “We’ll be along shortly.” She dismissed them.

After they were gone, she spent the next ten minutes trying to convince me that this was going to work out, but I didn’t believe her. This had disaster written all over it. But I found myself following her to the Grant’s office in a daze.

“It’s going to be all right,” she assured me again, as we joined Grant, Stuart and Sandy. 

              “No it’s not.” Watching in disbelief as Sandy signed me over to Stuart, I wanted to scream.

Chapter Five

“Ready to go?” my father asked.

“What choice do I have?” I said.

He didn’t respond and walked out the double doors leading into the frigid air.

“You know most people would be happy to find their missing parent. I think you’re looking at this all the wrong way,” Grant added.

“No one asked for your two cents. So do me a favor and fuck off.” I didn’t stick around to see his expression this time and continued to Stuart’s Tahoe.

“Addison, that was uncalled for.” Dr. Franklin jogged to catch up with me.

“I don’t think so. That man ought to know better than to try and tell me what I should and shouldn’t think. I’m not some immature brat.”

“He was just trying to help.” She said.

“I don’t need his help or anyone else’s. A lot of good it’s done me so far.” But maybe she was right. I stopped and dug around in my bag finding the letter that Eve wrote. “Can you do me a favor?”

“What?”

“Can you look into this for me? I know it’s a long shot, but I really don’t feel good about this whole thing. And…and Mom said I was usually right about people. So just find him. Please.”

She took the paper and stuffed it in her pocket.

I gave Dr. Franklin one last hug. “Thanks.”

“I’ll miss you, Addison. Take care,” she said.

I wanted to promise I’d call and write, but nothing came out.
Who knew if I was even going to make it to California?
As I let her go, I felt a part of me disappear and tears clouded my vision. I slid into the passenger seat and shut the door, staring straight ahead.
Screw Sandy.

“Sandy told me you wanted to pick up some things from home, so where do you live?” Stuart asked, starting the car.

              “2345 Massey Ave,” I managed.

              He entered the address into his GPS, and I squeezed my eyes shut to stop the tears from streaming down my face, but it was no use. Stuart turned the radio on low and pretended not to notice.  After a few minutes, I stopped crying.
Maybe there would still be time to run once we got to the airport.

I blotted my face, trying to be mindful of the makeup, but most of it had come off anyway. There was no point in reapplying it; we were almost there anyway. A queasy feeling took over my stomach as the car approached my neighborhood.
Wasn't there anyone here I could stay with?

We passed the pizza place where I worked, the bus stop where I waited in the mornings for school, and finally, we pulled to a stop in front of my apartment building: a three-story, red-brick building that had once been a doctor’s office.
Hopefully, they hadn’t thrown out all our stuff.

“Where are we?” Stuart asked, leaning forward to take a look around.

“Home.” I reached for the door handle, but a firm hand latched onto my arm. “Don’t touch me!” I jerked away from him.

“Whoa, I’m not going to hurt you. I just wanted to ask if you had anymore make-up. You might want to cover your eye before we go in. I don’t want anyone to think…” His words trailed off.

“They won’t, and besides, they’ve seen worse.” I got out and he followed. Instead of going upstairs, I went to the landlord’s first. His wife answered, and I explained what had happened, and she gave me keys to the new locks. It bothered me that she didn’t even acknowledge Elizabeth being wheeled out of here in an ambulance. I guess she didn’t want to get involved.
I didn’t blame her.

First, I checked the mail. Nothing but hospital and utility bills that would no doubt go unpaid, so I pitched them in the trash and headed up the stairs. Elizabeth hated that we lived on the third floor. Often I would find her on the second floor landing resting on the steps.
Why didn’t I notice she was out of breath? Why hadn’t I asked her what was wrong then?

I pushed the thoughts aside as I reached our front door, which had been re-painted a dark blue.
Stupid landlord
couldn’t fix the chipping paint when we were living here, even though I’d asked about five hundred times.
I unlocked the door and walked into an empty living room and kitchen.
Shit! Where was all of our stuff?

I turned to look at Stuart. His face held an expression I knew and hated: pity.

“You guys lived here?” Stuart asked. I tried to ignore the disgust in his voice. He was staring up at a water stain on the ceiling near the center of the room. 

“Yeah, this was home.” All of our belongings, including the couch and junky furniture had been shoved into the only bedroom. They hadn’t bothered to bag up anything but threw it all together in a big pile. Elizabeth’s clothes were spread across the floor, mixed in with dirty dishes and trash. I grabbed a few of my hoodies and began hunting for the other keepsake box.
It’s got to be here somewhere.

“Are you finished? We need to head out,” Stuart called from the other room.

“We haven’t even been here five minutes.”

“What?”

“Nothing.  Give me a minute.” I crawled over the trash into the closet, reaching my hand all the way to the back where Elizabeth used to hide drugs and money. My fingers collided with a solid surface, and I pulled out the missing box.
Why was she hiding it back there?

After balling it up in my sweatshirt, I strode into the front room to find Stuart holding Elizabeth’s one-hitter in his hand.

“Is this yours?”

“No, mom’s. Mine’s purple, not blue.” It was weird calling her mom when I knew her true identity.

“Do you have it on you?”

“That would be a negative; I lost it sometime last year.”

              “What’s that?” He pointed to my hands.

“Stuff.” It was none of his business.

“So how long have you guys lived here?”  He asked, walking into the kitchen and placing the pipe on the counter. I thought about grabbing it out of spite.

“About a year, before we lived here, we were uh…homeless. I mean we stayed in motels if we had the money, if not, then shelters…” I stopped talking. 
Why was he looking at me like that?

“Homeless?” he repeated, as if he had just eaten something rotten.
Why was he making this a big deal?

I hated the way he was staring at me. “What, you thought we had money or something? You should be lucky you weren’t here six months ago. We didn’t have the couch.”

“I didn’t mean--”

“I’m sure you didn’t, but this is the best place I’ve had my entire life. So stop making me feel bad about it.” I stomped past him and made it to the landlord’s in seconds, where I returned the keys and headed outside.

              “You know you’re in dire need of an attitude adjustment,” Stuart said, joining me.             

              “Whatever.” I walked around to the passenger side of the car and waited for the doors to unlock. The car made a soft clicking noise, and I opened the back door.

“I can’t believe your mother‘s Eve? I don’t buy it.” He said.

              I didn't bother to answer. After shoving Elizabeth’s keepsakes into my clothes bag, I found the copy of the birth certificate in Eve’s box and pulled it out. As I slammed the back door shut, a blast of cold air blew up the back of my shirt, and I scrambled into the front seat, shivering.
I wouldn’t miss this shitty weather!

“So you still think my mother’s Elizabeth?” I asked.

              “That’s who I was involved with. So it makes sense.”

             
“Okay, but I found this. My mom’s Eve.” I handed him the certificate.

              He unfolded it, then glanced at me. “Where did you get this?”

“My mom’s stuff.”

“Let me see.”

“I’d rather not. There’s personal--”

He reached around the seatback and grabbed my book bag, pulling it up front.

“What are you doing?”

“Finding out what else you're hiding,” he said as he tore into the bag.

"Hey, that's mine!" I reached for it, but he swatted me away.

Stuart pulled out the sweater bundle, tossing the bag in the back. “What’s this drugs or something?”

“Asshole.” I growled and watched as he peeled back the sweater exposing the wooden container and ripped open the lid, breaking the delicate metal clasp. He greedily rifled through Elizabeth’s things.
He was ruining everything!
“Give it back.”

He rolled the box back up in my sweater. “You don’t need to take this trash with you to California,” he muttered rolling down his window.

“Stop. What are you doing?” I yelled and grabbed the sweater bundle, pulling it towards me.

He paused, “I’m throwing this rubbish away.”

“It’s not “rubbish”. That's mine and it’s all I have left.” I panicked and tried to look desperate. “Please, don’t take it away from me.” I tugged at the sweater softly.

“Fine,” he growled and let go.

I clutched the keepsake close to my body and didn’t move until I was sure he was distracted with driving.
I couldn’t believe he was going to throw away my things. Who did that?
“How would you feel if I broke something important to you?” I snapped, unwrapping and rewrapping the broke box making sure that it was well padded before returning it to my other book bag.
God forbid he find out about the other one.

He shook his head, smiling. "I suspect my belongings are a little more valuable than yours.  I mean from the looks of it you’ve obviously lived in squalor most of your life." He stared out the window. "But you're still my daughter.” He spoke more to himself than to me.

He was such a jerk.
I kept my mouth shut.

“I can’t believe Eve raised you here, I mean what was she thinking?”

“She obviously didn’t care that much.” I said staring at my town disappear.

              “I’m sure she had her reasons, drugs probably.”

              I highly doubted that. Elizabeth didn’t have reasons for a lot of the things she did. I’m pretty sure she was just psycho.
How could she do that to me? Lie to me all those years? I trusted her. Helped her.
“I don’t expect someone who can afford a phone with a kickstand to understand anything about
my
life.” I leaned forward and turned on the radio.

“I’m not finished talking.”  He flipped the radio off.

              “What else is there to talk about, Stuart?”
He was getting on my last nerve.

              “Well, is there anyone you want to say goodbye to? Any friends, perhaps?”

“No.” I didn’t have any friends.

“Great, so is it safe to assume that you’re not a people person?”

              “Are we finished?” I asked crossing my arms.

“No. I need to get to know you. So, tell me, do you have a boyfriend?”

“I’m not the relationship type. Never had time for one.”

              “Elaborate.”

“My relationships were purely physical.”

              “Excuse me?” He slammed on the brakes, throwing me forward.
Thank God for seat belts.

“What’s your deal man?” I snapped glaring over at him.

He was looking at me like I had two heads. “What, what did you just say?”

              “Sheesh, get a grip. Sex is a natural part of growing up. I’m not stupid about it, if that’s what you’re getting at. Besides, you should be happy that I’m being honest with you. And besides, it’s not like I’ve been with more than three guys or girls.”

He turned away, his face ashen.

It was his fault for asking questions. I didn’t want to talk in the first place. Heat rushed to my face.
Geez, this was so embarrassing.

              “You don’t hold back, do you?” He continued driving.

              “No,”

              “We’re going to have to work on that.”

              “Whatever.” I didn’t need to work on anything. He was the one who needed a dose of reality and maybe some anger management classes.
Going with him to California was a bad idea for everyone involved. They’d see soon enough.