by Box Set
Heat pushed out from her face and swept down her neck. She fought hard to keep from screaming at them. They had done everything they could to keep her from her birth parents, but she couldn’t let on that she knew.
She’d have to tell them she and Ellie had just discovered the information or she’d be toast. “We found out yesterday. I was planning to tell you, but I was trying to figure out the best timing. I didn’t want to tell you guys and then have it be a dead end again. I know you’re exhausted with my search.”
“We’re not exhausted with your search. Have we ever forbidden you from continuing?” Tom asked, his face scrunched up.
Kate bit her tongue and managed to shake her head. Having it out with her parents at that moment was not a good idea. She needed to go on this trip. She needed to keep her temper in check or they might forbid it. She wished she could call Ellie but knew it was impossible. She was on her own.
“How does your trip play into this? Where are you headed?”
The Jersey Shore flashed through Kate’s mind and fell on her lips, but she didn’t speak. If she told her parents that, they’d never let her go. She’d be too close to finding the truth about her birth parents, but she needed to tell them something close to the truth or it would be too hard to remember.
“They decided they wanted another beach trip, so Mexico it is.”
“Mexico?” They said in unison. This was not what they were expecting to hear. They leaned back and visibly relaxed. She took this as a good sign.
“Yep. Where did you think we were going?” Had she told Braxton the Jersey Shore? She couldn’t recall exactly what had been said.
Abrie crossed her legs and said, “Well, I’m sure there’ll be a lot of educational experiences for you there.”
“And fun. Don’t forget the fun.”
“Of course not,” she said.
“What information did you find out about your birth parents that has you so excited about Mexico?” Tom gave Abrie a significant look.
Kate’s mind searched for the answers. What could she say that would be believable and lead to Mexico? “You’ve always known that I would never give up on finding my birth parents, so it shouldn’t come as a shock to you that I’ve found something,” she hedged.
“What did you find?” Tom asked.
Her kind demeanor was throwing Kate off. She never dreamed the conversation would go into this depth. She didn’t know what to say. She started babbling. “Well, Ellie was watching the news and heard how kids are stolen and taken to Mexico where they are sold and—” she continued to elaborate, the lie growing out of control and exposing her deception.
Tom interrupted her. “For some reason, I feel like that wasn’t the truth. Is there a reason you want to keep it from us?”
The ugly beast she’d kept hidden the last month woke as she looked into their smug, smiling faces and there was no stopping it.
“Yes, there is. Because you have lied to me all these years.” She reached into her pocket and with an angry jerk, she pulled the locket out and dangled it in front of her parents.
Abrie looked immediately ashen. “Where did you get that?”
“In the attic. Where you left it with my baby bag and clothes. How dare you keep this from me?” Her voice shook. “You knew how much I wanted to know what my mom looked like. That I wanted any little tidbit from my previous life. You had no right to keep me from it. You are so selfish.” Tears. Angry and sad poured from her eyes.
“Kate,” Tom said. “That’s enough. You may not talk to us that way.” His voice was strained.
Kate refused to be intimidated, stayed at the edge of her seat and pressed her lips together. Now she’d done it. She’d have to find a way to soften the blow so that they would let her go on the trip despite her outburst.
“We need to discuss this like adults.” Tom said. “Your mother and I made a decision when we adopted you to keep certain information from you until you were mature enough to understand it for what it was. We are sorry if you disagree with that decision, but we thought it was the right one at the time. We wanted to protect you. You can believe that or not. That is up to you. Now, what is it about that locket that leads you to Mexico?”
Kate took a deep breath trying to focus on her goal of being able to go on the trip instead of blowing up and telling her parents what awful people she thought they were. An episode of one of Ellie’s TV shows popped into her head, giving her an idea. Her heart hammered in her chest. She had to play this cool. A dull ache sat at the back of her neck.
“The locket was handmade in Italy. No two are exactly alike. A shipment that was intended for the US got sent to Mexico instead. This locket was one of them. My birth parents had to have bought it there. We might be able to find a record. A name.” The hurt rose up in her again. “But you knew that, didn’t you?”
“Calm yourself. We did not know this.”
“You’ve always said I should tell the truth and you’ve been lying to me my whole life. You said you had no idea what my mom looked like. She held the locket out. “A picture of her was in our attic all this time. And surprise, I’m older in this picture. At least two. That’s why you were all whispery yesterday after I asked for some baby pictures.”
“We told you that you were one, because that is what we were told. And the internet was not what it is today. We had no way of searching for information on the locket or anything else at the time. What good is it going to do you anyway to find them? They gave you up. They didn’t want you. We did.”
“How dare you say that? You have no idea what the circumstances behind them giving me up were. Or do you?”
They shook their heads, and she thought she recognized truth in their faces, but who was she to make that judgment when she hadn’t been able to spot any of their earlier lies.
“Let me see the locket,” Tom said.
“No.” She shoved it into her pocket. “It’s mine. It was always meant to be mine. Why? Why did you keep this from me?”
“We never thought you’d be able to use those things to find your birth parents. We were planning to give you all of those things when you were older, when you were more capable of handling them.”
“And you don’t think I’m capable now?” She clasped her hands in her lap in an effort not to fidget.
“We wanted to wait for a less volatile time in your life when you were more mature. That’s all.” Tom held out his hands in supplication.
Kate huffed. “You made me into a crazy person by withholding this information. And all I’ve learned from all this is that you two can’t be trusted.” She stood and stomped toward the door.
“Don’t you dare walk out of here!” Tom yelled.
She turned around just inside the door.
“We are your parents, and we deserve respect whether you want to give it or not. We have reasons for the things we do and we’re sorry that you feel we’ve lied to you. We felt we were doing what was best for you. You need to accept that.”
“I don’t. And while I’m in Mexico, I’m going to find them.”
“Please stop searching, Kate,” Abrie’s voice came out as a small whisper. She’d been silent this whole time. “Kate. I think someone was after you. I don’t know for sure, but it’s the feeling I got when the man delivered you. He was nervous, unsettled. I don’t want you walking into the very danger someone was protecting you from.”
“Please,” Kate snapped.
“I said that was enough!” Tom yelled. “You listen here. You will give us respect. You’re out of control, and I don’t believe we can allow an out of control daughter to vacation anywhere with anyone.”
“You can’t forbid me from going.”
“But we can.”
“You can’t keep me from the truth.” She stood up, her fisted hands straight at her sides. Her body shook and perspiration dotted her brow.
“You forget that you’ve been keeping secrets, too. A boyfriend? Really? We can’t trust you.”
“I guess there’s a lot of that going around now.” Kate’s lip twitched, her defiant words hurting her in ways she never knew possible. A month ago, she never would have dreamed of treating her parents this way.
“I think we need to perhaps remind you of who you are and what proper behavior looks like. You’re grounded.”
“What? For how long? School’s out in two weeks and then there’s the trip.”
“We’ll monitor your behavior closely, and if we feel like it has improved we’ll give you that last week of school. And dependent on your behavior those two weeks, we’ll decide about Mexico.”
“That’s not fair. They already bought my ticket.”
“Then I suggest you behave properly. Should you choose not to, you will pay them back for their very generous offer.”
“Or you can, with the money I paid that private investigator who did nothing but lie to me on your instructions.” Kate spat.
After a short pause, he said, “Do you need a crash course in proper behavior?”
He didn’t deny it. They had diverted him from doing what Kate needed him to do. Her parents were that bad. That was unforgiveable, but she couldn’t show her disappointment, her anger. She squared her shoulders, took a deep breath in and said, “No. I got it. May I be excused?” Her blood rushed double time through her body, but she refused to allow herself another outburst.
“Grounded. That means no activities outside this house until next Wednesday. You may, however, use your phone.”
Thank heaven for small favors. “You mean no Ellie either?”
“No. One week of stellar behavior or it will grow to two and no trip.” His voice was icicle sharp.
She squeezed the locket hard as she went to her room, and while her feet ached to stomp up the stairs, she reined them in.
She immediately texted Ellie. Call me. 911.
To her credit, Ellie called immediately. “What’s the 911?”
“Braxton ratted me out to my parents.”
“What? Ratted what out?”
In extreme detail, Kate recounted the ambush.
“It was so bad, Ellie. I wanted to stomp out and never return. I should have been really belligerent so that they kicked me out. Then I could have gone and lived with you.”
“At least they didn’t take your phone. You lucked out big on that one.”
“Yeah. I would’ve died without it.”
“Oh, wait. It could be a trap. I saw it on one of my shows that parents can use this gps to track you. They’ll be able to see you’re not in Mexico.”
“Good point. I’ll tell them we won’t have good service there with it being international and all and that I’m going to leave my phone home and use your parents’ phone to contact them. But I won’t tell them that until the day of so they can’t do anything about it.”
“And the parents read all their kids’ texts. Maybe your dad let you keep your phone so he could keep tabs on you and me and what we find out. No texting from now on, only calling.”
“Are you sure they can’t listen in on our calls too?” Kate chuckled.
“Don’t joke, Kate. We’ve got to be careful if you want to get to New Jersey to find your parents.”
“You’re so suspicious.” Kate rolled onto her stomach and crossed and uncrossed her legs, waving them in the air.
“Like I don’t have reason to be.” Kate could imagine Ellie raising her perfectly plucked eyebrows.
“I know. I have to joke. There’s too much tension around here. We’ll talk. No texting. I’d want to call you anyway since I’ll barely see you at all. Abrie is even going to drive me to school.”
“Abrie?”
“I can’t even think of her as my mom anymore. I’m going to play the perfect daughter, though. I’m not letting anything get in the way of our trip.”
“That’s what I like to hear.”
“What am I going to do about Braxton?”
“You are going to dump him on his ratty butt, that’s what. Any boyfriend who would rat his girlfriend out to her parents doesn’t deserve any consideration. I still can’t believe he did that.”
“Yeah. It’s a good thing he didn’t give me a chance to give him all the details.” Her phone vibrated. She had twenty texts from Braxton.
“All right. What now?”
“We need to plan our two days. What do we need to know?”
“My birth parents’ names and address.” A thrill of excitement rushed through her at the prospect and she took in a deep breath.
“So, we go to the church first thing Saturday morning and talk to the priest.”
“By the way, the whole Mexico angle was brilliant. Where did you get that idea?” Before Kate could tell her, she figured it out. “Oh, my heck! You stole it from Who’s Baby am I Anyway?”
“Yep!”
“That’s awesome. I told you watching reality TV was a good thing. And your parents will never know since they won’t watch such drivel. It’s like someone’s helping you get what you need.”
“Yeah. Somebody. And if God is helping me, that must mean my birth parents are good people.”
“I hope so. With that said, I guess it’s a good thing that our link in Jersey is at a church. He’s a man of God right? He has to speak the truth and all that, right?”
“Says the girl who watches reality TV and witnesses one betrayal after another by the very people who are supposed to be the best and most trusted people. Hello, boyfriend betrayal.”
“True. But, we can hope. My show’s on. Gotta go. I’ll see you at school tomorrow. Remember, no texting.”
The next week was full of tension . The first several days, Kate was busy with family things: extra chores, a cousin’s birthday party, planning their family’s summer vacation, and lots of piano practicing which was really her stress relief. She tried not to think about playing for Mr. and Mrs. Conrad’s fiftieth, but she had a lot of time on her hands and couldn’t help it. She’d woken up the last two nights in a cold sweat from the dream. It seemed to be getting worse. She’d played for Tom’s office party at O’Shay’s last month and had only been sick the day of the performance. Would she have the dreams again tonight and be sick tomorrow too? Maybe she’d have to start refusing her parents’ help.
Abrie drove her to and from school and had chores for her to do if Kate looked the least bit bored or contrary. Kate wanted to sneak out and meet up with Ellie until Ellie told her that her parents couldn’t officially take her to New Jersey without her parents’ consent because that would be considered kidnapping, so she better play it straight.
Kate had avoided Braxton like the plague, which wasn’t really that hard considering she didn’t have lunch or any classes with him. He’d texted her and left messages explaining he had done it for her own good and she shouldn’t be mad and that he was sorry. To her it was all blah, blah, blah. She’d texted him that it all came down to trust and she didn’t trust him anymore and therefore she couldn’t be his girlfriend. It hurt to spend the last weeks of school without him, but she was determined not to let her feelings of being alone send her back into his arms. She would never forgive him for what he’d done.
After a good two hour practice to calm her nerves on Thursday, she went to bed hoping she wouldn’t dream in her relaxed state. She was wrong. She bolted upright, a scream rushing out of her as she did. Loud, shallow, anxiety ridden breaths met Tom and Abrie as they rushed into her room.
“Sweetie. Are you okay? What in the world is going on? This is the third night in a row!”
Kate shook her head and closed her eyes. It surprised her when she felt comfort as Tom’s arms wrapped around her.
“Do you remember the dream?”
She shook her head, even though it was a lie. She remembered every detail, even the new ones.
“Would you like to sleep in our room?” Abrie asked.
“No. I’ll be fine. I just need a drink of water.”
“I’ll get that for you.” Abrie left the roo
m.
“Are you sure I can’t do anything for you?” Tom continued to hold her tight. He kissed her forehead.
“No.”
Kate drank the water Abrie brought back for her and then she lay back down, hoping they would leave quickly. She couldn’t think straight while they were there. After they’d gone, she looked at the clock. Three A.M. She’d wait until morning to tell Ellie. Maybe she’d have it sorted out by then. She’d seen more of the audience this time, and they’d been screaming, looks of horror on their faces as they stared at her. The rest of the dream was the same. Remembering the looks on the faces of the people in the audience made a fear creep through her toes and weave its way around her legs and up over her torso until it landed in her heart.
“Does your stomach still hurt?” Ellie asked as they hurried to their last class of the day. “I don’t understand why pills don’t work on you on performance days.”
“I don’t understand it, either. I wish I knew why the change in the dream all of a sudden.”
“It’s seriously creepy. All I can think is that something terrible happened when you were playing or perhaps it’s how you felt the first time you had to perform. Have you thought of that? Maybe you’ve always had performance anxiety.”
“Maybe,” Kate said, but that didn’t feel right. She clutched at her stomach as a strong cramp attacked it. “But, why don’t I freeze up at the performance if that’s the case? Why am I still able to play? If it was performance anxiety wouldn’t I freak out while playing, not before?”
Ellie shook her head and pulled her to the side of the hall near their class. “Only the weekend and then you’re free. We’ll go get you a burner phone on Monday.”
“I can’t wait. This will be a long three days.”
“Well, after your performance, maybe you should do a bit of research. We still don’t know anything about that Savino guy. Maybe spend your time looking into him. That should take your mind off being grounded.”
“I’ll do it.”
The performance went as planned except when the audience clapped the image from her dream superimposed over those nice old people, and she almost fainted. She’d had a stroke of luck that Tom had been next to her and caught her before she could fall.