THE LEGACY

By

Matthew Spence

San Diego, 1993

Jessie Cutter parked her rental car in the visitor's spot of the nursing home where her grandfather lived.

"How is he these days?" she asked the nurse who had been assigned to him. "The last time we spoke was over the phone on Christmas. He didn't sound well."

"He's remarkably lucid and active afor a man his age," the nurse replied. "Of course he dan't get around the way he did when he was younger, and he has bad days and good days. Today is one of his better days. He complains about the boredom, most of the time."

Jessie chuckled. "That sounds like my grandfather, all right."

The nurse showed her into Jake's room. He was sitting in an easy chair, watching a Padres game on EPSN. He was frowning at the screen, but smiled when he saw her.

"Hey, kiddo!" he said, as the nurse helped him rise out of his chair and handed him a cane. "Long time no see. How's your folks?"

"Mom and dad are fine. They send their love." They embraced, then she helped Jake sit back down as he coughed.

"Are you all right?" she asked with alarm.

"Eh, I'm fine. Old ticker just acts up once in a while, that's all." He leaned back in the chair and turned the TV off. "So I see you got my letter…thanks for coming"

"You said you had something to tell me," Jessie said. "Something about what happened back when you were a pilot before the war?"

"Yeah, it was back in Bora Bora." Jake's expression turned wistful. "It was a lifetime ago…but sometimes, it feels like it happened yesterday. Your grandmother, Louie, Corky, the princess, and even Willie…and Jack, of course. I still miss all of 'em."

"You've had a good life since then," Jessie reminded him."Your own airline, chairman of the board for Pan Am…"

Jake shook his head. "I was always a pilot at heart. But there's something I've been nedding to get off my chest…" he coughed again. Jessie handed him a glass of water from his bedside. "Thanks. Aside from this damn cough…anyway, it was one of my last spy missions, in '41, right before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. I knew Princess Koji knew about the attack, and wanted to tell me about it. So, Corky and I went to Tokyo, passing ourselves off as German pilots, if you can believe it. Your grandmother's uncle signed off on it. We were supposed to break into the German consulate and get their copy of the plans for the attack. But things went south…" Jake hesitated, clearly troubled by the memory.

"That…that was when Corky died, wasn't it?" Jessie looked sadly at him. "Oh, grandpa…I was always told he'd died during the war, but never how."

"Corky died a hero…but more importantly, he died a good man. He hated war, like I did. The Germans caught on to us. He chose to stay behind and let me escape. The Princess and Willie were able to help, God bless 'em. But Corky…" Jake coughed again, longer and harder this time. Finally, he continued:

"The Navy gave him a secret funeral. He's buried at Arlington. I always thought I'd be there long before he was."

The years seemed to catch up with Jake as he suddenly looked much older. "I should be there wit him."

Jessie sat down on the bed and touched his shoulder. "It's all right, Grandpa. If he hadn't save you, you and Grandmother wouldn't have had chidren. You've both had a wonderful life since then. I'm sure that's what Corky would have wanted."

Jake closed his eyes for amoment and nodded. "Thanks, kiddo," he said. "Thanks for coming…and listening."

Jessie was in her hotel room when she got the news that her grandfather had passed away in his sleep. "It came quickly, and peacefully," the nurse said. "He didn't suffer."

Jessie nodded. "His suffering happened earlier. But now he's at peace…with himself, most importantly." She looked down at the photograph of her grandfather that she had been carrying in her purse. It was an old picture of Jake and her grandmother when they were much younger. Corky and jake's beloved dog jack were with him. Bora Bora, 1939, a written inscription read. Goodbye, Grandpa, she thought. You're all together again now. She hoped that someday, she'd be able to join them, to meet all of these remarkable people he'd told her about.

After all, they were all family.

THE END