Addicted To Greed (30 page)

“Good morning sweet cheeks and what is that you’re having for
your breakfast?”

Placing a soft kiss on each side of Anna’s cheeks, she couldn’t
resist stroking her soft curly blonde locks and thinking she
would be the apple of her daddy’s eye if he was here to see you
now. Anna was growing and developing her strong personality,
she had the boys wrapped round her finger, and they couldn’t
resist her playfulness.

“Hey Ella, Chase will be here in ten minutes, I am really
excited, can’t wait to tell him about Benjamin, but I am a little
scared of his reaction, if its anything like ours, maybe I should
of gone and got some more wine.”

“I think we should let him read the letter first, before we say
anything, let him find out the way we did, don’t you think?”

“Yeah definitely, I called Pinderfields Hospital, where Benjamin
is and they said we can visit anytime after one o clock after he’s
had his lunch either today or tomorrow!”

“That’s brilliant; did you ask if the three of us are able to visit at
the same time?”

“Ella, it came as a shock but they seem to know all about us, can
you believe that? Apparently Benjamin has a photograph on his
bed side cabinet of Chase, me, and you. Apparently daddy told
him all about us and told him one day he would get to meet his
new brother and two sisters.”

“Jesus, I can’t believe it, so he already knows about us?”

“Ye
ah he does, but with his condition he forgets, so we have to
be prepared for all eventualities. I did a little research on the
internet last night on Down syndrome, I have printed this off for
us all to read, so we all have a better insight before we visit, I
think it’s important we’re all aware of our brothers condition.”

“Daddy must have known we would visit him
otherwise he
would have never of told Benjamin about us would he now? I
just need to get my head round this, there seems to be so many
questions but not enough answers, I just wish daddy was here to
explain don’t you?”

“I do, but I have also been giving it a lot of thought, maybe, just
maybe we hold some of those answers, in fact this could all be
about us finding the answers for ourselves.”

“Destiny, you’re
talking in riddles and not making much sense
to me, I don’t know if it’s because the caffeine isn’t in my
system yet, or all this news of a new brother is just a dream,
believe it not I think I am still in the stages of shock!”

“Wake up big
sis; you are supposed to know what to do in most
situations, isn’t that why daddy told you first, so it would ease
the blow when you had to tell me and Chase?”

“Yeah
, and usually I do, but you’ve gotta admit this isn’t a
situation you often come across is it? And no, I don’t agree with
daddy for his decision to inform me first, just because I am the
bloody eldest, I think we all have the right to know despite our
ages, after all we are all grown up, are we not?”

Before they could get into a debate or argument the door bell
rang and Destiny rushed off to answer it.

Ella found herself in a situation where she had little or no
control and felt they were all venturing into something
completely alien to them. How they all took for granted their
lives, their healths, their very existence, never having to live
with a disability. She picked up the print out on Down
syndrome and tried to absorb some information on Benjamin’s
condition, she read as far as people who suffer with Down
syndrome inherit an extra copy of one chromosome, people with
the syndrome have three copies of chromosome twenty one
rather than the usual two. She placed the paper on to the table as
Chase entered.

“And how’s my lovely big sis in her big mansion?”
“Oh Chase, it’s so good to see you, I’m great thanks, how’s
you?”

“Never
better, now are you gonna give me a grand tour around?
I noticed there’s a tennis court, do you have a football pitch as
well?

“No, not yet, but who knows maybe sometime in the near
future.”

Ella managed to show Chase around halfheartedly. Chase
pointed out the new and old parts of the house, she found it hard
to concentrate and he soon picked up on this.

“What’s the matter Ella, you seem distracted?”

“I am not really in the mood for giving you the grand tour to be
honest, me and Destiny discovered something we need to talk to
you about, but I am still in shock by it myself, I need for you to
read something first if you don’t mind?”

“Sounds serious, have you discovered the truth about what
happens when we die?”
“I wish but not quite, please let’s go down to the kitchen; I need
to show you something.”

Ella passed Chase the handwritten letter from daddy.
“What’s this? Ain’t this daddy’s handwriting?”
Ella and Destiny both nodded.

Chase took a seat next to them on the giant table and took a pair
of reading glasses out of his shirt.
“It appears to be addressed to you Ella, you sure you want me to
read this?”
Once again Ella nodded unable to find her words.
Ella and Destiny sat patiently, while Chase began to read it, they
were so nervous, unable to predict how he would react.
Ella couldn’t meet her brother’s eyes in fear that he too would
cry at the shocking revelations.

Destiny, held tightly on to her hand, she could feel Ella shake
but couldn’t find the strength to console her. It felt like an
eternity waiting for Chase to finish reading, when he finally did,
Ella found the courage to look into his eyes; they were full of
water, tears gently running down his sad little face.

Destiny immediately embraced him into her arms sobbing with
him.

Ella,
couldn’t bear this any longer she joined them both and they
all cried together in shock, disbelief, and sorrow as they finally
had some answers from their father abandoning them after all
these long hard years.
Ella passed Chase his envelope explaining it was also from
daddy, Chase couldn’t bring himself to open it just yet; both Ella
and Destiny fully understood and didn’t push it any further.

They all sat in complete silence for a while reflecting on the
contents of the letter, Chase, eventually broke the silence.

“Jesus
, if I had of known all of this, I’d have never avoided him
like I did. Why did we get to know all this when it’s too late to
repair our relationship, I´d have forgiven him in time, but now
I’ll never get that chance, it makes me so sad, I still can’t believe
he’s gone you know, it’s all so horribly shocking and final?”

Chase stared out of the window as if looking for some clarity; he
was still in the early stages of grief, trying to cope with it in his
own way by avoiding it.

“It’s
weird not to have him here anymore, I wished I hadn’t
fallen out with him, I´d do anything to turn back the hands of
time and say sorry, look at where all my stupid stubbornness has
got me? I guess I just took it for granted that he would always be
around and there’d be time in the future to make up. Last thing I
expected was for him to die and it would be too late to put things
back right, I’ve gotta live with this for the rest of my life, I
suppose if there’s one thing I have learnt from all this life its just
too short to argue, fuss, and fight as the finality of death puts a
lot of things into perspective!”

“You’re right, I couldn’t agree more,
but we all do it, it’s part of
being a human being, but it’s not your fault that you never got
the chance to make up, you were not to know he was gonna die,
we all weren’t, it’s not anybody’s fault, you both need to
remember that. I really miss him too but I’ll never understand
why he couldn’t have told us about his illness, I guess he had he
reasons, I just wished I knew what they were because I still
struggling to get my head round it.”

They spent the next several hours beating themselves up about
their regrets, tears, frustrations, and sadness as the sudden hole
of daddy’s death was just too much to bear. The only thing they
all seemed to agree on was it was a good idea to visit Benjamin.

Chapter 14

Ella, Destiny, and Chase arrived at Pinderfields around one o
clock, they were all nervous and excited. A short stubby nurse,
who had a high pitched voice, greeted them all friendly.

“Hello you must be the Pearson’s, we’ve
been expecting you, if
you wouldn’t mind, singing in on our visiting register. Dr Roth
will be with you shortly, he will talk and explain to you a little
about your brother’s syndrome and accompany you on your
visit, he’s looking forward to meeting you all.”

Once they all signed in and went to sit in the waiting area,
anxious to meet their new brother.
Chase finally broke the tense silence.

“I feel really stupid, I don’t know anything about
Down
syndrome, except it makes you look a little different, I
remember seeing some disabled kids on a bus on the way to
school and all my mates took the piss out of them and started to
mimic them, throwing their empty coke cans at the bus, I think I
must of thrown something to, just to be part of the crowd, I feel
really terrible now how mean we all were.”

“You were just a kid and
you know sometimes kids we do
horrible things, don’t worry about it, I am sure you wouldn’t
behave in that way now.”
“Of course not but isn’t it nasty how we discriminate when

you’re young if something, or somebody is in any way different
to what we perceive as normal?”

Before Ella could answer a tall slim elder man came along and
introduced himself as Dr Roth, he politely led them to his
private office two floors above. On their way up they noticed a
number of children in classrooms, they appeared to be learning.
Dr Roth noticed they were all interested in what the children in
the different rooms were doing.

“Here at Pinderfields
we teach children the same as if in main
stream school, depending on their varying ages, we have some
children from being babies and we have our own nursery on the
ground floor, we pride ourselves on education here as we feel it
very important to equip all our young people with the
knowledge and skills they will need in the outside world when
they finally leave us.”

Ella couldn’t help her curiosity, she had so many questions, she
just didn’t know where to start, they all did but held it back in
order to listen and learn about Benjamin syndrome.

Dr Roth’s first question to them was if they knew anything
about Down syndrome?
They all answered very little, but they all expressed a keen
willingness to learn.

“Let me start by explaining what
Down syndrome is, and the
different types. Let me start with the basics, Down Syndrome is
a genetic condition also known as trisomy where a person
inherits an extra copy of one chromosome. People with the
syndrome have three copies of chromosome twenty one rather
than the usual two, this additional genetic material changes the
finely tuned balance of the body and results in characteristic
physical and intellectual features. It’s not yet known why this
abnormality occurs, it does however affect one in one thousand
babies born in the UK. It is however the most common
inherited cause of learning difficulties. Before I carry on do you
have any questions?”

“You mention it changes the finely tuned balance of the body in
what way, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“N
ot at all, please feel free to ask any questions. People with
Down's tend to look different – they typically have a flat facial
profile and eyes that slant upwards. Other facial features include
smaller ears, a flat back of the head and protruding tongue.
Another characteristic of the syndrome is people tend to be
shorter than average with perhaps poor muscle tone and have
short broad hands with a single crease across the palm.”

“Is there any further physical problems Doctor?”

“Yes I am afraid so half the people with the syndrome have
heart defects, however some can be treated and some cannot, in
Benjamin’s case there seems to be no heart defects. Many other
physical problems include cataracts, sight and hearing problems;
however I am pleased to inform you that Benjamin doesn’t
appear to suffer from any of these. Benjamin does suffer with a
large amount of constipation which can make eating sometimes
difficult, we are currently running tests on his thyroid glands,
these tests will determine if he suffers with an overactive or
underactive gland, in both cases it can be treated with
medication.”

At this point they all took a deep breath; relieved Benjamin
could see and hear properly.

Dr Roth informed them that type of Benjamin
’s syndrome was
called Translocation - the extra chromosome 21 material is
attached to another chromosome and one of the parents may
carry the translocated chromosome without any signs of the
condition themselves. He explained that this accounts for around
four per cent of cases and is very rare, whereas the most
common was regular trisomy 21 and ninety four percent of
people have this type, the was a rarer form is was called mosaic
whereas only two percent of people suffered with this. Judging
by the expression on both Destiny’s and Chases faces, Ella
could feel their concern, Chase asked, “You mention one of the
parents may carry the translocated chromosome, is it possible
our father carried this without him knowing?”

“Yes, Chase its possible, or the mother may have carried this,
without any signs what so ever of the condition.”

Ella sensed where Chase was going with this; he wanted to
know why they weren’t affected with the syndrome if it had
been their father who carried it, as he looked confused.

I am afraid in Benjamin’s case we will never know for certain
however I may speculate on the fact that you three do not have
the syndrome, so therefore I’d suggest in this case it could have
been the mother that carried this.”

They all asked many more questions, Ella was amazed how
much Destiny had already researched the syndrome and could
see she was keen to talk with the doctor and get to know as
much as she possibly could, as she seemed to absorb all this
medical information like a sponge, however Chase and herself
were struggling.