Unexpected Turns

The Beginning

Today is a fine day. Not to hot or to cold- just warm. It's summer and I've finally finished freshman year of high school last month, and next month I will be turning 15 years old. I'm somewhat excited but I feel like I'm growing to fast. Last year I was 5'2 and now I'm 5'5, practically moms height. To add, I've began to have lines on my forehead from thinking to hard, which led me to getting bangs. Mom says they look well, but I'd rather have a hair do like Ginger Rogers in Top Hat. The thing about that is that her hair is a lot more straight, blonde, and beautiful while mine is wavy, brown, and uncontrollable. That's probably the only thing I have in common with my father.

I know I'm adopted, obviously. I know therefore I shouldn't compare myself to my parents, but I always happen to do so. Like how my mom has beautiful blue eyes and I have dark brown ones. Or how my father has fair skin and I have a sort of black-white complexion- sort of tan. The worst part is how others compare my looks with my parents. They also know I'm adopted but they can't handle how the Richards seemed to have adopted a black kid. That always causes weird stares and most times whispering gossip. It basically caused me to become introverted. When it comes to meeting folks, I try to be as nice and respectful as possible but end up really shy and not talking at all.

The only person I never was shy about meeting though was my older brother, but he really wasn't a brother to me rather a close friend. I hadn't met him until I was around 14 years of age. Yes, 4 years I have never seen him, yet I felt as though I knew him by the way mom and dad talked about him. Like how he was so great at baseball, how he was valedictorian, and how he went to Harvard to become a top lawyer.

He did call many times but I never spoke to him except this one time. However it was forced by mom. She was talking to him and talking about me, as usual.

"I can't wait for you to meet her!" mom says with a wide smile, "would you like to talk to her?"

I sat up shaking my head no to that offer, "she wouldn't mind," she completely ignored my last gesture, "just for a second- well she has a lovely voice- yes she's pretty, why does that matter, she's your- I know- here silly."

she forces the phone into my hand and refused to take it back. I covered the microphone part of the phone with my hand, "Mom! I don't want to, I got to pee," I lie.

"Just talk, it will only be for a little."

I place the phone on my ear and softly say, "hello."

"Hello how do you do?" a deep voice replies, "I'm Gregory Richards- oh how silly of me, you probably already know that."

"I'm Mary," I smile, "but you probably know that already as well."

"Well, mom was right, you've got a lovely voice. I imagine you are 12 now. 2 years with my family, correct?"

"13, 3 years actually."

"3 years?! and I still haven't seen you yet?! My, how busy I've become to not have realized how long I've been away."

I chuckle softly.

"You have a wonderful laugh too," he compliments again.

"Thank you," I reply, "and you have a wonderful humor."

He chuckles, "I will meet you someday."

"promise? it's okay if you don't, phone conversations would do just fine as well."

he chuckles again, "I promise. I'm needed somewhere else right now, I will be looking forward to our next conversation. I'll come as soon as I can- that is once I'm finished with college."

" can't wait. Goodbye now."

"Goodbye," I hang up the phone on its hook.

That was one of the nicest conversations I've had in a long time. Afterwards we never did speak until 5 months later when he arrived. I was around 14 and just came back from baseball practice with dad. I had no idea of his arrival, and when he came I was laying my head on mom's lap and trying to sleep after a beat day. When the doorbell rang, unaware of my consciousness, mom told dad to get the door since she didn't want to wake me. I kept pretending to be unconscious due to the fact I was too lazy to even get up.

Mom and I heard chatter at the door and it slowly began to move closer to the living room.

When she saw who was here she softly yelled, "Gregory!"

"Mom," he replies and leaned over to give her a hug, I could feel him hover over me. And yet I still kept my eyes shut.

"You didn't tell me you were coming, what a surprise."

"I didn't want anyone to know. Especially Mary, I just finished college and am about to start law school soon," he pauses for a moment, "Is she really asleep?"

I felt someone stroke my hair, "oh yeah," mom says, "she's had a tough day out, practicing."

"Practicing what? Mom did you put her in choir, its so rotten in there and so tough. Remember all the times I'd come home with a gone voice."

"No honey, she practices baseball with your dad."

"Great kid I could tell, but dad be a bit gentle on her next time, huh? Poor kid."

"She wanted to push herself," Dad replies, "She's trying to be as good as young me, is even better than you at baseball."

"Don't believe it," he stands up, "no one is better than me, Dad, stop joking."

Dad chuckles, "Well, I found a better little champ than you Greg and you got to face the facts."

"Well we got to see about that, we will have to play a game once you're ready."

"I can tell you on behalf of her and me, we are ready to take you down," Dad says enthusiastically.

We did take him up on that, and like dad said we took him down. It was a fun game and gave us a chance to talk, and Gregory to see some old high school friends.

I believe my family is great and I love each one of them very much. Although nowadays I barely even seen Gregory, since now he's gone back to school. 2 years we will barely communicate, and the sad thing about that is that he is my only friend.

That is until I met two boys named Richard and Jerry Reynolds, our neighbors from across the street...