The Sunny Chronicles: Chapter Six

Jackson Montgomery sits down with some potato chips and a pop to watch a hockey game on T.V. when he hears a rat-a-tat-tat on his apartment door. He stands with a sigh and crosses the room saying, "Reggie Montgomery, you better not have skipped detention ..." But, when he swings open the door, it's not his son he sees standing there, but his obviously frazzled daughter instead. Greenlee rushes in without an invitation and immediately starts pouring out the story to him.

"You are never going to believe this," she says.

He shuts the door and stands, arms crossed, and looks at her with slight frustration. "Well, it's nice to see you too, Greenlee. Come on in."

She plops down on the sofa, shoulders slumping. "I'm sorry. It's just ... I've had one heck of a day, and I didn't know who else to turn to."

Jack smiles, frustration evaporating, and takes a seat next to her. He reaches for the remote and shuts off the game.

"Hey, that's what I'm here for, kiddo. So tell me what happened. Kendall giving you a hard time again?"

"No. I wish it were that easy," she tells him. "Although, Kendall was involved ... You don't suppose having her still in my life is bringing me bad luck, do you? I mean, you have to admit, bad luck follows Kendall around like geese to spring."

"Greenlee," Jack interrupts. "Why don't you just tell me what happened?"

"Right. Sorry," she says, " Okay ... I was walking home from work yesterday, and I got this creepy feeling like someone was following me. So I turned around and didn't see anyone ... Then, I ran into Kendall and Ryan, told them about it, and Ryan found this strange girl stalking me in the bushes."

"So, there was someone following you?"

"Yes. But, that's not the worst part. When we asked why she was following me, you'll never guess what she said."

"That she was a secret admirer?"

Greenlee smiles. "If only ... that would at least be flattering."

"Well then, what did she say? Don't hold me in suspense."

"She said she was my sister."

"Your sister? ... How?"

"Oh, wait. I'm not there yet. First Ryan found a knife on her, and Kendall called the police."

"Did they pick her up? On what charges?"

"Stalking charges," she says simply.

"Greenlee, there is no such thing as stalking charges."

"Okay, then harassment charges ... I don't know. All I know is, they handcuffed her and took her downtown. Unfortunately, she wasn't there long because your niece came and bailed her out."

"My niece? Bianca?"

"That would be the one," she answers. "And, don't bother asking me why, because I don't have a clue. I was too busy having a nervous breakdown to ask."

"Okay ... but you still haven't told me how this girl could possibly be a sister to you."

"She's not." Greenlee insists. "What she says is that Mary dropped her off on someone's doorstep as a baby ... I mean, come on, right?"

"That's the oldest line in the book," Jack adds.

"I know! That's exactly what I said!"

"There's only one problem," he says.

"What's that?"

"Well, how can you be absolutely sure that this girl ... what's her name?"

"Sunny."

"How can you be sure that Sunny isn't telling the truth?"

Greenlee cocks her head and laughs. "What do you mean? You think it's actually possible that my mother got pregnant and dumped the baby? Come on, Jack ... How likely is that?"

Jack raises an eyebrow and says nothing. Greenlee's features morph slowly from frustrated and doubtful to worried and panicked.

"Right," she breathes, staring off into space. "Right. After all, we aren't talking about the mother of Jesus here: we're talking about Mary Smythe."

"Maybe Sunny is lying," Jack says. "But ... if there's even a small chance that she may be telling the truth, don't you think you owe it to yourself to do a little digging and find out for sure? I lost a lot of time with you because of Mary's lies, and I'd hate to see you go through the very same thing. If you really do have a sister, don't you want to know? Sooner rather than later?"

Greenlee studies him over a moment. "This dumped baby ... it couldn't be yours ... could it?"

He smiles. "Well, I don't know, Greenlee. How old is Sunny?"

"Not old. Younger than me for sure."

"Then, no," he laughs. "I couldn't be her father. But, you could be her sister. What are you going to do about it?"

She stands and smiles, the sparkle back in her eyes. "I'm going to have a little chat with my mother."

Greenlee crosses the room to the door, leaving him sitting stunned for the moment. Standing to follow her, he says, "You're going to talk to Mary? Greenlee, are you sure that's the way to go? Don't you think you should talk to Sunny some more first?"

She opens the door and pauses.

"Look," she tells him. "I don't know this Sunny person at all. But, I know Mary Smythe like the back of my hand. If she's lying, I'll know."

She gives him one last smile and bounces out the door, leaving him to watch her disappear down the hall. He waits a moment, a proud-papa smile lighting up his face, then goes back inside and turns the hockey game on.