As The Mill Grinds

NARROW DOWN CHAPTER 15

The summer's air was fading and a light cool breeze flowed through Zack's bedroom window. He laid still staring up at the ceiling allowing his thoughts to wonder. His mind drifted back to the conversation with Nadine and his father. He had so many questions he wanted to ask Nadine, but seeing how she struggled made it bothersome to ask. ' Why did she gave up her son? Was it impossible to hold on till the very end?' The thoughts lingered, and then he heard the answer, 'She was without hope. Hope of a possible future for both she and the child.' Moments later his phone rang. It was Charlie on the phone. Zack was glad that Charlie called, the eerie silence was too loud, he needed something to fill the empty space.

"How is it that I can't piece this puzzle together?" He asked Charlie. He thought that maybe, if he had shown Nadine the baby picture she might recognize it, but, that would mean...he shook his head, he couldn't think about it. "What if?" He squeezed his eyes shut.

"What if your mom is not your mom and Nadine is your real mom?" Charlie asked him. There was silence for a few seconds then he heard Zack let out a deep worrisome breath. "The possibility of it would be higher than if it wasn't right?" Zack was still silent. "Look at all the evidence the letters, the photos, the birth certificate and now Nadine admitted that she gave up her son for adoption? Dude, it's all too connected."

"But how am I connected to all of this, Charlie?" Zack's voice broke off into a low moan. His stomach ached. He was obviously struggling with all that was happening and with the evidence pointing at his mom being a criminal. How could he admit that he was someone else's son and not hers? This thought ate away at him and made him feel nauseous. He dropped the phone, scrambled off the bed and dashed to the bathroom. The urge to vomit climaxed; Zack relieved himself. He felt overwhelmed with emotions and laid prostrate on the floor of his bathroom until he felt better.

"Zack! Zack!" Charlie remained on the line for a while before Zack answered.

"Hey... Lemme call you in the morning I'm not feeling so good, ok."

"Ok, hang on there."

Zack was too worried about how much something like this can affect his family. Could he really handle the aftermath? He pull his blanket and pillow on the floor and slept there the whole night.

*      *      *

"Hello,"

"Miles! How is it that you're level of competence can be so frustrating?!" Nancy yelled in the phone. " It is amazing how you lost Nadine's position and yet the other night I picked up my son from an outing with friends and who do you think he was with? "

"How would I know about your son's movements Mrs. Wellington?" Miles defended himself. He was equally surprised that Nancy was on the line, especially since the last fit she threw. "I thought you no longer needed my services?"

"Don't get coy with me, you owe me a great debt." Nancy held onto Miles past constricting him from breaking free from her grasp.

Miles worked as a lawyer before running into trouble working for corrupt clients. Nancy and Thomas paid bail for him and supported him and his pregnant wife until their baby was born. He vowed to pay them back and return the favour, but he was always aware of Nancy and stayed closer to Thomas unaware to her.

"He was with Nadine Bryan and her pathetic little family!" Her words were bitter and condescending.

Zack still felt upset that morning and went to ask his mother if she had anything that could help him feel better. He knew she was well stocked in all types of medicines any family would need. She was efficient like that. He placed his hand on the door knob of his parents room to enter, but heard his mom yelling at someone on the phone. 'Who could it be that has mom so railed up?' He thought, then he heard it.