For Ever

Chapter 1: We Are Family

The old man sat in his chair staring deeply into the black and white photo in his hand. He seemed to be completely lost in a distant memory. The world no longer existed. Only his thoughts of the past. A time long gone but never forgotten. The young lady in the picture was very pretty. Her name was Molly, and he could still hear her beautiful voice in his head. Her skin was smooth as silk. Her eyes were so bold you could almost see the color blue although the picture had no color. He could see it. He really didn’t need the picture. He could see her in his head as if she was still in front of him. Her hair was blond. She looked intelligent, educated, smart. Her smile was contagious, bring a smile to anyone who see her. However, the old man was not smiling. His face dropped into a frown and a single tear began to fall from his eye and down his left cheek. It rolled off his cheek and onto the piece of paper on his desk on which he was just writing. The tear put a stain on the paper. Then another tear fell and another after that.

“Argh!” he screams. Drying his eyes with his sleeve, he balled up the paper and starts all over. “Dickens!”, He calls. “Get me another sheet of paper. And have you found them? Have you found any of them yet?”

“Yes sir. We have 5 of them.”

For many years he had been know as a mean old man. People either feared him or hated him. But he felt that it was time to change all that. He was trying. He was trying hard to change.

“Oh great. Sorry for screaming. You’ve been good to me all of these years. Please, you write them for me. My hands are too weak now. Write to Lana first.”

--

Sally’s family moved across the street from mine. The moment our eyes met; the tension could be cut with a knife. We said not a single word to each other and as far as I was concerned, that was way too much. Our parents, however, became the best of friends almost right away. They were invited to dinner the first night they moved onto the street. After that, it became a normal thing. They would have dinner at our house twice a week; 3 times a week if we didn’t eat at their house twice a week. “Y’all kids go play”, was the standard code for “Let us have some adult time.” I couldn’t stand the sight of that girl.

I didn’t like Sally Green. She didn’t like Becky Davis. Becky didn’t like me. The 3 of us met in Summer Camp back in 1985 and we were determined to ruin each other’s lives. Although I wouldn’t let her know now, I still laugh a little when I think back to when I cut off all her hair while she was sleeping. That was funny. I would like to tell you that by the end of camp, we were all best friends. But that did not happen. Having her live close enough for me to see her face every day was not going to help.

Later that same year, Becky moved down the street. Much to my surprise, I walked into the house, one day, to see the smiling face of that little brat. “Hay Lana,” my mother called, “This is Becky. She’s the new Wiz Kid. She’s 10 years old and will be starting High School this fall. Isn’t that great! You get to show her around.” With every ounce of strength and endurance I could muster, I forced a smile on my face that almost looked real. “Just wonderful!”, I said. My parents were too involved with their new friends, the Davis’s, to notice the look of disgust on both our faces. I did not try to hide it.

School, that year, was even worse. I had my group of friends. They each had theirs. Just like in Summer Camp, we were all determined to ruin each other’s lives. Stink bombs. Tacks, glue, or paint in chairs. Laxatives in chocolate milk. We did it all. But school officials watched us closer than camp counsels. We often ended up in detention. This led to us being grounded, which led to more attacks on each other. The cycle seemed endless.

More trouble started one day while I was babysitting Thomas Kindle. Sally told everybody that I had a child by Joe Brown, a boy that lives not too far from me. It took a bunch of pure idiots to believe such a stupid story. Joe was 2 years younger than me, and Thomas was 3 years younger than him. So when would this alleged affair have happened? When we were 5 and 3 years old? But once a rumor like that is started, it’s kind of hard to squash. The reputation was already set. To added to the injury, he did look like both of us.

As time went on, they were able to tell that the 3 of us didn’t get along well. They would try to force us to hang out together, which would always end up with somebody getting hurt. Not badly. Just a little. Well, there was that one time when Becky had to be rushed to the hospital, but that’s a different story.

Things started to change when I received a letter in the mail. The envelope said that it was from something called the Reunion Foundation. I had no idea what it was about. I did think it was on some high-quality paper if nothing else. Even the envelope was fancy. This is the letter I received.

To: Lana Prince

From: Forest Everest

Dear Lana:

Chances are you have never heard of me. My name is Forest Everest, and I am your Great-Great Grandfather. It’s my fault you never heard of me, and I wish to make things right before I die. Before I can do that, I need to let you know a little about myself. I need to let you know the crimes I committed. The wrongs I need to right. You see, I am 123 years old and I’m not sure how many days I have left.

Your Great-Great Grandmother was a very beautiful woman named Molly Singer. I fell in love with her, and we were married. Molly boar me 3 wonderful children including your Great-Grandmother, Nikka. Durning this time, my business was growing. I became a very wealthy man. With great wealth comes the attraction of other women. Your Great-Grandmother was 20 years old when Molly left me. She felt that I was a little too friendly with a young lady named Lorreta Pickman. When she divorced me, I transferred all my money into a “corporate” account so that she couldn’t touch any of it. I then married Lorreta, a lady the same age as Nikka. After that the entire family stopped talking to me. Me, being the stubborn man I was, I let them all go. One of the biggest mistakes I ever made.

Lorreta gave me 2 children. They didn’t like me from the day they were born. I continued to make more money and to treat others around me like they were far beneath me. This further alienated me from everybody. They didn’t care that I had money. They would have paid me money to get away from me. Lorreta had grandchildren when I married Holly Mann, a woman 20 years younger than her. Again, everybody left me. She was in it all for the money. Why else would a 20-year-old marry a 77-year-old. She probably expected me to die at any moment. Anyway, she gave me 2 children and left when the youngest was 5. I sued her for taking my children away without telling me.

This is how my life was. People would come into my life, and I would chase them away. There were brothers and sisters out there that didn’t know each other. They didn’t even want to get to know each other. It was all my fault. 7 families with the same blood running through their veins and I separated them. From that moment on, I would surround myself with things. People no longer interested me. As time went on, I realized how lonely I was. If I could go back in time and undo the damage I caused, I would. I would pay to see the families reunited.

My dear, I’ve included you in my will. Please have your parents bring you to my home in Greenstone. I’ve enclosed a card with the address.

Your Great-Great Grandfather:

Forest Everest

The first thing I did after reading it was show it to my mother. The moment she read the first line she put it down. “Wow!”, she said, “Old For Ever is still alive.”

“Forever?”, said Josephus Green.

“For-Ever. 2 words. That’s what my parents use to call my Great-Grandfather.”

“I just find that strange. That’s what they called my great-great grandfather. Forever. They said that the old bag would live forever. The wicked always seems to.”

“He was pretty rich, but he didn’t like people. Bad things happened everywhere he went.”

“Wow! Both of us have a relative called Forever. Be it one word or two, that’s amazing.”

“Well, his name was Forest …”

“Forest Everest! Wow. We’re like cousins.”

This whole scene went right over my head. The thought of Sally being my cousin would have killed me.

“So, Mom, are you going to take me to collect whatever he’s leaving me. It could be a ton of money.”

“No Way!”, she screamed. “There is no way in the world I’d let that man near my daughter. I don’t want you to even see that demon.”

I’d never seen her so adamant about anything. “OK”, I said. “I just thought we might get some money.”

“When the source is pure evil, not all money is worth it. Even if it’s millions.”

I really didn’t think too much about it after that. I didn’t think it was real anyway. That is until a few days later when Sally Green had a similar envelope. I thought it was mine.

“What are you doing with my stuff.”

“What are you talking about. This is mine. It’s from my great-great-great grandfather.”

“Let me guess. He’s 123 years old and wants to see you before he dies.”

“Yes! Wait! How did you know?”

“I got the same letter.”

“Did your parents tell you how much of a jerk he was.”

“Yes. He’s my great-great grandfather.”

“Wow! That make us cousins or something.”

I wanted to punch her in the face for even thinking such a thing. But at that moment the conversation between our parents finally hit me.

“I don’t like to admit it, but you’re right.”

While this did not make us friends yet, it did bring us a little closer. On top of that, another surprise was knocking at the door.

“Hay y’all.” My mother called, “Becky is at the door.”

I started to ask what she wanted. I didn’t want to see that little pest. I know Sally wouldn’t. But before I could form my mouth to speak, we both saw the same envelope in her hand.

“You got a letter from Forest Everest?”, I asked.

“Yes. How did you know?”

“Both of us have one.”

This was starting to get crazy.

“He said,” Becky continued, “He’s trying to get his children together, starting with 5 of the youngest.”

“Five!” Sally said, “You mean there are 2 more. Who are they?”

“Mine came with a family tree. You won’t believe what names I found on it. Thomas Kindle and Joe Brown.”

My face was frozen in shock.

“So that’s why they look like you.”, Sally said.

“I want to go see him.”, Becky said, “But my parents only talk about how mean this man was.”

“If we all want to go see him”, I said, “we first have to start being nice to each other. I have a plan.”

I must say, my parents were rather shocked the first time I invited Sally to the house without them telling me to. I told her that it was a school assignment that we had to work on together. Little by little we started hanging out more. Our parents couldn’t be happier. Thomas and Joe even joined in on the group.

“That’s so cute”, said Mrs. Kindle. “All the cousins together. It’s amazing to find out that we’re all related. And through that nut at that.”

“OK!” said Becky, “What’s the plan?”

“Well, we need to lie to our parents. I’ll tell my parents I’m going to your house. You can tell yours you’re going to Sally. Sally can tell hers she’s coming to mine.”

“There’s a problem with that.” Becky said. “Our parents talk to each other every day. They will know we’re not with each other.”

“You’re right.”

“What can we do?”

“Ms. Collins!” Sally says. Under her breath at first. We heard her, but because she didn’t speak up, we ignored her.

Marry Collins was a young teachers assistance at school. She was required to do at least 1 year of assisting before she became a teacher herself. She was very nice. We enjoyed having her around. But as far as we were concerned, she was a teacher.

“I know.”, I said, “We could pretend we’re going on a weekend field trip with the school.”

“They’ll call the school.”

“We make up permission slips.”

“Ms. Collins!” She said louder.

“Yes! If they sign the slip, there will be no need to call.”

“MS. COLLINS!”, she screams. “She can help.”

“She’s a teacher. Why would she help?”, I asked.

“Ms. Marry Collins. Daughter of Moses Collins and Gladys Collins-Everest. Gladys Collins-Everest, Daughter of Forest Everest. She’s already willing to help.”

It was set. Ms. Collins would sponsor a field trip. We’d be going on a weekend camping trip. There would be a permission slip and everything. She would be listed as the contact. The parents would be the wiser. Thomas and Joe would be coming also. They could enjoy the trip.

Everything was going as planned. The slips were signed. We took them to Marry Collins. “I just want to let you know”, Marry said, “I did meet him once when I was a kid. I don’t even know if he’d remember me. But tell him I said hello when you see him.”

“Why don’t you come with us. If you drive, we’d get there and back quicker.”

“I can’t. I have my own reasons. But tell me this. Why are you doing it? Are you just trying to get some money?”

We all thought for a moment. We talked amongst ourselves. We all came up with the same answer. I’m the one who spoke.

“We’re doing it for Ever.”