Side Story ~ Mango 4

When Gravel hit the play button, we sat for a few seconds watching my empty office.

Then the door opens and 'River' walks in. Gravel hits the pause button and freezes the footage on a very clear view of him.  I stand up and move closer to the screen.  Fudge!!!  Obviously I can't see his colour, but I can see him  ... and I'm struggling to take in what I'm looking at .... if I had any doubt at all before about that boy being my son it has now all completely gone.

He's dressed just like he is in one of the photographs that his Grandmothers sister gave me.  He is wearing the same hat, which tickles me for a moment thinking about Tapestry's hat obsession.  'River's hair is off his face and he's wearing glasses, pretty similar to the ones I wear sometimes when I need a break from my contacts. I just stand there staring at him for a few moments, trying to take him in. I'm looking at my eldest son for the very first time ... I should have seen him when he was a baby and now I'm looking at a grown man.

Gravel looks at me, "I need you to watch this carefully shout out if you see anything you think you might be able to explain." he says as he hits the play button.  I watch as 'River' drops the large bag that he has in his hand onto the floor then he locks the office door from the inside.  He moves quickly towards the computer and turns it on and sits there for ages concentrating on the screen, I can't see the screen or what he's doing, but he looks like he's reading through something. Then he stands up and moves towards the printer, paper starts coming out of the machine which he's picking up glancing at them quickly before putting them in a neat pile on my desk ... I wander what he's printed off, Gravel asks me if I have any idea what it might be and I shrug my shoulders, because it could be absolutely anything.

'River' seems to get very distracted by something, the photographs on the wall, he wanders away from the printer and stands staring at the photographs for what seems like ages, he takes his time to look at them all in turn.  I think about the photo's they are mainly of the kids and Lilly, I take my eyes off the monitor for a second and automatically glance over at the wall, I'm a little surprized to see one of the photo frames is now empty, the only one that had a picture of me in it.  How had I not noticed that was missing when I was in here the other day.

"Stop that!!"  I say to Gravel and he hits the pause button  "There is a photo missing!!  The one of me and Lilly with the three kids." we both just stare over towards the photographs in silence for a moment, at first I find it kind of creepy that he should take a photo, because I wasn't really thinking about it logically.

"Yeah that's just about to come up on the footage ..." he looks up at me and he doesn't look too worried  "Maybe he just wanted a picture of the family, I presume he wouldn't have one ... the only time to worry is if your kids and all the others off his phone records think he's a creepy stalker ... but your son did phone him today and he's been having regular contact with all of the names on that list for well over 12 months, so I doubt that will be the case!!" 

"You ready?"  he says as his finger hovers over the play button, I nod and the footage starts moving again.  Like Gravel says, we watch him take the picture frame down carefully off the wall, he opens up the frame takes out the photo which he stands looking at for a while before he puts it carefully inside his bag then he goes back to hang the empty frame back up on the wall, after he's put it back together, and even takes his time to straighten the frame up.

'River' then moves back to the printer and takes off all the papers and starts to flick through them, scanning each page quickly before he places them with the others on the desk, all but one which he still has in his hand.  He goes back to the desk and starts opening the draws - he pulls out the prescription pad and starts writing out Tapestry's script, he's referring to the paper he's kept aside from the others .. then it clicks.

"I think that might have been Tapestry's whole medical records that he's printed off there ... the pile of papers looks big enough!!  See he's writing out his prescription from one of the pieces of paper."  I say to Gravel who hits the pause button and he starts scribbling notes down on the pad he has in front of him. He looks up and frowns at me.

"Don't you doctors print off all your prescriptions now?"  he is right we do as a rule  "Why did he not just print it off the computer?"

"He would have had to do it manually because it's only been a few weeks since Tapestry's repeat prescription was filled so the system wouldn't have let him print one off, Tapestrys repeat is three monthly."

"So wouldn't the pharmacy question a handwritten prescription?"  he asks me while he's still scribbling

"They do sometimes, depends on who's signed it most of the time ....."  I scratch my head for a moment, that is a very good question when they definitely would question and refuse to fill a script that has been hand written or come off the computer when it's authorized and cashed with the same signature, I always have to get Forrest or Griffin to authorize Tapestry's scripts.   "I don't suppose you know what name did he sign the script in?"  He told me to hang on and starts rooting through the folder he has with him, saying he has a photocopy of the script.  He pulls it out and places it on the desk, the signature on the front of the script is Mango Muffin his false name River Lane on the back.  He's made a very poor attempt at forging my signature, I'm surprised that pharmacy didn't pick up on that!!

"Although if you look at this, that is actually his usual signature with his last name omitted."  he shows me a piece of paper that has his signature on "But still his intention would have been to make them think it was your signature by omitting his surname, ... and it's still forgery which ever way you look at it."

"You know these offences are slowly starting to stack up against this boy of yours .... he's already looking at a lot of time!!  I didn't want to tell you this because I know it's going to worry you but ... your office was not the first stop he made when he came into the hospital,  he paid pathology a visit first, we've got it all on cctv, he walked into pathology and lifted a load of blood bags, that's what's in that bag he's carrying."

"WHAT?!"  I suddenly got very worried, there is only one reason why he would want blood, if someone is hurt and needs it  "What blood group did he take ... do pathology know?"

"They haven't come back to me ... they are doing an audit as we speak."  Alarm bells start ringing in my head and inwardly I'm panicking, this doesn't sound good ... I've got all sorts of horrible visions running through my head!!  Is that why he wants Tapestry's medical records, to find out his blood group because he's been hurt?  "Mango we need to watch the rest of this, then we'll talk later ... try not to worry too much!!"  he says as he hits the play button again.

Try not to worry!! ... that's easy for him to say ... it's not his son that they have got!!

'River' puts the script on top of the pile of paper he's collecting on the desk then turns to look at the books on my shelves.  He puts his finger on each book as he seems to be reading the titles of each book carefully.  He picks out a book and opens it and starts flicking through it.  He discards that book then goes back to the shelf.  "There are five journals and a book missing, I noticed the other day when I was in here."  I tell Gravel and he snaps that I should have told him as soon as I realized, and said I needed to tell him what the books were if I know, so I told him, he starts scribbling again but lets the cctv footage keep running so I kept watching it.  I watch as 'River' makes his way through the books, some he puts back, some he puts down on the desk after he's flicked through them and I slowly watch as six of my books go into his bag.

While he's at the bookshelf he takes out one of my folders, which I recognize instantly because, when Tapestry was a toddler he had got hold of a marker pen and decided to decorate that folder a few pieces of furniture and the wall with scribble while I wasn't looking and I've never bothered to change the folder.  I watch as 'River' starts looking through the folder.  That's the paperwork that I had to pick up off the floor ... Lilly's coma notes that I kept while she was at home for the 3 years in a coma.  I wander why he was looking at those?  Gravel asks me what is in that folder so I told him.

Suddenly 'River' seems to panic as he quickly crouches down onto the floor dropping the folder and all the papers spill out all over the floor ... so that's how he made a mess.  He shuffles himself across the floor and sits crouched against the wall.  I'm so busy watching him I don't understand why he's doing that.  I ask Gravel and he tells me to look at the door.  A face is at the door that I recognize, hospital security, he's peering through the glass section of the door and shines his torch into the room.  "I've watched it a few times, the security guy tried the door handle, that's what made him jump."  Gravel tells me.

'River' sits there for ages waiting for the security guy to go,  he gets up nervously, and stands there for a while before he moves again.  I thought that might be the end of it then when he picks up the pile of papers off the desk and puts them into the bag and stuffs the script into his pocket.  He picks up the bag and starts heading towards the door, but he stops then and stands there rubbing his neck, this makes me laugh because I always do that when I'm stressing over something and I'm always being told off at home for doing it.  He stands there staring over at the photographs again.

'River' suddenly drops the bag and moves quickly back to the desk and starts rooting around in the draws again.  I get the impression that he was just going to leave then with the script, Tapestry's medical records and the books, but something seems to be troubling him .... which stops him.

He pulls out an envelope and writes a quick single word on it.  He then roots around and pulls out some paper which he starts to write on, when he's finished he reads it folds the paper and puts it into the envelope.  He then pulls something out of his back pocket and drops it into the envelope. He went to seal the envelope then looked over towards the photo frames on the wall again for a moment, he put the envelope down, he pulls the scissors out of my pen tub and cuts off a chunk of his hair and then sits there wrapping an elastic band around it, he actually cuts the elastic band and sits there and carefully ties a bow with the elastic band.  I laugh quite loudly, his mind must works like mine because I think I already know what he's doing and why.

Grape frowns at me "You find that funny?! ... I think that is VERY STRANGE behaviour!!"  we both carry on watching, he drops the hair into a specimen tub writes something on the label then puts the tub down.  His hat comes off then we sit watching as he winds some hair round one of his fingers then just pulls a chunk of his hair out of his scalp, he winces for a moment then inspects the end of the hair and smiles.  "Fudge that boy is not right in the head!!"  Grape mumbles

"Actually he's quite the opposite ... that's pretty genius!!"  I laugh Gravel carries on frowning at me like I've gone mad.

'River' then places the hair carefully into the specimen tub with the rest, puts the lid on and drops it into the envelope seals it then looks around for a moment as he puts his hat back on.    He stands there again rubbing his neck like he's in two minds about something, suddenly he starts looking around the room, and stops when he's looking at the cctv camera, he just stands there and smiles at it.  Gravel hit the pause button.

"Did you see that!?"  I can't help but laugh, I look up at the camera as an automatic reaction and notice a tiny light flashing on it  "He works here ... he'd know they were active when the lights flashing ... do you think he smiled because he's happy it's all on tape?"

"Berry only knows what's going through that boys mind Mango!!"  I think Gravel is still reeling from what he did with the hair.  "I've seen some things in my time, but that hair takes the biscuit!!"

"Do you have that envelope?"  I ask him and Grape says no he was hoping that I'd received it in the mail maybe, I shake my head because I haven't.

"So the hair ... would you like to explain why you found that amuzing and so genius?"  Gravel frowns at me.  I stand up and move over to the wall and take one of the photo frames down and place it on the desk in front of him.  He just stares down at it then looks up at me.

"My Mother did that for me, the first time the triplets had their hair cut ...  she does some really strange things sometimes."  I stare down at the three clumps of the triplets baby hair each tied up with a neat bow, their names neatly written underneath their hair obviously for my benefit being colourblind.  River must have spotted that when he was looking at the photo frames  "I think he meant it as a clue for me to his identity ... he's trying to tell me he's my child ... he wouldn't know I've already worked it out ... I think he's guessing the minute I saw that hair tied in a bow I'd think about that and see what he's trying to tell me."  I pointed to the frame on the desk containing the triplets hair  "and of course, once I have worked it out ... he'd know I can actually prove it, he's given me exactly what I need ... I can run a DNA test.  You need hair roots, that's why he just tore a chunk of his hair out.  Marigold in pathology told me his passion seems to be forensic pathology, he'd know all about DNA testing, its one of the jobs he does in the path lab."  I scratch my head   "I need that hair!!"

"There is more to watch Mango ... what he does next probably makes sense now it sure as hell didn't before!!"  he laughs as he hits the play button again

The footage starts moving again 'River' is stood smiling up at the camera then he says something  ... we can't hear what he said but it looks like he says "fuck it!!"  I frown thinking maybe he's not so happy about the camera being active after all.  He moves quickly away from where he's standing and moves over to the side I have visions of him grabbing something to smash the camera, not that it will make any difference now because the camera has already caught everything he's done, but he doesn't and he really surprises me with what he does next.

He grabs a syringe and a blood vile and takes some blood from his arm.  Fudge ... he's going the whole hog with this now isn't he!!  He writes on the vile, he unseals the envelope drops in the vial then sellotapes the envelope back up again.  He moves away from the desk, picks up the bag still with the envelope in his hand and walks out of the office after unlocking the door.

"Gravel I need that envelope!!"

"Like I said I hoped you'd get it in the mail ... but maybe he changed his mind and decided not to give you that envelope after all ... I'm not sure what he does after he leaves your office I haven't watched the rest of the cctv footage yet." 

"I hate to say this but he would have been pretty stupid to put a blood vile in the post ... they are easily smashed and he's far from stupid .... my guess would be that he's dropped it in my pigeon hole here at work."  I haven't opened it since Tapestry went missing so I told him I'd go and check and ran out of the office.

I wander back into the office, a pile of internal mail in my hands, kicking myself for not checking my pigeon hole two days ago, if that envelope is in here I would have found it then, the morning after he paid my office a visit. I drop the mail on the desk and start rooting through it.  I pull out five envelopes with the neurology stamp in the top left hand corner - knowing he's used an envelope from my desk it would have that stamp on the envelope.  It jumped straight out at me ... while the other four are flat this one isn't. I look down at the one word written on the front of the envelope.  "Dad"  Fudge!!  I hold it up to Gravel  "This is it"

I open the envelope and pull out the specimen tub, turning it over I see the hair tied in an elastic band bow along with the loose hair. On the label he's written his name Mango Muffin Lane.  Also in the envelope is the blood vial and his driving licence card which has his name, date of birth, Apple Hill address and photo.  I stare at the photo, he appears on it exactly how he does in one of the photo's and on the cctv with the hat and the glasses ... that must be how he normally dresses when he's not wearing his disguise.

I take the piece of paper out of the envelope and read what he's written on it.

That upset me for a moment .... not only has he confirmed what I suspected that he is actually my son ... the words "I'm sorry I am your son" and "Please don't think badly of me!" keep going round and round in my head. Does he mean don't think badly of him because he is my son?  The more I think about it the more it upsets me.  "I'm sorry I am your son"   Why is he sorry? .... it's almost like he thinks he's telling me something that I wouldn't want to hear ... and he's sorry! ... is that why he's just sat back and not said anything ... does he think I wouldn't have wanted to know him?  Why the blood and the hair, he should know the hair would have been enough to prove it ... so why the blood too?  What is it with him and blood? The pathology department that he seems happy to sit in, the blood bags, his blood ... why do I get the feeling that all this blood means something?!

He's sat there quietly for two years, I wander if he would ever have told me if this hadn't happened to Tapestry.  He's spent 2 years trying to hide who he is and now he drops his disguise and does this?  The way he blatantly got Tapestry's medication from the hospital, the way he's blatantly been going around town, he wanted us to find out who he is ... he wanted us to know his name, maybe he hoped the police would work out his true identity and that I would somehow figure it out once I found out he's Maizies son and how old he is .... his real name should have been enough to trigger my head off.  Just in case that didn't work he left me this ..... his Apple Hill driving license, which also gives me his name, date of birth and a very clear picture of him.  The hair, blood and the note that actually tells me, he wrote Dad on the envelope ... he is definitely trying to tell me who he is ... and not to worry.

"Mango?"  Gravel makes me jump, I hadn't realized I was just sat there deep in thought.

"Sorry!"  I hand Gravel the note and sit quietly while he reads it, he looks up at me and frowns

"Okay ... so now I'm confused ... why the hair tied in a bow which you thought was a clue, if he's just going to tell you who he is in this note?"  I laugh at him for a moment

"I'm colourblind so you tell me .... I doubt very much he know's I'm colourblind ... but I think you can see that his hair is identical to Corals, Tapestry's and mine ... I get the feeling as well as telling me, he's trying hard to prove it, almost like he thinks he has to prove it ... I guess he thinks I might not believe him, that might explain whey he's never told me."  I laugh at him as he stares down at the hair again "... and you've got your proof right there that it's definitely Maizie!!"  he starts laughing

"You sure you don't want to quit medicine?!"  he smirks at me   "Your brain is definitely working a lot quicker than mine today!!"

"No you're okay, your job would just give me a constant headache!!" we both sit laughing for a moment "It's all well and good knowing who he is Gravel ... but how are we going to find them ...  if he's gone this far why do you think he didn't just tell us where they are? 

"I doubt it will take us long .... it looks like he is not doing any of this for the wrong reasons, and from what I know about this Manderine woman, she is pretty dangerous, combined with Maizie and her past history ... I'm guessing they don't have a clue about what your boy is up to ... anything could be happening in a hostage situation and you don't know what they might be threatening him with, or what sort of hold they have over him, they might think he's with them in this and he could be pulling the wool over their eyes ... until we've got them we'll never know ... we just have to keep following the trail he's leaving us and hope he makes another move soon ... we will get them eventually!!  Two days ago we had absolutely nothing and it was looking very grim .... now we've got plenty to work on .... they are in this town somewhere Mango, and we will find them!!"  

Gravel starts to pack everything away in his folder including the disc out of the computer containing the cctv footage.  While he's doing that I'm setting another wheel in motion to put my mind completely at rest.  I transfer the hair tied in a bow into a new specimen tub and put it back in the envelope.  I take the specimen tub with his name on and hair roots in and start rooting around in my filing cabinet for the DNA form that I need ... I know ive got some in here somewhere.  I find them and pull one out, pushing back the attached plastic sample bag out of the way so that I can fill in the forms.  As I tick the paternity test box I think to myself, this is something I never thought I would ever be doing!!  This is insane!!

Gravel stands watching me as I walk over to the tubs and pull out a syringe and blood vial and start taking some of my own blood ... wandering why 'River' also took blood after the hair, does he think I wouldn't believe him when he told me he is my son?  I laugh as I watch Gravel turn away at the sight of the needle.  I drop his hair and both of our bloods into the sample bag and seal it.

"You done?"  he asks as I start scribbling a note out on a piece of paper for the lab, asking them to fast track it because it's urgent and to phone me the minute that the results are done.

"I just need to drop this off at the lab on the way out."  I start thinking about everyone at home and how they are going to react to this ... especially Lilly!  I know myself now that DNA test is just a formality, I know already what the result is going to be.  "Can I ask a favour - when you start interviewing everyone ... can you keep his real identity quiet, just until I've spoken to my wife, I really don't want her hearing about this from anyone else."  he said he'd try but couldn't promise anything, and suggested I do it quickly because once the press get wind of this, the whole town is going to know ... the press are going to have a field day when they find out 'River' is also my son ... combined with my ex-girlfriend and sister in law, he thinks my name and reputation might even get a little blackened because of all this.

As soon as we got to my house the first person we bumped into when we walked through the front door is Mulberry.   I asked after Lilly and Cotton, I didn't want her hearing this just yet until I've had to the chance to sit down and talk to about it properly.

"My Moms got Cotton in the nursery and your Mom has just taken Lilly up to bed ... she has really not been good today, she's been switching on and off like a light bulb again!!"  Great this is all I need,  but I'm glad she is not going to be around to listen to this, she's going to get hysterical once she finds out that there is a third person involved and that Coral and Mosaic are friends with the guy who is also a suspect in Tapestry's disappearance.  "Where have you been anyway?  I think you not telling her or any of us what you've been up to for the past few days isn't helping ... she thinks you're hiding something bad from her!!"

"I've been at the hospital with Gravel, the police officer dealing with the case ... we need to talk to you about something."

"Is it Tap? have they found him?"  he asks  "Please tell me he's not ...."  I realize when I see the look on his face I've kind of made him think the worse telling him I've been at the hospital with the police.

I take Mulberry into the kitchen,  where Gravel is waiting for us.  He sits down and I put the photo of River on the table in front of Mulberry, the photo that I'd borrowed from the hospital which is still in my pocket.  Sunny walks into the kitchen and I told him to sit down because he needed to hear this too.

"Why do you have a photo of River?"  Mulberry asks frowning at me as Sunny stares down at the photo

"I've seen that guy, he hangs around with Cherry and Affair."  Sunny says

"Sunny that's River Lane!"  I tell Sunny quickly, he was there with me when the police told us about his involvement.  He looks at me and his eyes widened and he starts scratching his head.

"Mulberry how do you know Mr Lane?" Gravel asks Mulberry as he holds his hand up to Sunny, I presume to acknowledge that he's heard him and is asking him to hang fire for a moment.

"He's my mate, he's the one I usually go drinking with on a Friday night why?"   Mulberry frowns at me

"Mulberry how have I never heard any mention of this River guy?" I ask him

"I don't know?!  he looks at me gone out  "I'm surprised you've never seen us together ... he hangs out at ours quite often and he baby sits Blueberry for us sometimes when our regular sitter is busy, Blueberry loves him.  A lot of us know him ... I don't know how you don't ... he's Mosaic's best buddy!!"

Gravel explains to him that he is now a third suspect in the abduction case saying they have strong and conclusive evidence that puts him into the frame.  Mulberry just sits there looking at him like he's gone mad for a moment.

"Don't be stupid!!!"  he laughs  "Not River ... that guy wouldn't hurt a fly ... you must have got him mixed up with somebody else!!"  he looks at both of our faces like he thinks we are having him on but we are both staring seriously back at him "You are joking me right, you have to be .... not River .... he just wouldn't!!"  he frowns as he looks back down at his photograph and mumbles  "Fudge! he's been baby sitting my boy!"  Sunny has a really worried look on his face but he's keeping quiet ... wait till he hears its not just Cherry he knows.

"Do you still have his text messages on your phone from this morning."  he pulls a confused face at Gravel  "We've pulled your phone number off his phone record and we can see you Coral and Mosaic have had contact with him today."  Sunny looks at me his eyes nearly popping out of his head.

"He text to say he couldn't make it tonight, we'd arranged to meet at the divebar ... he said he is tied up, something about his brother being in trouble and he's trying to help him get out of it ..... here see for yourself."  he says as he hands his phone to Gravel  "I didn't actually know he had a brother he's never mentioned one before!!"  me and Gravel exchange a quick glance

"He's definitely trying to get his point across isn't he Mango!!!"  I just smile at him, he turns to Sunny then  "I'll need you to round up some of your kids Sunny .... they too have been having regular phone contact with Mr Lane over the past 12 months ... and what about you, do you know him?"

"Not personally, only to say hello too in passing."  he says looking wide eyed and worried across the table at me again. "Which of my kids know him?" Gravel starts flicking back in his pad to get Sunny's kids names.

"Strawberry, Maize, Carmine and Cherry."  he stood up and gave me another worried look saying he would round them up, pulling his phone out of his pocket as he walked out of the kitchen.  He looks really stressed out, I'm going to have to tell him the truth about 'River' probably before I tell Lilly, to put his mind at rest a little.  Gravel looks over at me and pulls a face.

"Mango I suggest you go speak to your wife."  I told him I would as soon as he'd spoken to Coral and Mosaic.  I know I can't put this off much longer.

Coral, Mosaic, and Parsley were questioned by Gravel along with his own son Slate, who as we predicted is still here with Coral ... their first reaction was exactly the same as Mulberry's all four of them said they didn't believe River would be capable of being involved in Tapestry and Honey's disappearance.  All of the kids know him from the bowling Alley, I remember Marigold saying something about him going bowling.  They generally meet River at the bowling Alley twice a week, and apparently Mosaic is really good friends with him more than most.  Parsley apparently bumped into him and sat talking to him about Tapestry in the meadow the night he went to the hospital to get Tapestry's prescription.

How have I never heard this guys name mentioned and why do I not know what my kids are up to when they are out of the house?!  Is this my own fault, because I've always had to put more time and attention into Tapestry that I've been neglecting my other two kids?

I just sit there numbly, struggling to know what to think anymore ... River says he is looking after Tapestry and Honey, he's trying to get them home ... I have to try and believe that even though I'm not so sure I should.  I really can't believe he's been slowly worming his way into everyone lives, he's been getting to know them slyly, he's everyone's mate and nobody has a bad word to say about him and they really can't believe that he'd be involved in helping to take Tapestry and Honey.

While he's been getting to know my family and friends ... why has he avoided me?!

Why didn't he just tell me who he is?!

I'm really relieved that he appears to be looking after Tap and Honey, but at the same time I have another worry ... I don't just have Tapestry to worry about anymore ... I have him too.

Just what is Lime and Maizie putting them through, how are they living from day to day, it can't be good if 'River' is having to play games and leave a trail of clues, what is stopping him from coming out and just telling us where they are?

What is stopping him from breaking them out and bringing them home?  

and Just how am I going to tell my family about who he really is?!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There will be more Mango chapters to come after we've been back to Tapestry for a while.

Sorry about the lighting in the few photo's at the bottom - there was a full moon going on in the game and I wasn't going to wait another 24 sim hours just to take 5 pics.