by P.J. Lowry
Lizzy was more than halfway through the list and while that excited her, she still had some big items on the list that were vague and not going to be easy to decipher without getting help from someone who knew Hayden a bit more than she did. When the read the item that was next, the first question to answer was simple: who was Jimmy? Was he a performer, someone that he admired musically? It was a good guess since one of his earlier musical references was his Mom’s favourite Beatle. She walked over to the CD rack and started to look through it. When the moved in together, they had put together their music collection into one huge rack, a gesture of their lives coming together. She never put his music away since his passing, so all of Hayden’s favourite CDs were still up there. She scanned over the pile, and nothing was coming up. No artists named Jimmy, except for Hendrix and Lizzy was pretty sure he wasn’t talking about him. She was ready to give up and frustration was really getting to her. “Where the hell am I going to find Jimmy?”
“Last I heard, he was still in Vegas.” A voice called out from the kitchen.
Lizzy turned to realize that Gale had the answer. “Were you planning to fill me in soon with this information or were you going to wait and see me make a bigger mess with the CD collection?”
"I was getting a snack, sorry.” She said as she came over and sat down on the couch. “I’m about ninety percent sure the Jimmy that Hayden wanted to see a show of was Jimmy Blackjack. He went by a different name here though: James Sheppard.”
Lizzy had never heard of him. “What’s the relation?”
“Hayden’s little brother.” Gale answered.
“I thought David was his only brother?” Lizzy said somewhat confused. “I never heard of this Jimmy. He wasn’t even at our wedding!”
“Jimmy hasn’t been home in over ten years, which is the reason why you’ve never met him. He had a big falling out with the entire family which resulted in his outcast.” Gale looked uncomfortable talking about it, but realized that Lizzy needed all the details before she started looking for Jimmy.
“What could he have done that made them all so mad at him?” Lizzy asked.
“He came out of the closet.” Gale replied.
“Oh my.” Lizzy said out loud as a vital piece of the puzzle was finally revealed.
“Exactly. You and I are cool about that, this is the 21sst Century but how do you think Hayden’s deeply Irish Catholic family responded to the news?”
“Not good?” Lizzy guessed.
“That’s an understatement.” Gale answered. “His father literally tossed him and everything he owned out of the house. His mother removed every family photo he was in off the walls and pretty much erased his existence from the house.”
“That’s awful.” Lizzy said as this clearly wasn’t the Sheppard family’s finest hour. In her eyes they had clearly overreacted, but they were raised differently and it was something they were not prepared to handle at the time. She wiped away a few tears and decided to get back on track. “What kind of show does Jimmy do that Hayden wanted to see?”
“Magic.” Gale answered.
“Magic?” Lizzy repeated.
“Yes, and I mean like David Copperfield kind of magic.” Gale said as she playfully waved her hands around, mockingly. “Last I heard Jimmy still had a show at a Casino and performs like four or five times a week.”
“Wow, that's kind of cool.” Lizzy admitted as she paced around her mini balcony. “Is it possible that going to this show was Hayden’s way of mending the bridge with his outcast brother?"
“Very possible,” Gale reluctantly said. “We'll have to find him first. I'll hit the phones and check to see if he's still in Sin City.”
Turns out when Gale made her inquiry, it was revealed that the man know to the strip as Jimmy Blackjack was no longer performing. He was replaced by some new music gigs that were slowly taking over the shows there in the city so Jimmy Blackjack quietly retired from the magic entertainment industry to pursue something more stable. It took a lot of searching and investigating to find out what that was, but they eventually found the address of one James Sheppard who was working out of a real estate firm in Sacramento, California. He had left the bright lights in the big city close to four years ago, settling down in his own way. So while there were no more shows, Lizzy felt it was necessary to fly out to California and meet the in-law she never knew existed. The idea of not talking to anyone in Hayden's family for reasons such as this was completely unacceptable. Based on the century she was living in, Lizzy considered such pettiness to be beneath her. While it wasn't her place to tell any members of Hayden's family what to do, she herself decided that she was going to be one member of the family that would visit Jimmy and get to know him for who he was rather than what everyone else wanted him to be. So she booked an immediate flight to California, and flew out there by herself. This was one encounter she didn't want to have company for out of a fear that he would feel overpowered or double teamed. When she arrived in California, the weather was living up to its reputation. The sun was out, it was very humid and if there was a beach within reach she could have sat out there for some rays and have some her time. But she was not there for that kind of trip, not yet at least. She was determined to keep on track for the real reason she was there and not get distracted. If she had time after talking to Jimmy, she would consider doing the sites after business was taken care of. She checked into a hotel that was very close to the address she had gotten, and unpacked. It was an hour after she finished settling into her room that she decided to make the trip, eager to meet up with Jimmy and meet the person no one even talked to her about. She hailed a cab and immediately hopped inside.
“Where to, lady?” the cabbie asked.
She gave him the address and it took about ten minutes to get out the area where her recently discovered brother-in-law was staying. Once at the location, she paid the cabbie and he took off even though she didn't know how well she would be received. She had a little faith that Jimmy would be much like the rest of her in-laws, pleasant and eager to talk. She was dropped off in a really nice suburb of the city, and the house she was walking up to was pretty posh with the white picket fence and all the fixings. Lizzy was quite impressed as she walked up to the door and when she got there, she took a deep breath and knocked.
A few moments later, a young man only a few years older than Hayden came to answer. She could tell immediately it was Jimmy as his resemblance to Hayden was evident. Not identical, but similar features that clearly told her this was her brother-in-law. He looked at her and paused before finally asked. "Can I help you?"
“Yes.” Lizzy quietly answered, “Are you Jimmy Sheppard?”
He paused there for a moment. “I haven't used that name in a while.”
“You still go by Jimmy Blackjack?” she retorted.
“Heavens no!” Jimmy roared with a loud giggle, “I don't use that one anymore either. I'm sorry, who are you?”
“I'm Elizabeth Sheppard.” Lizzy said as she held out a hand, “I’m proud to say that we are related by marriage.”
Jimmy's face immediately lit up with shock. "My goodness, which one of those studs did you hook up with dear?"
“Hayden.” Lizzy quickly answered.
“Ahh, the big fireman!” Jimmy replied with a cheeky smile. “So how is the big lug doing these days?”
Lizzy put her hand up to her face. It was one thing to not talk to someone but it turns out no one wanted to pick up the phone to even tell him that his brother had died. She still loved them, but her opinion of the Sheppard family had hit an all time low at that moment. She had begun to cry, something that Jimmy noticed immediately.
“Oh my goodness dear. Are you all right?” he softly asked.
“They didn't tell you,” Lizzy said, stunned. “I can't believe they didn't tell you.”
It was that moment when Jimmy realized that she had come alone. “My gosh, hun. What happened to Hayden?” He could tell it was something bad by the lo
ok on her face.
“Can we talk inside?” Lizzy asked in return.
“I need to know!” Jimmy loudly snapped back. Deep down inside she could tell that he seemed to already know but wanted her to confirm it out of the slimmest chances it was not the worst case scenario. One of his brothers had died and no one wanted to be the one to call California to inform his little brother. Then again, it did take Lizzy a while to find his location and number but it wouldn’t have been a difficult task for a cop like David could do. That little detail meant he was going to get an earful from Lizzy when she went home.
“He died several months ago.” Lizzy answered. She walked up and gave him a hug and held him tightly.
Jimmy was crying as well. “How did it happen?”
“It was huge industrial fire. He died a hero and prevented a lot of other people and fellow firemen from dying that day." She kept hugging him and whispered in his ear. “I didn’t know you existed. If I had, I would have made the call that day. I am so sorry no one told you. He was your brother and you deserved to know.”
“Thank you. That means a lot to me.” Jimmy said as he shared the embrace. Regardless of what someone does, family is family. Lizzy was appalled at how Jimmy had been treated and wanted to make sure this was not repeated by her. Before she could say anything another man came to the door to see what was going on. He likely heard Jimmy when he yelled out. “I'm sorry, Gerry. I'll come back to table in a moment.”
“Who's here?” Gerry quietly asked.
“Oh, I'm sorry.” Jimmy apologized as he wiped away a tear. “This is my Elizabeth... I guess she’s my sister!”
“Sister-in-law actually.” Lizzy corrected.
“Hey, that's pretty much the same!” Jimmy said. “Where are my manners? Would you like to join us for dinner? We just started.”
“I'm not sure...” Lizzy started.
“No, it’s all right.” Gerry said with a smile. “I would love a chance to speak with any member of Jimmy's family. I'd be happy to set another plate.”
“You are not interrupting anything.” Jimmy said with a warm smile. “This is Gerry, my partner. We live here together.”
“Well in that case, thank you, I'd love to join you for dinner.” Lizzy said with as smile as she followed the two men into the house. “I just got off a plane a few hours ago, and I'm famished!”
"You picked a great night to show up, sis." Jimmy said as he closed the door behind him. “Gerry is an amazing cook and tonight he made Pad Thai.”
“Oh, I love that dish.” Lizzy responded with excitement. As she followed them in, she looked up at the walls and saw the pictures that were never displayed at the Sheppard house. Photographs of Jimmy with his brothers, with his Mom and Dad, but the photos only went up to a certain age. She slowly looked at them as she walked down the hall, as it was the evidence that backed up the story Gale had told her about the missing brother and how his existence was erased because of how he chose to life his life. They sat in the dining room and talked for hours, with Jimmy sharing some stories about Hayden that she had never heard before and it was so great to hear things about her husband from a fresh new source.
"So what made you want to come out here and see us?” Jimmy asked as they were finishing their meal.
“It wasn’t my idea actually.” Lizzy decided to hold nothing back and told them about the list, and the things that Hayden himself wanted to do before he passed on. She pulled out the photocopy from her pocket and passed it to Jimmy. He scanned through and then saw one that popped out at him.
“See one of my shows?” He said with a giggle. “How old is this list? I haven’t performed in forever.”
“I guess Hayden didn’t know you had retired, but he knew you were performing.” Lizzy said with a warm smile. “I guess he wanted to come down and see how well you were doing.”
"This is so romantic!” Gerry said with a gushing smile. “You’re doing all these things for Hayden but how are you going to see a show?”
“I guess Jimmy could come out of retirement for one night, right?” Lizzy said as she looked over at Jimmy.
Jimmy looked back at the two people staring at him, with the hopes he would do the right thing. Gerry had never seen him perform so he was just as excited about it as Lizzy. Given the situation and the new family member in the house, he agreed to come out of retirement for one night only, but only for an audience of two. Jimmy never did any tricks to big or spectacular since he was never on a formal stage, but each trick still managed to impress his small audience. He still didn’t disappoint as the few tricks he did do wowed both Lizzy and Gerry as they clapped and enjoyed every illusion performed. It was the best thing she had seen in a while, and was amazed that it was Hayden’s brother who was the person doing all these neat things.
After the show, Jimmy had some very unique things to tell while having tea and goodies. Some stories she had never heard of before but Lizzy could tell that despite his exile, he still loved his family very much; every one of them. Jimmy even called in sick the next day so that he could spend the whole day with his new sister. They had a great time, but Jimmy needed to get back to his life so Lizzy needed to head back home. He drove her to the airport, and gave her a big hug after helping her with her luggage.
“It was such a pleasure to meet you, Elizabeth.” Jimmy told her.
“The pleasure was mine.” Lizzy said as she returned the hug. “Now you listen up. If you ever need a place to stay when you come home, you are always welcome to crash at my place. Are we clear on that?”
"Yes, and I really appreciate that.” Jimmy answered.
After one more hug from her newly discovered brother, Lizzy went into the airport and flew back to the city and back to her life. She spoke with Gale about what had happened, but for an entire week, she never spoke to a single member of the Sheppard family. She was still upset with the discovery of Jimmy but wasn’t silent forever. Lizzy realized that if she was ever going to help Jimmy eventually come back home, she would have to be there to talk the Sheppard family into welcoming him home. It started a few months later by talking to Mr. Sheppard first, telling him that she went to visit Jimmy in California. Despite his feelings about his youngest son’s lifestyle, Mr. Sheppard still wanted to know if he was all right, doing well wherever he was. It was a start, and eventually Jimmy would come home thanks to Lizzy and her constant talks with them all. It was a homecoming that was long overdue, but it happened almost a year after she first met Jimmy. Lizzy was the first to give Jimmy a big hug as he stepped back into the home that he had long left behind. Everyone followed her lead and it made for a very warm and overdue reunion. Jimmy was most happy about the fact that his family not only took him back, but they accepted him for who he was and not what they wanted him to be. He could truly be himself at home for the first time in his life, which made it well worth the wait.
