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UNKEMPT SECRETS

I was not looking forward to seeing my sister at dinner. Lisa was not the brightest person, so she and I were in the same grade throughout high school because she failed a couple of grades. Lisa was pregnant two times, but she gave those kids up for adoption and she had an abortion when she was fifteen. My friends and I used to make fun of her when she would walk by. Normally, I was the ringleader. She was not intelligent and we were. We knew what condoms were, but she probably did not even know what the word meant. When we both were seniors, she finally had enough and moved out. This started a long process of the family being ripped apart.

Easter 1985 was the first time I was going to see her since graduation two years before. She never came to family gatherings because I was there. My younger brother, Rob, brutally raped and killed another man and he was in a maximum security prison in Utah or Nevada so he was not going to be at my grandmother's.

My parents and I walked in the very crowded house. Grandmom bounded up, "Happy Easter!" She gave us a big hug and went back to the kitchen. I scanned each room of the house. Lisa was not there yet. Good I thought, maybe she won't show up. I spoke too soon. The door opened and a tall man holding a curly-haired child walked in with Lisa by his side.

"Mom! Dad!" Lisa squealed with delight. Both of them whipped around with tears in their eyes. I could not even look at her. So I went and found my uncles drinking in the backyard.

Uncle Rick stood up, "Hi Daisy, wanna beer?"

"Sounds good," I said.

"I have a very big announcement to make at dinner," Uncle Rick said.

"Oh yeah?"

"I'll have the whole family in shock," he said.

"I am looking forward to it."

Uncle Mike interjected," So are we all."

Grandmom called us in for dinner. I was seated between an empty seat and Lisa. After the prayer was given by my normally soft- spoken grandfather, we began to serve and eat the food. I wanted to know why there was an empty seat next to me.

"Grandmom," I called.

"Yes, hon"

"Why is there an empty seat next to me?"

"For Rob, he must be stuck in traffic or something."

"He's not coming."

"Why?" At this point my parents dropped their forks and shook their heads. I could not believe it, my grandparents did not know.

"Rob is in jail for the rest of his life!"

"WHAT?!" Granddad roared from his seat at the head of the table.

I kept going, knowing my parents disapproval. They needed to know, right? "He brutally raped and killed a man." Their mouths

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