SECRETS OF THE PAST
Chapter Twenty
Different Paths
Frank walked up to his parents
and sat with them. Leah sat close to Rose, feeling sad, with tears streaming
down her face. Luckily, she kept her sunglasses on. Rose knew what had gone on,
and put her arm around her. It reminded her of what she had done to Jack not so
long ago. She had hated to hurt him, so she could imagine how Leah felt about
Franklin's betrayal.
The priest made the ashes to
ashes, dust to dust sermon.
Jack saw his mother, Angelina,
come in, and he took her by the hand, moving Franklin down the row.
Franklin glanced at Leah from
time to time throughout the sermon. He kept thinking about how he had hurt her.
He felt so disgusted that he got up and went to smoke a cigarette. That was
when he saw Erica coming toward him.
"Hey, Frank! I thought I
would surprise you and come to the funeral." She hugged him.
"Hey, Erica. I can't see you
now. Leah is here." He pulled away from her.
"Did you tell her?"
Erica asked.
"I did, but she insisted on
coming." He looked at Erica, getting that sudden urge, but then thought of
Leah.
"Aw. Can I get a kiss?"
she asked.
"Sure. But not here. Not
until Leah is gone." He did not want to show his true feelings, so he
fought temptation.
"Okay. I can live with that.
I have a surprise for you. But I will give it to you later. Okay?" She
kissed his cheek and smiled back at him as she left.
"Sure." He winked back.
"I will be at home. Here's
my cell. Call me when it's okay." She ran back to him and gave him a small
piece of paper with her number on it.
"Yeah, I will. Bye,
baby." He smiled and flicked the cigarette.
She glanced back, giving him a
wink.
*****
Leah had seen everything.
Franklin disgusted her.
"Hey, Frank," she said
calmly.
"Leah!" He started
choking on the cigarette smoke, unaware that she had been there the whole time.
"Are you okay, Frank?"
She patted him on the back.
"Yeah," he said, trying
to clear his throat.
"Can you take me home?"
Leah asked, staring at him.
"Sure. Now?" He eased
back, feeling much better.
"No, later." She looked
into his eyes, getting the urge to kiss him, but fought back that thought.
"All right." He started
to walk.
Out of nowhere, Leah got angry
and pushed him to the ground, slapping him and literally kicking his ass. He
got hold of her and pinned her to the ground. He smiled. She kicked him in the
leg to get up, but he wouldn't let up, no matter how hard she hit him. She
started to yell and scream at him, calling him names. He took everything she
could throw at him. He was lucky that she wore no jewelry, or it could have
been worse.
"You done, Leah?" he
asked, not letting her go.
"No. You asshole!" She
spit in his face.
"Come on, Leah. Give it to
me. Give me your best shot," he dared her.
"You would like that, now,
wouldn't you? Franklin, does it turn you on?" she asked, wondering if he
enjoyed holding her down.
"No. I deserve everything I
get, but I do have to admit taking you here, right now, would be only too
easy." He smiled.
"Let me up! You
asshole!" she yelled at him.
When he let her up, she kicked
him in the balls and walked away. She felt sort of proud that she had done
that.
*****
Franklin lay in the grass in
pain, clutching his crotch. He felt like he could hardly breathe.
When Jack saw him, he picked him
up. It turned out that instead of a normal funeral, Angelina had arranged for a
cremation, which was okay with him.
"Franklin, are you all
right?" his father asked.
"Yeah. Leah and I had a
fight. She kicked me." He couldn't believe she had done that.
"Go home and put some ice on
it. It will heal. No sex for at least a day, though," his father warned.
"Sure, Dad. See you at
home." He walked slowly to his car.
"Yeah. See you, son. Take
care of that." His father stayed behind, thanking everyone for attending
the funeral, including Carl Hanratty.
"Will do," Franklin
said.
*****
When Franklin got home, he did as
his dad had said. The mail was in the mailbox, so he picked it up. There was a
letter for his father, something from the military. Curious as he was, he
opened it. It read:
Dear Frank William Abagnale,
Jr.,
Due to your flight experience,
your country is in need of your services. As the major of avionics, it has come
to my attention that you can fly a lot of aircraft with your flight experience
and time served as a Pan Am pilot. Your attention is immediately requested.
Your flight to Iraq is Monday, April 26, 2004. All services will be immediately
provided, as well as salary.
For more information, please
call us as soon as possible.
(505) 555-2423
Sincerely,
Major General Hadden
Frank put the letter down. His
father was going to war. All his pain suddenly disappeared.
As his father walked through the
door, Franklin ran to him and hugged him.
"Frank, what's wrong?"
Jack asked.
"Dad, they're calling you
in. Don't go." Franklin held him tightly.
"Who's calling me,
Franklin?" Jack asked.
Franklin passed him the letter.
Jack sat down to read it. He looked worried. He didn't want to go to war, but
it seemed he had no choice. He got the telephone and called.
"Yeah, hello. I just got
this letter. I'm Frank William Abagnale, Jr.," Jack said.
"Please hold, sir," a
man said.
"Sure." Jack waited for
the confirmation of the letter.
When the officer got back on, he
told him that he would be taking a morning flight at ten AM, and that all
details would be disclosed to him at the meeting.
Jack sat back, thinking that he
wasn't coming back. In fact, he knew it. He was so stressed that he took a
vodka bottle out of the wine cabinet and started to drink.
"Jack, what happened?"
Rose asked.
"I'm going to Iraq. War,
Rose! And I am not coming back," Jack said, drinking the liquor.
"Yes, you are. Don't be
silly. You're an awesome pilot. You can do this. Franklin and I are behind
you." Rose read the letter.
"Thanks. I love you, Rose.
Franklin, I am gonna need you to look over the company while I am gone,"
Jack said, knowing that his son could take care of his estate.
"Sure, Dad. After
graduation, I will work on it full time." He looked at his father,
wondering if he was right that he wasn't coming back.
"Thanks, son. Rose, we need
to tell Robert," Jack said.
Just then, the phone rang.
"Hello?" Jack answered.
"Hi, brother. I called to
tell you I was called to duty." Robert was worried.
"You, too?" Jack
wondered what the hell was going on.
"Yeah. You mean you got one,
too?" Robert asked.
"Yeah," Jack replied.
"Did Franklin?" Robert
asked him.
"No. Not yet," Jack
said.
"You think us Abagnales are
being targeted?" Robert asked him.
"If we are, Robert, I
wouldn't know for what. What are they calling you in for?" Jack wondered,
as if he didn't already know.
"Medic," Robert said.
"Aw. So if you're the medic,
I'm the pilot who's out in the field?" Jack looked at Franklin. He hoped
to God that Franklin didn't have to go. He was only seventeen.
Sure enough, a postman rang the
doorbell with a letter for Franklin. He opened the envelope and knew exactly
what it was.
The Abagnale men were being
called to war, and there was nothing they could do to stop it. Rose's eyes were
full of worry. How could they take her son and her husband away ? Something
shady was going on, and someway, somehow, she would join them.