Chapter Five
In The Genes
In the kitchen, Copper had just drained her glass of lemonade when there
was a knock at the door. Confused, she slipped off her stool, heading out
to the hallway.
"I'll get it, Mama!" She called, reaching for the latch and slipping
it aside, opening the door and letting out an exclamation of delighted
surprise.
"Luis!" She cried, hugging her brother tightly. "Oh, did you come to
see me?"
"I knew you were visiting Mama this week, so I thought I'd come say
hi." Her brother's eyes twinkled back at her. "See how you've survived
since the wedding. Aaron with you?"
"No...no." Copper shook her head, leading the way into the kitchen
and pushing the door shut behind them. "No, he had a project to work on
back home and I thought it was better I do this trip alone."
Luis looked concerned.
"There isn't a problem between you two, is there?" He asked anxiously,
as he helped himself to a glass of lemonade. "You've only been married
since March, Copper, don't tell me you're fighting already!"
"Huh?" Copper stared. Then she laughed. "No! Oh, no! I see where your
thoughts are, but no. I came alone because it was short notice and, well..."
She paused, lowering her voice. "Luis, what has Mama told you about...things
recently?"
"Mama?" Luis's brows knitted in confusion. "What do you mean, exactly?"
"Has she spoken to you about...about Jessica?"
"Oh. That." Luis's eyes darkened. "Yes. She invited me over for dinner
last weekend and explained it all to me very carefully. Don't tell me you're
involved in all of this, too? I was under the impression that this was
Papa's big bad dark secret and that he hadn't told any of us."
"It's as new to me as it is to you." Copper shook her head. "And as
new to us as it is to Jessica herself."
"What?" Luis stared. "You've been in contact with her?"
"Yes." Copper nodded her head. "In a sense I already knew her, though
I didn't know who she was till more recently. It spilled out without either
of us expecting it. I confronted Mama about it, and she told me what she
knew. She said she would speak to you and Ros, too - I didn't realise she'd
done so without telling you that Jessica had been found."
"Well, obviously she didn't think it necessary that I know." Luis shrugged
his shoulders. "In truth, I kinda hoped she wouldn't be. That Mama had
just had the urge to tell us out of conscience, or something. I should
have realised there was more to it than that, but I guess I didn't think."
"Some hotshot reporter you're going to make, then." Copper teased,
but her eyes were grave. "Listen, Luis. Jessica came back to Detroit with
me. She..."
"She's here?" Luis's expression became incredulous. "You brought here
here? To Mama's house? Here? Why?"
"I would have thought that was obvious." Copper looked confused. "Mama
was Papa's executor, and Papa left the girl money."
"Oh, so she's hitched her way up here to come and claim her rightful
inheritance, is that it?" Luis's lip curled. "Papa's dead, Copper - does
she even care about that? I would've thought that it would matter to you.
Or did she just come here to grab what she could get?"
"I'd say that about sums me up."
A fresh voice, cold and hard came from behind them, and both turned
to see Jesta standing in the doorway of the kitchen, watching them.
"I'm a callous bitch from England who's taken it upon myself to trot
all the way across the Atlantic just to bring misery and upset to my dead
father's family. Because he's long since dust, I don't give a damn about
anything he ever did, nor do I really give a rat's arse about his stupid,
over-spoilt children. I've plotted for a long time to come here and ruin
all of you by blackmailing you if you didn't give me what I wanted, and
I might yet kill you all in your beds if it meant I thought I could run
away with more of my Daddy's money."
Sarcasm dripped from her words, and she fixed Luis with a poisonous
stare. "Does that satisfy you?"
"Do you think you're funny?" Luis met the gaze with one of her own.
"Not at all." Jesta shook her head. "Perhaps I'm deadly serious."
An icy smile touched her lips.
"Luis, I presume. Your mother was telling me how you're going into
the press. How nice for you. I hope you take great pleasure in ruining
other people's lives. No doubt you'll begin with mine, since we've evidently
got off on the wrong foot."
"Jesta, please..." Copper sent her an emploring look. "Luis, this is
Jessica. She's our sister, remember that. Whatever Papa kept from us, this
isn't the time to..."
"No, Copper. You're my sister." Luis shook his head. "Rosita
is my sister. This," he jerked his head in Jesta's direction, "Is what
I said earlier. Papa's big bad secret that had to be hushed up. Why do
you suppose he did that, huh? Was he proud of it? I don't think so. And
no wonder. Look at her."
"Luis!" Copper protested.
"Yes, look at me." Jesta nodded. "This is what happens when you're
not spoiled and pampered at every stop along the way. What I am is what
I've made myself. None of Daddy's boy, Mummy's girl nonsense with me. I'm..."
"You're Dad's bastard baby and you're dressed like some kind of hooker."
Luis shot back, anger in his eyes. "But I don't know if I should be surprised
or not. Mama didn't say much about your mother, but I'll bet I know what
sort of a person she was, if you're anything to go by. A con-artist, that
was the impression I got. Someone who'd sell their own soul if it meant
a tidy profit or a favour from someone tall, dark and handsome. I don't
know why you're here, except to extort money from Mama. She loved Papa
and you're here to take advantage of it. I knew it the moment Copper said
you were here. Copper's never been able to turn down a hearfelt request,
and of course she feels sorry for you. So might Mama. I'm not so easily
fooled, though. There are three children in this family - you hear me?
Three. Not four. Get your money and get out of our lives. We don't need
you digging around in Papa's memory and stirring up things for Mama again."
For a moment there was a deathly silence. Then Jesta shrugged her shoulders.
"Fine." She said simply. "Whatever you say."
She headed purposefully towards the door, where she paused, turning
back.
"For the record, I never asked to be part of your crummy family, Mother's
boy." She said quietly. "If it's all the same to you, I'd rather be dead."
"Jesta, wait!" Copper exclaimed, but Jesta swung open the front door,
heading out into the street.
"Oh, for God's sake, Copper. Let her go." Luis grimaced. "She's not
part of this family. I'm not so stupid as you might think I am. I know
who Jesta is - I've heard enough about her in press reports and, more importantly,
from your emails. I know she's a troublemaker and I know she's caused you
no end of hassle. I knew as soon as she came in on us who she was. For
all we know she might not even really be Papa's Jessica. This might all
be an elaborate con to get Mama to hand over Papa's money and take advantage
of all of us. She'll be laughing in the press tomorrow at what a fool you
and your group are - did you think of that?"
"And what if she is?" Copper's voice shook "What if it isn't a coincidence
that his name is on her birth certificate? What if it's not fluke that
she has Papa's nose and Papa's chin? What if the reason she's exactly the
right age to be Jessica Talley is because she is Jessica Talley?"
"I don't understand you." Luis shook his head. "Are you taking her
side?"
"I don't know." Copper got to her feet. "What I do know is that my
brother, who I love very, very much has turned himself into a monster this
afternoon. Jesta mightn't be my best friend in the world, but she is family,
Luis. And I know what Papa would want us to do. What he did want us to
do. I know what he asked of Mama, and I know that, had he lived, he would
have asked it of us too, eventually. We were just too young. He didn't
want to burden our lives with his secret while we were growing up...and
he never got to tell us."
"Copper, whether she is or not, she's still the girl who's caused you
no end of trouble." Luis shook his head. "She's still Jesta. What her genes
say is irrelevant. She's not Papa's daughter any more than Aaron is Papa's
son. You want her to be, because she shares his DNA, but she isn't. She's
not one of us. She's not a Santiago."
"Well, if you're an example of how a Santiago behaves, then maybe she'd
rather not be. Perhaps she's right." Copper's expression became cold. "And
more, Luis, I am beginning to think I'm glad to have let go of that name,
too. You can do as you choose...you can sit and worry about being a good
Santiago. But I'm Elizabeth Pelligrini now."
"So you'll turn your back on Papa and on all of us, for the sake of
that girl?" Luis stared. Copper shook her head.
"No, Luis. You turn your back on Papa." She said quietly. "Me...I will
find out for myself whether Jesta can be my sister or not. But, whether
she is or not, she can never have the chance now to know her father. He's
gone, and we're the only things she has left to tell her about him. I don't
know what her mother was - I only know that whatever she is like, she's
scarred Jesta for life in some way."
She shrugged.
"And right now, I'm going to go find her. She's out there in a city
she doesn't know, and she'll get cold, lost and maybe even hurt. She's
Mama's guest and I'm not going to allow that."
She pushed open the door, grabbing her jacket from it's peg and slipping
it over her shoulders.
"Bye, Luis. Think it over."
DISCLAIMER: PLEASE NOTE
The copyright for the original Jem characters
featured in this and other stories by me belongs entirely to Hasbro and
their interpretations to Christy Marx and the other writers of the
Sunbow
Jem series. Their future selves are based on concepts that are entirely
my own and are not to be repeated elsewhere without due permission.
All other characters, including their
likenesses,
are copyrighted to myself as webmistress of Jewel's World from 2001 to
the present day and are not to be reproduced elsewhere without
permission.
The Teenangel Outsiders, Jesta, Flame, Ryan
Montgomery and the future interpretations of Aja, Danse and certain of
the other original characters are all or in part the concept of Gemma
Dawn
whose teenangel outsider fiction world is twinned with Jewel's World.
You
can visit her site at www.teenangeloutsiders.com!
All events in the stories on this site are
based on original ideas and are not rooted in any existing Jem fiction
nor in any real life event or person.