Title:
Sister Christian
Author:
Joy
Email: SleepingBeauty2@ziplip.com
Rating: PG-13
"Alright Thina, oh you
of great wisdom, how do I do the friend thing with Rory?" Tristan asked on
their way home from their grandmother's house. It was a good visit with a very
old woman. Tristan had mainly tried to stay out of the way. Thina was much
better at the caretaker roll then he. He continually marveled at the way his
sister treated those around her. She was nothing like their father. It wasn't
people of privilege she was kind to so that she would have connections but
rather those who needed help. She had a heart like Rory.
"I'm not like you… I don't know
how to be…nice…for the sake of nice," he muttered pitifully.
Thina assessed their excursion as a
success by the way Tristan asked the question. "It's not that you aren't
like me…It's you haven't been raised to cultivate kindness in yourself and
others. Truth is you function on the thought that power is the only thing of
importance in the world. You know how to shmuse with the best of them but you
don't know how to be sincere. Until you learn that Rory Gilmore will always be
out of reach."
"Ok, but how do I change
that."
"You work at it moron. Practice
doing random acts of kindness and expect nothing in return. Small things will
be best- helping in the kitchen with the staff, calling your mom rather then
waiting for her to call, write grandma…things like that. Then move onto bigger
things like finding out what Rory likes and doing something nice for her,"
Thina stated in absolute authority on all things pure and true.
"All right, I'll try,"
Tristan sighed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tires squeal into the drive of Thina's
shelter, causing a great deal of screaming outside. Tristan stormed into the
building hell bent on a confrontation with his sister. Thina's boyfriend slash
would be fiancé Michael saw the young man storming the shelter from the
kitchen. "Your little prince spoiled is here!" Michael informed Thina
as she walked toward the door to see the commotion.
Tristan slammed his hands down on
one of the tables that was going to be used for dinner and preceded to turn it
over. "I HATE YOU!!! YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT LOVE AND
FRIENDSHIP!!!" Tristan screamed at his sister.
Thina was not pleased at all. She
walked up to her little brother and grabbed hold of his ear putting pressure on
a nerve in order to cause the boy pain. "I don't know what your problem is
but one you don't talk that way to me, two you will
clean up the mess you made including wiping down this table so it is ready for
dinner, and three you will never utter those three words to me
again. Do you understand?" Thina said directly into Tristan's aching ear.
"I don't tolerate that kind of behavior from anyone who lives here and I
sure as hell am not going to tolerate it from you. You know better. Now get to
work." Thina let go of his ear and threw a washcloth in his face.
Michael and one of the volunteers
and the shelter went to help Tristan with the table only to have Thina come
back to them. "He knocked it over by himself, he can clean it up by
himself. Those lily-white hands of his need some clauses. He needs to learn
there are consequences to actions… Sometimes money and connections can't help
you. This is one of those times. Tristan will do it himself even if it takes
him all night."
Tristan stared at his sister in
amazement. She had never been so cold to him… then again he had just said he hated
her. "You're serious?" he asked.
"You're in my domain now rich
boy. There is no special treatment, especially for you. You will turn the table
back over, wash it down, and reset the twenty place setting you knocked over.
You will then go into the kitchen and wash all the silverware that you knocked
off the table. You will serve the people food and only then will you and I
talk. Until then you are on your own with me watching every move you make. If
you grumble about the work, I'll add more on. I'm not opposed to having you
work all night for endangering the people who live here by racing into the
parking lot. Welcome to the other side DuGrey. I had great hopes for the
progress I saw in you. Now you're just a shorter and poorer version of
Dad." She turned on her heal and walked away from him.
Tristan called after her, "My
clothes my get ruined if I do…"
Abruptly turning Thina shot him an
icy glare, "More concerned about the clothes on your back then the people
you might have hurt in the parking lot. Why am I even surprised? Go home
Tristan… You belong to that world. I'll see you… at Thanksgiving."
Tristan felt cold inside. His older
sister didn't want to see him for months. In fact it was obvious she didn't
want to see him at all. Disgust was the only emotion on her face as she faced
him. "Thina?" he choked out weakly.
"Goodbye Tristan," she
uttered and went to sooth a crying child that had been scared by his entrance.
He watched his sister mother the little girl wiping away the tears from her
dark face. Tristan walked out of the dining room not picking up his feet.
Outside he sat in his badly parked
car and switched on the ignition. He went to leave and the icy truth in his
sister's words haunted him. Why am I even surprised? Go home Tristan… You
belong to that world. He turned his car around and parked it next to
Thina's in the parking lot at the back of the building. Tristan returned to the
dining room shame faced as he began to clean up after the tantrum he threw.
Michael stared as he saw the blond
boy retrieving silverware from the floor. Tristan piled it into a stray cup on
the floor. He stacked the other cups together. Silently he set about doing what
Thina required of him. He turned the table back on its legs, straining to get
into place. It was easier to knock down then to set up.
Tristan didn't look up from his work
knowing better then to seek approval from his sister yet. In the kitchen, he
retrieved a dish tub to put all the silverware and cups in. With rolled up
sleeves Tristan set the utensils to soak while he wiped the table down. Michael
smiled at his 'little brother's progress. "Cake eater," he called. "You're
doing good… If you really want to endear yourself to your big sis…go talk to
some of our guests."
The teenager looked at the older man
and nodded, "Thanks… Can I ask? What's up with you and Thina these days?"
"I hope to marry her… but your dad
did successfully instill the fear of marriage into her heart. One day maybe if
I stick through enough of the hard stuff, she'll realize I want to stick around
forever," Michael answered thoughtfully. "Anyway, get back to work before she
decides to throw you out on your ear."
"Yeah…"
The evening proceeded with Tristan
serving and cleaning as his sister commanded with no complaint. Suddenly the
loss of the love of his sister was much more important then his pride or his
persona.
With dinner done and several
enlightening conversations had, Tristan found himself sitting at a table with
an old man whom had fallen asleep at the table in his wheelchair. Tristan
looked to his sister to say quietly, "Thina, does Mr. Johnson have a bed here?"
"Down the first hall on the right.
His is the second cot."
"Why doesn't he have a room?"
"This isn't the holiday inn Tristan.
We normally only allow people to stay for a month before we turn their beds
over to someone new. I'm allowing him to live out the remainder of his days
here but I can't give him his own room."
Tristan looked at his sister and
then rolled Mr. Johnson to his bed. This was a world he didn't know at all and
yet Thina fit into it perfectly, caring for the hurt and the homeless. Tristan
stared at the old man sleep after he got him into bed.
Thina came and sat down next to her little brother.
"You done good kid. I didn't expect you to come back."
"I don't want to become dad," he said quietly.
Thina smirked, "There's hope for you yet." The
siblings hugged and all was forgiven. "Now what prompted your temper tantrum?"
"Guess?"
"Rory?" she said with wisdom.
"Yeah… She got back together with her boyfriend… I
was there… I watched them fight about me and I was happy," he said with
disgust. "And then she told him she loved him… They started making out right
there in the front of the school."
"And you were dieing inside," she said as she put
her arm around her little brother.
"I was just so frustrated because I had gotten
tickets for us to go to this concert to see one of her favorite bands and she
wouldn't go with me."
"So your act of kindness went un-rewarded," Thina
looked at him with wise eyes.
"I just thought it would be fine once we went out
together because I would sweet to her and lavish all sorts of gifts on her… and
then she said she hated me and she loved him. I just blew," Tristan said with
his face in his hands.
"Shall I show you the error of your ways or can you
see them from here?" Thina asked quietly running her fingers through his hair.
"Tell me- I need to know. I need my humiliation to
be complete."
The smirk of humor appeared on his sister's face.
"You ran to the front of the line without having earned the right to be there.
The guy before you paid his dues- I'm sure he's dealt with Lorelei a number of
times in order to secure his position with Rory. Rory wanted you as a friend
and you pushed for more. I don't know what happened to prompt her to say she
hated you, but I don't think you're blameless. She probably does love this guy.
Rory doesn't strike me as the type to use those words lightly." Tristan sat
staring at the ground.
"How important is Rory to you Tristan?"
He looked at her timidly, "I want to have her
around…I want to have her trust."
"That's a big deal… Apologizes are in order. If you
want her trust, or even her in your life you have to make peace with the
situation and wait," Thina stated.
"Peace and Wait? What do you mean?" Tristan asked.
"Apologize to Rory for pushing, correct any
miscommunications you may have caused, and the big one is make peace with the
boyfriend. He's a part of her life. If you want any of her time or attention
you have acknowledge his right to be with her. You're the outsider- not him.
Once you've done all that you walk away. Say hi to her in the halls and talk to
occasionally but you DON'T PUSH!"
"I have never had to work to be with a girl before…
And there is no promise she is ever going to like me as more than a friend… I
just can't…" Tristan muttered.
"To have someone like Rory in your life you have to
work for it. If you want to stay like Dad you can just ignore Rory. If you want
to move beyond his superficial relationships then you have to expect that it
won't be easy. Truth is there are other Rory's out there you just have to learn
how to stop torturing them," Thina said quietly.
"You were a Rory weren't you?"
"Yeah… and I had my very own Tristan who tortured
me," she spoke soothingly.
"Where is he now?" Tristan asked.
"I haven't a clue… I gave up hope of him being human
my junior year… But I got Michael so I'm happy."
"Rory's happy…" Tristan breathed.
"And maybe its time to let Rory be happy and you to
figure out who you want to be – not because you want her heart but because you
want to be a better person," the older DuGrey said leaning her forehead to her
brother's.
"Yeah… I guess it's time to let her go…"
"Yeah…"