Lessons Learned

Maurice, Marguerite and Andreas stared at their parents in shocked silence. Then in one simultaneous outbreak, the three of them began to talk at once,

"This can't be happening." Andreas replied shaking his head. He pointed at his father,

"YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HERE!!" He screamed.

"Why Do You Look Like That?!?!" Marguerite demanded

Maurice turned to Momma and asked accusingly, "Is This Some Kind of Joke?"

Momma and Daddy stood quietly beside each other and stared silently at my three siblings in tense silence. Momma turned to Maurice and replied,

"Of course not!!."

Maurice narrowed his eyes and replied, "Then who is this man and why does he look like that?" Maurice demanded.

"He's your father Maurice." Momma replied.

"LIAR!!!!!" Maurice screamed.

"WHO IS THIS MAN?" He demanded.

"He's Your Father!!!" Momma repeated.

Maurice shook his head in disbelief,

"NO, You're A Fucking Liar!!" Maurice accused.

MY FATHER IS DEAD!!!!

Marguerite fell to her seat and dropped her head between her legs. She began to sob openly, slightly hyperventilating with each sob. Andreas turned away and sobbed quietly. Tears flowed down Momma's eyes. She stepped forward with her hand out; Maurice backed away. She dropped her hand and replied softly,

"Darling, I know that this is a shock to you. And I also know that I ....." Sr tugged on Mother's arm. She looked up and gazed lovingly at her husband and gave a smile of reassurance.

"We have a lot of explaining to do." Mother continued. "But know that we do love you and everything we've done; we did it because we love you."

"BULLSHIT!!!"

"You're an evil Bitch who wouldn't know love if it hit her in the face!!!" Maurice spat out.

"Watch your mouth son." Sr replied darkly.

Maurice looked at Sr with narrowed eyes and stepped towards him. Sr stepped towards his son. The two men. Stared at each other face to face. Everyone turned their attention to the two men.

"You have no right to call me son. I'm not you're son. You don't know me and THIS doesn't concern you." Maurice replied through clenched teeth.

"And that my son is where you're wrong. Everything you say and do I have a right to. I made you and I can break you."

Maurice had no reply. He stood there in angry silence. Sr stepped aside and looked at all of his children,

"Now your Mother and I understand that you're upset and we know that we have a lot of explaining to do. And those explanations will come. But right now our main concern is Angela. My baby girl is fighting for her life. When she wakes up we need to be a united front." Sr replied.

Marguerite stood, looked into her father's eyes with pained one's of her own and replied,

"How dare you? How dare you speak her name like you even give a fuck about her. Hell, about any of us."

"I do care Marguerite. More then you know." Sr. replied.

"How can you say that? You allowed us, your children to believe that you were dead for over 10 years. We mourned you for the better part of those ten years, and for what? What Daddy? I'll tell you for what, not a goddamn thing. Because while we were mourning you, you was on a long-term vacation somewhere." Marguerite replied.

"Marguerite, where I was, was not a long term vacation I assure you." Sr. replied.

"Then where the hell have you been?" Andreas piped in.

Sr turned to his son and replied,"Dre everything will be explained in due time. I promise you that."

"Dad that's not enou......"

"Wait a minute. Just wait a goddamn minute." Maurice interrupted.

Everybody turned to Maurice. Maurice looked to his siblings one after the other.

"Are you telling me that you two believe this shit? Dad is dead, this is just some man that mom hired to freak us out and try to control us with. Don't fall for her foolishness. This man is not our father. Our father is DEAD!!"Maurice reiterated.

Sr stepped back to face his son, looked him straight in the eye and replied,

"Maurice the night you thought I died I told you something specific. I told you the location and the secret combination to the safe that held all of my bonds and investments. No one else, not even your mother new this information. I gave it to you to continue the dream that we started. I'm going to write that information down and then you can tell me yourself if I'm your father or not."

Sr dipped into his pocket, took out a small piece of paper, asked mother for a pen and then wrote a few figures down on the paper. He folded it and passed it to his son.

Maurice took the paper, opened it and read its contents. His eyes widened, he looked up at his father and shook his head.

"How did you know this? Who told you this?"

"No one told me anything. I created those figures just for you son. You know that." Sr replied.

Maurice shook his head in disbelief. Sr extended his hand to touch Maurice's shoulder; Maurice stepped away,

"Stay away from me!!" Maurice demanded.

Sr brought hands up in surrender and replied,

"Son, I need you to calm down. We can't work this out if you're upset."

Maurice continued to back away, "You want me to calm down? You're supposed to be dead. But yet here you are standing here as if the last few years never happened. As if we didn't sit here and mourn you. So tell me, what am I supposed to do about this, Hell what are WE supposed to do about this?" Maurice asked as he gestured toward his other siblings.

"And let's not forget about your youngest child." Maurice continued.

"Angela has always been on my mind; as have You, Marguerite and Andreas. My children are the most important thing in my life." Sr replied.

"Are you serious?" Andreas, who before now had been watching the events come to pass silently, replied.

"Of course I am Dre. All the things that your Mother and I have done we're don't to benifit you, your brother and sisters."

"In the words of my brother, BULLSHIT!!!"

"ANDREAS!!!" Momma exclaimed.

"Don't talk to your father like that." She continued.

Andreas glared at Momma and replied,

"Really? This man has apparently faked his death. But while we're sitting here pissed as hell, you're holding on to him like he's your lifeline. It's almost like you expected this, like you knew he was coming back. Did you?"

Mother stood silently with an indignant expression on her face.

"Is that true Mother? Have you known that Daddy' been alive the whole time?" Marguerite asked softly.

"Darling, this is a time for rejoicing. Your Father is home. We should be happy!! " Momma replied.

"That's not answering the question Mom. What part did you h ve in this lunacy? How long have you known that Dad was alive?" Andreas demanded.

Mother narrowed her eyes at Andreas and replied,

"I don't know Andreas, maybe around the same time you started lusting and later sleeping with the town slut." Mother fired back.

Marguerite turned to Andreas, "What?!?!"

"What the hell is she talking about?" Marguerite asked.

Sr squeezed his wife's elbow. She looked up and they turned their heads away from the angry looks of their children.

Momma whispered to Dad and asked, "What?"

"This is not the time for this." he replied in a whisper.

"They have been trying my patience every since we got here. I know we said we would be kind. But enough is enough." Momma hissed.

Momma turned back around and collided with the angry eyes of Andreas. Neither responded to the other's accusation. By this time Maurice was seated with his head in his hands. Everyone either sat or stood in a mix of shocked or angry silence. Finally the Doctor came out from surgery to tell my family the results of my surgery.

"Ahem. Are you all here for Ms Angela Monroe?" He asked.

Everyone immediately turned their attention to the Doctor. Mother answered,

"Yes we are Doctor. We're her parents. These are her brothers, sister and boyfriend. How is our daughter?". She asked.

"She's fine." Dr Brewer responded.

"It was a little touch and go for awhille; but she will be just fine. We will need for her to stay in the hospital for a few days of observation and she will need 4-6 weeks of rest but other then that, I expect for her to make a full recovery."

"Can we see her doctor?" Marguerite asked.

"She hasn't awoken yet from the procedure. Sometimes that happens. The body needs time to recuperate. But her vitals are good."

"Is it normal doctor that she hasn't woken up yet?" Mother asked.

"Yes. The severity of her injury is the cause. Her body needs the rest. If you would like to see her I suggest you do so. But please keep the noise level down. Any type of stress could cause a relapse."

"Yes Doctor." Everyone replied simultaneously.

"Who will Ms Monroe be staying with while she recovers?" Dr Brewer continued.

Before Momma and Daddy could speak, Shane quickly stood and replied,

"She'll be staying with me."

Doctor Brewer nodded, "Please follow me to my office so that I can give you the proper instructions on how to take care of Ms Monroe.". Shane got up and followed the doctor to his office.

When both men were out of sight, Momma looked angrily at her husband and replied,

"Who the hell does he think he is? He's not taking Angela home with him. That's the bottom line."

Maurice looked at our mother and replied,"Oh Mother please. Affter the shit the both of you pulled, do you really think that either of us would allow you access to her while Angela is healing? Well let me answer that for you, NOT A CHANCE!! I'm goin to make it a priority to make sure that Angela doesn't even LOOK at your house while she's recovering."

"She's OUR daughter Maurice. You don't have any rights to her. Her recovery is our responsibility. Not yours or Shane's, OURS!!" Momma exclaimed.

"Where Angela wants to stay during her recovery is her decision Mother; Not yours. Now Angela has gone through a great trauma. She doesn't need this added stress." Marguerite replied.

"Sorry to break it to you sis, but stress has already been added. Look at what we have here: Our father, whom we presumed dead for the last ten years, has actually been alive this whole time. And our mother, who knew about our still living father, has been lying to all of us for the last ten years and to Angela her whole life. So sorry sweetie, we're already screwed." Andreas replied.

"I think its time we get this over with. Angela needs to know the truth and she shouldn't be kept in the dark any longer." Maurice replied as be began to walk towards my hospital room. Andreas, Marguerite and Ian quickly followed suit.

"So tell me Andreas, how much of the truth are YOU going to tell your sister?" Momma asked while my three sibling were within ear shot.

Maurice and Andreas stopped in midstride. Marguerite and Ian were unaware that the two had stopped; so in their midstride they almost collided into my brothers.

Andreas turned around and glared at our mother with a dangerously calm expression.

"You really don't want to test me lady. I have the means to really fuck your shit up." He hissed.

"ANDREAS STAND DOWN!!" Sr roared.

"You will not talk to your mother like that." Sr continued.

Andreas turned to his father and replied, "You have no right to say anything to us. We've sat here and mourned over you for ten long years and then you come in here preaching about family and unity as if those ten hellish years never happened. Well they did. Both of you fucked up. Both of you knew how hard we all would and did take you're death and you still went along with your fucked up plan. You say you love Angela and she's your number one priority? Then why in the hell did you include her in your bullshit. You have literally scarred her for life. But don't worry about it you won't get the chance to do it again. After she wakes up and gets firsthand witness of your little freak show; I will make damn sure that you will not go near her without permissin and that either Shane or one of us takes care of her while she's recovering. Trust and believe that."

"Andreas if I have to get a court order, I will. She is OUR daughter. Her needs are our responsibility. I can't express this to you enough." Mother replied.

"Well Mother we will let Angela decide what she wants to do." Andreas replied.

My siblings turned around and walked to my hospital room. By the time they got to my room. Shane was in my room talking with the doctor. I was still asleep. My siblings flocked around my bedside and gazed at my sleeping form. Maurice turned to the doctor and asked,

"Is it normal for her to look this way? She looks lifeless." Maurice replied.

"Your sister has gone through a very traumatic surgery. Her body just needs to heal. But she will be fine. Once the drugs wear off she should be waking up. As I told Mr Morrison here, Ms Monroe was shot in the pelvis and it is now in a fractured state. Once she wakes up; she willl be in a lot of pain and will need physical therapy." The doctor replied.

"I was talking to Dr. Brewer and informed him that Angela's care will be divided between the four of us. He gave me contact numbers for a good physical therapy center as well as for a nurse if need be." Shane replied.

"I'm sure that between the four of us we can make sure that Angela gets all the care she needs...."

"That is not your concern." A deep voice interceded.

Everyone including the doctor turned and saw my parents at the door.

Everyone stood in silence. The doctor looked back in forth between my siblings and parents. The tension in the air was so thick a knife couldn't cut through it. The doctor cleared his throat, stepped towards the door, turned his attention to everyone in the room and replied,

"Ms Moore is in dire need of rest. Any added stress could delay her ability to heal. "

The doctor turned to Shane and continued,

"I will be getting in touch with you Mr Morrison about Ms Moore's physical therapy and any other medical needs she may need to acquire while she heals."

Shane nodded and replied, "Thank you doctor."

He nodded and left out the door. Mama and Daddy stepped in. They gazed at my sleeping form. Marguerite turned to them and replied,

"We really don't have time for this."

Sr turned his attention to his oldest daughter,

"No Marguerite, I believe now is a better time then any. Your Mother and I have made it very clear where we stand on the issue of Angela's care. She will be going home with us and that's final." Sr replied.

Marguerite narrowed her eyes and angrily responded,"Who the hell do you think you are?"

"Margie...." Maurice whispered.

Marguerite put her hand up to stop his next statement and shook her head. Maurice didn't say another word. Marguerite turned back her attention back to our parents and continued,

"Who are you to tell us what is or isn't final. You haven't been in Angela's life for 10 years Dad. You don't get the right to make any final decisions when it comes to her." Marguerute responded.

"And you think you have more right. You haven't spoken to your sister in almost four years Marguerite." Mother piped in.

"AND THAT WAS BECAUSE OF YOU!!" Marguerite accused.

"Now Marguerite you can't put all the blame on me for that situation. You had ample time to call your sister and actually talk to her. But did you? NO!! You need to start taking some personal responsibility dear." Mother responded condescendingly.

"You can't be serious." Marguerite replied astonished.

"I've never been more serious in my life. All of you have made it very clear how you feel and now its OUR turnto set the record straight. 10 years ago your Father and I had to make an executive decision for this family. If we hadn't of made this decision, our family would have been destroyed. You have no idea what we had to do to make sure that you four kept the life that you were accustomed to. "

"But at what cost Mom? Do you know how long it took us to get over his death. Angela moreso then anyone. That call really fucked her up. Do you both even care?" Andreas demanded.

"How dare you sit there and judge me. Tell me something Andreas. Haven't you done anything that you thougt was in the best interest of your family, let alone yourself?" Mother asked knowingly.

"If you have something to say Mom say it. Stop beating around the bush." Andreas replied.

"Ok, how did Sherice die Andreas?"

Andreas didn't reply.

Maurice stood still.

"How would Andreas know how Sherice died? Its not like he was with her right? Right?" Marguerite reiterated.

Shane stoood still at my bedside. He reached down and took my hand. Subconsciously I could feel his touch. I wanted so much to reassure him that I knew he was there. He looked from side to side taking in all that was unfolding before him.

Sr stood behind his wife as an anchor would a sailboat. It was as if his strength was what was keeping her going.

Marguerite looked in confusion at Andreas's stony expression, Maurice's crestfallen expression and Mother's satisfied expression. She looked back at Andreas and asked,

"Dre what is going on? First Momma accuses you of sleeping with Sherice and now she's implying that you had something to do with her death. What is going on? Do any of these accusations have any merit behind them?"

Andreas remained silent.

Marguerite began to panic. She walked in front of Andreas, put her hand on his cheeks and lightly turned his face to meet her expression and asked,

"What's going on? What are you not telling me?"

"Margie, there are a lot of things going on that you don't understand and don't need to understand."

"Andreas Cameron Monroe, I don't want to hear anymore lies today. Now either you tell me what the FUCK is going on or I ask her. And I have no doubt in my mind that she will tell me what I want to know."

"Naturally." Momma respnded smugly.

"OH SHUT UP!!" Maurice bellowed.

"DON'T YOU TALK TO HER LIKE THAT!!"Sr roared.

Maurice stood up. Marguerite instantly put her hand out to halt her brother,

"MAURICE, NO!!SIT DOWN!!" Marguerite screamed.

Maurice continued to stand and glare at our Father.

"SIT DOWN!!!" Marguerite ordered

Maurice glared at his sister's fierce expression and slowly sat down. Once Maurice was back in his seat, Marguerite turned her attention back to Andreas,

"I'm not done with you. Now are you going to tell me what the hell is going on or am I going to have to get it from her?" She replied as she gestured toward our Mother.

Andreas didn't speak. Marguerite waited for a few moments. Andreas still would not speak. Marguerite sighed at Andreas's indifference, turned to our mother and said,

"Well I guess your up."

"Well ok then. It's like I said, Andrea....."

"ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT, I'LL TALK!!" Andreas yelled from his seat.

Everyone turned and watched Andreas with weary anticipation.

"She's right. I was dating Sherice. I had been dating her on and off for years. I loved her."

"After all of the shit she put Angela through, why would you do that? Didn't you care? Or was the pussy that damn good?" Marguerite replied.

"It wasn't that. I really loved her. She promised me that she didn't do any of the things she was accused of. And when it came to the other men, she was doing me a favor. She told me that she wanted Angela to be happy and that none of the men that she bought home were good enough. She told me that she saw Angela as a little sister that she would look for."

"And you believed that lying slut?" Mother piped in.

"Yes. She was my world. But then more and more things weren't adding up. She changed into a lying, gold-digging bitch overnight."

"Hmm, Overnight my ass. She's always been a lying gold-digging bitch." Mother muttered.

"Not now Mom." Marguerite replied.

Momma "humphed" and stood silently.

"Go on Andreas." Marguerite replied.

"I know I wasn't supposed to love her but I did. I knew that she was flirtatious. I knew that there was a possibility that she could be fucking around on me. But in my mind, it didn't matter. Because I knew that no matter who she was with, I fucked her best.