Pocket of Secrets

Particles of dust floated through the sunbeams that penetrated the attic window slats. Levi watched them for a while before returning to his task of sorting through his Grandparent's attic. He didn't want to be there on such a gorgeous day, he could have been boating with his friends and hitting on Joy. Levi's parents had passed when he was little, his Mother from cancer, his Father killed in prison. His Father's parents had raised him, but they were now gone as well, so the task fell solely on his shoulders.

Levi focused on the boxes in front of him, but there was a trunk in the back corner that kept catching his eye. He could usually avoid temptation, but this trunk seemed to pull him. Levi shrugged and decided he would get it over with so he could refocus. The trunk was old, heavy, and covered in thicker dust than anything else in the attic. In the silence, the creaking of the lid startled Levi for a moment, and then he laughed at himself for being on edge.

Inside the silk-lined trunk there were stacks of yellowed envelopes, tied with tattered ribbons; Levi imagined they were letters from his grandmother to his grandfather during the war. Besides the letters, there were a couple of old cigar boxes full of trinkets, a few of his Grandmother's fancy dresses, wrapped neatly and preserved, his Grandfather's pressed army uniform, and an old wadded up flannel shirt. Levi wondered why the flannel shirt was stuffed in the bottom of a trunk full of such important memories. He began to toss it aside, when he noticed a perfect square outlined on the breast pocket. Reaching into the pocket, he pulled out a fragile looking paper, folded neatly. Unfolding it gently was proving to be more difficult than Levi expected, the paper began to tear, he decided he should take it downstairs in better lighting.

Levi sat at the dining room table, the one they always sat around together during meals and game nights, he smiled at the memories. Extremely carefully, Levi began to lift the corner of the paper, prying the delicate parchment apart. He could see his Grandfather's familiar writing and was more curious than he expected to see what it said. Normally, he would have tossed it into the trash with the other various notes he found, but this one spoke to him before he even read it.

Smoothing the letterhead carefully with his hands, Levi began to read. His hands began shaking and he could feel the blood rushing to his head, making his ears hot. This could not be possible! His Grandfather had written a letter to the chief of police, proving Levi's Father's innocence, but had never sent it! His own son, suffering for years in a prison where he didn't belong and would ultimately die, and he could have freed him! Levi couldn't make sense of it at all and of course, there was no way to ask his Grandfather why he never sent the letter. He was livid and had no outlet for his anger, so Levi began screaming at his deceased Grandfather.

           “How could you? You could have freed him, he could have lived! I could have had my Father!” Hot tears were streaming down his face. “Why? I need answers!” Levi slammed his fists onto the table, causing the paper to shift.

           Levi felt compelled to read the entire letter, even if he could barely see through his tears. He wiped his eyes on his dusty sleeve and took a deep breath. His Grandfather had written:

Dear Chief Riley,

           You have my utmost respect, having served in the same division as me, even fighting in the same war, just a few short years after I came home. I wanted to express this respect prior to letting you know that I know you’ve made a huge mistake in arresting my boy, Dennis. He was with me the night in question and in no way could have been part of the shenanigans that took place with that young lady, Kate. My boy was with myself, his mother, wife, and baby boy all evening at our home on the evening Miss Kate was violated. Now you have my word and that’s what counts between soldiers, so I know you’ll do the right thing and let him go.

           Tell the missus my wife and I said hello and we will see you at church on Sunday.

Respectfully,

George Minor

              Levi couldn’t believe that his Grandfather hadn’t seen fit to send this letter in and make everything right again for their family. His Father could have been there when his Mother was fighting cancer and when she lost the battle, he could have seen Levi graduate high school, he might still be alive! He wanted to rip the paper to shreds, crumble it up and throw it, light it on fire, anything to get rid of it, but something kept him from doing anything just yet.

           The small town of Newbery, where they lived, had been turned upside down the night his Father had been arrested. Levi was too young to remember, only being four years old, but he had been told the story numerous times, and he had seen the newspaper article that his Grandmother had saved. Searching the bookshelf, Levi pulled out the scrapbook to refresh his memory and see if he could find a clue as to why his Grandfather wouldn’t have sent the letter in.

           Arrests were made last evening in the reported rape of our beloved librarian, Miss Kate Winthrop. Police Chief, Warren Riley, brought in Robert Hall and Dennis Minor for questioning and placed them both under arrest within the hour. Miss Kate asks to be left alone at this time and will be recovering in a private room at St. Sebastian Hospital. Police will release more details after further investigation.

           Levi had seen this article too many times, but he thought he may have missed something. There was nothing new, but Levi wondered if there was a follow up article he hadn’t seen. The scrapbook produced nothing new, so Levi decided to look online for more information. His eyes became sore trying to sort through all the online pages for a sixteen year old article in a small Western town, so Levi broke for lunch. After a quick sandwich, he was ready to do more searching. After another forty minutes of dead ends, he came across the article. It was more than a month after the first one was published. Levi began to read.

           Miss Kate, our beloved librarian, has made a full recovery from her attack last November and requests that any questions be directed to the police. The two attackers are being transferred to the state facility to carry out their sentences, the police request that you do not mention their arrests to their families. This is a difficult time for our town and we should support one another.

           That article was no more helpful than the first and Levi was losing hope. He thought about trying to talk to Chief Riley, but he was retired and didn’t like visitors. In one last ditch effort to solve this unsettling family mystery, Levi decided to look up Kate’s information. She was the youngest person at the time that was involved in this mess and Levi thought she may be okay with answering his questions after so many years. He hoped she was listed somewhere with her maiden name or he may never know what happened. When Levi typed in Kate’s name, and unexpected article popped up, dated seven months after the second article he had found.

           Newbery is proud to announce the birth of Miss Kate’s little girl, Hazel Mae. She was born two weeks early, but both mom and baby are doing great! Hazel Mae is 5 lbs. 7 oz. and 19.5 inches long. Miss Kate is not seeing visitors at this time.

           There were two birth announcements that day, Miss Kate’s and Levi’s Mother’s. His little brother, Jeffery, was born on the same day as Miss Kate’s baby! Levi should have a sixteen year old brother, but Levi had no idea that Jeffery existed, and things just kept getting weirder. Where was he? After further digging, he found yet another article about his little brother.

           Newbery is sad to announce the passing of Jeffery Minor, just two weeks after his birth. Please send donations to…

           Levi couldn’t believe his parents or Grandparent’s hadn’t told him about his brother, apparently his family had a lot of secrets he hadn’t been privy to. Levi was beginning to regret looking in the pocket of that stupid flannel shirt. He decided to focus on finding Kate and forget about the betrayal he felt from his deceased family members. 

           Kate was more welcoming to Levi than he had expected, he honestly thought she would reject seeing him. He had found her in the same apartment above the library that she had always lived in. “Hello, Levi, how are you? It must be hard losing your last close relative at such a young age.”

           “Yes, Miss Kate, it’s been proving more difficult than I had imagined.” Levi paused. “I wasn’t sure you’d want to see me, to be honest.”

           A small smile played at the corners of Kate’s mouth. “I can see why you might think that, but I’ve actually been thinking of contacting you.”

           “Really?”

           “Levi, there’s something I’d like to talk to you about, would you like to sit?” Levi sat on the edge of the plush loveseat in her small, tidy living room. Kate continued with a deep sigh, “I’m sure you’ve come looking for more information about the night your Father was arrested. I can tell you everything, but you may not be ready to hear it. It’s up to you.”

           “I think I need to hear it, I’ve only been coming up with more and more questions today, so answers might be nice for a change.”

           “The night your Father was arrested, he had been drinking with his friends and they found me walking home from the store. Your Father was obviously the most inebriated and was very handsy, which was not at all like him. Most of the guys took off, but your Dennis and Robert stayed behind to ‘walk me home’.  I tried to get them to go home, but they didn’t want to leave me alone. They ended up taking me into the alley off Third Street and they took advantage of me. I was horrified and was thinking of calling their wives when your Grandfather showed up. He begged me not to report your Father and said he’d do whatever it took to help me stay quiet. See, your Mother had recently found out she was pregnant with your brother and your Grandfather wanted to protect her and you.” Kate had tears streaming down her face, but was composed. “I was going to keep it to myself, for you and your Mother’s sake, but someone else had already contacted the police and reported them. I decided it was best to let the law handle it.”

           “Miss Kate, I appreciate that you wanted to protect me and my Mother, but if that’s what happened, then you deserved justice for yourself as well. I have a hard time thinking my Father would have done that, especially after finding this letter from my Grandfather.” Levi pulled the delicate paper from his wallet and showed it to Kate. “Of course, I don’t doubt you, it’s just really confusing.”

           Kate took the letter from Levi and patted his hand. “I can understand that, your Father was actually a good man. He made a terrible choice that night and I knew he would regret it as much as I did.” After reading the letter, Kate looked at Levi. “Your Grandfather was also a good man, and as I said, he would do anything to keep your Father from jail. I imagine he couldn’t bring himself to lie to the Sheriff, even for his son.”

           Levi shook his head. “Miss Kate, you are being extremely gracious to my family, even though most in your situation wouldn’t be. I am grateful to you for that, but you have the right to be angry with them.”

           Kate grinned, but her eyes were sad. “What good would that do you or me? Besides, your family is also my daughter’s family.”

           It took a few moments for that to register with Levi. “Wait, your daughter is my Father’s? Are you sure?”

           “I’m very sure; I had a DNA test done after she was born. Your family never knew, the Sheriff did me a favor by getting the sample secretly. I didn’t want to cause more trouble.”

           “This day has been so confusing and overwhelming, but I’m glad you told me.”

           “Levi, if you can handle it, there’s one more thing I’d like to ask of you.”

           “Of course, you’ve been more than wonderful to me and my family.”

           “I would like you to meet my daughter, Hazel…your sister. I have been diagnosed with terminal cancer and would like her to have some family when I’m gone.” Kate took his hand in hers. “I know that’s a lot to ask, but it would mean so much to me, knowing she’s not alone.”

           Levi squeezed her hand and reassured her. “Miss Kate, that is the least I can do for you and my sister. I’d love to get to know her. I don’t have any more family either, so we can be here for each other.”

           “As long as I’m still around, I’d be honored to be your family as well. If you’ll have me.”

           “I wouldn’t have it any other way!” Levi hugged Kate and together they waited on Hazel to come home from school. Levi never would have guessed that a piece of paper, hidden in a pocket, could have affected his life so much. He was glad he had looked in the trunk that morning.