Two Witnesses
By skali1874
- 514 reads
Jennifer Rustigian
CRWT 152
11-20-01
Two Witnesses
Our driver adjusted the rearview mirror and motioned for my fathers
car to go ahead of mine. I watched as the navy blue car made it's way
down the circular driveway, and soon we pulled behind. Next to me
Horcur was straightening my dress, carefully pulling at my sleeves so
they would not wrinkle. I watched her small, smooth hands move down to
the hem of my dress- stretching it horizontally, gently pulling away my
heels from the leather interior. As we sat in silence I began to cry,
still in disbelief that my fathers fianc? would be so unwanting of
me.
I was married a month before my father's third marriage. His fianc?
Julid? had been planning their wedding for months and the details were
almost finalized when it occurred to her that I would be an antique in
their new life together. She was too caught up in her affair to realize
that not only was my father a married man he also had a daughter.
Although it had been tradition of all my father's wives to find a
suitable place for me my father felt that this time he would take it
upon himself to find me a new home.
As we made our way into the city I watched the reflections of our car
in the old glass buildings of the elementary schools and pastry shops I
had visited as a girl only a few years ago. My first stepmother
Yerchanig often brought me to the city on weekends to visit my mother
and sister in their small apartment behind the church. It was nothing
like my father's four story home where I had my own floor to play with
friends or cousins, but I was always happy to leave the presence of the
city to see my mother.
My father was in love with Yerchanig. She was the reason my parents
had divorced and besides spending every moment together she worked at
my father's construction office. I remember watching the two of them
walk in the gardens or swim in the pool for hours. But it wasn't too
long after they had been married when she was diagnosed with
tuberculosis. After that she could never be trusted to be alone
anywhere in the house. The servants would find her hunched over the
silverware licking forks and spoons, while I once found her using my
father's toothbrush. It was a difficult and hard time for my father
watching his young beautiful wife turn pale and lifeless. My
unsuccessful and unpopular week long trip to a French boarding school
didn't make things any easier, but I was determined to live at home
with my father. I was there six days and when Horcur came to visit I
ran away with her, leaving all of my belongings to the French nuns that
had watched over me that short time. Yerchanig died within six
months.
As we pulled up to the steps of the courthouse my father got out of his
car and instructed me and Horcur to stay put while he went to get the
witnesses. I watched from my window as he approached two of the many
men in suits waiting under the arches of the building. The first was
tall and wore a gray suit. He had a moustache and a hat while the other
was smaller and only wore a light colored linen jacket and slacks. My
father gave them a short synopsis of my special situation and
instructed them to pretend that they had known me all of my life. In
return my father agreed to pay them outside of the courthouse when we
were done. I saw them glance over at my car below them and nod in
agreement to my father's words. My father then waved for me to get out
of the car and our driver quickly came to open the door for me and
Horcur.
I was still watching the maids and servants boxing up the remnants and
memories of Yerchanig when my father met Julid?. In a way I was
celebrating Yerchanig's death, thankful that I would not have to worry
about my status in the household. I suppose it was not an easy task for
my father to find a place for me. After all, I couldn't live with my
mother and sister in their apartment in Izmir- it was too small. And
when Yerchanig sent me to boarding school I escaped within a week when
Horcur came to visit me. Although it was difficult for me to adjust to
my father's new wives and being sent away to boarding school nothing
could have prepared me for the hasty decision my father made as to
where I would live. After a week long deliberation with Julid? my
father announced that he had arranged for me to be married to one of my
childhood friends.
"Married?" I gasped.
"Evet," he answered. "It's a good match. If you don't get married now
he'll be married by the time you're ready. The wedding is in a couple
of weeks." Married. I wasn't even old enough.
I slowly walked up the steps of the courthouse into one of the small
rooms to the left of large hallway. My mother and sister were already
inside and were sitting in the first row of wooden benches. Vahram was
sitting on the left side of the room, dressed in a suit he stood up as
we entered the room. Horcur handed me a small bouquet of dull white
lilies and my father escorted me up to the front of the room where the
Judge was looking over both mine and Vahram's birth certificate. Only
Vahram was well eighteen and well over the leagl age to be
married.
"Janet," he said, "you were born in 1938, not 1936, correct?"
I was coached both at home and during the ride to the courthouse.
Horcur asked me all sorts of questions the judge might ask and now I
could not remember the answer. I was fourteen, not sixteen like my
father had forged onto the documents, but somehow I could not bring
myself to tell the Judge that he was right. I looked at my father, once
again unsure of how I should answer.
"Yes Janet," my father whispered, "you were born in 1936 not
1938."
I turned to the Judge and finally answered, "Evet. 1936."
The Judge dismissed the two witnesses my father found outside. For a
few hundred Lire they pretended to have known me all my life and helped
in finalizing my marriage to Vahram. I concentrated on my stale bouquet
while I waited for the judge to finishing signing the paperwork
4
- Log in to post comments