Finding a Letter

Lyndsey, Murphy and Michael return home, and find Mr. Parker's suicide note. The children of Mr. Parker and Michael grieve, while Delilah leaves. Why is this?

3.



“Who are you?” was the first question Delilah Lund asked rather rudely when a slightly dazed Jem, and highly upset Lyndsey , Murphy and Michael arrived.
“I’m Lyndsey’s boyfriend, Michael,” he answered calmly.

Delilah scoffed, but Lyndsey didn’t care, or if she did, her care about her father’s near suicide was what was truly bothering her. 

”Mama, what happened?”

“Who knows?” Delilah said indifferently lighting a cigarette, in a very blasé manner.

“Mom, Dad just tried to kill himself, what happened? Did he at least leave a note? Stop looking like that ! Your husband just nearly committed suicide, don’t you care?” Lyndsey could feel years of pent- up emotions against her mother tumbling out.

“He left a note.” But it wasn’t Delilah answering, it was Misty, she was bent down around where Mr. Parker’s body must have been, and she was holding a cream colored note. Her eyes scanned over the note quickly, for Misty had always been known as an intensely fast reader, her eyes popped at the end, and then narrowed in the direction of her mother.

“What? What is it?” Michael felt as involved in this as if George had been his father in law of fifteen years, and he ran over to Misty, who looked appreciative, but wary of this kind strangers caring hand. 



”Its, horrible,” she handed it to him, “Give it to Lyndsey please. I don’t care if you read it, just give it to Lyndsey first.” Michael was only too happy to oblige, handing the crinkled note to his girlfriend, watching as shards of glass fell lightly to the floor, like snow flakes landing on the ground. 

“Why don’t you read it out loud?” Jem asked acidly.

“I—okay.” 

“Dear Lyndsey, Misty, Anne, James, Murphy and Delilah,

I am sorry you had to see me like this, and find me this way. I cant imagine the horror it must be for you. I deeply love and care for you all, yes, even you Delilah, though your cheating ways hurt me and made me angry with you for a while. You must understand that is the reason why I have chosen to leave this world, the fact that you wont stay faithful to me, even for our children. I couldn’t bear to leave them, and you. You know that I was never strong, Delilah, and yet you still slept around. I couldn’t bear it anymore, and I chose this way out—the cowardly way out. But I will still be there for you, girls when you need to be given away at your weddings, and when you’re getting ready for prom. I will be the grandfather to your babies, and pick you up when you are hurt, but only in a spiritual way for I have left this world for good. You may not have tied the rope, Delilah, but you killed me, and if the police read this, look in her drawers, and you will find evidence of her cheating, it may not land her in jail, but maybe it will show she is an unfit mother and leave them with the real mother of the Parker clan, my Lyndsey. 

Please forgive me for this act of selfishness, I love you all, Daddy.”

Then Lyndsey threw the letter down and burst into tears, and Anne, who had been rubbing her mother’s back, stepped away horrified and clutched onto Jem.  Jem’s face became stonier, and Misty gave her mother a fierce glare before standing beside her siblings. Delilah’s face went from calm and cool to red and angry.

“B*****d,” she muttered fiercely before pulling on her faux fur coat and pushing Michael out of the way, roughly and slamming out to the garage.

“Oh my Gosh, I had no idea,” Murphy said dropping to her knees, “I didn’t even suspect that’s what they were fighting about. Do—Do you think he has a chance at living?” she asked Lyndsey. 

Lyndsey couldn’t even answer, for her tears were clogging up all ability to move, Misty and Jem moved towards their sister, but Michael wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly as if she were a small child, placing kisses on her hairline and murmuring words that no one else could hear. It amazed Misty through her own tears and pain, that Lyndsey could find someone so good after being with someone so bad. She assumed that Lyndsey was finding it hard to keep the relationship together, after being with Tom for so long, and she hoped Michael was more than a rebound, because he seemed worthwhile, and sweet.

Murphy joined her sister on the floor, “I want him to be okay, Lyndsey, please. Please let him be okay,” she seemed to be talking to God more than she was talking to her sister. 

“Why did you do this to us?” Misty looked up as well, clutching the simple gold cross she wore around her neck, “why did you give us a weak father?” she fell into Michael, not caring that he was Lyndsey’s boyfriend, only caring when he and Lyndsey both held onto her. Jem was the only one not crying so hard, but he sat down on the floor letting the tears fall from his eyes, plopping on the ground, like the roof had a leak. Murphy fell into him, and he held his little sister, knowing and hoping that she was right, that Dad would be okay, that he would simply come back from the hospital and put everything back together again. He would sweep away the chandelier chards and divorce their mother. 

               The Parker- Lunds, and Michael were on the floor for nearly a half hour, when finally Anne began to laugh, a robust, full laugh that alerted and alarmed Misty

, but her laughter caught on, and soon the spacious kitchen was filled with loud, robust laughter. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever laughed that hard,” Jem confessed, as he put his head in Anne’s lap, “thanks Queen Anne.”

“I just figured Dad would have, I mean does want us to laugh even in times of sorrow. If Daddy does die, and for God Sakes Murphy, I’m not saying he will, but if he does, then we’ll know that all he wants is to hear our laughter, and to fight so that Lyndsey gets us, not Mom. We just have to prove what a s**t she is.”  Anne finished very primly. This caused more laughter. Then the telephone rang, suddenly the kitchen was very still and no one wanted to answer. Lyndsey stood up and faced the phone as if she was facing her own death.

“Hello? Yes, this is Delilah. I see, yes, thank you doctor.”

Five faces turned to look at her chalky white face.

“Lynds?” Michael looked at her, “Lynds what’s wrong?”

Author's Note

R & R!

Reviews

[dorothy_parker12]

sorry i dont know why the format's so weird