Valley of Thracians by Ellis Shuman Page B

took the
envelope. He was barely able to contain his excitement as he opened it,
expecting to find a letter inside listing instructions as to where he was to
meet his grandson.
    There was no note inside the envelope,
only a fine silver chain with a Magen David pendant. Simon recognized it
immediately. It was the gift he had given to Scott on the occasion of his
grandson’s bar mitzvah. There was no mistaking it.
    “Who gave this to you?” he asked the
guard, who had returned to his security booth.
    “A woman.”
    “What was her name? Where did she go?”
    “I don’t know this woman. It was her
first time to our synagogue.”
    What did this mean? Did this prove that
Scott was still alive? Was the chain evidence that Scott was somewhere in
Bulgaria? Or had this chain been removed from Scott’s body at the time of his
death? The Magen David remained silent, offering no clue as to which
possibility was true.
    He had to find that woman! He again
turned to the guard.
    “When was she here? What was she
wearing? Which way did she go?”
    “So many questions. As I said, I don’t know this woman. She came here, and then she went.”
    Simon placed the envelope and its very
valuable and sentimental content into the outer pocket of the travel bag he had
brought with him. He needed to get back to the hotel to make some phone calls.
He was on the trail of his missing grandson at last!

 
 

Chapter
20

 
 
    Dear Simon,
    You’re probably a bit surprised to hear
from me. I know that we rarely talked—or more accurately, barely communicated — over
the years. I guess that this was primarily my fault, but that’s just the way I
am. Well, now is as good a time as any to try to mend that error. I apologize
for this.
    Things haven’t been going well for me
lately. Ok, I admit it. I’ve been a total emotional wreck these past three
years. You witnessed my sorry state when you last saw me. I could hardly talk
to anyone. Please don’t think you were being singled out. I avoided contact
with many people, including some of my dearest friends.
    And that certainly wasn’t fair, as
you’ve been through a major loss of your own. I can’t imagine how difficult
it’s been for you without Marcia. I miss her so much.
    I know that Daniel argued against your
going to Bulgaria, but I don’t see the harm in your journey. When you called to
tell us that you had retrieved Scott’s silver chain, I was beside myself. That Magen David chain also had a chai symbol, and that’s the Jewish symbol of
life. Your receiving the chain and its symbol of chai must mean that Scott is really ok! You have
given me renewed hope!
    There’s something else I’ve wanted to
share with you, as this information could help you trace Scott’s whereabouts in
Bulgaria. Daniel and I have kept something from you all these years, something
we’ve known about our son. You were probably not aware that Scott always had a wild
side, a part of his personality that was difficult to control. I’m talking as a
parent who strived to rear Scott into becoming a full, compassionate, mature
adult. It wasn’t an easy task due to the way he was, how he acted.
    Ok, there’s no simple way to say this.
Scott was involved in drugs. I don’t know exactly where or how it started. I
guess it was during his high school years, when all his friends were smoking
weed. He must have felt a need to conform to the norms of his group. But unlike
his friends, who smoked marijuana recreationally at parties and on weekends,
Scott just couldn’t get enough.
    There were so many nights when Daniel
and I would pass Scott’s closed bedroom door, and the stench of pot was
overpowering. Daniel tried once or twice to confront Scott, to get him to
refrain from smoking drugs in the house, but this led to serious friction
between the two. I just couldn’t take it.
    I wish I could say that Scott’s drug
habits stopped there, in high school, but when he began college, things got worse.
He smoked pot,