Real Family

This story is by Caryn Kowalczyk and was part of our 2024 Fall Writing Contest. You can find all the writing contest stories here.

I snuck into the headquarters of Divine Path. I needed to convince my best friend, Calum, to leave the cult before it was too late. A twinge of guilt went through me as I remembered that six months had passed since I’d managed to get out, plenty of time for them to sink their claws deeper into him.

I found Cal in his room poring over his Divine Path training materials.

Panic hit him as soon as he saw me. “What are you doing here?”

“I just want to talk for a few minutes.”

“You’ll get me in trouble. And you don’t want to find out what they’ll do if they catch you back here.”

“Please. Am I safe here for a few minutes?”

He looked around. “I guess so. If you’re quiet.”

I nodded. “Cal it’s so good to see you. I’ve learned a lot about this place since I left. I want you to leave. It’s not safe here.”

“I feel completely safe.”

“Leader isn’t the man you think he is.” Edward Lancaster, who led Divine Path, expected the members to call him Leader.

“You don’t know anything. You’re an outsider.” He sat up straighter. “I’m a green level now and I have more responsibilities. I like it here.” I noticed the green tie, the new addition to his white shirt and navy pants that completed the DP uniform.

“Cal. Life is good out there.” I pointed toward the window. “I feel so free. I don’t have Big Brother breathing down my neck anymore.”

He scoffed at my comparison.

“Cal, if you leave, you’ll be free, too. You can live your life for you, not for Leader.”

“My name isn’t Cal. Don’t call me that anymore.”

“Who are you now? Flower blossom?” DP members took nature-related names.

“Not funny. My name is Ford.”

“Not very nature-y.”

“A ford is a safe place to cross a river.”

“You’re right. It’s also shallow.”

“Can you stop with the jokes?”

“Ford, I’m sorry I left you here six months ago. My family snatched me out of here and I never had time to talk to you.”

“It’s in the past.”

“Please think about leaving. It’s so much better out there.”

“Sam,” he said gesturing to the room around us. “This is my home. I used to be insecure and aimless. DP gives me purpose. Leader believes in me. He promoted me.” He straightened his green tie.

“Cal. I mean Ford. Hear me out.”

“Leader says ‘Trust no one from outside.’ Not family, not friends. Especially no one who was here and left.” He sounded robotic reciting the things that DP taught.

I waved my hand in front of his face. “Dude, it’s me, Sam. Of course you can trust me. We’ve been best friends since second grade.”

“The outside has poisoned your mind.”

It didn’t surprise me to hear him spout this stuff but it made me angry. Who cared if the stupid leadership said he couldn’t trust me? We’d been there for each other since we were kids. We’d played hockey together, survived high school and college, and listened to each other’s relationship woes. It hurt to see him completely disregard our history.

His responses had thrown me off. I needed to get back to my agenda.

“Ford, there’s something I need to show you.”

“I won’t look at anything you brought from outside.”

“The funny thing is that most of it is from here. I got it when I was a member.”

He glared at me. “You stole something? You shouldn’t have done that.”

“I didn’t steal anything. Well, I took some paper but Leader can afford it.”

“Don’t show him disrespect.”

I ignored him and continued. “I made copies when I worked in admin.”

He raised his voice. “You made copies? That’s unethical. Illegal. I’ll call—”

“Ford, please. Hear me out and then I’ll leave.”

He folded his arms across his chest. “Show me.”

I placed the papers on his desk. “When I worked in the admin office, I came across legal documents. They had case numbers but didn’t say what the cases were. After I left, I researched the case numbers and found they were child support cases for Ronald Hostetler aka Edward Lancaster. That led me to discover his two divorces and five children. Now, that in itself isn’t a big deal. The fact that he claims that he’s never been married or had kids is what I find very suspect.”

He pointed to a paper. “What do you mean ‘aka’? Edward Lancaster doesn’t have an alias. This Hostetler is a completely different person.”

“Edward Lancaster is indeed an alias of Ronald Hostetler.”

“I doubt that, but how would you even know?”

“I ran a background check.”

“Sounds like that criminal justice minor has gone to your head.” He smirked. “He doesn’t have any aliases. And even if he did, it would be for a good reason.”

“Same reason a lot of people do. To hide something.”

“He doesn’t have anything to hide.”

“Apparently he never mentions that he’s behind on child support.”

He waved his hand at the papers. “This is all a load of crap. I don’t believe anything you showed me. He anticipated people might try to lie to us, so he gave us his whole biography. It’s here in my training material.” He patted the book.

“People lie, Ford.”

He rolled his eyes. “Since you’re here, what are these other papers?”

“This is a record of DP finances and their alleged non-profit. I found so many discrepancies.”

“First of all, you had no right going through DP’s financial records. Even worse, you copied them.”

“When I worked in the admin office, I had to reference some records. I stumbled on these and they were hard to ignore. I knew someday I might need proof.”

“I’m losing my patience. You have five minutes and then I’m calling security.”

“Okay. I hoped you would hear these things and decide on your own to leave. But I’ve saved the main reason I’m here for last. Your family needs you.”

“My family is here.”

“Your real family.”

He clenched his teeth but didn’t say anything so I continued. “Your little sister Cindy is very sick. She needs a new kidney.”

He turned pale. There was a barely visible tremor in his hands.

He took a deep breath. “Why don’t my parents, I mean her parents, help her?”

“Your mom’s blood type isn’t compatible with hers and your dad had an infection that prevents him from donating.” I let that sink in. “You’re O negative, so—” I took a deep breath. “I’m getting ahead of myself. Your family isn’t demanding that you cough up a kidney. They’d just like to talk to you, to see you. Cindy is scared and it would comfort her if you visited.”

His face reddened. He was fighting so hard to show he didn’t care when it was obvious he did.

“Dude. It’s Cindy. She loves you. You love her. You don’t want her to die.”

That threw him off balance. “They said she’d die?”

“Eventually without a new kidney.”

“Did they say how long she has?”

“Not that I know of but time is of the essence.”

He shook his head like he was trying to clear it. A far-off look appeared in his eyes.

“Sam.”

“Yeah?” I wondered if the light had finally dawned.

“Leave. Now. This is my home and the members are my only family.”

“You’ve got to be kidding. You’re going to turn your back on your kid sister?”

He remained silent.

“Ford, you suck.”

 

Once I got out of the building, I ran to my car. My best friend Cal was gone. Some guy named Ford lived there now. I didn’t know if I’d ever see Cal again.

I woke up the next morning to a gnawing ache in my stomach. I needed to deliver the news to Cal’s family. After I showered and ate, I drove to the hospital. I had to park a few blocks away. At least on the walk I’d have time to think about what to say. Gosh I dreaded this. Cindy was practically my kid sister. I hated to bring her bad news.

I could see the hospital entrance up ahead. I took a deep breath and rehearsed what I’d come up with: “Hi Mr. and Mrs. Carsten. Hi Cindy. I met up with Cal but I’m so sorry to say—”

Just then I heard footsteps pounding up behind me. “Sam!”

I stopped and turned. “Ford?”

“It’s Cal. Thank you for coming to see me.”

He stopped to catch his breath. When he could talk again he said, “My sister needs me and I want to help.”

I reached out and put my arm around his shoulder. “I’m so glad to see you, Cal.”

“Thank you for not giving up on me.”

“You’re my best friend. Now let’s go see your family.”