It seems ages since I last posted anything. Real life and work have really got in the way of writing, but now I've got a week off and a story to tell. Hope you like it. Bee
Grandma carefully folded Scott's shirt before placing another one over the ironing board. Just a small pile of his things remained now and she let her hands smooth lovingly over the material of this latest item, remembering how handsome Scott had looked in it when he'd escorted her to church the previous Sunday. That kind of thing didn't happen often these days, but she'd asked him as a special favour and he'd willingly agreed, his going-away gift to the woman who'd raised him for the past seven years.
She'd miss him so much when he left for college, she thought, deftly manoeuvring the tip of the iron between the buttons and frowning as she realised one was coming loose. But as she placed the iron down and picked the shirt up to check it more carefully, a shout from the lounge distracted her and she found herself almost holding her breath as she waited to see what the problem was this time.
It should have been a quiet evening. Jeff was working late at his office and Scott had taken his two youngest brothers out to a movie. Usually, being left with only Virgil and John would be a pleasure - the pair were the quietest (unless Virgil was feeling particularly inspired at the piano) and the best-behaved. She still couldn't quite believe how all that had changed over the past week. Not that anyone had expected Virgil to cope well with his favourite brother's imminent departure, but no one had expected him to be taking it out on John. The second-oldest brother wasn't one to suffer any perceived unfairness in silence, and the resulting arguments had left everyone on edge. Even Scott, as he'd said goodbye to her earlier, had wished her luck and commented hesitantly that he wished Tuesday would come round quickly - that trying to keep Virgil happy whilst giving everyone else a fair share of his attention was wearing him out. Grandma knew how he felt. She'd dreaded the day he would leave, but now it couldn't come soon enough.
The shouts had grown louder - John and Virgil had made their way into the hall now - and she dropped the shirt with a sigh and headed for the door. As she pulled it open a blur of green ran past her and up the stairs, what had become the familiar yell of, "I hate you, John!" telling her, as if she didn't already know, that it was Virgil.
"Sure you do!" John yelled back. "Well, you know what, Virg? I don't like you much right now, either. I'm sorry I'm not Scott, okay? I wish I was - at least then I'd be the one leaving this miserable place!"
The only response he got was the slamming of a door followed by the sudden blare of music, so loud that Grandma could swear she saw the walls rippling in time to the bass notes. It was certainly too loud to have any kind of conversation with John and she resignedly made her way to the foot of the stairs, hoping Virgil hadn't barricaded his door as he'd done the previous day, only to stop as the music cut out as suddenly as it had started.
She turned to see John shutting up the fuse box under the stairs. He managed a half-smile and shrugged. "That'll keep him quiet for a bit."
"Didn't you just turn the lights out up there, too?" Grandma asked.
"Yeah. Don't worry, he won't stay up there. A bit of peace and quiet so I could finish my book would be far too much to ask for, you know that." John turned back to the lounge, only to be called back by his grandmother.
"Come into the kitchen for a moment."
John looked reluctant but he did as she asked.
"Sit down," Grandma told him, taking a seat at the table next to him. "Now then, what was all that about?"
"Do you have to ask?" John said. "I was trying to read but Virg wanted to try playing that tune again."
"Oh..." Grandma remembered a day several months ago when Scott had commented that he liked something Virgil had been listening to. Surprised at his eldest brother's sudden appreciation of a style of music that he usually only tolerated for Virgil's sake, the middle brother had tried to play it for him, only to find that, as talented as he undoubtedly was, he just didn't have the reach yet. Scott had laughed and told him not to worry, that he was only thirteen and once his hands had grown a bit more he'd be able to play anything he wanted, but, Tracy that he was, Virgil had refused to admit defeat, determined to master it before his brother left home. It was unusual to hear the musician playing with anything less than complete proficiency and the mis-hit notes in this melody were particularly jarring. Grandma could quite understand why John had grown so irritated.
"It was driving me crazy. I guess I didn't handle it so well, Grandma. Not like Scott would have done. I yelled at him, he yelled back and then he took off up the stairs. Now he'll go running to Scott and I'll get another lecture on how to handle the kids. That'll be about the twelfth one this week and every single one has been because of Virgil." He sighed as he buried his head in his hands.
"I know he's taking all his frustrations out on you right now," Grandma told him, "But trust me, once your brother's in college things will settle down. Virgil doesn't want you to be Scott, you know, he wants you to be yourself."
"Does he?"
"Of course he does. John, you know he's yelling at you because he won't let himself yell at Scott, don't you?"
John looked at her in some surprise. "What do you mean?"
"He's angry at Scott for leaving. But he doesn't want to upset him - he knows how much he's looking forward to college - so he's taking it out on you."
"I guess that makes sense," John said thoughtfully, wondering why he hadn't realised that himself. Maybe he'd been more upset by Virgil's behaviour than he'd allowed himself to admit.
Grandma reached over to squeeze his hand. "The two of you are good friends, really. In fact, I seem to remember the pair of you being very tight around the time of Scott's eighteenth birthday. You'll get that back again, I promise."
John shrugged. "I hope so. Thanks, Grandma. Guess you'd better go and check on Virg. He was pretty upset."
"Virgil will come down when he's hungry. I'm more concerned about you right now."
A little surprised that his grandmother wasn't rushing up to check on the grandson he suspected was her favourite, John glanced at the clock and allowed himself to smile. "Well, it's been half an hour since dinner, he's probably starving already."
"Probably. You'll be fine, John. You're very different to Scott but you'll be surprised how quickly the boys will adapt to having you as the oldest - and that includes Virgil. Anyway, it won't be long until you're off to college yourself."
As Grandma had half-suspected, that comment wasn't greeted with any enthusiasm. Instead, a flash of misery crossed John's face before he covered it up and muttered something about getting back to his book before hurriedly leaving the room. Returning thoughtfully to her ironing, Grandma decided she'd have to talk to his father.
It wasn't until later that night that she had the chance to do so. Virgil had finally been enticed out of his room by the offer of cookies and thankfully, after a firm lecture from his grandmother, had resisted the temptation to try to get John into trouble with Scott, so they'd spent a relatively peaceful hour until the other boys returned. When the younger ones were finally settled in their beds and the older ones were watching TV, she brought Jeff a drink and told him about the evening's events.
"I think we've been so focused on Virgil that we've missed how much John's struggling," she told him.
"I can't say I'm surprised, Mom," Jeff admitted. "That thing about leaving home? You know he wanted to take the advanced classes so he could graduate high school early."
"I know. You wouldn't let him."
"No. I wanted him to have a normal life. He'd cope with the work but how would he make friends? John's brilliant, but there's more to life than studying. If he didn't have the other boys to drag him away from his books occasionally, the kid would be a total recluse. I've told him this time and time again, but he still resents me for holding him back."
"I remember how bitter he was," Grandma mused. "I suppose it's hard for him to watch Scott heading off to college when he wants to be going himself."
"I don't like seeing him unhappy, but I don't regret my decision," Jeff told her. "I've seen at first hand the harm that kind of thing can do. You know I'm taking John and Virgil to visit Vine Technology once we've settled Scott at Yale?"
"Is this the company you're thinking of buying?" Grandma asked.
"Yes. There's a young man there by the name of Hiram. He's Scott's age but he's already finished university. He's utterly brilliant - and the loneliest person I've ever met. The people at Vine Tech are pleasant enough to him, but he just doesn't seem to be able to make friends. He stammers, which doesn't help, of course - he's very self-conscious as well as being chronically shy. To be honest, it's not the company I want, it's him. The work he did on that joint project was spectacular."
"Poor boy," Grandma said. "But isn't a bit of a drastic step to buy the company in order to get him to work for you? Why don't you just offer him a job?"
"I did, but he wants to stay in a place where he feels secure."
"Well, if he's as shy as you say, that's understandable. But, Jeff, John would never end up like that - he's a good-looking boy and the girls seem to like him. He can make friends easily enough if he makes the effort."
"If he stops reading long enough you mean," Jeff smiled. "I know John would never be as isolated as Hiram, but even so... Anyway, like I said, there's more to college life than studying - as I'm sure Scott is going to find out. I'd like to think John will take full advantage when he finally gets there. No, I made the right decision. John will thank me one day."
"I hope so," Grandma said. "It's going to be a long two years if things carry on like this."
"It certainly is."
"Do you still think it's a good idea to take the boys up to Yale with you?"
Jeff nodded. "Yes. I think Virgil will find it easier to cope if he can see Scott settled and John wants to look around the place in case he decides to go there. A few days away from the rest of the family will do them good, I think. I'm going to be tied up with work a lot of the time so they'll be stuck with each other and they'll have to work things out. At least, I hope they will."
His mother smiled. "I thought I'd drawn the short straw being left with Gordon and Alan. Now I'm not so sure."
Jeff looked at her for a moment, then knocked back the remainder of his drink and reached again for the bottle...
