Bruce's Story - Chapter 36

Six Months Later:

Waking up in a familiar but strange room, Bruce tried again to clear the cobwebs from his head. He had moved into the home that he had occupied as a child. The house was exactly the same way it was the day the family left over nine years before. He had left the home as a grown child and returned as a broken adult.

Upon arriving in D.C. with the team he had immediately booked a flight to Nebraska. He had no identification so it was difficult to rent a car. He managed to get to his home via taxis. Remembering that there was a key under the brick in the front walkway he tried the door, only after knocking and getting no answer.

It was odd returning to this place after all that time and finding that nothing had changed. He knew the first couple of things he needed to do was get himself some identification and get the money had earned into a safe location.

All four cars were still in the garages and even though his took a while to start, it did eventually. He drove over to the bank that the whole family had always used to see if he could find some information in the safety deposit box. Entering the building he realized how much had actually changed since 1992. He asked to speak with the bank manager.

“I’m the manger, what can I do for you?”

“Bruce looked the man straight in the eyes and said, “My name is Bruce Patterson and I need to get into our family safety deposit box.”

“No problem Mr. Patterson. Do you have the key?”

“What key?” Bruce asked dumbfounded.

“Every safety deposit box requires two keys to open it. One is held by the bank and the other is held by the owner.”

Bruce asked, “Is there any other way to get into it?”

“I could check you identification against that which is on record.”

Bruce just shook his head, feeling hopeless. “Let me go back home and see if I can find the key.”

“Mr. Patterson, do you want to tell me what’s going on here? Most people that are trying to get into their own boxes know all of this information. Are you sure you even have a box?”

“Yes, I am sure. But it has been a very long time since anyone tried to open it. It is critical that I get into it as I am hoping it has all the information I’m looking for.”

“And just what exactly is that?”

“My birth certificate.”

Bruce left the bank and headed back home to see if he could find the key. He doubted if either one of his parents kept that key on their daily set of keys. He started in their bedroom and began looking through their drawers and closets. He did not find anything there, but as he was leaving their room he wondered if perhaps there was a safe somewhere. He started moving the pictures on the wall and right behind their wedding picture was a small wall safe.

Not knowing the code he decided to try their wedding date. That worked!  He opened the door and pulled everything out. There was some jewelry, some documents and a key. That key had to be the safety deposit key. But why would you need a different box if you had a safe?

He read through some of the documents. There was nothing of significance that Bruce could see. He hadn’t realized how long the search had taken. The bank was already closed. He went into his sister’s room, having decided that there was no point in keeping any of her clothes, shoes and other things. He threw away over half of the things he found and neatly stacked the things he was going to donate.

Early the next morning he set off to go back to the bank and begin making a life for himself. This time when he walked into the bank he asked to go to his box and was immediately led to the vault. He placed his key in the box and the bank manager placed his key in the other keyhole. Opening the door and pulling out the box was the manager’s job. He placed the box on the table and left the room.

Bruce opened the lid to the box and the only thing in the box was an envelope. It was addressed to Nicole. He pulled everything out of the envelope. There were a few smaller envelopes inside. The paper on the top however was a letter to his mother.