Checkmate

Ali returns to the house she grew up in with her grandfather after he dies. Please review!

Checkmate

         She picked up the queen from the chessboard. It was as she'd left it years ago-- he'd never moved the pieces after she had stormed out. Ali took all of the dust covered study in; it was hers now. "Checkmate," she mumbled as she set the piece down.

         It's funny now that she recalled it had been exactly five years to the day that she left this room and this house and never returned. Ali had always considered her grandpa as an upstanding, honest man. He loved her, she knew that and she loved him the same. It was just too much of a shock the last thing he ever told her. I mean how did he expect me to take the news? It couldn't have shocked him that I disappeared from his life!

         Ali was eight when she lost her parents and younger brother, Sam in a tragic fire. She was the only one to escape the burning inferno. It had all happened so fast. One minute everyone was asleep in their beds and the next, she was laying on the lawn in front of what used to be her home. She had no memories from that night except waking to a room filled with smoke and deathly heat.

         Nolan William Ackerman was a rich, successful man and Ali's grandpa. He was her father's father and made sure Ali never forgot where she came from. He took her in when she lost her family and raised her as one of his own. Ali's grandma had passed away before she was ever born, so it was just the two of them as she grew up. Nolan was her only family and now he was gone too.

         "Excuse me Miss. Ackerman, but the attorneys are here. Where would you like me to have them wait?" asked the maid shyly.

         "Please have them sit in the library Carmin. I will be there shortly. Thank you." Ali turned back to look at the chessboard one more time.

         Five years ago Ali sat across from her grandpa playing their favorite game, chess. She had no idea that Nolan was about to ruin her life and take away every piece of her she had ever known. Apparently, Nolan was sick and was told he didn't have long to live. Ali never knew this, she never gave him time to tell her. She guessed that he needed to get all the secrets out before he died. That had to be why he told her, although she never wanted to know. It was just too much and frankly how could she possibly believe it to be true.

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         "Ali," Nolan said, still looking for the perfect move. "There are a few things I need you to know. Now it's very important I tell you these things so don't interrupt me or try and stop me." He picked up his piece and made his move, then looked up at Ali. She had been staring at him. He always was so serious, but there was something about the tone in his voice that told her this wasn't going to be good. Nolan grabbed her hand as she was about to take up her queen and make her move.

         "This is real serious Ali and I need you to know that it's something I think you need to know. Do you understand Ali?" he asked, with a hoarse whisper.

         "Okay grandpa, I get it. I'm sure it isn't that bad. Just tell me so I can finally beat you at this game for once," she said with a wink and a smile.

         "Now first, I need to tell you that I love you. Always have since the first day I laid eyes on you. You were only a few days old, but I knew you would be the light of my life as well as your mom and dad's. God rest their beautiful souls. They didn't deserve what happened to them and I am terribly sorry for that, I really am Ali. You have to know that, if nothing else."

         Ali looked at her grandpa sitting across from her. She was trying really hard to understand what he had just said to her, but it didn't make sense. "Grandpa, it sounds like you're trying to tell me that what happened to Mom and Dad was your fault. It was a tragic accident. There is no one to blame for that, especially not you!"

         Nolan looked at her so deeply, she could see there was pain in his heart. "Ali, there is so much to tell you and it's such a hard thing to explain, but it's all something you have to know because it's part of who you are."

         "Your parents had been married young. Your mom had gotten herself pregnant and her family had done away with her. Now, your mom and dad loved each other, always had, so no one thought anything about it when they suddenly got married. Sadly, your mother lost the baby and they tried for many more years to have another child, but it seemed like they never would. Their marriage was beginning to fall apart. I loved your parents and hated seeing them in so much pain. I would have done anything to keep them together and that's just what I did."

         Ali shook her head. What in hell could he have done to save a marriage not his own?

         "They were hurting so much Ali. I had to do something. I couldn't just let them fall apart. They didn't deserve that. It broke my heart constantly seeing your mother cry. She had such a beautiful smile and I missed it terribly. So I did what I thought was the right thing to do." Nolan paused, leaned in closer to Ali and whispered, "I gave them you."

         Ali was too stunned to say or do anything. Did he just say what I think he said? No, there's no way I heard him say that. There must be  some confusion, there has to be!

         "Being a man in the position I was in, I was able to do more than anyone else could. No one ever said no to me and I always got what I wanted in the end. One way or another."

         "Your parents tried everything they could to adopt, but they said there would be at least a two years wait. That was just too long. Their marriage wouldn't have survived that much longer. I knew it and so did they. Your parents never asked me for help, know that okay, but I couldn't sit back and do nothing. I was in the position where I could get things done, so I did."

         "I found a woman, actually she was just a teenager, pregnant and scared. She had already decided she couldn't keep her baby. So I set it up for her to give her baby to me, no questions asked, no paperwork, none of that. I compensated her well Ali, I did. I took care of all her medical expenses and everything. I even gave her enough to live comfortably for awhile afterwards as well as set her up for college. She was a bright child. So very smart, a lot like you actually."

         Ali was absolutely dumb founded. "That's supposed to make me feel better? You paid for me! How do you think this makes me feel? I don't actually belong in this family. I have a mother out there somewhere who gave me up for what money! I can't believe this, no I don't believe this!" she screamed, getting up.

         "Ali, Ali listen please sweetheart. There is more. Please sit down," he begged.

         Ali felt faint. She wanted to run but her knees felt weak. She couldn't move. She had no choice but to listen. She sat back down with tears streaming down her face. She refused to look up at the man sitting across from her. He was a stranger to her now.

         "Ali your real mother couldn't care for you like this family could. We all agreed it was the best thing, not just for you, but everyone. Your parents were never happier and your real mom got a chance at a real life. She really went far in life Ali, you have to know that. Everyone was happy with the arrangement for a very long time. You were the happiest kid I had ever seen too. There wasn't a day that passed that I regretted what I had done. So it wasn't legal, but we weren't worried about it back then. Your laughter and the return of your mother's smile made all the worry and regrets disappear more and more as you got older. You were worth more than any amount of money could have been."

         Nolan sat back for a moment and pulled out a cigar from his left front shirt pocket. Lighting it, he closed his eyes for a brief moment. He opened his eyes blowing out a puff of smoke and began again. "But then your parents had Sam and questions, all kinds of questions, started popping up. Sam was not a healthy baby when he was born and doctors started asking questions, which made your parents ask more questions. I tried to find your real mother, but she had moved on with her life. Your parents started worrying too much. By mistake, I regret it now, I gave them the name of your mother as well as her mother's name. It turned out that she had never told her mother about you and that made things more complicated. More questions aroused from her family and things soon began to spiral out of control."

         Ali could not speak. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. She wanted to scream or run, anything but sit there and listen to her life fall apart. Tears just streamed down her face, dropping on the chessboard. The only sound she could make was sad, uncontrollable sobbing. Whipping what tears she could from her cheeks, she let out a long sigh.

         Her sigh told Nolan she was ready for more. She knew she needed to hear it all. Everything he said still didn't make sense up to this point and hopefully somewhere in his words she would find some sort of answer to it all.

         Nolan began again. By this time he could no longer look at Ali. He knew he was breaking her heart one piece at a time, but she needed this information to understand everything that happened.

         "Your real mother's name, by the way, is Francis." He perked up some when he said this like he was doing her a favor telling her. " I don't know her last name anymore as she got married later on in her life, but her maiden name was Becker. No one knows anything about your real dad. Francis refused to admit who he was. She said he wanted nothing to do with her after she found out she was pregnant and promised him she would never contact him again. After all, she needed nothing from him anyway, as she wasn't planning on keeping you. Apparently, neither of them were stable enough to care for a child."

         "Once I had asked Francis' mother who she was dating at the time, but it seems she had no idea Francis was sleeping around. Her words, not mine. That there is a very unstable family if you ask me. From what I hear, Francis has cut all ties to her parents, so it was no use trying to get any answers about Francis. They are quite bitter folks. When your parents had called them about questions they had for Francis and the story unraveled somewhat, they blamed me for her disappearance. Of course, they never knew that the adoption wasn't legal, but they had their suspicions and that's where things became real complicated!"

         Ali couldn't help but to roll her eyes. She even felt like chuckling at the moment he said they blamed him, but she thought better of it. She didn't know these people and had no right to judge anyone, especially not anymore! Plus she was only hearing one side of the story. She needed to hear more to get a clearer picture of what was going on. She couldn't think straight enough to ask questions and it sounded a lot like there wouldn't be too many answers he was willing or able to give her.

         "You have to understand a few things too Ali. As I said, it was very hard to get answers from Francis' family, so there is no use in you trying to go looking for them for answers. They just don't understand all that has happened and frankly, I think it would do more harm if you contacted them. It is hard to comprehend, I know and your heart has to be breaking. To get in touch with them, I think would just make you more angry than you already are now."

         Boy he's got that right, but I'm more confused than angry at this point. I just don't see where all this is going and I'm actually a little scared to find out. I'm just waiting for someone to pinch me and wake me from this nightmare. Ali again, rolled her eyes, but Nolan couldn't see, for her hands were whipping away her tears.

         "Anyway, after contacting Francis' family, your parents began to get real worried. Seems as though Francis' parents started threatening to hire an attorney to look into the adoption. Your parents were at the point where they were so scared they started talking about admitting everything! I couldn't let that happen Ali. It was my fault all this had happened and I would have been the one feeling the brunt and consequences of it all. Your parents were worried that not only would they lose you, but Sam as well. It made me so angry that they were threatening, because I knew they didn't care about you. It had been eight years and they didn't even know you existed. They didn't want you or any part of Francis. They were just being mean and ugly because they blamed me. You think they would be a little grateful at least. I mean Francis would never have been able to go to college if I hadn't paid for it."

         Another roll of the eyes from Ali. "How is that supposed to make them feel grateful? I mean I don't know how things were before Francis got pregnant, but hell, she took off and left them with no word. I think I would blame you too!" Ali shocked Nolan as well as herself. It just came right out. She smacked her hands up over her mouth and looked down again. She couldn't help but smile though.

         "Now Ali, I know this is all hard to take in, but I'm telling you all of this for a reason. You need to know the whole story to understand why I felt I had to do what I did. I know you're not going to like everything I'm saying, but it's for your own good, whether you believe that right now or not."

         "Continuing, your parents wouldn't believe that Francis' family didn't want you. They had your parents so scared and they felt there was nothing they could do since nothing about the adoption was legal. Your parents felt their world crumbling. They were actually willing to give you back to Francis' family if they kept persisting. You may have never noticed it, but every time the phone rang, another piece of their lives feel apart. They became jumpy and afraid of everything and everyone. They didn't want to lose you Ali, but they also knew what would or could happen if things weren't settled without the law getting involved. But I knew differently. I tried convincing your parents that they weren't planning on trying to get you back, but your parents wouldn't believe me. They accused me of just not wanting the truth to come out so I wouldn't go to jail for the rest of my life. Of course, I didn't want to go to prison, who does for God's sake, but that wasn't the reason. I literally became scared for everyone, including myself. Your parents got so angry with me, they started talking about telling the police the whole story." Nolan sat back in his chair with a sigh.

         They had long since quit playing chess. Ali never made a move after he grabbed her hand. Ali knew she would have finally beaten him for once, but she wasn't into it anymore. Nolan was winning his own game, whether he knew he was playing or not. Ali could tell Nolan wanted to cry. She could see the tears welling up in his eyes, but she had no compassion left for him.

         Nolan crossed his arms and looked down at the chessboard. He was disappointed that Ali never made her final move. He knew she had beat him. She should have taken her move. But maybe she had already beat him in her own way. He knew this would be the last time they ever played chess. Once she left his house, he knew she would never return and frankly, he couldn't blame her.

         "Ali, now what I'm about to tell you will be the hardest for me to say and for you to hear. It's about the night you lost your parents and brother. As I told you before, your parents became very mad at me because of all that happened. They honestly thought they were going to lose you and Sam. The more I tried to convince them nothing was going to happen, the more they backed away from me and began to want to tell the truth to everyone. Your parents wanted me to fix things, make everything right, but it wasn't a task I could do. They quit talking to me. I couldn't call them and they refused to let me come to your house and everything."

         "I got scared Ali. I didn't know what was going on anymore. I thought for sure they were getting ready to expose the truth. I couldn't even get a hold of Francis' family either. I thought they were somehow in ties with your family, but it was so confusing because they told me they didn't want to take you from the family you had grown up with for eight years."

         "I just didn't know what to do! I was scared. I didn't want your parents to lose you, but I couldn't let the truth come out. It would have ruined everything and everyone. My reputation would have been shot, my business would have crumbled, and I would have probably gone to jail for the rest of my life. Your parents would have lost both you and Sam. Francis' new life would have been disturbed. Everything just wouldn't have been okay, not like your family thought it would."

         "The only thing I could think to do was get rid of evidence. Your false birth certificate and anything leading back to Francis. The only thing I could think to do was to burn your parents house. They were supposed to be away, all of you, on a family vacation. The only reason I knew is because you took that trip every year. I didn't know they canceled the trip. I didn't know. Your parents weren't supposed to be in the house the night I set it on fire. Nothing went right. I went over to the side of the garage to watch the house burn, trying to stay out of sight and that's when I saw your parent's car in the garage. Once I realized that you guys didn't go on your trip, I rushed in the house. It was blazing. It went up so fast. Your room was the closest to the door, so I was only able to get you out. I laid you on the lawn and went back to my car and drove back home. I waited until the call came before I came back to get you. It was the only way without looking suspicious. Since the fire chief was a good friend, no questions had been asked. They knocked it up to a freak accident and it was over just like that. You understand it was an accident don't you Ali? I never meant for them to die. I only wanted to get rid of the evidence. That's it. I have lived with this guilt my whole life. I had to tell you, you understand?"

         "Wh..What the Hell did you just tell me? You, you're the one who caused the fire? You killed my parents? The only family I had? You took my brother from me, my Mom and Dad! For what? So you wouldn't go to jail for the rest of your life! You took away 3 members of my family to save your own! I can't believe I'm hearing this! No I don't believe it, I can't. Oh my God!" Ali stood, looked at her grandpa crying, and ran. She never looked back to see if he was following her. She didn't care. She needed to get out of that house and fast. And until this day, she had never returned.

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         "Sorry to keep you waiting Mr. umm," Ali said, walking into the library and extending her hand to the man standing in front of her.

         "Mr. Nelson. I'm Mr. Nelson, the attorney from your grandfather's estate," he said, shaking Ali's hand. Another man stood up and walked towards them, "and this is Mr. Henry Wilder, the P.I. we hired to look into things for you." Mr. Wilder nodded in Ali's direction.

         "So, shall we get down to business Ms. Ackerman?" Mr. Nelson asked, pointing to a chair for Ali to sit in.

         "Yes, I'd like to get this over with as soon as possible, but before you start Mr. Nelson, I'd like to hear from Mr. Wilder first," Ali said, looking in Wilder's direction. "Did you find all the information I was asking for?"

         "As a matter of fact Ms. Ackerman, I do have a bit of information for you," said Wilder with a smile.

         Ali became excited, although she refused to show it. Finally, after five years someone found her. It took Nolan dying to be able to have the resources she needed to find her. Sad, but in a way sort of triumphant because of what she was about to do.

         "So you found out everything about her? Where she is, what she's doing, family, all of that right?" asked Ali compassionately.

         "Seems as though she has been married to her husband for ten years. She had been married before, after college, but lost her husband in an accident shortly after their marriage. She now has three kids, two which still live with her in her home. She lives in a small city in Michigan, right outside of Detroit. They live in a shack pretty much. She works as a waitress in a local bar and her husband does seasonal construction work. From what I hear, they are very happy in their lives," said Wilder with confidence.

         Ali was relieved to hear things were well, although it seemed they were living a poor life. She was glad Francis had found a normal life, far away from the mess in her past. It was not Ali's intention to interupt her life, only improve her happiness. Maybe someday she would find the courage to confront Francis, but now was not the time.

         "Okay, great news Mr. Wilder, thank you. You will be compensated well for your time," Ali said, shaking his hand once more as he left. "Now for what I would like you to do Mr. Nelson. I will run my grandfather's business until I can find the right buyer. Someone who will continue to run the company, not sell it or let go of the employees. That is all I want from his estate. As far the house and money left to me, I want the money divided equally between all of his employees, both in the company and here in this house. The rest is to go to Francis and her family, as well as the house. If Francis does not want the house, then it is to go to the people who work here already. I want no one displaced from their jobs or homes, no one. Do you understand Mr. Nelson? This is all to be done through my grandfather's name, not mine. I don't want Francis to know it is me giving her all of this," Ali said as she looked around the room.

         "But Ms. Ackerman, your grandfather left all of this to you. Why would you turn around and give it to complete strangers? You don't even know anything about them!" begged Mr. Nelson.

         "I know exactly who they are Mr. Nelson. They are my family. Now I expect all of this to be taken care of as soon as possible. Thank you for your time and have a good day," said Ali demanding. She grabbed her things and walked Mr. Nelson to the door.

         "Carmen, I'm leaving now," she yelled. "Stay here in this house for as long as you wish and enjoy your life, "she said as Carmen approached her. With her final good-bye, Ali shut the door on her past for the last time.