Black and white are interesting colors because in truth they are not really colors.The color black relates to the hidden, the secretive and the unknown, and as a result it creates an air of mystery. It keeps things bottled up inside, hidden from the world.White is color at its most complete and pure, the color of perfection. The color meaning of white is purity, innocence, wholeness and completion.

The answer to the question – “Are black and white colors?”  – is one of the most debated issues about color. Ask a scientist and you’ll get a reply based on physics: “Black is not a color, white is a color.” Ask an artist or a child with crayons and you’ll get another: “Black is a color, white is not a color.”What black covers, white uncovers

Chapter 10

Al started reading through his emails.

Audrey’s parents were importers. They made a good living  from it. Al  had thought it strange that with such a lucrative business and societal position, they had never invested in their daughter. It was his observation that they neither talked, invested energy or spent any thought time on their daughter.

Audrey for all intents and purposes  was a good girl. Teddy’s dad had checked her out when the young lady had started hanging out with his son. Al had used his connections with the Battaglia footmen he knew from Manhattan. The Battaglia’s had  a solid foot hole in  the international trade business.  His notes and research had proven interesting. She had grownup in Lindenwood to a biracial family. She was raised Catholic and had attended the local grade school of S. Helen’s and went off to St Joseph’s High School for girls. There were 3 children in the family. Though if you had  talked to her mother, she only spoke of two.

Al paused and reflected on that  for a second. Everything about her was plain Vanilla.

It was only after he had started delving into her parents background  had things become cloudy.

Al had discovered her mother grown up in Brooklyn. She was the 6th child in a family of 14. She had worked in Bloomingdales as a buyer.

Her father was a known associate of Giovanni Battaglia. He wasn’t quite sure how that relationship had come about, bur most people  knew the whispers that Giovanni Battaglia was a hardened gangster. Al looked at the  photos his contact had supplied him with. It was of Audrey’s father, plain as day, having lunch with the mysterious Giovanni 5 years ago. He wondered if Teddy’s dad  had known?

No one had spoken about Audrey’s parents since their plane had crashed in Howard Beach. They were headed to the Dominican Republic.   Audrey appeared  to have healed from the loss.  At least that is what she portrayed outwardly.  The poor girl had gotten married and lost her parents all in the same year.

Now, here they  were  with an interesting  dilemma. They had two million dollars, an attempted murder and a mysterious missing murderous sibling. Al combed his emails. Someone had found  her sister for him. She was living in a studio apartment in Gravesend.  People owed him favors. Usually, he did someone a solid because it was the right thing to do. An errant  son or wayward daughter would get straightened out. Running two businesses had afforded him real connections. Connections he never abused. So far he had pieced together an interesting story. Her sister  had been living abroad for a while. She was a modern day nomad according to all reports.  A little of this and a little of that was how she got by.  She had taken off on tour with band, and stayed on tour. No one had heard from the girl in ages. Four years ago she had dropped off the face of the earth.

Al tapped his keyboard.  He was going to solve the mystery. A young biracial girl didn’t just disappear and reappear like that. The world was modern but not that modern. Al wondered what would happen next and why she as after hurting her sister. Al closed his laptop and took the last slug of his mug. He padded to the kitchen  washed the mug and head to bed.

Just then, he received a text message:

'I  head you are looking for me. Let's talk. '

Al texted back:

Who are you?

The mysterious number texted back :

Audrey's sister. I am Abby. Look I had to do it.

Al responded:

Stop talking where do I find you?

Audrey responded

I am sitting outside.Open the door.

Al bounded down his stairs  and flung his door open. There her sister stood with a backpack on.

“Come in here,”; Al commanded, reaching and grabbing her by the arm.

“Before you say anything, I need your protection. ” Abby spilled her words all over him. She wad clearly nervous and afraid.

Al picked up his phone and dialed his security guys. The team arrived within minutes. They were sitting in cars around the house and the neighborhood.  He fixed her something to eat. She appeared hungry. Al noticed how nervous she was. She shoveled food into her mouth like she hadn’t eaten in days.

“Hey relax, tell me the truth and we are good here. Okay.  No one will hurt you here. ”  She settled down when he said those words.  After she finished eating  they went to his living room.  He handed her a cup of tea in a mug.  She started to empty her heart out.  This went on for two hours.. The digital clock on his cable box read 2:30. He needed some sleep.

“Okay, here is the deal, you can sleep  in my guest room and we get this straightened out in the morning.” Al lead her upstairs to his guest-room. He texted his best friend.

'The story just got weird, I have her sister.'

He then texted Leon’s right hand man.He knew Teddy’s father would want to know.

"We have a traitor in the midst. Keep an eye on the Mrs."

Al climbed  into bed and said a quick prayer. He had so much to tell.H got up from his bed and checked on Abby. She had showered and was fast asleep. The girl had been running. She  was exhausted. He could hear her breathing.  Al returned to his bedroom and cracked his door.

He laid  his tired body down and began to think. He was blown away by Abby’s story. Abby was used. Abby was hurt. Abby was the tool of destruction that would bring retribution.  It all made sense. The blanket was the only possession that the girls fought over. Abby felt abandoned by her family, but it was only after she started digging around did she understand that she was being used. She had gone all the way to Italy to get to the bottom of the story.  Donna Mirabella  Battaglia had set her straight. Drey was not the  instrument of demise. Drey was the child that had helped her parents find each other again. The woman had delivered the truth after hearing about the roof top attempt. It was up to Abby to go home and stop the madness.

His best friend’s mother had an affair with wife’s father.  Drey  was the child that made her lover return to his family. That child had to pay the price for stealing her happiness.

Al  went  to sleep. He knew a harder story was going to start in the morning, so he might as well get some rest.

Tomorrow was going to be hard. It appeared that everything would be in black and white.

Sleep took Al under but his heart did not rest.

Silence filled the house.

So here it is.. the end of this little section for now. Don’t worry. The adventure will pick up in the near future. Keep your eyes open. Thank you for the journey. This was suppose to be two chapters but it just felt better as one. I know there are many unanswered questions.

See you soon…..