Chapter Fifty-One
July 6th, 1912
Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin
Jack and Rose were having breakfast at a nearby restraunt on the patio. The sun was beaming in the clear blue sky. An orange umbrella spread over the couple. Rose was having a glass of orange juice and a ham croissant sandwich. Jack settled to cereal with milk mixed in. Rose looked out to the town square that was in plain view. Many people walked the streets now, bustling about. A local farmers market was open. Women walked through with their baskets full of fresh produce, towing their playful children after them. Rose was charmed by the town. Jack's face showed no emotion, but he also stared over the short iron fence that squared the eating patio in.
"This morning," Jack began, but stopped to swallow and wipe his milk stained lips with a napkin, "we can head over to the bank to take a peak into the safety deposit box." Rose watched a child skip by, a red balloon in hand. She watched it disappear amongst the rather thick crowd flocking towards the farmers market.
"Okay," Rose nodded. She reached across the table and laced her fingers through Jack's. "You're sure you're ready to look in it?"
"Very sure." Jack squeezed her hand. He dipped his spoon into the cereal and took another bite with an ungraceful slurp, "I want to take the pictures that are left of my family with me. I want to put them in our house." Rose smiled to this. "Might find a few personal documents, too, that could be useful, as well." Jack shrugged, "I didn't ask my grandmother what she was putting in it. I trusted it was all important stuff I would come back for sooner or later."
...
After breakfast, Jack and Rose immediately found the bank. Jack did not want to dilly dally. Jack craned his neck back to stare at the rather large and majestic bank. A man exited the sparkling glass doors, shoving a few bills into his coat pocket. Jack looked over at Rose and exhaled rather unevenly. Rose squeezed his hand, a bit nervous for him.
"I'm right here." She assured him, "The pictures may be frightening, but they're just pictures."
"Frozen snapshots in time," Jack told himself. They climbed the steps. Jack held the door open for Rose. Inside, the bank was rather chilly. Rose immediately hugged herself, the goosebumps puckering quickly. Jack rubbed her arm. "We need to get you a jacket or something." The bank was very quiet. A few tellers sat at booths, but were all occupied by men setting cheques up or being handed money. Rose looked around the bank, fascinated. She had never been inside one. "Excuse me," Jack called quietly for a nearby man in a suit, "Where is the safety deposit boxes?"
"Right through that door, sir." The man pointed to an archway.
"Thank you." Jack took Rose's hand and towed her behind him. Upon entering the arch, they spotted the wall filled with boxes. Jack and Rose's eyebrows arched to how many there were. There had to have been hundreds of them lining the wall.
"How do you know which one is yours?" Rose asked.
"Just tell me your last name!" A female clerk called from the pedastool she stood. Jack and Rose nearly jumped. They hadn't seen her standing there.
"D... Dawson," Jack said, composing himself. He was aching for a cigarette.
"John Dawson?"
"Yes," Jack nodded. His grandmother always called him by his real name.
"Safety Deposit Box #189." The woman told him.
Together, the couple walked the wall, counting up together the numbers of each safety deposit box. Jack ran his artistic hands along the deposit boxes, dread filling him up more and more by each number. Pictures of mom and dad. Jack didn't want to see them. He could still envision both of his parents faces perfectly. They were forever engraved into his memory.
"Here it is." Rose said, making Jack's blood turn slush. Rose stared at her husband, who had paled from his normal tan complexion. "Hey, it's okay." She grabbed his hands, "They're just pictures. Memories you want."
"Memories I want." Jack repeated, the dread ever so present. Rose reached up and grabbed the handle of the Safety Deposit Box that read John Dawson. Jack squeezed his eyes shut as Rose withdrew it from the wall. It felt like he was being stabbed over and over again. Rose set it on the table.
"Look, Jack," Rose said. Jack slowly opened his eyes to see Rose holding up a small picture. "It says on the back John 'Jack' Cole Dawson. Born November 8th, 1889 at seven in the morning. The picture was rather grainy, but it was Jack as a newborn baby laying amongst pillows, sleeping soundly. Jack took it into his hands to examine it. "Oh, and your parents wedding photo." Rose brought it up, "Wow, Jack." Rose's eyes grew wide, "Your mother is beautiful."
Maude Klein Dawson was a small woman but with a river of blonde hair. Her eyes were bright and lively with a passion for life. She stood in a puffy dress, fashionable at the times. She smiled brightly, a big fluffy white bow affixed atop her head. Jim Dawson was linked arms with her. She was barely even half of him and he was two times as thick. He wasn't a fat guy, just a big boned man. He had short cropped brown hair and a groomed mustache and a bold brow.
"They look happy." Rose said as she passed that picture to Jack. Jack stared at it with unimaginable fear. There they were, staring back at him. He swallowed roughly. "Here's another of all three of you together. It's dated January of 1903." Jack took it with a shakey hand. Just nine months before his parents died. They all looked so joyful. "Your birth certificate." Rose said, sliding that piece of paper onto the table. Jack was too mesmerized by the family photo, though. "Oh, these must be your grandparents." Rose passed another photo to Jack. Rose paused for a moment, staring into the Safety Deposit Box. Over the edge of the picture, Jack could see Rose bring her hand to her mouth.
"What?" Jack looked at her, setting the pictures down with a heavy heart. "What is it, Rose?"
"Oh my god," Rose picked up another sheet of paper. She handed it to Jack silently.
Jack's eyes scanned over it. It was a second birth certificate. Across the first line was, Marcus James Dawson. Jack's eyebrows knitted together.
Born May 12th, 1885.
Mother's Name: Maude Klein.
Father's Name: James Dawson.
City of Birth: Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.
"What the hell?" Jack was in near shock, "I... I have a brother?"
