Chapter 7: Fallout

January 8, 2017

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Chapter 7: Fallout

Chapter Cast:

Darren, Male, 53

- Narrator, retired, father of Gwen and Victoria (Vic)
- 5’11, beige skin, 195lbs, cropped greying brown hair

Audrey, Female, 15
- High school student, daughter of Duncan and Theresa
- 5’9, pale skin, 135lbs, light-green eyes, straight auburn hair over her shoulders

Joyce, Female, early-80s
- Wife of Herman, grandmother of Audrey, mother of Theresa
- 5’6, beige skin, 115lbs, bobbed salt-and-pepper hair

Herman, Male, early-80s
- Husband of Joyce, grandfather of Audrey, father of Theresa
- 6’0, beige-olive skin, 180lbs, thin short gray hair

Gwen, Female, 15
- High school student, daughter of Darren, sister of Victoria
- 5’5, beige skin, 130lbs, shoulder-length wavy black hair

Victoria (Vic), Female, 14
- Eighth-grade student, daughter of Darren, sister of Gwen
- 5’3, beige skin, 115lbs, wavy neck-length light-brown hair

I sat quietly on my couch, back home in Houston. Sunday had been a whirlwind of overwhelming emotions. Audrey and I made love in the morning, then comforted and held each other for long hours, finally making love again in the early afternoon before I hugged her parents and kissed my lover one last time. I tried not to let tears flow again as I drove off to the airport.

I called Audrey once I’d landed, then again during the drive home. I was burnt out in so many ways. I tried to think back to what my life had been like before Audrey had arrived two Fridays before. I couldn’t even remember the man I was then. So much had happened. So much had changed. I sat, numb, staring at the digital clock which told me it was two minutes until midnight, and tried to relax my thoughts and prepare for another challenge.

My daughters would be home around noon on Monday. I still had no plan for how to bring up Audrey. I’d not mentioned a word to Gwen or Vic, and every time I tried to think of what to say, I found myself hating the words I chose, discarding them quickly and trying again. Each time, what I practiced saying to my daughters sounded trite and shallow.

I really didn’t know what they would think. At best, I figured they would be weirded out. I know I would be if my father had revealed such a thing. Audrey was Gwen’s age. She’d been their friend many summers over the years. The very nature of my own life had changed so much that I wondered if I would seem different to my girls. Could they even understand the complex emotions underlying those changes? I had no answers, only more questions.

I was up with the dawn, robotically tidying up the house as I always did before my daughters returned from a trip away from home. My mind was racing around the many things I’d pondered in the days previous. I sent Audrey a text, knowing the teen was likely already up and headed to school. She answered back immediately and sent her love. I felt empty without her presence. She’d grown so quickly on me that I felt vulnerable and dependent in an uncomfortable way.

I was excited, though, that Gwen and Vic would be back. Even though I wished to have Audrey with me, I missed my daughters whenever they were away, and this time was no different. I drove my car to the airport and parked, soon seeing Gwen wheeling her sister down the ramp into baggage claim. Vic’s face suggested that Gwen hadn’t exactly been taking it easy with her wheelchair.

“Dad!” Gwen shouted at me, pushing her sister in a rush. I saw an airline attendant running behind them carrying a backpack and a set of crutches.

I hugged Gwen quickly, the girl more tan than when she’d left, her bronzed-beige skin reminding so much of her mother in the summers. I embraced Victoria, the girl’s cast-covered leg sticking out straight. The airline aide helped Vic to her feet and onto her crutches, then wheeled away the chair. “Missed you so much, Daddy!” Victoria told me as she hopped gently on one leg, bracing herself reasonably well.

“You two wait right here. I’ll go get the car. Gwenny, grab your bags when they come in,” I told them. “And your sister’s,” I added. I had long-ago learned that Gwen could be very literal when she decided to be silly or mean to her sister.

I left the girls and soon pulled up to the curb in front of baggage claim. I saw Gwen waving me over, so I parked and jumped out, opening the trunk so that she could throw the bags in the back, then I helped Vic carefully settle herself in the back seat where her leg would be able to rest most easily.

We were off for home a few minutes later. “So,” I said, Gwen in the passenger seat beside me, “what fun things did you do while you were there?”

“The water park was great,” Gwen answered, “and we swam with dolphins!”

“Don’t forget the bar!” Vic called from the back.

“Uh,” I said, “‘the bar’?”

The girls laughed. “We didn’t get alcohol, Dad,” Gwen said as if I was the one being silly. “They just made us some cool, non-alcoholic drinks while we ate. Aunt Vivian got a little drunk.” I could see Victoria giggling in the review mirror.

“Virgin daiquiri, virgin pina coloda, virgin martini,” my younger daughter said.

“Virgin martini?” I asked, looking at her in the mirror, “how would you even do that?”

Vic shrugged. “I dunno. But I didn’t like it as much as the others.”

“Why did they keep calling them ‘virgin,’ anyway?” Gwen asked.

“Uh,” I said again, “it just means without alcohol.”

“Yeah, but why ‘virgin,’ exactly?”

“I guess it’s just a reference to something being related to youth, or innocence.”

“Oh. I guess,” Gwen replied.

Victoria was giggling again. “What?” I asked her.

“Gwen kissed a bo-oy. Gwen kissed a bo-oy.” Vic chanted.

“Oh?” I said, not as concerned as I might have been before my time with Audrey.

Gwen was blushing and said nothing.

“Who was he?”

“Just a guy, Dad,” Gwen replied, deflecting.

“Just a kiss?” I pressed.

“God, Dad! Yes, we just kissed!” Gwen said defensively.

I didn’t know whether to believe her, but I dropped the subject. Gwen was fifteen. She was plenty old enough to kiss a boy. Hell, she was old enough that I should probably have put her on birth control. I’d been putting it off. After my week with Audrey, though, I knew what sort of urges and temptations a fifteen year old might face. Even at fourteen, Victoria was old enough, too. It made me cringe to think about my own daughters becoming sexual.

Even as happy I was to have the girls home, I was relieved that both had shut themselves in bedrooms almost as soon as we got in the house, texting and chatting with their friends in the city even though their pals were all in school at the time. I sat on the porch, sipping scotch in the early afternoon, grateful to be back where it was warm. Houston and Buffalo were just about opposites in terms of climate, and I much preferred the spring in the deep south to the cold flurries up near the northern lakes.

My phone vibrated on the table next to me and I sat down my scotch. It was Audrey.

“Hey,” I answered.

“Hey Darren. I miss you. Just got home from school.”

“How was it today?”

“Hard. I couldn’t concentrate.”

“Give yourself a break. Give it time.”

“I wanted to call you all day,” Audrey told me.

“I know. I felt the same,” I changed the subject. “My girls got home okay. They’re in the house, texting.”

“Oh. That’s good. How is Victoria?”

“Fine. She’s still on pain meds, probably will be for another couple of weeks.”

“That stinks.”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “She’s doing okay on the crutches already, so she doesn’t need a wheelchair, at least.”

“That’s good.” Audrey became quiet, then asked, “Tell them about us yet?”

“No, not yet. That time hasn’t come. I will, though. Soon.”

“I hope it goes well.”

“Me too,” I told her. “I still don’t really know how to start.”

“You’ll think of something.”

“I’ll come up with something,” I replied. I heard one of the girls coming out, so I told Audrey, “I, uh, I need to go. I’ll call you later.”

“Okay,” Audrey’s voice said she was disappointed, “I love you.”

“Love you, too.”

I disconnected and sat the phone aside. Gwen stood over me, her eyes narrowed. “Who was that? Aunt Vivian?”

“Uh, no ... just ... Say, hungry?” I tried to change the subject.

Gwen eyed me a moment, then nodded. “Can we order pizza?”

“Sure. You know what I like. Be sure to give the driver a good tip.”

“I will. Uh, I’ll need your card. I don’t have any on mine.” When the girls suggested takeout, I’d made them pay for it out of their allowance. Not all of it, I usually put most of it back in their prepaid accounts that night, but it taught them how to think about their available cash and how to plan for things they wanted but didn’t need. I rarely bought it directly if I hadn’t been the one to suggest it first.

“Spent all that extra? How was the dress, anyway?”

Gwen grinned. “I’ll put it on some time. I look fab-u-lous!” She twirled dramatically.

I pulled out my card and handed it to her. Gwen disappeared inside and left me to my thoughts.

How was I going to tell them about Audrey? I wasn’t sure I knew the right way, if such a thing even existed. Gwen had already grown suspicious from hearing the end of the phone call moments earlier, and I wasn’t going to sneak around to talk to my fifteen-year old girlfriend, at least not in my own home. Whatever I would say, I knew it needed to happen sooner rather than later.

The pizza arrived on time and we shared a meal before the girls went to the pool. Gwen swam while Victoria texted at a hundred miles-per-hour. My phone rang again as I sat and stared at the shifting water. It was Joyce.

“Hello?”

“Darren! Uh, good that you are home. Girls are home, too?” Joyce’s voice was tentative. That wasn’t normal.

“They are,” I replied, standing to step inside so that I could grab a drink.

“Thought I heard them in the pool.”

“Just Gwen. Victoria broke her leg in Aruba.”

“Oh, Dear! Hope she is healing well and fast! Listen, could you come over for a bit? Herman and I would like to talk to you about something important.”

I knew this was about Audrey. “Oh, uh ... of course. Can you give me twenty minutes? I need to shower.”

“Naturally, naturally. Just come on in when you get here.”

She hung up and I tapped the screen to lock the phone. I poured myself a scotch and swallowed it in one gulp, pouring half of another and dropped a single ice cube into the glass, sipping it as I undressed in my bathroom.

After the shower, I finished my drink, then let the girls know I was going next door for a while. They called back something resembling an acknowledgement, then I walked the short distance to the home next to mine and let myself inside. “Hello folks,” I called once inside.

“Come in, Darren. Come in,” Joyce called back from the living room.

The couple was sitting close together on a couch, and I could see that they were upset.

“Please sit down,” Joyce told me, “but grab yourself a drink first if you would like.”

I was already buzzing slightly but I tapped a couple of fingers of brandy into a glass, along with an ice cube, then sat in the chair near the couch.

Joyce was holding Herman’s hand. I don’t believe I’d ever seen the man upset. He clear was so, his eyes sunken and tight.

“We got a call from our daughter, and she told us about Duncan. Such a terrible thing!”

“Yeah,” I said, a lump already in my throat.

“Glad you could be there for her,” Herman said evenly, “and them.”

I nodded, “I tried to be a help.”

“You were, you were,” Joyce assured me, “Audrey is taking it very hard.”

I started to wonder how much had been shared with the couple. “Yeah. I can’t imagine what that must be like for her...”

“So, we understand there were some ... additional unexpected things as well, while you were there,” Joyce continued. “Care to enlighten us?”

“Uh,” I paused, unsure where to start, “how did Theresa explain things?”

“She told us that Audrey was quite taken with you and that things had progressed much as they had when Theresa was fourteen and she started seeing Duncan.”

“I see,” I said quietly.

“She didn’t tell us how this happened.”

I spilled what I felt I could, being honest about how Audrey and I had fallen in love almost overnight during her stay in Houston, and that it had only grown stronger during the days in Buffalo. “I don’t know what else you want to know.”

“We also spoke with our granddaughter,” Herman said, “the girl told us about her lies, that you’d convinced her to be honest with our daughter and son-in-law. She felt she needed to tell us the truth, also. She didn’t say much about you, but she did say the things we’d heard about her were not true.”

“That’s as I understand things, as well.”

“I appreciate you wanting her honesty, Darren,” Herman continued, “and I want yours. What intentions do you have for the girl?”

“Intentions?” I knew what he wanted, but I stalled trying to formulate something which didn’t sound so contrived.

“She is not going to move to Tokyo with her mother. She’s coming to Houston. She found a high-tech high school to attend for her senior year. Just a few miles down the road.”

“McKenzie Tech?”

Herman nodded. “That’s the one. She wants to move here when my daughter moves to Japan. We’re open to letting her. She didn’t suggest, however, that she wanted to live with you, instead, but I could read between the lines.”

“It ... came up once or twice. I don’t know what you want me to say.”

“Is this something you want? To live with her?”

“Yes,” I answered honestly.

“And yet,” Joyce said, holding her husband’s hand, “you are the father of two girls Audrey’s age. How will that work, Darren? Do they even know?”

I shook my head, shamed. “Not yet. I will tell them very soon. They just got home earlier. I ... I haven’t found the moment, yet.”

“And you think this will make things better for you? To welcome my granddaughter into your home, to your bed, while your daughters live there, too?”

“I have no doubt it is what I want. I cannot make predictions about whether it is the best thing for all.”

“So,” Herman growled, “you’re thinking with your cock and not your mind!”

Joyce settled her husband with just a small grab of his upper arm. “What my husband is trying to say is that ... you are asking your daughters to become conspirators. You’ll be living with masks, you and our granddaughter, if this happens. Your daughters will have to keep your secrets. That is not fair to them, Darren. Not fair at all.”

“I know,” I replied weakly, feeling small and selfish. “You’re not telling me something which hasn’t already made me feel sick with confusion.”

“And yet ... yet you still court my granddaughter,” Joyce said more gently.

“I love her.” I stated it as if it was a magic bullet. Three miraculous words which solved everything. I wasn’t so stupid as to believe it was that easy. But nothing else seemed to answer her very justifiable concern.

There was silence a moment, then Herman said evenly, “She’ll come to live with us. That’s the way it will be. If we’re to take her in, then it is up to the two of us to decide what is best for her. Whether we bless this ... this...”

“This relationship,” Joyce said, mercifully completing her husband’s thought before he could call it something less savory.

“She’s willful. Stubborn. She won’t be kept back from what she wants to do even if I don’t encourage her,” I told them, feeling more defiant. “And I can’t promise I won’t encourage her.”

I could tell Herman was on the verge of becoming very angry, so I stood up and held out my hands to offer a truce. “Please. I didn’t plan any of this, and I don’t blame you for being upset. If this was Gwen, or Vic, who had done this, I wouldn’t be as calm as you both are. I get it. As a father, I get it. All I ask ... is time. It’s only April. Let’s talk. Let me tell my girls tonight or tomorrow. Please don’t set your mind before we’ve had time.”