Reclamation

by Sophie L Osborne

  On the drive to Avery’s home, there was a wreck involving two cars that held up the flow of vehicles along that route; this delayed her arrival by some twenty-something minutes. Laurie sat in the creeping, traffic, wondering what turn her life was going to take this time. She felt an uneasy pang in her chest at the thought of screwing things up for Petro-Val – maybe she was indeed putting too much on Avery too soon. Although he was understanding and compassionate, she knew it didn’t give her the right to subject him to her problems – especially not the nature of her problems. Laurie’s thoughts wavered, as she questioned the turn her relationship with Avery made; it was far from a professional one. It made her sick, thinking of herself as, a rich man’s cheap fling and the possibility of failure – all because she’d lost sight of her mission, and what she truly wanted, when she first met Avery at St. John’s Riding Club.

  She sat behind the wheel and leaned her head against the headrest. She pressed the power button on the stereo and then selected a random music channel. The lyrics of, Duran Duran, “Come Undone” was playing…

  Bryan’s Verdict

  There was a strange vehicle parked in the driveway; she guessed that it was, Detective Gates. She texted Avery, informing him of her arrival while she sat in the Cruiser awhile, checking emails on her iPhone.

  The front door opened a few seconds later; Avery came out to greet her. He was wearing a pair of black and white, color-block, board shorts with a white, T-shirt. Her heart raced when he came into view. From her natural response to seeing him – she knew that her misguided emotions were taking her down a precarious path – she was falling fast for, Mark.

  “Hey lady, what have you been up to? I tried calling you…” Avery said, as he opened the driver’s door of the vehicle, then, leaned in kissing her as though she’d been gone for weeks.

  “Wow, hey you – how’ve you been – missed me that much?” Laurie asked, trying not to appear too star struck, as she quieted the entrancing presence, he had on her.

  “Heck – yeah, I missed ya! Bryan’s here, we’ve been waiting on you, my lady to discuss the details of everything.” Avery informed her, with his usual charming, swagger. Until then, she hadn’t noticed, but he sounded a bit like Jessie, they had a similar twang; Tex-Russ, she joked, except, his Russian accent was much less detectable than his brother’s.

  “Yeah, sorry – got caught up in traffic…there was an accident just off the main highway. Um, don’t want to keep ya’ll waiting any longer,” she said, looking at Avery, as a flood of emotions besieged her mind. She wanted to break it to him there and then – telling him that she was little Emmie and that they knew each other from many years ago! But the timing wasn’t right – and she was too nervous given the chaos and suspense in their midst.

  “Sure, let’s get this started – besides, we’ve got some catching up to do,” he said, with a flirtatious smile.

  “Ha!! You have nooo idea dude!! Absolutely no idea – boy, do we have some catching up to do!!” she said, with an unmistakable seriousness, rooted in her tone.

  “Hmm – oookay – I take it the realtor had a lot to fill you in on?” he questioned.

  “Uh – that and much, much more than I was – first, we need to get this meeting with Bryan over with and then we’ll move on to juicier things,” she said.

  “Okay – I like juicy!” Avery teased, as they both entered the house. Bryan was in the living room when Laurie and Avery walked in; he sprang to his feet and in a monotone voice, greeted her.

  “Laurie,” he said, nodding briefly.

  “Hello Bryan, good to see you!” Laurie didn’t think him to have much of an outgoing personality based on either, his inability or, disinterest to make small talk. But, she didn’t blame him if his opinion of her was unfavorable given the circumstances.

  Bryan was a thin, tall, militant looking young man. He appeared very composed, and confident. He didn’t care to engage in small talk, and was rather stoic in Laurie and Avery’s company that evening.

  “Well, folks, shall we get down to the nitty-gritty of things?” They looked at each other and gave their nods of approval for Bryan to continue.

  “When my team and I scoured the property – your property, there was no evidence that there was any type of break-in, or burglary, which you made perfectly clear to me before we took the case…everything on the building seemed to be intact – so – strike one!” he said in an unannounced, loud voice that demanded everyone’s attention.

  “I’m sorry? Okay, what about the flower pod – the footprint?” she queried.

  “Hold on, hold on – I’ll get there in a minute,” he said, holding his hand up, as though to silence her. “As for the footprint – it didn’t produce a positive match to yours, and there was no DNA found in the dirt so that lead was pretty much dead in the water…strike two!” he said, once more, catching them by surprise. “Avery told me, there’s a tree at the back of your house, with the exact flower pods – so it’s commonsense where it came from.”

  “Yes, it is, but the question is, how it got there,” Laurie said.

  “But.” He said, then paused, tapping a pen on the coffee table as he looked from Avery to Laurie, adding to the building suspense. “There was something rather interesting – very, very interesting, and I think that you’ll find this quite compelling, Laurie. I’ll let you be the judge of this one, since I firmly believe, only you hold the truth to this one,” he said, looking at her, in an almost accusing manner.

  Laurie held her breath, awaiting the news that Bryan was soon to unveil. She thought his approach with presenting the information to be, very crass, and it annoyed her intensely. “Laurie my dear,” he paused abruptly, examining the cuticles on his right hand. He then compared them to the ones on his left hand – an awkward scoff came upon his face. “I hate cheap pens! Got ink all over my darn fingernails!” he exclaimed.

  Laurie folded her arms taking a seat back on the sofa. Her eyebrows arched, her nostrils flared, and the muscles in her jaws tightened. Avery looked on in silence at his friend’s dramatic performance. “When Sterling Labs conducted DNA analysis on the hair strand, comparing it, with yours, they found that the hair did not belong to you,” Bryan informed.

  They looked at each other, not saying a word.

  “However, there is a twist to this – the cells from the hair strands contained identical mitochondrial-DNA, linking you, Mizz Gallagher to that other person.”

  “What?!!” The news was explosive – his words made every hair on her body stand on end.

  “You’ve got to be shitting me!!” Avery blurted out, in amazement.

  “No buddy – I’m not,” he said, looking at Avery as he paced the living room. “Simply put, you, Laurie might be the daughter, or granddaughter of whoever that strand of hair belongs to; you and the owner of that, strange hair, share the same maternal ancestor. So. I suggest that you try to recall who might’ve been in your home prior to the incident – because they left a strand behind as evidence…questions? Anyone?” he asked, with a smirk on his face.

  His summation of the case was a bombshell to them – especially, Laurie. She was extremely doubtful and confused by what the lab results from the strange hair revealed. Bryan’s approach only added to her frustrations and made him appear to be lacking in diligence.

  What if he misplaced the strand in question? What if he collected two of mine instead? Laurie questioned silently.

  “Listen, Bryan, I respect your findings and the time you took to help me, I really do – but – there has not been another female in my home since I took ownership of the building. I’ve had my place cleaned professionally – by old, Hispanic men. Those results are not accurate – no way. How are those results even credible? I happen to know a thing or two about DNA testing, and it’s almost impossible to extract that type of DNA for genealogical purposes from a strand of hair!” Laurie said, firmly, to the skeptical detective, who stood before her.

  “Tell that to the lab, my d
ear – I happen to know a thing or two about DNA testing myself. So… although it is difficult to do so with a strand of hair – we can agree that saying, it’s impossible to determine is utter foolishness – it is possible to get this information if both follicles are intact. In this case, the mtDNA was identical to yours, my dear!” he said.

  “I’d prefer Ms. Gallagher, or Laurie please,” she demanded. “Also – I think you should know that I’m an orphan, so there is no conceivable way that the hair strand could’ve belonged to my mother – or sister – or auntie – or grandma. I didn’t mention that part to you,” Laurie said, as she shook her head in dismay.

  “Mizz. Gallagher. These tests were performed by the lab – not me – I’m doing my job – which is letting you know about the findings. Whether you choose to believe them or not, has nothing to do with me – I did my part. Now, you are more than welcome to re-submit the samples to another lab if you’re suspicious.” Bryan added.

  Laurie was livid – she felt as though she’d lost all control of the situation. Again, she was powerless over an issue that impacted her life in a very significant way. Just like the findings of the review board, that turned her life upside-down, taking everything she had, and was so damn sure about. She was not about to let it happen again – not after working so hard, rebuilding her life, establishing herself as a whole, new, person.

  “Well, thanks for your flagrant honesty, and time Bryan – please excuse me, and have a good evening.” Laurie pardoned herself and retired to the guest suite for the evening.

  Avery was speechless.

  How could it possibly be that the foreign hair strand contained the same maternal DNA as Laurie’s? There was only one plausible explanation: the hair strand belonged to someone who was in the chateau – and this someone was related to her – who else could’ve left it? Not the ghost.

  Avery hoped that Bryan would’ve had news affirming that there was a possible break-in or, Laurie would’ve admitted to the possibility of being intoxicated that night she saw what she did. It gave him a sick feeling in his stomach, as he didn’t want to accept, what she claimed to have seen.

  Bryan obviously wasn’t convinced that Laurie didn’t have company – family, at her place, who left that strand of hair behind; this was enough evidence to make him stick to his own theory. Bryan was a realist and resorted to the conclusion that Laurie was trying to woo Avery by playing some twisted game. She was full of fluff and he couldn’t take her seriously.

  “Avery, thanks, man. I should get going – we’re done here. Here are the keys to Ms. Gallagher’s home, please pass them on to her, let her know that it is safe to move in.” He paused for a brief moment, with a questioning look in his eyes. “Are the two of you – related by any chance? Bryan asked.

  “Huh? No, no, no of course not dude!” Avery exclaimed. His furrowed brows indicated his displeasure with Bryan’s foolish assumption. He didn’t care to mention that her last name was from a previous marriage to his cousin.

  “Okay, well, you know where to find me if you need help bro – take care,” Bryan said, sounding irate, hinting his annoyance with having to take his time, to address a situation that appeared to be a total set up.

  “I should be the one thanking you, don’t even mention it.” Avery replied, graciously.

  Bryan shook Avery’s hand and gave him a pat on the back as he headed out the front door. From the short exchange of words, it was evident that Bryan didn’t want to get involved further, and extended his help, merely as a onetime courtesy to Avery.

  Avery sauntered down the hallway to the guest suite. He knocked on the closed door – then waited, but, there was no answer. He knocked again. Avery didn’t know what he was going to say to her. He thought it was about time he came clean with some confessions of his own…

  Who Knew We’d Meet Again My Beloved Friend

  When Laurie opened the door, Avery was standing before her with a troubled look – unlike his usual, cheerful self.

  “Hey, come in…” she said. He hesitated a smidgen before entering.

  “Here are your keys Laurie, Bryan forgot to give them to you. Look, I’m so sorry about how things turned out – I truly thought he was going to get to the root of the problem – but he isn’t interested, and to be very honest with you – he thought the entire investigation was a waste of his time…” Avery explained, as he closed the door behind him.

  “That’s fine, you don’t need to apologize. I’m thankful for his time, but let’s face it – the guy’s an idiot!” Laurie said, with a scowl.

  “He’s a bit raw – but, that’s Bryan. I’m not saying that he couldn’t be a bit more sensitive though, but – he’s gone now, and that’s that,” he added.

  “I don’t care for, ‘sensitive’ from strangers – he has no tact – that’s that. I won’t be needing his help again,” she said.

  “Mmm…” Avery muttered, raising his eyebrows, not adding to the topic. “Maternal DNA? How? From what source? That’s some heavy stuff. How the heck do we begin to dispute that? We can’t argue with science!” Avery surmised, embroiled in confusion by the conclusions from the lab results.

  “But we can question their handling of the specimens – they probably used two of my hair strands – simple! They might’ve misplaced the original sample in question! Ooh, I can’t stand incompetence!” Laurie said, bumping her fist against her palm, expressing anger and displeasure with the presumably sloppy work Bryan and his crew conducted.

  “Hey – easy, don’t be upset…just, let it be – obviously if you say that no other long-haired person had been in your home besides, yourself – then, you’re probably right; there must’ve been some sort of oversight with the lab and the samples.” Avery reassured her.

  Avery exhaled deeply, exhausted from applying logic to every lead they’ve had thus far, meticulously analyzing a situation that was baseless and highly illogical; it was the greatest irony. “Okay –So. What have you been up to today? Seems like there has been a lot going on, on your end?” Avery prodded.

  “Yes, I met Myrna today, and she introduced me to this fascinating, elderly gentleman. Gosh, get this! He’s 118 years old! He lived across the street from my chateau for some ninety something years, and was able to give me some compelling information about my house – and the family who lived there…it’s just mind blowing. We most likely figured out who the ghost I saw was!! I wish you were there to hear it all!” she exclaimed, full of excitement, as thoughts of her riveting conversation with Mr. Pierre energized her once more.

  “No way!!” he said, looking at her, “118 years old – was he a ghost too?” Avery asked, cracking up. “Uh-oh…too soon? Yikes – I’m in trouble huh?

  Yep…I’m in trouble,” he said, acting like he was about to be chided for his silly comments.

  “Don’t worry – you weren’t remotely funny. That was pretty lame …” Laurie shot back, smiling at him.

  “Oh!! Oh!!! Oh!!! – lame, huh?” he asked, as her rebuttal sent him into a spastic, laughter.

  “Yes. L.A.M.E.” she teased.

  “Okay, let’s start over from the beginning. Diddly!! That’s amazing – well what diddly-did you find out dear. Diddly, diddly?” Avery asked, putting on his best impersonation of the fictitious Simpson’s character, Ned Flanders.

  “Oh – just stop, stop! You’re such a clown, oh – you!!” she exclaimed, as they both enjoyed a bellyful of laughter.

  “You know you can’t get enough of my lameness, my lady.” He said winking at her

  “Umm…” she responded, stifling her urge to blush.

  They shared a moment that grounded and brought them closer. They were able to laugh in a time where humor seemed to be a world away, and that was refreshing to Laurie.

  Avery admired her, wearing that blue and green, floral, chiffon dress that danced to and fro, brushing against her athletic thighs, with every strut she took. Everything about her was glorious – she was a masterpiece in his eyes.

&nb
sp; “Well, before we get to that, there are other issues that I want to bring to your attention – the juicy stuff. Sitting here with all these things I have to tell you is driving me nuts,” she said, appearing flustered, then, taking a more serious tone. “I don’t know where to start,”

  “Well, hold your peace no more, my lady – lay it on me,” he replied.

  “Lay it on you, huh? Okay. I’m going to take you back – way back, to when you were in kindergarten.” She paused, awaiting his response.

  “Okay. Alright – what for?” he asked.

  Her sudden change in demeanor got his attention – she was shaking. He was curious about her reason for taking him back to that specific period of his childhood.

  “Can you recall having a friend – a little, blonde girl – with long, curly hair? You used to put flowers in her hair – little pink flowers – and you’d call her your princess?” she paused, and could tell that Avery was trying hard to recall the events as she relayed them to him.

  “I, I – I dunno…” he stammered, appearing confused.

  “You defended her on the playground against older kids when she’d knock over their little, stick houses– you kissed her under the bench in the church garden during recess …do you remember that little girl?” Laurie asked, standing before him as she took him back in time, describing things that only, he and that little girl would know.

  His face grew pale, from utter disbelief – it was a look that one gets when met with a moment of awakening. Avery lowered his chin, squinted his eyes, and laughed in a low tone – that hinted he was thinking: get outta here! without saying those words. “W-What? Are you telling me that – are you that little girl? But how? That can’t be!” he said, shaking his head.

  “Yes – I am that little girl, Avery…” she said, overcome by joy and relief to have finally found Mark, after so many years of questioning his sudden disappearance. Her eyes welled over, she couldn’t fight the emotions that came with revealing the news. It was a major defining moment in her life since she was able to put her questions about Mark to rest – twenty-something years later. He was standing before her, now, a grown man, safe and sound just as she’d hoped for.