Chapter 4

Not happy with this Chapter. So any help appreciated on how to make it flow better.

Chapter 4

            Cassidy awoke to what looked like the aftermath of a small windstorm. Papers were strewn all around her on the bed. She had spent until the early morning hours going through each and every line of every paper. She combed through dozens of pictures. Every single one of her at some major event of her life. She remembered feeling a bit violated. She also felt torn. The man who had donated his sperm for her creation had stalked her and she did not know if it helped the sting of feeling abandoned or if made her feel violated in some way.

            There was a picture of her when she was 8 at a school play. She was dressed in a silver body suit and she was holding her Silver Star headband. She was the star to the right in Peter Pan that year. Another one when she was 16. It was the state championship game and the picture showed her in mid-kick. She scored twice in that game. They won the championship and that was her last year to play soccer. A good way to end her soccer career.

            She found her first job the summer after that. She was waitressing in a small family restaurant in the last picture she came across. How did she not notice a stranger taking her picture all of those years? Why did they not make themselves known to her? More questions, more confusion, and more anger bubbling up in her at the thought of being stalked by a family who had made no move to claim her growing up.

            She climbed out of her double bed and made her way to the bathroom. Looking in the mirror she examined her features. How did she never notice she had none from her father? Her face was long and full, her father’s short and round, and her eyes were rounder while her father had thin wide eyes. She could see her mother in herself but nothing of the man who had raised her.

            Her normally pink skin was white with fatigue and emotions and her eyes were dulled, lips bright and swollen from chewing on them. Her thick mahogany hair was a tangled nest from the tossing and turning she did with what little sleep she got. She needed a shower. She needed to call out of work and she needed Lexi. She did not even know where to start with the mess her life was becoming.

            She had school and work to think about. She could not just drop both and take off to Tennessee to talk to her parents. No way was she going to ask them about this over the phone. Too easy to evade. She needed to face them with this evidence and demand answers. Harder to hide from someone right in front of you. Shower was her priority this morning. She would feel better if she took care of herself.

            She spent a few minutes pampering herself before she called work to tell them she could not come in today and called Lexi to tell her how her serial killer theory was way off base. She blow dried her hair instead of letting it air dry like she normally did, put a little make up on and dressed in nice jeans and a bright red sweater. Bright colors always helped when her mood was low.

            After the chore of calling Books R’Us and giving them a lame excuse of not coming in, she called Lexi. She did not go into full detail over the phone only told her that it was big and somewhat of a family emergency. She gave a sarcastic laugh. Family was maybe an overstatement at this moment. She knew Lexi would drag herself out of bed and be at her apartment quick. Helped she only lived in an apartment building one street over.

            Cassidy turned on the radio and turned it up, though not enough to bug her cranky neighbor, she was not in the mood to deal with his grumbling. She fixed herself an egg sandwich and waited for Lexi to arrive. It was not long when the buzzer went off. She let Lexi in and fixed her a cup of coffee. She wanted Lexi alert when she dumped this information on her. Someone needed to remain focused.

            “I understand that you do not sleep like normal people, but why did you drag me out of bed before 8 on a Saturday morning?” Lexi grumbled while she chugged down her first cup of coffee.

            “I met with David last night.” Before Lexi could explode at the news Cassidy help her hand up. “I do not think you have to worry about finding my body in his freezer. “

            “So it was case of mistaken identity?”

            “No exactly.” Cassidy walked into her bedroom and grabbed the papers spread out on her bed. Lexi was sitting on the couch when she came back out and she dropped them down on the coffee table. She walked into the kitchen to fix herself a cup of coffee and let Lexi take a peek before she said anything.

            “These are pictures of you and there is a copy of your birth certificate.” She was moving papers around on the table. “From this it looks like you were being stalked.”

Lexi looked at Cassidy and the expression on her face. “That is not the case though is it?”

“If it was I would have gone straight to the police.” She picked up the business card David had given her last night. It was an outline of a horse and cow surrounded by a picket fence. She handed it to Lexi.

“David Jamison, Lakeway Dude Ranch. “ Lexi looked at Cassidy. “Why is a man giving you his business card along with a copy of your birth certificate?”

“He gave me more than that. He gave me proof.”

“Proof of what?”

“Proof of who my biological father is. David is my brother.”

“What? No way! Your parents would have told you.” She shook her head in disbelief.”

“That is what I thought. But I went through every paper last night. I am pretty sure he was telling me the truth.” Cassidy folded her legs under her on the couch and grabbed a random paper off the coffee table.

“This is a letter my mom wrote to Jonas, David’s dad, telling him about my birth. Telling him that she found a good man to be my father and for him to forget he ever had a part in my conception.” She remembered crying as she read the letter the night before. She could blame her for telling him to forget he had another child, after what he put her through. The letter portrayed the love held for the man who claimed her, and the anger towards the man that she came from. She did blame her mother for her having to find out this way, from a stranger, instead from the people who loved her.

“Oh Cassi, I don’t know what to say.” Lexi wrapped her arms her friend. “I am sure your parents just did want to hurt you by not telling you.”

“But that is exactly what they have done; they hurt me by not telling me.” She threw the paper on the table and stood up. She could not get her thoughts in order. She balled her hair in her hands and growled. “24 years they never told me! I had to find out from a complete stranger. A stranger who is my brother, a stranger who …who oh I don’t know.”

 Cassidy collapsed back down onto the couch. She felt defeated. She wished that she could go back to bed, wished she could forget she was ever told and go on in blissful ignorance. Life was not fair and her life had just got complicated. She loved the simplicity of her life. She loved the fact that all she had to do was go to school, work a couple of hours at the bookstore and spend a few nights a week with friends. She was young, she was enjoying life, and now her life had just taken an unexpected turn.

“When are you going home to talk to your parents?” Lexi said after giving her a few minutes for a pity party.

“Yea.” Cassidy sighed. “I was thinking Spring Break, but I can’t wait that long.” Spring break was not until March, she could not hold all of this in until then. She was impatient to get the whole story. She could not move forward without talking to her parents. It was like holding a breath for too long. Before long the lungs would explode.

“I am surprised you did not hop on the first plane to Tennessee.”

She thought about it.

“I wanted to. But I have stuff here I need to take care of. Work. School.”

“Is this going to affect your graduation date?”

It better not. “It shouldn’t. I’ll fly down Friday after class and fly back up Sunday. I can’t even think about taking a trip to Texas right now. I can’t afford to.

“You want me to stay with you today? We can go shopping and get stupid drunk tonight and bug the cranky old goat next door?” Lexi was an awesome friend.

“I would love to get drunk, but no shopping for me. I just bought a pair of boots that I could not afford.” She collected shoes. A girl could never have too many. “Besides, have to save for airfare now.”

“Get your parents to fly you down.”

“I don’t want them to know I am coming.” She wanted to see their first reaction to this.

Lexi looked at the stack of papers. Cassidy meant the world to her. Cassidy was holding together pretty well considering, but Lexi wanted to make sure she was there in case she had a total meltdown.

“Well at least he is not a serial killer.” Lexi offered Cassidy a smile. Cassidy smiled back and they both laughed at the incredulous of the situation. Lexi could always make her laugh, no matter the situation.

The spent the day looking through the papers David had given Cassidy. Lexi wanted to call the ranch and give them a piece of her mind, but Cassidy was able to wrestle the phone from her and get a promise she would not out of her. That night they did indeed get stupid drunk and annoy the neighbor. He was no annoyed that at some point when Cassidy answered the door he stomped through her apartment and unplugged the stereo. Cassidy and Lexi collapsed on the floor in a fit of giggles and MR. Mathers stomped right back out of her apartment cursing young college girls.

Their night complete they crawled into bed and talked of how quickly life changes and of future plans they were both making. Lexi made Cassidy promise that no matter what happened that she would never forget she had a best friend in Lexi. She would even travel to Texas herself and stuff their bodies in freezers. Cassidy of course declined the offer but she fell asleep thinking how lucky she was in friends.

Cassidy was able to stay busy through the rest of the week with school and work. When she was not studying outside those hours she was pouring through the folder and researching the Jamison’s on the internet. Jamison Ranch and Horse rescue, she found out they not only housed horses for people they rescued them also, was over 500,000 acres. They profited mainly on cattle with a few crops thrown in for local consumption.

She found an article done on the ranch from around 5 years ago. It reported the death of Maggie Jamison, David’s mother, and the article came with a picture of both her but Jonas, the man responsible for her birth. He was a tall man. Hard to tell from the picture but he had to be at least 6’2’’. He was stocky, handsome, and she could tell where David got his looks from.  Jonas had a strong profile like his son. He had a nose that had seen its fair share of fights, strong high cheekbones and full wide lips. His hair was on the light side of brown, but that may be because of the sun and the little bit of grey he had poking through. What stood out the most for Cassidy were his eyes; they were same round shape and the same kaleidoscope of blue. Cassidy had inherited her eyes from her birth father.

While she was using the internet at the library, she booked her flight home. She would arrive at Nashville International Airport around 5 pm. She called a cousin of hers to pick her up and take her to her parents’ house. She would arrive at dinner time. Her mother would not be prepared for her, but she doubted she would be in the mood to eat anyways.

            She talked to her boss Monday and was able to get the weekend off.  She picked up the missing hours during the week and even promised to work all of the following weekend. She was up late every night with studying and homework, but she would not have been able to sleep much anyways. She was nervous about talking to her parents.

            Lexi drove her to the airport Friday and wished her luck. Cassidy would need it, if only to keep her emotions in check. In under 3 hours she was in Nashville and on her way to her parents’ house in Brentwood. Her cousin was curious as to why the sudden trip down and to why her parents could not get her from the airport. She told him it was surprise and left it at that.

            She stood at the door of the beautiful A-frame house. She loved this house growing up. It looked elegant with its brick covering and the white shutters reminded her of eyes looking out into the world. She stood on the small porch, searching her memory for any memory that might have led her up to this point sooner. She questioned her parents about everything, everything but not about not being theirs.

            She rang the doorbell and waited for mother to answer the door. In hindsight she should have called to make sure they were home. She had a key, could always let herself in, but today she felt like an outsider. The house seemed much larger than she remembered. She imagined a stranger may find the house large and imposing, but to her, except for today, it was home.

            “Cassidy!” Her father answered the door with a hug. “Not caring she did not call ahead, only happy to see her. His hug was so familiar and loving; today strange but not any less loving.

            “Hi dad!” She hugged him back tightly. “Surprise.” She pulled back to look at the man who had been her dad for all of her life. His green eyes sparkling with happiness on seeing her. Wrinkles were starting to form in the corners of his eyes, laugh lines, and he had earned every one of them.

            He drug her in the house and called for her  mother.

            “Cassidy dear, we had no idea you were coming.” Her mother politely smiled at her. “We would have made sure we had a place for you at the table.”

            Her mother made no move to embrace her. In fact, she looked nervous and did not look directly at her. Instead she smoothed down the front of her shirt, which was flawless without wrinkles, always the perfect housewife.

            “Take your stuff up to your room while I set a place for you at the table. We are having meatloaf and I can never make just enough for two people.” Cassidys mother left to do just that. Cassidy sent her dad a smile before heading up the stair to her room. Her mother only cleaned in here enough to keep layers of dust from collecting. Cassidy was a tidy person herself so she understood her mother’s need for cleanliness.

            The room was still decorated as it was through most of her teen years. Purple wallpaper with small white flowers dotting the room. The bedding was the same also. Deep purple comforter with lavender and brown accent pillows. A brown bed skirt graced the underside of it. She never saw the need for an underskirt but her mother insisted it was needed to complete the look.

            She quickly unpacked her one suitcase and put her things up. She took a few minutes to sit on the end of the bed to gather her thoughts. Her room was her sanctuary. She had spent hours of her childhood reading in the large bay window looking over the back yard. A swing set still sat in the plush green grass. A silent wish for the grandchildren her parents wanted.

            She clutched the folder to her chest and sent a prayer for understanding up. She was not as religious as her parents, but she still believed. With folder in hand she made her way downstairs. She laid the folder on the hutch in the dining room before she sat down with her parents for which would probably be the most awkward dinner she had ever sat down to. Nobody realizing why the other was acting nervous.

            “So why such the impromptu trip honey?” Her dad asked after she filled her plate.

            “Can’t a daughter visit her parents?”

            “You just saw us over Christmas break.” Her mother pointed out. She sent a look she could not decipher to her father. “It Is not like you not to call before a visit. We could have picked you up from the airport instead of your cousin.”

            “I was just a little homesick and there was some stuff I wanted to run by you.” She shrugged not looking at either of them, paying more attention to the meatloaf she really no interest in.

            “What stuff? Did you meet someone?” That was all her mother worried about.

            “I am too busy to be dating.” She scowled at her mother who just glared back. “This may concern my future plans after school. I think I may be going to Texas.”

            Her mother’s face went white. She sent a panicked look toward her dad and her was shaking as she lifted her glass of red wine to her mouth.

            “Why would you do that dear?” Her mother could only get a whisper out.

            “From your reaction mother; I think you know why.” She said with a salute of her own glass of wine. The truth was starting to settle in her gut and there was no way around the conversation she was about to have.

 

Author's Note

Something happened this weekend so this Chapter made me feel like I was forcing it out. So it might read like that. Any feedback on how to help the flow will be greatly appreciated. I would also appreciate yall to be gently with me on this one. lol

Reviews

[Hatter57]

OK, my first reaction early in the chapter: Is it really likely that some stranger has been taking pictures of Cassidy all these years, or is it more likely that Cassidy's mother has been sending her biological father copies of important family pictures? So Cassidy would probably recognize all of these pictures, which would just tend to reinforce the likelihood that David's story is true.
Unless this is all you're intending to do with the dinner conversation, I think a chapter break is warranted about the time her cousin picks her up from the airport. On the other hand, if the action is about to move to Texas, this works well. You convey that Cassidy has received the confirmation she needed without spelling it out, and we're off to the next location. I like that approach.

[Amanda J Hopwood]

Well I did that, but did not think about not having the conversation. Now that you mentioned it. I agree. Again you are awesome!! The dedication will be mentioning you lol

[BlakeDuckers]

Hello there. I think your absolutely brilliant. The main aim with this type of novel to put yourself in the leads position and that's what i did. I only found myself bored of reading "She this she that". Try chaining actions with shes, it might not work well for you but it helps me. For example 'Cassidy swung her legs round and got out of bed, dragging her morning thoughts to the bathroom' This is personal opinion, it gives it even more vision. Thank you. Do you mind me adding you as a friend, i would love to follow your story.

[Amanda J Hopwood]

Thank you!! That is exactly what the type of advice I have been needing!! I gladly will and I hope you keep enjoying it.

[BlakeDuckers]

i will indeed