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Six Months Later

"Well, how about now? Would that be okay, Jonathan?" she answers.

I rub my hand over my hair and turn around looking out the window and am unsure as to what I should say. Damn it! What should I say? I've loved this woman all my life as my aunt; but now, how do I feel about her knowing that she's my mother? Does she even know that I know that she's my mother? Did Ted tell her about our conversation from six months ago? Is that why she hasn't called until now? What the hell do I do?

"Um... well... I just got up about fifteen minutes ago and I was going to shower and then run some errands..."

"Oh, I can meet you somewhere if you like," she interrupts. "Wyler's has reopened and we could get a cup of coffee or tea. Would you like to meet me there say in about forty-five minutes, Jonathan? I do so very much want to see you and also to tell you something. Please, do meet with me, my boy. Please."

Great! I hate it when people beg; especially people who have lied to me about my whole life. I respond with an unenthusiastic tone and say, "Well, I guess I can meet you at Wyler's, Aunt Ruth. But I do have a lot to do today, so we will have to make this quick. Understand?"

"Perfectly. I'll see you at Wyler's in forty-five minutes. Goodbye." She hangs up.

I set my phone back on the end table and mutter to myself, "You better hope I don't kill you, bitch." I go and take a quick shower and get ready for the walk to Wyler's.

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Walking to Wyler's is more relaxing than I thought it would be. Looking around Atlanta, I notice many empty buildings without any businesses or tenants occupying them. Many Atlantians walk around looking for a new place to call home, or to start a business. In such a short time, Atlanta's rebirth begins to take hold.

As I turn the corner, I notice a group of children sitting on the curb holding sticks in their hands, twirling them about in the street. I decide to walk over to them to find out why they're not in a shelter.

"Hey, guys. What's up? Why aren't you in a shelter?" I ask.

Still not in the best of health, a little girl holds out her hand and asks, "Mister, do you have any money so we can get some food. We're hungry."

I bend down and ask again, "Why aren't you in the shelters? They have plenty of food for all of you."

A boy of about thirteen stands and says, "We don't want to live in a shelter. We want to live with a family. But since no one wants us orphans, we decided to live on our own." The young man sits back down and continues, "We would rather be with each other, than with a stupid old shelter who wants to make stupid demands on us."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," chant all of the other children.

"What demands?" I ask.

"You know... stupid stuff. Stuff like to do this chore, clean this thing, and more stupid stuff like that," as the young boy complains.

I giggle and brush the bangs away from the little girl's eyes and say, "I know what you mean. Grownups make you do stupid stuff, but I don't think they do it to be mean. I believe they do it to prepare you for your real home with real parents. That way, the real parents can see how good you are."

"Sure they do. They just want us to work for them, so we won't get a real family," says the teen, as he complains some more.

I smile at the little girl, then reach into my pocket and pull out my wallet. Opening it up, I notice I have two twenty dollar bills. As I begin to pull out one of them, I decide to pull them both out instead. I hand the bills to the boy and say, "Go down to the Piggly Wiggly and buy as much food as you can for a couple of days. Then I want all of you to go back to the shelter. I'll be there on Monday to make sure you're there. I'll speak with the administrator and see what can be done to find families for all of you. I want you to promise me that you will go back to the shelter. Is that understood?"