Terrence
Chapter 2: The First Birthday Party
(One Year after Terrence's Birth)
Even though he stumbled a bit Terrence ran across the living room squealing. His grandparents from both sides cheering as he ran into the arms of Todd Redford West, Terry's father.
"Seems I'm his favourite," Todd said proudly as he lift the one-year old baby with bushy black hair into the air.
Bruce Judy Arnold sighed. Todd was always competitive. He never understood how his daughter Tricia married a son from such an overly competitive and in his own opinion an extremely easily provoked man.
"I think Terr just likes to be held by you more," Francine Mary West spoke, her voice soft as it usually was, "Bruce has his arthritis so it's hard for him to sometimes…"
"Who asked you?" Todd snapped at his wife.
Francine jumped then went completely silent.
Sandra Kristen Arnold who sat beside Francine glared.
Tricia knowing her mother decided to speak up first.
"Well we already sang happy birthday to Terrence," Tricia said happily, "now we…"
"Let your mother talk," Todd said, "I'd love to hear what the feminist has to say," he said sarcastically.
"Your way of whining that a woman can have a mouth," Sandra countered.
"You're just bitter because your daughter married my son," Todd told her, "it's just that Terry's a real man," he said to her, "look at him cool and collected over there as his wife takes care of their son like a real woman should."
Terry stood by the door jam smoking a cigarette. He only sang Happy Birthday automatically with the rest of the 'family' before returning to the door jam after giving Terrence a loveless kiss on the cheek.
"Um," Francine said then went silent.
Todd looked at his wife who shrunk even smaller in the couch under his stare.
"I'll stop for the sake of the child," Sandra said picking up on what Francine was too afraid to say.
"Heh," Todd said superiorly, "a little argument never hurt nobody," he said.
I don't see that when I look at your son. – Bruce
"But you really need to let the boy go out more," Tracy Renee Bennett; Tricia's best friend, said as she came in with her seven kids in tow, "he needs more friends," she added.
Slut. – Terry
"Can I hold him?" Lenny the eldest child asked.
"Are you sure you can handle it?" Francine asked worried about the African American six year old.
"Yes I also hold my younger siblings," Lenny said simply and held out his hands.
"Tracy," Terry spoke.
Tricia's heart sank. Nothing good came of these two being in the same room together. Worse yet speaking.
"Yes Terry I already know that I have kids that cover several racial groups," Tracy said sarcastically, "sorry, I didn't find one man and married," she continued, "oh wait, one of my friends did and unfortunately got you," she added.
Terry's eyes flared.
"Tracy," Tricia pleaded.
"Whorish bitch," Terry muttered.
"Wanna speak up," Tracy challenged, "your only son can't hear your filthy mouth," she said.
"Mommy," Ira her three year old Asian son whined.
Tracy's green eyes hit him like a train. Ira went silent.
Regina and Mira, Tracy's twin six-month old daughters, started crying in her arms.
Tracy quickly started to shush them. Both babies had her auburn hair but their father's grey eyes. No one but Tracy knew who the father was. But since he sent things for the children people guessed he was loaded, unlike most of the men Tracy got involved with. But one thing they didn't have to guess and Tracy never denied was that this man was married. Like most of the men who actually doted on her. Which were few and far between in this moral suburban town. Used, reused, then refused. That was Tracy's usual use to men. She even dated Terry once. Once.
The twenty-one year old mother left. Her twenty-year old friend Tricia torn between helping her and staying with her contending family.
"I'll go help her," Francine said softly and hurried off before her husband could stop her.
"Dumb busy body," Todd muttered.
"That's your wife," Bruce said unable to hold in his dissatisfaction any longer.
"Tend to yours and leave mine alone old timer," Todd snapped, "I'm not the one married to someone twenty years my junior," he said in reference to Sandra, "talk about robbing the cradle and the graveyard in one full swoop," he said and laughed.
Terry chuckled.
"Go ahead and laugh you ugly mullet…" Sandra started.
"What!" Terry shouted turning to face her.
Sandra was ready to answer.
"Mom," Tricia pleaded.
"Let's celebrate Terrence's birthday party," Bruce told her humbly.
Sandra who was still glaring at Terry fiercely calmed herself.
"I'd do anything for my grandson," Sandra said taking a deep breath.
"You better not cause your ticker to stop old lady," Terry told her.
"I'm in my forties," Sandra countered, "I'm not old," she said darkly.
That shut Terry up.
Lenny who now held Terrence gently cooed at the increasingly upset child.
Some birthday party. More like a hell raiser. – Bruce
We'll make his next birthday better. – Sandra
"You better grow up beyond your parents," Lenny whispered, "between a jerk and a scared woman you don't have very good role models to pick," he told the curious baby who kept touching Lenny's face since he (Terrence) rarely saw anyone non-white where he lived.
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(Three Days Later)
It was three days and Tricia kept sobbing. Terry snorted.
"It happened three days ago," Terry said, "I'm not crying," he said, "I'm twenty-four, act twenty," he snapped and stormed off.
When he was gone a tear streaked Tricia dug under her pillow and pulled out a picture.
It had a blonde hair woman in her forties with hazel eyes like Tricia's. A man in his sixties with white hair that was once chestnut brown like his now crying daughter, he also had wise loving sapphire blue eyes. A black haired man just entering his forties with onyx eyes, unlike the other two who both had kind smiles and were slim, he had a superior hard grin and was of a heavier younger looking built. The last a tiny diminutive woman who was less than a year away from the forty-year old mark. She had raven black hair heavily flecked with grey and looked older than her husband with her small fearful dark brown eyes.
Trricia's eyes flowed even heavier with tears. They were the only relatives she had to communicate with. Her father's family had disowned him when he married her mother and her mom was an only child and orphaned in less than three years after getting married. Terry was the only child that still communicated with his parents. Their five other kids had nothing to do with them. Three because they left leaving and allowing no further communication. And two because they were dead. One in a shoot-out and the other from a debilitating disease.
Now they were dead. Ice on the road had caused the car that Todd was driving with his wife and her parents inside to skid off the road, slam into a tree and fall down an embankment. Her mother was the only one found alive at the scene but she died on the way to the hospital.
"This is so horrible," Tricia said as she cried, "now I'm the only family left that loves Terrence," she said tearfully, "maybe Terry was right, maybe it was wrong of me to have a baby right now," she pondered thinking of how things had only gotten worse since Terrence's birth.
Chapter 2 Completed.
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