July Jones, Chapter 2
Yeah, here's the next chapter for anyone who cares.
Author: BloodyTearsOfLife
Title: July Jones
Rating: PG-13/R
Disclaimer: All characters from The Fast and the Furious belong to Universal Studios, yada, yada, yada. I only own the ones you don’t know. And no profit is made of this, this is just for mine and hopefully your entertainment.
Summary: July Jones has just learned she's been lied to for the last 10 years. Now she is in LA trying to find the real her but it won't be easy and what happens when she moves next door to the team.
[|All Chapters|] [| Previous Chapter|]
Chapter 2: Palms Street
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
July arrived in California late in the afternoon after two long, boring days. So here she was in LA, knowing where she need to go but having no clue how to get there.
452 SW Palms Street. That could take me a long time to find, she thought with a pout.
The lights of the LA strip were starting to fill the sky as the sun began to set, and July had no intention of getting lost after dark in the foreign city that was unknown to her. She pulled up into a nice hotel and got a room.
Throwing her stuff onto the floor, she practically ran to the bathroom and took a nice long shower to rinse away all the grim of driving in the car all day long. Dressing into her pajamas and surveying the room, she saw a phonebook and some pamphlets sitting on a table in the corner. She grabbed them and found most of the pamphlets were tourist attractions or restaurants.
Tossing the pamphlets aside, July turned her attention to the phonebook. Opening up the first few pages she found some maps of the town. After a few frustrating minutes, she managed to locate the hotel and started to scan the map for Palms Street. Lucky for her, she found it quickly; it was about a few miles southwest of the hotel. Grabbing one of the hotels pens from the nightstand, she scribbled down the direction on a blank spot on one of the pamphlets and put it in her bag. It would still take her a while to find the place. She’s been able to find Palms Street but the small map didn’t get any more detailed than that.
Content with the knowledge she marginally knew where she was going, July sprawled on her back on the bed and stared at the speckled ceiling, her mind starting to wonder now that she allowed it to.
What the heck am I doing?
Doubt and fear was starting to cloud her mind.
What if this lawyer refuses to give me anything? What if this is all not true? What if there is nothing for me? What am I going to do?
Her biggest fear was that she would find nothing at all and here she would be, a girl who just turned eighteen, no family, no job, and stuck in a city that was unknown to here. She felt like crying. She was so lost. She felt like she didn’t even know who she was anymore. If for the past ten years she had been lied to and was living a lie, how did she know who she was? Did she really like cars or was she only into them because her “dad” was a mechanic?
Everything was confusing. What was real? July felt like she was in someone else’s body. All the images in her head were only half real. Everything felt blurred and was slowly starting to fade as her mind comprehended that she had somehow changed all her memories. In a way, she felt like she had betrayed her real parents by replacing them with someone else. What hurt even more was that she had nothing to really tie herself to them, nothing to remember them by. There was nothing there.
She dug into her bag, pulled out the photo album again, and flipped to the front picture. Here was this couple, her parents, and she didn’t really feel anything towards them. How could she love someone that she didn’t even remember, someone she didn’t know? The people staring back at her were strangers. These were her real parents. These two faces that she only knew by her own. July did genuinely looked like her real mom.
The emptiness she felt inside rose up and she could feel it trying to consume her. Her breath caught in her throat and she could feel the pull inside as tears started to form. Her body shook with a sob and she clutched the album to her chest and rocked back and forth, the tears escaping from her eyes. She laid on her side and turned her over heated face into the cool pillows.
July’s sobs started to die down and she hiccupped a couple of times. Finally the pull of sleep called to her exhausted body and she fell into oblivion.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A loud honking outside finally stirred July out of her slumber. She yawned and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. In the middle of the night she had somehow moved herself underneath the blankets and was now wrapped up tightly in them. Uncurling from them, she sat up and something hit the floor. She looked down and saw the album. She picked it up and looked at the cover, gently tracing the silver inscription before setting it aside and standing up.
Padding softly to the bathroom, she looked at herself in the mirror. Her jet-black hair that hung to the middle of her back was in tangles. Her face was pale and her eyes were red rimmed and slightly puffy from crying. Wetting a rag with cold water, July patted her face with it for a few minutes and then looked back at her reflection. Her sky blue eyes weren’t as red and puffy as before. She decided to say forget it and take a hot shower anyways. It would make her feel better and hopefully untangle her hair.
Fifteen minutes later she was standing next to the window in a pair of cutoff shorts and a gray tank top combing out her hair, wincing as she hit a tangle. Slowly working it out with patience, she looked outside. The street was busy with traffic and the buildings stretched down the street as far as she could see. Opening the window, a delicious aroma entered the room and her stomach rumbled in response.
With her hair now tangle free, she piled it up into a messy bun, packed up all of her belongings and checked out of the hotel, stopping at its attached diner for breakfast.
The sun was shining and it was quickly heating up outside. Collecting her ‘baby’ from the hotel’s garage, she merged into traffic in search of Arnold Lewis, who hopefully had some answers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sometime later she ended up on the outskirts of the city on a less populated street, the sign on the corner stating it was SW Palms Street. Cruising down the road, she looked at the addresses and found she was fortunate enough to be going in the right direction. There were a couple people walking on the sidewalk but it was mostly deserted.
Soon 450 rolled into view and she slowed down and pulled over, not wanting to miss the building. Grabbing the will and keys from her bag, she got out of the car and locked it, resting her hip against the door as she looked up and down the street. Down the street on the left, a building had the numbers 452 on them and July figured it was the one she was looking for.
The building was a cream color with a tan trim and the front window has its blinds closed. It looked empty but there were people in the shops next to it on either side and she hoped that someone would be there.
Walking cautiously to the door, July timidly knocked on it. She heard the shuffle of a chair moving inside and the sound of high heels walking across the floor and then the doorknob turn. The door opened slowly and a gust of cool air hit her, bringing promised reprieve from the heat. Standing in the doorway was a middle-aged women dressed in a black flowing skirt and a white dress shirt. She was tall and slim and looked like the type of person who would fuse over someone even if she wasn’t their mom. She had dark green eyes and red hair that matched her lips. Freckles dotted her face and she wore a warm smile, revealing a set of perfectly white teeth.
“Can I help you?” she asked politely but as soon as their eyes met, she froze. July got the feeling that she knew this person and her mind was working over time to put a name to the woman’s face but was coming up blank.
“Yeah, umm… I’m here to talk to Arnold Lewis. I was told to come here to talk to him,” July answered warily not sure how much she should say.
“Come in and sit down.” The woman turned around and starting walking in, leaving the door open.
July walked through the door and quietly closed it. The feel of the air conditioning hit her first and she welcomed it with much relief. The roomed smelled like peaches, which was amusing since the walls were a peach colored.
Stepping further into the room, she took in the furnishings: a cream colored leather couch, several filing drawers that loomed in a corner, a desk that had several picture frames along with a computer and phone, and along the wall was a counter that had various office appliances; it looked like any other office but more personal, it wasn’t as detached as most offices. Someone would be able to tell that this office belonged to someone who loved doing what they did and made this place homey. There was several painting on the walls and a beautiful rug took up the space between the couch and the desk. How deceptive the outside was. The outside had made the building look abandoned while the inside was welcoming.
July shook her head as the sense of familiarity rose up in her again. What was it about this place that made her feel like this?
The woman immediately opened a door that looked like it led to the back of the building and disappeared behind it. July sat on the edge of the couch and stared at the will and set of keys that she held in her hands. The woman who had greeted her instantly reappeared as quickly as she had disappeared.
“He will be with you in a-.” She was cut off when the door opened. The man July assumed was Arnold Lewis stood in the doorway. He was tall and looked very much like the role of a lawyer in his dark blue business suit, tailored cut. His brown hair was started to turn gray at the temples and he had a slight belly. The man took one glance at July sitting on the couch and abruptly stopped, his brown eyes wide and his mouth hanging open.
July felt something spark in the back of her mind again, the feeling that she was forgetting something, like she knew who this man was.
“Robin…?” he gasped out and July stood up.
“No, my name is July,” she said playing with the keys in her hand.
He nodded his head but his eyes still held a slightly dazed look. “Yes, I see that now. You have your father’s eyes.” July smiled at that. “And his smile, but other than that you look exactly like your mother, only a little taller.”
“Thank you,” she replied quietly, not sure how to take the obvious compliment.
“Well now, let’s head back into my office,” he said gesturing with his hands for her to enter the room. “Charlotte, honey, please hold all calls.” he ordered to the women sitting at the desk and gave her a peck on the cheek.
“Yes, dear,” Charlotte answered flashing a smile.
July walked through the door after their exchange and sat in one of the plush chairs that were in front of the large oak desk. The man sat himself behind the desk in the leather office chair and loosened his tie. She stayed quiet, unsure of the situation and studied the room for lack of something to do.
It was a blue color that offset the hardwood floor. There was some documents hanging on the back wall that she was sure were his degrees and certificates. There were several pictures on his desk; one had him and the woman that was in the front room holding each other and the others were family pictures that contained him, the women and two kids, that resembled them, at various ages. She assumed that the woman was his wife and the two kids were his children.
“You have grown up so much since I last saw you,” Arnold mused aloud, and July turned to look at him.
“Last saw me?” she questioned, frowning.
“Last time I saw you, you were barely up to my waist and had just had your eight birthday, but you don’t remember that,” he said sadly.
“I wish I did.” The words flying out of her mouth before she could stop them but she didn’t regret them because she wish she really did, remember that is. July looked up at him and found a small smile on his face that she returned.
“Well, let me properly introduce myself. My name is Arnold Lewis, your parents’ lawyer and family friend,” he said extending his hand, which July shook, but as soon as their hands made contact, something flashed in July’s mind. She saw her birthday party, her parents and Arnold and his family; but one of his kids caught her attention more. It was a little girl that was holding her hand and laughing. She had red hair and brown eyes and they were laughing together, and then the image was gone.
July open her eyes when she realized she had closed and the first thing she saw were the pictures on the desk and that girl, the girl from the image.
“I saw her. I saw her,” she mumbled, clutching her head as a searing pain ripped through it. She brought her feet up and wrapped herself up into a ball, rocking back and forth not understanding what was happening.
“You saw Amy?” he clarified looking at the picture and all July could do was nod. “Let me get you some water,” Arnold said, leaving the room and then returning with a glass he passed to her.
July took some sips and then set it down on the desk. “When I shook your hand, something happened,” she said finally relaxing a little.
“What happened?” Arnold sat down in the chair next to her.
“I shook your hand and then… I got this image of a birthday party and I was there. My parents were there, and so were you and them,” she answered, pointing to the picture. “ And she was there, that girl, she was holding my hand and we were laughing and you were all watching us and smiling.”
“Sounds like a flashback. Maybe your mind is remembering everything now that you know the truth.”
“Maybe…” she whispered, drifting off in thought.
“Is she okay?”
July turned around at the sound of the voice and saw Charlotte standing near the door.
“Yes dear, she had a flashback of her birthday.”
“How are you feeling?” Charlotte asked.
“I’m fine, thank you,” July replied, lowering her feet to the floor and smoothing out her clothes. She wasn’t going to let on how much this had truly shaken her.
“Is there anything I can get you?” she asked.
“No, thank you.”
“Do you mind if Charlotte sits with us?” Arnold asked sitting in the chair behind the desk once again.
“No it’s fine,” July consented, and Charlotte took the seat next to her.
Arnold cleared his throat, running his hand down his tie. “As I was saying, I’m Arnold Lewis, this is my wife Charlotte. The kids in these pictures are our children, Max and Amy. Amy was your best friend when you were little.” He handed July a picture of his kids from his desk. The little girl was the same girl from her flashback.
July studied the boy, Max; he was taller than Amy by half a foot, with brown hair and green eyes. They both had goofy grins on their face and were hugging each other.
“I saw him too but she caught my attention.” July stared at the picture and the Lewis couple continued to watch with curiosity.
“You must have many questions,” Charlotte said in a gently tone.
“Yeah, I do.” July set the picture down on the desk and took another drink of water.
“We’ll try to answer them to the best of our abilities,” Arnold promised with an earnest look.
July was silent for a moment. What question did she want answered the most? Immediately one popped into her head but she was afraid of the answer.
Girly, you’re not going to get any answers if you don’t ask the darn question, her mind chastised.
She took another sip of water to wet her lips and asked the question she was dreading to ask. “Why did no one come after me? Do I have no family?”
Arnold and his wife shared a look, sorrow clearly evident on Charlotte’s face.
We did come for you,” Arnold answered, “but the authorities would not release you into our care. Your parents didn’t really associate with their families. They didn’t part on good terms. Your parents had a few good friends that would have taken you in but most lost hope when we were unable to get you into our custody, and we were their lawyers. We never understood that, and believe me, I argued it for a whole two weeks. Instead, they placed you into an orphanage and a couple took you in. I believe their names were Sam and Mary?” July nodded her head yes but her eyes were downcast. “Did they take good care of you? We did talk to them and let them know of the legal situation.”
“Yes, they took good care of me, despite lying to me for ten years,” July said bitterly and Arnold and Charlotte exchanged another look.
“But you were given everything you needed, yes?”
“I suppose so.”
“Good.”
“You two knew my parents?” she asked as the thought struck her.
“Yes, your father and I were friends in high school and continued to be close friends until…the accident,” Arnold answered, his eyes were wistful as if he were remembering something but his voice was sad.
“What were they like?” Her curiosity getting the best of her but the couple seemed unabashed by the question.
“Your dad was a great man,” Arnold said grinning. “He was respectful and loyal. He was more of the strong and silent type; he was the thinker. Now, your mom was the complete opposite in everyway. She was loud and bubbly, but somehow they completed each other and fit perfectly. They balanced each other out.”
“Where are they buried?” July asked quietly, her breath hitching in her throat.
“They are buried together in a cemetery not too far from here. Shayfield Cemetery,” Arnold replied looking down at his hands, which rested on the desk.
“We’ll take you there once you get settled in; it’s not a trip to do alone at first,” Charlotte commented with a sad smile. July bobbed her head in agreement, her mind beginning to wonder again.
“Did they ever catch who killed them?” she finally asked, her voice cooler than before.
A small fire of anger was sitting in her stomach. Anger at the person who had robbed her of her real parents; anger at the world for taking them away from her.
What did I ever do so wrong to deserve this?
July quickly stopped wallowing in her own sorrow before she started to cry. She could feel the sting of tears threatening to come forth and she wasn’t one to cry in front of people she didn’t know.
“No,” Arnold confessed. “We paid for a private investigation but no evidence was found to confirm any suspect.”
Remember the objects she carried in her hands, July dropped the keys onto his desk, the jingle of the keys hitting each other and the desk seemed to echo in the now quiet room.
“So…you are going to explain everything to me about the will and these set of keys,” she incited, also unfolding the will and setting it on his desk.
“Ah, yes back to formal business. Your parents left you everything they own: house, cars, money, possessions, some investments. Financially, you will be secure. We knew your eighteenth birthday was approaching so we took the liberty of having the house aired out and cleaned. We also had all the utilities turned on, the phone, electricity, and all the works. We didn’t think you would mind,” he said, hesitating, “unless you are thinking about selling the house.” As the last words came out of his mouth July felt a cold chill go through her body at the thought of selling the house.
July shook her head in negative. “No, I am going to keep it. I’m going to be sticking around for a while, maybe get a job, go to college, I don’t really know yet. Thank you though for having everything fixed, I appreciate it.”
“If you would like you could follow us to your parents house and we can discuss everything there,” Arnold suggest, getting some folders out of his desk drawer.
“Yes, that would be nice.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
tbc…
Author: BloodyTearsOfLife
Title: July Jones
Rating: PG-13/R
Disclaimer: All characters from The Fast and the Furious belong to Universal Studios, yada, yada, yada. I only own the ones you don’t know. And no profit is made of this, this is just for mine and hopefully your entertainment.
Summary: July Jones has just learned she's been lied to for the last 10 years. Now she is in LA trying to find the real her but it won't be easy and what happens when she moves next door to the team.
[|All Chapters|] [| Previous Chapter|]
Chapter 2: Palms Street
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
July arrived in California late in the afternoon after two long, boring days. So here she was in LA, knowing where she need to go but having no clue how to get there.
452 SW Palms Street. That could take me a long time to find, she thought with a pout.
The lights of the LA strip were starting to fill the sky as the sun began to set, and July had no intention of getting lost after dark in the foreign city that was unknown to her. She pulled up into a nice hotel and got a room.
Throwing her stuff onto the floor, she practically ran to the bathroom and took a nice long shower to rinse away all the grim of driving in the car all day long. Dressing into her pajamas and surveying the room, she saw a phonebook and some pamphlets sitting on a table in the corner. She grabbed them and found most of the pamphlets were tourist attractions or restaurants.
Tossing the pamphlets aside, July turned her attention to the phonebook. Opening up the first few pages she found some maps of the town. After a few frustrating minutes, she managed to locate the hotel and started to scan the map for Palms Street. Lucky for her, she found it quickly; it was about a few miles southwest of the hotel. Grabbing one of the hotels pens from the nightstand, she scribbled down the direction on a blank spot on one of the pamphlets and put it in her bag. It would still take her a while to find the place. She’s been able to find Palms Street but the small map didn’t get any more detailed than that.
Content with the knowledge she marginally knew where she was going, July sprawled on her back on the bed and stared at the speckled ceiling, her mind starting to wonder now that she allowed it to.
What the heck am I doing?
Doubt and fear was starting to cloud her mind.
What if this lawyer refuses to give me anything? What if this is all not true? What if there is nothing for me? What am I going to do?
Her biggest fear was that she would find nothing at all and here she would be, a girl who just turned eighteen, no family, no job, and stuck in a city that was unknown to here. She felt like crying. She was so lost. She felt like she didn’t even know who she was anymore. If for the past ten years she had been lied to and was living a lie, how did she know who she was? Did she really like cars or was she only into them because her “dad” was a mechanic?
Everything was confusing. What was real? July felt like she was in someone else’s body. All the images in her head were only half real. Everything felt blurred and was slowly starting to fade as her mind comprehended that she had somehow changed all her memories. In a way, she felt like she had betrayed her real parents by replacing them with someone else. What hurt even more was that she had nothing to really tie herself to them, nothing to remember them by. There was nothing there.
She dug into her bag, pulled out the photo album again, and flipped to the front picture. Here was this couple, her parents, and she didn’t really feel anything towards them. How could she love someone that she didn’t even remember, someone she didn’t know? The people staring back at her were strangers. These were her real parents. These two faces that she only knew by her own. July did genuinely looked like her real mom.
The emptiness she felt inside rose up and she could feel it trying to consume her. Her breath caught in her throat and she could feel the pull inside as tears started to form. Her body shook with a sob and she clutched the album to her chest and rocked back and forth, the tears escaping from her eyes. She laid on her side and turned her over heated face into the cool pillows.
July’s sobs started to die down and she hiccupped a couple of times. Finally the pull of sleep called to her exhausted body and she fell into oblivion.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A loud honking outside finally stirred July out of her slumber. She yawned and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. In the middle of the night she had somehow moved herself underneath the blankets and was now wrapped up tightly in them. Uncurling from them, she sat up and something hit the floor. She looked down and saw the album. She picked it up and looked at the cover, gently tracing the silver inscription before setting it aside and standing up.
Padding softly to the bathroom, she looked at herself in the mirror. Her jet-black hair that hung to the middle of her back was in tangles. Her face was pale and her eyes were red rimmed and slightly puffy from crying. Wetting a rag with cold water, July patted her face with it for a few minutes and then looked back at her reflection. Her sky blue eyes weren’t as red and puffy as before. She decided to say forget it and take a hot shower anyways. It would make her feel better and hopefully untangle her hair.
Fifteen minutes later she was standing next to the window in a pair of cutoff shorts and a gray tank top combing out her hair, wincing as she hit a tangle. Slowly working it out with patience, she looked outside. The street was busy with traffic and the buildings stretched down the street as far as she could see. Opening the window, a delicious aroma entered the room and her stomach rumbled in response.
With her hair now tangle free, she piled it up into a messy bun, packed up all of her belongings and checked out of the hotel, stopping at its attached diner for breakfast.
The sun was shining and it was quickly heating up outside. Collecting her ‘baby’ from the hotel’s garage, she merged into traffic in search of Arnold Lewis, who hopefully had some answers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sometime later she ended up on the outskirts of the city on a less populated street, the sign on the corner stating it was SW Palms Street. Cruising down the road, she looked at the addresses and found she was fortunate enough to be going in the right direction. There were a couple people walking on the sidewalk but it was mostly deserted.
Soon 450 rolled into view and she slowed down and pulled over, not wanting to miss the building. Grabbing the will and keys from her bag, she got out of the car and locked it, resting her hip against the door as she looked up and down the street. Down the street on the left, a building had the numbers 452 on them and July figured it was the one she was looking for.
The building was a cream color with a tan trim and the front window has its blinds closed. It looked empty but there were people in the shops next to it on either side and she hoped that someone would be there.
Walking cautiously to the door, July timidly knocked on it. She heard the shuffle of a chair moving inside and the sound of high heels walking across the floor and then the doorknob turn. The door opened slowly and a gust of cool air hit her, bringing promised reprieve from the heat. Standing in the doorway was a middle-aged women dressed in a black flowing skirt and a white dress shirt. She was tall and slim and looked like the type of person who would fuse over someone even if she wasn’t their mom. She had dark green eyes and red hair that matched her lips. Freckles dotted her face and she wore a warm smile, revealing a set of perfectly white teeth.
“Can I help you?” she asked politely but as soon as their eyes met, she froze. July got the feeling that she knew this person and her mind was working over time to put a name to the woman’s face but was coming up blank.
“Yeah, umm… I’m here to talk to Arnold Lewis. I was told to come here to talk to him,” July answered warily not sure how much she should say.
“Come in and sit down.” The woman turned around and starting walking in, leaving the door open.
July walked through the door and quietly closed it. The feel of the air conditioning hit her first and she welcomed it with much relief. The roomed smelled like peaches, which was amusing since the walls were a peach colored.
Stepping further into the room, she took in the furnishings: a cream colored leather couch, several filing drawers that loomed in a corner, a desk that had several picture frames along with a computer and phone, and along the wall was a counter that had various office appliances; it looked like any other office but more personal, it wasn’t as detached as most offices. Someone would be able to tell that this office belonged to someone who loved doing what they did and made this place homey. There was several painting on the walls and a beautiful rug took up the space between the couch and the desk. How deceptive the outside was. The outside had made the building look abandoned while the inside was welcoming.
July shook her head as the sense of familiarity rose up in her again. What was it about this place that made her feel like this?
The woman immediately opened a door that looked like it led to the back of the building and disappeared behind it. July sat on the edge of the couch and stared at the will and set of keys that she held in her hands. The woman who had greeted her instantly reappeared as quickly as she had disappeared.
“He will be with you in a-.” She was cut off when the door opened. The man July assumed was Arnold Lewis stood in the doorway. He was tall and looked very much like the role of a lawyer in his dark blue business suit, tailored cut. His brown hair was started to turn gray at the temples and he had a slight belly. The man took one glance at July sitting on the couch and abruptly stopped, his brown eyes wide and his mouth hanging open.
July felt something spark in the back of her mind again, the feeling that she was forgetting something, like she knew who this man was.
“Robin…?” he gasped out and July stood up.
“No, my name is July,” she said playing with the keys in her hand.
He nodded his head but his eyes still held a slightly dazed look. “Yes, I see that now. You have your father’s eyes.” July smiled at that. “And his smile, but other than that you look exactly like your mother, only a little taller.”
“Thank you,” she replied quietly, not sure how to take the obvious compliment.
“Well now, let’s head back into my office,” he said gesturing with his hands for her to enter the room. “Charlotte, honey, please hold all calls.” he ordered to the women sitting at the desk and gave her a peck on the cheek.
“Yes, dear,” Charlotte answered flashing a smile.
July walked through the door after their exchange and sat in one of the plush chairs that were in front of the large oak desk. The man sat himself behind the desk in the leather office chair and loosened his tie. She stayed quiet, unsure of the situation and studied the room for lack of something to do.
It was a blue color that offset the hardwood floor. There was some documents hanging on the back wall that she was sure were his degrees and certificates. There were several pictures on his desk; one had him and the woman that was in the front room holding each other and the others were family pictures that contained him, the women and two kids, that resembled them, at various ages. She assumed that the woman was his wife and the two kids were his children.
“You have grown up so much since I last saw you,” Arnold mused aloud, and July turned to look at him.
“Last saw me?” she questioned, frowning.
“Last time I saw you, you were barely up to my waist and had just had your eight birthday, but you don’t remember that,” he said sadly.
“I wish I did.” The words flying out of her mouth before she could stop them but she didn’t regret them because she wish she really did, remember that is. July looked up at him and found a small smile on his face that she returned.
“Well, let me properly introduce myself. My name is Arnold Lewis, your parents’ lawyer and family friend,” he said extending his hand, which July shook, but as soon as their hands made contact, something flashed in July’s mind. She saw her birthday party, her parents and Arnold and his family; but one of his kids caught her attention more. It was a little girl that was holding her hand and laughing. She had red hair and brown eyes and they were laughing together, and then the image was gone.
July open her eyes when she realized she had closed and the first thing she saw were the pictures on the desk and that girl, the girl from the image.
“I saw her. I saw her,” she mumbled, clutching her head as a searing pain ripped through it. She brought her feet up and wrapped herself up into a ball, rocking back and forth not understanding what was happening.
“You saw Amy?” he clarified looking at the picture and all July could do was nod. “Let me get you some water,” Arnold said, leaving the room and then returning with a glass he passed to her.
July took some sips and then set it down on the desk. “When I shook your hand, something happened,” she said finally relaxing a little.
“What happened?” Arnold sat down in the chair next to her.
“I shook your hand and then… I got this image of a birthday party and I was there. My parents were there, and so were you and them,” she answered, pointing to the picture. “ And she was there, that girl, she was holding my hand and we were laughing and you were all watching us and smiling.”
“Sounds like a flashback. Maybe your mind is remembering everything now that you know the truth.”
“Maybe…” she whispered, drifting off in thought.
“Is she okay?”
July turned around at the sound of the voice and saw Charlotte standing near the door.
“Yes dear, she had a flashback of her birthday.”
“How are you feeling?” Charlotte asked.
“I’m fine, thank you,” July replied, lowering her feet to the floor and smoothing out her clothes. She wasn’t going to let on how much this had truly shaken her.
“Is there anything I can get you?” she asked.
“No, thank you.”
“Do you mind if Charlotte sits with us?” Arnold asked sitting in the chair behind the desk once again.
“No it’s fine,” July consented, and Charlotte took the seat next to her.
Arnold cleared his throat, running his hand down his tie. “As I was saying, I’m Arnold Lewis, this is my wife Charlotte. The kids in these pictures are our children, Max and Amy. Amy was your best friend when you were little.” He handed July a picture of his kids from his desk. The little girl was the same girl from her flashback.
July studied the boy, Max; he was taller than Amy by half a foot, with brown hair and green eyes. They both had goofy grins on their face and were hugging each other.
“I saw him too but she caught my attention.” July stared at the picture and the Lewis couple continued to watch with curiosity.
“You must have many questions,” Charlotte said in a gently tone.
“Yeah, I do.” July set the picture down on the desk and took another drink of water.
“We’ll try to answer them to the best of our abilities,” Arnold promised with an earnest look.
July was silent for a moment. What question did she want answered the most? Immediately one popped into her head but she was afraid of the answer.
Girly, you’re not going to get any answers if you don’t ask the darn question, her mind chastised.
She took another sip of water to wet her lips and asked the question she was dreading to ask. “Why did no one come after me? Do I have no family?”
Arnold and his wife shared a look, sorrow clearly evident on Charlotte’s face.
We did come for you,” Arnold answered, “but the authorities would not release you into our care. Your parents didn’t really associate with their families. They didn’t part on good terms. Your parents had a few good friends that would have taken you in but most lost hope when we were unable to get you into our custody, and we were their lawyers. We never understood that, and believe me, I argued it for a whole two weeks. Instead, they placed you into an orphanage and a couple took you in. I believe their names were Sam and Mary?” July nodded her head yes but her eyes were downcast. “Did they take good care of you? We did talk to them and let them know of the legal situation.”
“Yes, they took good care of me, despite lying to me for ten years,” July said bitterly and Arnold and Charlotte exchanged another look.
“But you were given everything you needed, yes?”
“I suppose so.”
“Good.”
“You two knew my parents?” she asked as the thought struck her.
“Yes, your father and I were friends in high school and continued to be close friends until…the accident,” Arnold answered, his eyes were wistful as if he were remembering something but his voice was sad.
“What were they like?” Her curiosity getting the best of her but the couple seemed unabashed by the question.
“Your dad was a great man,” Arnold said grinning. “He was respectful and loyal. He was more of the strong and silent type; he was the thinker. Now, your mom was the complete opposite in everyway. She was loud and bubbly, but somehow they completed each other and fit perfectly. They balanced each other out.”
“Where are they buried?” July asked quietly, her breath hitching in her throat.
“They are buried together in a cemetery not too far from here. Shayfield Cemetery,” Arnold replied looking down at his hands, which rested on the desk.
“We’ll take you there once you get settled in; it’s not a trip to do alone at first,” Charlotte commented with a sad smile. July bobbed her head in agreement, her mind beginning to wonder again.
“Did they ever catch who killed them?” she finally asked, her voice cooler than before.
A small fire of anger was sitting in her stomach. Anger at the person who had robbed her of her real parents; anger at the world for taking them away from her.
What did I ever do so wrong to deserve this?
July quickly stopped wallowing in her own sorrow before she started to cry. She could feel the sting of tears threatening to come forth and she wasn’t one to cry in front of people she didn’t know.
“No,” Arnold confessed. “We paid for a private investigation but no evidence was found to confirm any suspect.”
Remember the objects she carried in her hands, July dropped the keys onto his desk, the jingle of the keys hitting each other and the desk seemed to echo in the now quiet room.
“So…you are going to explain everything to me about the will and these set of keys,” she incited, also unfolding the will and setting it on his desk.
“Ah, yes back to formal business. Your parents left you everything they own: house, cars, money, possessions, some investments. Financially, you will be secure. We knew your eighteenth birthday was approaching so we took the liberty of having the house aired out and cleaned. We also had all the utilities turned on, the phone, electricity, and all the works. We didn’t think you would mind,” he said, hesitating, “unless you are thinking about selling the house.” As the last words came out of his mouth July felt a cold chill go through her body at the thought of selling the house.
July shook her head in negative. “No, I am going to keep it. I’m going to be sticking around for a while, maybe get a job, go to college, I don’t really know yet. Thank you though for having everything fixed, I appreciate it.”
“If you would like you could follow us to your parents house and we can discuss everything there,” Arnold suggest, getting some folders out of his desk drawer.
“Yes, that would be nice.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
tbc…