A Family Affair

by Marilyn McPherson

Chapter Fifteen

  “Hello, I would like to speak to prisoner Ted Blake,” Colleen requested calmly, using her mobile phone while walking down the street.

  “Who is calling please?” the officer enquired.

  “Colleen Watson.”

  “Colleen, please be aware that your call will be monitored by a correctional officer and terminated if that officer deems it appropriate. The maximum call time allowable is ten minutes. Do you understand these instructions clearly?” The officer spoke quickly, as if she had repeated that statement many times that day.

  “Yes,” Colleen responded. She knew the drill well enough as this was certainly not Ted's first stay in jail.

  “Please hold the line. It will take between three to five minutes before this call can be connected,” stated the officer dryly.

  It was just past two o’clock on a Friday afternoon. Phone calls to prisoners being held at the Lindifern Correctional Institution were allowed on Tuesdays and Fridays between two o’clock and four o’clock. Colleen had not spoken to Ted since he was arrested, and she was anxious to let him know about the money from Tom.

  “Hello.” Ted sounded very despondent as he picked up the phone.

  “Teddy, it's me,” replied Colleen eagerly.

  Ted was silent. Then he said, “Well, if it's not my fuckin' girlfriend! Where the fuck have you been?” His tone of voice was very cold. “The other guys in here get brought ciggies and food by their wives, but not me.”

  “Baby!” Colleen was hurt and surprised by his words. She tried to explain quickly, “They had me in jail until two days ago and I couldn't call until today cause of all their rules. But I wanted to. I thought about you every day.”

  “What happened?”

  “They caught me collecting the cash.”

  “Shit. So it's all gone then. Oh, well, hmmm. I didn't think they could touch you on this one,” Ted replied, sounding a little sorry for his harsh words, but not quite ready to apologise.

  “So, how long are you in for Teddy? No one will tell me anything.”

  “Eighty-eight days left. Then I'll come find ya.”

  Colleen snorted, but then remembered her good news. “Now Teddy, I've got some excellent news that should cheer you up.”

  Sounding suspicious and concerned, Ted raised his voice, “Wait, you know that they are recording all of this. Everything we say...”

  Not put off by his cautious demeanour, Colleen snapped, “Yes, of course I know but..”

  “So don't say anything stupid, okay,” he said, cutting her off and groaning at the same time.

  “It’s nothing illegal, relax. A friend of mine has given us some money, that's all,” explained Colleen.

  “What's the catch?” Ted asked cautiously.

  “No catch!”

  “Then, whose the friend with all this spare money?”

  “You remember I told you that I used to date this rich guy. Well, he wasn’t rich back then of course, but anyway it was years ago that I knew him.”

  “Er, maybe. Keep going.”

  Colleen continued, “I’m sure you’ve heard of him - Tom Bradley - the makeup guy from that big company in the city. Well, anyway, as it happens, he is super rich now and, as it happens, he could spare a few dollars for little ol’ us.”

  “Really?” asked Ted. “And why would he give us money?”

  “‘Cause I asked nicely, that's why.”

  Ted was silent for a few moments as he processed this news. “So, how much could he spare exactly?” he asked, sounding a little more interested.

  “I'm on the street now, walking to the bank to pick it up. I’m not sure exactly how much, but I reckon it will be something worth seeing, Teddy.”

  As she was talking, Colleen walked past a magazine stand. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a picture of Tom with his new girlfriend. Colleen recognised the young woman because she had seen her picture in numerous magazines over the past two days. The picture was a close-up of the two of them kissing in a park somewhere. Colleen stopped walking to take a closer took. She sure was pretty.

  Suddenly the world froze still. Colleen could not hear what Teddy was saying and she found herself not breathing for a moment. “Oh, my God!” cried Colleen.

  “Are you listening to what I’m saying?” Ted asked feeling annoyed.

  “Oh, my God,” repeated Colleen. This time her voice was louder and more desperate.

  “What is it girl?” asked Ted. A warning sounded over their call. The ten minutes was nearly up.

  “Ted, it's my daughter!” shrieked Colleen. “Tom is dating his own daughter!” Colleen was panicky and breathing erratically.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “The baby I gave up for adoption years ago. It’s her, in the picture with Tom.”

  Ted was obviously trying to piece Colleen's words together. “That was Tom's baby was it? Tom was the baby’s daddy?”

  “Uh huh,” Colleen replied weakly.

  “Hmmm. Very interesting. You haven't mentioned this little piece of information to me before. No wonder he gave you the cash! You must have blackmailed him.”

  “Maybe a little.”

  “Maybe you aren’t so silly after all.”

  “Focus, Teddy. Don't you understand? It's her!”

  “Come on, Col,” Ted said, trying to reassure her. “You haven't seen your daughter since you gave birth to her. It's probably not her.”

  “Ted, she's got a birth mark on her neck. I could never forget my baby's mark. Shaped like a crown on the left side of her neck. My God! How could this happen?”

  “It's okay,” Ted started to say, but the line went dead. She would not be able to talk to him again for another four days.

  “Shit,” Colleen exploded, as the situation started to sink in and the sweat dripped down her forehead. It wasn't a particularly hot day, but all of a sudden, Colleen was overheating in her jacket and skirt. She found a park bench and sat down to gather her thoughts. He must know, she thought. But what if he doesn't know? It struck Colleen that Tom hadn’t actually seen the baby when she was born. Maybe she hadn’t described the birth mark. She racked her brain trying to remember, and wondered if she should call him straight away. Would he even believe her? The questions buzzed around her mind relentlessly like flies.

  Colleen sat there thinking for what seemed like hours but was probably only minutes, before deciding on a course of action. She would have to go visit him again. Or maybe a phone call would suffice. In any case, it was probably best to call him after she had collected the cash, just in case he thought she was trying to cause trouble. She hurried along the street as fast as her weary legs would allow, and minutes later, Colleen found herself at the City Bank Tom had instructed her to visit. She was to collect the contents of safety deposit box number 181EQ that had been arranged for her.

  Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, Colleen thought she recognised the same man she had seen two blocks back. He was tall with a black jacket and black hat. Is he following me? Colleen thought. She remembered the man because he had tipped his hat and said a polite “Good afternoon, Ma’am,” as he walked past. Colleen had found this very unusual and thought the man strange. Seeing him again caused the hairs on the back of her neck to prickle. It couldn’t be a coincidence.

  Although suspicious of the man in black and feeling alarmed by his lingering presence, Colleen was driven by a desire to see the contents of her safety deposit box. She moved through the queue of people until she was face to face with a short, balding bank clerk with black rimmed glasses. The man requested Colleen's identification and box number then returned with a key and led her into a long rectangular room filled with many boxes.

  “Your box is here, Ma’am. Have a nice day,” he announced as he turned and headed towards the exit.”

  “Thanks,” replied Colleen, a childish excitement apparent in her voice. But the man was already gone and probably had not noticed.

  For a few moments sh
e forgot about the situation with her daughter and the man in black outside. Colleen slid her key into the lock and pulled the long box out of the wall. There were five stacks of notes bound together, more money than Colleen had ever seen. The notes were all fifties, by the look of it.

  “Tommy, if you were here right now, I'd give you a big fat kiss,” she squealed with pure delight as she carelessly threw the cash into her empty backpack.

  The next few minutes moved very quickly for Colleen. She left the security area feeling slightly paranoid. People in the bank seemed to be watching her. Calm down, she told herself. Nobody is watching. It is just your imagination.

  Not looking where she was going and in her haste towards the exit, Colleen bumped into an elderly lady.

  “Watch where you're going,” the old lady remarked grumpily as she struggled to stay upright.

  “Sorry,” quickly exclaimed Colleen, not stopping to say anything more.

  The old lady continued to mumble something after her, but Colleen was already out of earshot.

  The doors of the bank were in sight and Colleen was about to breathe a sigh of relief when the man in black stepped in front of her. He was here and waiting for her.

  “What do you want?” she stammered, now feeling afraid for the first time.

  But the man didn't respond to this question. He quickly pulled a ski mask out of his jacket and placed it over his face. He abruptly pushed Colleen to the ground and roared, “This is a hold-up! Everyone on the ground!”

  Almost instantaneously, large metallic shutters slid down from the ceiling along each counter, effectively blocking access to the bank's money. People screamed in fear and huddled together in groups against the walls. The man in black had a gun and began shooting at the shutters in a crazed fashion.

  “Open ‘em, or I'll shoot someone,” he demanded in anger and frustration.

  Colleen was face down on the floor with her hands over her head. She held her backpack with a strong grip and kept it close to her body. Just do as he says, and we’ll get out of this alive, she told herself.

  The man in black was still yelling all sorts of crazy things. Strangely though, he had not moved away from her.

  Suddenly, there was a sharp pain in her right shoulder and shortly afterwards another pain somewhere else. It was difficult to work out where the second pain was coming from. Everything blurred from that point on. The last thing Colleen felt was her hand being unclenched and the backpack being ripped from her clasp.