Donna's Debut

And I left.

Two hours later I returned home. I went to the bedroom and saw that some of her things were gone. I sat on the bed and cried.

After about 15 minutes I looked up to see the twins standing in the door way.

"What did you do to mom?" asked Sammie

"That's between your mother and me."

"She said you kicked her out of the house. Is that right?"

"I told you it is between your mother and me."

"The hell it is. It involves us, too. This is our family. She said she came home and you told her to get out. We want to know why."

"That is none of your business. Period. End of discussion."

"We have a right to know, dad."

"Get out of my room."

"It's mom's room, too."

"Not anymore. Now get out and leave me alone."

"Oh, we'll leave you alone alright. We'll be with mom. We want you to know that we think what you did is shitty. We think that you are a 'Grade "A"' asshole and we want nothing more to do with you. From now on we don't have anything to say to you and nothing you say is of any interest to us. You are out of our lives completely."

"Wait just a minute, young lady." I said standing up. "Who do you think you are talking to me like that?"

"Who am I? I'm the girl who used to be your daughter but found out what a total asshole you really are and no longer want anything to do with you." She walked toward her room.

"What about you, Sam?"

"Fuck you, dad. What you did to mom was the most despicable and unimaginable thing I could ever think of. I never want to see you again." And he went toward his room.

I was sitting downstairs when they came down. They each had a suitcase and some clothes on hangers as they headed for the door.

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Like Sam said upstairs; fuck you!" And they were gone.

It took me about thirty seconds to decide my next course of action. I thought I knew the first place the three of them would go. I went online and found the business I was looking for and called them. Then I called the bank.

Two hours later two trucks pulled up in front of Donna's parent's house. One of the driver's rang the doorbell. Sammie opened the door.

"We're from Keystone Recovery and we're here to recover those two Mustang's sitting out front."

"What are you talking about?'

"The registered owner of those cars has asked us to recover them. He also asked us to give Samantha and Samuel Abbot copies of these contracts. Have a nice day." As he was talking to Sammie, the other driver had been loading the Mustang's on the backs of the trucks. They had done it so often that it took only seconds to load both cars. I had given them the spare keys just in case the other keys weren't available for some reason. The first driver returned to his truck and they drove off. By this time Sam, Donna and her mother were standing looking at the contract's the twins had signed on their 16^th birthday when I gave them the cars. Thank you, Dad!!!!

Just a few short minutes later, my phone rang. It was Donna.

"I told you I never wanted to talk to you again." I pressed end call.

The phone rang again. It was Sammie. As you may have guessed by now, she did the majority of the talking when it came to the twins.

"Hello."

"Is it possible that a bigger asshole than you exists?"

I was seeing a side of my children I never dreamed existed.

"Hey, young lady, don't blame me. I'm just helping you do what you want done."

"What are you talking about?"

"Two hours ago, you said that you and your brother wanted nothing more to do with me, so I'm helping you accomplish that goal. By taking my cars back I'm making your break from me much easier. I thought it might be less for you guys to have to do. You should be thanking me instead of calling me an asshole. Oh and by the way, I cancelled your credit cards."

"Fuck, you, asshole!" And the phone went dead.

Yes sir, a side of my children I never dreamed existed. A really ugly side. But then they are probably thinking the same about me.

It goes without saying that I filed for divorce. Donna tried several more times to talk to me, but I hung up each time. Neither she nor the twins came by the house for more of their stuff. I went to the theatre one more time to erase Donna's little fuck fest video. I didn't erase the copy on my laptop. After that I never went back to that theatre.

Three weeks later we had a meeting. Donna, our attorney's and me. I was surprised to see the twins there as well. I didn't want them there and since they were under 18, I could have prevented it. But after thinking about it, I figured it was about time.

The meeting began with her attorney saying that Donna didn't want the divorce and that the reason given for the divorce, adultery, was untrue. The look on the twin's face's told me that Donna had not told them the reason for the divorce.

My attorney basically stopped him and said. "Let's cut to the chase. Let's watch this video." And he started the video the cameras at the theatre had recorded. We had started at the part where she had one dick in her cunt, one in her ass and one in her mouth.

"No, God, no. Stop it. Stop it." Screamed Donna. She looked at me. "How did you get that?"

I said nothing. I had told her I never wanted to talk to her and I didn't. The twins looked at each other and walked out of the room. I said to her attorney.

"If your client signs these documents in the next ten minutes she can come to my house and get the rest of her stuff including the jewelry she left in the safe. The house will be open between five and seven this evening. But according to the pre-nup she gets nothing else. Period. And don't give me that shit about the video not being admissible in court. You and I both know that it is admissible. It was filmed on theatre property which is accessed by many people and nobody has a reasonable expectation of privacy like they do in a private residence." I got up and left.

I walked out of the conference room and out of the office complex headed for the elevator. The twins were standing there waiting for me.

"Oh my God, dad. We are so sorry. We had no idea."

I held up my hand to stop her.

" 'From now on we don't have anything to say to you and nothing you say is of any interest to us. You are out of our lives completely.' That's what you said a few weeks ago without knowing my side of the situation and as far as I am concerned it now goes for me as well." And I turned to go down the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator. "And as far as you calling me dad, you gave up that right. If I were you and given our recent insight into your mother's behavior I would find out from her who your biological father is. I know it can't be me because no children of mine could possibly condemn someone without at least hearing their side of the story. The house will be open between five and seven this evening for you to get the rest of your belongings. You can have anything in the house. Anything left after seven will go to charity. You might want to bring a truck and some help. Just don't bring any of your mother's lovers.

I walked down the stairs and out of the building. I had just left the parking lot when I received a call from my attorney. I pulled to the curb to take the call. The papers were signed. My marriage was over. I sat in my truck and cried.

That evening at 5:00 the twins showed up. I saw them look at the For Sale sign on the lawn. I let them in the house and, as usual, Sammie tried to speak for both of them. I held up my hand to stop her. "Not a word. Just get your stuff and leave."

She, again, started to speak. I stopped her with "One word and you leave here with nothing." Then I went into what had been my office and closed the door. I heard them leave about 20 minutes later. Shortly after they left the doorbell rang. I went to the door and opened it. My father-in-law stood there. Donna stood behind him. "May we come in?"

"Of course."

"Donna, go get your belongings. I'll talk to Mark." She went upstairs. "How are you doing?" He asked.

"Not too good. And you?"

"Not too good, either. The twins told us what happened at the attorney's office. They were pretty shaken up especially when you told them to find out who their biological father was."

I just stood there.

"We didn't know about Donna. When she got home today, her mother kicked her out of the house. The twins can stay if they want, but Donna has to be gone by tomorrow."

I just stood there.

"The twins are sorry about the way they treated you. Maybe you should forgive them and give them another chance."

"I don't think my relationship with them is any of your business, but I know you are just trying to help. They were willing to throw me 'under the bus' before they knew the whole story. There was no forgiveness even though there was nothing to forgive. They treated me like scum. I will not easily forget or forgive that. Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do. Give my best to mom. I have always loved and respected you both. I hope you know that."

I went back into my office.

I heard them leave.

Fast forward five years. I had not heard from either Donna or the twins. I had sold the house and packed my truck and headed south. Four months after leaving Pennsylvania I woke up in Key West, Florida. Needless to say I was not in need of money. As a matter of fact, I had no intention of working for a living ever again. I was playing tourist my first day there and was walking down one of the downtown streets and almost walked past a small community theatre. I stopped and decided to look around. The front door was locked so I walked around to the rear. Some folks were working in the shop. I introduced myself and started chatting. Before I knew it I had a cordless drill in my hand and was helping build a set. Just like most people involved in Community Theatre they were all volunteers and had other jobs so around noon they all started to leave.

"Can you come back tomorrow?" Asked the guy who appeared to be in charge.

"Sure. What time?"

"Eight. We'll have coffee ready."

Next morning I showed up at eight with a dozen doughnuts. I have been here since. In these five years, I bought a house within walking distance of the theatre. I am a member of the Board of Directors and have been in a few plays and have directed three. As a matter of fact I was working on the set of the next play I was directing when I heard it.

"Dad?"

I froze.

"Daddy? Is that you?"

I didn't have to look. I knew who it was. I put my drill down and turned to face her.

"How did you find me? More importantly, why?"

"We were walking down the street and I saw a poster advertising your play and I saw your name."

"What do you want, Samantha?"

"Can we talk for a while?" Long pause. "Please?"

I stood there.

"Go ahead. Talk."

"Sam and I treated you like shit. We had no right to and you didn't deserve it. Not one day has gone by in the last five years that we haven't regretted it. We tried for a year to find you. Grandpa helped us get an investigator and we were able to follow you for the first three months. We knew when you were in Charleston but then we lost you. Dad, we are so sorry. We love you and miss you and want very much to be back in your life."

Charleston was where I decided to stop using credit cards and used only cash. I haven't used a credit card since.

"By the way," she said with a smile, "you are our father. We did a DNA test."

"How did you do that without my DNA?"

"We had it. Do you remember the box that had all of your baby teeth? As Sam and I recall the story, your mother saved all of your teeth whenever they either fell out or were pulled and she put them in a small box. You had your teeth in one side and Sam and I put ours in the other side. We had them tested and whether you like it or not you're our father; but more importantly, you're our daddy."

I had to smile. Just then we heard a boat whistle. Key West is a big port of call for cruise ships.

"Oh, shit. I have to go."

"Are you on that ship?"

"Yes some of my sorority sisters and I decided to take a cruise as our graduation present to ourselves. I graduated from Penn State last month."

"Good for you."

She asked me to walk part way with her. I locked the theatre door and we walked toward the harbor.

"You may not want to hear this, but Sam and I rarely talk to mom. We see her at Grandma and Grandpa's every once in a while. They don't like for her to come around, but they won't let her and her child go hungry or homeless."

"Child?"

"One of the men she had sex with that day made her pregnant."

I shrugged. I couldn't care less. I had a fleeting thought about her being too old, but I guess she wasn't.

"You have a granddaughter. Sam got married last year and they had a baby two months ago. Her name is Markie Elizabeth. They named her after you. I just happen to have some pictures of her. She had two of them and she took them out to show me. She handed them to me but I turned my head away and didn't look at them.

"Don't you want to see her?"

"No. Neither you nor Sam have any idea how devastated I was when you told me you wanted me out of your lives. I had invested all the love and emotion I had in my family and in one day it was swept away. In your mother's case it was probably long term. Apparently she had been cheating for some time. But you and Sam seemed to be able to cast me aside so casually and with so little effort that I was stunned.

Now you are here saying that you are sorry and want me back in your lives. I don't know that I have the emotional strength to do that. What if I do something to make you mad again? Would you do the same thing? I don't know that I'm willing, or able, to go through it. It's the same thing with his daughter. If I look at her picture and start to develop an emotional attachment he can, on a whim, take her out of my life. Why would I put myself through that?"

"Daddy, all we can do is tell you how sorry we are and ask; no not ask, beg, for a chance to try to make it up to you."

By this time we were at the entrance to the cruise terminal. We stopped.

"Well, I have to go." She touched my arm and moved as if to hug me. I tensed and backed away. She looked at me and tears starting forming in her eyes as she turned and walked through the gate. I watched her leave. She turned back to me. "We love you daddy."

And she was gone.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. I must have said it a thousand times on my way back to the theatre. I came close to being a pedestrian fatality at least three times because I wasn't paying any attention to what I was doing. She was wrong about one thing. It hasn't been five years. It's been five years, four months and eighteen days. Now what do I do? They know where I am. Do I leave and go someplace else? Fuck no! This is my home. Tomorrow I will call and reactivate my credit cards.

As soon as Sammie was back on board her ship she took out her phone and called Sam.

"Hi, sis. Seasick yet?"

"No, smartass and you'll never guess who I have spent the last half hour with."

"Do I really care?"

"In this case I think so. It was dad."

A long silence

"Are you there?"

"I'm here. Is he okay?"

"He seems to be. He's still very bitter."

"Did you tell him how sorry we are?"

"Yes. A couple of times. I told him about Markie and tried to show him her picture, but he wouldn't look at it." And she went on to explain to Sam their father's rationale.

"Christ."

"Yeah. I also told him about mom."

"Holy shit. How did he take that?"

"I got the impression that he couldn't care less."

"I don't blame him for that."

"Okay, I have to go. We're getting ready to sail. See you in a few days."

"Okay, Love you."

"Love you, too."

Five weeks after arriving home, Sammie received a telephone call.

"Hello."

"This is Detective Bryan with the Key West, Florida, Police Department. I'm trying to locate Samantha Abbot."

"I'm Samantha Abbot."

"Miss Abbot, do you know a Mark Abbot, here in Key West?"

"That's my father's name and he lives there. Why?"

"Miss Abbot, your father has had a stroke and is in the hospital here."

"Oh, my God. How bad is it?"

"You will have to talk to his doctor, Miss Abbot. I'm not at liberty to discuss medical information. I would advise, however, that you get here as soon as you can."

"Thank you Detective."

"When you arrive ask the hospital staff to contact me, please."

"I will. Thank you."

Twelve hours later she and Sam were talking to the attending physician and nurse outside their father's room.

"The stroke occurred two weeks ago. It was opening night of the show he was directing. After the show he and his cast and crew were celebrating at a local watering hole. We can't really assess the damage because he has been in a coma since he was brought in. We know there has been some physical damage, but we have no idea about possible neurological damage because he can't communicate with us. And from a medical perspective there appears no reason for him to be in a coma. Frankly, we just don't understand. You should know, also, that he has not been alone since he was brought in. There is always someone from the theatre with him. There is someone in there now."

"Do you know why it took so long for us to be notified?"

"I'm not positive, but I don't think anybody knew you existed until a couple of days ago."

"Well, thank you, Doctor. May we see him now?"

"Of course. Nurse Johnstone and I will be with you."

They entered the room. A young man was sitting reading aloud from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, a favorite of Mark's. He stopped and stood when the four entered the room.

"Hi. I understand you are his children. I want you to know that this whole city loves your father. He almost singlehandedly saved our theatre. You are lucky to have him."

"Thank you." Said Sammie.

The young man left. Sam went to one side of the bed. Sammie the other. Together they reached for their father's hands. As soon as the three touched, Mark's eyes started to flutter. Then they opened. Nurse Johnstone, grabbed the Doctor and gasped.

"Oh, my God! Look, Doctor." She started to go to Mark. The Doctor stopped her.

"Let's just watch." He said.

Mark's eyes were now fully opened. He looked at Sam and then at Sammie. "What happened?" His speech was slow and labored.

"You had a stroke."

"When?"

"Two weeks ago."

"Prognosis?"

The doctor stepped up and spoke. "As far as we can tell you should fully recover but we still have some tests to run. And now that you are awake, we can run them."

He and nurse Johnstone left.

"How long have you been here?"

"We just arrived. How do you feel?"

"Not sure."

The three of them just looked at each other. Each wanting to speak, but couldn't. Mark drifted in and out of consciousness. The nursing staff was in and out of the room doing their thing and another person from the theatre stopped by. After several hours the twins were ready to find a hotel and get some rest. Mark was awake.

"Daddy, we have to leave for a while. We need to find a hotel and get some rest. We'll be back in the morning."

Mark looked around the room. "Where pants?" Still laboring to speak,

"What did you say?"

"Where my pants?"

They looked and found them in the small closet. Sam handed them to Mark. He had trouble controlling his arm. Frustrated he said, "Wallet. Keys."

Sam took Mark's keys and wallet and handed them to Mark.

Mark shook his head. "For you. Stay my house. Money. Car. Cards. You use. No hotel."

They understood. Sammie leaned down to kiss him on the forehead as they left. Sam stroked his arm. They all smiled.

Downstairs in the lobby, they looked through his wallet. His address was on his driver's license so they grabbed a cab and went there. They used his keys to get in. They put their suitcases down and looked around their father's house. Sammie went to the kitchen. Sam walked over to his desk.