About Leaving and a Comeback

Anne noticed the woman's interest in Jesse and the tears and she became concerned. Touching her arm, she whispered, "Excuse me, miss? Are you okay? Do you need to talk? I'm a good listener and talking helps sometimes."

Ruth looked at the friendly and concerned face of the older woman and decided that that was maybe just what she needed. She started, "Your little boy, he looks a lot like my younger brother at this age."

Anne immediately had her guard up. She suddenly realized that this must be Robert's sister and that though she hadn't recognized Robert as her brother, she saw something in Jesse. Being carefully neutral in her tone, she replied, "That's nice, but reason to cry? Let's go over to the playground. The children can play there and we have a little privacy as our family members run."

At the playground, Anne said, "Now tell me, why are you crying over your little brother? By the way, I am Anne."

"Hi, I'm Ruth. Because I miss him. So does my mother. He left, ahh, disappeared is a better word, on his eighteenth birthday."

Anne was thinking on her feet. Did Robert's sister have regrets? She wanted to find out more so she asked, "Disappeared? Why? An eighteen-year-old boy couldn't go very far, could he? And your family couldn't find him and bring him home?"

Ruth hiccupped and whispered, "We all treated him like shit. My mother tried to stop it but wasn't strong enough. Anyway, it seems that Robert, that's his name, planned it far in advance. The night before he turned eighteen, he cleared out his room, wrote a note to tell us that we could go to hell. He also left about 5000 dollars with the note "for housing and food" because my father always told him that he wouldn't pay for someone at least five years late and Robert would have to pay for that. My father later said that it was to prevent my little brother from being spoiled as the Benjamin of the family but my mother didn't believe him one bit; she walked out of the house that day after telling my father to find my brother or else. When he couldn't locate him, Mom divorced him on Robert's nineteenth birthday."

"That's sad."

"Very. We never heard of Robert again, and we don't even know whether he's still alive. I can understand that he never wanted to see us again but I'd like to tell him that I am so sorry. He never deserved the treatment we all gave him."

Ruth started sobbing. "He was, uhh, is as smart as a whip, just like my mother. She always did the accounting for my father's building company. When Robert left and my father started to bully my sister and object to her sexual preferences, Mom stopped doing that. Within a year he was broke, Mom was divorcing Dad, and they had to sell the house in a hurry because his creditors were after him. That went so fast that we didn't even have the time to get everything out or even save our photo albums, which we only realized later when they weren't in any of the boxes. My mother has already been treated for depression twice before all this happened and has been a lot since then; losing all of Robert's pictures almost killed her on top of everything else."

Anne sympathized with Ruth and tried to comfort the unhappy woman.

"And the first runners in our 5 miles race are entering the final stretch," called the announcer.

"Ahem, I better go. My girls will be to the finish line soon," said Ruth.

Anne knew that since the distance runners had started earlier, Robert should be almost there too so they walked toward the finish line together with Anne's mind in turmoil. She'd learned that Ruth was profoundly unhappy with the way things had gone in the past and she showed remorse. Anne needed to chat with her adopted son-in-law.

Robert came through the finish and was welcomed by Jesse and Aimee. Anne noticed that Ruth was observing the man and his son and tried to distract the woman.

"Where are your daughters, Ruth?" She asked.

It worked. Ruth started to herd her two girls into her car.

====

At the start of the new school year, the house was well underway with Robert and his family having taken on the services of an architect. There was to be a bedroom for each of the children, a master bedroom with a bathroom attached. There were two guest rooms and an office for Robert and Annette. A garage and a gym with a swimming pool completed the design. Somewhat further back on the lot came the house for Gus and Anne.

Robert was happy. The children were doing great. Everything went well at school and his latest novel, another science fiction story, was selling very well. It also seemed that his brothers got the message and left him alone. He staved off another depression for his mother by having the photo albums delivered by Anne to Ruth's house.

Robert was humming when he entered the school premises. He went into his office when the PA from the school director put her head around the door and told him that her 'boss' wanted to see him. Wondering, he walked over to the main office.

"Morning, Sir, you wanted to see me?" he asked.

"Yes, Mr. Kendrick. Are you aware that there are rumors flying about misconduct between teachers and pupils?"

"No, Sir, not that I know off."

"Mr. Kendrick, those rumors concern you. What do you have to say for yourself?"

Robert was taken aback and stammered. "Those rumors are complete and utter lies. I never misbehaved at any time towards pupils, nor colleagues. Can you tell me where they come from?"

"No, Mr. Kendrick, that is privacy-sensitive information. The school cannot afford itself another scandal. So, we request you urgently to resign, otherwise we will fire you without recommendation."

"Sir, I will not resign and I demand an investigation. Otherwise, I'll hire a lawyer to fight it!"

"You better start looking for a lawyer. Now I want you off the school grounds. Security will escort you out. You will find your things at the exit."

Robert drove back home; that he was upset was the understatement of the century. He loved teaching and helping children and he would never do anything to harm them. He wasn't paying attention to the road and almost missed a turn. He could barely correct it in time. He stopped at a parking lot, got out of the car, and sat on a bench.

It took a while to calm down. When he reached a modicum of calm, he went home. He needed the wit and wisdom from Annette to regain his balance.

After, for what seemed an age, he arrived at home. He took his key to open the door. His key didn't work. What? Robert thought and rang the bell.

Annette opened the door with a suitcase in her hand. Her eyes were red and she shouted at Robert. "How could you do that to me and my children?? You, you, you cheating asshole. Did you get her pregnant too?"

"What are you talking about? I never cheated."

"Oh, no? Look at this!" Annette flashed a picture in front of him, threw the suitcase outside and said, "I never want to see you again! You will hear from my lawyer. Now, fuck off."

Gus appeared behind her and said with an angry voice, "You better go Robert, I'll call you as soon as this is over. The divorce, that is. If you don't go, I'll call the Police, understand?"

Robert's knees buckled as he stumbled to his car. His suitcase completely forgotten, he drove off, going eastward. He had no particular destination in mind, just wanting to get away.

As he drove, Robert's mind wandered back to his eighteenth birthday. He left abruptly that time too, at least from his family. Now his family had left him just as abruptly. He decided to retrace the steps he then took, going to Wolfholt. He raided the ATM machines and bought a train ticket.

Robert disappeared again.

====

Two weeks later

"Hi mum," Lydia happily shouted over the phone. "We can't get hold of Robert. We need a favor from him. A guest lecture about one of his books. You know the one about Infotainal warfare?"

Anne was silent for a minute. They never thought about informing the twins about Robert's cheating and disappearing afterwards. Now she had to. The twins lived in Robert's old home in Blueswick and both were talented IT engineers. They earned a formidable income as 'white hackers'.

"Mother? Are you still there?"

"Uhh. Yes. Listen, there is no easy way to tell you this. So, I'll be blunt. Robert cheated on your sister. She told him to leave and get a lawyer but he disappeared. That was two weeks ago and we haven't heard from him since."

Thom butted in, "Robert cheating? Absolutely impossible! He lives and breathes Annette. We've seen beautiful women almost literally throwing themselves at him and he didn't even notice them. We have to tell women not to bother numerous times."

Anne interjected, "We have proof. A picture and a flash drive. But we didn't access that. It is painful enough as it is."

Lydia immediately butted in. "We're coming over. Thom is right. Robert isn't capable of cheating. I want to see that picture and that flash drive. We'll be there tomorrow." They disconnected after that.

Annette looked at her phone. She was taken by surprise and the twins took sides with Robert? But what did they know?

====

Mid-morning, the next day.

The twin's big SUV screeched to a halt in front of the door. Sylvia stumbled out of the passenger's door while Thom sat behind the wheel trying to unknot his shoulders. Gus asked bewildered, "By car? You drove all the way? Why? For heaven's sake."

"We need our stuff. We don't believe for a second that Robert cheated. We've seen him completely ignoring the most beautiful women Blueswick and surroundings had to offer. He only wanted to get done with it and go back to Nette. He hardly wanted to spend time having a beer or something. So, we're going to get a very, very good look at the print and the thumb drive," Sylvia told her father.

Thom asked, "You didn't touch that drive, did you?"

Gus answered, "No. Absolutely not. Now sleep first? You both are looking like you are dead on your feet."

"No. We want to set-up our things first, then a few hours' sleep and we're good to go."

====

Annette's levels of anxiety were reaching the boiling point. When she saw that picture, something snapped inside like in the old days and Robert didn't stand a chance. She expected him to come back though.

Two weeks later she was still expecting that but Robert never showed up again nor did he answer his phone. She knew first hand, of course, that Robert was very good at disappearing. After all, he lived for almost two years next to his original family and they still didn't know who he was. The twins were so convinced that Robert was incapable of cheating she started to have doubts on top of her regret for not giving Robert a chance to talk to her.

Meanwhile Robert sat in a train looking at the landscape but seeing nothing, his mind empty and gray. He randomly took a bus and finally after two weeks the train to Blueswick. Unlike the first time he was directionless and without a purpose. When he looked inside his soul, he found it empty, devoid of emotions. Suddenly he realized that he was now without a family to preserve his sanity and peace of mind. Now he had to ask himself a, if not the, crucial question, What do I still have to live for?

====

Thom and Sylvia sat behind the gigantic computer screen. Slowly the scanner revealed the photo almost pixel by pixel. The first question Sylvia asked Annette was, "Sis, did Robert have a tattoo?"

Nette surprised, "A tattoo? No, of course not, he abhorred the idea of having foreign substances under his skin."

Sylvia said nothing and with extreme concentration followed the developments on the screen. After half an hour she sighed, "I knew it. I just knew it."

Thom called out loud, "I've got good news, but at the same time it's bloody bad news as well."

Anne was in the room first. "What do you mean?

Thom and Sylvia waited until everyone was in the room before Sylvia said in a sad voice, "The photo is a fake. It's so crudely done that you can see that the resolution of Robert's face and upper body is different from the rest of the picture. Also, there is the issue of the tattoo on the man's leg."

Annette dropped to her hands and knees and started wailing. Anne and Sylvia tried to comfort her but she was inconsolable. "Why am I so stupid? Why didn't I trust him? Now my children will never see their father again."

Gus had tears in his eyes. Haltingly, he said, "We'll try an investigator. They'll surely know how to find Robert."

Thom said. "We are going to dissect what's on the thumb drive. The woman's face is blurred. If the picture is an example of their computer skills, I have high hopes of identifying her."

They initiated a heavy-duty virus scanner and firewall on their computer. Then they got a brand-new thumb drive out of the package, inserted it in a slot, and inserted the drive from the envelope wearing surgical gloves in another one. Immediately the virus scanner went into high alert.

Thom chuckled, "Naughty, naughty, naughty, and so predictable." He cloned the drive to the new one. Sylvia explained that in case of a criminal investigation they had to justify every step and they had to prove that they did not tamper with the evidence. When the cloning was done, they went at it with a vengeance.

A few hours later a bone-tired Thom announced, "Ok we're done. We're in luck. Instead of a full format of the thumb-drive they just deleted everything except the jpeg file. Why they gave you the photo and the drive is a mystery to me. The only thing I can think of is that they wanted access to your computer. We found several kinds of malware to accomplish that. What we found is a picture of Robert taking a leak against a tree. Some photos from the woman and the real person. And the cut-outs from both photos."

Anne looked at the screen. "That picture must have been taken during the last school competition, just after he finished. He wore the stupid one-piece. That's why he was almost undressed. Now it's time for you two to get a rest. You've been at it for well over 24 hours now."

====

Meanwhile, Robert was working at the truck docks, loading and unloading. It didn't earn a lot but it was enough to pay for a shabby room in a very shabby building. It was just that, a room with a bed, a cold-water spigot, inadequate heating, and a filthy shower stall at the end of the hallway next to the toilet.

The work paid cash, which suited him fine. During his transfer in Chicago, he'd gone to his bank to withdraw as much money as he was able to, and at another, more-local bank, he opened a new account. He wasn't planning to spend the money, only to have it as a fall back in hard times.

At the dock, they soon learned not to mess with the gruff and introverted man. The self-appointed bullies at the docks always demanded a percentage of the other people's hard-earned money. When they tried to bully Robert into paying, they had another thing coming but it wasn't money. After their encounter with Robert's pieces of bicycle chain, they found business elsewhere. The rest left Robert to himself.

Robert was completely unaware of the frantic search for him. He didn't read newspapers, nor did he watch television. That his latest book became a serious bestseller completely passed him by.

At the end of November, the work dried up and Robert decided to find his luck further east. He bagged his things and got himself a ride with a trucker for loading and unloading the truck. He finally ended up in Portland.

====

Annette was at the end of her rope.

A month after Robert's disappearance, they found his car at a car park in Wolfholt but there his trail went cold. It was as if Robert had vanished from the face of the earth.

On the advice of the twins, she decided to use his pseudonym to widen her search, having flyers made with one of Robert's most recent pictures. When they started to spread the flyers, it also had a very unwanted side effect.

One afternoon there was a knock on the front door. Anne opened it and stood eye-to-eye with Ruth. Behind her was a woman Anne had never seen before, but she had an uncanny likeness to Annette's husband.

With one of the flyers in her hand, Ruth asked, "Robert Kendrick is the same man as Robert Hennings, my little brother?"

Anne asked the two women to come inside and called for Annette. Ruth introduced her mother Lucia and asked Annette the same question.

Annette thought long and hard about her answer and looked at them intensely. She settled for the truth. "Yes. Robert Kendrick and Robert Hennings are the same man. I met him on the train when he had just walked away from you. My stepfather adopted him. Therefore, the name Kendrick."

Ruth had a million questions. She looked at Anne and asked, "When we talked, did you know I was his sister?"

"No, not at first. Only when you explained that your little brother left and why, the penny dropped."

Lucia cut in. "Did you send the box with photo albums?"

Annette replied, "No. I did it on Robert's instigation."

Ruth took a deep breath, "Why did he keep his identity a secret and why didn't you tell me? You knew my mother and I were missing him terribly."

Anne didn't know how to word her answer so she finally asked Ruth, "Do you want a diplomatic answer or the unvarnished truth?"

Lucia looked at Anne. "I think that I'm afraid of the answer either way, so just hit us."

Anne and her daughter looked at each other. Lucia and Ruth saw an unspoken discussion going on between them until Annette looked at the two women. "Because he hates you and what was done to him before he left. No, fled, that's a better expression for it."

Lucia whispered, "I wasn't strong enough to protect him in those days. I only worked up enough courage to leave after Robert was gone. And now I'm afraid I'll never see him again."

Anne hugged the desperate woman. "You're his mother and I also learned to love him as a mother. We didn't adopt him without reason. And that in itself is a long story too."

Lucia asked for the bathroom. Once there, she tried to calm herself, washing her face with cold water before heading back. She was still confused so instead of walking back into the living room, she entered the so-called 'Incident room'.

What she saw shocked her. There were numerous pictures, screenshots, and a map with pins in it. There was a picture of Robert copulating with a woman but next to it was a series of screenshots in which layer by layer the falsification was revealed. In the last photo in the series, it was a completely different man in the picture with the young woman and an enlargement of the arm of another person that also had a tattoo on it.

Seeing it, Lucia screamed.

Ruth, Anne, and Annette ran into the room with Ruth looking first at her mother and then at where she was pointing on the wall.

Lucia stammered. "Ruth, look at the woman. That's Mattie. And that man is Lucas

Anne asked, "Who's Mattie? And who's Lucas?"

Ruth replied, "Mattie, or Mathilda was my babysitter when the girls were little. She almost became a member of the family. In July, she filed a police report for rape. They found traces of DNA under her fingernails because she scratched two men while fighting. She mentioned one man she thought it might be, but the police said the DNA wasn't his and that he had a watertight alibi."

Annette pointed at the tattoo. "You recognize this?"

Lucia looked at the floor before she softly answered, "I'm so ashamed, but yes. It looks very much like the tattoo on Matthew's arm. Now what?"

Gus had come in near the end and he heard the important part. "The police?" he suggested. "I know it's hard on you, but we need to go to the police with this information."

====

End of February

It was a hard freeze and it had snowed a lot.