by CJ Simpson
Kat set her shopping bags on the kitchen table. She and Tyler had spent the day together at an outlet mall. Tyler would begin Kindergarten in just under three weeks and Kat wanted to buy her son new school clothes. They had gone the year before as Kat always found great deals on various merchandise. This year was no exception. Kat preferred the outlet malls over traditional ones for the simple fact that the malls had unique restaurants that offered superior dining service. Kat and Tyler ate lunch at the Train Depot in which food was delivered on electric toy trains. The trains ran on a track throughout the restaurant, stopping at designated booths to deliver food to its patrons. The atmosphere was that of a sixties diner in which hamburgers and milkshakes were among the top choices on the menu. Part of Tyler’s FastTrack child’s meal included an antique replica toy train.
Plush Pillows was another amazing experience Kat and Tyler enjoyed. The store was the only one in the entire outlet that still had its original factory attached. Kat and Tyler went on a guided tour in which they were able to watch the manufacturing of luxury pillows. Tyler took delight in watching quality inspectors fluff pillows to ensure it met standard requirements for sale in its adjoining store. In the end, Kat had bought a decorative pillow for Rhonda.
As she began taking items out of their bags, Tyler sat down at one of the chairs. He had picked out most of his clothes and was excited to be wearing them soon to school. Most of all, he loved his new sneakers which had Velcro straps instead of laces and wore them on the way home. When they returned from their outing, Tyler had darted around the driveway and claimed that his new sneakers made him run faster.
Kat glanced at her son. With elbows propped on the table, his face rested contentedly on his fists as he watched her sort their purchases. Kat decided that this would be a good time to talk to Tyler about her sister.
“Honey, do you remember the other day at the park when Daniel and I talked with you about sharing things with our friends?” Kat began.
“Uh huh.”
“Yes,” she corrected him.
“Yes.”
“And we talked about how if we don’t share, people’s feelings get hurt?”
“I remember, Mommy.” He looked at her sleepily.
“Well, a long time ago, I hurt someone’s feelings.”
“You did?”
“Sure did. And that person hurt my feelings, too.”
“Why?”
“Well, because we didn’t talk about it. We didn’t share our feelings with each other so we could become friends again.”
“And happy again?”
Kat sat down and pushed her packages to the side of the table. Taking Tyler’s hands into her own, she hoped he would understand what she was about to tell him.
“It was my sister, honey. She and I had hurt each other’s feelings a long time ago.”
“How come?”
Kat was surprised Tyler didn’t seem to mind that he suddenly acquired an aunt. Perhaps this was going to be easier than she had anticipated.
“Remember how I told you Grammy and Grampy got into a car accident?” When Tyler nodded, she continued. “Well, Grammy and Grampy and I were together in a different state to celebrate my graduation from college.”
“Just like my graduation from preschool?” Tyler perked up.
“Just like that, honey.” Kat leaned back and paused, trying to think of the best way to proceed. “Well, I had a sister and she couldn’t come to my graduation.”
“Why?”
“I can’t remember exactly why, but it had to do with work. But she really wanted to come, I know that for sure.”
“What’s her name?”
“Mary.”
“That’s Jesus’ mommy’s name!”
Kat laughed, relieved somewhat that Tyler didn’t display any hint of resentment toward her for hiding the truth from him that she had a sister. In fact, she was rather pleased that Tyler associated Mary’s name with his lessons at Sunday school.
“Well anyway, after Grammy and Grampy went to heaven, Aunt Mary got mad at me.”
“Why?”
“Well, she felt that if Grammy and Grampy didn’t go to my graduation, they would still be here, and not in Heaven.”
“Oh.” Tyler let this soak in as he tried to understand what his mother was getting at.
“It means that she felt it was my fault for taking them away, for sending them to Heaven.”
“But it was an accident, right?”
“That’s right, it was definitely an accident. It wasn’t my fault, but Aunt Mary thought it was.”
“So that’s why her feelings were hurt?”
“Yes, and mine were too. It’s because she and I didn’t talk about those feelings.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. I think both of us were very sad when Grammy and Grampy went to Heaven that we forgot to talk about our feelings and make up.”
“So are you friends now?”
“Yes, we’re friends again, but the best part is, that we’re sisters again.”
The realization that Tyler had an aunt was slowing sinking in. Kat got up to fetch them lemonade while Tyler thought about what his mother told him.
“Where is she, Mommy?”
“Aunt Mary lives in New York.”
“In Albany?” Tyler said, remembering his state capitals.
“She lives in Rochester. That’s a city on the western side of New York state.”
“I better go look. I’ll be right back.” Tyler dashed upstairs in his new sneakers as Kat chuckled to herself. A few moments later, Tyler had an outdated atlas in his hands. He set the book on the table and turned the pages until he recognized the state of New York. Kat pointed to the city on the map so Tyler could see how far away it was from Albany.
“Can we go there someday?” He beamed at Kat, excited at the prospect of learning about a new city.
“We sure can!” Kat tousled his hair. “But what do you think about having Aunt Mary come visit us first?”
“Okay! When is she coming, Mommy?”
“She is coming this weekend and is going to spend a whole week with us!”
“A whole week? Cool!”
Kat sat there and watched her son, amazed at his ability to accept things at face value. She didn’t know why she thought he would be upset to learn he would be meeting an aunt he didn’t know he had until recently. She chided herself for not giving Tyler the benefit of the doubt.
As she began sorting through her shopping bags once again, Tyler focused on the highway numbers surrounding the city of Rochester. He took his miniature toy car and pretended he was driving around the city.
“Mommy?”
“Yes, sweetheart?”
“What does Aunt Mary look like?”
Kat stopped what she was doing and admired her son’s facial features. “She’s very beautiful. She has blond hair and blue eyes like we do!” Mary had emailed a picture of herself the other day and Kat wanted to show it to Tyler. “I have a picture of her but it’s on the computer. Want to go see?”
“Oh, yes!” Tyler dismissed the atlas and got up from his chair. “Last one’s a rotten egg!”
Laughing, Kat was right behind him as the two ran up the stairs into her office. “You’re really fast in those new sneakers, you know that?”
“Thank you for buying them for me, Mommy.”
“You’re welcome.” She kissed the tip of his nose and went to her computer. After turning it on, she settled Tyler on her lap.
The picture of Michael seemed to loom over her. Before she could say or do anything, Tyler saw the picture and said, “Did Daddy know Aunt Mary?”
“No honey, they never knew each other.” Kat said sadly. “The first time they would’ve met was at my graduation.”
“Oh.”
Kat was acutely aware of Tyler’s reference to Michael as his father. She thought about Daniel’s words and suddenly, it seemed terribly wrong to keep misleading Tyler. When Mary arrived, Kat would
ask her for guidance. Her sister would know what to do.
When the computer was fully booted, Kat logged into her email account and opened the email from her sister. She scrolled to the bottom of the message where a picture of Mary was displayed. She wore her hair short and had a smile on her face.
“That’s Aunt Mary? Oh, Mommy. She’s so pretty.”
“Yes, she is. And she’s going to be here in a few days to meet you!”
“Mommy?”
“Yes?”
“Can you print that out so I can put it in my scrapbook?”
“Okay, what a great idea!” Kat leaned over to where her printer sat and pulled out photo paper from the cubbyhole storage compartment. After inserting a sheet into the printer, she clicked on the print icon and waited for the photo to print.
Tyler loved to take pictures of anything and everything. When Kat bought a new camera a couple of years ago, she gave Tyler Michael’s old camera. His scrapbook contained pictures of his friends, his stuffed animals, his bedroom, the house, and Kat’s car. Tyler was ecstatic about adding a picture of his aunt in his scrapbook.
After the printer spit out the photo, Kat handed it to her son. Tyler looked at it for a long time as if memorizing her features.
“Mommy?”
“Yes?”
“How come you don’t have any pictures of Aunt Mary in the house?” She knew that was coming but she was prepared to answer him.
“Remember how I said Aunt Mary and I hurt each other’s feelings?”
“Mm hmm—I mean, yes.”
“Well, I didn’t want to have pictures of her around the house because I didn’t want to see her.”
“Because you were mad at her?”
“Kind of. It hurt my feelings to know that we couldn’t talk to each other and try to work things out.”
“But she’s coming to see us.”
“Yes, she is. That means she and I talked to each other a while ago and decided we wanted to be happy again.”
“So, you’re not mad at each other anymore?”
“Not at all. In fact, we can’t wait to see each other.” She tickled Tyler in the ribs. “And she can’t wait to meet you!”
“I can’t wait to see her too.” He hopped off of Kat’s lap, holding the picture in his hands. “I’m going to put this in my scrapbook.”
When Tyler left the room, Kat decided to print another copy. She would put it on the refrigerator so she could see her sister every day as well. A few minutes later, she typed an email to Mary, letting her know Tyler was aware of her and that he was excited to be meeting her. Later, she would dig out her old scrapbooks and show Tyler pictures of Mary and her when they were children.
As Kat shut down her computer, she looked at the picture of her and Michael. She still missed him terribly and didn’t know if she would ever get over him. She couldn’t wait for Mary to arrive. She needed her sister now more than ever.
Chapter 31
He had been watching Kat for a few days now. He knew she was single and lived alone with her little boy. When he was hiding in the bushes behind the Burnses home, he had heard the little boy call out to his mother when they went in the house. Apparently, the neighbors were away and Kat was responsible for taking care of the family pet.
Darryl thought about taking the cat to make Kat look bad, but he didn’t want to do anything that might arouse suspicion. He needed to focus on his plan for revenge. Besides, he knew the cat wandered around the neighborhood and even if he took it, the owners would probably assume it ran away when it didn’t return. He didn’t want to waste time on trivial matters. He had more important things to worry about. The fact that Kat had a little boy threw a wrench in his plans, but he would find a way around that. He didn’t come this far to give up now.
The little boy seemed happy but Darryl knew what it was like to grow up without a father. His latest memory of his father took place in the parking lot of a seedy bar when he was around four years old. He was strapped in a car seat in the back of his father’s station wagon and left behind for over an hour while his father got drunk inside the bar. It was a cold winter night and his mother had been frantic when she came home to find her husband and son missing. When she called the police, they had found Darryl alone inside the locked car, crying and shivering. They had also found Darryl’s father shot to death, his body dumped in the alley behind the bar. The police never recovered the weapon, had no clues to go on, and could only speculate his death was a result of a drug deal that went south. His toxicology report had come back positive for opiates.
Darryl’s mother was a waitress and worked long hours to support the family. Somehow she paid her bills and managed to put food on the dinner table every night, but there never seemed to be enough money to do fun things other families did, like visit Disney World or go skiing. While Darryl knew how much his mother loved him and did her best to instill in him good values, he was always embarrassed by how poor they were. Although he socialized in school and played on the football team, Darryl kept to himself when he was at home. He read as many books as he could from the school library and kept up to date on current events.
When he turned fourteen, he worked as a custodian for a small church within walking distance from his home. He had lied about his age since Darryl knew he appeared older than he really was. He was a hard worker, did what he was told, and was paid from the petty cash fund. Darryl worked every day after school for two hours and was always home by the time his mother returned from work.
One day, he had come home to find her sitting in the living room, waiting for him. At first he thought she had lost her job, but the diner closed early due to inclement weather. At the diner, there was talk about the church being used as a shelter if needed and that was when a patron mentioned to his mother he had seen her son there. When she confronted Darryl with what she had learned, he admitted the truth to her. He told her he found out about the job through the newspaper, how long he had been working, and how badly he wanted to be able to earn his own money. As he explained himself, his mother had simply sat there and listened to him. She told him that he could keep his job under one condition—that Darryl be honest about his age to his employer. She reminded him that he was in the Lord’s house and honesty was always the best policy. In the end, she hugged him and told him how proud of him she was. She even suggested that they go to the bank so he could open up his very own savings account.
When Darryl was sixteen, he took the bus after school to the mall where he worked in the kitchen of a pizza parlor. His boss wasn’t a people-person and often questioned Darryl as to why the cash register came up short on some nights. It came out that another employee was stealing, but Darryl’s boss continued to remain suspicious of him. When Darryl saved up enough money to buy a used car, he left the pizza parlor and landed a new job in a downtown law firm as a file clerk. At seventeen, he was responsible for filing bar applications and delivering packages to various departments. He rarely asked questions but listened well and people liked that about him. It was also where he met his wife, Michelle. She was a year older than he and was an assistant in the payroll department. The two had immediately hit it off as they both grew up in financially-strapped homes. After Darryl’s graduation from high school, the two married and nine months later, Jared was born. They lived in a trailer park and while their house was small, it was home. Michelle had resigned from her job to remain at home to care for their son while Darryl continued to work at the law firm.
During the next two years, Darryl learned from the higher-ups that in order to be successful in the world, one had to be aggressive and take risks. He worked with honest people and he worked with ruthless people who felt they were entitled to fame and fortune. Darryl never forgot the values his mother taught him and wanted no part of the dishonest practices he had often witnessed. Besides, there was no room for advancement without formal education. While the law firm offered partial reimbursement to employees who completed continuing education courses
, the plan did not apply to entry level clerks.
Through a recommendation from a co-worker, Darryl left the law firm and secured a junior level position in telemarketing. The pay was slightly better and there was room for advancement. He worked on the eighth floor of the Marketing department with twenty-five other associates who competed for recognition and promotion.
When he first began, Vivian had been working in the department for two years. In short, Darryl had taken her place when she was promoted to a corner office on the same floor. Before she relocated, she had provided him training as well as tips to help him become successful.
Darryl respected Vivian, often consulting her for advice and support. He liked the fact that she shared his view on upholding professionalism in the work force. She took her work seriously, offered sound advice, and appeared to be devoted to her husband of eight years. She had two children, one of which was a boy, and often passed on outgrown clothes to Darryl for Jared to use. While Michelle didn’t feel this was appropriate and could harm her husband’s chances for promotion, Darryl was grateful for the handouts.
For the next five years, Darryl worked hard to meet his sales quotas each month, despite his irritation at customers who strung him along on the phone or hung up on him. To complicate matters, senior management had revamped their marketing strategies to compensate for drastic budget cuts in his sixth year with the company. Darryl’s department shrunk by half and while he was one of the fortunate ones to remain, he was expected to double his sales quotas.
Darryl’s boss saw much potential in him and selected him to complete a six-day online sales and marketing training course that provided actions to help Darryl increase his sales revenue. If Darryl could show significant improvement within six months, he would advance to senior telemarketing status. The pay was marginally better but Darryl wanted more. He continued to enlist support from both his boss and Vivian, but always felt he was going nowhere in his job. The long hours, the low pay, and the stress were taking their tolls on him. When Jared began elementary school, Michelle had taken a job waitressing. However, her tiny income hardly put a dent in their mounting bills.