A Lethal Legacy Read Online Free

Nothing that Kris did
was ever right according to her stepfather, and Pam mostly sided with Oscar.
After a year of marriage, Pam became pregnant and when their son was born, Kris
ceased to exist for both Oscar and Pam. Oscar didn't even bother to slap her
anymore.
    Kris became a child
of the streets by the age of twelve. Around that time when she did come home,
Oscar often came into her bedroom at night, she told us. He mostly liked to
watch her. Sometimes he would try to kiss her, but Kris said she managed to
hold him off with insults to his manhood, and he'd leave angry. However, the
older Kris got, the more he pushed.
    Her eyes filled with
tears at the memory of those times. She refused to tell us anything more about
Oscar. Instead, she told us about the streets of Las Vegas for a young,
good-looking girl.
    "Didn't your
mother have a curfew for you?" Gary asked as the tales of Kris' exploits
became more and more unbelievable.
    "Are you
kidding? She was just glad I wasn't around to cause problems with Oscar and
Oscar Junior. She was jealous of Oscar and me. She knew he visited my room
sometimes. But most nights when I did come home, she'd be so smashed that she
didn't even know who I was. One night she even tried to get into bed with me,
calling me 'Gary.' That's when I got curious about my real father. That and the
night that Oscar . . ." She stopped, and we both looked at her. I didn't
want to hear anymore. I doubt Gary did either. Neither of us asked for details.
    I had no idea what to
say to her. I only had a burning desire to kill this Oscar Timmons jerk,
wherever he might be. Instead, I put my arm around her shoulders and held her
close until she found the strength to continue.
    She said Pam never
told her anything about Gary. When Kris asked about her father, Pam would say,
"He's dead. Now shut up about it." But Kris had a sneaking suspicion
that her father was alive, especially after the incident in the bedroom. She
knew she didn't look much like her mother except the eyes, so she began
wondering whom she did look like.
    She began by snooping
through her mother's things. Finally, after weeks of going through the house
when Oscar and Pam were either out or passed out, she found a cigar box tucked
away in the top of her mother's closet. There were wedding pictures of a much
younger version of Pam with a young man who looked very familiar. Then she
found some newspaper articles about Miss America of 1974 and a wedding
announcement from 1975 for Elizabeth Jackson, former Miss America, and Gary
Townsend of Ann Arbor, Michigan. The article gave Gary's place of employment,
parent's names, and just enough information for Kris to begin searching for the
man she was beginning to believe was her father.
    "I called a
couple of places like General Motors. The article said you were an ad exec
there. I told personnel I was an old college girlfriend. They bought it and
told me you had moved to New Orleans, but they said they couldn't give out any
other information. Luckily, your number is listed in the New Orleans directory.
So, you were married to my mother and had a daughter named Kristina?" she
asked needlessly, although she looked as if she did need this final
confirmation.
    "Yes. When we
divorced, she forced me to sign some papers she had drawn up. One of the
conditions for her to keep quiet about my personal life was having me give up
my parental rights." Gary paused not sure how to justify or apologize for
his actions, which seemed cowardly in light of the life that Kris had been
forced to live for the past fifteen years.
    "Why did you do
that?" Kris asked as she turned to look directly at Gary for the first
time since she had begun her story.
    "I don't expect
you to comprehend, Kris. I just ask that you try to understand. Times were
different then, you had to know my parents . . ." Gary stopped and began
his vigil with the floor again.
    He seemed incapable
of continuing, so I gave Kristina a bit of our early history. A