Hi, I've been working on this story idea and the time frame is concurrent with my other story Lies We Tell Ourselves and Each Other. It's the flip side of the same story…from Martin's POV. It's sort of a sordid anti-hero's tale. Hope all of you enjoy this one as much as you did LWTOAEO.
I don't know how often I'll get a chance to update, but I hope I can squeeze in time here and there...enjoy!
The usual disclaimers that none of the characters 7th Heaven fans recognize are mine; they are the property of this show's producers.
So, here's the first installation of…
Interfamily Affairs and Games
By: CNJ
PG-13
1
Martin:
Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…the noise permeates my mind and pulls me from my sleep. I turn over and try to go back to sleep. It's still early.
But the noise persists and gets louder. It raises to an almost roar. Annoyed, I give up trying to sleep and with a gusty sigh, sit up in bed. It's my dad's lawnmower.
I've told Dad not to mow the lawn so early on Sunday morning, but I guess he hasn't paid attention. Dad can mow the lawn Saturday afternoons since he doesn't work on weekends.
Sunday is just about my only day to sleep late. The rest of the week I work in the mailroom of the Glen Oak Marine recruiting office or go to classes.
My wife, Sandy is up already and is in the laundry room. I hear my oldest son Aaron babbling in there also. A wail rises from the crib across the basement bedroom Sandy and I sleep in.
"Martin…" Sandy calls. "Can you get Michael?"
I sit up, not saying anything. I have the feeling Sandy's going to be in one of her naggish moods. Well, I'm not in the mood for it today.
"Maaaartin!" Sandy raises her voice. "I'm trying to get the wash…the least you can do is change your own son!"
"All right, I'm up," I tell her.
I get up, adjust my shorts and T-shirt and go over to Michael. Nine-month-old Michael is squalling and reaches up to me.
"Ooookay, big guy," I sigh and get the box of diapers.
I still have to make a face at the smelly mess babies leave. I get the diaper changed even though Michael kicks and keeps squalling. As I finish and put Michael down, I see Sandy framed in the doorway, watching me.
"Morning…" I mutter.
Sandy nods and runs a hand through her dark wavy hair. Aaron toddles by her with his little truck and dives onto the main basement floor and plays with it.
"Annie and Eric called yesterday…they're planning a cookout Labor Day weekend and want us there," I tell Sandy.
"Oh?" Sandy shrugs.
"Yes…we still owe them after all they've done for us," I say.
"Including getting us to marry for the boys' sakes…" Sandy says.
"It was the right thing to do after all the immorality that went on in that family," I say, sitting on the couch.
Sandy sighs and heads back into the laundry room. I turn on the TV and sit back to watch CNN for a while.
Maybe I should tell you about Reverend and Annie Camden…and their seven kids. Eric Camden is a Protestant preacher at the Glen Oak Church and his wife Annie is a stay at home mom.
But I guess Annie staying home hasn't done much good for any of their kids…the oldest, Matt lives in New York City and I guess he's done all right professionally. He and his wife Sarah are doctors. But Matt doesn't get along with Eric and he hardly speaks to either of his parents.
Mary made a complete mess out of her life…trashing the school gym in high school, got arrested until Eric bailed her out, did drugs, hung around with losers. I guess the only gumption Eric ever showed with her is to ship her off to her grandparents in Buffalo.
It really didn't do much good because Mary married this Hispanic guy, had three kids with him and left him several times, then finally left him for good a couple of years ago. Her ex-husband now is stuck raising the kids alone.
Lucy and Ruthie are the two who still live here in Glen Oak at that house…Lucy never moved out, is divorced with two kids and is an associate pastor with her dad at the church.
Lucy's pretty with round light blue eyes and blondish-brown hair. I've always been a little attracted to her, but she's kind of spoiled, immature, not very bright, and has a loud, shrill voice. She and her mother are home schooling the kids, but they too often squabble over the kids and over foolish things.
The two youngest Camden kids, fraternal twins Sam and David are also home schooled, but mostly Eric handles that department. That's a good thing because those boys are a bratty handful…they sass most of the adults around them and make fun of Ruthie and sometimes me.
I have a good idea how to handle them, however. I have this filthy glare I give them and that usually scares them into backing off. Ruthie constantly complains and whines about them. And then again, Ruthie complains also about her own daughter, Kaylee and about her parents and Lucy as well.
Annie's always been nice to me and kind of is like a second mother to me, which is more than I can say for my own mother. My own mother died of a speed overdose when I was nine. She never was there for me.
None of the Camdens or Sandy know this…I've told them that my mom died of cancer and they bought it. Only my dad and I know the truth and my dad's too proud to share it with anyone.
Ruthie is another story…I lived at the Camden house for almost two years while my dad was serving in Iraq. Ruthie and I spent a lot of time together since she is two years younger than me. I often gave her a ride to and from school and she'd tell me about her troubles with her family and with her classmates.
She never had an easy time making friends, so she mostly hung around with me, Vincent, and Mac. At one point, however, she thought I was in love with her and I was flattered, so I didn't tell her anything, but just let her have her fantasy for a while.
Her parents seldom pay much attention to her; they were too busy doting on Lucy, the family princess, doting on the twin boys of the family, Sam and David, who were the two youngest, or dealing with Simon, who had been in college and was another case in himself. I'll explain about Simon in a bit.
Ruthie might have actually been in love with me, but mostly she wanted me to be in love with her. But I had other things going in my life besides her and I guess she didn't realize it; she's self-centered in that way.
I went by the college Simon was and met Sandy and we hooked up. I never really meant for anything to come out of it and we just did it once…but Sandy became pregnant and came after me with threats of paternity suits and public embarrassment.
Ruthie also had gotten wind of Sandy's pregnancy with my son and had been so upset she'd screamed at me and slapped me.
I didn't want anything to do with her or her baby, but my dad pressured me into giving in to her demands. Eric added the icing by basically blackmailing me into marrying her because we both do believe that it's wrong to have children when you're unmarried. And I certainly didn't want to get a reputation like Simon's of sleeping around, so I gave in just to avoid scandal.
So now Sandy and I live with my dad and share the basement with our two sons. It was my dad who got me the Marine office job. I'm not in the Marines, but just work for them.
A couple of years later, Ruthie got herself into trouble with Mac and wound up having a baby by Mac and dropping out of college. Mac dumped her and just ran off, which is despicable.
Mac was one of the ones who used to hang around Ruthie and me back in high school, but now he's taken off and I heard he's living somewhere in Chicago where he has two other kids and is living with this other woman we'd never met. Ugh, Mac's disgusting.
Simon…ugh…that boy is a piece of work. He's usually moody, rarely calls his parents, got drunk in high school, and in college slept around with a lot of women. He graduated, despite being put on disciplinary probation for sneaking girls into his dorm room and now temps at various odd jobs.
Simon has a lot of mental and emotional problems not to mention an awful case of asthma that makes him cough and wheeze a lot. Last time he came home this past spring, he couldn't stop coughing and had several wheezing attacks.
He sounded so awful I wondered just who his doctor was. I asked Annie about it, but she told me he's been secretive and defensive about his disease and won't let Eric get him a better doctor.
Annie and Eric never knew the right way to handle him. Simon left for college a year early after he was involved in some accident where a kid was killed and Simon was a greater basket case than he usually is. Annie says he couldn't stop crying for months afterward and had to see a shrink.
I suspect part of Simon's problem is that he likes being miserable and brooding. Kill me if I ever get like that.
Ruthie tells me that she and Simon used to be close, but I guess his mental problems took over and he basically drifted away from her in high school, then left her when he went away to college.
Ruthie often complains to me about this…she still hasn't forgiven Simon for leaving. That's part of why she often clung to me in her high school years…and I still think she hopes I will dump Sandy and go back to her.
So he's living in Northern California now, drifting from one temp job to another, not knowing which end is up, sleeping around, and moping about his life.
Eric is still trying to reach out and help him get a permanent job, but Simon's an idiot in that department also…he refuses Eric's help and won't return Eric's calls.
And Annie still calls him, all concerned about his asthma, but Simon seldom returns her calls.
Thinking of Simon gets on my nerves as usual, so I try to banish his skinny, bushed-browed face from my mind for now and concentrate on the baseball game, which is now starting.
Baseball is actually my first love…I'd hoped to get into pro baseball myself, but things in my life sidetracked that dream. Maybe a few years from now things will be different. But for now, I just have to deal with life dealing me a short hand, including a dad who mows the grass at an ungodly hour on Sunday morning.
"…so if could get Eric to go with the Evangelical Education program, then he could teach the boys at their grade level and Lucy and I can teach Savannah at the kindergarten level," Annie tells me a few hours later as she is getting dinner together. Meat loaf and garlic mashed potatoes with a potpourri of seasoned vegetables that she is now stir-frying in a pan….it all smells so good and I'm glad I've come over for Sunday dinner.
I usually just pop in and talk with Annie for a while and sometimes hand her the ingredients while she's cooking and she usually winds up inviting me. It's better than eating at home with Dad, Sandy and the boys.
And the meals here are so much better…Annie always goes all out for meals; none of that frozen food stuff or spaghetti shortcuts.
"Mom…have you seen Rick's diaper box?" Lucy bounds into the kitchen. She sees me and her blue eyes brighten a bit. "Hi, Martin…Mom, I can't find it."
"No…I thought you kept those in your closet," Annie says.
Lucy rolls her eyes. "I have enough in my overstuffed closet without a bulky diaper box crammed in there…don't you have a place you put it when you go shopping…the linen closet or something…because I checked and it's not there."
"Lucy, I have enough to keep track of without having to track your things also," Annie takes the veggies off the stove and moves into the dining room to start setting the table.
Lucy follows her, complaining, "Well, if it was too much for you to know where your grandson's diapers are, the least you could have done is told me!"
I hear the plates being clanged onto the table and the silverware being clinked beside the plates.
"I have told you it's time you started keeping track of your own belongings," Annie sighs gustily. "I'll help you look around after we eat…meanwhile, you can borrow one from the closet in Ruthie's room…she has Kaylee's diapers in there…"
I guess Lucy goes because Annie comes back into the kitchen. She sighs again. "She never did keep track of her own things…now she always comes to me as if I should know where her things and her kids' things are…if it weren't for her father and me, I have no idea where Lucy would be, she's so scatterbrained sometimes."
"Probably with Kevin," I quip. Kevin is Lucy's ex-husband. He lives down in LA and hardly ever comes to Glen Oak anymore. Lucy hates him and for a long time, didn't stop complaining about him and what an awful husband he was.
"Sometimes I do wish Kevin was still around," Annie says as I help her carry the food into the dining room. I hear the TV in the living room going and Sam and David running around, probably knocking things over. "Kevin often tempered Lucy…I still can't believe he just up and left her…"
Annie gets the big salad bowl from the kitchen and continues. "I sometimes could kill him…one night they just had a huge fight when they were living in that house next door…something about money and Eric and me…there was a lot of yelling and one of the neighbors called the police…all the neighbors came gawking at us…it was so embarrassing, especially since Lucy was screaming her head off and Kevin was packing and just ran out the door and never came back…just gone from her life…Lucy then had to move back home with us…she never could manage her money and what money she did make wasn't enough to support her children or keep up with the house payments."
"That's too bad…did they try marriage counseling?"
"Her father tried to get Kevin to come for it…but he wouldn't and a few days later, took a police job in LA and was gone within a week…Lucy had to move home…she moped around for several months and couldn't even work or take care of the kids…her father and I had to take over there…and this was on top of Ruthie becoming pregnant with that scum Mac…we had to deal with that also, not to mention Ruthie having to leave college and come back home…Eric and I will never forgive Mac for knocking Ruthie up, then leaving her high and dry with the bag…and I'm not sure I can fully forgive Ruthie for getting herself into this mess to begin with…she has no idea how to raise a kid, although God knows, I'm trying to teach her how to be a mother…"
A little shriek explodes from the living room and I hear one of the babies crying. "Mom, Sam tripped meeee with string…" Ruthie wails from the living room.
"Aaaand Ruthie stepped on my cardboard houuuuuuuuuse…" Sam adds his own loud voice.
"You were the one who put it right in the middle of the floor!" Ruthie screams at him. "And you woke Kaylee up after I spent hours trying to put her down…you have no respect for anyone else but yourself!"
"Aaaah, shut up, butt brain," Sam snarls.
"You shut up, you little pig!" Ruthie yells back and I hear scuffling.
"KIDS!" Annie runs into the living room. I follow and see Ruthie and Sam tangled in each other, slapping and kicking at each other.
"BOTH OF YOU STOP THIS RIGHT NOW!" Annie shouts, pulling Ruthie up by the arm. "Ruthie, you should know better than that!"
"It's not my fault!" Ruthie howls, her face going red. "He's the one who started snarking at me, then tripped me! He's always pulling crap like this on me and then I get the blame! When are you going to be a mother and discipline your sons, huh?"
"Okay, not another word!" Annie barks at her. "Sam and David, go get washed up for supper and no more of this silly bickering…I've had enough for today…go…I'm not telling any of you again!"
Smirking at this display, I slip back into the kitchen. "Hi, Martin," Ruthie follows me. Her curly hair is all over the place and she's still breathing hard.
"Hi," I say, smiling at her.
"I'm so sorry about my bratty brothers," Ruthie rolls her eyes as she leans on the counter. "Those boys are so out of control and neither Mom or Dad do anything to control them…Mom just blames me for the crap they do to me…it's positively sickening…and they also pamper Lucy…she's always been the family princess who can do no wrong in their eyes, so I get the shaft there too…I'm so glad I have you on my side, Martin…I don't know what I'd do without you…I'm just sorry you're stuck with that tramp…"
"And I'm sorry you're stuck with those brats also," I say, patting her shoulder. She leans on me a minute. I laugh ruefully. "We're both stuck in crappy living situations."
"Yeah…I wish you could dump her…" Ruthie says. "I wish we could just move away from here and go someplace like Palm Springs or Fort Lauderdale…live on the beach where it's warm all the time…just you and me…no Lucy…none of the twins' stupidity…no Sandy and her brats…no Mom and Dad breathing down my back and criticizing me…"
"Not to mention being away from my dad…not having to work that stupid mailroom job just to have a little money…my dad insists that I pay for the boys myself and support Sandy…she and Dad both get on my nerves…they always get on my case over trivial things if that makes you feel better, Ruthie…"
"We'd just have the beach, the waves, the palm trees, the warm breezes and just each other," Ruthie sighs.
"Dinner." Annie interrupts our mutual fantasy when she sticks her head in.
Reluctantly, we enter the dining room and sit down to eat. I notice Lucy scowling as Ruthie and I wind up next to each other. I ignore it and listen to Eric say grace. The twins giggle and poke each other until Annie glares them into silence. We all bow our heads at the end and say, "Amen…" before we start passing around food to eat.
…so if we have the cookout that Sunday of Labor Day weekend, we can invite the whole family," Annie is saying as she discusses cookout plans, which are next weekend.
"Let's hope we can get the other three prodigal children to come," Eric adds. "With Matt, it's like pulling teeth, especially since he married Sarah and they moved all the way to New York…"
"Mary's still iffy," Annie says. "The only time we hear from her is when she needs something from us…"
"Oh, Mom, you really aren't serious about inviting her after all she's done!" Lucy exclaims indignantly.
"Of course I am…" Annie tells her. "Even though she got into a lot of trouble, she's still family…"
"Yeah and whenever she does come you spoil and pamper her and ignore me!" Lucy complains.
"It wouldn't kill you not to be the center of the universe, Luce," Sam adds with a curl of his lip.
"Butt out, Sam!" Lucy glares at him, then back at Mom. "Remember when she first came back from Buffalo a year after you sent her away…you acted like she was royalty and showered her with all this love and attention and shunned the rest of us…"
"And as I remember, the rest of you kids, including Simon and Matt, rebelled and hid out in the garage," Annie retorts. "All of you were very disrespectful to me and your father…it took me a long time to forgive all of you for that betrayal and show of disrespect…"
"You all hid out in the garage?" I laugh.
"Yeah…" Ruthie nods. "And Mom locked us all out for a week after yelling at us…Simon was shaking after Mom yelled at us…I was the one who went in first and apologized when none of the others did."
"I'd love to have seen that…especially Simon," I laugh. Simon really is pathetic.
"Yeah…and Simon was already depressed and brooding all the time as it was and it was driving Mom crazy…"
"Just because you wanted to butter up Mom and Dad, not because you were really sorry!" Lucy sneers at Ruthie. "You usually disrespect everyone…remember that huge scene you made in the airport a few years ago on the way back from Scotland when Dad had his heart trouble?"
"Stop throwing the past in my face!" Ruthie shouts. "I learned from those mistakes, unlike you…you're the family princess, so of course you're above admitting blame…"
"That's enough, girls…" Eric booms. "This is a family meal and Martin is here, so let's stop rehashing past grudges and enjoy this time as a family."
Ruthie and Lucy stop bickering for now, but continue to glare at each other for the rest of the meal.
"So…anyway," Annie continues. "I'll try to talk Simon into coming…"
"Yuck!" David and Sam say.
"Yuck?" Annie says. "Boys, this is your brother who we all love…and let's show him a little kindness despite his problems, okay?"
I snort in hiding a laugh. Yeah…that'll happen. The twins are always making fun of Simon since he's so weird.
"Sure…" David shrugs. "How did his nose get bashed in anyway? And why does he mope around like some half-dead ghost?"
"And what's wrong with his mouth?" Sam sneers, making me laugh. I try to do so quietly. "Was he born deformed like that or did somebody beat him up?"
"No, no one beat him up, "Eric sighs. "People all look different just like you and I look different…look at Ruthie and my brown hair and your mother's blond hair…and Martin's black hair…does that make us 'weird'? No, it just makes us unique. So when Simon comes, no rude comments, all right? Simon has enough problems as it is and we need to be supportive, not mocking."
"Sure…" Sam smirks and David nods, but I know this little lecture will just go right out the window.
They've embarrassed Simon more than once with their comments. And Simon doesn't help matters by either going red, wincing, or shrinking back from them. Once he even got tears in his eyes and ducked into the bathroom after Sam insulted him.
"Is Simon adopted?" Sam asks. "He doesn't look anything like us at all."
Annie stiffens and draws a sharp intake of breath. "No, he is not adopted," she tells them grimly. "He is our son as much as you two are….speaking of Simon…Eric, did you go through and try to set up that interview with the Gorman company?"
"I did, but Simon told me he wasn't interested," Eric sighs. "I told him it was an office for a movie magazine…he'd get to meet stars and producers and would be just two hours from here, but closer to LA…but he just said no and would just continue the odd temp jobs…I don't understand why he doesn't want my help…I could get him a terrific job in his interests…but he doesn't budge…"
"His loss," I say. "Maybe he just doesn't have the drive or ambition…"
I also suspect he's just lazy and doesn't want to grab the opportunities that are there. It kind of irks me that while I am stuck doing a crappy mailroom job courtesy of my own dad, who's stingy, Simon has a dad who can get him into plum jobs in the movie industry he claims to be interested in, but Simon just wastes those opportunities.
"I think he wants a better, permanent job," Annie says. "But he still is carrying around excess baggage from his issues from this family and won't forgive us for what happened in college…remember his sex fiascos in college…we tried to intervene, but he just pushed us away and never forgave us…that boy can hold on to grudges…I just wish he would get over it and try to heal things with us…"
"I guess you have to accept the fact that it's Simon's problem, not yours," I advise them. "You did the best you could…Simon's lucky to have you as his parents…my dad just has me in some mailroom job, but you, Eric, are willing to go the extra mile for Simon. And if he doesn't appreciate that, it's his loss."
"Thank you, Martin," Annie croons. She reaches over and pats my hand. "I really needed to hear that…and I guess I'm grateful I have some of my family here with me…"
"I'm glad I have you…" I say, feeling flattered by Annie's praise.
Ruthie's smiling at me while Lucy rolls her eyes. I smile back at Ruthie. Ruthie's a pain sometimes, but I'm glad I have her. We can talk to each other about things we can never tell anyone else in the world.
Hope you all enjoyed this beginning…coming up is the interesting cookout!