17.
~ "Will you have to go to war?" Dylan asked. His eyes were wide and concerned while relaying all the gossip he'd heard at school to Alex. What happened that September in New York seemed important and life changing and it was all the school kids talked about. All their teachers and parents talked about.
Norma had taken Alex's suggestion and not allowed Dylan or Norman to watch TV.
Norman looked at Alex. The child had only recently stopped clinging to his mother's skirt so insistently and taken to pulling on Alex's hand for attention. The younger child intensely curious about the grown man who spoke softly to him and his brother, and who sometimes brought them plastic dinosaur toys.
Alex glanced back at Norma, saw she was busy, and wasn't paying attention to them. She was writing most nights and Alex was a convenient baby sitter.
"No." he told the two anxious little boys. "No, I won't go to war."
"But you were in a war before." Dylan said miserably. "Brad said his dad is enlisting."
"Well, I've already served two tours." Alex said calmly. "They don't want me to go again. They said I'm supposed to stay here and look after the two of you and your mother."
Dylan looked suspicious, but Norman seemed content at this. In the months since he'd come to live in White Pine Bay with his mother, Norman had gone from barely making a sound and bedwetting, to screaming for attention like a toddler and finally, to forming words.
It was terrifying to think of the amount of trauma the little boy must have suffered to so completely silence him and hold back his emotional growth. But every month brought Norman a little more out o his shell. He wanted his mother's attention understandably, but also Alex's. He would pull on Alex's hand and cry for no reason at all.
Tantrums were a daily thing with Norman when these adults weren't giving him their full focus and praise. Norman insisted on sitting near Alex while they watched TV and didn't like it if Dylan talked too much. He wanted to show Alex his new bed spread or toothbrush and screamed in anger if he caught Alex and his mother kissing. Unlike a child of six, Norman behaved like a violently jealous toddler who wanted everything and everyone within his reach. He wasn't about to share his mother or Alex with anyone.
Yet, just as quickly as it had started, this phase ended when he noticed Alex would pay more attention to Dylan, when he was quite and spoke with words.
Norman was very good at saying 'No' and 'Mom' and 'Dylan', but he hadn't reached that crucial part of connecting words yet.
Norma was working with him to learn words as well as to better express himself. Everyday was an improvement, but there still lingered that ghost of a child he'd once been. A child who never spoke or even cried. Who expected yelling at any moment and for there to be crying and screaming, blood and violence.
"They didn't say that." Dylan smiled but looked relived Alex wasn't leaving them.
"No." Alex agreed. "They didn't say that, but it's true. I'm not leaving you guys. A few of the other deputies have enlisted though and that's why I've been working more hours."
"Yeah." Dylan nodded. He was eleven already. He understood.
"Ralph!" Norman said holding up his police dog. No one had paid attention to him for a while and it was upsetting. Alex and Dylan glanced at him and he pointed to where Norma was typing in the eat in kitchen. It had been her work space for the past six months since they moved into the cramped little apartment on High Street.
She wrote everyday after work at City Hall. A file clerk job she was practically gifted with when her odd little story broke. The pay was next to nothing but it came with good benefits and all she had to do was file and pull court cases, marriage licenses, death certificates and other oddities. She became a notary and that entitled her to a marginal raise, but her real job these days was writing.
Alex didn't ask about her book. He would only read a few chapters when she deemed they were ready to be sent off to the publishers. He found her story surprising. Not at all the strange story of a woman who had accidentally been counted as dead but who had just run away. Instead, Norma wrote about things Alex had never thought about. Radical notions that reminded him of the rebellious literature of the 1960's. The kind of memoir that teenage girls would read, and would change their lives.
Norma wrote short, poetic chapters about her childhood. About poverty and not understanding poverty until you're older. Alex hadn't known this about her. Hadn't known she had a brother named Caleb who she was close to. How she would create a distraction in a local grocery store so Caleb could steal food for them. How it was all so amusing, now that she was on the other side of it.
Norma wrote about her mother. A woman who never seemed to wake up. She never woke up literally or figuratively. A woman who forever cited old movies as a reference for real life. Who didn't seem to understand what was real.
Norma wrote about her father and how he was like a beast. How everyone was afraid of him and how no one was safe in that house. She wrote about becoming pregnant at sixteen and having her son at seventeen. About resenting the baby because he'd stolen her youth away. How she felt guilty about resenting the baby because she loved him, but also wanted more for herself.
Sam's role in all this was like a tragic downfall. Admitting she'd lost all control and taken the easy way out. She described gaining weight, losing hope and allowing terrible things to happen.
Then, one day, she was free. She wrote about standing naked in front of a bathroom mirror and described her bruises and the rolls of unseemly fat. She described how she hated herself, but then realized how all this was cosmetic and changeable.
She wrote, in the same style, about police never looking at her, never seeing her, but she could see herself now. Her chapters became motivational and inspiring then. Even Alex, who couldn't understand what it was like to be a woman who was abused and with two small children, felt empowered by it.
The last chapter he'd been allowed to read was iconic. It described a suicide of sorts. A ripping apart the old flesh and letting it die. Norma no longer saw herself as that weak, cowardly woman anymore. She described herself as a warrior who destroyed her demons and came through the fires beautiful.
Alex wasn't sure how she would end it, but he was excited to find out.
~ Norma clutched the phone to her ear and waited for her agent to pick up. Alex had put the boys to bed for her and was waiting patiently for her to come to bed with him.
She smiled and nodded at him and mouthed that it would be a few minutes. Alex raised his brows. He knew how it was these days. His busy queen bee. It was a line he often teased her with, but she was happy. For the first time in a long time, she was in control of her life.
"Norma!" her agent Sonya Pearson spat. "Now, I thought we agreed on a crapy, sappy tell-all story about being mistaken for dead!"
Norma wanted to defend herself but she hesitated. Sonya didn't seem upset.
"I mean, shit!" Sonya cried. "I couldn't put this down! Where the fuck was this book when I was sixteen and my heart was being broken? Every teenage girl in America will want to read this. This will be the female version of catcher in the fucking rye, Bitch."
"Really?" Norma asked skeptically. She'd been having her doubts about the manuscript. It wasn't very long and she'd glossed over a lot about her childhood. Dylan's father for example and some of the unsavory parts she didn't want the world to know.
"Yes! This is the story girls need to read. The story we should have read when we were this age!" Sonya argued.
"Well, that's why I'm calling. I don't know if I want to publish. A lot of it, it's personal. I can write about… what you wanted me to-"
"Fuck that!" Sonya spat. "We're doing this story. This is the rebel story, Norma. This is the angry girl who's been pushed down too long. This is apart of her war cry."
"I…"
"Look, if you want, we can put it under another name. I get it. A lot of shit in here is personal. You live in a small as fuck town and you've got the two kids." Sonya told her.
Norma glanced at Alex who had checked on the boys. Norman wanted Alex to put him to bed each night. Her youngest son seeming to emulate Alex at every chance. He would even eat like him these days and refused to share him with his mother. It was as if Alex were a possession that belonged to him and he didn't want to share.
"Look, a first timer like you gets her cherry popped for a little under 5k." Sonya said gruffly. "After that, royalties come in depending on how well the book will do. We print this on the soft back, make it affordable for our young, edgy teen girls. Get write ups in blogs. Keep it cool and underground. I think a pen name would be best."
"A pen name?" Norma asked. "What?"
"Well, the name Norma sounds like someone's grandmother. So we need something edgy and cool. Something mythical and magical. Something that would appeal to our target audience." Sonya said.
Norma never thought of her name as old.
"I…" Norma stammered.
"I got it!" Sonya snapped. "Juno! She's the Roman goddess of the home, marriage and family. She's the mother goddess."
"Juno… what?" Norma asked. She didn't care for the name.
"Just Juno." Sonya said. "Like Cher. It adds mystery. People will think you're twenty something."
"I am twenty something." Norma said dryly.
"Yeah, but most women your age don't have two kids and have just finished a second divorce." Sonya said tartly.
Norma almost argued with her, but Sonya was talking very fast.
"I'll fed-ex the contracts over and you have that scummy little lawyer of yours look them over. This time next year, you'll be published!" she said.
Norma was about to tell her off but the line went dead.
"Hey." Alex whispered.
Norma stared in wonder at the phone.
"They want to publish. They think its'… good. But they want to change my name." she told him to his unasked question.
"Like Marylyn?" Alex asked. "You know she was still Norma Jean in the end."
Norma smiled and ran a hand over to the star pendant Alex had given her for Christmas that year.
It was an unusual star. Not something anyone could find in any shop. Alex had it custom made with a bright sapphire in it's center and long, elegant points reaching outward. It was defiantly a star, but unlike any she'd seen before. He'd given her the pendent because she wasn't ready for a diamond engagement ring yet.
For now, she needed to be a mother and to find out who she was outside of a relationship. It had so far been a good deal. Alex came over most nights for dinner and to keep the boys company while she looked through her diary for what to write about. Her leather grimoire proving invaluable when she wrote. As if seeing things in a new light. Things she'd forgotten about with Alex's love and her boys feeling safe.
"Maybe it's for the best. I mean, if no one knows… the real me." she admitted. She'd written about Caleb in her diary. What he'd done to her. What she'd allowed him to do to her for so long. How she'd loved him and how they had a son together. She'd never allow Alex to read that though. Never allow that to be published. To write these demons down seemed to give them life. A life she was powerless to control now that Sonya had the words and was going to call her a goddess.
"It was all so personal." she admitted. "This way, I can still be me."
Alex extended a hand to her.
"Let's go to bed. Think about it in the morning." he said.
White Pine Bay Current
December 1st, 2002
Just in time for Christmas and a perfect last minute gift, 'Everything Nice' by our own Norma Bates, is finally available right here in White Pine Bay Bookshop.
Norma Bates has collected a wealth or easy recipes for all year round and added beautiful pictures and back stories for each dish. This cookbook promises a lot of fun times in the kitchen for families. Hopefully, cooking from this book will be a new tradition here in White Pine Bay.
Norma Bates will be at the White Pine Bay Bookshop on Hope Street this Saturday to sign autographs of her wonderful cookbook.
White Pine Bay Current
March 5th, 2003
Sheriff Wayne to take an early retirement.
Sheriff James R. Wayne will take an early retirement effective at the end of the year. Sheriff Wayne has served the citizens of White Pine Bay since his first election over ten years ago. He's put forward local Deputy Alex Romero to act as interim Sheriff until the next election.
"I have tremendous faith in Deputy Romero." Wayne was quoted yesterday. "He's lead the way in shutting down some of the more bothersome areas of town such as the Sea Fairer Motel. A place that was breeding crime and was a general eye sore. Unfortunately, law enforcement is a young man's work. Alex Romero has a good moral compass. I know he will do what is best for this community."
A retirement party will be held for Sheriff Wayne this Friday at the Lyons Club. Please check the cub's web sight for details.
White Pine Bay Current
September 2, 2003
'Everything Nice' in White Pine Bay
Local woman Norma Bates will be opening a new home goods gift shop downtown that will offer cooking classes for couples and small groups. Norma Bates has already gained some celebrity by her recent cookbook 'Everything Nice'. A local favorite here in White Pine Bay with beautiful picture recipes and stories of each dishes origin.
She promises her new business, which specializes in high end home goods, will sell everything an orderly kitchen will need, and will be the perfect one stop shop for all bridal registry orders.
'Everything Nice' named after her best selling cookbook, will sell 'Everything Nice' for your home.
New York Times Book Review
March 20th, 2004
'I Slay Dragons' by Juno
No one can deny the power of this book by the scrappy little publishing company Bartson Trail. It has the motivational power that just isn't found in average literature. In a world of ever sugary teen literature, 'I Slay Dragons' stands out.
With it's shocking honesty about poverty, teen pregnancy, spousal abuse, self image and finding the courage to change, this is the only book our girls should be reading. Unfortunately, it's these very honest subjects that have parents wanting this book on the banned list.
It describes vivid encounters of sexual abuse by an unnamed person, an out of wedlock birth, marital rape, violence in the home, and self abuse. Yet, it is these very evils that made the protagonist so shockingly human. It becomes the book, the story that speaks to all of us.
A huge success and anthem with young women, 'I Slay Dragons' has it's readers demanding more from it's mysterious writer. A writer who pens her work from the name of 'Juno' and refuses to make public appearances.
White Pine Bay Current
November 5th, 2004
Interim Sheriff Romero wins election.
Deputy and interim Sheriff Alex Romero ran unopposed in his election to be the new Sheriff of White Pine Bay. Romero had taken over as interim Sheriff after Sheriff Wayne retired late last year.
When asked for a quote, Sheriff Romero responded that he's "Very happy to have earned the trust of his fellow citizens".
White Pine Bay Current
December 2nd, 2004
County Clerk Report, page 2
Marriages and Marriage Licenses
Juliet Brams, 18 and Travis Smith 19, applied for a marriage license on November 29th at White Pine Bay City Hall
Delia White, 30 married John Algarve 45 on November 29th at White Pine Bay City Hall.
Ava March, 23 married Don Walsh, 24 on December 1st, at White Pine Bay Lutheran Church.
Norma Bates, 30 married Alex Romero 36 on December 1st at White Pine Bay City Hall
Clara Low, 29 and Tom Right 34, applied for a marriage license on December 2nd at White Pine Bay City Hall
White Pine Bay Current
March 3rd, 2005
'Everything Nice' Again?
After the success of her first cookbook, Norma Bates (known locally as Norma Romero) will release her second cookbook this December. Just in time for the holidays.
"It has been such a wonderful experience to touch so many people's lives." Mrs. Romero admitted. "My community is like an extended family."
Norma Bates is married to our very own Sheriff Alex Romero and is also the owner of a home good store, also called 'Everything Nice'. She teaches cooking classes for couples and small groups and has an impressive display of home wears should anyone need to check something off for the bride and groom.
White Pine Bay Current
January 10th, 2006
Sheriff Romero and wife welcome daughter.
Sheriff Alex and Norma Romero, owner of 'Everything Nice' home goods shop and author of two cook books by the same name, have welcomed home their first child together, a daughter they have named Theresa Rose.
Theresa is welcomed home by her parents and her two older brothers, Dylan and Norman Romero.
The Romero family thanks the community of White Pine Bay for their support.
New York Times Book Review
November 30th, 2007
After years of waiting, a new day has arisen for the rabid fans of 'I Slay Dragons' the first and only book written by the enigmatic Juno.
'Not all Witches Burn' will be released next month, and its' title is most likely a scathing jab at detractors of her first book, saying its' writer Juno practices witchcraft and encourages her readers to do likewise.
Early reviews of the new book proclaim it to be on par with the first one with poetic stories of a grim childhood and overcoming abuse and self loathing.
'What was so moving to me was the evolution of the brother and sister incest.' wrote one reviewer. 'Juno wrote that it started out as a confused sort of 'love' relationship that she didn't understand the power of. A force that when she refused to comply sexually to her older brother, he raped her repeatedly. The fact she can say she loved him and has forgiven him, speaks to the power of forgiveness. Juno doesn't shy away from the fact that not everyone may be ready to forgive, but we all should be ready to move away from those who have wronged us.'
'I loved how Juno said to never let the shadow of your enemy touch your body. Never let those who hate you, cast darkness on you. That had so much power to it.' wrote another reviewer.
"Not all Witches Burn" will be available December 15th.
White Pine Bay Current
February 15th, 2008
A Valentines Baby for Sheriff and Mrs. Romero!
Valentines Day is now extra special for the Romero family here in White Pine Bay. The couple welcomed their second child together yesterday, a daughter they have named Sarah Anne.
Sarah Anne Romero will be welcomed home by her older siblings Dylan, Norman and Teresa Romero.
Sheriff Alex Romero will once again run unopposed for Sheriff this election year, and Mrs. Romero is the author of 'Everything Nice' a dual cookbook which has become a staple in most White Pine Bay homes. Mrs. Romero also owns and runs a high end home good store, also called 'Everything Nice' located downtown.
White Pine Bay Current
June 29th, 2014
Congratulations to Officer Dylan Romero, United States Marine Corps
Dylan Romero, 24 of White Pine Bay had recently graduated from the officers training for the United States Marine Corps.
Second Lieutenant Romero was cheered by his family and fiancé Emma Decody at the officer's graduation ceremony in Quantico, Virginia this past weekend.
When asked for a statement, Second Lieutenant Romero stated: "I'd always wanted to join the Marines like my dad. He's always been the man I looked up to. Mom insisted I finish school first, and mom makes the rules in our house."
Sheriff Alex Romero was an MP in the United States Marines during the first Gulf War and served two tours with distinction.
White Pine Bay Current
June 20th, 2015
Norman Romero: Class of 2015 Valedictorian
Norman Romero had achieved the honor of being this year's Valedictorian. In addition to his excellent grades, Norman Romero is also the founder and president of the Future Doctor's of America Club.
He's been accepted at the University or Oregon on a full scholarship and wishes to not only study medicine and pharmacology, but mental illness.
"My mother is my greatest inspiration." Mr. Romero said in his Valedictorian speech yesterday. "She's overcome so much over the years. I know none of it was easy, but she made it look easy. She's inspired so many people in ways none of you can ever dream of."
Norman Romero is the second son of Norma Romero and the adopted son of Sheriff Alex Romero.
New York Times Book Review
August 19th, 2017
'Juno' stands the test of time.
While other teen books have fallen away like so many sparkly vampires, Juno's two books have become an unstoppable force.
Her books are banned in most school libraries because of the depiction of incest and rape, but that doesn't make her stories less sacred in the hearts and minds of the women who read them.
The writer has always been a mystery, even to her own kind, but it's this mystery that had captured the imagination of her fans. Her agent and publisher has refused to give away her secret identity and in fact eluded that Juno is everything from a transvestite with mother issues, to a working single mother who write cookbooks as a blind.
Whomever Juno is, she deserves the praise she's received over the years. In the new era of women's marches and politicians bragging about sexual assault, Juno has made a comeback equal to the 'Handmaids' in the women's movement.
Her works have laughed in the face of possessive vampire boyfriends, told us that the dystopia future is now and to look our enemies in the eye.
Juno has bucked off the Tween-Lit hierarchy of the trilogy in favor of small stories of empowerment. No princesses, no evil corporate empire to overthrow, no wizards, no factions or televised games to the death.
Her story is timeless, raw and real. All we can hope is that Juno will publish again. There is a whole new generation of young women waiting.
Well, my friends. I wanted to end this story here. On a happy note that Norma has conquered her past and inspired others.
I love the idea of a secret identity all through this story and that Alex wanted the real her.
As we see, Norma and Alex are okay with the simple life. A nice, boring, small town life that we know she would love.
My next story will post soon. It will be a WW2 story with Norma and Alex. Vera compared Norma Bates to Hepburn and Bacall and I think she was spot on about that. I picture her as being a very brassy lady of the 1940's who knows her mind and speaks it.
