Chapter 13- The Sins Of The Fathers
The sins of the fathers
Are visited from old
In a never ending circle
Of people bought & sold
So the wretched of the earth
Will huddle from the cold
As the ship of fools goes sailing
On an ocean black as gold
So come & sit beside me
And let my tale unfold
Of a land of milk & honey
Where the truth must not be told
As men of rhyme & reason
Let the devil take their soul
For greed & fame & fortune
And a river black as gold
The Sins Of The Fathers by Ub40
November 16th 2004
I slowly opened my eyes, sunlight blinding me, coming through the window that I had forgotten to pull the shade down. I slowly got out of bed, changing from yesterday's clothes into new ones. I walked out into the kitchen, getting the juice from the fridge and a glass from the cupboard. I poured the juice and sat down at the table. I heard a snore coming from the couch, I walked over to see Happy asleep, he hadn't slept in the spare room, what an idiot.
I started cooking bacon and eggs, setting out two plates and cutlery. The food was ready and I was about to get Happy up, I turned around to see him sitting at the table already.
"You are really quiet when you walk" I said
Happy just chuckled and I served out the food, sitting down and starting to eat. We sat in silence; I was watching Happy, trying to figure him out.
"Why'd you sleep on the couch?" I asked
"Fell asleep before I could move" he said cracking his neck
"Not very comfortable, is it?" I asked
"No, not really" he said
"That's why it's good to be a girl, you see if I get into a fight with Kozik he sleeps on the couch" I said laughing
"And you get the bed to yourself" he said smiling
"Yeah, one of the bad things" I said
"Why's it a bad thing?" he asked
"Don't you enjoy sharing a bed with someone?" I asked
"With who, I kick all the crow eaters out afterwards, haven't shared a bed with anyone" he said
"Shame, it's actually enjoyable" I said picking up my plate and putting it in the dishwasher
Happy got up behind me, I was expecting him to hand me his plate but instead he put it in the dishwasher himself. I watched him shocked; my mouth would have hit the ground if it could have.
"What?" he asked
"Just surprised, you clean up after yourself, not many men that do" I said still shocked
"My mum made me clean up after myself, habit" he said
"Good mum" I said walking over to the couch and sitting down
I leant back into the cushion, turning the television on and rubbing my hand over my belly. I started feeling little flutters in my lower abdomen.
"Are you okay?" asked Happy sitting down next to me
"Yeah, it's just, I think" I mumbled feeling another flutter
"The baby?" he asked
"Yeah, I think it's kicking, or at least trying to" I said running my hand over my belly again
"Here, feel it" I said grabbing his hand and putting it on my stomach
I watched his face light up when he felt the small kicks, my hand resting on top of his. I felt guilty that I was sharing this moment with Happy and not Kozik, making me move my hand away from Happy's and turn back to the television. Happy moved his hand away from my stomach slowly, never taking his eyes off of my face.
I heard a knock at the door and got up to answer it but Happy pushed me back behind him and shook his head. He drew his gun and slowly opened the door, ready to shoot if necessary. Seeing who it was Happy opened the door fully, letting them inside. I walked forward, stopping in my tracks when I saw Kozik standing there. I looked to Happy and nodded, telling him that he could leave now that Kozik was here. Happy turned around and walked out the door.
We stood there for a while, just staring at each other, not saying anything. I took a few steps forward, trying to encourage him to say something.
"Valerie, I promise you, I never meant to hurt you, I was trying to protect you" he said
"I know" I said quietly
"Do you forgive me?" he asked
"Just promise me, that we have full disclosure, no more hiding things from me, I need to know everything" I said
"I promise, everything" he said walking closer "So, do you forgive me?" he asked again
"Of course I do idiot" I said and he pulled me into a kiss
"I love you" he said
"I know" I said smiling
Kozik picked me up bridal style and carried me to the bedroom, throwing me down on the bed and climbing on top of me.
SOAOSOASOA
My head was resting on Kozik's chest, listening to his slow breathing while he slept peacefully. I was happy that he was back but a part of me thought that I forgave him to quickly. Of course that part was silenced as soon as we had come into the bedroom. The doubts only returned now because of the silence, I hated silence; it left you alone with your thoughts. I knew that Kozik really hadn't done anything wrong, he was just protecting me, being my Old Man. The one I was really angry at was Lee. He had lied to me and I didn't know why. It wasn't to protect me. Though I had no doubt that Lee cared about me, all the shit with my mother and father and Uncle was not done to protect me. I just had to dig a little deeper, find out more. And it seemed the only people that could give me answer were either dead or unwilling. Looks like I'll be paying my Aunt Sarah a visit.
Kozik had left for the clubhouse later that day; he had told me to stay at the house so I had to call Sarah to come here. I was sitting at the table, drumming my nails on the wood, when I heard a knock at my door. I slowly opened the door, making sure that it was Sarah only. I smiled at her and let her inside, closing the door behind her and locking it.
"A little bit anxious about intruders are we" she joked seeing all the locks on my door
"You can never be to careful" I said sitting down
"Especially with the company you keep" she said sitting across from me
"What do you mean?" I said defensively
"I heard about your Uncle on the news, very sad" she said not sounding one bit sad "Do the police have any leads?" she asked
"No, not that I know of" I said suspiciously
"So, why did you want to see me?" she asked
"My mother" I said
"What about her?" she asked tensing up
"I just want to know about her, don't remember much, and what I do remember seems to be contradicted my new information" I said clasping my hands together on top of the table
"What do you want to know?" she asked
"First of all, what was she like?" I asked
"She was kind, gentle, loving" she said looking down at her hands
"From what I've heard recently she was a real manipulative bitch if you ask me" I said causing Sarah to look up at me
"You shouldn't talk about your mother like that" she said angrily
"What, disrespecting her memory" I said sarcastically "Because the person I thought my mother was doesn't seem to be the truth" I said loudly "Now tell me the truth" I said
"She was always looking for trouble, when we were younger, the irresponsible child. That's how she got messed up with Lee, met him at some party once. Suddenly they were in love, going to run off and get married but our parents wouldn't have it, told her to stop seeing him" she said
"Did she?" I asked
"Would you?" she asked
"No I suppose not" I said leaning back "Then how did she end up with my dad?" I asked
"With your mother, no one could ever be sure who's you were exactly, even Jacob had his doubts but he loved her too much to ever question her" she said
"And, what do you mean?" I asked leaning forward
"You're an Anderson, that's for dam sure, but not Jacob's daughter" she said
I leant back in my chair, letting the information sink in. Jacob Anderson, the man that had raised me, was not my father.
"Jonathan, but he was with Lucinda, they had Marissa already, he wouldn't, not with my mother" I said in disbelief
"Your mother attracted every man to her, like a bitch on heat she was. Every man wanted her, no matter who had her" she said
"Did she know?" I asked
"She had a suspicion, thought you were Jacob's but. When you were 8 Jonathan figured it out to, he approached her about it and she panicked. Lee told her to convince Jacob to cut him off" she said
"So Lee knew, he knew the whole time" I said tears forming in my eyes
I stood up and stepped away from the table. I thought Lee had killed my Uncle, but he had killed my father, knowingly killed my father. I picked up the vase from the table and threw it across the room, it hit the wall and shattered, but I didn't care, I was furious.
"Valerie, you need to calm done" said Sarah getting up from the table
"Calm done, how the Hell am I supposed to calm done" I screamed
"Valerie, this can't be good for the baby, just sit down and relax" she said guiding me to the couch
"How could he?" I whispered sitting down on the couch
"Valerie, I have to go, I'm calling your Old Man okay" she said
I just nodded and she walked off to call Kozik. I just sat there trying to process everything, I could vaguely hear Sarah on the phone but I didn't focus on what she was saying. I couldn't focus on anything other than what Lee had done. He had murdered my father, and he would have to pay for it.