Murky Waters--Part 2

Drake was shaking so hard, he could barely make it up to Gosalyn’s
room. He knocked on the door, although he wasn’t sure if she could hear
it with that blasting music of hers.
“Come in!” she yelled. Gosalyn turned around and gasped. “Dad,
what’s wrong? Did something happen?”
“Um, no, not really. There’s someone here to see you.” Gosalyn gave
him a weird look and went downstairs. Sitting in the living room was a
woman that looked strangely like her.
“Gosalyn?”
“Yeah, that’s me.”
“My name’s Claire Pintail. I’m your biological aunt.”
“You mean...you knew Mom and Dad?” It had been a long time since
Gosalyn had thought about either of her parents. She had been only 3
when they died, so she didn’t remember much about them. All she
remembered was her mom’s long red hair, and how she used to swing
her around.
“Yes. I was your mom’s sister. Our family never knew you, and
when I heard about your grandfather, I came down here to see if you
were still in the orphanage. I’m so glad you’re out of there. Sammie
would have killed me.”
“Who’s Sammie?”
“Your mother. Samantha Pintail. And you look just like her, let me
tell you.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I suppose you’re
probably wondering some things about us.”
“Grandpa told me about the Waddlemeyers. I guess I never heard
the other side of the story.”
“Well, it’s not a particularily great one. But here goes...”

“Your grandparents are, or were, I guess, rich. George and Irene
Pintail are their names. They had 4 of us, Tom, Jeff, Sammie, and me,
Claire. I was the youngest, so Tom and Jeff beat me up. But then Sammie
came home and would beat them up because they were mean to me. She
was protective of me, I guess because I was her only sister. Sammie was
really tough, and she wasn’t afraid of anything. She played basketball all
the way through school, they had just created a women’s program in
Quack Cove. That was where all of us lived. We were probably one of the
richest families in the city at the time. She’s still Quack Cove’s leading
scorer, I’m pretty sure. All-time. Men’s or women’s. We were pretty proud
of her. She played soccer too, and she liked to play hockey with the local
boys. She beat everyone on the varsity hockey team, but was never
offered a tryout, just because she was a girl. That made her so mad.
Things kind of kept going downhill for us, though. First Tom got
drunk and almost killed his best friend. Then Jeff ran away, and no one
knows what happened to him. Then Sammie moved to Duckburg and
married Chris Waddlemeyer, your dad. No one heard from her except
me. When you were born, Sammie was so excited. She called me every
week telling me what new things you had done. ‘Oh, Gossie smiled at me
today’. She called you Gossie. You were named after your other
grandmother, I guess. I never met either of your dad’s folks.
And when you were 3, she died in a car accident along with your
father. I was so sad. I was still in school, so I couldn’t take care of you. I
heard your grandfather was raising you, so I felt somewhat better. Then
a couple months ago I decided to check in on you, being that my parents
had seemed to stop fighting, but not after Dad had gambled most of his
money away. Then I found out Mr. Waddlemeyer had died, and I checked
the orphanage, and found out you were here.”
“Wow...”
“Yeah. Well, I’d better be going, I guess. I just needed to make sure
you were OK, and tell you about where you came from, just in case you
were curious.”
“Wait! Claire?”
“What?”
“Could I... have your number or something? I didn’t think I had any
family left in the world, until you came today.”
“Oh. Sure.” She quickly scribbled down a number on a notepad and
gave it to her. “It was nice finally meeting you, Gosalyn.”
“It was nice meeting you, Claire.” Gosalyn was still in shock. I still
have a family? Keen gear!
“Thanks Mr. Mallard,” Claire said, and left as quickly as she came.
“That was really weird,” Drake said.
“I can’t believe I still have a family, Dad.” She saw the look on his
face. “I mean, a biological family. Of course I have you and Launchpad.”
“That’s better. But I’m still wondering why she suddenly showed up
after all these years.”

Claire pulled her car into a gas station. “Oh Sammie... I did it. She
looks so much like you...” She started crying. I finally had the courage to
visit her this time, she thought. Although I might have opened up a world
she didn’t want to know about... or once she finds out more, she won’t.
And if she’s anything like her mother, she won’t stop until she knows
everything, and our family will be even more torn apart. Oh well. I talked
to the kid. She knows she has a family. What she does with the knowledge
is up to her. I just hope we’re not paying the price for it later.

The End

Coming soon...
the as-yet-untitled 2nd installment about Gosalyn and the Pintails.