A Lethal Legacy Read Online Free PDF Page A

sideways. "It wasn't any big
deal," he said.
    "What do you
mean?"
    "I mean I can't
figure out what the big deal is. I never really cared if it happened or not. I
was just curious, and it seemed to mean so much to Cindy, but then
nothing."
    "You mean you
couldn’t do it?"
    "No, I could do
it, I just didn't feel much of anything."
    "Well, maybe
it's just Cindy. You're not in love with her or anything like that, are
you?"
    "No, of course
not. She's more persistent than most of the girls I know. Ed, it's like I . .
.,” Gary let out a long sigh and then began sprinting the rest of the way back
to my house.
    I followed him
wondering what he had been about to say. When I arrived home, I didn't dwell on
it for very long because Philip and Stanley, both drunk, had begun arguing
about their parents. Aunt Susan decided to drive back to her home in Grosse
Pointe before we got back from our walk, disgusted no doubt with the behavior
of her brothers.
    "You're the
bastard that put our mother away," my father yelled at Philip.
    "Someone had to;
she was nuts," Philip yelled back.
    Stanley tried to grab
Philip's collar, but the whiskey was stronger, and he couldn't lean forward
enough to take hold.
    "Let's go,
Philip; you can't settle this tonight." Claire urged her husband toward
the door. "Gary, give me a hand, your father's been celebrating a little
too much tonight. Thanks, Marge, for having us over. I'll call you,"
Claire yelled over her shoulder as she led her husband out the door.
    "Leave me alone.
Let that pansy of a son do something for a change," Philip yelled as they
stumbled to the car.
    "Gary, drive us
home," Claire said as Gary took the keys from her hand.
    He quietly slid
behind the steering wheel of his father's large vehicle. "My pride and
joy," Philip often called it. I looked out the back door and waved to Gary
who looked straight ahead, not noticing me. He waited for his mother to secure
his father in the back seat before putting the car in reverse and backing out
of our driveway.
    I tried my best to give Kristina a sense of what it had been like
growing up with a father like Philip Townsend during the 1950s without revealing
everything. Gary remained silent.
    "Kris, try not
to blame your father. He did what he thought was right at the time," I said.
    "What are you
talking about? How can I not be pissed off knowing my father signed away his
rights to an alcoholic mother who hated me?" Kris jumped up from the couch
and walked deliberately to the balcony doors with clenched fists.
    Gary woke up from his
trance and followed Kris, and I watched as the father and daughter, so alike
physically, yet worlds apart emotionally, went out onto the balcony. I saw Gary
speak quietly to Kris. She jerked her head back to look at her father. Then she
shook her head with a sardonic grin looking for a split second just like her
mother.
    Gary continued to
talk while Kris listened. I didn't want to intrude on this scene, even though I
couldn't hear what they were saying. I let myself out of the apartment quietly
and took a long walk around the block getting lost in a few art galleries and
antique stores along Royal Street.
    When I finally returned,
Gary let me into the apartment. He told me Kris decided to take a nap and
recover from her flight. I thought t she had a lot more from which to recover,
but I kept that thought to myself.
    "I think we made
a truce. Fortunately, she knows her mother and knows how unreasonable she can
be at times so that made it easier for her to understand some things. I think
she might be able to forgive me," Gary said with the first grin of the
day.
    "I'm glad about
that, Gary. I'm still worried about Kris though."
    "Why?"
    "She’s your
daughter, but remember Pam and this Oscar guy raised her. Things might not
always go smoothly now that she's back in your life," I said.
    Actually, I didn't
tell Gary nearly half of what I was feeling. I didn't tell him about the
nagging dread I felt ever since I arrived. The