"Yuli? . . what was that? . . Michael's parents? . .
am I the person this officer was talking about?"
"Honey . . . yes! . . . I'm sorry I never told you about it . . I didn't want you to get upset if the news weren't positive . . so I kept it to myself but baby, they found your mom!!! :) . . your REAL mom and your sister!! you have a sister honey =') . . . isn't that wonderful???"
"I have a sister and I have a mother . . . but not here, Yuli"
"YES baby!!! you have!! the police officer was kind enough to take a close look at this case and he found your REAL family!!! . . your real mother!!! you have family here baby . . isn't that wonderful to know? you don't have to feel lonely anymore!! you're not alone here, you have a FAMILY"
"I don't know what to say Yuli . . how can you do this without talking to me first? do you have any idea how overwhelmed I am right now? My real mother doesn't know me . . I don't know her . . how can you expect me to be excited?! all I feel is scared right now. I'm totally . . I don't even . . I don't even know what to feel right now . . . ."
"Michael I understand that you're confused and everything but I had to do this . . I had to find your relatives so you can finally feel happy about who you are and where you come from" - "Yuli, I know where I come from and I know where my family is . . . please don't expect me to be happy right now because that's not how I'm feeling . . . this is a lot of information at once . . "
"Baby . . I respect your feelings and I will not contact them if you don't want me to but please let me tell you that there is a woman out there . . your mother . . who probably has been heartbroken all these years, believing that her son is dead. . . . if you don't want to meet her, I will respect that and I will tell her that but I want to let her know that you're alive and that you're ok . . . will you give me permission to do that?"
"Ok . ."
"Are you sure baby?"
"Yes . . ."
The next day I wake up extra early to get all this over with. I wanna contact his mother and let her know that Michael is alright. I'm nervous out of my mind but I have to do this . . . I know it's the right thing to do.
I look up her information on my email and dial her number:
"Hello?"
"Umm hi . . . who's this?"
"It's Kimberly . . who's calling?"
"Hi Kimberly. . . can I please speak to your mother?"
"Umm she's not here. . can I give her a message?"
"No thank you, I really have to talk to her, can you please tell her to call me back?"
"Of course . . . . OHH! she just walked in . . what great timing!"
"Really? she did? . . oh that's amazing!!"
"Just a minute please . . she'll be on the phone in a second"
"Thank you. . . "
I can't even being to describe how nervous I am right now.
My heart is pounding so hard. . my palms are sweaty. . .
"Hello?"
"Hi . . . this is Yuli . . do you have a minute to talk?"
"Yuli? . . I don't remember. . I'm sorry. . ."
"No . . it's ok, we don't know each other . . I'm calling to tell you something very, very important. . that's why I need your time for a few minutes so I can explain something to you"
"Ohh . . ok . . of course. . let me sit down then"
"May I please know your last name?"
"Williams. . I'm Oleta Judith Williams"
"Hi Mrs.Williams, it's a pleasure . . no actually, it's an HONOR to meet you"
"Why thank you :) I have no idea why but I'm sure you will tell me :)"
"Yes I will . . . umm . . wow . . how do I even start? I'm so nervous"
"Awww dear! don't be nervous, whatever it is, tell me please :)"
"Ok . . umm . . about 26 years ago you and your husband went on a cruise, am I right?"
". . . . Yes. . oh my. . how do you know that?"
"And . . . you . . . you lost your baby son on that cruise. . ."
(SILENCE) . . .
"I did . . (voice cracks) . . the ship went down. . . many people lost their lives. . my husband Carl and I were lucky we survived . . it was a disaster. . we lost our son . . a huge wave came and he was gone . . I let go of him. . . I shouldn't have let go . . it was cold . . it was dark . . I couldn't feel my legs, my arms . . . couldn't even see my own hands in fornt of my eyes . . we lost our beautiful baby boy . . . . oh my god, I can't believe I'm talking about it . . please excuse my crying. . . ."
"Oh Mrs.Williams . . please don't stop talking . . I'm crying too . . please go ahead, please tell me more. . I really need to know more about this. . . tell me everything"
"Oh dear . . . you don't know what this does to me . . I've been having the same dream over and over again every single night that one day my beautiful son would walk into my house and meet me. . . but that dream will remain a dream . . I miss my son to pieces . . . :'( . . . please excuse, I need to get a tissue"
"Mrs.Williams . . your son is alive. . ."
"What? . . no sweetheart . . I lost my baby boy, my husband and I lost him :("
"No. . he's alive and he's healthy . . . oh Miss Williams . . there is SO MUCH I wanna tell you right now but I would prefer to talk to you face to face about this . . is there any chance that we could meet and talk about this in person?"
"Yuli. . as much as I wish that my son was still alive, he isn't . . in my heart there is no sign of Jamie, he can't be alive . . it's impossible :( . . can we please end this conversation? I'm about to break down again. . ."
"Mrs. Williams . . I respect and understand your feelings but you have to realize that I'm just as crushed as you are . . please make it possible for me to meet you . . please . . I'm begging you. . ."
"Oh dear . . ."
_________________
~ Michael's point of view ~
I just came home from school. I'm starving . . . thank god Yuli cooked for me before she left. I sit down in front of the TV and start eating. That's when the phone rings. I walk up to it and pick up:
"Hello?"
"Hi . . this is Kimberly . . . are, are you Jamie?"
"Jamie? you mean Yuli?
"No . . I mean Jamie . . Jamie Parker"
"No . . there is no Jamie Parker here . . wrong number"
"This can't be a wrong number . . my mom got a phone call from this number . . it is YOU, Jamie!! it must be you!! your girlfriend was just here at our house. . . we talked to her about you and I just had to call you, Jamie . . she said that you're not ready to talk to us and we understand but I'm your sister!! . . . Kimberly. . . I just had to call and hear your voice. . I'm so happy that you're still alive. . ." (cries)
". . . I, I, don't know what to say Kimberly . . I'm sorry"
"It's ok . . I'm just happy to hear your voice . . you sound so nice. I know we don't know each other but we're sister and brother . . and I want you to know that you are LOVED and MISSED"
"How do you know we're brother and sister? I could be anyone"
"No you can't be just anyone . . you are Jamie!! your girlfriend brought pictures of you. . you have a mole on your right ear . . two of them . . right next to each other . . . right? and one right above your left eyebrow"
"Umm . . yes . . ."
"Jamie . . . ='( don't you see?. . . it's YOU!!!"
"My name is Michael . . . I'm sorry Kimberly, I don't know what to say. ."
"Yuli told us so much about you . . how you grew up . . how you guys met . . it's a miracle . . and I wanna meet you but we understand that you need time . . . whenever you need to talk, Jamie . . I'm here for you, please call me anytime. . . whenever you want. . . ."
"Ok . . I will . . thank you Kimberly"
_________________
Kimberly . . my sister? . . why does all this sound so unreal to me? why don't I feel excited? I'm rather sad than excited . . . and scared. I didn't know I had a family here . . I was without them all my life and now I find out that I have a mother and a sister. . . . I need time to get used to this. . but Kimberly does sound nice . . . . I wonder what she looks like . . . and I wonder what my mother looks like . . . All this family talk makes me miss the jungle even more . . . why can't I get over it? why can't I move on and live my life now that I know I have family here? why doesn't this make me happy?
Yuli comes home . . . with clearly mixed feelings.
She's been crying, I can see it in her eyes.
"Hi honey . . I'm back . . how was school?"
"Good . . how was your day?"
"Exciting . . heartbreaking . . but I feel good . . your mother and your sister are beautiful, sweet people and they give you all the time in the world for you to be ready to meet them"
"Kimberly called . . . she wanted to talk to me . . ."
"She did?? did you talk to her?"
"Yes . . and she cried . . ."
"Aww she did? Kimberly is beauitful . . she looks so much like you, Michael . . the nose, the lips. . and she has big hands too, just like you . . . she's gorgeous. . . and your mother is the sweetest person, I can't wait for you to meet her . . . she's a sweetheart"
"Really?"
"Yes . . and they showed me a baby picture of you . .
I couldn't keep it together, I cried like a baby"
"A baby picture of me? . . wow . . ."
"Honey . . take your time . . we will go visit them whenever you are ready"
~ Yuli's point of view ~
3 days later . . . .
It's 8:30 am . . . Michael just left for school . . . he overslept . . again. . but it's ok . . he's been doing a lot of thinking and I believe he's having trouble falling asleep at night just because of his head being full with too many things. . . poor baby . . . but he's feeling better and he's talking and asking a lot of questions about his family lately . . . I think he'll be ready to meet them very soon . . I hope :)
Michael comes home earlier than usual. It's only 11pm. What's he doing home already? his school isn't over until 12pm. . . "Honey? why are you home so early?"
"I had a dream Yuli . . I think I'm ready to meet them"
"You had a dream at school? explain that please"
"Well, I fell asleep in class . . I didn't mean to but I didn't get much sleep the last few days and I needed it. I dreamed of my mother and Kimberly . . I saw them in front of my eyes . . well, I didn't exactly see their faces, I have no idea what they look like but I saw them . . they talked to me and they were happy to see me . . . I think I'm ready to meet them . . . I was waiting for a sign like this and I believe this is it . . I'm ready Yuli"
I run up to him and kiss him all over his face. "I couldn't be more happy that you fell asleep in school!! oh honey, you have no idea how happy I am right now!"
Just as we're about to leave, the phone rings. . .
"Hello?"
"Yuli? this is McCall . . I'm calling you to tell you that I read ''Two Worlds'' and I loved it!! I'm very impressed! it's a great book! wonderful job, Yuli!"
"Oh my gosh, really?? I'm so happy to hear that . . thank you Mrs.McCall!! but . . umm . . as happy as I am about this message, I have to take my book back and re-write the ending . . . "
"What? no! the ending is perfect!! I loved it!"
"Yes. . it is a great ending but I have a better one. . the REAL ending . . give me one month to re-write it and I promise you that you will be just as amazed!"
"Ok . . one month! but only because I really love the book! good luck Yuli!"
"Thank you Mrs.McCall!"
________________
We just arrived . . . Michael is a nervous wreck and so am I. I can't wait for him to finally meet his family. I have tears in my eyes . . . this is the most emotional moment of my entire life . . .
I knock on the door . . . Kimberly opens.
". . . Jamie??"
~ to be continued ~