The old Philadelphia city bus came to a complete stop at the corner about a block from Jack Pryor's appliance store on the busy street, and Meg Pryor and her best friend Roxanne Bojarski climbed down the steps off the tall vehicle. The two girls were in deep conversation as they walked not taking notice of any of the people around them.
"I don't believe you had me do that," Meg said with a heavy frown of disappointment. "I have never lied to get out of school early before in my life. I think there's a special place in purgatory for girls who lie to nuns."
"Will you stop already," Roxanne stooped her whole body foreword in aggravation. "That is all you have been talking about for the past half hour." Her hands flailed in motion to her words.
"Well I'm upset," Meg stopped and stood looking at her friend as the bus drove off. "I have never lied to get out of school before."
"Meg," Roxanne took her by the arms with a frustrated fervor. "It was only an hour earlier than they would have let us out anyway, and besides, it wasn't a complete lie. We tried calling your mother and she didn't answer the phone. That made me worried, weren't you?"
"We said that she was deathly ill when we left the house this morning," Meg pointed out with a sharp eye. "We told Sister Mary Francis that that was why we were worried about her."
"And that is why we had to run home and check on her," Roxanne smiled mischievously. "Besides, wasn't she worried sick about your father and uncle getting along?"
"That's not the same," Meg put her hands on her hips defiantly. "And if we are so worried, then why aren't we on the way to my house?"
"Why?" Roxanne held up both hands. "We both know she's not there, but my Mom is right around the corner at work in the Bell Building, so I thought I would drop in on her and find out what she decided about sending me to Boston."
"Why do I continue to go along with these things?" Meg held her own hands up in a similar gesture.
"Because you are my best friend in the whole world," Roxanne hugged her. "So you want to come up to the Ma Bell's with me?"
"I don't know," Meg pulled away sheepishly. "I'm not sure it's a good thing if your Mom knows you have me going along with your skipping out on school."
"You're right," she nodded back. "Why don't you go wait at Luke's record store, and I'll come by right after I see her."
Meg began searching the area as she made her decision. She had never been downtown in the middle of the day before, and playing hooky was becoming very appealing to her as a part of herself wanted to explore the world around her she had never witness unless she were on a holiday break or on the way to a doctor's appointment with her mother.
"Okay," Meg finally looked back and shook her head yes. "You go up and see your Mom, and I'll do some window shopping on my way to the record store, but you come right there when you are done. I don't want to have to explain why I am not in school if I run into anyone I know." Roxanne agreed and left quickly leaving Meg alone on the bustling street to her own recourse. She turned slowly and took in all the sights a schoolgirl should not be seeing at this time of day as she walked slowly up the sidewalk in the direction of the shop.
Making her way up the crowded streets, Meg had been walking a few minutes when she noticed a lone man sitting on the bench at the bus stop across the street from where she was traveling. It took her a moment to recognize him, but it hit her suddenly as her lips gave voice to her thought. "Uncle Richie?"
Richie Pryor sat on the bench waiting for the next bus in a sullen position as Meg made her way through the traffic over to her uncle. She approached him cautiously from behind watching for any reaction from his slump silence.
"Uncle Richie?" She spoke over the street noises as she stepped to the side of the bench.
He looked up slowly at her. "Meg?" A smile crossed his thin lips as he caught sight of her. They had not had time alone since he had gotten back, but he truly treasured his eldest niece.
"I thought that was you," she grinned back widely. "What are you doing out here?" She could tell that he had been upset and her heart sank as she watch him wipe a stray tear away all the while hoping she would not notice. "Did you go over to Dad's shop?"
"Yeah," he said softly as she sat down next to him at his left. "I saw your Dad."
She took another long hard look at him before she asked, "It didn't go well, did it?"
"You might say that," he forced a grin as he sniffed. "I guess you could say your father and I had it out for the last time."
"What did he say?" she placed her soft hand over his. "Was he still angry?"
"He has every right to be, Meg," Richie told her. "I hurt your father real bad when I left the way I did all those years ago. I should have never done that."
"Yeah but that was a long time ago," she corrected with a shrug. "I mean he has to get over it some time."
"Well," he grinned with grief. "Today was not that day."
"I'm sorry," she gave him a polite smile.
"It's okay, Meg," he raised her hand to his lips and kissed it. "One of the things you learn as you grow up is you can't make people feel the way you do if they don't want to."
"Well," she searched her thoughts for the words. "Are you going to try again tomorrow?"
Richie shook his head slowly. "No Meg," he said with sigh. "My bus leaves early in the morning, and I will be going back to Lynchburg."
"You can't do that," Meg almost jumped. "You can't just give up like that. You need to keep trying. Dad can be real stubborn at times, but he always comes around. He did when he didn't want me to do Bandstand."
"This is not some TV show we are talking about here, kid," Richie gave a soft chuckle. "When it comes to what your father considers betrayal, which I guess in a sense it was, he is not about to give in so easily and I can't say I blame him."
"I'm sorry," she creased her brow. "I really wish you would stay a little longer."
"I do too, Meg," he touched her face softly. "I had hoped to get to know my nephews and nieces again while I was here."
They sat silent for a moment as Meg looked up again. "Don't you have a family, Uncle Richie, I mean do you have any kids of your own?"
A sad look, even more morose than before crossed his face. "I did," he lowered his head staring at the ground. "His name was Robert, or as his Mom and I called him, Robbie." A small smile seemed to cross his lips for a moment. "He always hated when we called him that, but he never stopped us from using it."
"Robbie," Meg smiled. "I have a cousin named Robbie. Is he back in Lynchburg waiting for you?"
Again the grief came across heavy as he lifted his head slightly looking into Meg's eyes. "Robbie died, Meg," he said almost under his breath and Meg had to struggle against the street noise to hear him, but she would not have needed to hear the words because his face said it all.
"Oh my goodness," she covered her mouth with her hand. "I'm so sorry, I didn't know."
"It's okay," he nodded once. "I haven't told anyone in the family yet. You are the first."
"What," she stammered slightly. "How did he die?"
It took Richie a few seconds as he tried to keep his composure. Then with a swift move, he slammed his left hand, knuckles first, down onto the solid metal brace on his left side of his body. "In the accident," he spoke sharply as his voice cracked slightly. "Robbie and my wife died in the car crash that put me in this brace."
"Oh, Uncle Richie," Meg took his free arm. "I'm so sorry."
"It all happened so fast, Meg," he said looking into her eyes as his mind drifted into his thoughts. "It took me a while to rebuild my life when I left Philly, but after a long few years, I joined this small home church, and it was there that I met Rosie. She was so sweet and pretty, and I fell for her almost instantly. I knew that in spite of everything that had happen, that God had lead me to that small church and to Rosie, and there was were I belonged."
"So you fell in love and married her?" Meg coached.
"Almost instantly," Richie smiled again. This time it was real and meaningful. "We were so in love, and six months later when I found out she was going to give me a child, I was besides myself with delight. When Robbie was born, heaven was completed for me here on Earth. We were a happy family Meg. I mean we had our problems like any other family, but for the first time since being rejected by your grand parents, I felt acceptance and love for just being me and not for what everyone else wanted me to be."
"They sound like very nice people," Meg commented touching his hands warmly. "I think I would have loved to meet them."
"That was the plan," he replied with a more serious brow. "But I could never work up the courage to just bring the family up here for a trip, even after Rosie had tried for years to talk me into it. I just was too afraid of what my two families would think of and do to each other."
"I think we would have really liked them," Meg assured him.
"Looking back now," he nodded once. "I agree, but I was never given that chance. All my hopes and dreams died on that evening nearly a year ago."
His eyes seemed to drift again as he continued. "It was one of those unusually spring storms in Virginia that quickly turned into an ice storm before anyone was caught aware. Robbie was with me when I drove to pick up Rosie from her work at the department store. It was our tenth year anniversary, and Robbie had saved up his newspaper delivery money and had insisted he was going to take us out to Country Cooking for a celebration dinner. He was so excited with his pocket full of mixed change and small bills."
Meg listened as he licked his dry lips. "The rain was really coming down as we waited in the parking lot for her to finish her shift, and it was turning to sleet as we saw her running for the car. By the time we got on the main road, the streets were already starting to ice over." His eyes got a little misty as he sighed softly. "They call Lynchburg the hill city with good reason. It's located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and there is hardly any road where you won't encounter a slope of some kind."
Shifting slightly, he continued. "We were on one of those hills behind the store on our way to the restaurant when I lost control of the car on the slippery driveway just as I approached the street. I was trying to go slow and navigate the large decline, but the wheels were no longer catching to the road, and I could barely see the eighteen-wheeler as it was coming down the hill in our direction going for the same downward slope. I could tell that he was moving far too fast for his own comfort, but he could not slow down quickly without jack knifing the trailer, so his only hope was that I would be able to give him a clear path, but as hard as I tried to slam on the breaks, between the rushing of the streaming water under the wheels and ice covered pavement, I could not stop the car, and we slid right into the trucks path."
"Oh my God," Meg gasped covering her mouth again with one of her hands.
"The impact was so loud and hard, I blacked out for a few seconds, and when I woke up, I saw that the truck had hit just between the front and rear seats on the passenger side where both of them were seated."
Meg rapped her arms around him as he covered his face with his hands. "My wife and son were both killed on that day, and I was left with a broken back and no hope for a future."
"Uncle Richie," she spoke softly into his ear. "I am so sorry," tears rolled down her cheeks. "It must have been so horrible for you."
"It was, Meg," he said pulling his hands away and sniffing a few tears of his own away. "I barely escaped with my own life, but my family was dead. It took me weeks before I could even sit up, and then months before I could even attempt to walk again."
Meg did not know what to say, but she knew she had to say something uplifting. "Well," she tried to force a grin. "You seem to have that mastered."
"Only with these braces," Richie said tapping the metal again. "The shell of a man I am on the in side seems to be reflected by these restraints on the outside."
She tried to move pass his grief. "Dad doesn't know anything about this?"
"I tried to tell him, Meg," Richie said turning to her again. "I only got out the fact that I once had a wife and son, and he thought my using pass tense meant that I had lost them to divorce or abandonment. He wouldn't even let me finish and to tell him that they are the reason I had to come back here."
"You had to come back here fore Aunt Rose and Robbie?" Meg questioned.
"I had to come back for Jack and Helen and Jackie and you and the others, Meg," he said with a heavy breath. "I needed to connect with something real in my life again. I needed to remind myself that I still had a reason to go on. I need to find people that I loved and who would love me back. I needed a reason to go on living."
"Oh Uncle Richie," she brushed a hand against a stray tear on his face. "You should have told that to Dad. He's mad, but he still loves you and wouldn't want you think you are all alone in the world."
"But I am Meg," Richie returned just as the squealing of the bus's breaks stopped a few feet before them. He stood up with great effort and gave her one last smile. "Thank you for listening, honey. Tell your brothers and sister I am sorry I missed them."
She stood up as he pulled her into a hug. "I love you Uncle Richie."
"I love you too sweaty," he returned pulling away. "You be sure to melt those teenager boys's heart back there at Bandstand, and make your uncle proud. I'll be watching from time to time."
Meg watched for a minute. "You're wrong," Meg called out to him as he labored up the steps into the bus.
He turned back for a second with a questionable look.
"You are never alone," she held out her hand up to him. "We all care about you, and someday you will be able to see that."
He kissed her hand softly with a small hint of a smile. Then as he released her dainty palm, he turned and stepped into the large craft. Meg watched through the window as he paid his fare and took a seat up front next to the window. He waved with a short remorse smiled as the bus door closed and it pulled away from the curb. A steam of bus fumes and smoke encircled her as she watched her uncle leave her life, again.
The late afternoon son had falling behind the clouds as Helen Pryor sat silently at her kitchen table clutching the envelope Richie had given her for JJ. He had already been very emotional about his uncle's visit, and she was sure that this would only add to the displeasure. She had sat there for so long in the silence, that she was startled when Patty's voice called from the hall.
"What are you making for supper?" The young girl still wearing her school uniform and hair pulled back into a ponytail asked.
After collecting herself from the small shock, Helen glanced at her wristwatch. "Oh will you look at the time. I haven't even taken the pork chops out from the freezer."
"I can do it," Patty spoke quickly in a surprisingly helpful manner. "Which pack are they?" She asked reaching into the freezer.
"The white paper," Helen responded trying to shake off the further surprise. "I wrote it on the outside.
"Here they are," Patty held up the large frozen pack. "What do I do next?"
Helen stood up and took the meat from her daughter's grasp. "I need to let them sit for a little while over the hot oven so they can thaw out before I can bake them," Helen explained unwrapping the pork. "Why don't you go and watch Bandstand for a while, and I call you if I need help."
"But I want to help," Patty shook her head watching her Mom attentively.
Helen watched her daughter as she unwrapped the meat and laid the slabs across a clean plate. She could not help but wonder what the younger Pryor was up to when she finally voiced her question. "What is this about, Patty?"
Patty looked up surprised. "I'm watching you make supper," she replied with an honest tone.
Helen placed the large serving plate on the stove and the wiped her hands on her apron as she turned to her. "Why are you so concerned about how I cook all of the sudden?"
"I don't know," she shrugged. "I just felt like watching."
Gesturing to the table, Helen returned to her seat and Patty took the one to her right. After a silent moment, she placed her hand over her daughter's. "Is there something you want to talk about, Patty?"
Patty noticed the envelope and picked it up feeling a small metal object inside. "What's in here?"
"That's for JJ to find out," Helen took the parcel from her and placed it back on the table. "Right now I want to know what is on your mind."
"Richie," Patty said.
"Uncle Richie," Helen corrected.
"Right," Patty sighed. "Why didn't Will or I ever know that we had another uncle? I mean JJ and Meg knew, but no one ever talked about him."
"That's because it was very complicated and talking about it only hurt your father," Helen explained. "So we all agreed a long time ago not to speak about him."
"Like he never existed," Patty commented. "It's like everyone just wiped him out of their memories, but he was still alive somewhere and everyone pretended that he wasn't."
"It's complicated, Patty," Helen tried to reason. "Sometimes grown ups do things that don't seem to make sense, but they do it all for a reason."
"To erase a human person," Patty added. "How can we just pretend that someone doesn't matter? In school the sisters are always saying that we have to consider even the least of God's children, and then Dad decides that its time to just ignore a member of our own family."
"Patty," Helen started with a hint of frustration.
"Why are we suppose to believe one thing in church, and then the rules change when we get home?"
"It's complicated," Helen grumped in between her daughter's breaths for air. "I can't tell you what your father's reasoning was in this matter, but I can tell you that he has his reasons, and as the head of this house, he has the right to make up the rules."
"Even if it's wrong?" Patty cocked her head slightly.
Helen took a deep breath and fell back into her seat. "Patty, why do you have to make everything a problem?"
"I just want an answer," Patty insisted raising her hands with her palms in the air. "Sister Grace is always saying for us to do as she says and not as she does. Is this one of those, 'because I say so' reasons?"
Shaking her head side to side, Helen sighed with frustration. "Yes," she finally said with finality. "It's because your father says so, so don't go giving him a hard time. Let your father handle this the way he wants."
"But," Patty started to protest.
"Patty," Helen stopped her. "Go get some potatoes out of the storm porch and then peal, clean and the boil them."
"How much?" Patty asked as her mother stood up.
"Enough," Helen returned with a frown. "Peal enough." Then she left the room taking the envelope and placing it in her apron pocket.
The front door opened just as Helen walked past it, and JJ Pryor entered with his gym bag slung over his left shoulder wearing his famous letterman jacket for East Catholic. She gave her eldest son a cautious smile as her hand patted the envelope in her apron pocket.
"Hi Mom," he eyed her carefully knowing her look meant something was up. Just as she was about to speak, Will's voice came booming from the living room. He was making the quickest approach towards his older brother that his braced leg would allow.
"JJ," he called with child like excitement. "You'll never guess what happen today at recess."
Turning his attention to his younger brother, JJ plastered a large grin across his handsome face to fake the same amount of joy that the smaller Pryor beamed. "Well then, don't make me guess," he called back just as Will reached him.
"We were playing kickball in the playground," Will told with glee. "And I kicked the ball right pass Jimmy Johnson at first base, and I almost made it all the way to second before they could catch me."
"Wow," JJ exclaimed. "That's great, Thrill. Any day now, and you'll have those boys eating your dust when you reach home."
"Yeah," Will nodded heartily. "Wait until I get my brace off, and I'll be ready to join the football team."
JJ squatted down and gave his little brother a big hug. "I can't wait to see that, Buddy."
Pulling away from his hero, Will gave him another big grin. "I'll make sure you are there when it happens."
"See," Will looked up at their Mom. "I told you JJ would be excited."
"We all are," Helen gave him a sweet smile. "Could you do me a favor and go help Patty with the potatoes while I talk to JJ?"
"Sure," Will replied with a big smile. "I'll tell her about my kickball game, again."
JJ waited until Will had rounded the corner into the kitchen before he turned back to his mother. "What is it?" He asked with a worried brow. "Is it about Uncle Richie and Dad?"
She was reluctant to speak, but his concerned face gave her to know she needed to tell him. "It didn't go well, JJ," she finally spoke. "I saw Richie this morning, and he has decided to leave tomorrow. He has his ticket for the Greyhound."
"What?" JJ gasped. "But I thought he was going to give him a few days."
"It just didn't work out," she told her son.
"I have to go see Uncle Richie," JJ said dropping his pack on the floor. "He promised me we would spend time together before he left."
"JJ," Helen called just as he turned.
He turned back and saw her holding out the envelope. "Richie asked me to give you this. He told me to tell you he is sorry."
His body was nearly frozen as JJ raised his arm to take the parcel. He could feel the small bulge as his fingers lightly touched the white paper. His lips let out a small almost silent whimper.
"What is it?" Helen questioned.
Her son spoke not a word, but carefully worked the sealed envelope from its corner and tore open the top portion. Glancing in, his eyes became misty as he saw the small silver Saint Savio medallion staring back from it's carefully positioned place between the folded sheets of paper.
"He promised," JJ's disappointed voice let out. "He promised he would not leave without giving this back to me personally."
"JJ," she touched his cheek. "He's not trying to hurt you. Richie has his reasons for running out on you like this."
"Yeah," JJ looked up at her. "Dad." His lips curled slightly with a sneer. "He knew Dad would never let him back into the family, so he stopped trying."
"That's not fair," she said back with a hint of anger. "It takes two to keep an augment going, JJ. It also takes a little determination to make up for what your Uncle did to your Father and all of us."
JJ allowed his eyes to drift back down to the envelope, and he could see that the paper had writing on it. He slowly removed the medal and handed the rest to his mother. "He wrote a note."
Helen took the white pages from the pack and read the first line. "It's for you, JJ," she stated handing them slowly back into his shaking hands. Her fingers brushed the medal as she pulled back.
"Oh my goodness," she exclaimed with a smile. "I remember that. Richie gave it to you when you just a boy. How did he end up with it?"
He rubbed the object with his thumb. "I gave it to him the other night when I dropped him off at the hotel," JJ told his mother. "I made him promise that he would give it back to me before he left so I we would have to meet face to face again."
"JJ," Helen started just as he raised his head with a tear rolling down his cheek.
"He lied to me, again," JJ grunted. "Why would he do that?"
"The letter might be able to tell you more than I can, honey," she tapped her hand over his that was holding the note.
Lifting the crisp white sheets, JJ could see the shaky hand writing in his Uncle's own penmanship. The accident had taking away allot of the mobility in his hands as well, JJ thought, or perhaps it was the nerves of having to write a 'Dear John' letter to his trusting nephew that helped to make the letters and lines so jumbled and uneven.
JJ allowed himself to slowly lower into the wooden chair next to the telephone table, and he tried to focus his eyes through the blurring tears. Helen placed her arm around her son and leaned in next to him reading the note from behind.
Dear Jackie,By now I am sure you figured out that I would not be seeing you again on this trip. I am sorry to be doing this to you and your family, but I can no longer stand the heartbreak of not being part of the Pryor family. I so wanted things to work, but it was not meant to be. So I have chosen the cowards way out, and will be leaving with out my promised farewell.
I hope you will understand, Jackie. You mean the world to me, and I would give anything for a chance to get to know you again, but I cannot and will not continue to be a problem between you and your father. I love you dearly and I admire the strong young man you have become. My prayers were always for my son to live up to the example his older cousin had set, but these desires will never come to be, and I need to return to my life and rebuild on the foundation I have there and not to try and rebuild on the ashes of a life I destroyed a long time ago.
I realize that these ramblings may not make any sense to you right now, but I do hope you will understand that I am not trying to hurt you, but I am trying to save you the grief that would surely come if I were to try and make a place for myself in your life again.
Kiss your brother and sisters for me, and if you would please remind them that they have an uncle who may be invisible, but still loves you all from afar.
Take care of yourself Jackie.
Love
Uncle Richie
Once he had read the letter for a second time, JJ slowly folded the small pages back up and slipped them into the sleeve of the envelope. He did not speak a word, and if it were to be known, he was not sure he would be able to let a sound slip from his mouth. He simply held tightly to the note and leaned forward across his knees resting on his elbows. He raised the medallion to within a few inches of his face, and he stared attentively at the small object.
"JJ," Helen finally broke the silence rubbing his back with her palm. She used her other hand to brush away the tears from her own eyes. "Are you 0kay?"
His head lifted slightly as he stared ahead. "No," the whisper echoed through the hall.
"It's not all bad," Helen said shaking her head. "Richie apparently has a son he never told us about. Perhaps he has a whole family he never got around to telling us about."
"There's something wrong," JJ said softly still staring. "He mentioned him like if he wasn't around anymore or could not could do anything I could."
Helen tried to decide what the letter must have meant, too, as she watched him roll the medal between his fingers. "If he did have a family, then why didn't he mention it to anyone?"
"I don't understand that either," Helen agreed. "But things were a little one sided where this whole visit was concerned. Perhaps he just never felt it was the right time to mention it."
It was at that moment that they heard door open again, and Meg Pryor stepped into the foyer. She was still wearing her school uniform and had a worried look on her face. It took them a second to turn their attention her, and then Helen asked, "Shouldn't you be at Bandstand?"
"I skipped it," she said removing her coat and hanging it on the end of the banister to the stairwell. "I spent most of the afternoon looking for Dad, but Mr. Walker said he was upset after Uncle Richie left, and he said he needed to get away for a while. I looked everywhere, but I couldn't find him."
Leaning back against the wall, Helen sighed with frustration.
"I saw Uncle Richie at the bus stop," Meg continued. "He was really upset too."
"I know," Helen nodded. "I saw him too, and he said he was leaving in the morning."
"He's given up on Dad," JJ added. "On all of us."
"Meg?" Helen thought for a moment. "Did you have a talk with your Uncle?"
"We talked for a few minutes," Meg replied with a puzzled look.
"Did he tell you about the family he never mentioned to us?" JJ asked with a hint of anger. "The ones who he doesn't think can live up to us."
"JJ," Helen hushed. "That's not what the letter said."
"The letter?" Meg questioned.
JJ lifted the envelope to her, and she took it into her hands. She slowly repeated the same motion he had done only moments earlier, and read the heart felt note. Her eyes began to tear up as she folded it and put it away.
"He's hurting JJ," Meg said softly.
"Yeah," JJ looked up with anger. "Well so are the rest of us. Doesn't he care what he is doing to us?"
Meg remained silent as she placed the letter of the phone table. "He does care," she spoke again. "He cares enough to walk away from the only family he has left to keep them from fighting with each other. To keep the pain of his memory from hurting them anymore."
"Richie has a family," Helen said walking to hug her daughter. "The letter says he has a son."
"Oh Mom," Meg's eyes welted with tears again. "That's the whole point of why he came back. His son's name was Robbie, and he died with Aunt Rose in the car accident that broke Uncle Richie's back."
"Oh my God," Helen gasped. "Why didn't he tell us?"
"He tried," Meg cried. "But everyone was too busy trying to find out why he left, that no one thought to ask why he came back."
"Ronnie wanted to be like me," JJ said out loud as his thoughts raced. "Uncle Richie came to rebuild on the ashes of his past to reclaim his family, only he was turned away."
"Richie," Helen sighed the name again. "We need to go to the hotel and see him."
"I'll go," JJ jumped up before the girls could react. "He was trying to connect to me because of his dead son, so maybe I can try and help and convince him to stay and tell Dad why he really came back. Dad won't turn his back on him if he knows how much he's hurting."
"Don't try and push your father again," Helen cautioned. "I'm sure Jack will want to talk to Richie about this, but you know how he hates to be pushed."
"I can't think about that," JJ shook his head. "First I have to get to the hotel and stop Uncle Richie from leaving." He pushed past them as Meg spun around quickly.
"It's to late," she called out. "He's not there."
JJ stopped and looked back at her.
"I called the hotel from the record store," she explained. "They told me that he already checked out. He's not staying at the hotel anymore."
"That doesn't make sense," Helen spoke up. "Richie said that he was leaving in the morning. Where is he staying tonight?"
"Where ever he's staying," JJ added. "We may not be able to find him in time."
It was just then the front door opened again, and Jack Pryor walked into a hall of confused and upset faces.
To be Concluded
Author's Notes: Hey guys, thanks for sticking around to read this far. We're into the home stretch here, and there is only one chapter to go so please continue to read. I think it will be worth your while.
To: Sarah: Thanks for the kind words. I can identify with you about getting on FF.net the last few weeks. I've been trying to post chapters and some of the reviews have disappeared, but all in all, I still think it's one of the best web sights on the net. I gave Meg a slightly lager role in the story as it went on, so I hope you enjoy it. I like using as many characters as possible when telling the story. I think in a close family like the Pryor family, it comes off more real. I'm glad you like the long chapters; because I think the next one is a biggy. Thank again.
To Rebel Goddess: I'm glad you like the secret. The hard part is writing a little mystery into the story when the secret is not really a secret to the characters. I always like a story with a twist because it keeps you on your toes. I too love JJ and Will. Everyone should have that type of relationship with his or her brother. As for Richie's son, you caught me. As you now know, Robbie and Rose both died, but there will be a little more to the story and where JJ fits into the connection next chapter. I'm glad you think the faith aspects of the story fits better into this one. It helps that the characters in this story actually live the faith I gave them, and I don't have to explain why they go to church in my stories and not on the show, and I'll not even mention the whole science fiction alien baggage that goes with it in Smallville. I still think even though it is hardly ever mention or used, that Clark does believe in a higher power. And yes, I'm working on a new Smallville story, but it may be a while. (I think I told you that in another email, sorry for the rerun if it is.) Thank you for reading and your comments. They have been helpful and sometimes inspiring.
Well thank you all for reading and I hope to have the last chapter posted in a few days.
Best Wishes and God Bless
Phaze