That Mystery Man

THAT MYSTERY MAN

           Dorothy rushed home in her red, VW Bug, speeding through yellow lights, accelerating, braking, listening to random songs on the radio. Her blond hair was frizzy and messy. “Who is this man?” she asked aloud. This photo cannot be real, she thought. She loved the coat that she had just bought for twenty dollars at the secondhand shop she frequented, and there had to be a logical explanation for what she had found in the pocket. She mostly liked this coat, because it was retro and seemed like the kind of coat her mother would have liked. It was like a ski jacket with lots of extra pockets. She missed her mother dreadfully after losing her the previous year.

           Dorothy pulled into her garage, rushed to her bedroom with the old, wool, faded, navy blue coat, and pulled the photo out of the pocket. She took a deep breath and stared at it. She was relieved that her children were at school and her husband at work. She was on the verge of hyperventilating. She needed time to make sense out of this. She stared at it. It was a black and white photo of her mother, smiling, wearing a floral blouse, a skirt, her hair short and wavy. Her right arm held tight to the shoulders of a tall, dark haired, handsome man. He was wearing a sweater, and khaki slacks, and was holding her mother, his arm wrapped around her back. Dorothy gasped when she noticed her mother’s left hand and saw a big, diamond ring, and a shining gold ring. She flipped the photo over and realized it was dated April 2, 1961. This was two weeks before she was born. Her mother’s stomach appeared to be a little bloated, and her mother had told her that she only gained seven pounds while pregnant with her. At this time, Doctors used to tell mothers not to gain more than 10-15 pounds. Hmmmm, she thought, maybe this was a friend of her father’s or a relative she had never met.

She went though each of the pockets, hoping for some clues. She looked at the photo again and noticed the way that this man and her mother were looking at each other. In was unmistakable, they were in love. Their eyes were locked, their smiles were wide, and natural.  Maybe she should just show it to her father, but what if it harmed him in some way. What if she just had a lover, but those were not the same rings her mother wore. She couldn’t have been married to both men. Or could she? She studied the background more intensely. They were standing in a grassy yard, there was a pool behind them. They had never had a pool. She had never seen her mother looking that happy.

Dorothy’s father, Adam Bryan, sat in his Senior Assisted Living Home, with lots of time and little activity. The highlight of his existence was his daughter Dorothy’s visits and visits from his daughter Margaret. He was so tired of thinking about the emotional scars that had been left decades ago, but all of the girls wanted him to do genetic testing with him for a genealogy website. This was something he would love to do, but they would all learn that he was a fraud. Waves of guilt went through him. He had pleaded with Susan, his wife and talked until he was blue in the face about their secret, and he had always wanted the girls to know. But she told him that it would just dig up the past for her, bring sorrow to the children, and disconnect him. She told him that if he ever mentioned it to anyone, she would make him suffer. He had wondered if it would all end up in suffering anyway, but she was still traumatized from her past with Joseph. She was still going to therapy and having nightmares after thirty years. And the children had always been so sensitive and vulnerable. He didn’t want to rock the boat.

Adam looked around his sleepy room at the crème color paint chipping in places, the rug worn where his wheelchair led to the door, the photos of Susan and his children. Darn it, he thought, why do these DNA tests have to be all over the place. He had always thought that his children deserved to know the truth, but so many years of lying had gone by. He secretly hoped that he would pass away before the truth came out and they learned that he was a fraud. No, he had to tell them.

Dorothy made up her mind. She was going to show the photo to her older sister Margaret. She called her and arranged to make dinner for her sister’s family. He sister had one son named Jeffrey, who had swim practice until 5:30 each day. He was a junior in High School and had already been recruited by Yale when he finished High School. Dorothy had twin girls, age twelve, who were also swimming stars on their junior team. But Dorothy and Margaret had always hated to swim. Dorothy suffered debilitating panic attacks when she saw pools, and she had no idea why. The Doctors couldn’t figure it out, she had become speechless in hypnotherapy when the Doctor brought up swimming.  So, she just tried to stay away from pools.

Dorothy examined the photo again. He mother looked beautiful, and the man was very handsome and build. Who are you, she thought, Who?

After a simple meal of meatloaf, potatoes, and collard greens, the children settled down with a movie. Dorothy asked her sister to come see the new curtains in her room.

“These aren’t new curtains!” exclaimed Margaret. He big, blue, suspicious eyes looked around the room. She had their mother’s dark, wavy hair, but she was unusually tall.

“Margaret, I know I don’t have new curtains. I need to show you something that was in the coat pocket of a coat that I bought at Second Chance this week.”

She brought the coat out of the closet and placed it on her bed.

“Why, why that was mom’s coat!”

“What?””

“Yes, she rarely wore it, because it is so casual, but I took it to Second Chance myself. “

Dorothy’s jaw dropped. “Well did you empty the pockets?”

“Probably not. She just had so many items that she never wore, so I didn’t think she had anything in the pockets.”

Dorothy removed the photo from the pocket and handed it to Margaret. Margaret’s expression showed her confusion. “What? Who is this? What is with the rings? Where and when was this?”

“It was 1961, three weeks before I was born. You have never seen this man? I don’t know what to do with this.”

“Its mom alright. Maybe she had a short marriage before she met dad?

“But it was right before I was born!”

“OK,” said Margaret with authority. We will take it to dad tomorrow. And we’ll bring the DNA tests with us. Something is wrong with this picture.”

“Oh Margaret, I don’t want to take it to dad. He’s so fragile and sweet. If mom was cheating on him, I don’t want him to know,” said Dorothy.

“Well would you rather never know? Dad may not be here much longer. I want to know, I want answers.” Margaret had always been the bully of the family. “And if anyone knows anything about this, it’s dad.”

The next morning, the sisters arrived at their father’s home to find him in navy blue slacks, a vest that Barbara had knit, and slippers.

“Girls, I’m not sure that I want to do the DNA test. I have lived a long life without knowing things, and it really is not that important.”

“Dad,” said Margaret, “We have a question for you. We were apprehensive to ask, but it is important to us. We apologize if we are being selfish, but we need to know something.”

“Well, ask away girls. I am tough despite my fragile form.”

Dorothy opened her wallet and removed the little photo. “Dad, I found this in the coat pocket of one of mom’s old coats. We need some answers. It was taken in April of 1961 shortly before I was born.” She handed the photo to her father.

Adam looked down at the photo, his entire body tensed, his eyes became wide. He sat silently for what seemed like a long time. He finally spoke.

“Girls, I have wanted to tell you the truth for so long. Your dear mother was afraid to look back. This is your father.”

The girls looked shocked, their hearts sinking. What did this mean?

Adam continued. “Your father died shortly before Margaret was born in 1963. You were there, mom was there, it was a tragic accident. Your father won the silver medal and several bronze medals in the Olympics. You were a very happy family, and your father met your mother at Yale. I was a news reporter for the New York Times when I started interviewing him. My ex-wife and I spent time with your parents, and I became your God Father Dorothy. After he died, I started my sports magazine. Your dad had just won a swim championship in Australia, and you were all driving back to your hotel. You were on a high speed road when one of the tires blew out. Your father was killed instantly, and the rest of you didn’t have a scratch on you. I doubt you remember, since you were so traumatized. Your mother was crushed, I was crushed. He was such a good man, such a great father.”

A tear fell from Adam’s eye. “I did everything I could to help your mother. She was so afraid for all of you. We took you to doctors, we treated you like Queens, and the only thing that happened was that you became terrified of pools. You had just seen your dad win a big race in a big pool. So, maybe there was the association of pools and then darkness. My wife fell for someone else and divorced me somewhere in there.

The sisters were crying.

“I’m sorry we didn’t tell you. I’m sorry. Your mother just couldn’t look back and relive what had happened and did not want to bring you down. I married your mother after a year and became your father. I have wanted to tell you so many times. But I listened to your mother. You have produced some excellent swimmers, and now you can do the DNA Test and get in touch with your real father’s relatives if you want to.

“That’s just so sad, dad. Poor mom. Poor everyone. We are going to find our relatives. I wonder if they have ever looked for us,” said Margaret.

“Thank you for telling us the truth Dad. Its heavy. I can see why mom couldn’t look back. I kind of wish we had known, but there is nothing we could have done, ”said Dorothy. “You will always be our dad.”

“Well, I feel relieved that it is out. I love you girls. You have made my life worth living. If you will excuse me now, it is time for my nap. I will be talking to you soon. I still have your father’s memorabilia, front page headlines, letters, more photos, and so forth. Why don’t you come by on Wednesday, and we will take a look at it.

“Thank you. We will see you then. Love you. “