Chapter 84

I

Wednesday had finally arrived, and with it, a couple of university girls who couldn’t wait to get on a plane and have new adventures.

Kelly debated whether to drive herself and Miri to O’Hare, or take the campus shuttle there.

“If we drive ourselves,” Miri said, “we’ll have to pay to park the car at the airport.”

“You’re probably right,” Kelly said. “I don’t need the added expense. Buying this car was enough of an expense. How am I going to get it home this summer? I mean, besides driving it there?”

“At least you have a car on campus,” Miri said. “Mom thinks I live too close to home to have a car. Ever since the family moved to the house in Belvidere, I’m even closer. Just a ‘short bus ride’ away, as Aunt Kate puts it.”

In the end, they ended up taking the shuttle, which took them straight to the terminal they needed. That didn’t cost them anything.

Their flight took off at 9:30am. It was seven now.

“I guess we could sleep on the plane,” Miri yawned.

“True,” Kelly agreed, also yawning. “Either that or read something.”

“That will make me even more sleepy than I am already!” Miri exclaimed.

They checked their bags and picked up their boarding passes, then headed to the appropriate gate to go through the security screening. Miri hoped no one recognized her as her mother’s daughter.

No one did, much to her relief.

That is, until she and Kelly got on the plane, where they learned they’d been bumped up to first class.

“We have tickets for coach,” Kelly said; “How did we get to sit in first class?”

Miri just looked at her, no knowing the answer herself. “Maybe your grandfather had them upgraded and didn’t tell us?” she offered.

“That sounds like something he would do,” Kelly said. “But why didn’t he just buy first class tickets from the start?”

“That’s something you’ll have to ask him when we get there, Kel,” Miri said; “If that’s the case.”

“Between you and me, Mir, I think I’m going to believe that Grandfather had a hand in this,” Kelly said.

They got settled in their seats to await the plane taking off. By the time it did, both of them had fallen asleep.

===

“Chastity is trying to kill her,” Christian said to Cameron Chang on the phone; “Kathryn isn’t prone to flights of lunacy, Ms. Chang, so what the hell is going on here?”

Christian was angry that Kathryn seemed to be spiraling out of control when Chastity took over. She seemed to be herself when the girls were around, but when they weren’t, Chastity came out full force, spewing all kinds of threats, the main one being that Kathryn had to let Chastity regain her ‘rightful place’.

“Mr. DeWitt, I don’t know what to tell you,” Cameron said; “I can’t increase Kathryn’s medication too much more or she will be essentially a zombie, and I know you don’t want that. The only other alternative is to re-admit her to the clinic. That means an undetermined amount of time away from you and the girls.”

“I do not want Kathryn locked up again,” Christian said angrily. “She was doing well until just recently. She has a life here with us now, and I’ll be God damned if some unstable personality takes that away from her. That’s what you were supposed to take care of!”

“If she still is exhibiting signs of Chastity trying to come out full force, bring her to the clinic immediately. In the meantime, I’ll call in a higher dosage of the script. Not enough to make Kathryn unresponsive, but enough to keep her in her present indentity until Friday. Bring her in at 10am for her usual appointment.”

“I’m not leaving Kathryn here alone,” Christian said. “I’m taking her with me. Look, I paid good money for you to solve Kathryn’s problem, and it doesn’t seem to be working. She’s done everything as asked of her in her treatment. So where did this fail, Ms. Chang?”

Christian heard Cameron sigh. That’s not what he wanted to hear. He wanted answers that she either couldn’t, or wouldn’t, provide. Christian felt that Cameron Chang was holding something back. What that might be, he could only speculate.

“I will pick up the new medication when it’s ready, Ms. Chang,” Christian said; “and you better hope and pray it works, because if she needs to be re-admitted to the clinic, I will be very angry. This is not what I am paying you for. I can take Kathryn elsewhere. I suggest you do not force my hand, Ms. Chang. It will only look bad for you and your clinic.”

“Are you threatening me. Mr. DeWitt?” asked Cameron; “Because if you are, it is not appreciated.”

“Then, Ms. Chang,” Christian said, “I suggest that you DO THE FUCKING JOB I PAID YOU TO DO!”

He then slammed the phone back into its cradle, not caring at that particular moment if he broke it.

From his left, where the door to his home office was, he heard, “Christian, I’m sorry...”

He looked and there stood Kathryn. He feared she had heard everything from his side of the conversation with Cameron Chang.

He got up from his desk and went to Kathryn. He took her into his arms, where she sobbed uncontrollably. “I’m sorry I’m such a burden to you. I never meant for that to happen.”

“Kathryn, my heart,” Christian said softly, “you’ve never been a burden to me. I love you with everything I am. I only want our lives to be normal. Not like it is now, with all this drama and uncertainty. Please, Kathryn; please don’t cry. We’ll get through this, I promise.”

But Kathryn only sobbed harder. She wondered if she’d be better off dead.

And let Chastity win? she asked herself. NEVER!

===

II

“Krysta, I can’t find my glasses,” Eric said. “I need them to drive.”

Krysta just looked at him. They were on top of his head, where put them to read the email that Kelly sent with hers and Miri’s arrival time and flight number.

“You mean these glasses, Eric?” She asked as she pulled them down from where they were perched.

“Oh,” said Eric sheepishly. “I forgot they were up there.”

“Obviously,” Krysta said with a knowing grin.

“And you still put up with this old fart?” asked Eric.

“I just happen to be madly in love with this old fart,” Krysta said, pecking him on the cheek. “Now, shall we get going? I’m sure Kelly and Miri would like to have us be there when they get off the plane.”

“Okay, okay,” laughed Eric as he put his glasses where they were supposed to be and grabbed his car keys. “Off to Buffalo to meet the girls. Then dinner if they’re not too tired? Sound good?”

“Sounds good to me, baby,” Krysta said. “Someplace a college kid would go, not one of those fancy Nancy places you like, okay?”

“Hmmm. So the nice places are out, huh?” Eric said while he opened the passenger’s side door for Krysta; “Someplace a college kid would go because they’re hurting for money? How about that cafeteria place near the airport? Fancy Nancy places will have to wait til we’re alone.”

Once Eric was in the car, Krysta said, “It’s not that I don’t like going to the nice places, Eric. I just feel so out of place in them.”

“You shouldn’t,” Eric said; “Everyone knows you’re my girl now. No one knows about your past. You’ll get used to it someday, I promise.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“Let’s go get the girls and see what they want to do,” Eric said; “They just might want to  take a  nice long nap.”

Krysta yawned. “A nap sounds pretty good right about now.”

Though she didn’t know it, under her seat in the car, there was a pistol Eric kept in case of trouble. As a lawyer, he’d been threatened many times by people unhappy with how their cases turned out. He only had to use it once, and at that time, he didn’t even need to fire it.

In two days’ time, he would have to fire it at someone’s request, until someone else intervened. He would come out of his trance long enough to see what he was about to do, but by then, it would be too late. The gun would fire and someone would die. Another would be slightly injured.

And Eric Hope would feel immense guilt and shame.

And in the end, relief.

===

The new dosage didn’t sit well with Kathryn. It made her sick. She vomited three times on the way home from the pharmacy.

“This isn’t what Cameron had in mind, I’m sure,” Kathryn said; “but I’ll take the medication until she tells me to stop. Perhaps I’ll get used to it.”

“Only until Friday is what she told me,” Christian said; “Then you go for your regular appointment.”

“Christian, I don’t want to lose this battle to Chastity,” Kathryn said.

“I know you don’t, Kathryn,” Christian said; “We’ll fight her together. You will be the victor, my love.”

“I hope you’re right.”

Christian put his hand on top of Kathryn’s and kept it there for the rest of the drive home. Once inside, Kathryn had to throw up again.

Kathryn needs me more than DeWitt Corp does now, Christian thought. I’ll help her beat this. God, please help us!

“Christian, I’m sleepy,” she said now; “I’m going to go lay down and hopefully fall asleep.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Christian said. “I’ll set the alarm on my phone to get us up before the girls get home from school.”

Kathryn nodded and went to the bedroom to lay down. Christian was close behind her.

He took her into his arms and held her as she fell asleep. Please, God, Christian prayed silently, let her still be Kathryn when she wakes and not Chastity. Amen.

===

III

Miri had been gone less than a day before Rachel asked her mother, “Mom, when’s Miri coming home?”

“Rachel, she and Kelly only left this morning,” Julia said; “they’ll be gone until Monday morning.”

“Oh,” said Rachel. “Is she going to at least call and let us know she and Kelly got to Kelly’s grandfather’s house okay?”

Julia sighed. Rachel wasn’t too thrilled that Miri now spent a majority of her time at school, now she was out of town visiting someone else’s family.

“Rachel,” Julia began, “Miri is getting to be an adult, and she has her own life away from us. You knew this was going to happen someday. Miri may call, and she may not. What are you going to do when she gets married, or moves far away?”

Julia saw that Rachel didn’t have an answer for that. Instead, she asked her youngest, “Does Aaliyah complain as much about her sister being away at school as you do about Miri being away at school?”

“No,” said Rachel, “but Adriana comes home from school to spend time with her family.”

“Ah, I get it,” Julia said; “You’re jealous that Aaliyah gets to see her sister more than you get to see yours!”

“I am not!” Rachel said. And with that, she plopped down on the couch in the living room and proceeded to sulk.

Zach came downstairs with Adam, and asked, “What’s wrong, Rach?”

“Nothing,” Rachel said; “Leave me alone!”

“You’re not crabbing about Miri being gone again, are you?” her brother asked.

“That’s what it looks like,” Adam said; “Rachel, can I tell you a secret?”

Rachel looked at her cousin and said, “Yeah.”

Adam sat down on the couch. “You know how I handle Adriana being gone?”

“How?”

“I just think that she’s older than me, and it was time for her to live her own life,” Adam said; “and that someday, it will be my turn.”

“But Adriana isn’t that much older than you, Adam,” Rachel said; “Miri is a lot older than I am.”

“But one day, it will be your turn, right?” asked Adam.

“Yeah, I guess,” Rachel said; “But I’m the youngest. There’s no one after me.”

“That just means your mom is done raising kids,” Adam said; “Then she gets to do the stuff she can’t do now because you and your sister and Zach are still at home.”

Rachel looked at Adam and asked, “Like what?”

“You’ll have to ask your mom that, Rach. I can’t tell you what your mom wants to do, because I don’t read minds.”

“Oh.” Then, “I guess I shouldn’t be such a baby then, huh?”

“Ya think?” Zach retorted.

Julia, who had been listening to the kids conversation, was thinking, what do I want to do once all the kids leave home?

She had to admit to herself that she hadn’t really thought about it.

But that was at least seven to nine years from that very moment.

At that moment, all Julia wondered is if Miri was having a good time with Kelly in New York.

===

The plane landed at the Buffalo airport more or less on time. Kelly wondered if her grandfather had gotten her email about their flight.

“Kel stop worrying about all that,” Miri told her as she got her carry-on from the overhead compartment, “I’m sure he got it and he and Krysta will be there waiting for us.”

“I know I’m being silly,” Kelly confessed; “He’s never not been there waiting.”

“See, you’re worrying all for nothing,” Miri said. “Whatever makes you think he won’t show up one day?”

“I don’t know, Mir,” Kelly said; “He’s a lawyer and sometimes he’s under a lot of pressure.”

“Not so much pressure that he’d forget you were coming into town, I’m sure,” Miri said; “He’s probably just as excited to see you as you are to see him.”

“He’s always been so protective of me,” Kelly said as they deplaned; “I don’t want to lose him like I lost my grandmother. I never realized how much he really loved me until I left home. I always thought he was being overprotective-- quizzing guys who wanted to date me; making sure I called whenever I got anywhere besides school; monitoring my secure phone use. I kind of miss that now that I’m at school far away from here. It would kill me if something happened to him and I wasn’t there to help.”

“What about Krysta?”

“She brought Grandfather out of his self imposed mourning for my grandmother; he allowed himself to let her be part of his life,” said Kelly. “I suppose I should stop worrying about him so much. Krysta has been so good for him. He’s like a new person.”

“Well then, Kelly, stop being so overprotective of him,” Miri said; “He’s been a grown man for a long time.”

“Why are you a graphic design major, Miri?” asked Kelly; “You’re a better shrink than anything else.”

“Because I’m outside of you, and I can see what is going on in your head by the way you act and the things you say.”

“You know, I should know that,” Kelly laughed.

“Yes, oh bio sciences major, you should,” Miri said. “Look, isn’t that your grandfather waiting with a blonde woman over there?”

Kelly looked up and saw Eric and Krysta waiting on the other side of the gate. They hadn’t yet see her or Miri.

“Yes! That’s them!” she said excitedly. “Grandfather! Krysta! Over here!” she called to them.

They looked and saw Kelly jogging toward them. The dark haired girl bring up the rear must be Miri, Krysta thought.

“Kelly Clare,” Eric said as Kelly and Miri reached where he and Krysta stood. “It’s so good to see you!” To Miri, he said, “You must be Miri! Kelly talks about you all the time when she calls home. It’s nice to finally meet you!”

Uncharacteristically, Miri felt herself blush. Eric Hope reminded her a lot of a younger version of Jack.

“Likewise, Mr. Hope, Ms Banks,” Miri said.

“Oh, we won’t be having any of that formal stuff,” Eric said to put the statuesque brunette at ease; “We’re just Eric and Krysta.”

Miri noticed that just like her mother and Jack, Eric Hope was considerably older than his companion. Miri estimated Krysta Banks’ age at no older than thirty. If that, she thought.

“Then Eric and Krysta it is,” she said; “Thank you for inviting me to visit.”

“The pleasure is all ours, Miri,” Krysta said; “we hope you have a nice visit and get to see a lot of the places Eric says Kelly frequented when she was younger.”

Eric smiled; Krysta was putting that online English class to work for her, he thought.

“Shall we get your bags, then go to eat?” he asked Kelly.

“Yes,” Kelly said; “I don’t know about Miri, but I’m kind of bushed. I’d love a nap. We slept on the plane, but I’m still tired. Mir, how about you?”

“I could use a nap,” Miri said. “Perhaps we can eat a little later. It’s still early.”

“Okay, then,” Eric said; “We figured you girls would be tired. Get yourselves a nap, then we’ll talk about dinner.”

Once the girls had their bags and were headed back to where Eric and Krysta lived, Miri’s sixth sense told her that something was going to happen on this trip. Not to her specifically, but to Kelly and her family.

God, she thought, please let me be wrong just this once?

===