Chapter Fifteen
The next day, Max wanted her to accompany him to his dad's house. For the last nine years he had been there only once to get the company related papers that his dad kept in his study. He never went through his dad's personal belongings. But now maybe it was time to sort his things and decide what he should do with them. He hated that house. It only held painful memories of his unwanted childhood.
He might have it renovated and sell it. It didn't hold a special place in his heart therefore it was better to sell it off. He drove Carol to the dreadful house that he avoided for so long.
He parked his car in front of the rusty iron gates that lost their coat of paint. Getting down, he opened them for the car to pass through. He climbed back into his car and drove through the gates to the paved front yard of the mansion. He parked his car and they both got out of the car.
Holding Carol's hands for support, he wordlessly walked towards the front door. He glanced at the exact position his dad's body lay on that dreadful day when he committed suicide. A shudder ran down his body. Carol's clasp on his hand tightened and he was glad that she was with him. He could never have done this all on his own.
He took out an old key and opened the door. The interiors of the house were in exactly the same conditions as he had left it. Everything was covered with white sheets which had turned yellow in the last nine years. The smell of dust and molds filled their nostrils as they entered the house.
Max led Carol to his dad's study. For the next hour and a half they sorted through his dad's belongings and arranged them properly. Max found the papers of the house too. He found everything but nothing pertaining to his mom.
Disappointed, they stacked the sorted papers in boxes they brought with them and loaded them onto the car. Going back to the mansion, they went to his dad's bedroom.
His dad's shouting rang in his ears as he entered the room he was forbidden to enter. During his childhood years, many times he had faced his father's wrath when he escaped from his nanny and came to this room.
Breathing out a deep sigh, he looked at Carol. "Let's search for anything related to my mom," he said softly. Carol nodded and went towards to the walk in closet with Max. While he searched one side of the closet, Carol searched the other. Coming to a drawer, she found an old diary.
"Max, I think I found your dad's diary," she said, handing the diary to Max. He took it and as he opened the pages, something fell from it to the floor.
Max looked down and picked it up. It was an old photocopy of someone's passport. The name was hazy but he could make out 'ret Jones'. Was it Margaret Jones? His mom's passport? Could be. All employers possessed some ID Proof of their employees. Maybe his dad had it when his mom joined work.
He looked into the drawer that Carol was checking to see if he could find anything else. They were disappointed when they couldn't find anything else. They searched the entire closet, yet they found nothing else.
Disappointed, they went back into the room. Max checked his dad's desk while Carol searched the chest of drawers. There wasn't anything worthwhile.
Max looked at the nightstand and found a small personal telephone directory. He flipped through the pages excitedly. There was a phone number with the name Jimmy Mitchell (PI) scribbled on a page. Was he the private investigator who searched for his mom? Could be.
Max showed Carol the page. "Call him and find out. He might have a picture of your mom," she suggested.
Max's eyes lit up, "You're right. I'll do just that," he said, walking out of the room to make the call. Carol looked around. She found a pull out drawer below the bed. Going down to sit on her haunches, she pulled out the drawer and found many small cardboard boxes lying around. She picked up all of them and kept them on the bed.
Getting up, she sat on the edge of the bed and opened one of them. There were many papers. They seemed like notes. Small pieces of paper, folded neatly. There were old cards too.
Max came inside and looked at what she was doing." His number has changed. I couldn't connect through. The number didn't exist anymore," he informed her. "What are these? Where did you find them?" he asked curiously.
"I don't know, they're notes and cards. I found them in the drawer below the bed," she answered as she opened one of the notes. A gasp escaped her mouth and she looked up at a gaping Max who was reading another note.
"I think they're the notes that your parents wrote to one another," she exclaimed excitedly.
"Yeah, it seems they loved each other very much," said Max with a brooding look on his face. "If I weren't born they would still be together. "
Carol went and hugged him, "No Max. They brought you into this world. You're the fruit of their love for each other. If they were married they would have cherished you. It's just the circumstances that were responsible for their separation, not you," she comforted.
Max quietly took in her words. Yes, she was right. He wasn't responsible for their fate. They looked into the other boxes too. One had dried flowers and small accessories like a single earring, a handkerchief, a scarf and a bracelet. They might have belonged to his mom. Another box had a photo album. They looked at each other and quickly took it out. It was the thing that they had been searching for.
The album was old and had yellowed with age. Max flicked open the hard cover and they both looked inside. The first page had the picture of a beautiful woman with jet black cascading waist-length hair and dark chocolate eyes just like Max. Her eyes held a painful look as she smiled sadly at them.
"Mom," whispered Max as a tear trickled down his cheek.
Carol too felt her throat constrict with tears. She could feel Max's pain in her very soul.
The next page had another picture of his mom. She wore old clothes yet she had a natural ethereal beauty about her that couldn't be ignored. There was a picture of him in his mom's arms in the hospital when he was just born. Max cried like a baby seeing it. Carol tried to comfort him but she wanted him to take it all out.
The next pages had his mom's picture with his dad. They both were smiling and looked so happy together. There was a photograph of her mom with a few other people around. Were they his mom's family?
Carol stared at the picture of his mom's family. There was something oddly familiar about the background. She couldn't pinpoint it at the moment. She would have to tell Max when he calmed down.
They took all the boxes to the car along with a few more papers that Max needed and then locked up everything and left.
"I'll tell my PA to call the auctioneers and have the stuff auctioned. Then we will sell the house off," he said and she nodded in support.
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Featured picture: Julia Roberts as Margaret Jones, Max's mom.
