NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 14: Chapter 5 Book 8
Chapter 5
A Mothers Castle
You have heard the saying that a man's home is his castle. In England, people have used the term to imply a person's absolute right to exclude anyone from his home, though this has always had restrictions. Since the late twentieth century, this means the law cannot interfere with what happens inside a home unless it has a search warrant or permission from those inside the home.
Home residents decide what's allowed and what's not, but this remains open to interpretation. My Mother ruled the house; the house was in my mother's name, not my father's. My mother overruled whatever he said. The same went for the Cranny's home, except Paul was there on the deed of the home, but he wasn't the one wearing the pants or making all the decisions final. His wife Jennie was.
The plan was for me and my guests to be dropped off at the Cranny's house, with my mermaid friends joining me on Tuesday. But Jennie didn't trust Paul not to insult my guests. She knew I could handle Paul even though he seemed quite certain that he could handle me. The fact that I was a trained killer meant nothing to him; in fact, he looked at us as little boys fighting over the last cracker and him stealing it away from us. Jennie and my mother did try to warn him, but he scoffed at the idea. Stating he was more than enough man to handle one little scrawny boy. Even Eli didn't seem like anything more than child's play.
He quickly reminded me of my promise to him and all of his boys for full sexual treatment, emphasizing that they were "not classified as a free sample." He wanted it all and intended to get his money's worth. It didn't matter that Dad and Mr. Vincent had already given him what he wanted. It rubbed against him that I had weaseled out of our deal. Knowing I had no problems when it came to my friends and family. It was him I had the problem with. His boys just happened to be collateral damage.
Upon arrival, after reviewing the rules, we understood that we couldn't leave the house without Tony, Jenny, or our team. Which was more of a precaution than anything, but understandable. Jennie made it clear that the girls would not be allowed anywhere near Paul, seeing him gasp in anger stating that he was being deprived of part of the package plan.
Jennie said. "It's your choice, Paul. Touch or even think of touching any of the girls without my permission will cause me to sign those divorce papers." Rhoda, bless her heart, came to his rescue by asking my mother one simple question. That was if they had enough food in the house for all of us, knowing we would eat her out house and home, knowing how hungry we boys get that required sometimes five or six meals a day not including snacks. However, she failed to mention that girls could eat just as well as we can. I took a page out of Dad's book and that was never saying anything regarding a woman packing it away like us boys. I also had warned them that my mother was a lousy cook. Even though she had made some improvements over the years, she still sucked at it.
Which meant if we wanted anything that tasted good; it would have to be done by either me or them. Eli said Rhoda was an excellent cook and so was Jackie. I knew my three mermaids were as well, so I knew none of us would starve to death, and besides we wouldn't be home much while visiting my Santaquin nudist friends.
My mother said she was planning to go to the store and said she had been kinda busy catching up on schoolwork. We all knew she was lying; she and Becky were only busy with Paul, satisfying his sexual desires and fantasies. Becky was allowed to have sex with Paul and any boy she chose because of one simple reason. She couldn't get pregnant. Rhoda and the girls each gave us a smile she said. "Then we will leave the boys here to get "acquainted" and so Paul can get his monies worth because a promise should never be broken."
I watched her take out her list that she played twenty questions regarding the kind of foods that we boys and they liked. Knowing beforehand that my mother always bought on impulse and never used a grocery list in her entire life.
The girls already had quickly planned out a menu of the items we would be eating. In fact, Stringham had made sure that the money they were spending never reached my mother's hands. Dad and my grandmother had already told them regarding my mother's spending habits. I knew that the money that the High Bishop gave her for her trouble was long gone, and none of it went for bills or groceries. I didn't need Dad to remind me about not spending my money other than for food, entertainment and more importantly for the car Stringham had arranged for me to buy my mother.
He would have bought it himself, but my mother and my father needed to know that the car belonged to me the moment I had my driver's license and graduated from high school. True, he or Dad could or any of my rich friends could easily have bought me a brand new spanking new car and my mother as well. It was to teach me the value of money; it was to teach me responsibility instead of giving me a silver spoon handout. It would be mine to take care of and nobody else's when the time came. For now, it was mine and my parent's responsibility to make sure that they kept it running and paid the insurance, and added me to the policy from the moment I got my license, until graduation, and then it was all mine. My parents would have to buy themselves a replacement and my mother had agreed to those terms. Considering my father no longer drives because of his very bad eyesight since the car accident.
It was also a very sore spot for Susan because of it. She hated the fact that the car belonged to me; she hated the fact all her friends who were getting their licenses were getting cars for their birthday or graduation. Well, the friends that mattered to her, and those were the ones made of money. Which was another sore spot because I did and she didn't, but unlike me, she didn't believe in working for it. She wanted everything handed to her on a silver platter; after all, that was what my parents had taught her and Becky. Why work for something when you can always get it for free? Trust me, even after thirty years that hasn't changed, she is still trying to get the cow and the milk for free.
The girls all left leaving us boys and Paul here telling him and us they would be back by suppertime, maybe? And if we got hungry, there were leftovers in the fridge. Jennie wasn't like my mother regarding keeping house or cooking. In fact, she was the complete opposite. True, she did most of it herself and only required her boys to pick up after themselves or help pitch in every once in a while. Like taking out the trash and cleaning their room and making their own beds, plus a little vacuuming every once in a while, and sometimes the dishes by hand as a punishment rather than using the dishwasher.
However, regarding my mother's house, Aaron and I did most of the cleaning and what we didn't do my father did. My sisters seldom, if ever lifted a finger, other than taking turns washing dishes. Apart from around birthday time, Aaron and I each got an extra week and sometimes three. One reason why the moment I moved out, and he joined me. We made certain that the rule died.
We go out and eat and buy each other presents, whereas when we lived at home, the only presents we received from our parents were extra chores. Not once did we get a present from them or our sisters. Grandma usually gave us our birthday presents at Christmas time because mine was in December and his was in January. It always became a sore point with my parents and my sisters.
My Rothwell family and my friends never forgot either me or Aaron, but when it was my sisters Susan and Becky's or my parents' birthday, they didn't bother other than a card; watching them each open them, trying to dump out any money first before reading the card. I did trick them a couple of times by placing a dollar and a quarter inside as Susan and Becky looked at me, asking me where the rest of it was. I said. "Sorry," the banks closed; perhaps if you got a job and earn some." They would give the excuses that nobody would hire them because of their age, and I would say "Aaron and I don't seem to have that problem." and I would offer to pay them for doing our chores. Which they refused. I would shrug my shoulders and say. "Fine, I rather spend my money on people that deserve it anyway," and walk away.
The fact that I worked for Stringham bothered them, and it also bothered them that I had a lawn mowing business where I easily made three hundred dollars a month. What bothered them even more was that all the money I earned from working for Stringham went into a college fund. The same goes for the money I earned while living with the Rothwells after I paid my way through school. I even helped pay rent for myself and for all my wives, my children and husbands, as well as providing food for all of us. Unlike my sisters, who learned nothing but how to spend money, I learned the value of responsibility.
Everything I did angered my two sisters Susan and Becky and sometimes my mother, but more so my sisters and my father Jim. The idea I had money made them angry. Their anger stemmed from the large sums of undercover money I received as Nate Carrion, money they never saw.
What they never understood was it was to keep me and them alive, making them untouchable. I am not saying I never gave them a slice of the pie every once in a while, because I did. It bothered me that they expected it. It bothers me that they thought there was always more where it came from, and it bothered me that when I did give them a slice, they used it on themselves instead of things like food, gas for the car, bills the basics that keep them alive and a roof over their head and warm. They tossed it away like there was an endless supply for the taking.
Nothing has changed. They still expect it from us. It is said when they want a vacation they pack up the car and buy a case of Ramon noodles to make their way down this direction with nothing in their pockets as they invite themselves in … to anyone that is willing to have them. The vacation was on us or the people that they are staying with, which includes gas, food and entertainment, and free room and board while begging and pleading with us to give them our hard-earned cash as a loan that is never paid back.
Once they have bled you dry, they pack up and go back home with smiles on their faces as we all get stuck trying to figure out how we are all going to make next month's rent; for those that were stupid to give them a free handout and free vacation. We cringe when we hear that they are thinking of coming back down in this direction. So far, Susan has learned that I am not one of her golden tickets. Aaron, on the other hand, hasn't learned to say no. He wasn't raised like I was, and it shows.
I didn't ask where Aaron was or Susan; I knew perfectly well that Susan was with my father or her friends during the break and Aaron was either with his friends or with my grandmother. I had my own problems to deal with and it had nothing to do with pleasure. Like I said Michael and Robert became collateral damage because of their Dad Paul. The boys quickly piled up their sleeping bags and suitcases so the girls could have room to put all the groceries.
Stringham rented a car in case we all got stranded here, knowing my mother. Yet she knew and she had been told under no circumstances were we allowed to spend the night here, more so with Paul here who couldn't be trusted. The neighbors were too close together which meant trouble with a capital T. Plus; me buying her a car was something she couldn't resist. He told her that the guy was expecting me to stop by at 7 pm tonight so we could look at it and purchase it. I knew the guy would be willing to wait until morning or later in the afternoon when he came home from work. But Stringham stated he had already made an appointment with a local mechanic to go over it with a fine-tooth comb in the morning.
What he didn't tell her was he had already done so. The mechanic only needed my mother's signature for the temporary plates and the state taxes and inspection; this was before they had to have the emission test. The inspection too was already done, but my mother didn't know that. The main reason was I was safer inside my mother's house than I was inside Paul Cranny's house, whereas in Santaquin the cops and my friends could be at her house in a matter of minutes. Here, police arrival would be slower, and Tony's team was responsible for my safety inside the house, particularly as a significant portion of our team was busy resolving outstanding issues.