The Mystery of Chad Harris: Fate Delivers Us, Chapter 36
 
 

Everyone was staring at George and Orville in the entranceway to the Crane living room.

" Everyone, this is Orville Perkins. One of a handful of people that I believe knows EVERYTHING about what happened to Chad. Don’t you, Orville?"

All eyes were upon Orville. He looked around the room, and they were all there. The curious. The furious. The angry. The confused. All waiting for him to put them out of their misery.

TC walks over to Orville. He takes him by his coat lapels. " To think that I thought you were a harmless old man. I was stupid, wasn’t I? You were a Crane stooge all along…weren’t you?"

Madelaine comes over and pulls TC away from Orville, who just looks at TC and nods.

" You are correct, Coach Russell. I am a Crane stooge."

Orville turns to look at Eve and Chad.

" I am so sorry. I hurt both of you tremendously. Nothing I can say or do will ever make up for the pain that I caused you."

Eve had tears in her eyes. " Orville….why? I….I trusted you."

" Eve….I’m sorry. But, you know how much I played the ponies back then."

" Horses? This was about gambling?"

" I……I was addicted. I was in deep with some very bad people. People who either get their money, or begin taking out their frustration in body parts. I needed money. I had embezzled all I could from the club and gambled it away. I was stuck."

" So…..Alistair Crane came to your salvation?", Eve said bitterly.

" Yes. When he discovered that Julian was seeing you, he came to me, offering me a weekly stipend, as long as I told him what was going on between you two."

" And to think that I thought all that concern was real.", Eve spat.

" It was, Eve…you were a good kid. "

"  If I was so good, WHY did you encourage me to continue seeing Julian when you knew I had doubts?"

" Because, it was my gravy train. The more money he gave me, the deeper in debt I became, because all I needed was ‘one win’ for things to finally go my way. But, it never happened."

" No…it didn’t."

" I had gotten beaten a couple of times as warnings."

" Those muggings that made me so concerned about you.", Eve said, shaking her head.

" Things got worse. I was going to be killed unless I came up with the money. By then, Alistair had cut me off when you got pregnant, and I was getting desperate. I had begun robbing the Blue Note, little by little. Then, one day, I got another call from Alistair. He was offering to pay off all my debts and give me enough money to start over with. I thought it was the answer to my prayers. I asked him what I had to do, and in order to get my freedom, the only thing I had to do was to kill your baby."

Orville looked at Chad. " I’m sorry."

Chad just stared at him.

" When you went into labor and Crystal called me, I called Alistair to tell him that the baby was coming. That’s when he told me my assignment. I….I told him that I couldn’t do it, and he told me that I would be dead soon then. I knew he was right.

You…..you were so happy Eve. I had never seen you that happy. You were worried about the baby, because he was early, but, you were so happy.  You made it seem like it had been all worth it – the pain and suffering. And, it killed me."

" But, not enough to leave me MY BABY!", Eve shouted.

" No…..not enough. I went to the nursery. After all, it was a public hospital, and they were understaffed on a good day. On a holiday, they were definitely not going to have enough staff. I…..I slipped into the nursery. Nobody was watching the babies. I came to your crib, Chad, and I pulled out a pillow. …..but, I couldn’t do it. I….I happened to be there when the monitor went off with another baby that was on a respirator. Nobody was at the desk, so they didn’t see it. But,  I did. They baby died right then and there, and I saw my chance. I…..I wasn’t a murderer, but, I had to save my life.

I thought……an alive child for you, even if he was away from you, would be better than a dead one. If I didn’t succeed, I had no doubt that Alistair Crane would have tried with someone else…"

" Someone without your sterling sense of morals, Mr. Perkins?", Julian asked.

" Yes."

Julian went over to the bar and poured himself a drink. " So, let me get this straight, my father hired you to dispose of my son with Eve, but, you had a pang of conscience, and so, in your sympathy, you just let her and me believe that our son had died. Is that right?", Julian asked, fire in his eyes.

" That’s it."

" How do you know that Chad Harris is my son?"

" Because I made sure that I remembered the name of the other baby. I came back, a few days later, pretending to be the guy who ‘found’ the other baby, and asked what happened to him, and they told me about social services. I had an old friend who worked janitorial at social services and we found the file. I saw the people that you were sent to. I…….I…..thought he had been sent to a ‘good’ home."

Chad looked at him. " Those people died in a car crash when I was a little over a year old. "

" I didn’t know."

" No? What the FUCK did you know? You KNEW that my mother wanted me. And, you didn’t care…you old, crazy mutherfucker!" Chad was about to storm Orville, but, Sam held him back. The rage was blazing in Chad’s eyes.  The rest of the room was somewhere between shock, and the devastated weeping of most of the women in the room.

" So…Orville, what you’re trying to say is that this was ALL Alistair’s plan? That Julian had NOTHING to do with it?", TC asked, staring at Julian.

" I don’t give a damn if you do hate me, I would NEVER do that to Eve!"

" Don’t tell me what you wouldn’t do to MY WIFE!"

" Then, don’t stand there and tell me what I would to do to MY SON!", Julian matched him in fury. The hatred these two men have for one another was manifesting itself.

Madelaine came up to TC, " Theodore, I believe Mr. Perkins has made it clear that Julian was in the dark as much as Eve. There has been a terrible hoax played upon all three of them. Someone played God with their lives, and now, all of us are left to handle the consequences. I believe that it is time for OUR family to leave. "

TC looked at his mother. He nodded. He looked over to Simone and Whitney, who were more than ready to leave the Cranes. TC looked over to Eve and Chad. He couldn’t look at them for long. He turned to leave, but, not before issuing a warning to Orville:

" This better be all, Old Man. If you cause my family any more pain, I’ll snap your neck in two."

TC walked out with his mother, daughters, and best friend.

Julian was at the bar, and Eve came over to him.

" I have to go."

" I know."

" Julian, ‘ I’ know that you would never hurt me that way."

" I’m glad you know, Eve. I…I’ve been my father’s minion for so long…I don’t know what I would have done."

Eve places her hand atop of Julian’s. " I know. You would have found a way for our son to be with me. "

Julian appreciated Eve’s faith in him more than he could ever say.
" Eve…"

" Julian. My family’s hanging on by a thread. I have to focus on it right now. We’ll talk later."

Julian nodded and Eve went over to Chad, who was in the corner, but before Eve could make it there, Sheridan and Ethan were visiting Chad.

" Chad, I’m in shock, but, I’m happy.", Sheridan said, giving him an awkward hug.

Ethan extended his hand to Chad. " Welcome to the family?"
 

" You act like you’re unsure, Ethan."

" I don’t know what the etiquette is for welcoming a brother that you never knew existed."

" I don’t know either. We’ll wing it for now."

Eve came over to Chad. " Ready to leave?"

" You still think I’m welcome?", Chad asked.

" Yes. TC is expecting us at home."

Chad nodded and left with Eve, but, not before giving Julian a good, hard, long look.

After they all left, Ethan came over to Julian.

" You believe it, Father?"

" Yes, Ethan."

" You think Grandfather is capable of doing that?"

" Yes. Without a doubt."