The Crystal Diary - Me (best book club books for discussion .TXT) 📗

his unit is USEGF#7788, and he goes by the name Carl Finch. He also said that his contract was nearly expired and that he would be home soon. I hope Gwen doesn’t think that he doesn’t love her. I am counting the years till the day I can throw myself into his arms and introduce him to Gwen. I’d better put this away; I think I hear Thelma’s footsteps coming up the hall.

Rebecca Oxford

Tears came to my eyes, now mom would never see him on this earth again, and it was all those stupid terrorists’ fault. Then I looked in the back of the diary for the other letters that I didn’t tell Thelma about. I found enough letters to make a paper house and sorted through them so I could match the letter with the diary entry. I shuffled and shuffled and it seemed like forever before I finally found it.


August 6, 1999

Dear Rebecca,

I have at last gotten permission from my superior to tell you where to find me in case of an emergency. They soon realized the improbability (as they called it) of you telling anyone. This may sound as if I am crazy, but I work for the government. No I didn’t sneak off to join the army while you were in labor. I work for the U.S.E.G.F (United States Emergency Ground Force) I have been, even before we were married. I wanted to tell you, but my superior officer wouldn’t let me. This organization is one of America’s biggest secrets, we have a tiny head quarters under every state capital just like there is a state police headquarters in every state, and I work under Albany. This organization solves most of the worst crimes that the reporters are never told about and that are too hard for the police.

The best way to get to Albany is to take the train; if you go by car you will be easier to track down by terrorists. Then take the bus to the first stop, and then continue to change buses for safety’s sake then get off at X Fifth Street. Mingle with as many decent looking crowds as possible until you come to the first alley. Walk down the alley until you see power box at the end. Open the door and crawl inside on your hands and knees. Shut the door before you press the combination on the panel. I can’t tell you the combination but you will find it inside your crystal thankfully it only shows in the moonlight. My unit number is U.S.E.G.F# 7788 and my work name is Carl Finch.
Love,
Luke

I held the letter in my hands admiring my dad, a man who I never knew. He balanced his job and his family as best he could and loved me after all. Should I show this to Thelma? She was my guardian after all and had a right to know all my nearest affairs.

Quit yelling “WHAT ARE YOU THINKING!” I was just kidding! I never thought about it twice. I would never let anyone see dad’s letters, but how would I hide them? Soon I heard Thelma in the hall with her date and I stuffed the letters into my book, I would handle that later right now I had to put the diary back in it’s hiding place. I swung my way back into my room and replaced it. I changed into my PJs as best I could and when the couple entered I pretended to be having a yawning fit as I entered the living room.

There sat Thelma and her latest boyfriend Pete drinking coffee and watching TV.

“Hey Gwen,” Thelma greeted looking embarrassed. I wasn’t sure whether it was from my seeing her on the couch with Pete, or Pete knowing now that she was a foster parent and if he wanted to marry her, he would have to take me too.

“Hi Gwen, sorry we were out so late,” he apologized. “ After we went to Round Table there was a big traffic jam on the road on the way home.” His brown eyes looked into my guardian’s with excitement. “Do you want to tell her or should I?” Thelma shook her head and he continued “ Thelma and I are engaged Gwen!” My jaw dropped but I closed it before Thelma noticed. Pete and Thelma were very close but I never really thought they were serious about each other. I pasted a big fat fake smile on my face and swung over to the couch to say congratulations to the fairly young couple.


Chapter 7
A Painful Truth

The next two days were passed helping Thelma make phone calls to help prepare for the wedding. Days at school were hard, but were a temporary relief from the hard work. If I described my days at school it would bore every reader on the page. The story I have to tell is non-school related and we all know what school is like. I was never popular with other girls but now they all swarmed around me with cards and presents. They all asked me what it was like to be trapped under a wall and have your mom die. I made my answers fairly brief as I rushed from class to class grumbling over failed tests and long chunks of homework I had to do. As the long day dragged on and on, I wished that my crystal could open a door to a secret passageway home.

It was hard; balancing an over packed backpack on your back while using crutches and many people laughed at the spectacle. That was nothing though; compared to the special treatment the gray whiskered bus driver gave me as I tried to climb onto the bus. Instead of suggesting that I call Thelma and ask her to take me home in the car he carried me in and sat me on the seat nearest to him. My cheeks reddened when I heard my fellow students snickering and whispering things like:

“My gosh what an invalid, she can’t even climb onto the bus without the driver carrying her like a sack of potatoes.” I blinked back tears and stared out the window watching cars go by and people on bikes weaving in-between the cars. Did God want me to suffer like this? I knew at once what I needed to do. I would go to church after Thelma went over to Pete ‘s house so they could go to the store and pick out invitations and wedding decorations.

*****************************************

I swung inside the apartment door and closed it quietly. Thelma usually took a nap at this time of day and I didn’t want to disturb her. I began to swing down the hall to my room when I heard voices. I stopped at Thelma ‘s room, and then heard a conversation that wasn’t meant for me to hear.

“Come on Will, do the job, I know this house better than you do.”

“No way, you have a bad habit of missing things when it comes to robbing houses. This kid has a crystal hanging around her neck that is worth millions and millions of dollars.”

“If you are thinking about killing Gwen, I am all for it after she tells me more about her mom, whether or not her mom had things worth a lot of money.”

“Ok fine you ‘re right, we should wait until the last moment to do the dirty work. You are the professional here; I should listen to you. I just am …… it is hard to be patient when you are about to get something you have really wanted for a long time.”

“You have wanted to kill Gwen for a long time,” Thelma’s voice sounded sarcastic.

“ No, I have wanted to kill her dad for a long time; he married my girlfriend then just upped and left her. I loved Rebecca and know she is dead. It is his entire fault, if he had just stayed away from her when I asked him to, when we were friends, Rebecca would have been my wife. Luke and I would still be best friends and Gwen would be my daughter and she wouldn’t look so much like him. I want to make Luke so miserable that he will give himself up willingly. I want to kill him as soon as possible!”

My mind whirled around and around like a spinning top. Thelma, and Pete my mother ‘s former boyfriend, apparently both wanted to kill me. Thelma didn’t care a hoot if her henchman killed me at all but Pete wanted to kill me to get even with my dad. Like it was my dad’s fault that my mom preferred my dad to him!

“Well, I would like to get as much information out of her as possible before we send her to the grave. That crystal will fetch a pretty price and her dad works for the government I know that much