TABOO TALES(erotica)

Agent Davison came and retrieved us and took us to his office, where we waited for Bethany and her husband to arrive. Eventually here came a knock at the door, and Regan came in followed by two people. As he stepped out of the way, Nia gasped, as did the woman standing there. I was speechless. She looked exactly like mum, her expression, the way she held her head, everything. Nia was half standing, her hand pressed against her lips, and we all stood there in silence. Eventually, Bethany’s husband gently nudged her, and she gave a start, tearing her eyes away from her rapt study of Nia’s features.

Once we were all seated again, Agent Davison introduced us all, and I learned that the man with Bethany was her husband, Corey, Nia’s brother-in-law.

Bethany began by asking us how we’d traced her, never once taking her eyes of Nia, and Nia just sat there transfixed, so I made all the running.

“Your mother, Anh lives in England now. She escaped to Laos after you were stolen, to get away from a police captain, a man named Thuyet. He wanted your mother to pass around among his friends, and he’d decided that he’d had enough of waiting. Mum went to the market one day, and when she came back, you were gone, and so was your father, Vienh. A neighbour smuggled her into Laos after your father’s body was found; he’d been murdered, and you’d disappeared without trace. Your name was Hu’e Vienh Lo, and mum has never forgotten you, and never stopped wanting you back.”

I paused, trying to gauge her reaction, but Bethany’s face remained impassive while I unreeled what we’d been doing over the past few years

“Nia and I first learned about you three years ago, just before Nia went to university. While she studied Law, I’ve been digging around in Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, and Hong Kong, using my connections, and friends, and friends of friends, to try and get a line on you.”

“A little while ago, we caught a break. I work in the Oil industry, and while I was on a survey in Vietnam, I managed to find some records that led me to Laos, then to Hong Kong and a gang of people traffickers. My friend in the Thai Border Force gave me some records and details, which I’m sure Agent Davison here has copies of.”

Special Agent Davison nodded in affirmation.

“The records and information we obtained from Mr. Morrison and his contacts have been invaluable in closing several other cases of this nature here in the US and in Canada.” he asserted. He nodded at me to go on.

“Mum, your mother, my stepmother, has been hoping for news of you for 28 years, and it’s only now, because of the sharing of information between several national and regional law enforcement agencies, that we’ve been able together all the clues that led us here.”

I stopped, because something was wrong here. Bethany looked disinterested, almost hostile, and the way she was looking at Nia wasn’t sisterly at all; quite the opposite.

“Can I ask you something?” she requested, sounding laconic and bored, and I nodded.

“What exactly does this have to do with me?” she asked, looking at Nia, at me, at the FBI agent. Nia looked like she’d been slapped, and I could see from Davison’s expression that this was not how he’d expected this to go.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Warren, I don’t understand…!” he said, looking mystified, and Bethany stood up, looking at Nia and I.

“All this is very interesting, but it’s ancient history and I’m sorry, but really don’t see that it has anything to do with me. Corey, can we go now?” she asked, her husband also looking equally surprised at her tone.

Nia half-rose from her seat, looking at Bethany in something closely akin to shock, while I moved to hold her as she wavered.

“No, please, don’t go, please…!” she murmured, reaching out to Bethany, who looked at her outstretched hand, and looked away, disinterest radiating off her.

“Corey, this is nothing to do with us, the sitter goes home at six, so we have to go!”

“But you’re my sister, don’t you want to…?” began Nia, but Bethany cut her off.

“No I don’t, and I’m sorry, but you’re not my sister. I have no family except my children, I had a mother, and I loved her and she’s gone. Your mother is your mother, not mine; none of this has any bearing on me or my life, so I think you should just please leave me alone. I want no part of you or your family; they’re not my family, and my life works just fine right now without any of you in it. It may have meant something 28 years ago, but you’re 28 years too late, and I have nothing for you, and you have nothing I want. Corey!”

Now I felt like I’d been slapped, but the look on Nia’s sweet face was boring an acid hole in the pit of my stomach.

“Please, you’re my sister! My mother…!” and again Bethany cut across her.

“Your mother missed me so much she wasted no time in replacing me with you, is that what you were going to say? I’ve heard enough of this; this is your issue, not mine, it has nothing to do with me, and I have to go, my kids need me! Corey, we’re leaving!”

Nia was whispering “That’s not true, it’s not true, how can you say that? Please, don’t leave; I looked for you for so long, we all did, please…!

She turned to me, shocked and stunned.

“Jamie, please… don’t… Jamie… please… no …” she whispered, tears filling her eyes and spilling down her cheeks. My girl needed me to make this nightmare not be happening to her, and I knotted-up inside, because I didn’t know how. Bethany resolutely looked away as Nia clung to me, my heart breaking for her as the hurt from Bethany’s rejection etched itself on her face.

I gathered her into me as she started to sob, Bethany’s face still impassive, unconcerned. Her husband looked shocked, an expression almost of distaste on his face as he stared at his wife. Bethany waited for Agent Davison to show her out, and she and Corey left, his look and shrug apologetic as the door closed behind him.

Detective Regan was shocked, confused, and sympathetic.

“I’m really sorry it turned out this way,” he stated, “I’ve never seen a reaction like that before, it caught me completely off-guard. I really thought Mrs. Warren was eager to meet her sister, obviously I was mistaken. I’m so sorry.”

Special Agent Davison came back and said pretty much the same thing. He had no idea what had sparked-off Bethany’s hostile, almost aggressive response to us, to Nia in particular, and to be honest, I didn’t really care. This was the fall I had been trying so desperately to avert for Nia, the thing I had feared most of all, and now I had to try and salvage her from this bloody mess.

She’d spent three years of her life, all her spare time and effort, boundless emotional investment, and she’d been rejected out of hand by the one person in the whole world she wanted so much to find. Bethany had refused to even touch her, and I think that had hurt as much as the outright rejection. Out of nowhere the old aphorism popped into my head; ‘Be careful what you wish for, you may just get it’. Here was the living truth of that.

I was outraged at the callous rudeness and lack of common politeness that woman had shown; what had my Nia ever done to her except search the world over for her? My girl was one step away from hysterics here, and that woman had looked at her like she was a nasty stain on the sidewalk. If anybody richly deserved a slap right now, it was Bethany Warren, I was certain of it.

++++

Friday May 14th

10th & Anza

Corey sat tight-lipped in front of the television, staring blankly and bouncing his keys, a pall of anger and shame surrounding him; anger at Bethany for her callous cruelty, and shame for the way his wife had behaved toward those two kids, who’d done nothing except criss-cross the planet looking for her. They’d looked like such nice kids, they’d tried to reach out to her, and she’d slapped them away, instead spitting bile and bitterness he never knew she had in her, showing a side of her he’d never seen before; he’d always believed Bethany was the sweetest, most compassionate, most loving person he’d ever met, so who was that obnoxious bitch back at the FBI Building?

Bethany was avoiding him, and even the kids had picked up that daddy was in no mood to be trifled with; one look at his face and they’d faded into their rooms; he’d been silent and uncommunicative in the cab back from Golden Gate Avenue, and Bethany knew that he was mad at her; no, correction, he was furious with her. He sat pondering, not seeing the images on the screen, instead seeing again and again the shocked anguish in that young girl’s eyes, in Bethany’s sister’s eyes, reminding himself again that there had been no need for it, she’d lashed out at an innocent target. Right now Corey wasn’t feeling particularly friendly toward his wife; she’d done a mean, cruel and spiteful thing, and he was ashamed of her, and ashamed of himself for watching her do it and not stepping-in to call a halt.Exclusive © content by N(ô)ve/l/Drama.Org.

He came to a decision, stood up, and headed toward the door, bouncing his keys. Bethany stepped in front of him as he fumbled with the door latch.

“Honey, where are you going?” she asked, although she had a fairly good idea.

Corey looked at her levelly. “Please get out of my way Bethany, I have to go out, I have to fix this and I may be a while.” He brushed past her, and yanked the door open, and paused, turning to look back at her.

“Why did you hurt those kids like that, baby? They did nothing to you; nothing at all. They came looking for you, all they wanted to do was see you, so they could tell their mom that her daughter’s alive and well; they were reaching out to you, all you had to do was just smile, give a little back, and walk away; instead you pissed in their faces. I hope you feel proud of yourself, you made that little girl cry for nothing. Who are you, and what have you done with my Bethany? Because the Bethany I married would never have been so cruel or callous. While I’m gone, why don’t you go sit down somewhere and think of a really good reason why you behaved like that, because I can’t!”

Bethany watched him leave, wanting to go with him, not daring to call him back, and writhing inside with shame at the disappointment she knew he was feeling right now.

He was right; those kids had done nothing, and she’d felt a small, mean sense of triumph at lashing out at them to demonstrate just how much she didn’t need them, to drive home that they weren’t her family, in any sense. Bethany knew anything she told herself right now was rationalisation, pure and simple; the truth was, the thought of having another family had made her feel that she’d never really belonged to her mom and dad, but even thinking that had felt deeply disloyal to their memory; they were her parents, and though they’d now passed away, she was afraid of anyone taking her away from them.