Who is Jessica?

Part 1
Her name was Jessica. He knew that from the moment he saw her though he could not explain how. He also knew that she would change his life forever. Unfortunately she did not have the slightest idea who he was, but, as Nathan comforted himself, she would see it too as soon as their fateful meeting took place. He first spotted her as she walked across Main Street, her long legs moving almost melodically along the crosswalk. Her long brown hair blew in the cool evening breeze and then floated back down to accentuate her figure.

“Yo spacey, come back to earth!” A swift slap on the back brought Nathan out of his thoughts. His friends, Jeremy and Alex, were both staring at him.

“Sorry guys, I just saw a pretty girl. You know how it is,” Nathan responded, trying to sound nonchalant. His friends looked at each other. “What girl?” Jeremy asked.

“What girl? You have to be kidding. Over there! She’s gorgeous...” Nathan jerked his thumb to point across the street but stopped mid-sentence when he realized the girl was gone.

“I hate to tell you this, but there has not been anyone else on this street since we started walking up it,” Jeremy said tentatively.

“You sure you want to go to the bar? Seems like you’ve had too much already,” Alex laughed.

“Oh WHATEVER,” Nathan said. “You guys probably just missed her. Let’s get going before all the hot wings are gone. Last one there buys the first round!” He shouted as he took off in a sprint towards Al’s place. The three guys went there every Thursday because it was $1 hot wings night. The only problem was that they lived in a town of only 10,000 in the middle deserted Kansas so everyone else came there too. Nathan had never minded the smallness of town though; he liked knowing almost everyone wherever he went. As he narrowly beat his two friends in the door of the bar, he waved hello to many of the familiar faces. And as he sipped his cold beer and chowed down on hot wings, he contemplated the weirdness of the mystery girl. Who was she? She must be new in town for him not to recognize her. And why didn’t Alex and Jeremy see her? Maybe they were just pulling his leg. They liked to do that.

Part 2
After they had eaten as many hot wings as they could possibly hold, they left the bar and went their separate ways. Jeremy had to be up at 6 the next morning to start another shift at the police station and Alex and Nathan both had to be at the industrial factory where they worked at 7. Nathan stuck his hands in his pockets and walked slowly the three blocks to his house.

He still lived at home with his father. His mother had died when he was born and they had moved to this town when Nathan was four. His father, James, always said he had wanted to start over so they never talked about life before moving. Even though Nathan was twenty-four, he had no real reason to move out yet. It was not like Nathan and his dad were best buds, but the house had four bedrooms and James always seemed a little lost whenever Nathan was gone for any space of time. Nathan figured he would stay there until he found someone to marry and then move his dad into a smaller place near him.
Nathan paused on the back porch. The house seemed very dark, usually James stayed up until Nathan got home. He must have been tired tonight. Trying to be extra quiet, he slid in the door key, open the door and gingerly closed it. Satisfied with his stealth, he tiptoed through the kitchen to the living room. Knowing he would never make it through the living room to the stairs without knocking over one of the many stacks of car magazines his father insisted on leaving around, he flipped on the light. With a gasp he covered his eyes.

“Nathan! We didn’t hear you come in...”His father said sheepishly, from the couch where he had been laying with a woman who was quickly to smooth out her clothing. Apparently they had been making out very heavily.

“I’m sorry,” Nathan said quickly. “Goodnight.” He sprinted towards the stairs, kicking over two of the magazine piles as he went. Well, it served his dad right.

Up in his room, he could hear the front door open and then close again. He quickly flipped out the light and jumped into bed, praying his dad would not try and come talk to him now that the woman (who the heck was she? He had not even seen her face) was gone. Thankfully James left him alone until the next morning.

As Nathan woofed down frosted flakes the next morning, James stumbled into the kitchen.

“Mornin’” he said. Nathan remained silent.

“Listen, about last night..” Nathan hopped up from the table.

“No sweat Dad, I have to go anyways.”

“No, Nathan, wait. I know this is weird for you, but it’s been a long time since I have
had someone to talk to, someone to be with and well, Sarah and I have known each other a long time and the spark just started all of a sudden.”

“Sarah?” Nathan choked. “As in, Bethany Peterson’s mom?” The Petersons had lived next door to us for years and Bethany and I had been childhood friends. Her dad had been a police office and had been shot during our seventh grade year when a high profile criminal passed through town and Mr. Peterson tried to stop him by himself. Bethany had never been the same and moved out of the town as soon as she turned eighteen. Nathan had known Mrs. Peterson still lived next door all by herself, except for a few cats, but never would he have pictured his dad and her together.

“Yes, as in Sarah Peterson. And I promise, we just started seeing each other a few days ago, I was going to tell you.”

“Great,” Nathan grumbled. “Let me know when the wedding is.” He grabbed his shoes and slammed the back door behind as he hurried to escape his father. A day of work was just what he needed, something to take his mind off this new development.

Part 3
It was a week later when he saw his mystery girl again. James had finally convinced Nathan to have dinner with him and Sarah. Of course, while his father was cooking, he realized he was out of spaghetti sauce. Which, when you are making spaghetti, is rather vital. So he sent Nathan out to the grocery store to get some. Nathan was wandering the aisles with no idea where the sauce was when he stumbled on the beer aisle. Man I am going to need some of that to get through tonight, he thought to himself. He picked up a six-pack of his favorite kind and turned to see his mystery girl walking up the aisle towards him. His mouth went dry. She was so pretty.

However, she stopped before reaching him to inspect some wine bottles on the opposite side of the aisle. Nathan’s confidence returned as her head was turned away from him.

“Excuse me,” he said clearing his throat behind her. She peeked over her shoulder but then went back to reading wine labels. Nathan shifted from one foot to other, trying to come up with something to say. He noticed she did not have a basket or a cart so she must have just come for the wine. And she was not wearing a wedding ring.

“Excuse me miss,” he said louder. She turned and looked at him with eyebrows raised.

“Yes?” she asked in a slightly aggravated tone.

“I’m sorry,” Nathan apologized. “I was just wondering if you knew where the spaghetti sauce was in this store. I am a bit clueless when it comes to grocery stores.”

She dropped her eyebrows and laughed a little. “You found the beer didn’t you? I would guess you aren’t really that clueless. But hey, you tried that hard to talk to me so I’ll show you.”

A bit stunned, Nathan could only muster out a thank you and follow her. They walked by a new store manager who Nathan had seen several times as he was wandering around.

“Do you need any help finding anything sir?” the manager asked. Nathan shook his head.

“She is showing me where it is,” he replied. The manager gave him a strange look and then slowly nodded. Nathan shrugged and then hurried to catch up with the beautiful stranger.

“Can I ask what your name is?” he prodded as he fell in step beside her.

“Jessica. Yours?”

“Nathan. I’ve lived here for twenty years so you must be new here right?”

“Smooth Nathan,” she smiled at him. “And yes I am new around here. I’ve been here only a couple of weeks.”

They arrived at the spaghetti display far too quickly for Nathan’s liking.

“Here we are,” Jessica said, pointing to the sauce jars, leaving nothing in question to be found.

“Thank you so much,” Nathan said. She nodded and turned to walk back up the aisle.

“Wait!” he called hurriedly. He had no idea what he would say, but he knew he could not have her leave like this. This was his one chance. She turned halfway and looked over her shoulder at him, wavy hair softly hitting into her face.

“Will I see you again?” was all he could muster out. Inside he wanted to strangle himself. He should have said CAN I see you again, not WILL.

Jessica laughed. “I’m sure you probably will.” And with that, she was gone.

Part 4
Nathan wanted to kick himself after the ruined conversation with Jessica. Still, he had found out her name and had actually spoken to her, so that was a start. He was whistling as he walked back into the house, beer and sauce in tow. However, the whistle faded from his lips when he saw Mrs. Peterson sitting at their table. His dad looked over his shoulder from the stove.

“Great you’re here! Bring me the sauce!” His father always made such a big deal about being busy cooking, even if it was just something super easy like spaghetti. He apparently could not remove himself for one second from the stove to get the sauce from his son. Nathan walked over and dropped the jar into his hand.

“Sarah, you know my son...”James said as he opened the jar and dumped the sauce into a pot. Nathan groaned.

“Of course she knows me, she’s known me since I was four. Come on Dad.” Nathan threw himself into the chair opposite Mrs. Peterson. His good mood was gone and he was not sure why. Didn’t his father deserve to be happy? Why was this upsetting Nathan so much? He was a grown-up after all, it’s not like Mrs. Peterson would become his mother or something. Sarah seemed to understand Nathan’s discomfort.

“I know this is a little weird Nathan, but your dad and I just ran into each other about two weeks ago in the store, got to talking and a few days later he knocked on my door and asked to have coffee. Then we went out to dinner the night that—”

“The night I found you two getting busy on the couch?” Nathan asked leaning forward with narrowed eyes. Mrs. Peterson blushed, which was interesting because Nathan could not remember ever seeing an older woman blush. James called for Nathan to come help him by the stove.

“Lay off her,” his dad hissed at him.

“Well, I don’t think it’s a great idea to go that physical on a first date,” Nathan hissed back.

“Oh don’t go all pastoral on me,” James complained. Nathan knew it bugged his dad that he was a Christian. He had never once given him a ride to church, Nathan had either walked or hitched a ride. Nathan had tried and tried to talk to him about God and Jesus, but James always walked away, yelled at him, or just turned the TV volume higher. So Nathan had resorted to trying to do lifestyle evangelism to him, which he was not doing a very good job of tonight. He took a deep breath.

“I’m sorry Dad, I promise to be more civil,” Nathan said, trying to muster sincerity. As he was more civil, dinner conversation was a little strained but went off mainly without any large hitches. Nathan simply spent most of the time replaying the conversation he had with Jessica over and over in his head instead of paying attention to the dinner.

After dinner was over, James told Sarah to go on into the living room while the boys cleaned up. Nathan began washing the dishes, just glad that he could go on about his business now. His dad brought over some more dishes from the table.

“When we’re done in here, do you think you could go upstairs? Sarah and I want to watch a movie down here alone,” he said, not meeting Nathan’s gaze.

“Sure.” Nathan scrubbed the plate in his hand harder. “Maybe I should just move out too to give you more space,” he added before he could stop himself. His father stood still for a second.

“Actually, that’s not a bad idea. Sarah and I are...well we are thinking about moving in together.”

Part 5
Nathan’s mouth dropped open. “You are thinking about doing what??”

James shifted uncomfortably. “Moving in together. You do not really need to leave of course, I was just...”

Nathan suddenly realized he was dripping water all over his shoes since he was holding the dish he had been washing out of the sink. He dropped it back in the sink.

“Are you crazy? What the heck are you thinking? Aside from the moral side which I know you care nothing about, you have only been out on one date!”

“Well, at least I am out there. When was the last time you had a date?” James was trying to take the focus off of himself but Nathan was not going to let him off that easily.

“Don’t try and change the subject. Besides, I am currently in the process of asking someone out.”

James snickered. “In the process? Who is it?”

Nathan dried his hands off with a kitchen towel. “She is new to town and her name is Jessica.” He put the towel back and when he looked back at his dad, he saw his face had gone white.

“Jess-ica?” James managed to choke out. He looked like he was going to pass out. Nathan furrowed his eyebrows, very puzzled.

“What?” he asked. His dad cleared his throat and went to the refrigerator for a beer. Nathan sighed. His dad did a lot of drinking. Nathan theorized it was because then he would not have to deal with all the issues that never seemed to get resolved.

James twisted open the beer, took a long drink and then, much to Nathan’s surprise, walked out the back door. Hurrying over to the door, Nathan looked out just in time to see him start up his car and back out of the driveway. Where can he be going? Nathan wondered to himself. Puzzled, he stood still for a few moments, wondering what to do. Finally he went and told his father’s date that James was not feeling well and that she should go home. When Nathan was alone, he dropped to the couch and went over the conversation he had with his dad. James had been his normal self until Nathan brought up his potential girl. Why did her name make him go so crazy?

Nathan could not remember ever knowing anyone else named Jessica. It was not like his mother’s name was Jessica or something...but wait. He thought and thought but he could not remember his dad ever telling him her name. Was that true? James had always talked about her as “Mom” or “your mother”, had he really never said her real name? Not even once?

When Nathan was nine, he had come across a box in the attic that looked like it contained things that belonged to a woman. His father had found him just as he opened it and had claimed the box was full of spiders (which Nathan had been terrified of at the time). Now he remembered that and thought maybe his dad had just not wanted him to look through it.

Standing up from the couch, Nathan decided to go up to the attic. James was not home and Nathan no longer cared about spiders. He had to find out what his father was hiding.

Part 6
After making his way up to the attic, Nathan shifted through the many boxes stacked everywhere. He was able to skip the ones he remembered packing himself with things like his old train sets and many toy cars. Finally he found the stack of boxes he had begun opening so many years ago. Pulling the top box down to the floor, he ripped off the packing tape. Before he opened it, he took a deep breath. Then he plunged in.

At first he could not find anything useful. There were a few dresses and some random knick-knacks that had no meaning to him. He found a jewelry box but did not bother to look inside. But as he opened the last box in the stack, he saw a large blue photo album. Pulling it out, he flipped it open to the first page and his heart skipped a beat. In big letters across the front page were the words “Jessica and James Forever”.

Nathan sank down to the floor. No wonder his dad had freaked out when Nathan told him that girl’s name. It must have brought up all the old memories. His dad was very sensitive about the past and obviously had told Nathan very little about it.

He turned the page to reveal a large wedding photo. James was smiling at his bride and looked radiantly happy. However, the picture only showed the side of Jessica’s face. Nathan impatiently flipped the page, wanting to see a full picture of his mother. He found it rather odd that his father had never showed this photo album to him. Even if it was hard for James, he should have thought about how Nathan needed to see what his mother looked like at the very least.

As Nathan’s eyes perused the next few pages, he realized there were no pictures of his mother’s face there either. Perhaps she had put the photo album together and had wanted more pictures of James instead of herself. A bit frustrated, Nathan turned the page again and then his heart stopped. Eyes wide, he stared at large picture on the page. His mother was standing sideways, showing off her baby bump but her head was turned to face the camera.

The girl that stared back at Nathan from the page was the same girl he had spoken to in the grocery store just hours before.

Part 7
The sound of the back door slamming startled Nathan. He realized he had been sitting there staring at the picture for probably fifteen minutes. Hurriedly stuffing everything back into the boxes, he stacked them up as carefully as he could. Switching off the light as he fled the attic, he quietly pulled the attic door closed behind him. Tiptoeing down the hall to his room, he slid inside and shut the door behind him.

Breathing hard, he leaned against the door. His dad would have been even more upset if he had found Nathan looking through those boxes, especially if he had stopped at the bar to drink although he had not been gone terribly long.

Dropping onto his bed, Nathan tried to make sense of what was going on. How could the girl in the store look exactly like the woman in the pictures with his father, presumably his mother? Was he going crazy? Did he have a sister? No, the two of them could not be mother and daughter, they looked too much alike. But those pictures were older than him, so what other explanation was there?

He went around and around, but nothing made sense. One thing was for sure, his dad had kept a lot of things to himself about their past and Nathan needed to find out everything. But how? His dad would never tell him.

Staring at the ceiling, he heard footsteps coming up the stairs. That’s odd, Nathan thought to himself. His father’s bedroom was on the bottom floor of the house and he hardly ever came upstairs. He quietly got up off the bed and slid over to the door. Opening it just a crack, he looked out just in time to see James disappear into the attic. Realizing that he would probably notice that the boxes had been opened and the contents moved around, Nathan closed the door again and hurried back over to his bed. If he pretended to be asleep maybe his dad would not come say anything about the boxes.

As he climbed into bed, he made his decision. He would have to track down the current Jessica and see what she knew. Maybe she could explain what the heck was going on.

Part 8
It was a few days before he saw Jessica again even though he walked all over town every chance he got. Finally on the third day of his search, he caught a glimpse of her on the sidewalk a few streets down during his lunch hour. Immediately breaking into a sprint, he raced across the pavement towards her.

Obviously hearing him coming, she turned to look at him and smiled.

“Nathan, fancy seeing you here,” she said in a syrupy smooth voice. Nathan took a few moments to respond; he was not in very good shape and running even that little distance put him out of breath. When his breathing finally returned to normal, he smiled back at her uneasily.

“Why are you in this part of town?” he asked. She was close to the factory and that was about it. She laughed a little.

“Waiting for you silly,” she said as she brushed back her long hair from her face. That answer took Nathan quite by surprise.

“Waiting for me?” he repeated.

“I know you have some questions for me Nathan. Go ahead and ask them.” Her eyes met his and seemed to see down into his very soul. He shivered even though it was tremendously hot outside.

“Ok...” he paused not know really what to ask. But then, before he really knew what he was doing, the questions came pouring out.

“Where did you come from? Why are you here? Did you know my mother? Why do you look so much like her and have the same name?” He would have kept going but Jessica stopped him.

“Slow down Nathan. I’ll answer them one at a time but only as long as I can tell you can handle it. You are ready to hear some things but not all.” A surprising thought came into Nathan’s head as she finished her words.

“So, when I approached you at the grocery store, you already knew who I was didn’t you?” She nodded. Nathan could not understand; what in the world was going on?

“But Nathan,” Jessica said, interrupting his thoughts. “You already knew me too.”
Nathan shook his head. This woman was crazy. Maybe he was crazy too but she was crazier. He had not known her then. “Actually, I did not already now you then. If I had, why would I have had to ask for your name?”

Jessica sighed. “I can tell this is going to take a while to sink in. But believe me, I know what I am talking about. You did know me because otherwise I would not be here.”

What a loony, Nathan thought to himself. On top of that, she seemed to be speaking in riddles.

“What the heck do you mean?” he asked. Jessica put her right hand on his shoulder and lifted his chin so they were eye to eye.

“I am not real. I am just a figment of your imagination.”

Part 9
Nathan dropped to the curb and let his head fall into his hands. Peeking out between his fingers, he watched Jessica step down off of the sidewalk and stand in front of him. Why is this happening to me? He wondered to himself. How can a figment of my imagination tell me that she is not real? Something did not add up.

Tilting his head back, he looked up at Jessica. “Who are you, really?” Nathan asked.
Jessica pursed her lips and then sat down beside him.

“I am your memory of your mother. She cared a lot about you, you know.”

“If you are all in my head, why did I have to wait three days to talk to you? Shouldn’t I be able to control you?”

Jessica smiled knowingly at him. “It does not work like that. I am very deep down in your subconscious. Something else is bringing me up. You remember more about your mother than you think you do but it is buried so far underneath everything else, you cannot get to it intentionally. That’s why I am here.”

Nathan made a face at her. “But you claim to be in my head so really I am helping myself right?”

Jessica rolled her eyes. “Stop thinking about it so much.”

“Fine. But why did I-you-whatever bring you here?”

Before Jessica could answer, Nathan heard someone calling his name. Turning his head, he saw his friend Alex jogging up the street towards him. Alex stopped short a few feet from Nathan.

“What are you doing out here?” Alex asked, giving Nathan a curious look.

“Just needed to get some fresh air,” Nathan lied. “What’s up?”

“Lunch has been over for twenty minutes. Boss was looking for you. I covered for you but you had better get your butt back in there now.”

“Alright, thanks man. I’ll be there in a minute.” Nathan stayed sitting on the curb.
Alex frowned at him, but turned and walked back toward the factory. Nathan waited until Alex rounded a corner and was out of sight before he turned to look at Jessica. But she was gone.

Great, Nathan sighed as he stood up. He was not any closer to figuring out what was going on. It looked like he would have to wait until Jessica decided to show up again to clue him in on why she was there.

Part 10
As soon as Nathan got off work that evening, he tried to make Jessica appear before he headed for home. Thankfully no one was around for his antics; it would have looked like he was completely drunk or crazy. He tried thinking really hard, squinting, shaking his whole body, jumping up and down, concentrating on one object...basically everything he could do except for standing on his head. But apparently Jessica had been telling the truth, he could not “summon” her whenever he wanted to. Or maybe she was a real person who was just messing with his head. Maybe his friends were in on it.

Laughing at himself, he realized that must be it. He always played tricks on them and now they were finally getting him back. They were probably watching him right now. Spinning around, he looked all up and down the empty streets around him.

“Ok Alex, you got me,” Nathan called out. Silence was his only answer. Frowning, he thought about how this was rather too involved for his friends. How could they have known about the boxes his father had in the attic? Nathan had never told them.

“Were you looking for me?” a voice brought Nathan out of his thoughts. He looked up to see Jessica standing on the opposite side of the street.

“What is this all about?” Nathan demanded. “I am tired of feeling crazy. Why did you disappear earlier?”

Jessica crossed the street and stopped right beside him.

“Let’s walk to your house.”

“No!” Nathan cried as he stomped his foot like a child. “I want answers NOW!”

Jessica sighed and then gave him a half-hearted smile. “Persistent are we? Alright, I guess you are as ready as you are going to be. But let’s walk as I tell you.”

“What do you remember about before you moved here?” Jessica asked as they began moving down the street.

“No more questions. I want answers,” Nathan replied.

“This relates, I promise,” she answered before asking the same question again. “What do you remember?”

Nathan thought for a minute. “Not much really. I remember having a little blue car toy and...stairs.” He frowned. Why would he remember stairs? He had never thought about this before now.

Jessica did not seem surprised by his answer. In fact, she smiled at him almost triumphantly after he finished speaking.

“Your mother gave you that little blue car when you were two after you had to get a bunch of shots at the doctor. You took that car with you everywhere you went. And the stairs...” Jessica paused. She stopped walking and put out her arm to stop Nathan as well. He turned to face her and she grabbed both of his shoulders.

After fixing him in her soul-searching gaze, she finally spoke. “The stairs were how your mother was murdered.”
Part 11
Nathan felt like he had just been run over by a train. His knees buckled underneath him and he dropped to the pavement. Feeling as if the breath had been kicked out of his chest, he tried to gasp for air.

Jessica stood still, waiting for Nathan to recover. He looked up at her from the ground, in disbelief of her announcement. Finally able to breathe again, he tried to form a question to ask her.

“What-when-who, what do you mean the stairs...murdered??” Nathan stood back up as he spoke. Jessica smiled sadly at him and touched his arm gently.

“I know that is a lot to swallow, but there is no easy way to give such news. You are not going to pass out are you?” Nathan shook his head and swallowed hard.

“So how were the stairs involved in the murder?” Nathan asked, finally able to form a full sentence.

“Are you ready to hear this?” Jessica asked, again touching his arm.

Nathan stepped away from her and walked a little further down the street. Taking deep breaths, he tried clear his head. He wanted to just be able to accept what Jessica was about to tell him without falling apart again. After walking about a quarter of a mile
down the road, he turned around to yell back to Jessica. Frustrated, he realized she was no longer behind him. Why did she have to keep disappearing?

Not having anything better to do, he turned back around to head for home. There was Jessica right in front of him, arms crossed. He gasped a bit from surprise.

“Don’t do that to me!” he exclaimed. Jessica smirked at him, obviously pleased with herself.

“Are you ready to hear this now?”

Nathan nodded. “Tell me everything.”

Part 12
“You had just turned four and your mother threw you a big birthday party. She was always doing things like that for you, making a big fuss over you, and your father hated it. He would tell her that she cared more for you than she did for him. She would then respond that you were the child and needed to be given that much attention and he just needed to grow up. That did not go over very well with your father.”

“He was jealous of me?” Nathan asked. Jessica nodded.

“You see, your father was in love with your mother from the moment he first saw her. He never wanted to have kids because he did not want to share her, but your mother talked him into one. She told him that a child would only add to their love, not take away from it. Unfortunately, he did not see it that way after you were born.”

“Wow,” Nathan said. He had never gotten along great with his dad, but he had never suspected that his father regretted him being born. The only person who had really wanted him had been murdered. How fair was that? At least his heavenly father would always love him, even if his earthly one did not.

“Your birthday party fell on the day your parents had their first date. Your father always did something really special for your mom and she had told him they could do something after the party. However, after chasing around eight four year-olds, she was just too tired. She put you in front of the television downstairs and went upstairs to tell your father they would have to do something another night. That was the last straw for him and he lost his temper. He started yelling about how she never cared to be with him anymore. She told him he was being unreasonable and walked away which made him even angrier. He followed her out of their bedroom and grabbed her arm right before she went down the stairs. He growled at her not to walk away from him. Speaking softly, she told him to calm down. But that only made things worse.”

Part 13
Nathan stopped walking. The memory was coming back to him. He was sitting watching some cartoons and he could hear shouting up the stairs. His father was saying, “Don’t tell me to calm down” and then he looked away from the television to see his mother falling down the stairs.

He remembered standing up and walking over to her. There was blood pooling onto the steps from behind his mother’s head. Sounding far away, he heard his own young voice.

“Mommy? Mommy? Wake up Mommy!” He looked up the stairway to see his father standing at the stop of the stairs. James’s face was white and he seemed to be paralyzed. Nathan’s little hands reached for Jessica, trying to wake her up. That was when James jumped into action.

“No!” he screamed at Nathan, almost flying down the stairs. He grabbed Nathan up in his arms before he could touch her. He did not let go of the boy until he had taken him all the way in the kitchen. He put him down in his chair at the kitchen table.

“Do not move,” James commanded Nathan. His dad then went over to the phone and shakily dialed 9-1-1.

“Nathan?” Jessica brought Nathan out of his trance. He blinked a few times and then turned his head to stare at her. Her head was tilted towards him as if waiting for answer to a question.

“Why do I remember now?” he asked almost breathlessly. “Why??”

“Would you rather never know?” she responded. He looked up at the sky, really not knowing how to answer. Would he rather have lived in denial all his life? How could it be better to know his father killed his mother?

“Whether I wish I never knew or not, why did you show up now? Am I supposed to do something? Or was I just supposed to suffer with the memory?”

Jessica glanced at him, an almost pitying look on her face. “You have to be your father’s conscious.”

“What does that mean?” Nathan demanded. But he was greeted with no answer. Glancing over at Jessica, he saw she was gone. OF COURSE, he thought. Looking up, he realized they had walked all the way back to his house.

“What now?” he asked the empty street. Why couldn’t his subconscious be a little more helpful?

Part 14
Nathan stood staring at the house for a good ten minutes, mulling over what to do. Finally, he decided he had to go inside.

Opening the front door quietly, he slowly slipped into the house. He was not sure if he could face his father just yet. Standing still in front of the door, he strained to hear any noise his father could be making. However, after a few moments of listening, he gave up. The house appeared to be empty.

Just to be safe, he moved to the stairs as quickly as possible. Looking back over his shoulder as he walked up the stairs, he reached the top swiftly. At the top, he about jumped out of his skin.

His father was standing a few feet away from the stairs, staring straight through Nathan.

“Dad?” Nathan waved his hand in front of James’s face. His father did not move or even blink. Raising an eyebrow, Nathan moved closer and then tapped him on the arm. His dad slowly turned his head to look at Nathan.

“Dad?” Nathan repeated. James forced a smile onto his face and raised his hand to pat Nathan on the shoulder.

“Hey. I was just, um, thinking. Hope you had a good day. I left something on the stove.” His dad’s words were coming out so fast they were tumbling over each other. As soon as he finished speaking, he bolted down the stairs.

Somehow the whole interaction made Nathan angry. James obviously felt guilty. Nathan needed James to look him in the eye and tell him what happened. He had killed Jessica and gotten away with it for twenty years. But that was all over.

Part 15
Now ready to confront him, Nathan followed his father downstairs. He found James in the kitchen, staring mindlessly into the refrigerator. Not knowing an easier way to say it, Nathan just blurted out his thoughts.

“I know you killed Mom.”

His father did not move for a full minute. Then he stepped back from the fridge and shut the door. As he turned to face his son, Nathan could see his jaw tighten.

“What did you just say?” James asked through clenched teeth.

“You killed Mom. I remember now. I just do not remember how you covered it up so well.”

Nathan crossed his arms and silently prayed that he was doing the right thing. He also prayed his father would not kill him too for uncovering his awful secret.

Suddenly tears welled up in James’s eyes. Nathan was not expecting this reaction.

“It was an accident,” James managed to say before the tears spilled down his face. He sobbed for a good few minutes and Nathan did not know what to do. Should he comfort his father who had lied all these years? Fortunately his father got a hold of himself before Nathan made a decision.

“The doctors said she had an aneurysm waiting to rupture, that’s why she died so quickly after just a fall down the stairs. All I did was tell them I found her at the bottom of the stairs and they never asked me anything else. I just could not believe she was gone; she was my whole world.”

Nathan shook his head. Something was still not adding up. How would his father have had so much presence of mind to lie if he was so broken up about the death?

“I know I did a bad thing,” James locked Nathan with a pleading gaze, “But please do not do anything now. What would it change? She would have died either way.”
That was the last straw for Nathan.

“What would it change? She would have died? Do you hear yourself? I am calling Jeremy and they can decide if it would change something. Maybe if you had told the truth from the beginning...” Nathan trailed off as he picked up the phone to dial the police.

James stood staring at him, obviously stunned.

“How did I raise such a goody-two shoes son? How ungrateful are you? I did it so you would still have a parent!”

Nathan ignored him and James realized the police would be coming to get him. That’s when he bolted.

Part 16
James did not get very far before the police caught him. There was a trial and with Nathan’s testimony, he was convicted of manslaughter and given a fifteen year sentence in prison.

As soon as he was allowed to have visitors, Nathan went to see him. He went to the prison every single Wednesday for an entire year, but his father refused to come and talk to him. However, Nathan would not give up. He prayed every night that God would help open James’s eyes. He even sent him a Bible a few months in but he was not sure whether his father actually got it.

Finally, after eighteen months of nothing, Nathan was surprised to see his father enter the visitation room. Not wanting to get his hopes up, he simply waved and waited for his father to come sit down. In one hand, James was carrying the Bible Nathan had sent him.

“Hi son,” James said with a small smile.

“How have you been doing?” Nathan responded.

“Actually very well. The first few months were hard and I spent a lot of it being bitter towards you, but I was rather forced into a Christian Bible study after a little while. It took me a bit to come around but God really opened my heart. I see now why your faith meant so much to you. “

Nathan was so happy he could barely breathe and definitely could not answer yet.

“I still have a long way to go but I have been reading the Bible you sent me everyday and learning so much.” He smiled at Nathan and took a deep breath before continuing.

“I’ve also realized how wrong it was of me to cover up my part in your mother’s death. Deep down I did always feel guilty but I tried not to think about it. I resented you because of what happened, but then you were also the only piece of her I had left so I know I made your life very difficult and I am so sorry for that. I hope someday you can forgive me. But there is one thing I have been wondering this entire time...how did you all of a sudden remember what happened?”

“She came to me,” Nathan said, still reeling from his father’s new conversion.

“Who?”

“Jessica-Mom...well or my memory of Mom. She helped me to remember. She would appear to me and remind me of things I had forgotten and then disappear again. I have not seen her again since I confronted you. I guess her job was done although I do still wonder why it happened.”

James looked a little puzzled and then suddenly reached for his Bible. Frantically flipping through the pages, he mumbled something to himself.

“What Dad?” Nathan asked. Obviously finding what he was looking for, James looked up from the book and smiled at Nathan.

“She appeared because you were the only other person who knew what I had done. God needed you to fulfill His word.”

He then held the Bible up and read aloud.

For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open. Luke 8:17

Source: http://merileighhemp.blogspot.com/2010/08/who-is-jessica-part-16.html