PULL THE PIN

Chapter 2

The drive from Bedford to Clyde Street in downtown Halifax seemed to last forever. Cordelia looked out the window at the passing scenery. Anita had taken the Bedford Highway, which provided a continuous view of the water in the Bedford Basin. This was the route Cordelia always took, as the water proved to have a calming effect on her soul. Traffic was unusually heavy, thus requiring Anita's undivided attention.

Cordelia took advantage of the quiet to think about the events of the past four years. Growing up in her home with Gordon, Margaret, and Ebony had been an experience she would not wish on her worst enemy. Her memories of her mother were vague as her mother had disappeared when Cordelia was four. Gordon had never told her where her mother went. She was there one day, and the next day she was gone. Within days, Margaret and her ten-year-old daughter, Ebony, moved in and Cordelia's life became one filled with bullying, harassment, and being totally ignored by Gordon.

For the thirteen years that followed, Margaret and Ebony constantly belittled Cordelia. Told her she was ugly, she was stupid, she was a charity case dependent on them for the roof over her head and the food in her belly. She had almost started to believe it. She retreated into herself and her books. School became her haven, her escape from a horrible home life. At school, the teachers praised her for her quick wit, her intelligence, her compassionate nature. Told her she was beautiful, made her believe that she was worthy of being loved.

When she was fourteen, she overheard a conversation between Gordon and Margaret that changed her life. Cordelia had woken up to the sound of arguing. Normally, she would have ignored it and gone back to sleep, since it was a common occurrence between the two adults. But this time her name was mentioned, along with the mention of her mother. Curiosity got the best of her, so she crept to the alcove at the top of the stairs and hid behind the large potted plant.

"That girl needs to go! I am sick of her, always moping around, her nose stuck in a book. Can't we get rid of her now, like we did her mother?" Margaret's words were filled with hate.

"You know damn well we have to keep her around until she turns twenty-one. Then she will inherit her mother's business, and her money. This house, the cars, the jewelry, the business, it's all held in trust for her until her twenty-first birthday. We will have to find a way to trick her into signing everything over to me, or have her make a will leaving everything to me. Only then can we get rid of her. So just suck it up for now."

Gordon's response to Margaret shocked Cordelia to the core. She may have been just fourteen, but by now, she had learned to control her emotions, especially around Gordon, Margaret and Ebony. She maintained a stoic, closed-off demeanor at all times in their presence. Now it was more important than ever to continue this practice. She quickly and quietly went back to her room and closed the door. She got into bed, turned her back to the door and feigned sleep.

She was glad she did so as a few minutes later her bedroom door opened, and she heard Margaret whisper, "She's sleeping. Thank god she didn't hear anything." Then the door closed with a soft click, and she could hear their footsteps moving away down the hallway to their room.

The next morning, as Cordelia got ready for school, she made up her mind to talk to her favorite teacher, and come up with a plan to get into the best university on a scholarship. She knew Gordon and Margaret would refuse to pay her tuition, so if she was going to escape that household, she would have to fund her own escape. And somehow, she was going to find out what happened to her mother, and find a way to protect herself and her inheritance. She would ensure that whoever harmed her mother would pay the price.

So, with the help of Ms. Moore, her favorite and most trusted teacher, Cordelia worked hard to earn a full-ride scholarship to Dalhousie University. She spent the next three years earning marks that ensured she would graduate at the top of her class. She participated in whatever activity would benefit her chances of earning the necessary scholarship. She secretly worked a part-time job by saying she was studying at the library, and banked every cent she earned. She told Gordon and Margaret nothing of her plans.

Thankfully, Ebony, being six years older than Cordelia, was at university, then after her graduation, she started working as Gordon's personal assistant in the company, spending long hours at the office. Margaret spent most of the day out of the house, doing whatever she did to fill her time. Those three years Cordelia spent mostly alone, either at school, working, or by herself in the house until late in the evening.

She took advantage of the empty house. Her one expenditure was the purchase of a video/audio monitoring system that she had installed throughout the common areas of the house. She wanted to make sure she knew what they were scheming, so she could find ways to protect herself. She had made friends with twin brothers in her computer science class at school. They were big into security systems and already worked with their father in his security system installation business. When she told them that she was home alone a lot, and worried about her safety due to a recent rash of home invasions in the area, they immediately jumped on the opportunity to install the system for her.

The system was a top of the line audio video system monitored through wifi. They set it up, so she could receive everything on her phone and laptop. Then they helped her set up a system to store the recordings safely and password protected every bit of data on her electronic devices. Cordelia was thankful for their efforts, because the recordings were explosive. Gordon, Margaret, and Ebony's worlds would explode into a million pieces should the recording ever be released. It was like having a hundred different grenades just ready to be thrown.

Cordelia graduated on her seventeenth birthday. At her teacher's suggestion, Cordelia had applied for every scholarship, bursary, and grant for which she would even be remotely eligible. With her marks, school activities, volunteer work, and high recommendations from the teaching staff, she won her full-ride scholarship. And a number of other scholarships, bursaries, and grants. This meant she had the means to support herself financially during her university career.

Fortunately, she was able to secure student housing with a second year student that had her unit on a year-round basis. Citing enrollment in a summer session to Gordon and Margaret, Cordelia immediately moved out of her home in Bedford and into her student housing unit with her new roommate. That move proved to open a whole new world for her.

Meeting Anita Cameron for the first time was a visual shock. Anita looked so much like Cordelia, it was uncanny, it was like looking in a mirror. The only discernible difference is that Anita had a tiny mole at the corner of her right eye. And she was a couple of inches taller than Cordelia's 5'7" frame. That's when the joking started about them being twins. It got to the point that students and faculty alike believed that if they weren't twins, they at least had to be cousins.

The summer passed with the two girls studying, going to the beach, and just generally getting to know each other. One day, Anita gave a small gift to Cordelia. An Ancestry DNA kit. She had one for herself. So, on a whim, the girls activated the tests, took the swabs, and sent the tests away to await the response. Seven weeks later, they received an email stating the results were ready online. With anticipation, the girls went to the website and read the results. They were first cousins. Anita made a phone call to her family in Scotland.

Three days later, Cordelia finally met her mother's family.