The Family

There's nothing wrong with my phone, according to the barely pubescent kid at the cell phone store. I did manage to convince him I needed a new one so at least I don't have to worry about my phone dying half way through my conversations with Claire. A three hour coffee date and I still don't have her number. She said she doesn't have her own phone but she promised she would call me tonight. Hey kitty, there you are. Did you have a good day today? I thought you were hiding from me because I was gone so long. I did manage to get some more information on this house. Rivers bought the house in 1962 and died in 1996. Before that it belonged to the family who originally built it in 1903.
The Walters family. Father worked in banking. Mother was a housewife. There really didn't seem to be anything remarkable about them. They had three children. The first two, a boy and a girl, were born before they moved into the house. The third, a daughter, was born in 1915. That’s when things became strange. According to the family the girl died when she was 13, but there wasn't a death certificate issued in her name. Supposedly she was born premature and had severe developmental delays. I’m surprised the family kept her at all. Back then children as severely delayed as she was were put in asylums and forgotten about.
I did find some information on the rest of the family. The parents both died in 1946. The wife died of cancer in February and the father died of heart failure in July. Both of them died in the house. The boy went on to become a lawyer and moved to Washington D.C. And tried to make it in politics. He never made it very far, but did well enough to make a living. The girl stayed in the house until she was 70. Supposedly, she never married and sold the house to Rivers and moved into a nursing home, dying only a few years later.
The family line never made it past the two kids. The Walters’ son never married. From what I gathered from the innuendos and reports the boy was more than just a “special aid” to the Senator he spent all his time with in Washington. Too bad he was born before the turn of the century. The last century, not this century. He would have had more options for his lifestyle choice. Maybe his parents wouldn't have cut him off like the reports said they did. I wonder why the daughter never married? She had plenty of options. There was actually an engagement announcement with a newspaper clipping to one of her father’s business partner’s son, but he ran off with a servant before the wedding.  I could only find one picture of her and it was one of those faded, turn of the century sepia types. Her face was so serious, but that's the way pictures were back then. The photographer would set up the pose and make the subject hold completely still while the film was exposed. There’s something familiar about her face, but I can't put my finger on it. At least she was able to have a little bit of fun when she was a teenager. Her parents sent her to Europe when she was 18, just after her broken engagement, and she was gone for a year. Her eyes looked sad, like there was something missing from her life. Maybe it was because she was left at the alter.
Oh, someone's calling. The number is restricted, maybe it’s Claire. That’s strange. Kitty, there’s no one there. All I hear is static.  What’s going on with this phone? Claire? Is that you?
Hey, Kitty, wanna go for a walk? We can go to the gas station and get some soda. Let’s go. Wait, is that Claire? What is she doing here. I did tell her where we lived, but I thought she just called. Why would she call if she was standing just outside the gate? It’s late, why would she be here? I don't know if I should invite her in or offer to give her a ride home. Where does she live anyway? What do I really know about her anyway? Look at her, kitty. I don't think it matters where she lives. I think we are going to have company. She might not be here for the next 14 days, but she’s going to be here tonight.