Lies

Chapter 17:

Aubrey was waiting for me at a small round table in a Starbucks that my father probably owned on a corner near our neighborhood. I could see her through the clear window from my car, sipping some kind of drink at a table that seated two. Her red hair was curled and she wore white jeans and a army green shirt accessorized with a gold necklace. I looked down at my attire which consisted of gray dress pants, a pink top that flowed as it went down and a gray blazer. I had pink high heels to match and a new gray coach purse to match the rest of the outfit. I had just come from the college after teaching and was a bit too formal.

I grabbed my purse and got out of the car, feeling for the folder at the bottom. It was still there; still large with an edition. The letter I had found in the desk in the attic now sat in the folder as well; taking up little space but containing so much meaning.

I closed the car door and locked the car, making my way into Starbucks. The deep fragrance of coffee went into my nose and tickled my nostrils. I closed my eyes and took a deeper breath, loving the familiarity of such a place.

"Iris!" I heard Aubrey call from her spot. I opened my eyes and waved to her, seeing that there were not one but two drinks on the table in front of her. I walked over to her and sat down, setting my large purse on the table, almost knocking over the second drink. Aubrey slid the drink over to me and I grabbed it.

"Thank you so much for meeting me, Aubrey. I have so many questions for you." I answered, taking a sip of the drink. It was a double chocolaty chip frappe; my favorite.

"No problem. I'm probably the best person to ask anyways. I hid so much from everyone that it was hard to tell the truth to anyone." Aubrey said, smiling. I nodded and looked around the store. It was dimly lit with only a couple lights scattered here and there for effect. Merchandise lined the aisles where we were sitting and further back was the place to order. There was a long line with people having places to go and people to see. I turned back towards Aubrey.

"I understand that. But I just... I don't know! It's so frustrating! I thought I knew my father so well and then all of a sudden I don't. It's the strangest thing." I explained, shaking my head. Aubrey just smiled and nodded as I spoke.

"I'm sure that's what Tony felt. So, why don't you tell me the circumstances and then I will try my best to explain it to you." Aubrey said, pleasantly.

"Ok. So, my parents moved back from Luxembourg. But you knew that," I began with a nod of understanding from Aubrey, "We spent the day together out on the boat and nothing was really wrong then."

Aubrey nodded and folded her hands together on the table. It was with those hands that she had lit the fire on her father's house to escape his wrath. She was truly brave, doing such a thing like that. I just hoped what I was doing was brave enough for everyone.

"Then I see him come out of an abandoned house over where you live with a bunch of people he would never stand five feet by. That's when I started to wonder what he really was doing." I said, making sure I could pull out the folder easily. "I used to believe that he just had all this money because he earned it but now I don't know."

"Ok, go on." Aubrey said, taking a sip of her drink. She looked at me with certainty in her eyes and her full attention. It felt amazing to finally have someone actually listen to me for once. I had thought I would never get that again and now it feels better than ever.

"My curiosity started to grow when I got a check with 500,000 dollars on it. I was paid to be silent. I didn't know who sent it but I knew something was oddly wrong. Somebody didn't want me digging in where my father was dealing." I explained, taking another sip of the drink. My lipstick stained a ring around the straw and I quickly grabbed a napkin to clear it off. "And this started to alert me and a new fear rose up as somebody from my past or my father's dealings called me anonymously. I didn't get to hear the whole thing the man wanted to say because I hung up on him. I was afraid. When I was younger, that exact man said he would kill my father if he didn't pay the man's boss. I didn't know what to do. I was fourteen at the time. My father didn't know we had gone out so I couldn't tell him about the men so I didn't."