This story was named after the song "Wind Of Change" by the Scorpions
"The wind of change blows straight
Into the face of time
Like a stormwind that will ring."
Chap. Two: Stormwind
So I bet you are wondering what happened next, right? Well, Mom didn't have another therapy meeting with Dr. Gordon till Friday and it was only Monday. Since it was summer, we didn't have to worry about school getting in the way. We didn't, however, want to seem suspicious by hanging around the house all day so we sometimes opted for laying out in the sun as well as hiding down the street in the bushes. Low, I know. But since my street was a dead end street, I didn't have to worry about Mom going in the opposite direction.
Mom didn't go anywhere except the store until Wednesday, much to my chagrin. When she did leave, we found out that my mom had started meeting Mike on Wednesdays at a little cafe just out of town. That was a little suspicious. For the first Wednesday, we didn't know how to get into the cafe without Mom noticing Miranda. It would be a little suspicious if Miranda went into the cafe. It would be a little more then a coincidence. I had been sure I knew why Mom was meeting Mike out of town.
So I kept up my part of the bargain, and searched through Mom's room. I didn't have to worry about Matt because his friend Lanny had invited him along for a day trip to an amusement park with his family. With both Matt and Mom gone it was the ideal time to look through Moms rooms for any clue.
"So how is the search going?" Miranda asked me on the phone. Gordo was the only one of us who had a cell phone and had let Miranda borrow it for this exact reason.
"I haven't found anything yet. I'm looking through the bills. I don't know what I'm looking for but I guess I'll know when I find it." I replied, the phone between my ear and shoulder.
"Well, you have to hurry up. They are getting in their cars. It's only a five minute drive back to your house from here." Miranda told me.
"Tell me when you get close to the street. I need all the time I can to find something." I said as I rifled through more and more bills.
"Well, I think it is Mike. They didn't even hug or anything, but I think your mom wants to keep things on the down-low." Miranda suggested.
"Right now, Mike is the only one who seems to be a possibility and it is suspicious that she has been sneaking off to see him out of town non the less." I agreed with her. It was, indeed, very suspicious.
Miranda and I continued to talk while I continued to search. Just as I picked up a doctors bill, Miranda started to panic. "Lizzie, your mom just saw me following her!" Miranda told me. "She's almost home. I'm going to go to your house so it seems like I was coming over."
"I hope she buys it, Miranda. But I found something. I'll talk to you about it when you get here. Bye." I hung up the phone before she could respond. I quickly began to put Mom's bills in their rightful places when I heard a car door. Then another. I hoped Miranda stalled while I continued to put the evidence of my snooping away.
Just as I closed the last file draw, I heard the front door open, followed by Miranda and Mom's voices. If I tried to leave her room, she would see me. I waited and listened to the conversation.
"Oh, I was coming back from dropping Lily off at her friends house that lives out on Second Ave. That's why it seemed like I was following you, we were just headed to the same destination." Miranda was telling her. I'm so lucky that I have friends who can think on their feet.
"I guess that makes sense." Mom replied. I could hear the suspicion in her voice. Or was that nerves? "Lizzie! Miranda's here!" my mom called up to me. What was I going to do? I couldn't respond and I couldn't come out of my mom's room. They were still standing at the bottom of the stairs.
"Hmm, maybe she isn't here. Lets go into the kitchen and I'll wait for her to get home, Ms. McGuire." Miranda told Mom as they made their way to the kitchen. I took in a deep breath. I hadn't realized I'd been holding it.
I quietly opened the door and peaked out to make sure no one could see me. I then walked down the stairs and toward the kitchen, wondering what I was going to tell my mom for not answering when she yelled up at me.
"Oh, Mom I didn't know you were home yet. Hi Miranda." I greeted her as if I hadn't known she was here. I was such a bad liar.
"Sweetie, I yelled up to you that Miranda was here. Did you just get home? I thought I saw your car in the driveway." Mom looked at me. She had that 'I'm know you are up to something' look. I began thinking. I could feel the sweat on my brow.
"It was in the driveway, Mom. I was upstairs with my headphones on. I didn't hear you." I lied. Hey, that wasn't that bad. Maybe I was getting better at this. Then again, maybe the fear of getting caught had scared the liar into me. Miranda looked surprised at the ease in my lie.
"Well, that makes sense. Lizzie, dinner will be ready in about an hour. That's when I expect Matt home. Miranda, will you be staying?" Mom asked looking at Miranda.
"Um, sure Ms. McGuire." Miranda said. We both took that as our cue to exit.
"We are going to go over to Gordo's for awhile, Mom. We'll be back for supper." I told her and left without an answer. We headed toward Miranda's car, anxious to get out of the house as quick as we could.
"You drive. My stomach is in knots. That was too close, Lizzie." Miranda told me as she handed me her key's. I didn't worry about driving, I had driven Miranda's car lots of times. I had my license longer then she did and she often got nervous about driving herself. She only drove when she had to anyway.
We climbed into the car and shut the doors. I put the key in the ignition and started the car. "We have to be more careful next time." I told Miranda as I backed out of the driveway.
"There is going to be a next time?" Miranda asked, worry written all over her face.
"Miranda, I have to find this out. It doesn't just involve my mom. It involves myself and Matt as well as the new baby." I told her. I don't know where I had gotten the feeling that it was my responsibility to find out, but I felt it strongly. It was more then a curiosity now. I couldn't just drop it now.
"You know, your mom will have to tell you sooner or later anyway. Then you can ask her who the father is." Miranda told me, trying to get me to back down from my mission. I was too stubborn though.
"She'll have to tell me sooner then we thought." I replied as I kept my eye on the road. It was only a short distance to Gordo's house so we were almost there.
"What do you mean?" Miranda asked. I could feel her eyes on me, boring holes through my head.
"I'll tell you when we get to Gordo's." I replied simply. Miranda only kept her mouth shut this time. Soon, I pulled into the Gordon's driveway and shut off Miranda's car. Slowly we descended the walkway that led to the front door. I reached out and rang the door bell. Eventually, Dr. Gordon answered and let us in.
"Lizzie, Miranda." Gordo greeted us, putting his current novel down on his desk and getting up.
"Hi Gordo." I replied. Miranda stood, quietly looking at her feet.
"So, how did it go?" he asked anxiously, referring to step one of my mission.
"It was close." I told him. "We found out that my mom has been meeting Mike at a cafe just out of town."
"Well that's suspicious. Do you think it's him?" Gordo asked.
"Right now, he's the only one who has evidence against him but we still don't have any evidence that it is true, just evidence that makes him look suspicious." I said, sitting down on Gordo's bed. "I did find something though."
At that Miranda perked up. I had both of their attention now. I fished into my pocket and pulled out a photo copied version of the paper I had found.
"The estimated conception date is Mid-March." I told them as I handed them the paper to inspect. "That means she is already close to three months along." I concluded looking at them.
"Then why don't you drop this, Lizzie? She'll have to tell you soon. She can't hid it forever." Miranda told me. Gordo just nodded in agreement, still taking everything in.
"I can't. My mom has been hiding stuff from Matt and I. Important stuff. Doesn't she care about our feelings?" I sounded selfish, I knew. I just couldn't imagine why my mom would keep something like this. We would be having a new brother or sister in about six months and she didn't feel the need to tell us?
Friday came and went. I had tried calling Gordo on his cell phone but only got his voice mail. When I tried calling his home phone and explaining to Dr. Gordon that I couldn't reach him, he told me that Gordo had left the house several hours ago. He thought that Gordo had left to hang out with Miranda and I. I thanked him and hung up the phone.
That's weird. Where was Gordo? Was he avoiding me? What happened that caused him to avoid me? I could only wonder. I picked up my phone and called Miranda.
"Miranda. Have you heard from Gordo?" I asked as soon as she answered.
"No. Why, is he missing?" Miranda asked, concern in her voice. It was not like Gordo to go somewhere without him telling Miranda and I first. He told us everything. Gordo had always been the predictable one.
I explained to Miranda my efforts in tracking down Gordo for the information. She was as perplexed as I was.
"That's weird. You don't think he found out something bad do you?" Miranda asked as my call waiting beeped.
"I don't know. I have another call. Hope it's Gordo." I told her.
"I'm crossing my fingers." she replied as we hung up.
"Hello?" I answered.
"We need to talk. Meet me at the Digital Bean in ten." Gordo said and hung up.
I wondered what was wrong. Gordo was serious if he wanted to meet me at the Digital Bean. It had officially become our meeting place ever since Dad had died and Gordo's parents had divorced. Any time we needed to have a serious talk, we went there. It had been a place of comfort and youth and a place we knew no one would look for us at.
I quickly grabbed my car keys and told Mom I was going out. I continued to wonder nervously as I drove to the hang out. I pulled in and noticed that Gordo was already there. He had probably called me on his cell phone from the Digital Bean. In fact, he had probably been there all along knowing that we wouldn't think to look there for him. In a weird way, that was almost predictable, but still not an obvious option.
I made my way over to our usual table, in the back for privacy. I sat down and looked at Gordo. We said nothing as a waitress took my drink order. We had begun a staring contest. I had been trying to see what he was thinking but his expression was hard and unreadable. As soon as I had received my drink and the waitress left us, Gordo said what I would have never expected him to say.
"Your mom is pregnant with my dad's baby."
WHAT?!