Forget to Remember (12 page)

Rigo was about to explain for the umpteenth
time why he didn’t want to go into the family business when Carol
spoke. “Rigo will do fine, whatever he does. He should do something
connected with computers. He can make them dance.”

Rigo gave Carol an appreciative look as they
segued into her problem.

Frances took the floor. “I was able to get
the testing service to give Carol’s DNA a high priority. The
results are now online. I’ve placed them in several large databases
containing mtDNA, which is the DNA passed down by women. I think we
can safely say that Carol’s female line comes from Europe—probably
northern Europe.”

“What about Cynthia’s grandmother? Did you
get her DNA yet?” Rigo wanted to make sure the possibility Carol
might be Cynthia was a closed issue.

“No. Mrs. Horton’s DNA hasn’t been
received.” Frances turned to Carol. “Did you talk to her about
it?”

Carol shook her head. “We didn’t discuss
DNA. Once we determined I wasn’t Cynthia, it didn’t seem
important.”

“I have other news. We have a match on your
mtDNA. I didn’t want to make a big deal of it, because the woman
you matched only had a partial test done. I talked to her on the
phone. She lives near Fresno. She told me she had a daughter—in
1986, I think she said—but had to give her up for adoption. She’s
trying to reconnect with her. That’s why she had the DNA test
done.”

“Fresno?” Carol looked puzzled. “Is that in
California?”

“Yes, in the Central Valley. She’s in her
forties and lives on a farm. She raises calves—for veal, I believe.
She’s very excited. Excited enough that she agreed to have her test
upgraded to a full genome at her expense.”

Rigo asked, “What’s her heritage?”

“She said her ancestors are English and
German. Her name is Victoria Brody. I told her about Carol’s
coloring. She said the father was Hispanic.”

Ernie grinned. “You might be one of us.”

“That would be nice.” Carol scratched her
head. “I don’t picture myself as a farm girl, and it took me a few
seconds to remember where Fresno is. As far as I’m concerned, eggs
come in cartons at the supermarket, not from chickens. It’s funny
Mrs. Horton also lives on a farm, but, of course, she doesn’t have
any animals or grow any crops except a few vegetables.”

Frances said, “If it’s you, since you were
adopted you might have grown up in a city. You might not have much
connection with Fresno. She hasn’t seen her daughter since she was
born.”

“If she’s my real mother I’d love to meet
her.”

“We’ll see how the additional test comes
out. If your complete mtDNA genome matches, it will definitely be
worth pursuing. Meanwhile, Rigo has come up with something. He used
his vast computer skills to find what might be a video of Carol.
Tell them about it, Rigo.”

Rigo hadn’t told anybody except Frances
about what he had found a couple of days ago, partly because he
didn’t want to get Carol’s hopes up, and partly because it might
embarrass her.

“I was checking YouTube for videos. Since
there are millions of videos on YouTube, I had to narrow it down. I
tried lots of combinations without success. Cynthia’s father was
Japanese, so I started trying combinations with ‘Japanese’ or
‘Asian’ in them. I found a number of videos of girls who look
something like Carol, but this one zooms in and shows a close-up of
her face. I swear she has Carol’s eyes.”

Frances said, “Don’t be coy, Rigo. Tell us
the combination you used to find the video.”

“It was ‘Japanese bikini.’ He looked at
Carol who was sitting beside him and was relieved to see she was
smiling. “It’s a really nice video—not too…”

“It’s okay. You don’t have to apologize.”
Carol seemed to be laughing at him. “I’m flattered you think I’d
look good in a bikini. Is there a name with it?”

“The name on the video is Aiko Murakawa. I
Googled the name and didn’t come up with any other reference to it
that would fit. Frances contacted the man who posted the
video.”

Frances nodded. “We exchanged e-mails. He
said the video is at least five years old. He doesn’t remember
where he got it and thinks the name may be a stage name. However, I
agree with Rigo. I think it’s a younger version of Carol. That
means her father may be Japanese, since her mother isn’t. Her mtDNA
isn’t Japanese.”

“Sounds like a dead end.” Ernie frowned.
“I’d like to see it, however.”

Tina looked at her husband with amusement.
“We knew you would. We’d all like to see it. And we will, right
after dessert. How long is her hair in the video?”

“Fairly long.” Rigo placed his hand on
Carol’s back below her shoulder blades to demonstrate.”

Carol shook her head. “The name ‘Aiko
whatever’ doesn’t ring a bell.”

Frances spoke energetically. “Every piece of
information is a clue. We may come upon another reference to the
name. I’ll add it to what I have about you online. In your travels,
Carol, did you come across anything or any place that looked
familiar?”

“No, but I learned some things I didn’t do,
schools I didn’t attend.”

Carol gave a brief description of her trip,
but Rigo suspected she left some parts out. She told how Paul
Vigiano faked the photo and Frances discovered it, but she didn’t
say much about his reaction when he was confronted. She didn’t seem
to have much animosity toward him.

Frances interrupted Rigo’s reverie. “We’re
also looking for abilities and knowledge you might have.”

“Well, I know for sure I’m not a gardener. I
can drive a car, but I think at some point recently I must have
driven in the UK. I kept wanting to drive on the left and shift
with my left hand. That produced a few exciting moments.”

“We need to explore the possibility that you
might have spent time in England, but so far we have very little to
go on.”

Ernie asked the question Rigo had been dying
to ask. “How can you fly in an airplane and rent a car?”

Everybody looked at Carol. Rigo was half-mad
at his father for putting Carol on the spot. He would rather have
asked her in private. She hesitated before answering.

“Look, I don’t want to drag all of you into
the seamy side of my life right now. If you want me to leave and
stay somewhere else, that’s all right. I…I have a fake driver’s
license.”

Carol didn’t elaborate. She was living a
secret life Rigo wasn’t privy to. He didn’t like it, but there was
nothing he could do about it. The last thing he wanted was for her
to leave. Fortunately, Tina came to the rescue.

“Don’t even
talk
about leaving. This
is a very difficult time for you. We can’t imagine what it’s like
to be you right now, but we want to support you all we can. Stay as
long as you like. Even after you find yourself, you’re welcome to
stay with us. Just be careful. We don’t want you to get into
trouble.”

Carol looked relieved. “Thank you, Tina. And
Ernie and Rigo and Frances. I feel at home here. Believe me I’ll
pay you back for everything, including your kindness. I’ll try to
keep out of trouble. The main thing is, I don’t want you all to get
into trouble because of me.

CHAPTER 15

“When you have to leave a blot within six
points of your opponent’s checker, always leave it as close to your
opponent as you can.”

Carol mentally stepped back and listened to
herself for a moment. She sounded like a teacher. However, if she
and Rigo were going to play much backgammon together, she wanted
him to present a challenge to her.

“Why is close better?”

“How many combinations can you roll with two
dice?”

“Uh…thirty-six?”

“Right. Six times six. How many of those
combinations will hit a checker one point away from you?”

“Now you’re straining my intelligence.”

“Eleven. Each combination with a one in it,
such as one-six and six-one, plus double one. How many combinations
will hit a checker six away from you?”

Rigo thought for a few seconds and then
started counting on his fingers. “Seventeen.”

“Go to the head of the class. The answers
for a checker two to five points away from you are between eleven
and seventeen.”

Rigo shook his head, ruefully, as he bore
off his last checker. “I don’t know why I ever agreed to play
backgammon with you. The only reason I’ve won four games is because
you’ve been coaching me. Talk about crushing a guy’s ego. What
about leaving a blot seven or more points away from your
opponent?”

“The odds against getting hit are much
better. Only six combinations will hit a blot seven away and it
goes downhill from there.”

“Where did you learn to play like this?”
Rigo immediately looked contrite. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Carol smiled to show no harm
done. “I wish I knew how I learned.”

“Frances said to figure out what you’re good
at. You’re certainly good at backgammon.”

“Maybe I was a backgammon hustler in my
youth.”

Rigo laughed. “I’ve got an idea. The
restaurant is closed on Mondays, so Adam and I have been going to a
sports bar on Monday evenings and watching Monday night football.
Come with us. You’ve got a driver’s license, so it won’t hurt if
you’re carded, which you probably will be.”

“Do women go to this bar?”

“Many do. Some women love football.”

“What about Adam’s wife?”

“She hates football. That’s one reason Adam
goes to the bar to watch football. Besides, she has to stay home
with their kids.”

Yeah, and what if she got wind of Adam being
out on the town in a threesome that included a mysterious babe
while she was home with the kids? Carol understood how that might
go over like a lead balloon. Still, she liked being with Rigo. She
would be with him, not Adam.

“Sure, I’ll go. Why not?”

***

Carol leaned closer to Adam to hear what he
was shouting over the noise. The crowd was raucous. Half a dozen
big-screen TVs were scattered throughout the large bar, located in
one of the beach cities—she wasn’t sure which one—and the patrons
were cheering on almost every play.

She had just about decided she didn’t care
for football all that much, which confirmed the feeling she’d had
at the high school game they’d attended. She was more interested in
watching the antics of the patrons. Adam tried speaking again,
putting his mouth almost against Carol’s ear.

“I’m glad you’ve returned. You’re good for
Rigo. Ever since he broke up with his girlfriend he’s been in the
dumps. That and his job situation.”

This was the first she’d heard about a
girlfriend. “When did they break up?”

“It was over a month ago. They’d been going
together for a couple of years.”

If Adam was so happy she was there for Rigo,
why was he pressing his leg against hers? At least she was wearing
jeans. She spotted Rigo returning from the restroom and used that
as an excuse to turn away from Adam. Rigo sat down on the other
side of her. They were crowded together at the large table, and it
was difficult to maintain any separation, but she would rather play
kneesy with Rigo than Adam.

Pennants representing various athletic teams
hung on the walls and from the ceiling. Carol didn’t see any
football pennants representing a Los Angeles team. She asked Rigo
about this; he told her Los Angeles hadn’t had a professional
football team since the Rams went to St. Louis. If that was the
case, why was everybody here so excited about football?

Carol was being careful about the amount of
beer she drank. It came in pitchers, and it was easy to sip it
constantly. As soon as her glass ran low, Adam refilled it. From
her experience in drinking wine with Paul, she knew she wasn’t a
big drinker. She’d been careful drinking with him, but even so she
had developed a buzz after several glasses. Rigo was limiting his
intake, but Adam was steadily putting it away. She was glad Rigo
was driving.

At halftime, somebody on the other side of
the table pulled out a deck of cards and arranged some of them in a
pattern on the tabletop. He and the person next to him alternately
took cards away. When there were no cards left, money changed
hands. Carol had decided from her backgammon experience she liked
to play games. She asked Rigo what was happening.

He leaned close to her. “The cards are laid
out in rows. On your turn you remove one or more cards from a
single row. The person who removes the last card wins.”

“That doesn’t sound too difficult.”

“The only times I’ve tried it I’ve lost
money.”

“There must be a logical approach to the
game.”

“I was told by someone you convert the
number of cards in each row to binary, then arrange the binary
numbers as if you’re going to add them. Binary is just ones and
zeroes. You count the binary ones in each column. After you make
your move, there should be an even number of binary ones—or none—in
each column. I can’t do all that in my head.”

Carol thought about it. Yes, she did
understand binary. Ones and zeroes, just like how a computer
thought. The game sounded familiar. She grabbed some empty glasses
and arranged them in a simple pattern: 3-3. The binary equivalent
of 3 was 11. If you arranged 11 and 11 vertically in order to add
them, each column contained two 1s—an even number. Therefore, 3-3
must be a winning combination. She tried removing various numbers
of glasses and soon proved to herself that it was.

She focused her attention on the game across
the table and found she could calculate winning combinations
rapidly in her head. The men playing were making mistakes. She
could beat them. She turned to Rigo and spoke in his ear.

“I’ve played this game before. I can beat
those guys.”

Rigo looked at her, surprised, and then
thought about it. He grinned. “I bet you can.” He pulled a five
dollar bill out of his wallet and shouted to one of the men across
the table. “Five dollars says Carol here can beat you.”