The Unknown Child

Chapter 2

     We got out of our cab in Brooklyn then Mom ran to the nearest coin phone.  We've been riding until the sun was out.  She dialed a number; I didn't hear much of the conversation though for I was still in shock.  All I heard Mom say was: "Great, meet me there in 30 minutes I'll see you soon, love you Sis".  I found that completely strange because my mom didn't have a sister.  We set out on foot to the nearest subway station.

     "Who was that ?" I asked mom as we entered the station.
     "Honey, I'll tell you later. As soon as we get on the train, I promise." Mom replied gently as she got us tickets for the F train into Manhattan.  Two minutes later we were piling onto the F train with the rest of the New York commuters heading to work. 

     "Well, we're on the train who were you talking to and what is it that you need to explain to me?" I told my mother.  Mom took a deep breath.

     "I've been keeping a secret from you, Marissa," Mom sighed "When I was two years old my birth father left me for dead on the streets.  He didn't want a child so he left me outside of an orphanage.  When I was four a young couple adopted me.  They already had one daughter but were unable to have second child so they adopted me.  When I was eight I was walking to the bus stop after school one day and got side tracked to help a squirrel back into his tree.

I missed the bus and had to walk home that night.  I got lost and never found my way home.  I was taken back to a different orphanage in Cape Cod.  There a sailor adopted me.  It turns out that he was my long lost father and wanted me back.  We went to his ship the di Angelo. 

One day we were sailing off the coast of Sicily and found six boys clinging onto a pice of a boat for dear life.  That's how we found our crew.  Your grandfather died six months before you were born.  Six weeks after he died and I became captain we found an unconscious man laying on a pice of driftwood.  We took him on board and nursed him back to health.  After some time we fell in love. 

He left a few weeks after you were born.  I was heart broken; but you have his eyes, his face shape, and his hair.  Oh you both have the most beautiful black hair I've ever seen.  Those eyes you too have remind me of the sea every time I look at them.  Everyday I see you and think of him and think of how lucky I am to have you," She sniffled and whipped a tear from her face "But I knew it was the only way to keep you safe." 

     "What do you mean 'the only way to keep me safe'" I asked.
     "You will see soon but now you should rest" Mom replied.  I closed my eyes and took a twenty minute nap on our way into Manhattan.

      When I woke up the train was pulling into Grand Central Station and Mom and I got off the train.  I noticed a woman with wavy dark brown hair, green eyes, and light skin wearing a green and white striped sweater with three-quarter sleeves, yellow pants, and flats.  She was about average  height but the expression on her face told me she was looking for someone.  Then she spotted my Mother and I and smiled as she ran towards us through the mob of people.  

    "Sally!" Mom cried as she hugged the woman who was obviously Sally
     "I've haven't seen you in forever, Sis" Sally replied.
     "Yes, well I've been busy" Mom beamed.
     "Who's this?" Sally asked pointing to me.

     "I've almost forgot!" Mom laughed "Sally this is Marissa, my daughter.  Marissa this is your Aunt Sally."
     "You never told me you had a daughter!" Aunt Sally exclaimed. "You look a lot like your cousin."
     "You never told me you had a child!" Mom cried. "How old is she?  Whose the father?"
     "Actually I have two children" Aunt Sally replied "My oldest, Percy, is seventeen and my youngest, Harriet is a little over two months old, but they have different fathers.  Percy's father is a Greek god so we don't see much of him. 

Harriet's father is Paul Blowfis and he is a school teacher and my current husband.  What about you, Marisa?"
     "I'm thirteen.  Also I couldn't help but notice that you said Percy's father is a Greek god.  What does that mean?" I responded.

     "You didn't tell her!" Aunt Sally said shocked.
     "No, I was going to let the Camp do it," Mom replied ashamed. 
     "Let's get to my apartment and we can get her to the Camp from there." Aunt Sally pronounced annoyed and urged us to her car parked at a parking meter.  We all got inside and drove off to Aunt Sally's apartment.