SECRETS OF THE PAST
Chapter Fourteen

Franklin had never met his grandfather. He had heard of him, but not all that much. All he knew was that he had helped his mom and dad through rough times, but he had not known the secrets of the past. His father had a complicated life that he did know about. But what were all of the secrets? What were they keeping from him?

"Frankie!" Rose called.

"Yes, Mom?" Franklin glanced up from his Gameboy.

"Guess who's coming today?" she asked, taking a fresh loaf of bread out of the oven.

"Who?" He was stunned. No one ever came over.

"Your grandpa," Rose said.

"Coolness," Franklin said.

Frankie did not have a friend in the world. He was often a loner. He never took any interest in anyone, not at all.

*****

Jack Abagnale wandered around the house. The last time he had seen his father he was in jail. When Frank got out, he had contacted him, but Jack had never seen him. Somehow, the business kept him busy, and he never had any time at all. He contemplated contacting his father sometimes, but he just was too absorbed in his work.

Rose had noticed that Jack was often busy, even too busy for her and Franklin. She wondered if she would ever get back the Jack Abagnale that she had known long ago.

*****

Franklin went to his room. He had started a collection of things and books from his grandfather's past. That was how he had learned the substitute teacher trick, and his father had had no idea. He was very interested in his grandfather. He had some questions to ask him, and he couldn't wait until he got there.

*****

Rose looked at Jack from time to time. She noticed that he looked kind of weird.

"Jack?" She glanced at him.

"Yeah?" He looked up at her.

"Is anything wrong, honey?" She walked toward him.

"Nah, nothing. Everything is fine," he said. Of course, he was lying.

"Um…when your father comes, be sure that you let him sit in the comfortable seat." She sat by him and patted his knee.

"All right, Rose." He looked at her, and was about to kiss her when the doorbell rang.

"Ah…he's here. Franklin!" Rose yelled.

"Coming, Mom." Franklin raced downstairs and put down the Gameboy.

Rose went to open the door, and there stood Frank Abagnale, Sr.

"Ah…Frank, long time no see." She stepped forward to hug him.

"Sure has been, Rose." He hugged her back.

"Come in," she said.

"Thank you," he replied.

He came in and sat across from Jack.

"Hey, Dad." Jack got up to hug him.

"Hey, Jack." Frank had loved his son since his ex-girlfriend had left him in his care.

"How's Angelina?" Jack asked.

"She's fine. She is doing good. How have you been, my son?" Frank had aged since Jack had last seen him.

"I have been okay. The business is going great," Jack said.

"I know. I have seen how you made a lot of money with your new idea." He was very proud of his son.

"That I have, Papa," he said, looking at Rose and his family.

"So, what was the problem, and who is this young man?" he asked Jack.

Franklin stepped up.

"My name is Franklin Abagnale. Nice to meet you, Grandpa." He shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Franklin. How have you been?" Frank smiled at the young man.

"Good, sir. I have just read your books, and you have done a lot of stuff that was pretty cool," Franklin said, smiling.

"I see," Frank said.

"Last week, I used your substitute teacher thing, and no one had any idea that I wasn't the sub until I made a field trip to go to Los Angeles," he said, sitting near his grandpa.

"Yeah, that never works." He laughed and looked at Jack. "Anyway, Franklin, you have read my books, but have you ever heard the story in person?" Frank asked him.

"Nope. That's what I was counting on you to tell me." Franklin watched and waited for the answers.

"All right. You know, everything in the book was mostly true, but what you don't know is what happened afterwards," Frank began.

"What happened?" Franklin asked.

"Well, the play was good while it lasted, but when they finally caught me, I was transferred from jail to jail, some of which I would never want to go to ever again. So after that, when I finally got transferred to the states, I got an offer to work for the FBI. So, what I encourage you to do is to stay in school and don't play anymore tricks, Franklin," he said.

"Okay, Grandpa. I promise never to do anything like that again," he said, and he meant it.

*****

After that conversation, Franklin never did anything like that again. He got good grades in school and was on the principal's honor roll. Everyone called him Studious Franklin. He hated that sometimes, because in all he wasn't a nerd. His grandpa had led him to the straight path, and he continued to follow that all the way through high school.

In his twelfth grade year, he fell in love with a girl, someone who didn't even notice him. She had beautiful, blonde hair and luscious lips. He saw her when he was sitting in class reading a book. She asked him if he had an extra pen, and he gave her one. That was the only time they spoke.

On his sixteenth birthday, his father had given him a car. Everyone wanted to become his friend that year, but he often said no to everyone who wanted a ride. He only offered rides to the people who had never treated him like dirt.

When he had turned seventeen, everything was going great. He had a car and friends, but no girlfriend. He often missed a female companion.

His friends Fabrizio di Rossi and Tommy Ryan rode together with him. They had fun going places.

One day after school, Fabrizio and Tommy had something else to do, so Frank drove home alone. He had seen the girl he loved and her boyfriend fighting. She had thrown something at him and he had yelled at her, but she had taken off down the road. Her boyfriend was long gone by that time.

Frank decided that this was his chance to meet her. He drove up to her.

"Hey, you need a ride?" he asked.

She turned and saw that it was Franklin.

"Oh, hi, Franklin." She wiped her tears.

"Hi. Would you like a ride?" he asked again.

"Sure. Thank you." She stopped and got into his car.

He opened the door, and she got in.

She sat there quietly.

"What's your name?" he asked. Okay, so he was dumb for not knowing her name in the first place.

"My name is Leah," she said.

"Hello, Leah. You know me, I guess, since you knew my name," he said, feeling stupid.

"Yeah. I know you, Franklin. You're the guy with the coolest car in the school," she said, starting to smile.

"So that's what I am known for," he said.

"That's not all." She smiled.

"Really? What else?" He had to ask.

"The cutest, too," she said, blushing.

"Really? Then how come I don't have a girlfriend yet?" he asked.

"Don't know, Franklin. You must be doing something wrong," she joked with him.

"So, where do you live?" he asked.

"I live a few miles down that way." She pointed down the road.

"Okay, then." He drove her to her house. When they got there, she invited him in.

"Come on. Come in, Franklin," she said.

"All right." He put the car in park and left it in the driveway.

He followed her inside.

"So, where're your parents?" he asked.

"At work, I suppose," she said, knowing that she liked Frankie.

"So you're all alone?" he asked again.

"Pretty much. Come on. There's something I want your help with," she said, leading him to her room.

"All right." He followed her upstairs to her room.

She sat on the bed and took off her shoes.

"There it is." She pointed to the computer sitting there on the desk. "My mom got me a computer for my school work, but a few days ago something went wrong. Think you can fix it?" she asked.

"They don't call me Studious Franklin for nothing." He smiled at her.

He studied the computer for a few seconds, and within thirty minutes, it was up and running in perfect condition.

"Thanks, Frank." She hugged him.

"Is it getting hot in here?" He turned red.

"Why, Mr. Abagnale, don't tell me a girl’s never hugged you," she taunted.

"Of course I have been hugged by a girl before," he said.

"So you have, but have you ever kissed a girl?" She got close to him and kissed him.

He kissed her back.

She led him with her to the bed.

He fell with her.

"Leah, I don't think we can do this," he said.

"Why not?" she asked.

"Because you have a boyfriend," he said, sitting up.

"Nonsense, Frank. We broke up today. I gave him back his ring." She stared at him.

She started to kiss him again. He pulled back.

"Leah, as much as I would like this, I can't do this now," he said, feeling like an idiot.

"And why not, Frank? Is something wrong? Am I being too forward?" she asked.

"It's not you. It's true that I like you, but I can't love you like this," he said.

"Can you tell me why you are pulling back so much, Frank? I know you like me," she said, touching his thigh.

"I never slept with a girl before," he admitted, feeling inexperienced.

"It's all right, Frank. Neither have I," she admitted to him.

"You never had sex before?" he asked.

"Not ever. Not even with my boyfriend. In fact, that's why we broke up," she said.

"It's all right. You don't have to tell me the details," he said.

"No, Frank. I want to." She trusted him. "You see, Frank, this is a little embarrassing, but have you ever…you know…touched yourself?" she asked.

"I won't lie, and yes, I have," he admitted.

"Well, I have, too, and that's why my boyfriend was mad. He said that I would rather touch myself than be with him. He said that I was gay," she admitted to him, feeling a bit awkward.

"No way. He said that?" Franklin was astonished.

"Yeah. But it's not true. I wanted a guy to be with me, just not him. I wanted a guy with no experience, so we could learn together. I know I sound stupid for wanting that, but that's me," she said.

"I see. So, what do you wanna do?" he asked.

"We can play a game," she said.

"What game?" he asked.

"How about spin the bottle?" she asked.

"Okay," Frank agreed. "You first," he said.

She spun it, and it pointed at her.

"Okay. That didn't work," she said.

She looked at him, sat beside him, and started to kiss him again.

He kissed her back this time. He lay on the floor with her.

"Touch me, Frank." She took his hand, laying it on her breast.

He touched her breast and rubbed her.

His touch was gentle. She knew he was the right guy from the start to make love to her. Within a few minutes, she had him right where she wanted him. He was ready for her, and by gosh, she was ready, too. When he first put himself inside her, he thought that they needed protection. She explained to him that she was on the Pill. He didn't know much about it, but he used a condom anyway. He loved the feeling from start to finish, and so did she. At that moment, he thought that this was even better than stealing money. He would rather have Leah any day than steal.

By the time they were through, she rested on the bed with him.

"Frank, thank you," Leah said.

"You don't have to thank me, Leah," he said, kissing her shoulder.

"Yes, I do. Frank, you're just the way I wanted my first time to be. I don't know if I am being too forward with you, Frank, but I love you," she said.

"I love you, too." He was so caught up in the moment that he said it, and of course he meant it, but it was too soon to tell if it was love or just the sex talking.

When it came time to leave, he gave her his number and his cell phone number.

He kissed her good-bye, and she kissed him so much that he didn't want to leave.

*****

When he arrived home late, Jack suspected something was up.

"Hey, Frank?" Jack asked.

"Hey, Dad. What's up?" Frank was in a happy mood.

"Grandpa is sick. He had a heart attack a few hours ago. I have been trying to contact you, but your cell phone must have been off." Jack was worried about him. "Never turn it off again. We were worried about you," Jack said.

"Sorry, Dad. I was a little preoccupied." He smiled.

"What's her name?" Jack asked.

"Gosh, Dad. How do you do that?" Frank asked.

"I just know. What's her name?" He smiled at his son, knowing that he had become a man already.

"Her name is Leah, and by God, Dad, I think I am in love with her," Frank told him.

"I may or may not be wrong, but son, the first time always hooks you. Wait until you know you love her to tell her that," Jack warned him.

"I don't have to, Dad. I know she is the one." Frank was excited. He felt he knew for sure.

"Come on. We can talk more about it at the hospital." Jack grabbed his keys, and they left.

"Dad, one question. Where's Mom?" Frank asked in the car.

"She's already over there. She left when she got the call. She told me to wait for you." Jack got into the car.

"Weird. I would have thought she would have waited for me instead of you." Frank thought it was very weird.

"Yeah, I know." Jack knew that something between him and Rose had been wrong for a while, so why was she so anxious to get to the hospital without him? He had no idea, but something was up.

Chapter Fifteen
Stories