The dining room had ceased all movement. Sydney could only hear the sound of her heart thumping against her ribcage as blood rushed throughout her body. Surely she had misheard her mother? They all must have. Even with her addled mind and self-centeredness she wouldn't. Would she?
"Mother, exactly how do you know what father thinks," Sydney repeated.
Penelope's eyes darted around the table. From her sudden loss in colour, it was clear she had not meant to divulge as much as she had. Sydney could detect a slight battle warring within her parent. From the manner in which Penelope stiffened her back and lifted her chin, she knew she wasn't going to like the next words.
"Well, if you must know," Penelope said in her best haughty tone, "it's because you father told me."
The sound of Victor choking on whatever he had just put in his mouth stopped Sydney's anger from boiling over. After making sure that he wasn't about to keel over with a heart attack, she turned her focus back on to her mother, who had continued eating as if nothing was amiss.
Jackson was rooted to the spot and had not moved since their mother's declaration. His shocked expression was tinged with confusion and hurt.
"You've been speaking with him?" Sydney said between gritted teeth.
"What of it?" snapped her mother.
From the corner of her eye, Sydney could see her Aunt bring up a hand to cover her mouth. Her eyes were wide with shock at her sister's confession. Her uncle began speaking in his native Greek, which could only mean he was cursing like a sailor.
Sydney's throat tightened and she felt bile rise. Holding back the nausea she turned back to face her mother. "How long?" she said, her voice coming out in a cracked whisper.
"He's my husband. I have a right to be in contact with him after he was so cruelly thrown out of his own country."
Penelope visibly jumped when Sydney shouted out, "How long!"
"A few years now."
"How?"
"Telephone. How else do you think?"
Sydney closed her eyes to quell a headache that had materialised and pinched the bridge of her nose. I knew I should have stayed home. "The FBI would have been monitoring your calls. If you were speaking to him, we would not be having this conversation."
Penelope rolled her eyes. "Do you think me so stupid? Your father sent me a cell phone to use."
"Penny you've put us all in a precarious position," Ivy broke in. She was clutching onto a napkin for dear life with one hand and clutching onto her husband's hand with the other.
"So let me get this right," growled Sydney, "He steals a fortune. Takes off for god knows where with it. Leaves us in the lurch and destroys not only our lives but countless others. He leaves you with nothing, and he's off somewhere living it up large. And you quite happily are having secret conversations with the selfish bastard, rather than letting the authorities know where he is."
"Don't speak of your father in that way!" exclaimed Penelope.
Sydney was now beyond angry, she could feel the heat rise in her face, and was sure it was getting close to boiling point. "And exactly what way did you want me to speak of him? You have done nothing but defend a man that you know was guilty. He was a thieving coward who abandoned his family and left us holding the bag. And all this time you've been in contact with him?"
Sydney threw her napkin on the table. "Well next time you speak to dear dad," she spat out bitterly. "You can tell him that I hope they catch him. And if I knew where he was, I would be the first to let them know."
"You ungrateful chit," Penelope hissed. "Is this the thanks we get after everything we have given you? I will not sit here and be accused of wrongdoing by my own child." She rose from her seat, "If you'll excuse me, I feel a headache coming on, I think I need to lie down. Ivy, be a dear and find me something for it will you."
With that, Penelope left the room. Five sets of eyes were glued to the space in which she was last seen. No one knew exactly what to say or even how to react.
"Remind me dear, why I agreed to her coming?" murmured Victor breaking the lull.
Ivy patted her husband's hand lovingly. "Because she makes your side of the family look normal."
Sydney turned to her brother who had yet to speak. "Please tell me you knew nothing of this?"
Jackson shook his head vehemently. "Good God no!"
Sydney gulped down the remains of her glass of wine. Her hands shook from the pent up anger that had risen to the surface. "Is she truly that delusional and has no idea of the damage that's been done?"
Her brother closed his eyes and rested his forehead in his hands. He eventually glanced towards Sydney. An expression of guilt and remorse etched on his weathered face. "Syd, to be honest. It's only over the last couple of years that I've been clean enough to really understand," Jackson admitted. "You were the only one of us that faced up to what he did and broke free. She was so sure that he didn't do it that I didn't question it. I just went along with it and hid in the background."
This was something Sydney was all too aware of. As far back has she could remember her brother had been addicted to something. At first, it had been computer games. When he was at high school, it was alcohol. By the time he was at college he had graduated to drugs.
She could still vividly recall coming home early from school one day and finding him and his friends snorting coke they had separated into lines on the granite kitchen bench. Her initial reaction had been to try and convince her older brother to kick his destructive habit. She was too young and naive at the time, to realise that her pleas were falling on deaf ears.
Over the years, she had lost count of the occasions her brother had been in and out of rehab. Each time her mother, in her usual fashion, had swept it under the carpet explaining his absence by telling her friends he was holidaying in Europe. She had long since lost track of how many, and eventually she began to not care, to the point she hadn't seen or spoken to her brother in over five years. Their only contact had been through the odd phone conversations.
Jackson cleared his throat and continued speaking. "I was already wasted most days before dad left. I didn't need much excuse after that to stay on a perpetual high. It was better than having to deal with reality. I was lucky, I was a high-functioning drug addict. After a couple of years, once the press had stopped camping outside the house, I got in touch with some friends from college. One of them offered me a job in real estate. He only dealt at the high end of the market. Mom and Dad's schmoozing had rubbed off, and I seemed to be able to close deals without much effort."
Sydney glanced around the table. Her Aunt, Uncle and Grace were listening intently. This was news to them as well. Unlike Sydney, who had spent as much time growing up with the Demetriou's rather than her own family, her brother had revelled in their parent's lifestyle.
"And the drugs?" she asked, "What about them?"
Jackson exhaled and then sat back in his chair. As she looked at her brother, she realised he was looking far older than the thirty-six she knew him to be. His years of abuse had taken its toll. "About three years ago I finally kicked the habit. I've been clean since," he said.
He glanced around the table and stopped at Ivy. "Part of the reason I came up with mom was to speak with you all. I had no idea at the time, how much she had imposed on you." Jackson cleared his throat. He looked uncomfortable and Sydney was intrigued to know where this conversation was headed. "I had assumed that we had no financial issues. With my drugged induced mind, it didn't occur to me that we had to leave the city because mom had no more access to funds."
"Why did you think mom moved to Weymouth estate?" Sydney asked.
Jackson shrugged his shoulders. "At the time I just thought we were chased out by the media. I know it's late," he addressed both his Aunt and Uncle, "but I just wanted to thank you for giving us a roof over our head. It wasn't that I wasn't grateful at the time. I just didn't know better. And I wanted to make sure that you knew that."
He leaned forward with a strained expression on his face. "I accidentally stumbled on mom's financial records a few weeks ago, and..." he began tentatively, his eyes darting around the room as if searching for the words, "and I know mom has been spending more than her trust fund allowance. I can only assume that you are financing the difference."
Victor opened his mouth as if to speak. Jackson held up his hand to cut him off. "No Uncle Vic, please hear me out. This is difficult enough." He reached for a glass of water and took a quick sip before continuing. "I neglected my responsibilities for far too long. Business is good. I've been lucky with a few investments and things are going well. I don't think I will ever be able to repay you for what you've already forked out. But I want to step up and do the right thing. I'll be setting up a line of credit which should cover her additional spending."
Sydney was stunned. She couldn't believe she was hearing this from the brother whom she had written off years ago. And from the equally surprised faces, neither was her Aunt and Uncle.
"Son, that's admirable of you," began Victor, "but in full disclosure I haven't topped up your mothers spending for a while now."
Jackson was clearly confused at this admission. "But how? I've seen the statements. She is spending far more than the allowance."
"I didn't say the bills weren't being paid. I was merely stating that I haven't been doing it for a while now."
"But how?" Jackson queried.
Sydney winced, she did not like the direction this conversation had headed. Truth be told, she had not enjoyed any of the conversation since her mother had dropped her bombshell. This new revelation was now placing her firmly in the twilight zone.
She felt her Uncle and Aunt's eyes swing to face her. Their thoughts were as clear as day.
Wringing her hands on her lap, she slowly turned to face her brother. His expression registered every emotion under the sun as his mouth opened and closed as if willing himself to speak. No words, however, passed his lips. The shock of this discovery having rendered him mute.
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📎 A/N. Hmmmmm... it appears that Jackson may not be so bad after all, he's a little late to manning up... and not only has poor Sydney had to contend with a criminal father, self-centered mother... as well as a drug addict brother.... I think she needs some light at the end of the tunnel...
Thanks for reading.. don't forget to vote it you enjoyed this chapter. It's a long weekend here... Not promising anything but I'll see if I can get another chapter up over the next couple of days.
Take Care.
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