Of Family Conflicts Part I
The day after Nick and Jeff's Silver Wedding anniversary party was one of quiet reflection, all of them aware of what had taken place on the day after their actual wedding. David had headed back to Boston with Mercedes on the jet that her record label placed at her disposal at all times; Gabriel had travelled with them, and he went straight from the airport to the spot where Wes' life on earth had come to an untimely end alongside David without hesitation. As the years had gone on, the number of flowers placed there had lessened, as those that had known Wes declined in number in the city. Angela was still in town, but she was getting frail now and her legendary breakfast sandwiches were no longer available at the diner that Wes had frequented so often. David still went to see her from time to time and he was pleased to see a bunch of flowers had been laid at the spot on the sidewalk on Mount Auburn and JFK streets in her name.
What David did not expect to see when he arrived at that place was the presence of a man that he had not seen for some years; he was standing there, having just laid a wreath of his own. He looked up as David and Gabriel approached and he smiled. "David, Gabriel, it is good to see you; I was hoping that I might today, given the significance of this anniversary. I have some news that I wanted to share with you all and had you not arrived here, I would have done my utmost to seek you out. Firstly, my father passed away last week; he made contact with me towards the end and asked for my forgiveness for all that he had done, and I gave it to him…."
"I can understand why you did that, Albert," said David, addressing the man that he first knew as Wes' youngest brother, only to discover later that he was in fact his uncle. "He did what he felt was best in the circumstances and it wasn't his fault that your brother turned out to be so bad…."
Albert nodded, then replied, "And the second thing that I have to tell you concerns said brother. They informed me last week that they will be letting Randy out of prison in October. The authorities had my details as I am still down as his next of kin and as someone that he will potentially want to find and punish when he is released. I thought that you and the others should also know that he is going to be freed. I have already made plans to go and visit Michelle, not that I gave her a specific reason why; I felt it would be better to tell her face to face. I do not think that he is a specific threat to any of us, but just because he is behaving in an exemplary manner in prison…."
"It does not necessarily follow that he will continue to behave that way once he is released," Gabriel immediately responded.
"Exactly. He does not know my precise location in Firenze thankfully, as I have always been careful to ensure that all communications from the authorities have gone either to an e-mail account or to a post office box. It is Michelle that I am more concerned about as he knows about the Spotlight Diner. I think that she should probably apply for an order preventing him from coming anywhere near her or indeed her parents here in Boston. The authorities have told me that they have found him a potential new home in New Orleans, but they have also informed me that he will not be monitored constantly once he is living there."
"At least they aren't sending him back here to Boston, nor are they letting him move freely to either New York or somewhere in Ohio. He might find life more to his liking in the Deep South, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if he ends up in a conflict with a local gang or two…." said David in response, thinking as he said it of his own brother, an innocent victim of just such a southern gang. Then with a smile on his face, he said, "Why don't you come and have some lunch at my place? I am sure that Mercedes would like to say hello and it will give us a chance to have a proper discussion of everything, as well as a catch up."
Albert agreed and after spending a few more moments paying their respects to the man that had brought them all there, they headed back to the Thompsons house for what would be a relatively happy lunch….
The news that Wes' biological father was being released from jail in the near future soon became common knowledge amongst his circle of friends. Once David knew that Michelle had been told face to face by Albert, he had given the news to Sebastian and he had, in his role as Head Warbler, put the information out on the Warbler group chat. The reaction to the news was mixed, some thinking that he did not deserve to ever be set free for all that he had done, but the majority felt that as long as he was released as far away from them all as possible, then there was nothing more that could be done. It was of course possible for objections to be raised to his release, but only Albert and Michelle could make them, as they were listed as the only interested parties. The judge in charge of the parole board at the jail in question had listened to statements from both of them over a video link before he made his final judgement on whether Randy would be released and came to the conclusion that had already been made; that Randy could only be released on the condition that he was relocated to the far south or west of the country and also that he was not permitted to ever have a passport, thus ensuring that he could not travel to Europe to see his brother. He was also not permitted to travel anywhere close to either Boston or New York for any reason, that of course being where Michelle and her parents could be found.
It was a decision that partially satisfied them all, as it still gave Randall Montgomery a chance to rehabilitate himself but kept him away from those he might wish to antagonise or harm. His actual appearances in front of the parole board to hear the decision were not witnessed by any of the living, but Wes made a point of heading there, insisting on doing so on his own, banning even Thad from joining him. "I need to see what he looks like now," Wes said to his husband when he questioned why he was even going at all. "I need to know just how much his time in prison has changed him. He will of course be much older now; in fact, he will not long have turned sixty. Being able to see exactly what he looks like now will allow me to monitor exactly what he is doing and where he is so much more easily."
When he arrived back from the courtroom that day, Thad said nothing, waiting for Wes to speak. His husband had sighed, then said, "He looks really old; gaunt and sick as well. All of the cockiness that he used to have his gone. There has been one development and that is that he is no longer moving to New Orleans; instead, he is moving to Utah, as he has apparently been writing on a regular basis to a Mormon woman in Salt Lake City. I actually find the idea of him becoming a Mormon himself quite amusing…."
Thad nodded in agreement, also he would personally have removed one letter from the religion of the woman that had been writing on a regular basis to Randall; then it would be a much more fitting description of both her and the man that was basically his father-in-law….
Back in the West Village, the day after the parole hearing saw the inevitable happen, as Nick suddenly announced his proposal for where Wes and Tim should live once their time at Princeton was over. It was greeted with a stony silence at the breakfast table, with Jeff glancing at Tim and seeing the same worried expression on his face that was already on his own. Before either of them could intervene with their own thoughts, Wes replied to his father in a cold tone. "To be honest dad, when we come back to New York once we have finished at college, we're going to find ourselves a place in Brooklyn so that we can stand on our own two feet, so to speak. We cannot keep on living off you and papa's money forever, so we have decided it is best that we start now. It will be just as easy to access my classes at ICE from there too…"
Nick was silent for a moment, then in a tone that was as icy as his son's, he retorted, "Whilst I appreciate your desire to stand on your own two feet, I think that it is a little stupid to do so when there is a place waiting for you here."
"Well, you also think that my going to ICE at all is a little stupid, if we're being entirely honest with each other, so maybe it is for the best that you don't have to witness it; the two of us living elsewhere will help you forget that I'm at school learning to bake professionally. It will also benefit Tim to be as close as possible to future employers in the Financial District."
"Maybe Tim doesn't share your convictions and can see the sense in staying somewhere with a low rent…"
"And maybe we have discussed it, and it is what he wants too. Maybe neither of us want to be tied down and living under the scrutiny of you and your opinions, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week…."
Seeing just how things were going, Jeff cough then and blurted out, "Maybe this is not the time and the place to discuss this. Wes, whatever you and Tim decide upon will be okay with both of us, as it will be more than enough just to have you back in the city. After all, neither myself or your dad want to end up like our controlling biological fathers tried to be with the two of us, do we Nick…?" As he said those final words, Jeff glared at his husband, praying that he would get his point and stay silent.
No more would be said that morning, but the atmosphere within the house was arctic from that moment on and that evening father and son avoided being in each other's company. The next morning would see the two young men leaving for Princeton, Wes citing that he had received a call from one of his professors, asking him to return to school early to assist with the welcome and tutoring programme for the newly arrived first-year students. That call was news to Jeff and clearly to Tim as well when Wes spoke…
Nick had already left for work by that point, so there was no further conversation between father and son. In a very brief moment whilst Wes ran to the drug store to fetch something, Tim turned to Jeff and said, "He's lying; he just doesn't want to face another lecture from his dad tonight. I do see the sense of coming back here to live, but all that Nick's intervention has done is made Wes all the more determined than ever to live as far away as he possibly can. I will try my best to get him to see sense, but I am telling you now that that will not be easy. I feel so torn by all of this, as I can see both points of view here. However, when it comes down to it, my loyalty has to be to Wes…"
Jeff nodded and with a sigh replied, "I understand that fully, as obviously my loyalty has to be with Nick. I do think that there is one thing that the two of us can agree on, and that is that our partners are being outrageously stupid, and pig headed about all of this…."
With a wry smile, Tim responded, "Like father, like son…"
The atmosphere between father and son did not thaw as the days went on and Jeff was only slightly surprised when his son announced that he and Tim will not be coming home for Thanksgiving that year. It made him sad but relieved as well as he had imagined tension over the meal, always dangerous when there were a lot of sharp knives in the room. He resigned himself to a quiet day which is Nick for company, but then even that was taken away from him as Nick found himself called upon to go into work, a crisis on the other side of the world meaning that a permanent presence was necessary in the Human rights department.
As soon as the news that Jeff would be all alone on Thanksgiving came to everyone's attention, he was invited to join the gathering at Mike and Tina's home. He accepted that invitation with his husband's blessing. It was good for Jeff to be a part of a happy family day, but Mike could sense that most of his friend's jollity was forced. As the evening drew to a close, Mike offer to walk his friend home and Jeff knew exactly why he did so….
Having checked that Nick was still out, Jeff made a pot of tea, then proceeded to pour his heart out to Mike, sparing no detail of what had been taking place. He had talked to Trent about things as well, but on that occasion, he had held back; now, in a much more emotional state, everything came flooding out.
"All of this heartache and tension is pulling us apart as a family; Nick is being so stubborn and thinks that he knows best on all of it, and to be brutally honest, he doesn't know very much at all on this subject. I would go as far as to say that he is acting just like his dad would have done, ordering Wes around and expecting him just to do exactly as he wants him to do. He is still fooling himself into thinking that Wes will take up a career in business, but I know that he won't. Our son's passion lies in the kitchen; the only times that I have seen him smile recently are either when he and Tim are snuggled up together on the sofa, or he is baking in the kitchen. Having said that, Wes is every bit as stubborn as his father, determined that he is going to ICE, and expecting Tim to just follow whatever path he is taking. He is just as stuck in the middle of all this as I am, but because we love those two so much, we are both powerless to do anything else. I just know in my heart of hearts that people are going to end up very hurt…."
Mike was silent for a moment, then replied, "I don't blame you at all for being so frustrated by all of this, because from what you have told me and what I have witnessed, Nick is the one that is being very unreasonable. I can totally sympathise with Wes, because my dad was determined that I was not going to study dance for so long; it was only when he witnessed first-hand my passion for dance and was informed by Tina and my mom that he would end up losing me altogether that he finally saw sense. I know that this is not what you want to hear, and I hate to say this, but that might have to be the tactic that you and Tim have to adopt in the circumstances and then hope that Nick sees the light. I'm afraid that if he doesn't, then he will lose Wes from his life…"
Jeff nodded, then said sadly, "At least if he ends up at ICE he will be living in the same city, so there would be a chance that he would allow me to stay in his life in some way, although that in itself would be fraught with issues, as there would be every chance that Nick might think I was betraying him by keeping in touch with our son…"
Mike looked surprised at Jeff's words, and responded, "I am sure that Nick is not that bad; he would never wish to see you getting hurt in any way." As he said those words, he hoped that the assessment that he was making of Nick's character, based on all he had learned about him when they lived together, was still an accurate one.
Unfortunately, things did not improve as November turned into December, when an e-mail came from Wes to say that he and Tim would not be returning to New York for Christmas that year either. Jeff burst into floods of tears when he read the message and that led to a heated phone call between Nick and their son. Words were said in that call that wounded and stung, and it was only when both Jeff and Tim threatened their respective partners with dire consequences if they did not apologise to each other that a grudging apology came from both parties; a brief visit over New Year was the result, but it felt to both Jeff and Tim that they had to be ready to spring into action to prevent a war all the time, everybody treading on eggshells the whole time….
It turned out to be unseasonably warm in New York as 2040 began, but in the West Village house there was a definite frost in the air. Jeff was full of despair and even considered locking his husband and son in the study, with the threat that they had to stay there until they sorted their differences out, but Tim pointed out that either the room would end up trashed or one of them would fall and injure themselves as they climbed out of the window to avoid being in each other's company any longer. When Wes and Tim left, Jeff felt guilty that all he felt this time was relief, but that was short lived; he was extremely concerned when he overheard Nick say the words, "I will sort this problem out, once and for all," to himself when he thought he was alone…
Life soon removed that sentence from Jeff's consciousness, and he forgot all about it until one weekend at the end of March; then he found out exactly what his husband had meant by his words, and what he had done. He had been sitting in his studio that Saturday morning, Nick at work, when he heard the front door slam open; he jumped and did so again when he heard Wes screaming in the hallway below, "Dad! Where are you! I know what you have done, and I am going to make sure that you pay for it!"
The words were yelled with such bile, hatred, and conviction that Jeff dropped the pencil he had been using and ran down the stairs, almost colliding with his son as he stormed back up the staircase from the kitchen. "Where is he?" Wes yelled in his face. "Did you know what he was going to do?"
"You dad is at work; it is his rostered weekend on…" Jeff replied calmly. "I also have no idea what is going on; you have to believe me on that one…"
Wes glowered at his papa for a moment, saw the sincerity in his face and also a healthy amount of fear, his own face bright red with rage. He sighed, then said, "No, I don't suppose that he would have told you what he was up to, because he would know that you would never have allowed it. I got a letter from ICE yesterday, telling me that I had been unsuccessful with my application for a place there this year. It came as a shock, because last year at this time they were so keen on my coming to study there; now I am persona non grata. It was early enough that I could call and speak to the Dean about it; I eventually managed to get them to admit that someone had called them up and told them that I was not fully committed to the course and would be unlikely to finish it. They told me that the caller had gone on to say that I now wanted to pursue a career in business and that it would be a waste of everyone's time and money to even offer me a place, as my heart was now truly elsewhere…"
Wes paused, noticing that his papa's face was now suffused with the same red that his own was as he realised just who the caller had to have been. "I told them it wasn't true, that it was dad who had objections, but even although they believed me, it was now too late, because the course has set numbers, and all the other applicants had accepted their spots. They also confirmed that it was him; my father and your husband… I came back here to see him face to face, because I want to witness the expression on his face when I tell him that as far as I am concerned, I no longer have a father…"
Jeff looked at his son, horrified by what he had just said. He could not believe what he had just been told, that his husband could have done such a thing to their son. Then it dawned on him that perhaps Wes might think that he had been part of the entire scheme.
"I had no idea that he was doing anything like that, you have to believe me," said Jeff anxiously. "I will call ICE right now and explain everything; I will get you back on the course and then trust me, I will be having some stern words with your father. He has gone much too far this time."
"He has and I don't think that I will ever trust a word that he says to me again," replied Wes angrily, before he went on in a softer tone, "As much as I appreciate your offer papa, it is too late now for entry this year. In any case, I would not want to be responsible for stopping someone else getting their college place; I would never trample on someone else's dreams. There are other schools, in other cities… I also know that you would never have had anything to do with this; you believe in me and respect me." Wes sighed, then looking slightly less angry, he added, "I think it's probably for the best that I go now, because at this precise moment I would quite happily kill him for doing this and although that might make me feel better for a little while, it certainly wouldn't help anything. I just need you to know that I still love you, Papa; I just can't be here right now…"
Jeff nodded, then pulled his son into a hug, which was instantly reciprocated. Then with sad expressions on both their faces, Jeff watched as his son walked out the door…
That night, Nick came home Jeff sitting at the kitchen table, his arms folded tightly across his chest and with a deadly look on his face. There was silence for a moment, then his husband spoke in a tone that was dripping with acid. "Well Nicholas, your secret is out. I had a visit from Wes today. It was you he really wanted to see, but fortunately for his sake you were out at work. Had you been here, our son would most likely be sitting in a prison cell, charged with particide; and in my opinion, it would have been totally justified in the circumstances. I just need to know why you did it; why you contacted ICE and destroyed the future that your own son had planned for himself…"
"I cannot believe that they told him that it was me!" exclaimed Nick.
Jeff's mouth fell open for a moment, but then he yelled, "Is that seriously all that you are worried about -the fact that they told your son the truth? You are the one that destroyed his dreams, but you think you are still entitled to be outraged that they told him it was you that did it? Well, I hope that it made you happy because all that is going to happen now is that Wes will end up going to a school elsewhere. He will not be coming back to New York to accept a job that he will hate but you will approve of. As he said to me this afternoon, there are other schools out there. Tim can work anywhere in the world, and he will just go with Wes. I would go as far as to say that you have actually made him all the more determined to pursue a career as a baker, not less. I wouldn't actually put it past him to flunk his final exams now in revenge. I wouldn't even bother trying to apologise to him, because he definitely will not be forgiving you anytime soon and to be brutally honest, I don't think I can forgive you for this one. You need to make it right!"
Nick glared at his husband, then replied, "I'm doing all of this for the best; he would only end up getting hurt trying to compete in the cutthroat world of bakery in this city."
"Yeah, much better that his father is the one who hurts him and shatters all his dreams. I'm going out; I've eaten, but you need to sort yourself out," snapped Jeff, before he stormed away from the table and left the house, slamming the front door behind him.
As Jeff had surmised, Wes would not take a call from Nick, nor would he forgive him. It would be Tim that would speak to Jeff a week later, saying that things in Princeton were exceptionally tense. "He was so angry when he got back from New York and it took all of my powers of persuasion to stop him from quitting college there and then; it was only by pointing out he would be stupid to do so at this late stage and that if he did, he would be proving his father correct in what he said to ICE, that I made him change his mind. He refuses to speak to his father and that is why he will not even call you, in case it is Nick that answers the phone. Things here are not being helped by the fact that all of the other schools he has since spoken to are also turning him down; they seem to have been in contact with the admissions people at ICE and all assume the same thing about him… I'm afraid to say that unless some minor miracle occurs and someone drops out of their place at ICE and they offer it to Wes, the rift between father and son is never likely to be healed."
Jeff sighed, knowing that what he had just been told was perfectly true, then said, "I actually went to ICE in person the other day and managed to get in to see the head of admissions. She was extremely sympathetic and told me that it wasn't the first time something like this had happened, but that as it stood, the course that Wes wanted to join is full. She doesn't think anyone is likely to drop out, but nonetheless she has put his name on the wait list. I am sure that if I asked her to, she would speak to the other schools and let them know exactly what has happened. It seems awful to say this, but I really do hope that someone does drop out of the course…"
"Me too. Look, I need to go as we will be back very soon, but I will tell him what you have told me and urge him to get back in touch with the other schools in a few days' time to see if there is a possibility of an opening with one of them instead. If that can be achieved, then the two of us can start work on trying to end the Cold War between father and son…"
When Wes returned from his classes a short time later, Tim informed him what Jeff had said, but was quite surprised when his boyfriend just smiled and replied, "Much as I appreciate what papa is doing for me, it turns out that that is no longer necessary. I have made quite a few enquiries, and I have found the perfect way to get the qualifications that I require to be one of the most prestigious bakers in the city of New York. That is all thanks to something that suddenly came back to me; a few words that Michelle said to me and ironically, I have since realised that my father said them to me as well. Both emphasised that the key to success in such a competitive industry is to have a point of difference in my business, something that would lift me above the mundane and ordinary. I realised that I could achieve that by returning to my family roots in the bakery world."
Tim looked puzzled as to what Wes meant by that, but then his boyfriend took his hand and looked at him intently. "I have done my research, and there is no baker in New York that is officially recognised as a konditormeister; nobody that has been trained to bake like generations of the Duval family back in Germany. I realise now that that is the path that I need to follow. to that end, I had a very long conversation with Fritz and his father at lunchtime. It transpires that there would be a place for me to learn my craft within the family business if I wanted to do so. I looked into it, and there would also be job opportunities for you quite close by. I think that you and I should go to Baden Baden when we graduate…"