I opened my bedroom door, only to find Tina sitting in my desk chair. Amelia and Brenda had phoned their parents early, before breakfast, and I decided to let Tina sleep through. After all. I wasn't too happy with her, so letting her skip breakfast was the least I could do. "Finally decide to wake up?" I asked, as pleasantly as I could. She looked at me; her face emotionless. She didn't say anything. I cleared my throat and nodded, as if excepting her ignorance. "Ok, Tina," I said, more coolly. "You know, there's only one way that Danny could have known I was outside last night. He was asleep, and he can sleep through anything. It would take the damned Japanese bombing this place for him to wake up, and then he only would if we were lucky." She just looked down at the ground. "Becky, he deserves to know what you're doing." I laughed and fell down on my bed. "Ok, then. If he deserves so much to know what I'm doing, I think I should be able to deserve to know what I'm doing." She shook her head and glanced out my window. "It's not my place," She stood up, slowly. "Can I take a bath?" I grunted. "Sure. Just don't mind me if I stand outside the door to take watch and make sure no one gets in there with you." "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I smirked. "I'm sorry, Tina. But it seems to me, that you can confide alot more in Danny then you can in me, and that he can confide alot more in you than he can with me; his own sister." She smiled, almost devilishly. "You know what Becky?" I put the best look of question on my face. "Maybe you're right." With that, she walked out and shut the door. I sat there. What the hell? That little bitch. Ok, I was extremely mad at her right now. First, I find out that she told my brother where I was and at what time, risking me to get into some serious trouble with my parents. Second, I find out that she and my brother are confidons? Shoot. That's too weird, though. Because Danny will even tell you that the only people he confides anything in are me, Mama, and Rafe. Rafe? What the? Ok, another odd circumstance. Now, I realize I'm being slow. I'm a smart girl, but the teachers will even tell you it takes me a little while to get things. But, at any rate, if I'm not mistaken, I can't remember any instance where Danny has called Rafe "daddy" or "dad" or something. I did ask him why when I was about 8 and he was 12, and he told me that it was ok for boys to call their fathers by their first name. I believed him, up until now. With all of this other shit going on, that just didn't fit in. Ok, I'm going to get to the bottom of this. No more waiting, no more wondering. I would find out, even if it meant breaking my father's heart by going where he pleads most I not go.
After writing down what I had, I closed my notebook and hid it under my matress. I jumped when the door opened, revealing Tina. "Sorry I scared you," She said, blankly. "I'll just get my things and leave now." I rubbed my face. "How are you getting home?" I choked out. I cleared my throat. I must be getting a cold. "Danny's taking me." I laughed. "Ok. Good luck getting him past my father with a car." She shook her head. "No, he's flying me." I raised an eyebrow, trying not to laugh. "And my father was...ok with this?" She smirked. "After alot of yelling, yes." I laughed. "Ok, then. I'll pray for you." She rolled her eyes. "Shut up, Becky. He's a good flyer." I stood up. "Ok. But let me make one thing clear. Just because my father has been teaching him how to fly since he was 5, that doesn't make him good." She walked up to me and pointed a finger in my face. What was her problem? "You know what your problem is, Becky? Your problem is that if someone doesn't have your father's standards, they're just not good enough for you." I was amazed. The audacity she had to tell me...grrr. "Are you trying to tell me that I think my own brother is not good enough for me?" She backed down and eased toward the door, grabbing her bag on the way. "Oh, you might think your own brother is. But you don't think Danny is." With that, she turned and closed the door. Nevermind what she said. By tonight, I'd have it down. I'd know the truth, even if it did hurt me. I walked over to the window and watched Tina run to the plane and throw her stuff in. I then watched my father wave them off, and my brother flew the few miles down the road. I hoped they didn't die. I was afraid to get in the plane with him. He had asked me I don't know how many times to come up with him, but I refused. Hey, I wasn't the only one. My mother refused, too. But that was different. She just has a fear of flying or something, because she refused my father as well. I didn't do that. Daddy could take me up in a plane, and I'd feel nothing. No pressure, no fear, no guilt, no sadness. Not even happiness. Nothing. Just the wind in my face, and I liked it that way. Shaking my head free of any thought at all, other than the job I was about to do, I walked quietly into Danny's room. I was going to start here, then move on..to other places. Sighing, I moved instantly to the night stand. There was nothing unusual on the top. Just a watch, his sunglasses, and some dogtags. Wait. Dog tags? I looked down, to make sure I was wearing my father's. I was. So who's were those? I carefully picked up the metal bars and read their inscriptions. "Walker, Daniel J. 1st Lieutenant" And some other stuff like religion and SSN and blood type. Daniel J. Walker. My brother's name. Ok, there's a clue. I now know that the man buried in my back yard was a lieutenant, like my father. Only my father was promoted to Captain. I put the dog tags back where I found them, and proceeded to snoop around the room some more. I didn't find anything, so I carefully exited and walked down the stairs into the kitchen. Empty. Sighing, I walked on into the living room. My mother was sitting on the couch, going over what I saw as my father's medical chart. "Mama, where's Daddy?" She looked up, and I immediately saw that her face was tear streaked. What was she crying about this time? Surely to goodness, my father's medical chart wasn't THAT depressing. "He's outside working on something in the barn, honey." She wiped her face. "What's wrong, Mama?" she shook her head. "Nothing, Becky. Just go do whatever you were going to do." I nodded. "Yes, ma'am." I walked out of the living room into the kitchen, and as much as I hated to do it, I had no choice. From the kitchen, I didn't go upstairs or outside. I went into my father's office.
I opened the door and quietly shut it, locking it behind me. There was so much stuff in here. File cabinets all over the place. There were pictures on his desk. I looked at them. A picture of him and my mother at their wedding. Hmm, odd. My mother seemed to be very pregnant in that picture. They never mentioned that she was pregnant before she got married. Oh well. A solo picture of my mother, what seems to be 19 or 20 years ago. God, I'm proud to admit atleast this. I have a tiny resemblence to her. That's enough. She was and still is beautiful. Hey, this is a cute picture. It was me and Danny. I looked about 2, him about 6. We were holding hands walking out in the field, toward the sunset, with our backs turned to the camera. I chuckled a little bit. If I got out of this alive, I was going to shoot my mother for putting me in those dresses. One of my brother, one of me, yada yada. Now the pictures were just boring school pictures. Wait, I take that back. There was one of my father, mother, and the mystery man. That Daniel Walker. Lordy, my mother wore alot of makeup. But, that's beside the point. I studied the man's face. Damn it to all hell, I could swear on anything that was my brother. While my mother and father's smiles were big, Daniel's was small. No teeth, almost as if he was shy. He had the same look in his eyes as my brother did in his. A look of wonder and excitement. That look in his eyes made any sort of shy smile on his face look outgoing. I looked around, almost expecting to see someone watching me, but when I saw no one, I turned back to the picture and took it out of the frame, praying the date was on the back. It was. January 17, 1941. Hmm. Deciding that really didn't help anything, I put the picture back into the frame. I then looked at the next picture. It was of my father and Daniel, standing infront of a P-40. They looked pretty dirty. Haha, my father looked really dorky in that hula shirt. And I then saw what Daniel was wearing. He was wearing the yellow shirt my brother wears every December 7th. Underneath it, I could see the dog tags. Deciding this could help me, I also took it out of the frame. I froze. The date on the back read none other than December 7, 1941. Pearl Harbor. My father had told me everything about WWII, but he never mentioned being at Pearl Harbor. And going by the dirt on them and the solemn looks in their faces, I knew that was where they were. Where else would you wear a flowered hula shirt than Hawaii? I put the picture back in the frame and decided that I'd better hurry. I walked over to the first set of filing cabinets, looking at their labels. "Farm, Daddy's Plane, Me, Evelyn" I don't think anything too incredibly interesting would be in there. I moved on. "Mother, Daddy, Kids, House" I shrugged and opened the drawer labeled "kids". Maybe? First was a folder with my name on it, then a folder with Danny's name. Just because I was curious, I opened my file. It had every school picture ever taken, my medical chart, my dental records, my report cards, my social security number, my school attendance. You know, things to that basic effect. Ah, my birth certificate. Not that I was doubting Danny being my brother or anything, but I was going to compare them. I read over mine.
Last Name: McCawley
First, Middle: Rebecca Lynn
Legal Female Guardian: Johnson-McCawley, Evelyn Hope
Legal Male Guardian: McCawley, Rafe Anthony
Biological Mother: Johnson-McCawley, Evelyn Hope
Biological Father: McCawley, Rafe Anthony
Birthplace: Shelbyville, Tennessee
Nothing unusual. I then placed in back in my file and removed Danny's from the cabinet. Some thing that was in mine. Pictures, report cards, etc. The only difference was there some flight logs. I flipped to the back where I found his birth certificate. I didn't really expect anything different on it, call me stupid.
Last Name: Walker, Junior
*Junior? What the hell?*
First, Middle: Daniel James
Legal Female Guardian: Johnson-McCawley, Evelyn Hope
Legal Male Guardian: McCawley, Rafe Anthony
Biological Mother: Johnson-McCawley, Evelyn Hope
Biological Father: Walker, Daniel James
Birthplace: Shelbyville, Tennessee
I dropped the paper to the ground. This was just about stupid. Danny wasn't really my brother? Well, he was. But not exactly. I looked up, not knowing why. I didn't really know too much at this point. Why couldn't my family tell me this? Did they have to lie to me and keep it from me the whole time? It would've made things alot easier, had they said something. The picture on the wall caught my attention. It was a rather large headshot of Daniel. My brother's *father*. God, how was I so stupid? He looked just like him, had his dog tags, wore his clothing, and called my father Rafe. My word. Now I know why my mother cries. I even felt my self starting to cry. Now it had to go far beyond this Daniel Walker being my brother's father. I had to find out the inside story. Like what happened to him, who he was, how he met my parents. And most importantly, why he's buried in my back yard. But, those things would have to wait. I had to let them know I knew, first.
I picked at my carrots instead of eating them. My mother cleared her throat. "I'm going in to town tomorrow if anyone wants to come with me," No one said anything. "Rafe has another doctor's appointment and I was going to go shopping while I was out." I still picked at my food, not saying a word. "But I thought he already went to the doctor just a few weeks ago." My mother looked at her plate. "He did, Danny. But, he has to go back." "Why?" Danny asked, his mouth half full. My parents looked at eachother. "I guess that would bring us to our next point." My father said, barely audible. My mother nodded. "I have some bad news for you," She said. "As you know--" I cut her off. "Look, before anything bad is told, I need to tell you guys something." "What is it, Becky?" I sighed and sat my fork down. My father was staring out the window. "Daddy?" He looked at me, almost as if he knew what I was going to say. "Listen to me," He nodded. Danny quit devouring his vegetables long enough to acknowledge me. "I've known there was something fishy going on here for a long time. And lately it's gotten so bad, it was inevitable for me to avoid it." My mother knew what I was saying, I could tell by the look on her face. "What?" Danny looked at me, no expression. I looked him in the eye. "I know who you are, Danny." He dropped his fork, and my mother spilled her water. My father just looked at me. "Who am I then, Becky?" Haha. Like he could get out of it. I looked down at my plate and closed my eyes. "Daniel Walker's son." His face turned white and he just sat back in his chair, pulling his sunglasses from his pocket. I then came to the conclusion that the green aviator sunglasses had once belonged to Daniel Walker. A tear slipped down my mother's cheek, and my father started to laugh like a madman. Now that was scary. "How the hell, Becky?" He finally stopped laughing enough to ask me that. "I had to know, Daddy. And no one would tell me, so I.." "You what?" I sighed. "I went into your office and looked through some stuff." My mother instantly stood up and ran outside, and Danny still just sat there. My father hit the table, knocking over my water as well. "Rebecca! You KNOW what I told you about going into my office!" I pushed my hair behind my ears. "I know, Daddy." "Why?" He was yelling. Danny was unphased. "Because I wanted to know, Daddy!" I felt my voice rising. He stood up and started pacing. "If we really wanted you to know, we would've told you!" "Daddy! Please! Why couldn't I know? And don't try to pull the 'it'd be too hard for you to understand' shit, because I understand more now than I did when I didn't know!" He just stood there, firmly looking at the ground. "Daddy, I'm sorry. But, please understand. It was my right to find out. I deserved to know. And to be quite frank with you, I'm hurt. Crushed. Not by finding out that he's not really my full blood brother, but that you guys kept this huge secret from me." He looked up at me, tears on the brim of his eyes. "Yeah, well, if you're so hurt then why don't you get out of my sight?" I nodded. "Gladly." I ran out of the kitchen and upstairs to my room. I was so mad. And hurt. And I felt betrayed. What was the point of that fight? I realize that I was a fool for going into his office and finding out secretly, but if I would've asked they would've denied it. Why was it such a big deal for me to know? But I didn't care about that. I was so livid, all I cared about was getting out of there. Out of the place where the only thing they wanted to tell me were lies; and keep the truth to themselves. So, I did the first thing that came to my mind. I got my suitcase down from my closet and began packing it. Though it was out of rage and not rational thinking, I was leaving. When they were sleeping, I'd get away.
A/N: I don't know about birth certificates or anything like that, I just needed some kind of legal document and I don't know how they're written or anything, so, forgive me. It's not done yet, look for more.
After writing down what I had, I closed my notebook and hid it under my matress. I jumped when the door opened, revealing Tina. "Sorry I scared you," She said, blankly. "I'll just get my things and leave now." I rubbed my face. "How are you getting home?" I choked out. I cleared my throat. I must be getting a cold. "Danny's taking me." I laughed. "Ok. Good luck getting him past my father with a car." She shook her head. "No, he's flying me." I raised an eyebrow, trying not to laugh. "And my father was...ok with this?" She smirked. "After alot of yelling, yes." I laughed. "Ok, then. I'll pray for you." She rolled her eyes. "Shut up, Becky. He's a good flyer." I stood up. "Ok. But let me make one thing clear. Just because my father has been teaching him how to fly since he was 5, that doesn't make him good." She walked up to me and pointed a finger in my face. What was her problem? "You know what your problem is, Becky? Your problem is that if someone doesn't have your father's standards, they're just not good enough for you." I was amazed. The audacity she had to tell me...grrr. "Are you trying to tell me that I think my own brother is not good enough for me?" She backed down and eased toward the door, grabbing her bag on the way. "Oh, you might think your own brother is. But you don't think Danny is." With that, she turned and closed the door. Nevermind what she said. By tonight, I'd have it down. I'd know the truth, even if it did hurt me. I walked over to the window and watched Tina run to the plane and throw her stuff in. I then watched my father wave them off, and my brother flew the few miles down the road. I hoped they didn't die. I was afraid to get in the plane with him. He had asked me I don't know how many times to come up with him, but I refused. Hey, I wasn't the only one. My mother refused, too. But that was different. She just has a fear of flying or something, because she refused my father as well. I didn't do that. Daddy could take me up in a plane, and I'd feel nothing. No pressure, no fear, no guilt, no sadness. Not even happiness. Nothing. Just the wind in my face, and I liked it that way. Shaking my head free of any thought at all, other than the job I was about to do, I walked quietly into Danny's room. I was going to start here, then move on..to other places. Sighing, I moved instantly to the night stand. There was nothing unusual on the top. Just a watch, his sunglasses, and some dogtags. Wait. Dog tags? I looked down, to make sure I was wearing my father's. I was. So who's were those? I carefully picked up the metal bars and read their inscriptions. "Walker, Daniel J. 1st Lieutenant" And some other stuff like religion and SSN and blood type. Daniel J. Walker. My brother's name. Ok, there's a clue. I now know that the man buried in my back yard was a lieutenant, like my father. Only my father was promoted to Captain. I put the dog tags back where I found them, and proceeded to snoop around the room some more. I didn't find anything, so I carefully exited and walked down the stairs into the kitchen. Empty. Sighing, I walked on into the living room. My mother was sitting on the couch, going over what I saw as my father's medical chart. "Mama, where's Daddy?" She looked up, and I immediately saw that her face was tear streaked. What was she crying about this time? Surely to goodness, my father's medical chart wasn't THAT depressing. "He's outside working on something in the barn, honey." She wiped her face. "What's wrong, Mama?" she shook her head. "Nothing, Becky. Just go do whatever you were going to do." I nodded. "Yes, ma'am." I walked out of the living room into the kitchen, and as much as I hated to do it, I had no choice. From the kitchen, I didn't go upstairs or outside. I went into my father's office.
I opened the door and quietly shut it, locking it behind me. There was so much stuff in here. File cabinets all over the place. There were pictures on his desk. I looked at them. A picture of him and my mother at their wedding. Hmm, odd. My mother seemed to be very pregnant in that picture. They never mentioned that she was pregnant before she got married. Oh well. A solo picture of my mother, what seems to be 19 or 20 years ago. God, I'm proud to admit atleast this. I have a tiny resemblence to her. That's enough. She was and still is beautiful. Hey, this is a cute picture. It was me and Danny. I looked about 2, him about 6. We were holding hands walking out in the field, toward the sunset, with our backs turned to the camera. I chuckled a little bit. If I got out of this alive, I was going to shoot my mother for putting me in those dresses. One of my brother, one of me, yada yada. Now the pictures were just boring school pictures. Wait, I take that back. There was one of my father, mother, and the mystery man. That Daniel Walker. Lordy, my mother wore alot of makeup. But, that's beside the point. I studied the man's face. Damn it to all hell, I could swear on anything that was my brother. While my mother and father's smiles were big, Daniel's was small. No teeth, almost as if he was shy. He had the same look in his eyes as my brother did in his. A look of wonder and excitement. That look in his eyes made any sort of shy smile on his face look outgoing. I looked around, almost expecting to see someone watching me, but when I saw no one, I turned back to the picture and took it out of the frame, praying the date was on the back. It was. January 17, 1941. Hmm. Deciding that really didn't help anything, I put the picture back into the frame. I then looked at the next picture. It was of my father and Daniel, standing infront of a P-40. They looked pretty dirty. Haha, my father looked really dorky in that hula shirt. And I then saw what Daniel was wearing. He was wearing the yellow shirt my brother wears every December 7th. Underneath it, I could see the dog tags. Deciding this could help me, I also took it out of the frame. I froze. The date on the back read none other than December 7, 1941. Pearl Harbor. My father had told me everything about WWII, but he never mentioned being at Pearl Harbor. And going by the dirt on them and the solemn looks in their faces, I knew that was where they were. Where else would you wear a flowered hula shirt than Hawaii? I put the picture back in the frame and decided that I'd better hurry. I walked over to the first set of filing cabinets, looking at their labels. "Farm, Daddy's Plane, Me, Evelyn" I don't think anything too incredibly interesting would be in there. I moved on. "Mother, Daddy, Kids, House" I shrugged and opened the drawer labeled "kids". Maybe? First was a folder with my name on it, then a folder with Danny's name. Just because I was curious, I opened my file. It had every school picture ever taken, my medical chart, my dental records, my report cards, my social security number, my school attendance. You know, things to that basic effect. Ah, my birth certificate. Not that I was doubting Danny being my brother or anything, but I was going to compare them. I read over mine.
Last Name: McCawley
First, Middle: Rebecca Lynn
Legal Female Guardian: Johnson-McCawley, Evelyn Hope
Legal Male Guardian: McCawley, Rafe Anthony
Biological Mother: Johnson-McCawley, Evelyn Hope
Biological Father: McCawley, Rafe Anthony
Birthplace: Shelbyville, Tennessee
Nothing unusual. I then placed in back in my file and removed Danny's from the cabinet. Some thing that was in mine. Pictures, report cards, etc. The only difference was there some flight logs. I flipped to the back where I found his birth certificate. I didn't really expect anything different on it, call me stupid.
Last Name: Walker, Junior
*Junior? What the hell?*
First, Middle: Daniel James
Legal Female Guardian: Johnson-McCawley, Evelyn Hope
Legal Male Guardian: McCawley, Rafe Anthony
Biological Mother: Johnson-McCawley, Evelyn Hope
Biological Father: Walker, Daniel James
Birthplace: Shelbyville, Tennessee
I dropped the paper to the ground. This was just about stupid. Danny wasn't really my brother? Well, he was. But not exactly. I looked up, not knowing why. I didn't really know too much at this point. Why couldn't my family tell me this? Did they have to lie to me and keep it from me the whole time? It would've made things alot easier, had they said something. The picture on the wall caught my attention. It was a rather large headshot of Daniel. My brother's *father*. God, how was I so stupid? He looked just like him, had his dog tags, wore his clothing, and called my father Rafe. My word. Now I know why my mother cries. I even felt my self starting to cry. Now it had to go far beyond this Daniel Walker being my brother's father. I had to find out the inside story. Like what happened to him, who he was, how he met my parents. And most importantly, why he's buried in my back yard. But, those things would have to wait. I had to let them know I knew, first.
I picked at my carrots instead of eating them. My mother cleared her throat. "I'm going in to town tomorrow if anyone wants to come with me," No one said anything. "Rafe has another doctor's appointment and I was going to go shopping while I was out." I still picked at my food, not saying a word. "But I thought he already went to the doctor just a few weeks ago." My mother looked at her plate. "He did, Danny. But, he has to go back." "Why?" Danny asked, his mouth half full. My parents looked at eachother. "I guess that would bring us to our next point." My father said, barely audible. My mother nodded. "I have some bad news for you," She said. "As you know--" I cut her off. "Look, before anything bad is told, I need to tell you guys something." "What is it, Becky?" I sighed and sat my fork down. My father was staring out the window. "Daddy?" He looked at me, almost as if he knew what I was going to say. "Listen to me," He nodded. Danny quit devouring his vegetables long enough to acknowledge me. "I've known there was something fishy going on here for a long time. And lately it's gotten so bad, it was inevitable for me to avoid it." My mother knew what I was saying, I could tell by the look on her face. "What?" Danny looked at me, no expression. I looked him in the eye. "I know who you are, Danny." He dropped his fork, and my mother spilled her water. My father just looked at me. "Who am I then, Becky?" Haha. Like he could get out of it. I looked down at my plate and closed my eyes. "Daniel Walker's son." His face turned white and he just sat back in his chair, pulling his sunglasses from his pocket. I then came to the conclusion that the green aviator sunglasses had once belonged to Daniel Walker. A tear slipped down my mother's cheek, and my father started to laugh like a madman. Now that was scary. "How the hell, Becky?" He finally stopped laughing enough to ask me that. "I had to know, Daddy. And no one would tell me, so I.." "You what?" I sighed. "I went into your office and looked through some stuff." My mother instantly stood up and ran outside, and Danny still just sat there. My father hit the table, knocking over my water as well. "Rebecca! You KNOW what I told you about going into my office!" I pushed my hair behind my ears. "I know, Daddy." "Why?" He was yelling. Danny was unphased. "Because I wanted to know, Daddy!" I felt my voice rising. He stood up and started pacing. "If we really wanted you to know, we would've told you!" "Daddy! Please! Why couldn't I know? And don't try to pull the 'it'd be too hard for you to understand' shit, because I understand more now than I did when I didn't know!" He just stood there, firmly looking at the ground. "Daddy, I'm sorry. But, please understand. It was my right to find out. I deserved to know. And to be quite frank with you, I'm hurt. Crushed. Not by finding out that he's not really my full blood brother, but that you guys kept this huge secret from me." He looked up at me, tears on the brim of his eyes. "Yeah, well, if you're so hurt then why don't you get out of my sight?" I nodded. "Gladly." I ran out of the kitchen and upstairs to my room. I was so mad. And hurt. And I felt betrayed. What was the point of that fight? I realize that I was a fool for going into his office and finding out secretly, but if I would've asked they would've denied it. Why was it such a big deal for me to know? But I didn't care about that. I was so livid, all I cared about was getting out of there. Out of the place where the only thing they wanted to tell me were lies; and keep the truth to themselves. So, I did the first thing that came to my mind. I got my suitcase down from my closet and began packing it. Though it was out of rage and not rational thinking, I was leaving. When they were sleeping, I'd get away.
A/N: I don't know about birth certificates or anything like that, I just needed some kind of legal document and I don't know how they're written or anything, so, forgive me. It's not done yet, look for more.