The Letter - Chapter 32

I walked out of the school toward my school bus alongside Liz.

“What are you wearing to the dance Saturday night?” Liz asked me.

“I didn’t have time to go shopping.  I have a little black dress that I think will work.  When Uncle Bob’s wife died, he gave me her jewelry which includes a string of pearls that will go nicely with that dress.  What about you?”

Before Liz could answer, I heard a voice calling my name.  Behind the line of school buses, I saw my mother standing outside her limousine waving at me.  She was wearing a full length fur coat.  I left Liz and walked over to where she was standing. 

“Jennifer.  I’m so glad to have caught you before you got onto that bus.  I thought it might be a nice treat for you to see my home – where you might be living in the near future?”

“Dad just sent me a text saying he might be late getting home.  How long will it take?”

Mom nodded toward her chauffeur.  “Henry knows all the back roads and short cuts between here and Sewickley Heights.  What do you say, Henry?”

“Ma’am, I can get your daughter back to Mr. Leskovic’s home by 6:00 PM, which should allow her at least an hour to tour the estate.”

“There.  That’s very reasonable.  Now get in and enjoy the ride.  You can text your father that you’ll be there by six.”

Henry opened the door and took my backpack.  I slid across the seat and Mom got in beside me.  Henry closed the door and put my backpack in the trunk before getting into the driver’s seat.  I waved at Liz who had been watching in the distance.  The limo pulled away from the curb and past the line of buses onto the main road.  My mother patted me on the knee and smiled.

“So what’s new with you, Jennifer?”

I told her about the Sweetheart Dance and Jeff, giving her a quick summary of how we met.

“So this boy Jeff is the nephew of some woman that wants to get her claws into your father?”

“No, I don’t think it’s like that.  She’s a high school classmate that simply thought it might be nice to see him and reminisce about high school days.  Only they keep missing each other.”

“Believe me, Jennifer.  It’s never as simple as that.  I’ll bet she has a ring already picked out.”

“Would that be so bad?  I mean, you remarried after the divorce.  I think it would be nice for dad to meet someone that could make him happy.”

“Or break his heart.”  She stared straight ahead.  Henry continued to drive the limousine toward my mother’s house.  I looked out the window as we passed through neighborhoods that I had never seen before.  As we neared our destination, the homes got much larger.  The properties grew to gargantuan proportions separated by fences or stone walls.  They reminded me of the feudal estates we had studied in European history class.  Finally, Henry pulled the limo up to a gate in a forbidding wall.

“So you live in a gated community?”

“Jennifer,” my mother smiled at me.  “We are the community.”

Henry pulled the limo through the gate and I gaped at the huge structure in the distance.  It looked like something out of Downton Abbey.

“This is your . . . house?”  I couldn’t believe anyone I knew lived in something so massive.

“Wait till you see the inside, dear.”  Henry pulled into the circular drive and stopped at the front door.  He got out and opened the door for my mother.  I started to slide across the seat to get out, but Henry held up a hand and shut the door.  Then he came around to the side where I had been sitting and opened the door for me.

“Will you be needing your backpack, ma’am, or do you want to leave it with me?”

“Uh, thank you, Henry.  I don’t expect to be staying that long.  I’ll just leave it with you.”

“Once you see the place, you may never want to leave, dear,” my mother smiled.  The front door opened and a servant – a butler, perhaps, held it open as we walked into the entranceway.  He took our coats.

“Jennifer, this is Mr. Hughes,” my mother nodded towards the butler.

“Will the young Miss be joining you for dinner, ma’am?”

“No, I have to get back, uh, home, sir.”

“It’s Mr. Hughes or just Hughes, Jennifer, not ‘sir.’

“Thank you, ma’am,” Mr. Hughes said.

“Hughes, I’m going to take my daughter on a brief tour of the house.  I think she’ll at least stay for tea and whatever sweets are available.  Let’s say, in the parlor in about a half hour.”

“As you wish, ma’am.”  Mr. Hughes bowed and left us alone in the room. 

The entranceway was probably half the size of our house in Bethel Park.  My mother took me through what I could only describe as a megamansion.  It had a gym, racquetball court, indoor swimming pool, billiard room, two fully stocked libraries, a huge kitchen, five bedrooms, five full bathrooms, four powder rooms, a dining room that could serve 20, a parlor or sitting room, a livingroom, and a gameroom with multiple video gaming systems and a huge television screen.  For some reason as we toured the house, I thought of Doctor Zhivago which I had read last summer.  After the revolution, they will put an entire village in here, I thought.  The bedroom my mother had picked out for me was astounding.  It had an Oriental rug, a beautiful mahogany canopy bed and a gas fireplace.  No sooner had we arrived in the parlor, when Mr. Hughes entered and set down tea and some dainty pastries.

“So what do you think, Jennifer?” Mom asked as Mr. Hughes poured tea into each of our cups.

“It’s amazing, I responded.  I can’t believe there are houses this luxurious.”

“Yes, we love it here.  And of course, you haven’t even seen the outside.  There’s an Olympic sized swimming pool, which is closed right now, a tennis court and a three-hole golf course.  Richard loves to play golf.  He’s planning to put in an 18-hole disc golf course in the spring.  Ten acres is a lot of ground.”

“I’ll say.”  I was silent for a minute, then I looked at my mother.  “I’m sorry.  Seeing this place has left me kind of speechless.”

“I understand completely.  So coming to live here won’t be so painful, will it?”

I forced a smile.  “It would sure be different.”

My mother smiled back.  She nervously tapped her leg and looked at the flames in the gas fireplace.  “Jennifer, I know I haven’t been the best of parents over the past few years.”  She continued to look at the fireplace.  “But I’m really concerned for your safety.  You are a beautiful young woman.  And you’re living with your father in that small house.”

“It’s not so small, Mom.”

“Yes, well.  This is a bit awkward dear, but like I said, I’m only concerned with your safety.  Has your father ever, uh, done anything that made you feel, uh, uncomfortable.”

“You mean embarrass me in front of my friends?  I think every kid at some point feels embarrassed by their parents.”

“No, that’s not exactly what I meant.  Has he ever come into your bedroom uninvited, or walked in when you’re taking a shower, or .  . ..”

“Mother, please!  Whatever you’re suggesting, please stop.  Dad has never done anything like that!"

“You don’t have to protect him.  What about surfing the Internet?  Do you know if he’s looked for pornography on the Internet?”

“Mother, how should I know?  If he has, he’s kept it hidden from me.”  This had gotten way too awkward for me.  “I think I’d better go.”

My mother sighed and put down her tea cup.  “I’m sorry dear.  It’s just my concern for you.  Please don’t be upset with me.”  She picked up a small bell from the tea tray and rang it.  Mr. Hughes appeared.  “Hughes, please tell Henry my daughter is ready to go.”

“Yes ma’am.  I’ll fetch young Miss’s coat.”

I followed Mr. Hughes to the entranceway.  He retrieved my coat.  A few moments later Henry appeared.  My mother came in from the parlor and offered me her hand.

“Thank you for coming out, dear,” she said.  “I enjoyed showing you around.”

I took her hand, and then decided to try a hug.  I felt her grimace.

“Goodbye, mother.”

“Yes, dear.  See you again soon, I hope.” 

I followed Henry out the door to the waiting limousine.  We drove back to Bethel Park in silence.