A Funeral in Zanesville,OH Part II.
At that moment the doors to the church were flung open, and Flint was reminded of the moment at Seth's funeral when his estranged parents had barged in. As on that day, every head in the room turned to see who had just come in, and Flint saw the flicker or recognition on his friend's face…
"I hope that isn't the guy that was driving the car," whispered Skylar as there was a murmur of conversation around the room.
"No, it isn't and I am going to hazard a guess from the way that there is the low chatter going on around the room that the man that has just walked in is Beats' absentee brother-in-law," Flint whispered back.
Thad nodded, and said sotto voce, "Well, that is a turn up; I expect that things will be a little lively after the service now…"
Thad had barely finished his sentence when they all witnessed Mr Harper get to his feet as the man approached him, intending to sit alongside his family in the front pew. Thad saw the look on the older man's face and readied himself to go down to the front himself, and in the way that all teachers seem to have, shepherd the children away from the possible fight. In the end however it was not necessary as the man saw the look on his ex-father-in-law's face, nodded to him, and then took a seat across the aisle from his children. By that one action, he made it clear to everyone that he had not come that day to start a fight in front of his kids. He did not wish to cause any upset which could see them reject him right from the start…
With everyone now seated, the pastor began the service, and all of the issues were swiftly forgotten in the simple words of the funeral mass. Elliott did brace himself to cough loudly if the pastor called the deceased a loving mother at any point, as he was sure that his husband might mutter something rather scornful if he did. However, that adjective was not used and indeed, the honesty with which the pastor spoke made them all gasp at times.
He did not cover over the circumstances of her death for example, stating that she had passed after the vehicle she had been a passenger in had crashed at high speed. True, he did not mention the reason why the car was travelling at such a speed, and that the police were in hot pursuit at the time, but that was done to spare the children above everything else. In any case, the congregation all knew the truth, so there was no need for it to be repeated. The service ended with prayers for the family of the deceased, but not for the actual victim, which to an outsider walking in might have seemed callous. In the circumstances most of the people gathered there felt it was right, and Thad, knowing that her soul was currently in a state of limbo, felt that it was for the best…
The casket was removed at the end of the service, but not for burial; it would be taken away for cremation, and in due course the ashes would be returned to her parents. Beats secretly thought that the fate that would have befallen Wes Montgomery had his cousin Michelle not intervened would be more appropriate however; to have her ashes placed in a plastic bag, inside a cardboard box, gathering dust on a shelf somewhere, awaiting a collection that never came. He knew though that his mom would never stand for that…
There was now a more pressing issue to deal with, and a very fine balance would need to be struck. Beats was grateful when the pastor came straight over once the casket had been removed to speak to his mom and the children in particular; he suggested that the children might like to come and see something that he had in the vestry. Mrs Harper knew that he was trying to get them out of the room and away from what was about to happen, and she was grateful to him. Elliott realised what was going on too, and with a pointed look at Beats, he helped his mother-in-law shepherd the children out of the room. That was most necessary with his nephew, who was glowering at his father, and looked as if he was spoiling for a fight. "Not a good idea," he whispered in the boy's ear. "It would really upset your grandmother and your sisters too, and honestly, the person that would end up getting hurt the most would be you…"
"He needs to know that he can't just walk back in…"
"Your grandfather and uncle will tell him that, trust me. The thing that you need to focus on though is not the fact that he was absent for so long, but on the fact that he has come back when you really need him the most. You need to know his side of the story, not just what your mother told you was true in any case. Your mom might have been every bit as bad a wife as she was a mother at times…"
"They did fight a lot when he was at home with us all," the boy said quietly. "I remember all the shouting and screaming; not the words, as I was too young, but the noise…"
"Well, now that you aren't a little kid, but a young man, you need to allow him to explain what was going on to you. There is nothing worse for a child than to lose their parents; your mom is gone and can't come back, but you have a second chance now to have your father back in your life, in some way or another…." Elliott stopped then, as he suddenly realised that just because the man had come to the funeral, it did not imply that he would be keeping in contact…
That thought was the exact same one that was going through Beats' mind as he sat silently alongside his father and waited for everyone else to file out, and leave them alone with his sister's ex-husband. He too sat there in silence on the other side of the church; had he walked out with everyone else then it would have been a tough one to handle, but it would have been much easier potentially in the long run for them all. Then it was just the three of them, the door firmly shut behind the last people to leave. Beats remained quiet, expecting his father to say something first, but in the end it was his ex-brother-in-law that broke the silence.
"I was in two minds at first about coming here today… When I left I thought that it would be for the best for everyone, because the way that she was treating me, her behaviour and the fact that she was cheating on me, well it was driving me crazy. I was worried that my temper would finally get the better of me and that I would kill her in a rage. She kept provoking me, kept pushing me… I also knew that it had to be a clean break. I love my kids, and the last thing that I wanted for them was to have to go through the pain of hearing their parents' dirty laundry being discussed by the adults, and probably by their classmates too. Anyways, I packed a bag and walked away. I left everything else behind, including every cent that I had in savings…"
"Well that can't have been much, giving that she was begging us for money to pay the mortgage and bills to stop her being evicted and the children being made homeless within a month," scoffed Mr Harper.
The man across the aisle looked startled at that, and shook his head. "Sir, as God is my witness, I left her with $20,000 in the savings account, and once I had managed to get myself a job, I made a deposit of half of my salary into that same account each month so she had cash to spend on the kids…" He shook his head at the look of disbelief that he was receiving from the two other men, then went on, "Yeah, it figures that she never mentioned that to you, that she plead poverty. She was like that throughout our marriage, and it was why the arguments started. I used to tell her that even if we won the big jackpot on the Powerball lottery, had a billion dollars, she would still complain that she didn't have any money…"
Mr Harper looked at the man before him as if he was about to react angrily to those words, but his son spoke first. "Oh, I can relate to that statement; even once she had taken every cent of my college living fund, every last bit of the cash that would have meant I could have a little more comfort whilst I was at school, she would still beg me for more. She sent me a text once to say that it was selfish of me not to try and obtain a scholarship from Princeton, as I had done at Dalton, to pay for my college tuition; then she said that I should get a loan instead of taking money from you and mom, dad. She then went on to say that I was taking the food from her children's mouths. I actually made an appointment to speak to the advisors at Princeton, and they told me that there was no chance of a scholarship at that late stage. They looked into how my tuition was being paid, and stated that as you had set up a payment plan for the whole of my college years, it would be difficult and indeed costly to change it at that stage. I decided it was best just to ignore her text messages from then on…"
There was silence for a moment, then Beats' father spoke. "Why did you never tell us this?"
"Because you and mom were already being put through enough grief and pain by her without me adding to it. After that, I realised that I had to be tough in my attitude towards her and not give in to her emotional blackmail. The next time I heard from her was just after Wes had passed away; somehow, she had heard he had left money in his will, and I lied to her and said that I hadn't been named in it. If I hadn't, she'd have wanted to take all that from me too."
His former brother-in-law looked at him and sighed. "She wasn't an easy person to live with; couldn't understand that we couldn't live a champagne lifestyle on my sparkling cider wages. It was bad enough before she started to gamble online as well. What finally pushed me over the edge and made me walk away was when I discovered that she had taken out dozens of credit and store cards in my name; of course, she requested that they be put in her own name as my loving spouse. When I found out that she had maxed out every one of them, I knew I had to go, because the debt she had racked up was huge, and I just wanted to kill her. My one regret was leaving the kids, because they were the one good thing to have come out of our marriage, but I knew the way the courts work. She would have been granted custody and even if by some miracle she wasn't, there was no way I could buy a house big enough for all of us, or even rent a decent one, as my credit rating was zero. I decided stupidly that no contact was the best approach to avoid hurting them even more; in hindsight, my focus was on stopping her from bleeding me for even more money."
"You did end up hurting them though, but I will concede that you had been put in a situation where no-one was going to win, regardless of what you did," said Mr Harper sadly. "I feel that I should apologise to. We did our level best to raise her as a decent human being, but temptation got in her way. I dread to ask, but how much did you end up owing on the cards?"
"Around $130,000, sir," came his reply, words which made Beats gasp before he could stop himself. "I managed to speak to the firms that had given her the cards, and explained what she had done; by and large they were sympathetic, but they needed the money back. Most let me set up payment plans with low interest rates. Three of them however decided to take the opposite approach and demand the money be paid back in full at once; when they realised that I was broke, they went after her. Some would say that as she was the one that caused the problem, they took the right action, but it meant the kids suffered, and by the sound of it, so did all of you."
"Hey, that isn't your fault; it is the fault of an industry whose systems do not carry out the proper checks that they used to on those applying for the cards in the first place; they just take people's word for things and blithely hand out lines of credit," responded Beats. "Anyway, what are you doing now?"
"At first I used my skills as a mechanic to get by with short-term jobs, but then I saw an ad in the newspaper for trained mechanics to go and work on the drilling rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. It is a tough gig, but as a result it is highly paid. As they provide accommodation, I have managed to pay off all my own debts and those that were gifted to me by my former spouse; I actually have savings again. Now, I want the children to have some of that money; it is the least that I can do for them. I do want to be back in their lives, if they are willing to let me be, but what I can't do is be a full-time father to them. I am tied into a long-term contract with the drilling company; I could break it, but it would be costly, but then what happens? My life is down in Louisiana now, and I can't just take them away from their friends and family here. No, working on the rigs means that I can provide for them, and can leave them in the care of the two people that have been their parents in so many respects for so long now. They can have a good start here, but living with a single father on a mechanic's basic wage, not so much."
Mr Harper nodded, hearing the sadness in the man's voice as he recognised the reality of the situation. He knew that money wasn't everything to children, that love was the key, but the latter was hard to give without the former. "I feel that I owe you an apology too, for taking her side in all of this and just blindly believing all that she told me about you. She said that your actions had left her saddled with debts, and I never checked whether that was totally true. We decided that she was right, that she shouldn't work whilst the kids were so young; then we became her babysitters when she decided she did want to work and needed a life outside of the house, more fool us. We believed her when she told us she had been let go by her employer because of her family commitments, but I suspect that if we checked up then I think we would discover that it was her lifestyle of partying that led to her dismissal; in fact, I suspect that she might have been stealing from her employers too. We failed to stop her…"
"Dad, I'm going to interrupt you now and say this; you and mom both need to stop blaming yourselves for everything, putting the way she behaved down to your actions. You raised me in the same way, and I turned out okay. She fell into bad company, embraced the kind of lifestyle that she saw people having on all those trashy reality TV shows. She decided that she deserved to have that kind of life too, but failed to notice that she lacked the wherewithal to sustain it, and the talent to succeed. Plus, look at her kids; they are good, decent children, and who is responsible for that? You and mom."
"Your son is right, sir, from what I have seen so far."
"I know that what you are saying is true, but I still can't help but think that we could have done more. I concede that there were significant outside influences at play, but that applies to both of my children. Dalton Academy helped to shape you, son and had you not been given that scholarship, or had we not allowed you to take it up, then you might have ended up just like your sister…"
As time passed and nobody emerged from the main body of the church, those left standing outside started to worry. Flint had positioned himself close to the door, far enough away that he could not hear any conversation clearly, but close enough that he would be able to hear the sound of raised voices or worse the sound of fists landing on flesh. Thad and Skylar stood with him, listening closely as well but also keeping a look out for the return of Mrs Harper, Elliott or the pastor. Eventually, Flint spoke. "It is too quiet in there for my liking and before anyone says that is a good sign, I would actually prefer to hear a lot of banging and crashing, because at least then we would have an excuse to go in and intervene!"
"Whilst your point is noted, the last thing those children need is to witness a brawl between members of their own family. They have to come first in all of this, because it is their happiness that needs to be the first priority of all parties involved," said Thad sagely. "Meanwhile, might I point out but if anyone comes back or indeed out of the room and finds us listening at the door then we will be the cause of the trouble!"
Skylar create his throat suddenly at that point, warning Thad and Flint that he had heard footsteps coming along the corridor towards them and the two older men darted away from the door to join their friend sitting on a bench nearby. They were sitting there looking nonchalant by the time that Elliott came round the corner on his way back from the vestry. He smiled at the three of them, then said in half whisper, "The two of you move fast, but maybe you should check that there isn't a reflection in that polished glass in front of the corridor next time you try and spy…"
As he pointed at the window in question, Skylar had to stifle his own laughter as the other two turned bright red at the fact that they had been caught. Before anymore could be said, the doors to the main body of the church suddenly opened, Beats emerging first, the other two right behind him. "Your mom and the kids are still in the vestry," said Elliott and his husband nodded, before coming to stand next to him as his father and his ex brother-in-law walked in that direction. Beats stood they're in silence until he had the sound of the vestry door being opened and then closed again.
"Well, that was illuminating," the beatboxer said, running a hand through his hair.
"I take it that he has justification for being absent from the lives of his children for so long?" asked Flint, and Beats smiled at the way his best friend was always so direct and to the point; he was like his mother in that respect, not that he would ever tell him that…
"He does, and like so many things were my sister was involved, it all boils down to the question of cash. She wanted all the finer things in life, and she wanted them now; he knew that he could not afford to give her all she desired, told her that repeatedly, but she wouldn't listen. Instead, she went out and applied for multiple credit cards on his behalf, all of them to be given to her, his spouse. She then proceeded to max them all out, wasting her money on gambling, glitter and all the things they advertise on television that you don't need. By the time he found out, she had run up a six figure debt in his name; he found out only because the debt collectors arrived. He knew that he would hurt her if he stayed, and by that, I mean physically. He left to ensure that his children did not witness that happening, not that they weren't hearing the constant rowing that was going on between them by then. When he left he had no assets of his own; he had a savings account with $20,000 in it which he transferred into her name, which was enough to cover the mortgage and bills for a while…"
"Wait a second, run that by me again," interjected Elliott. "She told you…"
"Yeah, but she was a gambling addict by then, and that is a serious addiction. She used that money to feed her habit, but it wasn't enough, so she came after mine, blackmailing me with the old I'm penniless and going to be evicted, rendering your nieces and nephew homeless storyline. I fell for it, hook, line and sinker."
"Emotional blackmail of that sort is despicable, all the more so because it is always highly successful, even more so when there are young children involved," said Thad sympathetically.
"Yes, she knew exactly what buttons to press. I have to admit though that knowing what I do now, I would still have given her the money. Things weren't all that bad for me after, not really. In fact, I can be quite proud of the fact that I made my own way in the world by making men desperate for my body…"
That line broke the tension and seething anger that had been in them all, and had them all laughing hard, until they suddenly remembered that they were in church, and had been at a funeral...
"So, what happens now?" asked Elliott.
"Well, as it should be, that is down to the kids, not me or my folks. He's told my dad that he wants to help out financially, but with his current job, he can't be a full-time father. He works on the drilling rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, so he wouldn't be at home for long periods of time. He has managed to pay off all of the debt that my sister left him with, and he really does want the chance to get to know his children again."
"I am going to presume that he decided not to keep in touch because the last thing that he wanted was your dear sister finding out that he was solvent again and earning a much better wage than before. She would probably suddenly have realised that she loved him again…" quipped his husband wryly.
"No doubt of it; she'd have dragged those poor kids off to Louisiana without a backward glance or word of thanks to my folks, to spend every cent he earned once more," said Beats. "Whether he gets the chance to repair the bond is down to the kids, as I said. If they want him in their lives, then he will be as much as he can. If they decide to reject him, then he will accept it, but will make payments to my folks for their upkeep. Personally, I hope that the former is the decision that they reach. He is as much a victim of my sister as me, my folks and her kids."
"Well, I think that the problem there could be his son, but we shall have to wait and see what transpires," said Elliott.
It would be an eventful afternoon in Zanesville; the Harper family would return home to discover far more people than they had anticipated had come to pay their respects at the small post-funeral buffet, but given the circumstances, Flint had an inkling that they would. For that reason, he remained in the rental car, and on seeing the look of panic on Mrs Harper's face, he told her that he would head for the local supermarket and obtain additional supplies. Elliott decided to join him, as he was the expert in catering for the masses after all. Truth be told, he was just grateful of an excuse to escape the drama for a bit.
"It is a pity that we can't just serve up slices of atmosphere, because the air in the vestry whilst the three of them were in the church was so thick and heavy. The youngest one was desperate to see her daddy; her older siblings wanted to see him too, but for very different reasons. I think they want to see him to berate him for walking out and leaving them with her. I can't say that I blame them for that, given that he didn't send them so much as a Christmas card in all these years," Elliott said as Flint drove them back in the direction of the store they had passed on the way to the church.
"He had very good reason not to be in touch with his ex-wife, and he did not know what the position of the Harpers was towards him; he did not dare send anything to them for the children to have either. It is a mess, let's be honest, and things have to be said, but they need to be said in private. That crowd of vultures has only turned up at the house because they hope to witness a scene between the children and their father!"
"Well, Flint, they will be left sorely disappointed, because whilst we were still waiting in the vestry, Mrs Harper told the three of them in no uncertain terms that everyone in town would find out soon enough if they shouted at their father at the gathering; that would include their teachers and their schoolfriends. We all know how what our friends think of us is one of the most crucial things in the world to teenagers, so they will behave until the town gets bored of waiting and heads for home. Then the fireworks will begin…"
Back at the house, as Mrs Harper was attempting to perform her own version of the feeding of the five thousand; she had slightly more than five loaves and two small fish, and her supplies were sandwiches, cake and cookies, but her crowd was more ravenous. On top of that, there was a shortage of drinking vessels, but there the next-door neighbours on either side had helped out, going home to bring back their own glassware and cups. Beats smiled at the neighbourliness he saw in the small Ohio town he had once seen as home, then realised that if he was the one hosting the buffet, then his neighbours back in the West Village would have helped too. Then again, he was lucky in his neighbours, and most city dwellers were not as blessed… He looked around, recognising a few faces in the multitude, a couple of his former middle school bullies amongst them, although they could not meet his eye…
"That's because they are jealous of your success; they are still here in Zanesville, Ohio, whilst you made it all the way to New York," said a voice, and he turned round to see a woman in her late seventies smiling at him.
He looked for a moment, and then said, "Mrs Watt? How are you? I didn't see you earlier at the church…"
"I was there at the back, but you had a major distraction in the form of your family and an absentee father arriving on top of it all. I recognised your friend Flint in the congregation from that time that we met in the store during your sophomore year at Dalton, and I am going to assume that the young man that you came in with and sat beside during the funeral would be your husband, Elliott?" Beats nodded, and she smiled broadly at him. "Well, he looks to be a fine young man as well."
"He is; he makes me smile and laugh, and he is there for me without question when I need him, just as I am for him. This time last week he had me away on a surprise holiday to Japan of all places. His younger brother is living out there, working on an electronics idea he invented for a major manufacturer…"
"That confirms what I thought; any man that makes his partner's childhood dreams come true has to be very special."
"Well, I only have him because a certain someone got me an exit from Zanesville to the joys of Dalton Academy. I should have said this to you years ago, but I can never thank you enough for getting me there. I think that you literally saved my life at the time, and thanks to going there, I now have so many friends and am able to enjoy a wonderfully fulfilling life…"
Elliott would be introduced to her the moment that he reappeared in the living room; he had been back for a while but had headed to the kitchen first along with Flint and Mrs Harper to make sandwiches and slice pound cake to feed the crowds. He also expressed his thanks and gratitude to the now retired teacher and insisted that they take her address and telephone number so that they could keep in touch with her. Having done that, he took his place beside his husband, and glared at those of his husband's former bullies that stared over at them; on the other side of Beats, Flint was doing the same, and that soon had the miscreants heading for the door. Observing it, Thad and Skylar both had to stifle their giggles…
With none of the anticipated fireworks taking place, the rest of the crowd soon began to follow them out the door, some leaving with undue haste. That was the case of the couple that had brought Mrs Watt, and it fell to Thad and Skylar to drop her off on their way back to Westerville, as nobody would agree to her calling for a taxi.
That left the Harper family, the former son-in-law, Elliott and Flint in the house, and the latter two made their excuses to leave the others to their discussions, offering to go and stack the dishwasher, and to handwash the glassware that had been brought over by the neighbours. They would then return it to them, letting the immediate family sort out the issues in peace.
There would be no screaming or tantrums as that took place; instead, there were tears on all sides of the discussion. When everything was explained to them, the older kids could understand why their father had needed to stay away; the truth about what had happened had been concealed from them by their mother after all, and a parcel of lies told to them in its place. That was not needed in the case of their younger sister, who just wanted her daddy back. All of them had to accept though that he wouldn't be back full-time; his promise of regular video calls and regular visits and trips for them to Louisiana a good compromise. It was still a mess, but the complications were being reduced.
