“How
is one supposed to ...you know react, or...or respond the shock of it is one
thing but the...the I don’t even know the word ford for it”
Here
is what had happened. Ralph after twenty years of his seemingly “normal” life
had found out that he was in fact adopted.
“The
worst part of it is to keep it a secret for 20 freaking years. I get not
wanting to tell a kid like the concepts to difficult to grasp and all but a
twenty year old... I mean I had the right to know when I was ten or twelve...Okay
maybe fifteen it is a pretty hard hitting fact to ones identity and well
basically existence.
A
warm summer breeze blew over the two as they lay on their back at the edge of
the cliff, feet hanging several feet above the ground. Adele continued to pluck
out on the dried grass of the land and twist it between her fingers. She gazed
at the light blue sky as the delicate clouds glided by. The view was interrupted
by the intermittent appearance of Ralph’s hands that were aiding as gestures
blatantly displaying his discontent.
“I
mean here I am making big plans for my future charting out every course of
action trying to make my “parents” proud and all only to find out that they’re
not really my parents at all. What does all this mean? Where do I stand?”
Adele
now turned her gaze sideways. Red blazing hair, Light freckled skin, this boy
by whose side she grew up and had known forever. “Right here, beside me” she
replied as she sat up. She said it so he would smile. She loved to see him
smile. The way his eyes shrunk as the rest of the face was just invaded by the
smile. She knew that it would make him smile.
He
knew she didn’t mean it.
“It
doesn’t mean a thing you know” she continued “nobody knows who they are, nobody
knows where they stand. Yes when you have a family it gives a place to start
from but that still remains just the beginning. Where you go from there is up
to you, entirely. Being with family is what it means to us. Whether it’s a
place we want to keep going back to or wish we never have to go back to it
still us as individuals. You have a family Ralph, a mother and a father who
love you very much. That’s why they really never saw the need to tell you. You
always were a part of them and they a part of you. They could have told you
earlier but at this moment of your life you are ready to face the world on your
own as a young man. They know how important they are to you and why it means so
much that you make them proud. This is why they are sending you into the world
with no strings. If you believe that you don’t owe them anything you can follow
heart with the least consideration of what happens to them or you can come to
terms with the idea that your heart simply looks to make them happy.”
“Are
you justifying them” Ralph enquired
“Tell
me I’m wrong” Adele replied quickly
He
stared hard at her trying to come up with something, anything. He hated how she
was right always. Her eyes were strong and determined and the rest of her body
seemed to sway with the breeze.
“You’re
not. You never are. But I am late” Ralph said looking at his watch.
“Dinner
at Victoria’s parents” he said as he sprang to his feet and dusted off his
trousers.
“Good
luck” she smiled and said in a shaky voice.
As
he walked away she sat with her body turned watching him make his way.
“Hey
Ralph” she shouted behind him shading her eyes from the sun.
He
threw his hands up in the air gesturing to know what she wanted to say.
“Are
you going to go look for them?”
“Who?”
“Your
real parents?”
Ralph
sighed. Then placed his hands on his hips and asked “why would you bring that
up just as I was leaving?”
“Because
I know it’s troubling you...”
Adele
stood up and walked towards him. Placed one hand on his shoulder and said “and
because I want to see you again tomorrow and because I love you and because I’m
sorry.”
They
both stared at each other.
The
sun was fast setting in the west. The cliff in the east blazing golden with
every last rays it could catch. In that sun Ralph walked away hastily to
Victoria’s and Adele walked home still staring at the sky feeling the breeze,
watching the birds and Smiling.
