Cover Page
A Brother’s Vow
by
Naty Matos
Copyright © 2013 Bookrix Edition
Naty Matos/The Rising Muse
***~~~***
A Brother’s Vow
Naty Matos/The Rising Muse
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means-electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise-without the written permission of the author. The only exception is brief quotation in printed reviews.
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-six
Chapter Twenty-seven
Chapter Twenty-eight
Chapter Twenty-nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-one
Chapter Thirty-two
Chapter Thirty-three
Chapter Thirty-four
Chapter Thirty-five
Chapter Thirty-six
Chapter Thirty-seven
Chapter 1
The Benson family sat at dinner like every night. Even though not all of them lived in the same house, they had not truly left the nest. Janet enjoyed the fact that her children came together for their meals even though they had their own families. Paul and Janet Bensons had five boys: Keith, Hunter, Teddy, Randall, and Brian. The last two were twins. She and her husband Paul had raised a close-knit family. All their children were at the table except for one, Randall.
This particular night was special. Brian had finally proposed to his longtime girlfriend Isabella and she had accepted. Brian had a very subdued personality and was a total momma’s boy. This step had taken years. Janet really liked Isabella and was ready to welcome her into the family.
“So have you guys decided on a date?” Janet pretended to ask casually. Isabella looked at Brian and he looked back at her without responding.
“I don’t think they’re ready to take the plunge,” joked Hunter.
“It’s not that we’re not ready, Hunter, we just want to do things right. I want to give Isabella the wedding of her dreams and that takes money. Not everyone likes a drive-through wedding like you did.” Brian responded defensively.
Hunter was married to Stephanie. They had fallen in love quick and hard, but had wanted to take things slow and had a long, drawn-out courtship. The family had thought that they were never going to get married, but one day out of the blue they had decided to do a quick ceremony at the Justice of the Peace and had been together ever since. Hunter and Stephanie had three girls: Melissa, Michelle, and Marissa.
“Why are you saving money? Paying for the wedding is the bride’s job. All you have to worry about is the honeymoon and her ring,” Hunter replied, confused.
Janet saw her soon-to-be-daughter-in-law lower her face in shame and jumped into the conversation. “Actually, Hunter, I’m paying for this wedding.”
Janet smiled at Isabella, who was getting teary-eyed. “No shame in that, my dear. See, God gave me boys and I never had a chance to plan a wedding for any of them because, like Hunter said, usually the bride takes care of everything, but God sent you to me so that I could have the experience. I certainly didn’t get to do it for my wedding. We had so little when Paul and I got married.”
“It’s true,” Brian admitted. “Mom and dad just got out of high school. All they had was a little orange orchard dad’s grandparents left them.”
“Mom’s doctor said she couldn’t have children,” Stephanie chimed in. “So she decided to go to school to become a business administrator to have something to her days.”
Hunter grinned. The kids never got tired of sharing the family legacy. “Dad, on the other hand, decided to work the land, selling the produce from the farm to local businesses. After a few years, Mom graduated and they decided to start an orange juice business.”
Keith took up the story next. “In those days there were pretty much only the big brands of orange juice on the market, and even though it was a tough competition, they were willing to try to make their mark in the world .”
Teddy spoke up. “Besides, God proved the doctor wrong, as you can see. Mom and dad had five sons to provide for, and we all were there to help with the oranges, at least while we were kids.” Teddy was studying for the ministry, while his brothers still worked in different parts of the juice business.
Paul nodded. “We wanted to make this work, so we could give our children everything we didn’t have growing up.”
“But, Mom, why do we have to pay for Brian’s wedding?” Hunter insisted.
“Not us Hunter, me. I will be paying for it. Isabella doesn’t have much family and just like Brian, I want her to have what she wants. If you and Stephanie would have given me the chance I would have paid for yours too. Besides, since when do I have to give you an explanation for what I do with my money, Mr. Nosy Hunter?”
“Mom, you don’t have to do that. I told you I was going to take care of it.” Brian said, embarrassed and trying to put the brakes on his mother’s sometimes too-grand good intentions.
“Son, this is my decision. Give this old woman some pleasure. Besides, you are not even going to be involved in half of these things. Like your knuckleheaded brother pointed out, this is more of a women thing. Therefore, if Isabella allows me, I will help with everything.” Janet looked at Isabella, whose face remained buried in her hands from embarrassment.
“That would be a lot of fun. When can we start the planning?” Susan, Keith’s wife, excitedly jumped into the conversation.
“Yes, I want to help too.” Stephanie put in.
Everyone looked at Lulu. Lulu was the family nickname for Teddy’s wife Kristen. She and the family had a contentious relationship. She came from old money and had been a spoiled only child, always treated like a princess at home,. Though she was a good woman, the way she perceived the world was different. When she and Teddy had met, she had resisted the idea that he was studying to be a pastor. Just because she was a Christian didn’t mean she understood this handsome man giving his life to the ministry when his family had a successful business. But she conceded that a minister was still a sort of professional, so being his wife would give her status. But, though the Bensons were believers, they all had their own little rough edges and Kristen was very vocal about their failure to be perfect.
Due to her explosive reactions to certain things, the other women called her “loo-loo” behind her back. The three young nieces, not knowing what it meant, thought that this was Kristen’s name and started calling her “Aunt Lulu”. When Kristen heard that, her relationship with the family deteriorated even more. She was deeply offended, but over the years she had been forced to accept her new name. Even her husband called her Lulu from time to time.
Kristen had continued to eat her meal in the midst of all this wedding talk. She had two reactions to family matters – arguing or ignoring – and she had been ignoring this time.
Embarrassed, Teddy added, “Kristen loves weddings. I’m sure she’ll help.”
Lulu glanced at Teddy as if she just woke up and looked around, finding all eyes on her. She allowed a big sigh out of her lips and said, “Sure.”
While the women took over the table conversation throwing out ideas of the things they wanted to do for about the wedding, Randall staggered into the house. He was obviously drunk and in the company of his on-and-off but steadiest girlfriend Lucia, who was not as far gone as he was, but inebriated as well.
“Ah, it is beautiful to see my beloved family.” Randall, said stumbling towards the dining room.
“Don’t you think it’s a little early to be drunk?” Keith scowled.
“Never too early to avoid being a stick in the mud like you.” Randall pulled Lucia away.
“This is ridiculous, Janet! How do you allow this in your house?” Lulu shoved her chair back and stalked away from the dinner table. Teddy followed his wife out of the house after hesitating a moment. They had their own place, but still joined the rest of the family for meals.
Keith and Susan both got up from the table before Janet could do so. As per the routine, Susan would convince Lucia to stay in their guestroom, which Lucia loved because it had a private bathroom with a garden tub; while Keith would drag Randall to his bedroom. Almost every time Randall arrived home from a trip, he would arrive drunk and loud. Keith and Susan usually took care of it to try to spare Keith’s mother the pain of dealing with the mess. Still, no one could spare her the broken heart.
Randall was the rebel in the family. He had never cared for schooling but was extremely smart and successful as the company’s sales representative. Once he became an adult he stopped going to church. He was the only one who drank and partied. His brothers considered him the black sheep of the family.
Randall was single and had no interest in any commitments. He had many women, but he kept going back to Lucia. She was the only one that made him feel good about himself and the only one he would listen to. Lucia was a model, and having a trophy girlfriend was something that excited Randall. He also had the opportunity to be photographed in the celebrity magazines and attend more than one red carpet event with her on his arm. With his charm he was almost a celebrity himself, which helped him promote his business endeavors more efficiently. But the magazines didn’t just talk about how charming he was or his and Lucia’s very troubled relationship. There were comments about his bad behaviors, about his drinking problem and womanizing tendencies, which affected the image that the family wanted to project for their business.
On more than one occasion his parents had tried to reason with him, but nothing seemed to make him grasp a different outlook on life. This time Paul decided to go with Keith. He wanted to talk to his son, but looking at his current state he decided his words would fall on drunken, deaf ears. Randall yelled and struggled more than usual. It took both men to get him up the stairs. Paul helped Keith with the undressing and they pulled the covers over him, thankful that by this time he had passed out.
Paul stood next to the bed and looked down at his son. What did I do wrong with this one? He had four other sons and all of them were more or less flying right. He couldn’t understand why Randall had decided to live such a wild lifestyle. It was not as if they had treated any of the boys differently. Each parent had set aside time to spend with each boy. They paid attention to their weaknesses and strengths. They offered support and encouragement, but nothing had mattered in Randall’s outcome.
Paul heard a noise at the door that snapped him out of his thoughts; it was Janet. She joined her husband by throwing her arm around his waist. They both looked at Randall like they had at the nursery when he was born.
“He was always different,” Janet reminisced. Looking at her husband she continued, “Do you remember that he was supposed to be baby B, but he decided to come out first?” Both of them chuckled at the memory of the twin’s birth.
Janet continued reminiscing. “He was the first one to walk and talk.”
“Yes, and then we had to go to his school because he wouldn’t shut up in class,” Paul remembered.
“I think he’s just too smart for his own good.” Janet tried to justify.
“C’mon, love, let’s go.” Paul directed his wife out of Randall’s room.
Janet went downstairs and found the ladies still talking about the upcoming wedding. When they saw Janet coming down the stairs, they noticed the sadness in her face and became quiet. Janet noticed the silence and decided to join the conversation to try to hide the way she felt.
“So Isabella, how many guests are you going to have? I need your guest list soon so that we can start the arrangements.”
“I’m sorry Mrs. Benson, I will not have any guests coming to the wedding,” she said embarrassed again.
“What about your mother? I know you have not talked to her in a while but this is your wedding. I don’t think she would want to miss this for the world.” Janet stated with a hopeful tone.
“I called her the other day to tell her about the engagement and she said she was not going to come. She said I was not her daughter anymore, that I had abandoned the family when I chose my career over helping her with my siblings; therefore I had made my decision. But I also know she feels embarrassed; my family has no money for wedding clothes.” Tears began to fill Isabella’s eyes again.
Janet placed her arms around Isabella. “I don’t want you sad or concerned about anything. This is going to be a happy occasion. I promise.”
Janet paused, thinking, but quickly opened her eyes. “Well ladies I almost forgot to tell you what I did as soon as I knew Teddy and Isabella were getting engaged. I talked to designer John Sebastian and he wants to do all the dresses.” The ladies started screeching. John Sebastian was an exclusive wedding attire designer. Janet continued, “He already sent me some sketches. Susan, why don’t you take everyone to the office and download them from my computer? That way you will have an idea of what to ask about when you go to his studio tomorrow.”
Like little school girls they went running to see the dresses. In the meantime, Janet went to her room. She grabbed her Bible from the end table and sat on a leather vintage chaise that she had next to the window. It was her favorite place to read.
Paul entered the room, gazed at his wife, and asked, “Are you ok? “
“Yes, I’m just worried about the twins. Everything went so well with the other kids. These two are going to be the end of me,” Janet sighed.
“Well, Brian is just as peaceful as the other ones.”
“Yes, but he’s suffering a lot with Isabella’s issues. I know it’s not her fault that her family is filled with knuckleheads, but I just don’t like to see my boy sad. And then there’s Randall…”
“I’m going to have a talk with him tomorrow.” Paul’s face turned very serious.
“Do you really think that’s going to make a difference? I have prayed and prayed for that boy and nothing seems to change. He gets worse every time he goes out of town. I can’t even blame Lucia for it. She does go with him in some of his escapades but the reality is that he’s a lot worse when he’s alone,” Janet reflected.
“There’s nobody to blame but himself,” Paul shouted but immediately lowered his voice and continued in a somber tone. “I just don’t know what went wrong. Maybe I didn’t give him enough attention.”
Janet got up from the chair and hugged her husband. “Don’t blame yourself. You gave all of them the same amount of attention and love. You are a good father. Randall is just Randall.”
Chapter 2
The elder Bensons’ house was the center of this family. Not only did some of the children still lived there, as the house was part of the acres of orange groves that supported the business, but the women worked from a custom-made office attached to the house. Although they had a company headquarters in the city, most of the real work was done at home.
Keith had built a small house on the family property but Susan rarely used its kitchen. They almost always came to the main house to have their meals with his parents. Hunter and Teddy cherished their privacy and had left their parent’s house when they got married, but didn’t live too far away. They both had bought their properties in front of their parents’ property and built their houses practically across the street. Just like Keith, they came to the main house for all their meals.
The twins, who were single, still lived at home. Well, Randall’s address was at the Benson’s home. He really lived wherever he crashed at night. Due to his very charming personality, especially with the ladies, he was leading the sales department for the family business and with great success. He loved his job, not only because it was informal, but because it allowed him to entertain business partners, travel and be in and out of his house.
The next morning everyone gathered for breakfast as usual, except Randall. After they finished eating, the ladies left to get measured for their dresses. Lucia had gone with them. Isabella had decided to make her a bridesmaid since she was almost part of the family. She didn’t want Lucia to feel excluded.
The guys had returned to work and Janet was in her office making some phone calls. She heard the creaking of the door, but nobody came in. She continued her conversation, but she felt the presence of someone looking at her. She finally ended her phone call and went to the door. Randall leaned against the wall.
“Hey,” Janet approached him with a smile.
“I have a headache from hell,” Randall said while holding his hand to his forehead.
“I can imagine,” Janet responded, unable to resist mocking him a little.
“Are you angry with me?” he looked a little ashamed.
“Why do you ask?”
“Because dad woke me up with a litany this morning,” he scoffed.
“We’re both worried about you Randall.” She lowered her head with sadness, but then, looking her son in the eye, she asked, “Why are you drinking all the time? What’s going on?”
“Mom, there’s nothing going on. I just like to party and have fun. Everyone in this house is so serious, it bores me,” Randall responded, annoyed.
“I see.” Her face showed her sadness and frustration.
“You didn’t answer my question. Mom, are you angry with me?” Randall insisted.
“No baby, I’m not. I’m just very worried about what can happen to you”
“Mom, I promise I’m going to tone it down. I love you and I hate to see you sad. I’ll go with you to church tomorrow and everything. How’s that?” Randall pretended to be excited.
“You should go to church for God, sweetheart, not because of me, but I guess I’ll take what I can get.” Janet embraced her son. They walked outside of her office toward the living room. Janet stopped by the bathroom and got him some aspirin for his headache. After he took the pills, she sat in the living room and Randall laid his head in his mother’s lap. She played with his hair until he fell asleep.
On the other side of town the ladies were trying on dresses for the wedding. Isabella was slim so finding a nice dress was not going to be a problem. She had chosen a very light blue color for her bridesmaids. The dresses had a mermaid bodice with layers of lace at the bottom. Those ladies looked like models, so the style looked great on all of them.
After a few hours, Keith came home for lunch. He saw his brother sleeping on his mother’s lap and became annoyed.
“This is part of the problem. You spoil him too much,” Keith shouted at his mother.
“Don’t be like that, Keith. You know that if you wanted to I would hold you too.” Janet hated defending the right to cuddle her son.
“Mom, I don’t get drunk and embarrass the family on television or punch waiters at a restaurant,” Keith responded.
Keith’s shouting woke Randall and he slowly turned around to see Keith right over him. “Punching is a good idea sometimes; I should punch you now for waking me up, hater!” Randall was clearly only half-joking.
“Hater, ha! What can I possibly hate about your life?”
“Just the fact that I have a different woman every night and you are stuck with one,” Randall sneered.
“Well, at least you know that when you get married you’re supposed to stick to one. That’s actually impressive. At least you have some morals; I didn’t know you had any.” Keith snapped back. Randall jumped off the sofa and pushed Keith.
Janet quickly got between of her sons. “Boys, please!”
“If mom wasn’t here I would show you what a real man is,” Keith yelled over his mother. Randall reached around his mother and pushed Keith. “Really? Let’s go somewhere else. I would love to see what you got.” Randall pushed Keith a third time.
Keith moved away from his mother and punched his brother in the eye, knocking him down to the floor. Randall pulled him down and they both began to roll around the floor. Janet started screaming for help, but only the maids came out, and they didn’t dare try to break up the fight. The men kept rolling around on the floor, punching each other every place they could. Randall saw an opportunity and pushed his brother back against the coffee table. He pushed with such force that Keith hit his head. Keith felt something warm and wet. He ran his hand through his hair and saw blood on his fingers. “You bastard!” Keith shouted as he threw another punch at Randall’s face.
After ten minutes, Hunter ran into the room, headed toward the noise. He had heard rumbling noises and his mother screaming from the front door. Hunter, the tallest and the physically strongest brother, could not believe what he saw. He glimpsed his mother knocked to the floor as she tried to break up the fight. He jumped on top of Keith, who was on top of Randall at the time, and startled both of them by grabbed each by an ear. He stood up, not letting go on the grip he had on their ears. Both Randall and Keith howled in pain and stopped hitting each other.
“I just can’t believe that the two of you are acting like babies. If you hurt mom, I will beat the crap out of the both of you.” Hunter sounded more like their father than their brother for a minute.
“I would appreciate it if you let go of my ear. Don’t forget that I am the oldest,” protested Keith.
“Then act your age not your shoe size,” Hunter retorted, finally letting him go. He looked at Randall. “So what did you do?”
“Why are you accusing me? I was minding my own business, sleeping on the sofa with mom and this jerk started to mess with me,” Randall complained.
“Well, I don’t care what or who initiated this, I just want it over,” Hunter said emphatically.
Hunter knelt down beside his mother and sat her on the sofa, checking her out to make sure that his two hooligan brothers had not accidentally hurt her during their shenanigans.
“I’m fine,” Janet kept repeating to her second son. The maids escorted the injured wrestlers to different parts of the house to tend to their superficial wounds.
“Mom, why don’t you ask Randall to move out? This house is more peaceful when he’s not around,” Hunter pleaded.
“Would you ask one of your daughters to leave your house if they grow up and they don’t turn out like you imagined?” Her expression reflected exhaustion. Hunter lowered his head and didn’t respond.
Janet got up from the sofa and started to clean up the mess in the living room. Hunter knelt with his mother to assist.
They heard the chatter and giggles of the excited ladies returning from the bridal shop. The women stopped dead at the sight the mess in the living room and instantly became quiet.
“Girls, please go to my office. I’ll join you soon,” Janet instructed them.
The ladies didn’t dare ask, but Lucia stayed behind. She had an instinct that Randall was involved in whatever had caused the wreckage. Without saying a word she knelt with Hunter and Janet to help.
“Please Lucia, just join the others,” Janet asked her. But Lucia ignored her pleas and continued to pick up the pieces of glass and of other debris left by the two brawlers.
A few minutes later, Randall came down the stairs. He had a butterfly bandage on his eyebrow and a very noticeable bruised eye. Lucia lifted her eyes and smirked, looking at her boyfriend’s condition. He glared at her and his head shake warned her Don’t ask. Randall got on the floor with them to assist picking up the items he and his brother had broken.
Hunter got up from the floor, gave Randall a sidelong glance, and walked away toward the office to get what he had originally come to the house for.
Maria and Ilea, the Benson’s maids, had finished patching up the fighters and came back to the living room to start their cleaning chores. “Mrs. Benson, please stop cleaning. We’ll do that for you,” Maria pleaded with Janet.
Janet listened to Maria, got up from the floor and left for the office as well. She found the ladies talking about the wedding errands that needed to be done. As soon as they saw Janet enter the room they became silent. They were all eager to hear what had happened but nobody dared to ask.
Back in the living room Lucia grabbed Randall’s hand and walked with him to the backyard. She guided him to one of the patio lounges and sat next to him. “Can you tell me now what happened?”
“I fell asleep on mom’s lap on the sofa and Keith came in and started to mess with me,” Randall said childishly.
“And you got into a fist fight over that?” Lucia asked in disbelief.
“He pushed me first.” Randall tried to defend his position.
“At some point you’re going to have to grow up, Randall. This is ridiculous.”
“Why is everyone on Keith’s side? He started it.”
“Did you see how the two of you left that living room? When we came in from the bridal shop your poor mother was on her knees cleaning shattered glass and sticks that used to be furniture. Do you think that’s fair? Your mother may be a strong woman, but she’s getting up in age, Randall.”
Randall still felt that he was just defending himself from his brother’s attacks, but the thought of hurting his mother was too much to bear. He lowered his head in shame. “Maybe we should move out?” Randall proposed.
“I don’t think that’s the solution. Your mother aches to have you around, and I guess she’s trying to make this wedding happen soon. She wants and needs you here. Can you stay out of trouble with your siblings at least until after the wedding?” Lucia pleaded with him.
Randall took a deep breath and exhaled strongly. “I’ll do my best.”
Janet left the office and walked to the poolside where Lucia and Randall were talking. She playfully messed up her son’s hair without saying a word.
“I’m sorry mom. I didn’t mean to push you or upset you,” Randall got up and wrapped his arms around his mother. This six-foot-tall, athletic man looked almost like a little kid as he cuddled on his mother’s shoulder. Janet didn’t speak to him but embraced him while kissing him on top of his head.
She looked across him at Lucia and said, “The girls need you. They are online ordering the accessories for the dresses. I guess they also decided to change the color from blue to peach. I’m not sure what they are talking about, but I overheard them saying that they needed you.”
“Thanks.” Lucia stood up. Her parting look at Randall reminded him of their agreement and she walked away.
“Where are you going, mom?” Randall asked, noticing that his mother was carrying her purse.
“I have some errands to run for the wedding,” his mother responded.
“Do you want me to go with you?”
“No, baby, this is something I have to do alone.” She kissed his forehead again and walked away.
Chapter 3
The building looked very dirty. Men sat outside with bottles of alcohol. Barefooted children chased each other around. Clothes hung from the balconies drying in the sun. She wasn’t sure where she was going, but she knew she was in the right place. After Janet asked several people, one directed her to an apartment in the back of the building. Janet was not afraid. She had a mission to accomplish.
She finally found the right door. It looked as if the lock was broken but she didn’t just push it open. She knocked, but she could hear loud music and screams coming from the inside. It sounded like children, either chasing each other or fighting. She waited for a few minutes and knocked again. An agitated woman opened the door.
“Who are you? What do you want?” An agitated woman answered the door.
“Good afternoon. I’m looking for Mrs. Santana.” Janet was becoming a little nervous by the woman’s reaction.
“I’m Generosa Santana. How can I help you?”
“My name is Janet Benson.” Janet paused, allowing her name to register with Generosa.
Generosa stopped for a minute and then realized how she knew that name. “Ah, you must be the mother of the rich boy?”
Janet smiled at the reference. “I guess I am. Can I come in? I would like to talk with you.”
Mrs. Santana opened the door, allowing her inside the dingy apartment. Janet was finally able to see where the screaming noises were coming from. Two boys ran around the apartment playing. Mrs. Santana shouted at them to get out of the living room. Piles of clothes covered the sofa; she pushed them to the side to make room for Janet to sit. “Can I offer you some coffee?”
“Sure.”
While Generosa prepared the coffee, Janet allowed her eyes to wander through the dirty apartment. Generosa came with a tray and two cups of coffee. She immediately interrupted Janet’s thoughts, starting the conversation.
“So what can I do for you?”
“I know that you are aware that your daughter and my son are getting married in a few weeks. I was told there were some problems keeping you from attending the wedding and I came to see what I could do to help,” Janet explained.
“I’m not going to that wedding. Isabella is not my daughter anymore. She made that decision when she decided to go to college instead of finding a job to help me and her brothers out of this place,” Generosa snapped.
“You disowned your daughter for trying to get a better future for herself? I understand that she tried to help you guys financially but that you refused to take it. Is that true?” Janet questioned.
“Of course I was not going to accept her money. Now that she is Miss Professional, she wants to throw some bucks this way as if we are bums. I don’t expect a lady like you to understand,” Generosa responded.
“What I don’t understand is your selfishness. How can a mother do that? Why wouldn't any mother want her daughter to do better than she did? Do you think that because we have money now we were always wealthy? That is not the case, Mrs. Santana. When I married my husband we had a tiny house that my husband built with his own hands on the land that his grandfather gave us. Yes, we were fortunate to have a lot of land and some orange groves that we made productive. I cooked, cleaned, and worked for what we have and I will not apologize for it. I always wanted to create a future for my family, I never expected my children to make it for me.” Janet was becoming angry.
“I didn’t have an education handed to me like you people do. I had no way to make a future for my children,” Generosa retorted.
“My husband never got an education; he just worked hard. I worked two jobs to pay for my schooling. Mrs. Santana, nothing that I have just landed in my lap. But I did it to give myself and then gave my boys a better future. It still doesn’t make sense that because you chose to not pursue a better future for yourself, you don’t want your daughter to get one for herself. Why?” Janet asked, trying to understand.
“Because she needed to help me in the house with her brothers.”
“Mrs. Santana, those are your kids, not Isabella’s. I guess you and I are not going to agree on the reasons why you don’t talk to your daughter or why you don’t want her back in your life. But as a mother I will tell you this; you are not ruining my son’s wedding. Isabella is very important to my son and she’s saddened by the fact that you are not coming to the wedding. That makes my son is sad as well, and I’m just not having it!”
“So what are you going to do about it? I’m not going.”
“Oh, yes, you are. You will also enjoy every minute of that wedding. Don’t think I don’t know about your scheme to obtain money without working. You have no disabilities and no issue to keep you from earning an honest living. You just wanted your daughter to support you and do your work for you. I will make sure that you have a difficult time explaining certain things at certain agencies.”
“The true rich brat came out. What do you want from me?” Generosa replied, angry.
“I already told you. You are coming to this wedding. You are going to smile. You are going to enjoy it. You are going to take pictures with your daughter and our family. After they leave for their honeymoon you can go back to being what you really are again, but that day you will not make either Isabella or Brian unhappy. Do I make myself clear?”
“Even if I agree, I don’t have proper clothes for an event like that, or the money to buy any. I would need a babysitter for the children, and I can’t afford that, either.”
“That’s not a problem. I will provide you with your clothing and the same for the children. Those are Isabella’s brothers and they should be there too, so no babysitter will be needed. You are welcome to stay with us during the festivities. Do we have an agreement?” Janet glared directly into Generosa’s eyes.
Generosa nodded, knowing that she had lost the battle and there was nothing she could do at this point, to not go to her daughter’s wedding.
Janet gave Generosa a final stern look, picked up her purse, and walked out the door.
Chapter 4
Back at the house, it was almost dinner time. Everyone waited for Janet to arrive. The whole family sat in the living room watching television together. Janet walked in and smiled. She was happy that she didn’t walk into another fist fight. The scratches stood out on Keith’s face. Randall’s eye had really turned purple and she shook her head, thinking that her children were acting worse as adults than when they did as children.
Paul heard the steps, looked around, and saw his wife. He got up from the sofa and went to greet her. Paul embraced his wife with a passionate kiss. “I missed you all day long.”
“Oh my God, guys, get a room,” Keith protested.
“The last time I checked this was my house. You have your own house with your own wife to go hug, kiss, or do whatever you want. If you don’t like what I do in my house, go home,” Janet replied playfully.
“Can we just eat?” asked Teddy, trying to be the peacemaker as always.
“Teddy I think I want to go home,” Kristen said with irritation as she got up from the sofa.
“But Honey, we’re about to have dinner,” Teddy responded.
“Well, I’m going home.” She got up and left the house. Teddy felt awkward but followed his wife. The others looked at each other. This was one more of Kristen’s snobbish behaviors and the reason why she had earned her nickname of Lulu over and over.
“Didn’t she know we were joking?” Keith exclaimed.
“Nobody knows what goes on in that woman’s head,” Susan replied to her husband. They all laughed as they headed towards the dining room.
The children arrived at the table from playing outside. Alyssa who was the most vocal of the children asked, “Where are Auntie Lulu and Uncle Teddy?”
“They had to go home, baby,” Janet quickly responded to her sweet grand-daughter.
The wedding became the topic of conversation once again. “We’re taking the girls to Mr. Sebastian’s shop tomorrow to get them measured for their dresses.” Isabella smiled.
“Ok, but when is this wedding? I have business to take care of,” Randall pointed out. “And I have placed a few trips on hold trying to make sure I’m here. I know Lucia has some commitments of her own,”
“It’s all about you, isn’t it?” Keith quickly replied.
Randall felt his insides burning and wanted to argue. He remembered his prior promise to Lucia. He also felt Lucia’s hand on his thigh, trying to calm him down. He squinted his eyes, wanting to jump over the table, but bit his lower lip and said nothing. The tension could be cut with a knife. Paul and Janet observed from the top of the table, waiting to see if there was any reaction that needed intervention. Lately any interaction between Keith and Randall ended in some kind of explosion.
“Well, the thing is, we had not thought about a specific date, since we will not have outside guests and everyone is here. I guess we thought once the preparations were ready we would just do it. But you’re right, Randall, it was inconsiderate of us to not think of other people’s commitments and be respectful of their time,” Brian added. Randall felt vindicated and stuck his tongue out, looking at Keith.
“I think that we have everything almost ready. How about three weeks from now? That way if any of you have something to do before then you can do it and be back on time,” Janet intervened.
“I think that’s a great idea, mom,” Brian stated, looking at his future bride, who smiled in agreement.
“That works for us; we’ll leave tomorrow and be back in time for the wedding,” Randall replied.
“Can you leave Monday? That way we can all go tomorrow after church to get our measurements done for the tuxedos. I also would like for you to be here for my bachelor party,” Brian requested.
“I’m your best man. I’m in charge of your bachelor party; no worries,” Randall responded excitedly.
“Please remember that the man wants to get married, so his bachelor party shouldn’t make his bride want to leave him.” Keith had to have his say.
Lucia quickly grabbed Randall’s leg once again. Randall took a deep breath before responding and with a smile he said, “Don’t worry big brother, it will be fun but appropriate enough for Teddy and even daddy to be there.”
Stephanie added, “We also need to plan her bridal shower and bachelorette party. Wow, three weeks; we have tons to do.” She and Susan became giggly all over again.
Chapter 5
Across the street things were not going so well. Kristen had cooked a meal for them since she had refused to eat with his family. Teddy had retired to his study and refused to sit at the table with his wife for dinner. She felt bad that Teddy was not talking to her but at the same time she couldn’t understand how Teddy could not see her side of things.
She walked upstairs to his study and stood at the door. Teddy lifted his eyes at the feeling that someone was looking at him. He looked at his wife with frustration and turned back to his laptop to continue working on the sermon for the next day. He was just a few months from being ordained. The pastor over him was on vacation and had trusted him to start practicing his preaching.
“Are you going to talk to me?” Kristen asked, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
Teddy lifted his eyes once again, took a deep breath and turned around to fully face his wife. “What do you want to talk about, Kristen?” Teddy responded, clasping his hands tightly together between his knees.
“Teddy, I’m your wife. The Bible says that you will leave your mother and father and cling to your wife, but you’re angry at me for leaving your parents’ house,” Kristen accused.
“Well Kristen, since you know the Bible as well as my thoughts and feelings there’s not much more for me to say. You’ve already had the conversation with yourself. I have work to do.” Teddy responded coldly and turned toward his computer once again.
Kristen walked inside the office. “Talk to me, Teddy,” she pleaded.
“What do you want me to say, Kristen? You always accuse me of choosing my family over you, but it is you who is always making harsh remarks to them in their own house. You’re the one who gets all offended over … I’m not even sure what? You just get up like a two-year-old at the playground; take your ball and walk away. Guess what, Kristen? I follow you home every single time. How can you accuse me of choosing my family over you, if even when I agree with them I follow you home?” Teddy’s voice was full with rage.
“I can’t believe you’re saying this to me, Teddy. You are about to be ordained to be a pastor. How can you approve of what’s going on in your parent’s house?” She lashed out at Teddy.
Teddy looked at her in disbelief. He saved the document he was typing and closed the laptop. He got up from the chair, and walked past his wife out of the study. Teddy felt like he was between a rock and a hard place. He was very close to his family and Kristen didn’t like that.
Kristen followed him to the living room. Teddy was now sitting in the sofa. “Why don’t we go out to have dinner with the Gibsons tomorrow? That will give us a change of scenery.” She was trying to soften the atmosphere.
“Kristen, you know very well that I’m extremely uncomfortable with the Gibsons. Larry Gibson left our church because he felt like he wasn’t paid enough. I know first-hand that his salary was enough to cover more than his life expenses; maybe not his dream lifestyle, but it did cover his needs. Working for God is not about money and you know I don’t agree with his views of treating the church like it was a business.”
“But Teddy, you will be ordained soon. At some point you can do the same thing Larry did – better yourself. We can get our own church. We could have a much better life.”
“God called me to sow seeds of love
Impressum
Verlag: BookRix GmbH & Co. KG
Tag der Veröffentlichung: 18.10.2013
ISBN: 978-3-7309-5593-2
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