Chapter 82: The White Sheep of the Family

July 2, 1981

We pulled into Uncle Tim and Aunt Helen’s driveway a bit before noon. Their modest-sized ranch house was a bit out of town on a rural road. A large open field lay across the street. In days gone by, my cousins had commandeered a tractor and drove it around that field doing things that were, by my current thinking, pretty reckless.

Angie, after some consideration, was wearing a cap-sleeve, scoop-necked, knee-length pink dress that would’ve been fine at school or even at church. Well within dress code. She hadn’t packed a lot of highly demure clothes; in truth, she didn’t own a lot of highly demure clothes.

I hoped it was good enough for Aunt Helen. Or at least enough not to cause an explosion.

Tim, Helen, Daniel, Dean, and Grant all came out as we were getting out of the car. I sighed a bit, looking at them. Tim was wearing a checked shirt and jeans; my cousins were in t-shirts and jeans, Daniel’s with a Stevens Point High School design, Dean and Grant with different Wisconsin Badgers logos. Aunt Helen? She was in a dark gray dress in a heavy fabric that went to her ankles. Long sleeves. Jewel neckline. I sighed, then sighed more when I saw Aunt Helen’s disapproving look at Mom’s green dress, one fairly similar to Angie’s.

Hopefully, she was more forgiving of teenagers.

Tim and Mom hugged. “Hi, sis! It’s good to see you!”

“Hi, Tim! Good to see you, too! And hello, Helen and Daniel, Dean, and Grant. It’s so good to see all of you.”

“Hi, Aunt Helen!” “Hi!” “Good to see you!” Daniel, Dean, and Grant replied.

Dad caught up, shaking Tim’s hand. “Hello brother-in-law! How are you?”

“Just great, thanks! How are you?”

“I’m doing just great, too. And hello Daniel and Dean and Grant.” Dad shook hands with each of them. “How’s school? And college?”

“Great, Uncle Sam! One more year!” “Great, too. Really enjoying it.” “And one more year for me before I’ve got my Environmental Science degree. I’m already looking for positions.”

I headed over, holding hands with Angie. And catching a look from Aunt Helen.

“Hello Uncle Tim! This is my sister Angie. Angie, Uncle Tim.”

“Well, hello, my newest niece! It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you, too, Uncle Tim!” Angie met him with a hug.

“And these are our cousins, Daniel, Dean, and Grant!”

“Hello cousin Daniel! And Dean! And Grant!” She gave each a hug while saying their name.

As I was introducing Angie to the cousins, Mom had gotten to Aunt Helen.

“Hello, Helen. It’s been too long since you’ve been able to visit. I’m glad you could come.”

“Us, too! It’s so nice to be able to catch up.”

They hugged. A brief, perfunctory hug, it seemed to me. Dad moved over to her.

“Hello, Helen. It’s good to see you again.”

“It’s good to see you too, Samuel.”

I scooted over with Angie as we finished greeting the cousins.

“You remember Steve, and this is our daughter, Angie.”

“Hello, Steven. It’s nice to see you again. And, hello, Angela. Welcome to the family. We’ll have to talk. I want to hear all about you.”

That seemed pleasant enough, even with Aunt Helen’s gentle insistence on using formal names. Angie squeezed my hand.

“Come on, let’s go in. Lunch is almost ready. I just have a few more things to do,” Helen said.

We headed in. As we were going, Daniel caught up. “Hey, you have to come out back with us after lunch, Steve.”

“OK, I should be able to.”

Helen bustled off into the kitchen. “Come on, Helen, Angela. Let’s talk in the kitchen.” Angie gave me a look and headed off with Mom.

Tim smiled. “So, what’s it like to have a sister, Steve? You’re the first in the entire generation, right?”

I nodded. “Yeah, it’s all boys on both sides of the family, except for Angie. I like it, honestly. Angie’s a very special person and I can’t imagine not having her as part of the family, now.”

The cousins exchanged a look. Not a bad one, more curious. And maybe a trifle disappointed. It was hard to read.

“So, school’s good?”

“Straight A’s, Uncle Tim. Same with Angie. It was my best year so far. How’s school for you guys?”

Daniel shrugged. “Not straight A’s, but I can’t complain.” Dean added, “I’m loving Wisconsin!” Grant shrugged. “I’m a bit tired of it. Can’t wait to get out and do something.”

“Well, I’d give you the tour, but Angie’s the only one that needs it. I hope Helen’s not grilling her too much in there.”

“Since we’re not ready for lunch, can we drag Steve out to the tent for a bit, Dad?” Daniel asked.

“It’s OK with me if it’s OK with his father.”

“Sure,” Dad answered. “I’ll catch up with your father a bit.”

“C’mon, Steve!”

They led me outside and over to the tent they’d set up in the side yard.

“Looks like a cool setup, guys.”

“Can you come stay with us again this year? We’ve got a bunch of bottle rockets and stuff.”

I shook my head. “The thing is, I could, but I wouldn’t feel right about it. Angie would enjoy it just as much as I would.” They were all exchanging looks. “Don’t worry, I know your mom would never go for it. But I’d feel like I was slighting her, and, as much as it’d be cool to catch up, and as much as you could say she and I will have all the time in the world together, I’d probably feel about how you’d feel if you were visiting someone and they said, well, Dean and Grant can join in the fun, but not Daniel.”

They exchanged another look. Daniel sighed. “That sucks. It was a bit of a fight to get Mom to agree to it and you being here was part of it. But I get it.”

Dean and Grant nodded, too.

“Mom won’t like it if you say Angie would like it, though. She’s really picky about stuff like that.”

Grant bit his lip. “She doesn’t like my girlfriend because she’s in Chemistry. That’s ‘not a field for girls’, according to Mom.”

I sighed. “Just keep an ear out for any explosions.”

“Angie’s in the hard sciences?”

“Nah, but she’s every bit the student I am, and she’s not going to take some fluffy major in pursuit of her M.R.S. degree.”

“If she puts it like that, yeah, listen for explosions.”

We went back in. Everything appeared intact, and the kitchen sounded like normal conversation. So far, so good.

Before we could figure out something else to do, Mom came out. “Hey everyone! Dinner’s served!”

Mom, Aunt Helen, and Angie hauled out a chicken casserole with lots of vegetables, plus rolls. Angie started to take a seat next to me. “Oh, no, dear, I set a place right over here, so we can talk.” Angie shot me a helpless look. Her seat was between Aunt Helen and Mom. I got the impression Mom didn’t like it that much either.

Aunt Helen smiled. “Welcome to Samuel and Helen and to Steven and Angela. It’s so nice to have you here with us. Timothy, would you say grace, please?”

Uncle Tim bowed his head. “Dear Lord, thank you for the gifts you have bestowed upon this house and this family. Keep us safe, and free from temptation, and watch over our children as they make their way in the world. And, Lord, thank you for the gift of time with our family from far away, my sister Helen, her husband Sam, and their children Steve and Angie. Amen.”

“Would everyone please pass their plates to us one at a time so that we may serve you?” Aunt Helen asked.

We did. Angie was in charge of the rolls.

Everyone dug in. The casserole was good, though not the best I’d had this trip. But, good. Conversation was almost entirely restricted to the adults, and I was a bit annoyed when Aunt Helen told stories about her kids as if they weren’t there or asked questions about me as if I wasn’t there.

There were surprisingly few questions about Angie. It felt as if she was being treated as an afterthought, which pissed me off.

As dinner was winding up, Grant cleared his throat. “Um, Dad? We were wondering if maybe, since he can’t stay over, Steve would want to go with us to the new golf course? Just hit the ball around?”

Tim looked at Helen for a second, then smiled. “Well, if Steve would like to go, I can’t see why not.”

I’m not a golfer, but I was pretty sure they weren’t either. And I knew it might be good to let the grownups have time to talk. But I had a thought and ran with it. “Sure, I’d love to go, and I bet Angie would, too. Sis?”

Angie spoke up the instant she heard that. “I’d love to! Can we go, Mom and Dad?”

Mom and Dad exchanged a look. Mom took it. “That sounds good, honey. You know we’ll want to catch up.”

“Thanks Mom! And thank you very much, Aunt Helen and Uncle Tim, for your hospitality and the lovely meal.”

She was up in a flash, and I followed. The guys got up, too, looking a trifle uncertain.

Aunt Helen wasn’t on the same page. “Are you sure about going out with a group of boys, Angela, honey?”