Finding Kylie (9 page)

             
“I hope you got the reassurance you needed mom.”  Chastity sighed.  “Goodness knows I need some now.”

             
After the seven-hour drive, she pulled off the main highway and into her neighborhood. 

             
“Finally,” she breathed, relieved to be in her driveway. She turned of her engine, and grabbed a few things to take inside.  After unlocking her front door, she heard the familiar mumble of someone leaving her a message on her machine. 

             
Chastity was one of the last people she knew of, who still owned an original answering machine.  She just couldn’t see getting rid of something that still worked.

             
She opened the door with her arms overloaded, and tumbled through the doorway, hearing the tail end of the message.

             
“So when you get this message, please call Timothy Banks at 408-555-3434.”

             
Chastity dropped her bags on the couch, and hit the delete button on her machine.

             
“Another parasite, whose read about mom’s passing.”  She checked her machine often while in San Francisco, and had retrieved enough calls that she was ready to change her number.  

             
As she turned back toward her front door, to get another load from her car, her pocket started vibrating.

             
“Oh!” Startled, she reached for her cell phone, to see her best friend’s face, which had popped up on screen.

             
“Hey Annabel, I’m home,” she said in a weary voice, and fell into her overstuffed papasan chair. 

             
She and Anne had friends since college, where they met and instantly clicked.  Anne owned a local café, in Silver Lake, which allowed Chastity easy access to display her work. 

             
“It’s so good to hear your voice.  Am I glad you’re back.”  Anne slowed down, remembering why her friend left town, and asked, “How ya doin’?”

             
Although excited to have her friend back, she knew to be sensitive to Chastity’s mood.  She reminded herself not to bombard her with ‘while you were gone’ stories just yet. 

             
“Not so good.  I got more than I ever bargained after my mom died,” Chastity responded, letting her voice drop. 

             
Anne cleared her throat and said in an almost whisper,

“Yeah, I can imagine.  I’
m sorry I couldn’t make it to her service.  Chaz, losing a parent ... especially this young, is tough.”

             
“Just wait till you hear the whole thing.”

             
“Well, I got your text messages ... although they were a little cryptic.” Anne wanted to press her for more details, but didn’t know how much to ask.  “What does, ‘I found out and I wish I hadn’t’ mean?”  

             
Anne received no reply. “You still there?” 

             
She heard her friend sniffling and kept talking to keep herself from tearing up as well. “Hey, I know you just got in but are you free? I can be over in about an hour.  I have to check on my manager, at the café ... make sure he’s still pulling his weight, and then I’ll come straight over.  Sound good?”

             
“Yeah, I need to talk to you.  I have no idea what to do next.”  Chastity was going downhill fast, and needed her friend to help sort out her options.

             
“K, I’ll see you in a bit.  Want anything from the kitchen?  When was the last time you ate?”  Anne was already texting an order to Jim, her manager. 

             
“Yeah, make me one of those sandwiches I like so much.  The one with that special sauce and shredded chicken.” Her stomach was already growling in anticipation. 

             
Anne texted the final items over. “Done. See you in a little bit.” 

             
Forty-five minutes later, Chastity was finished unpacking her car.  She loaded everything that held her mom’s belongings, into her study. 

             
I’ll find a place for all of it later, after I unpack my things
, she decided. 

             
One thing that definitely needed a place now - was her mom’s beanbag chair.  She tossed it in the corner of her great room, near the TV. 

             
Her open floor plan allowed access to the living room, study, and kitchen all in one.  She nudged the beanbag with her foot.

             
This fits well into my pad.  It’s still in pretty good shape too.

             
She noticed an area toward the bottom, which had been patched up with electrical tape. 
I remember when that happened.
I’ll just have to remember to sit in it carefully.

             
As a rough kid, she loved to jump around on different furniture throughout her house.  She remembered falling onto the beanbag little too hard, causing a small tear, which sent Styrofoam beans spraying through the air.  Kylie scooped up as many as she could to put them back inside, before vigorously taping over the hole.  She slapped the tape on with a big X formation, to secure them in place.

             
“Calm down Chastity.  You need to be careful.”  She frowned down to her daughter.

             
Looking back, Chastity now knew her mother wasn’t angry with her - just distressed over the situation.

             
Mom, that was your favorite word ... careful.  You wanted me to be careful with everything.  I never understood until now. 

             
So much became clear to Chastity.

             
It was your fear talking ... you were afraid to let go and have some fun, because it might turn into something you didn’t bargain for. 

             
Chastity started tearing up and said aloud, “Oh mom, I am so sorry.”

             
Just then Anne tapped on the door and walked in.

             
“Hey, I come bearing munchies.  Your favorite sandwich, and I brought dessert.  How does a piece of chocolate pie sound?” 

             
Chastity quickly dried her eyes, crossed the floor, and reached for one of the bags from Anne.

             
“Mmmm, this is exactly what I needed.” 

             
Anne gave her a quick hug, with her free arm. “Welcome home.”

             
She pulled out the chairs from Chastity’s small table, and motioned for her friend to sit down.  Chastity absentmindedly sat, and focused on the amount of food Anne was unpacking in front of her. 

             
“Good, you brought it for two.  I didn’t want to eat by myself.” 

             
“Not only that, but I brought more for your dinner and breakfast for tomorrow ... just in case you need it.”

             
Anne opened the second sack, and pulled out some extras. “I brought you some milk.  I didn’t think you’d have time to get groceries yet.” 

             
She reached for some glasses from Chastity’s cabinet, while observing her friend.  She looked pretty worse for the wear, but that was to be expected under the circumstances.  Anne looked to her eyes, which were rimmed with dark circles.

             
“I told Jim to watch the place for the afternoon … it’s one of the perks of being owner.  So, I am all ears … tell me what’s going on.”  She waited patiently for Chastity to divulge her story. 

             
Chastity took a deep breath, and caught her up on everything … from her discovery of the hidden journals, what lie on the pages inside, and the information she received from Cheryl. 

             
To Anne, it was like something out of
Unsolved Mysteries
.  She couldn’t believe any of it was real, and knew if she was having a hard time digesting it, than her friend surely was too.  After consoling Chastity and giving her the reassurance that she needed, Anne got straight to the point. 

             
“So what’s next?  I would assume you probably don’t want to find your father.  I wouldn’t if I was you, but don’t you want to know anything about his family?  They’re yours too.” 

             
Chastity swallowed a bite of pie. “I haven’t got that far yet.  I am still in recovery mode, although I would like to know about my family,” Chastity clarified, “not him, but the rest … I’d like to find out about.” 

             
After Anne finished her sandwich, she stood up to rinse off her plate. 

             
“So, let’s do it.” She suggested.  “What newspaper were the clippings from, that you said you found in your mom’s closet?”              

             
“It was the Oklahoman.  Why? Do you think they’d have more articles on the family?”

             
Chastity’s mind was spinning. She hadn’t thought that far ahead yet. 

             
“Let’s find out.”  Anne walked to the computer and logged on.  “If they do, we’ll find it on the internet.” 

             
She googled ‘Oklahoman newspaper’, which took her to their website.  Once there, she registered to access the news articles.  When she typed in the name, Mikale, under their search engine she hit pay dirt.

              “Yes!”  Anne yelled a little louder than intended.  “Sorry, I guess I’m getting a little excited.”

             
Chastity rushed across the room.  “What’d you find?” 

             
She looked over her friend’s shoulder, as Anne clicked on the most recent story, dated with yesterday’s date. 

             
“Would you look at that?  Jesse Mikale, former Mayor of Oklahoma City, cares for elderly father in nursing home.” 

             
“Mayor?”  Chastity was in awe.

             
Anne quickly moved over so Chastity could sit and read the rest in depth.  

Chapter 11

             
Jesse Mikale was on his way to a business meeting with the Oklahoma City economic developer.  He had big plans to bring a new restaurant to the down town area, near the river-walk in Bricktown. 

             
He had just finished his last term as the Mayor of Oklahoma City, and was starting to delve in some business ventures to benefit the state.  He felt his purpose was to help develop Oklahoma, and wanted to promote it as the diamond in the rough that it was. 

             
Jesse didn’t have to work to survive, as they had always been well off, but he wasn’t the kind to live off of his family name or money.  Although it definitely helped him get his foot into any door of his choosing when he was young, he proved himself, through integrity and hard work.  This made him known as an honest and dependable leader. 

             
I can at least thank dad for giving me the start I needed,
he bitterly thought, as he put some files in his cabinet.   

             
Jesse’s father, Jackson, had made his money in the oil business.  His family acquired land from the sooner land run in the 1800’s.  The mineral rights paid off big for the Mikales and they made millions by the mid 1900’s. 

             
Jackson had invested wisely through out the years, which saved him from losing it all when most did, during the Penn Square Bank crash in the 80’s.  This led him to be one of the most powerful men in the Midwest, although for the past five years, he had been in the nursing home suffering from the onset of Alzheimer’s.

             
Although Jesse was his official caretaker, his wife, Lauri, was the one who spent most of her time visiting and caring for Mr. Mikale.  He occasional visited to give Lauri a break, but didn’t have much use for his dad.  Of course, he loved him in the dutiful manner a son should, but didn’t have patience for him. 

             
In Jesse’s mind, his father had brought this on himself, as he never gave his boys the love they needed growing up. 

             
I guess John was always getting into too much trouble for dad to have paid too much attention to me
.

             
Jesse hadn’t talked to his brother in years.  John was sent off to military school after high school and didn’t have much contact with the family afterwards.  To Jesse, the only real family he had was his wife, his son, Alex, and the family’s housekeeper, Ms. Adams.  She had been with the Mikale’s since before both Jesse and John were born, and took over as a part time nanny once their mother died. 

             
Jesse’s mother had complications while giving birth to John, and never made it home.  Jesse was only seven years old, but still remembered the drastic change from the loving family environment he lived in to the cold boot camp it became.  Jackson, once a doting husband and father, became distant and controlling. 

             
I think that’s what makes me the most angry ... dad had it in him to be the father I once knew and he chose to shut himself off from me ... from us.  I will never do that to my children!

             
Chirrp!  Jesse flipped open his cell phone and saw his wife’s number pop up on his caller ID. 

             
“You have no idea how much I needed to hear your voice.” He spoke softly into his phone. 

             
Lauri’s voice came through with urgency. “I just left the home, from seeing your dad.” 

             
“Was he having a good day?  Did he recognize you?”

             
She sighed. “No, in fact he kept mumbling something about finding his granddaughter. Is he so mixed up that he thinks Alex is a girl?”  

             
Lauri was clearly distressed.  He knew it took a lot out of her to see to his father’s care. 

             
“Don’t worry sweetheart.  He is obviously confused.  I’ll tell you what … go home, hug our son, and I will come home a little early tonight.  Maybe I can bring home a movie to watch.  What are you in the mood for?” 

             
Lauri didn’t even have to think about it. “A comedy …  I need a good laugh tonight.  Thanks babe … love you.”

             
“I love you too.” Jesse hit the end button and slipped his phone into his pocket.  He smiled to himself as he picked up his briefcase to walk out the door for his next meeting, knowing how blessed he was.  He finally had the family he always wanted.