The Replacement

 

The Replacement

             Philip Moneylover always thought he was Ed Moneylover's son.  The whole family accepted 

the fact that he was a Moneylover as did all his closest friends.  There was also pictures of himself 

when he was young at his parent and grandparents houses which he had seen.  Therefore there was no 

reason to question his biological identity.

            When his blood type did not match one time it was explained away.  Philip just shrugged things

off the Moneylover's were his family, and they would always be around.  Philip just took this for 

granted until one day when his parents moved away to be with his sister in Virginia.  He was left in 

Indiana, and other than the church he was left all alone.  

                   

              One day after Philip's Mother had died his Father told him to go find his own family.  Then he

 was told to let his church family replace his family.  While Phil had done this his church family was 

often busy with their own lives and families, plus they were all spread out.

               Philip made a practice of calling his father every day as a way of keeping an eye on him.  One

 

day Ed was talking to Philip about some oil money he had inherited.  Ed said that his grandfather 

owned the oil rights when he lived in Texas, and it has just trickled down throughout the family.  So, 

Philip assumed that some day he would get the money to which his father said, "No, its blood money."

        

             To which Philip said, "I mean some day when you die."

             Ed replied by saying, "I do not know you might get some."

             

             Philip hung up the phone, and just sighed.  After all, why did his Father say you had to be 

blood to receive the money?   He was a Moneylover wasn't he?  This started Philip to question his

biology.  Philip questioned whether he was a Moneylover or not.  He figured his sister Sandy would 

know so he asked her.  All Sandy could say is, "Well things happened when you were ten."

             The tenth year of Philip's life had been blocked out of his life like sort of a dead zone, as it was 

for a lot of the family.  It was blocked out of their lives for Philip had a TBI at the age of ten and there 

was physical proof of that.  Had something happened to Philip which had gotten him taken home with 

a new family at the age of ten?  Did he have memories that were psychologically implanted?  Even 

though Philip accepted that he was a Moneylover then there is what Sandy said.

               What happened to him when he was ten, and had a TBI.  Philip questioned several people

who would have known what happened back then.  The only problems was that he did not get any clear 

answers.  There were only questions, and people tended to avoid the questions.

                 Philip finally went to the hospital to look at their files.  He talked to a nurse who sent him

down stairs to check with medical records.  That is where he found that a Philip Moneylover died at the 

age of ten, and was replaced with a comatose child of the same age.  This made Philip feel puzzled.  

What was he to do with the fact that he was a replacement?  At least he knew that he was loved.

              The Moneylover's had paid someone else's hospital bill to have a son.  They had went 

bankrupt to replace Philip with him.  Yet he was Philip now or was he?  In a way he was angry because

he thought he was a Moneylover.  Prior to the age of ten he did not know who he was for the records 

had been sealed.  

               Philip walked out of the hospital not knowing who he was.  He walked out of the hospital

with the knowledge that he was a replacement.  He walked down the street with the knowledge that he 

was a Moneylover, and that he was loved.   

Paul D. Eccles