The Truth Behind It All

Chapter 6

July 25, 2012

            Ana Marie takes a deep breath. Here it is, Jose’s driveway. She drives in, surprisingly easy for the gates were open, almost as if she was being expected. She drives for what seems hours, whose driveway was this long? It was a long narrow road surrounded by trees, sort of like a fairytales’ land, like she was about to step into an unknown world, not that it was too far from the truth. She had never been inside her father’s house, and she was curious. By the look of it, he had a big mansion as a house, sure, he was a rich scientist, but really? Why flaunt it to the humble town of Saguaro? Finally, she pulls in into a parking spot, next to a white Mercedes vans, classy, she observes. She adjusts her purse around her shoulder and starts walking towards, what she thinks is the door. But it seemed more like the entrance to a bank or even the white house. She straightens her back and rings the doorbell. What is she going to say? Hi, dad, just thought I would drop by and see how you are? Or Daddy, I am so sorry for being so angry at you, I shouldn’t have! Please, she wasn’t about to beg to a murder like her father.

            “May I help you?” Says a woman in a white uniform, who looked like a nurse from the 1940’s.

            “Hi, it’s Jose home?” she replies feeling a little weird calling this place a home.

            “Please, come in.” She steps aside and lets Ana Marie in. The house is huge. There is a big empty room adorned with art work along the walls, they were mainly paintings of horses, she guessed her father liked horses. There were a set of stairs going up where rooms waited on both sides. The woman guides her to what it seems it’s the family room, it had big couches and a big flat screen TV taking up most of the space. “Who may I say is asking for him?” the lady asks monotonously.

            “Ana Marie,” she replies. The lady walks away leaving a trail of clapping noises as her heels hit the tiled floor. Huh, she thought, why would the servant/nurse wear heels at work?

            Ana Marie starts perusing the room. The house sure seems big and ostentatious from outside but in the inside it was sure as normal as it could get. Sure everything was big and maybe expensive, but it wasn’t at an extreme.

            “Ana Marie!” she hears and as she turns, the arms of a strong man hold her in an embrace.

            “Hi, dad,” she says between breaths. He was just going to hug her like this? Like nothing happened?

            He pulls away and holds her face attentively, and looks at her like he was looking at a puppy. “I am so glad you’re here,” he says and Ana Marie couldn’t help but believe him. He was older, from what? Five years ago, but now as she had him so close, she could simply see a tired old man.

            “Yeah, well, I heard you were back from a trip and I just wanted to see how you were.”

            “Oh.” He finally lets go of her face but holds her hand and practically pulls her down on the couch. “I’ve ordered some Lemonade for the both of us, you like lemonade, don’t you?”

            “Yeah, I do. You have a nice house,” Ana Marie comments.

            Her father breaks into a smile. “You like it?”

            “I do,” she says as she turns to look around, how could she not?

            “Good, because you will inherit this whenever I am gone.” The man sits back and sighs nostalgically.

            “What? Inherit?” She was going to inherit this house even though she had no idea with what kind of money he bought it with?

            “Yeah, already on my will,” he says as a man in a black outfit appears with the glasses of Lemonade. His outfit made her shiver.

            “You are talking like you are planning to die soon, but you won’t because you still have a lot of life ahead of you, you know that right?”

            He laughs loudly like it was the most comical thing he had ever heard. “Don’t be ridiculous, I have come at an age when it’s good to be thinking of what’s going to happen once I am gone. It’s normal.” He sits the lemonade aside and leans forward. “On that note, I want you to know that I am very sorry for everything. You have no idea how happy I am that you’re here. I know I haven’t been a good father, or even a father at all for you, but I have never ever forgotten about you.”

            Really? Ana Marie takes a sip from her glass, he didn’t forget her when he got Adam killed? Where was she in his life then? “I know,” she lies, what else but to be in his side now? “And I am sorry for yelling at you that night, I was angry at the world.”

            He holds her hands and kisses them gently. “That’s alright. You know what? You can move in.”

            “What?” she says in confusion.

            “Yes, move in here, I have plenty of space for you and it’s closer to your work.”

            It is, she thought. “Oh, that sounds tempting, but mom needs me, you know, with the house,” she lies.

            “Of course, it was worth the shot though.”

            An awkward pause follows making her feel small. “How was your trip?”

            “Good, good. We went to Colombia.”

            “Really?” she says, she had to get more from him, and by the look of it, it was going to be easy. “Why Colombia?”

            “I’ve always wanted to visit there, and mainly because of my job.”

            Which is . . . ? Ana Marie wants to ask, but instead she asks, “Your job sent you to Colombia? Why?”

            His smile fades in one swift motion. “Oh, business, something you won’t be able to understand.”

            “I might,” she invites.

            He seems like he wants to tell her but he decides against it. “It’s confidential anyway. I can’t tell you.”

            “Oh. I thought that since we just renewed our relationship, we might start by being honest with each other,” she says with a pout.

            “You still think I killed Adam, don’t you?”

            “What? No, no . . .” she says caught by surprise, that wasn’t what she meant at all.

            He stands furiously. “You can see your way out,” he says and leaves her with her words in her mouth.

            What was that about? Everything just happened out of nowhere. She stands and starts walking towards the exit. She walks past the woman from earlier who shakes her head in disapproval, who the heck is that? The lady waits by the door as she gets inside her car. As she drives away she could feel her cold stare burning through the car. When she finally gets out of her father’s property, she could feel someone’s stare, but it wasn’t the lady’s. She looks at her side mirror and sees nothing out of normal. She keeps driving, but the sense that someone was watching her stayed as she drove into the city. She was definitely being followed.