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In Search of True North

By Kathleen Neely

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Chapter 1
Mallory Carter’s phone vibrated for the third time in the last hour. She stole a glance at the low buzz from the shelf under the counter where it rested. Dad—again. It must be important, but she couldn’t talk from work. She had no one to cover the register. Still, it was unusual to see a call from her dad’s cell phone. Tightness gripped her chest. Should she answer it? A customer entered, settling the decision. Her dad would have to wait. Her shift ended soon.
The high humidity brought beads of sweat to Mallory’s forehead as she called out the customary greeting. “Hello. Welcome to Cape Fear Emporium.” She tucked the phone away. She’d call him from home.
A middle-aged lady, her cropped hair sticky with sweat and clinging to her face, breathed a satisfied response. “Ahh. Air.” The relief would be short-lived. The air conditioner had difficulty cooling this space beyond 76 degrees.
She turned a friendly smile toward Mallory. “There’s not a hint of a breeze out there. It’s stifling. Is North Carolina always like this?”
Mallory could pick out the northerners every time. She cooled her face with an oriental folding fan as she answered. “May’s usually nice. This is unseasonably hot. Feel free to look around. It’s better than walking the boardwalk in this heat.”
Dozens of colorful T-shirts hung from a circular rack. The shelves held coffee mugs depicting the Cape Fear River, Wrightsville Beach, and the boardwalk. Seashell jewelry dangled from a rotating display. The ice cream typically drew people in, strategically located in the back of the store so they’d pass shelves filled with novelties that no one needed but most people bought.
Mallory worked the front register, giving her a view of the river. Today, not a ripple stirred that water. Three customers wandered the store, picking up items only to replace them a moment later. They’d find their trinket before leaving. Very few people left empty-handed. A brief swish signaled that a voicemail had followed that unanswered call. A chill prickled her skin. Her father rarely contacted her. Something must be wrong. Mallory glanced at the voicemail text. It simply said to call him. She preferred to do that from the privacy of home.
The chimes inside the door sounded their deep, metallic dong. Mallory looked up to see Chloe swing through the doorway, her caftan flowing, each movement rustling its bold shades of red and yellow. The silky frock with its wild geometric patterns didn’t cling to her with sweat as Mallory’s T-shirt did. Her armful of bangle bracelets shone with the sunrays that bounced from each silver and gold band. A straw sunhat and dark glasses embellished her flamboyant look.
She bounced toward the register. “Hey, girl. What’s shaking? Business been good?”
“Slow and steady.”
“Well, they say that wins the race.” She laughed at her own quip. “You ready to sally on outta here?”
Mallory had worked for Chloe since moving to Wilmington ten years ago. She touched her cell phone to check the time. It automatically provided notifications of the missed calls and voicemails. She caught herself biting her bottom lip, a habit she worked hard to break. “I have ten more minutes, but we can balance the register.”
Chloe took her key and pulled up the day’s total receipts, flipped through the currency on hand, and checked the charge sales. She flicked the cash drawer closed in her flashy style. “And you are good to go. I’m headed to the Rococo Lounge when I close. Join me if you’re free.”
“Maybe.” The locals met up for reggae music, Cajun food, and Bahama Mamas. Mallory’s tight budget prevented her from frequenting the lounge as often as some of the others.
She left the emporium and turned toward Wilmington’s Historic District to her apartment on Third Street. The antebellum house had fallen into disrepair when a greedy landlord got his hands on it. The outside was a masterpiece of architecture with Corinthian columns and Greek revival moldings, but he chopped the interior up, fitting it into tiny efficiency apartments. The price had been right when Mallory moved here ten years ago, but rent increased each year. If the trend continued, it would price her out of living downtown.
She had to return her dad’s calls, but not in this suffocating heat. After climbing the three flights to her apartment, she kicked the AC into action, and downed a tall glass of ice water. Then she sat close to the vent that began to release cool air, and placed the call.
“Mallory Rose, I’ve been trying to reach you.” His voice cracked with emotion.
She bit her lip as a wave of apprehension rippled through her. “I saw that, Dad. I was working. What’s wrong? You sound upset.”
“Sit down, Mallory Rose.”
He continued to use her middle name. Her parents, in true southern style, chose six names for their three daughters—Jolene Rae, Savannah Joy, and Mallory Rose. She couldn’t remember ever being just Mallory until she left home.
“I am sitting. What’s wrong?”
“It’s Jolene Rae and Mark. They were … were …” It took him three tries to get the words out. “There was an accident. A terrible accident.”
Mallory waited through his silence, her pulse pounding stronger with each soundless moment. When the void of information became unbearable, she broke his reticence. “Dad?”
He choked out the last two words. “They’re gone.”
“No!” Mallory sprang to her feet with nauseating force. Jolene Rae, her oldest sister. She couldn’t be gone. A vice squeezed Mallory’s chest. She swallowed the lump that jammed her throat. “Samuel?” She whispered the panicked question.
“He wasn’t in the car. He’s here with us.”
****
Mallory made the two-hour drive to Raleigh with her mind in a fog. This couldn’t be happening. Jolene couldn’t be dead. Every mile brought flashbacks of her childhood. Jolene—ten years older than Mallory and so gentle spirited, even as a teenager. Visions of Jolene, her hand wrapped around Mallory’s four-year-old hand, holding firmly as they crossed a street. Her graduation, photos of her and Mark on prom night, at their wedding. Mallory’s eyes misted remembering Jolene’s face when she held Samuel. Pure love radiated from her, like the aura of an angel.
Mallory parked in front of Savannah’s small, red brick ranch and climbed the three steps to the porch. Her sister’s text message asked her to stop here before going to her parents. Savannah Joy held the door open, and they fulfilled a courtesy embrace. As always Savannah maintained her poise, but bloodshot eyes betrayed her.
“Please, come in. Thank you for coming here first. We need to talk before you see Mother.”
Mallory looked around the house but saw no one else. “It’s quiet. Where’re your kids?”
“Richard took them out so we could talk in private. Please have a seat. What can I get you? Sweet tea? Water?” No circumstances stripped Savannah of southern hospitality.
“Just water, please.” She lowered herself onto the well-worn sofa. Spotting the photo box on the coffee table, Mallory reached for a stack of pictures. They dated back to Jolene’s teenage years; most of them showed the two older sisters, with Mallory noticeably absent. She should be offended, but she was ten years younger. The two oldest sisters had a natural bond.
One picture caught her attention. She shifted the stack to free it, enabling her to examine the details. The three sisters sat on the step of their Charlotte home—the house they sold when she was sixteen. A pang of homesickness stung Mallory, even after all these years. The photo showed Savannah and Jolene as teens, bookending her, their arms draped across her four-year old back. In those days, they pampered her. So much had changed.
Savannah returned and set the water on a coaster far from the pictures. “I’m pulling some photos together for a display. We’re still planning details for the funeral.” She held out her hand to reclaim the photos that Mallory had picked up, then moved her chosen stack to another table. Others were returned to the box before she secured the lid and scooted it to the far end of the coffee table, out of Mallory’s reach.
Savannah sat in a wingback chair and smoothed her skirt. Her attempt at mimicking their mother’s perfectly bobbed hair fell short as the coffee-brown tips curled with humidity. “Mallory Rose, we need to talk about Samuel. You know that Mother’s not doing well. I’m sure you haven’t seen her, but when did you last have an update?”
Five minutes in the house and the darts were already hitting their mark, reminding her that she hadn’t been a good daughter or they wouldn’t need to give updates. She wouldn’t be consulted on funeral plans or pictures. Everything had been safely moved from her reach.
Her eyes rose in challenge. “I talk to Mother each week.”
Savannah crossed her arms. The condescending tilt of her head took Mallory back to the principal’s office, seated across from his huge desk. “Talking to her and seeing her aren’t the same thing.”
Mallory clenched her jaw and took a deep breath. “I know she has Alzheimer’s.”
“Not just Alzheimer’s. Hers is early onset. It’s far more significant and progressing fast.”
Mallory leaned forward, unable to hide her annoyance. “I don’t need a medical lesson. I’m aware of the significance. Get to the point, Savannah.”
Her sister sat up straight and spoke with finality. “You have to take Samuel.”
Her next breath was exhaled in a rush of air. “I know you’re kidding me here. Remember who you’re talking to. I’m the irresponsible sister.”
Savannah’s words squeezed through the tight pursing of her lips. “I’m aware of that.”
Spoken in sarcasm, yet Savannah offered no word to counter that claim. Instead, she continued with a decisive voice. “There’s no one else. In another year, Mother won’t know his name. Daddy has a full-time job taking care of her. We can’t sanction a move that lacks permanence. Besides, with her condition, Social Services would never allow it.”
Eight years had passed since Mallory last saw Samuel. He was no longer the delightful four-year- old who squeezed her heart until she couldn’t breathe. She’d seen pictures that Jolene posted on social media. Samuel was twelve, rapidly growing into manhood. He needed so much more than she had to give. Mallory stood and paced the living room. “He barely knows me. I
haven’t seen him in years. You’re the obvious choice. He knows you, and your kids would be here to help him.”
“Look around, Mallory Rose. I have five kids living in 1,500 square feet, and Lillian’s hearing-impaired. I take them to four different schools. It’s impossible for me to take on a grieving pre-teen.”
Mallory looked around the small space, the dated furniture, the miniscule yard. It was still more than she had to offer. She returned to her chair. “At least you know how to raise a kid. I know nothing about them, especially teenagers.”
“Well, you’re going to have to learn fast. You’re the only option.”
Mallory leaned her head back on the chair, closing her eyes. Both hands fingered through her long, dark hair. Samuel. He deserved so much more than she could give him. She’d get nowhere with Savannah by challenging her. She needed to make her understand.
“My lifestyle isn’t conducive to raising a child. My hours are irregular. My income’s in the day-to-day survival range. My apartment’s an efficiency. I wouldn’t even have a bedroom for him. It’s not what Jolene would want.”
Savannah’s head volleyed back and forth. “No. No. You don’t understand. You can’t take him to the coast. We don’t want him to change schools. We want you to move into Jolene Rae’s house. Their will leaves all possessions to Samuel, in trust until he’s of age. I’m executor of the will and checked with an attorney yesterday. We can keep the house until he’s old enough to decide what he wants to do with it.”
Mallory sat with her mouth gaping open. “You want me to move to Raleigh? Absolutely not. My life’s in Wilmington. I have a job there.”
Savannah began losing some of her practiced composure. “Let’s get serious, Mallory Rose. You’re twenty-eight years old and your life’s on a fast track to nowhere. You have an on-and-off boyfriend and a hippie boss. It’s time to grow up.”
Mallory sprung to her feet. “Really? Hippie? What decade are you living in?”
Savannah flicked her hand, dismissing the criticism. “Hippie. Yuppie. Whatever you call them now.”
Mallory’s jaw tightened. “And why do we have to call her anything? I wouldn’t be too snooty with seven people living in this shoebox of a house.”
Both sisters were on their feet now, voices elevated.
“So, you’ll just waltz back to the coast and let Samuel be fostered out to God only knows who?”
Mallory pointed an index finger at her sister. “Why don’t you move into Jolene’s house? Doesn’t she have some big home with tons of bedrooms?”
“Four. It has four bedrooms. It’s a different school district. I can’t move my kids. Spencer’s going into his junior year. Lillian’s in a hearing-impaired classroom. It’s not feasible to make that kind of change.” Savannah leaned forward and lowered her voice. “He is your son.”
Mallory stepped into her space, and met her whispered voice, laced with rage. “How dare you? We had a pact. That is never to be spoken.”
“You and Jolene Rae had a pact. I sat by and watched the deceit. Only for her sake did I keep my mouth closed.” She stabbed a finger in Mallory’s direction. “You broke the law. Do you want that exposed?”
Heat climbed to Mallory’s face. “Are you threatening me?”
“It’s up to five years imprisonment and a ten thousand dollar fine for falsifying a birth certificate. I checked.”
“You checked?” Mallory stepped back and shook her head in disbelief. “I was sixteen years old when that decision was made. Barely seventeen when I gave birth. I did what Mother asked me—practically told me—to do. Are you prepared to incriminate her?”
In the silence that followed, Mallory lowered herself to the chair. It had been so long ago, not that she ever forgot. Samuel’s birth cost her dearly. She couldn’t watch her sister raise him as her own. Couldn’t watch him grow up calling her Aunt Mallory, or worse yet, Aunt Mallory Rose. Surely Jolene would have insisted on the full name, if only to please their mother. Because of Samuel’s birth, she’d moved away and lost her family.
“Wait a minute.” Mallory began thinking through Savannah’s words. “I know Jolene and Mark. They wouldn’t have drafted a last will taking care of their money and not their son. Who did they name as guardian?”
Savannah’s eyes lowered and she gave no answer.
Mallory was back on her feet. “You?”
“That was twelve years ago. Life wasn’t as complicated back then. Besides, no one expects it will ever really happen.”
Mallory picked up her purse and stormed toward the door. “I’m going to see Mother.”
Savannah hurried after her. “I need an answer.”
“Well, we all have something we need.” She yanked the door open. “And I need time to think.”
Savannah followed her out to the porch. “Don’t take too long. Social Services will move him if the family doesn’t have a solution.”

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