Chapter 5

by cb mcwhorter

(scroll down for previous chapters)

 

Dan gave Diana a lop-sided smile. “It’s bad enough when your sister does that, you know?”

Diana snickered until Alex called over her shoulder, “Yeah, Aunt D has monetized it!”

“Monetized?” asked Jacob, following her into the back seat.

“Really?” Diana grumbled.

“You don’t really use that term about someone who makes an honest living, I think,” Susan said.

“Oh,” said Alex. “Good to know.”

Dan had backed the car out and turned down the street by the time Diana said, “So?”

“So, what?” said Susan.

“So, why don’t I trust Al?” said Dan.

“Ah,” Susan nodded.

Dan sighed. “My little brother has a real talent for photography. Kinda had it made in fashion photography until he got caught with his hand in some fashion house’s till.”

“More words I don’t know,” Jacob huffed. “Till?”

“He wasn’t arrested, but he was definitely blackballed from the industry,” Dan went on.

“Then he had a stint as a gossip columnist in L.A. Called himself a reporter,” said Susan. “As it turns out, there are actually rules for that job.”

“Like knowing the difference between slander and calumny?” Diana said. She ignored Jacob’s whine.

Dan laughed. “It wound up in court. Al won’t talk about it. And I don’t know where he’s been for the last several years. Maybe he’ll actually tell us.”

“Maybe he was in jail,” Susan muttered, barely audibly.

Diana felt a bit of chill run down her neck. This weekend was starting to look like a bad idea in many ways. She sighed. All they had to do was get through this afternoon, and they could go home. 

“You know, I can find out for you. All you have to do is ask,” Diana said.

*****

Vincent took his breakfast back to his chamber. He admitted to himself – and to Father – that he was out of sorts. It wasn’t unusual for Diana to be away, although long stints like that last one were becoming rare. But he’d never really been without Jacob, and certainly he’d never lacked both of them at the same time. He could feel Jacob as well as he could when the boy was in the school room, and there had been times of anxiety, but mostly, his mood had been happy. But that didn’t change the fact that Vincent missed them.

His conversation with Rolley hadn’t helped. Years of addiction, complicated by physical consequences of a hard life, were causing constant pain. His knees were especially bad. Because of his addiction, an entire class of medications was unavailable to him for any but the most emergent needs. Rolley admitted to being tempted to start using again. He felt guilty for taking his troubles out on the kids, and he apologized over and over. But that didn’t solve the underlying problem, did it?

They talked about the possibility of surgery. A knee replacement could make an enormous difference. Rolley was understandably afraid. Vincent couldn’t blame him.

Today, Rolley and Vincent would talk to Father about arranging for surgery. Peter was retired now, but he’d arranged for the Tunnel dwellers to have access to help Above when needed. Catherine had set up a medical trust for emergencies, and Rolley would have access to it for the operation. It wasn’t hopeless.

There was one truth Vincent had learned early: life is not fair. Rolley had weathered more hardship than most, and now it seemed he was being penalized for overcoming it all. That it wasn’t fair seemed a terrible understatement. Couldn’t the past just stay in the past every once in a while?

*****

As soon as they entered the house, two cousins raced up to Jacob, shouting about a great big toad in the pond, and all three boys raced away, followed by a chorus of “No running in the house!” and “No shouting in the house!”

Diana rolled her eyes and looked at her cousin Bridget, a mother of two boys.

“Tell me it gets better,” Diana begged.

“Sure,” chirped Bridget. “You bet.”

Diana cased the living room. “How can there be more people today than yesterday?”

“Yeah, Aunt Helen has the constitution of an ox,” Susan said.

The sisters moved into the crowd for greetings and hugs.

 

Outside, the toad had become bored with the loud boys and hopped into the water. Lizzie, Eddie’s sister, had joined them.

“So, Aunt Di is your stepmom?” she said.

“Yeah,” Jacob said, and tried to process why he just got goosebumps.

“How long has she been your stepmom?”

“They got married a couple of years ago. But she’s been there all my life.”

“What happened to your real mom?” Eddie asked.

“She died when I was a baby.”

Their eyes widened, and Lizzie hissed.

“If she’s been there all your life, how come we’re only meeting you now?” said Eddie.

What’s going on here? Jake thought. “Why? Did you miss me?”

“Silly!” Eddie laughed and shoved Jacob good-naturedly. Jake shoved back, and the boys started chasing each other around the yard.

“But wait!” Lizzie cried. “Uncle Alan said…”

I need to talk to Mom.

 

Diana and Susan had been pulled into the kitchen. “Aunt Helen?” Diana said. “Why am I here? You know I burn water.”

Helen laughed. “Maybe. But you can still peel potatoes.”

“Ah.” Diana picked up a potato and a peeler.

Alex and a cousin (who, again?) came in for sodas. “Hey, Aunt Di!” said the cousin.

“Hi, girls.”

“How come you won’t show us your wedding pictures?”

“Come again?”

“Uncle Alan said you hid your wedding picture.”

All three older women turned to stare at the girls.

“Alan,” Helen said. “Was that the pudgy man with the mullet who wanted me to invest in his new business this morning?”

Susan groaned. “He didn’t.” When Helen nodded, she groaned again. “He’s not a Bennett. He’s my brother-in-law. And why is he talking about Diana’s wedding when he hasn’t been around for years?”

“He’s been asking everyone if they were there and what was it was like, and who her husband is.”

“And why does he care?” Diana asked.

“He says he’s just curious. Reporter instincts, he says.” 

Alex chimed in. “He’s telling the little ones he’ll give them five bucks for more information.”

Aunt Helen gasped. “Get him in here,” she growled.

Diana threw up a hand. “Wait.” She pulled her Blackberry from her pocket. “I offered to check him out if you want,” she told Susan. “Now I’m the one who wants to know. But Alex, you might want to quietly get your dad.”

The girls left, and the kitchen was silent except for the tapping on Diana’s keyboard and a pot boiling on the stove.

Dan and Alex appeared. “What?” he said.

“Have you talked to Alan today?” Susan asked.

“He seems to be avoiding me. Spending a lot of time with the kids and a few of the older relatives.” He took in Aunt Helen’s thunderous face. “Oh, shit,” he sighed, and no one corrected him. “Why can’t he be the drunk uncle?”

“We have Seamus for that, dear,” said Helen.

“Finally got into the national database,” Diana huffed. All eyes were on her as she scrolled and pecked at tiny keys. “Whoa,” she finally said. “Well, sister, dear, he has been in jail.”

“Maybe Alex shouldn’t be here,” Helen said.

“Too late!” Alex said.

“Breaking and entering, trespassing, photographing the home’s resident without consent, five years,” Diana read off. “He was hoping to get pictures of the homeowner engaging in deviant acts.”

“Deviant?” said Alex.

“What counts for deviant in LA?” mused Aunt Helen.

“Oh, boy,” Diana made a strange face. “Well, for Rex Hardy, it’s homosexuality.”

Alex gasped. “Say it isn’t so!” she begged.

“No worries,” Diana said. “His visitor was his brother. Alan got pictures of them watching a game.”

“I can breathe again,” Alex grinned. “But I think I’d better head off the little ones. They’ve been bugging Jake.”

Now, Diana growled.

“And, Dan, he’s asking my generation for money,” Helen said.

Dan exchanged glances with his wife as he took a deep breath. “Well, Aunt Helen, it’s a shame he needs to leave before dinner.” And he stamped out of the room.

The ladies watched from the kitchen door as he marched over to Alan, who was talking to Uncle Seamus. Dan grabbed his brother by the back of his neck and hauled him to his feet. He said not a word as he dragged Alan, who squawked all the way, out the door. The gathered relatives watched this silently, then turned to Aunt Helen, who said, “Something came up. Dinner in about twenty.” And she returned to the kitchen. They watched out the front window as Dan spoke sternly to Alan. He didn’t seem to be giving Alan much chance to say anything. He opened the car door and shoved Alan into it, then watched as he drove away.

When Dan entered the house, he realized he had to say something. “I’m sorry, everyone. I’m embarrassed to say that Alan is the black sheep of the family. If he offered you money, know that he was lying. If he asked for money, know it was for something illegitimate. If he shows back up, please call me.”

Uncle Seamus said, “He had a great business idea!”

“I’m sure he did,” said Dan. “But I promise it wasn’t the one he was telling you about. Really, I mean it, he contacts you, hang up, and call me.”

One of the kids piped up, “He said he’d pay us five dollars if we could find out why Aunt Di’s wedding was secret.”

“It wasn’t secret,” Dan said.

“But we weren’t invited,” a cousin said irritably.

“Sharon, that isn’t the definition of a secret. And it’s none of our business.” He sat down next to Diana and Susan’s brother to resume the sports talk he’d been taken away from.

Jacob crept into the kitchen. “Mom,” he said. “The kids are bugging me about Dad.”

Diana hugged him. “That’s Alan’s fault, sweetie.”

“Not to intrude,” said Helen, “but when do we meet him?”

Jake looked out from Diana’s arms. “Dad doesn’t go out in public,” he said, returning Diana’s warning squeeze. “’Cause of the burns he got when he was a baby. People don’t like his face.”

“Oh, the poor man!” said Helen.

“Hence the cat makeup,” said Susan. “I guess he didn’t want to get married in a balaclava.”

Diana laughed, and so did everyone else. This could still come back to haunt them, but she was going to enjoy her people now.