Unconventional Scars (2 page)

But her
daughter
, Anneliese . . .
now there was a different story! Even all these years later he could visualize her, padding around the house barefoot in her
pink
pajamas
, curls askew, clutching that Holly Hobbie doll she dragged around everywhere. She made him have tea parties with Holly and her stuffed animals, most of which he’d bought for her because he had no children of his own and besides, she had him wrapped around her tiny little finger. He’d loved her.

Inevitably, Bianca found a new boyfriend and moved in with him, dragging Anna along with her.
For a while he continued to see the child
, since he was a
free and
convenient babysitter and his sister wasn’t
exactly
one for staying home and baking cookies. She had the maternal instincts of a venomous spider.

Then one day they were just
. . .
gone. Vanished
into thin air
. Without a word to him, their apartment empty and deserted, and the pissed-off landlord demanding three months’ back rent. For ten years, he had no idea where his sister and niece had disappeared to. Until now.

So who had
t
h
at
sweet
little
toddler
become? Had she lost all her innocence? Who knew, maybe she was tattooed and pierced all over by now. What if she was involved with drugs? She was his responsibility now – what would he do? How would he handle her if she’d turned into a reincarnation of her mother? She had Bianca’s genes, after all. That in itself was a frightening thought.

And how would something like that affect his relationship with Lisa? True, they didn’t live together, but they’d been dating for almost two years now and he thought that marriage could possibly be in their future. She was a patient, understanding person, but even an accommodating woman like Lisa wouldn’t want
that
kind of baggage.

Philip drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and indulged himself in flashbacks of the past. Anna, swinging at the park, shouting at her Uncle Phil to push her higher. Lying on her stomach on the floor in front of the television, quietly coloring pictures with her crayons.
Orange
was her favorite. God, he couldn’t believe he remembered that
!
Making daisy chains in the back yard out of wild Black-eyed Susans. Sick in bed with the flu, snuggled under the covers of her twin bed with Holly and requesting chocolate pudding to “make her feel better”. Climbing onto the couch
beside
him in the evenings and leaning her small
, sleepy
head against his arm.
Will you read me a story?

He treated her as if she was his own daughter. What else could he do? There were no positive male influences in the kid’s life.
Bianca had always ascertained that she had no idea who Anna’s father was. Typical.

But the
little girl was
long
gone
now
and Phil had inherited the teenager she’d become. He just hoped the child he remembered hadn’t been completely obliterated along the way.

****

Anna sat patiently on a chair in Mrs. Patterson’s bright yellow kitchen, waiting for her uncle to show up with Mrs. Alvarez, her assigned social worker. Mrs. Patterson bustled
about
the house, busily straightening up and occasionally pausing to direct a cheerful comment toward her charge. She really tried
hard
to make the situation seem normal
,
chattering on
and on
about how excited Anna must be to start a whole new life in
a beautiful place like
North Carolina
. As
if she hadn’t spent her
entire
life starting over every time her mother got a whim and decided to drag her off to another state.

Anna was polite but aloof.
Truth be told,
she felt nothing. Her emotions had been
numbed
, as if they were in some sort of stupor and found awakening to be too much of a bother. At the moment, it didn’t matter to her where she was going or what was happening. Life sucked. It had always sucked and nothing would ever change. She was weary of the whole thing.

She’d given the police Uncle Phil’s name as her only known relative, although she barely remembered him and didn’t even know where he lived anymore. Her mother rarely mentioned him. Once when she was drunk she did ramble on about
that brother of mine, he thinks he’s so mush better ‘n me . . . Joe fuckin’ College . . . never wanted me to haf any fun. Shaid I sould settle down . . . can you belief that? Screw him!

Her own vague recollections of Uncle Phil were of a kind man who laughed a lot and bought toys for her and took her to the park sometimes. Mrs. Alvarez had assured her that he was
simply
delighted
to have her come live with him, but Anna somehow found that hard to swallow. Who
wanted
to be saddled with someone else’s offspring, out of the blue? No one, that’s who
!
Mrs. Alvarez was full of it. She must think Anna was an idiot.

The crunch of tires on the driveway indicated that a car had pulled in, and Mrs. Patterson sashayed into the kitchen, chirping “They’re here, honey!” Anna nodded stiffly but didn’t move otherwise. She felt so tired. Why was she so tired? She’d slept fourteen hours last night. Sleeping was all she
wanted to do
lately.

Mrs. Patterson opened the kitchen’s back door and the sound of voices rushed in, one of them a deeper baritone that sounded somehow familiar. In spite of herself, Anna peeked up at him. The man who stood there was well-dressed, handsome, and had a gentle
,
intelligent appearance. And amazingly, she recognized him right away. He was still her Uncle Phil,
Mom
’s younger brother, the man who had been her father figure when she was little. The man she had, once upon a time,
requested as a daddy in her letter to Santa Claus. But that was so long ago . . .

2

Two days later, Philip and Anna were on their way home. He’d talked to
both
the FBI and the police regarding Bianca and promised to let them know if he had any word from her. Past experience proved chances of that were slim to nil. He’d spent hours talking to Mrs. Alvarez and signing document after document. He’d been to Anna’s school and picked up her transcript. It was a relief to
discover
that her grades, while not perfect by any means, were at least passable. He had her belongings, worn items stuffed into a couple of
grocery
bags
, for crying out loud. And
settled
in the passenger seat next to him was Anna herself, quiet and timid and probably bewildered as hell.

When he’d first seen her sitting there at Mrs. Patterson’s kitchen table, his heart had ached. She’d looked downright pitiful. Her clothes were old and faded, and the
tawny
brown
hair
he remembered had grown so long that
it
was
little more
than a
limp
mess. She had looked up at him with
wide,
vacuous
eyes
,
hopelessly
resigned to her fate. Yet even through the frayed exterior, he could
still
see some of that
sunny
little girl residing inside her. She just needed an opportunity to blossom, and in this aspect, he knew exactly who could help.

They didn’t speak a lot at first. Philip tried not to overwhelm her with questions. She seemed content to stoically look out the car window at the scenery passing by.
S
omewhere in
Georgia
, he asked her if she was getting hungry, and she replied guardedly, “If you are.” A few exits down the interstate, he
located
a Cracker Barrel and stopped there for lunch. Anna seemed to perk up a bit, perusing the store with interest.

“I’m gonna run to the men’s room for a minute, okay? You just look around and I’ll be right back.” Leaving the girl studying a display of candles, he pushed open the door to the restroom and pulled out his cell phone. There was a lot to be done, and much of it was out of his realm of expertise. He needed a female’s insight for this first particular hurdle.

“Hamilton Realty, Lisa speaking.”

“Lisa, honey,” he said into the phone, “I’m going to need your help.”

****

Anna felt much more relaxed after lunch. She was less apprehensive about answering her uncle’s questions, no longer fearful that any unfavorable responses might result in her immediate discardment by the side of the road. He seemed genuinely concerned for her well-being.

They hadn’t traveled more than twenty miles from the restaurant when she suddenly blurted, “I’m really sorry about all this.”

Dumbfounded,
Phil turned his head and gaped at her long enough to run the risk of driving his Lexus off the road and onto the median. “You’re . . . sorry for what?”

Anna fiddled with her seat belt, embarrassed. “I’m sorry you had to come all this way to get me. And
that you’re stuck being responsible for me.”

“Anna
!
Sweetie. You
know
that none of this is your fault. You do know that, right?”

Silence from the passenger seat.
After all, what could she say to that? All her life she’d shouldered not only the blame for her mother’s actions, but the consequences.

Phil cleared his throat. “I don’t know if you
’re aware of
this or not, but I had no idea where you and your mom were all these years. She never contacted me, never said a word before you left. She just disappeared one day and I had no clue where she’d gone.
I would
have kept in touch if I’d known where you were.

“As for being responsible for you,
I’m really happy you’re coming to live with me
.
H
onest. It’ll be a lot of fun having you around. You were always my favorite niece
, you know
.”

Anna looked up
,
and for the first time
granted him a
smile. “
I’m your
only niece
, Uncle Phil.
”

He
chuckled. “
Well.
I see I can’t put anything past
you
.”

“Can I ask you a question?”

“
Of course!
Ask me anything you like.” He
seemed
relieved that she was beginning to open up somewhat.

“How come you never had any kids?”

“How did you know that?”

“Mrs. Patterson mentioned it.”

“
Oh.
Well . . . my ex-wife Teresa was never interested in having children, which I guess was a blessing in disguise since we divorced after just one year. And . . . well, I never remarried. I’d still like to someday, if circumstances prove favorable. Lisa – my girlfriend – also wants children at some point so you never know. Someday down the road you might get to babysit a little cousin.”

“Does Lisa live with you?”

“No, she has her own place.”

“Does she know about me yet?”

“Yes, she does. She’s
excited
you’re coming to live with me and as a matter of fact, she’s going to take you shopping for some new clothes for school. She’s a
wonderful
person. You’ll
love
her.” Phil glanced over and grinned. “She also has amazing taste.
You’ll be
looking
glamorous
in no time.”

Anna pushed some of
the
strands of long
hair out of her face and contemplated
this
. She didn’t want
to be a financial burden to
Uncle Phil
,
but
there was no doubt
she really
needed
some new clothes. She didn’t want to be an embarrassment to him
, either
. Judging from the new car he drove and the way he was dressed, he obviously didn’t live his life the way his sister did.

That brought another question to mind. “Where do you work? I mean, what do you do, exactly?”

“I’m a business development consultant.
I work from home, so
a lot
of the time I’ll be around. However . . .
I frequently have to travel out of town to meet with clients.
There are occasions when I’m gone for several days at a time.
Will that bother you? Because you can always stay at Lisa’s house if you want to. She wouldn’t mind.”