Chapter 12: Luke Goes Down

 Sammie heard the news first and broke it to Lesley. Luke Hans had been arrested and charged with a raft of crimes and it looked very bad for him. Lesley was shocked and upset, but in the end, she became philosophical. She had done everything it was in her power to do for her sons. They had been raised well and if people wanted to point fingers and blame her for Luke's life..then so be it. She had been hoping the rumours weren't true but now that she knew they were, there was nothing she could do about it. Sammie assured her that she had been a good mother.

Sammie stayed with her at her place to make sure that she was okay. Lesley was devastated but put on a front of business as usual. Pretending to read, but gazing at the same page for an hour at a time, she thought about all the things she might have done to stop this happening. Maybe Luke Hans took more after his father than she had ever dared to believe.

Out on bail, pending trial and with no other options, Luke sat Marjorie down and told her everything. He told her how it started, he explained his reasoning behind pursuing the jobs, he confessed that he had actively been involved in all the things of which he had been accused. He apologised and asked for her forgiveness.

Marjorie was boiling angry. So furious with Luke and his reasoning and excuses that she could barely speak. There was no yelling and shouting. There were no threats and ultimatums. She knew her husband was going to prison and she had a baby on the way and another child to deal with, but she would not handle it by feeling sorry for herself..

Marjorie went into battle mode.

 She figured her dream of becoming an actress was not going to be of any use...she needed funds right now, not in some dreamy possible future. But she had some contacts within Plumbob Pictures and she had taken a couple of writing courses. She got on the Internet and answered several advertisements calling for screenplays.

While Curtis was sleeping at nights, or taking his nap during the day, Marjorie made the optimum use of her free time.

She started writing.

At first she was just doing some editing and treatments for existing screenplays. But very soon she was given the opportunity to write a script from scratch. She threw herself into it with a passion. She worked hard and she maintained a positive outlook. She planned on holding her head high and surviving.

While Luke was stuck at home working on his case and waiting for his trial date, Marjorie took care of Curtis, carried the new baby to term and gave birth to a girl shortly before Luke went to court.

And so it was that Luke Hans got to meet and hold his baby daughter Tara for only precious few days, before he went to trial, was convicted and sent to prison.

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Despite the circumstances Curtis grew up to be a well adjusted kid. Marjorie was strict but fair and he developed a love of parties and socialising which was similar to her own. He wanted to do all the usual things that boys love to do, but he was painfully aware that people talked about him and his Dad's situation.

One night when Marjorie was putting Tara down to sleep, Curtis was hovering behind Marjorie and something was obviously on his mind.
"Hey sport, what's up?" Marjorie enquired.
"Mum...."he began "What's it like in prison? Are there bad men there? And will they hurt Daddy?"

Marjorie looked at Curtis and knew in her heart that it was time to have a conversation with him about his Dad. She didn't want him worrying or being scared, so she had purchased a book in preparation for this moment. In an upbeat tone she said "Hey, I know a story that is all about prison, why don't you hop into your pyjamas and we can read it eh?"

Curtis went and hopped into bed expectantly.

Marjorie settled down on the edge of the bed and produced a colourful storybook with really cool pictures.
"It's called 'Twelve Years In Prison: A Mouse's Story'. Are you ready? Okay then I'll begin....Once there was a mouse called Muppet and he did some naughty things that broke the law..."

Curtis stayed transfixed on the storybook as Marjorie read, his eyes wide and nodding in understanding.

 Marjorie read all the way to the end. "And Muppet kept his nose clean and did his time, he didn't get involved with any of the other mouse gangs in the prison. The warden agreed that he'd been such a model mouse prisoner that he deserved to be released early after all. The End."

"That was such a good story Mum!" said Curtis with a sleepy yawn. "So Dad could be released early if he is a model prisoner too?"

"I guess its a possibility Curtis." smiled Marjorie sadly.

 And she kissed him goodnight as he was drifting off to sleep. It broke her heart that she had had to read him that story. But she believed in being open and honest with her son in the wake of Luke's tragic demise and instilling in him that it wasn't his fault, they had done nothing wrong..

To reinforce the idea that they were just a normal hardworking family, Marjorie made sure she went to any industry parties, where she networked and made useful contacts for her work.

She threw regular parties at her own place in a "damn them all' fashion, celebrating each of the kids birthdays with flair.

Friends and family rallied around in support because Marjorie was just relentless and they admired her tenacity so much.

She encouraged Curtis to not sit around the house feeling sorry for himself, to get out and be active in the neighbourhood.

She helped him build a stall and he was very successful selling his home baked muffins to passers-by and he gave his Mum the money he made to help out with the housekeeping.

One day Curtis saw an old white haired man approaching the stall. He looked strangely familiar. The man smiled and asked Curtis his name. Then he proceeded to buy up every single muffin Curtis had available AND he put in an order for a dozen more! Curtis could not believe it.
"Thank you so much sir!" beamed Curtis
"I'll stop by and collect my order tomorrow, okay Curtis?" smiled the man and wandered off with a wave.
Curtis never found out that the man who bought so many of his muffins was his grandfather, Benny.

And a few short weeks later Benny Diarmid passed away, alone. His death passing unnoticed by most of the neighbourhood (and was hopefully not related to an overdose by muffin).

Meanwhile Marjorie kept up appearances. But it was a long and lonely road and she found it very hard going everywhere by herself, thinking this was not how their lives had meant to go. The more she pondered their situation, the more resolved she became to overcome it.