drifters

Chapter 8 - rulez

Instead of goofing off while traveling back to the house and speeding through time, we took our time traveling back to the house.  I wanted to know as much as I could and absorb all of the information my mother had about what was going on with my sister.  I realized that it didn't matter to me who was adopted or not but what we do next.  I want my dad to see me and hear me again, but not if it's before his time.

My mom was able to explain more to us and how she knows this information to be true.  "Remember you both went to see a fortune teller in the village?"  I nodded remembering that I was learning that you can't always believe what you see and hear.  "I was there, watching you and making sure you were okay with all of this rapid change that you had experienced.  I mostly kept my distance because I didn't want to startle you, yet I wanted to stay close to make sure you weren't a target for anything suspect."

I was trying to be patient.  My dad and sister's lives depended on it.  But every minute seemed like hours of torture knowing that I grew up with the absence of the truth.  "Default lies" is what my business law professor called them.  If a CEO of an organization knows that their organization is practicing illegal activity but he or she doesn't try to correct the situation, nor report it, he or she is just as guilty as the ones in the organization practicing the illegal activity.  Lies by default. 

I was mindful of the fact that I still hardly have a clue as to what's going on.  But I needed to be a big girl and stop panicking and figure out how to try to help all of this if I can.  Waiting patiently for more information to come to me and it slowly did with more detail than I probably needed but I welcomed it with anxiety.  "Tell me about Tessa's birth mother."

My mom didn't hesitate, "I never met her.  I knew who she was but never sat down and had coffee or lunch with her."  I could see that she felt very conflicted.  "Your father and I just had you and life was perfect.  There was nothing else after you were born that could have made us happier.  But you know how we are a sucker to help and volunteer wherever we can."

That is so true.  My parents would always be donating things, running clothing drives in the winter, packing food baskets for families.  She even ran a workshop for moms, helping them get back on their feet after devastation - like divorce, house fires, I remember helping her print different resumes and apartment listings for her to give to the women she helped.

"Through my volunteer work with the county, your dad and I fostered a young Teresa, to help while her mom got clean.  Every time she seemed on the up and up, it was that much more that we all got closer to Teresa.  And Margarita just couldn't get her life in order - not even one little thing."  My mom wasn't crying but I could tell she was emotional about it. 

I remembered that we fostered a hurt puppy that no one in the neighborhood claimed after it was hit by a car.  We took care of it and learned to love it though all the rehab and hiccups and then suddenly 4 months later after we cared for him and my parents paid all the hospital bills, someone just comes in and swoops up the dog as if nothing happened.  I wasn't 100% involved, but it seemed unfair that we dedicated so much time to his healing and care and then just like that he was gone with someone else, never to be seen again.

"I tried so hard to work with her and social services about visitation.  I wanted her in Teresa's life.  I knew what giving birth to a baby was like.  And then it just got ... ugly.  Family court is no where you want to be, on either side."  She gave details about the outbursts in court and the threats that she and my dad received about "stealing" her child.  And she made it pretty clear that the courts really don't care, they just want the cases off their desks and for families to just figure things out on their own, decreasing their workload.

Jebb looked so confused.  He grew up in a very affluent community without divorce or family issues other than rich kids experimenting with drugs and being privileged jerks.  He really didn't have any experience or know of anything happening like that where he grew up.  The most he dealt with was a case where one of his friends was accused of sexual assault but that story went away quickly and was hushed from everyone's mind shortly after.