Chapter 124 – Doug Takes A Stand
Elizabeth looked at Gran.
"What is that?" Elizabeth asked.
"Hammered dulcimer." Doug said.
"Who is playing?" Elizabeth asked.
Doug and Gran listened for a moment before they turned to each other and smiled.
"Jack is." Doug said.
After another moment, they heard the second dulcimer join the first. It wasn't much longer and they heard the full complement of the instruments.
"I guess they found both of them." Gran said.
As they were quietly listening to Jack, Father Mark and Nathan play and sing, Charlotte came storming out to the kitchen.
"What is that noise?" Charlotte demanded.
Gran glared at Charlotte.
"JP, Nathan and Father Mark are playing upstairs." Gran said.
"What the hell are they playing?" Charlotte sneered. "I mean really, do the rest of us have to hear it?"
"We were enjoying listening to Jack and Father Mark play." Doug said, stepping forward.
"What the hell is that anyway?" Charlotte said. "I mean I know that JP can play the guitar some, but he never had the patience or dedication to learn anything else. I mean he started and quit several instruments."
Doug and Gran glared at Charlotte.
"Oh that is right." Charlotte huffed. "He quit most everything after meeting you and Lee. He has no dedication or patience for anything after hanging with the likes of you."
Charlotte had directed her comment toward Doug. Doug took a deep breath, turned and then squared to face Charlotte. Gran put her hand on Doug's shoulder, but he shrugged her off. He was done with Charlotte and her little digs that he wasn't good enough to hang out with Jack.
"I am sorry, Gran." Doug said. "I am not going to continue to let her tear Jack down in my presence. Jack is one of the most dedicated people I know. He works harder than most anyone that I know. If you would take a few moments to actually learn who your son is, then you might be surprised. As it stands, I have no doubt that you know very little about anything regarding Jack. I would bet that my parents know more about Jack than you do."
"How dare you?" Charlotte huffed.
"Fine." Doug said. "Answer three questions. 1) What is Jack's favorite color? 2) Who was Jack's favorite teacher? And 3) Where is Jack's favorite place to be, and it needs to be specific."
"Red." Charlotte said. "He doesn't like school and his favorite place is on the back of a horse."
"Wrong on all three." Lee said, stepping next to Doug.
"Jack's favorite color is blue." Doug said. "His favorite teacher has always been his middle school history teacher, Mr Jenkins. And Jack's favorite place to be is sitting quietly in the Adoration Chapel, preferably alone with the Lord."
"You are lying." Charlotte said. "I think I know my son."
"Doug is right." John said, coming over. "I know for a fact that Jack's favorite color is blue and he loves sitting in the Adoration Chapel, so I would assume that Doug is correct about the teacher as well. I never actually asked that question. The others I have."
"So you know a few things." Charlotte huffed. "I know my son."
"No you don't." Doug said. "You are just too stuck up to admit it."
"Douglas." Gran said.
"No." Doug said. "I am done with her. She has looked down her nose at me and my family from the moment that she met us. I am done with her snide comments and dirty looks. So what is it that you don't like about me and/or my family."
Charlotte just stood there and glared at Doug.
"What don't you have the balls to say things to my face?" Doug challenged.
"Doug." Lee said. "Just drop it. This isn't helping anything."
… … … …
After they finished playing Creed, Jack looked at the other two.
"I am going to stay here for a moment." Jack said. "I want to hear what is going on downstairs, but I don't want to get involved."
"Are you done playing?" Nathan asked.
"At least for tonight." Jack said. "We can play some tomorrow, but I know that we will definitely play on Sunday. Bill already said that he was bringing his guitar."
"What do you want to bring down for Sunday?" Father Mark said.
"I think we can bring down another acoustic guitar." Jack said. "I was also thinking about bringing down one of the keyboards and we can bring the dulcimers if you want."
"I wouldn't mind playing any of those." Father Mark said.
"Then we can sort it out on Sunday." Jack said.
They set about wiping down the instruments and putting them away for the night. At the same time, they were listening to the tense voices that came from downstairs.
… … … …
Doug turned to Gran for a moment.
"I am sorry Gran." Doug said. "But I have known Jack for five plus years and Charlotte has looked down her nose at me the entire time. I am sick of the comments that she has made. I told Dad that if she kept it up, I was going to challenge her and he was fine with it. I am an adult and I am secure enough in who I am that nothing she says will change how I feel about myself. Part of me challenging her is to prove that she doesn't know Jack and what he wants out of life."
"Fine." Gran said. "But this needs to end tonight."
Doug nodded.
"So." Doug said. "What is it that you don't like about me?"
"Do I really need to say it?" Charlotte said.
"Yes." Doug said. "I have heard the comments that you have made when you think I haven't been able to hear you. I want to see if you have the balls to say it to my face."
Doug stood his ground and stared at Charlotte. Charlotte huffed a couple of times.
"Fine." Charlotte said. "I will say it. Maybe if I say it out loud and everyone hears it they will see that you are nothing but a fraud."
"I am waiting." Doug said.
"Seriously." Charlotte said. "Your mother was an unwed teenage mother from Brooklyn who became a public school teacher and then married a cop. I mean really is David even James' son? The only reason that they were accepted into the high society of New York was because of your father's job. It doesn't mean that they belong there. I mean really two public servants from Brooklyn. They should be lucky that I have included them in my society functions."
"Charlotte." Gran said. "Shut your mouth. You are embarrassing yourself, since you don't know what you are talking about."
"Just call them like I see them." Charlotte snapped. "Isn't it true that Doug's mother married as a teenager and had a child just shy of eight months after she was married. It is no secret that she taught public school or that she lived in Brooklyn."
"It is okay, Gran." Doug said. "Charlotte, here only hears what she wants. She takes half truths and spouts off about things that she doesn't know anything about. She doesn't bother to get the whole story, especially from people that she has deemed below her."
"Still." Gran said.
"The truth is that my parents were married when my mother, Patricia, was seventeen and my father, James, was twenty-one." Doug said. "It is true that David was born just shy of eight months after the wedding. What Charlotte has failed to learn or say if she knew, was that David was almost nine weeks early after my mother was mugged in the subway. I have seen the pictures of him in the hospital. My father has even shared the police reports with me. No one bothers to get the whole truth.
It is also no secret that my mother taught at several public schools in Brooklyn. What people fail to realize is that it was a program that she and a friend from Julliard put together. It was a program designed to give kids an opportunity to be exposed to music. Not only did my mother attend Julliard, but she has since taught there as well as the Mannes School of Music. My mother has an advanced performance certificate in piano, voice and violin. That is in addition to her doctorate in music education, but I am getting ahead of myself.
My mother started at Julliard when she was sixteen. While attending Julliard, my mother got married and had three kids all in a matter of about three years or so. My mother also got a music degree from Cornell for the purpose of teaching. My mother has performed with the New York Philharmonic and been an accompanist for several Broadway plays over the years. She has also played with several New York based Jazz ensembles. She has played at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.
She now only teaches special seminar classes in addition to taking on a few exceptional piano students every year. My mother doesn't need you to include her for her to be accepted into the upper society of New York. She has been a part of it since she was a teenager, before actually. My mother's accomplishments speak for themselves and people who really know her, know. She also is not one to always be bragging about what she has done. If that wasn't enough, my grandmother on my mother's side is a Carnegie and yes, those Carnegies. My grandmother is a doyen of high society. My mother debuted in society when she was sixteen, but my grandmother understood her daughter's desire to not be in the spot light when she had young children, more then some people I know."
Charlotte stood there slack-jawed and looked at Doug.
"Oh." Doug said. "Don't get any bright ideas of trying to suck up to my mother or grandmother now that you know. They can't stand you and the only reason that my mother has tolerated you over the years is that she loves Jack and can see how special that he is. She loved him because he was my friend first, but then quickly realized that he was truly remarkable in his own right."
"What do you mean?" Charlotte huffed.
"You want to know." Doug said. "Why don't you ask Jack? I have already spilled the beans once today and I am not going to do it again. At least not to you."
With that, Doug turned and went back to the kitchen and started loudly chopping vegetables. Elizabeth walked over to him and put her hand on his arm. He looked over at her and she gently took the knife from his hand. It wasn't that Elizabeth didn't trust Doug with a knife, it was more that she didn't want him to hurt himself, even if by accident.
"I will chop." Elizabeth said. "Can you put the last of the cookies and bars on the platter? I don't want you to hurt yourself."
Doug gave her a tight smile and then did as she asked. Once they had two platters of cookies and bars and three platters each of cut fruit and veggies, they put them all in the large fridge. Gran also came back to the kitchen and finished the sausage and hashbrown casserole. There were a few other things that needed to be done, but Gran knew that they could wait until the next day. She wanted to lay down for the night.
"You guys are free to do whatever you want." Gran said. "I am going to head to bed."
"Night, Gran." Elizabeth said.
"Night." Doug said.
"Night, Gran." Lee said.
Gran made a quick stop at the table and let her husband and John know that she was heading to bed and she would be up early to get breakfast going. Charlotte had stocked off to the office or her room, they weren't sure and frankly they didn't care. Doug was glad that he had stood up for himself. As Gran was heading to her room, she sent a message to Jack and Father Mark that she was heading to bed and would see them later and also not to worry about the music, she was fine.
It was a few moments after Gran left and Elizabeth had finished wiping down the counters that she turned to Doug.
"What did you mean when you said that your mother thought that Jack was special and remarkable?" Elizabeth asked.
Doug led Elizabeth back to the table and Lee followed. Once they were seated near John and James, Doug took a deep breath.
"You know how we said earlier that Jack is gifted at math and figuring things out." Doug said.
Elizabeth nodded.
"Well that includes music." Lee said.
"Tell me more." Elizabeth said.
"Thomas and Charlotte don't know this." Doug said. "But Jack plays several instruments. The only ones they have ever seen him really play are the acoustic and maybe the electric guitar. But he also can play a classical guitar, the only difference between that and an acoustic is the strings. On a classical they are nylon and they are steel on an acoustic."
"In addition to those three." Lee said. "Jack also plays the bass guitar – both acoustic and electric as well as steel guitar. That is a guitar that is played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings."
"That is like six different types of guitars." Elizabeth said.
"Something like that." Lee said.
"That is not all." Doug said. "Jack also plays the electric keyboard, drums and as you heard the hammered dulcimer."
"Wow." Elizabeth said.
"However, the most impressive thing is, if Jack wanted it." Doug said. "He could go for his own advanced performance certificate on piano. My mother said that he was good enough to get a music scholarship to either Julliard or Mannes School of Music if he wanted. Jack knew that his parents would never allow it and he said that he didn't want to perform."
John and Elizabeth both sat there staring at Doug. Obviously, Elizabeth didn't know, but John was equally surprised. He knew that Jack could play the guitar and that he liked music, but to hear that he was that good was shocking.
"You are serious." John said.
"Yes." Doug said. "My mother doesn't joke around when it comes to things like that. She has taught all of my siblings and I to play piano, but none of us are anywhere near as good as Jack. The only one that comes close is maybe Missy and she is only ten. I think that if she sticks to it, she could be as good or better than him. My mother has high hopes that Missy will stick with her music and at least one of her children will follow in her footsteps."
"Makes sense now why JP was always so picky about his instruments." John said. "I have no idea how much money he spent on those two keyboards upstairs or the four hammered dulcimers that he bought."
"Four?" Lee asked.
"Two for here." Doug said. "One at my house and one with Father Mark so that he could practice. My mother even arranged for him to have lessons up here. I know that one of the things that Jack wants to get is a baby grand piano. I don't know where we would put it here, maybe downstairs. But I know that Jack said that when he finally settles into a house, it will have at least a baby grand in it for him to play."
"If he wants one." James said. "We will find a place to put it."
"Thank you." Jack said. "So you told them."
"We didn't tell your mother." Doug said.
"I know I heard the yelling." Jack said. "Father Mark is talking to Nathan for a moment."
"Are you really as good as he says?" John asked.
"Probably better." Jack said. "Especially if I was being completely honest. I know that Trish was disappointed that I didn't choose to pursue music. As much as I love to do it, I know that it is not what I want to do with my life."
"That is fine." John said. "I would love to hear you play sometime."
"We plan on playing some on Sunday." Jack said. "And I promise, I will play the piano for you when I get a chance."
"Thank you." John said. "Are you heading to bed?"
"In a bit." Jack said. "I was hoping to convince Father Mark to stay. I know that he is tired and I am worried about him driving back into town."
"I got it." James said.
"Then I am going to head down." Jack said. "He is more than welcome to stay in my room and/or borrow some clothes from me."
"Any of us boys." Doug said as Lee nodded along.
After a round of goodnights, Jack, Elizabeth, Doug and Lee all headed downstairs.
… … … …