Chapter 13: Chip Off The Old Block

So, time marched on for the Diarmid's, as it did for everyone. Curtis and Tara grew up and eventually Luke Hans was released from prison.

On his arrival back in Appaloosa Plains, before he even went home, Luke wandered down to the beach to soak in the sun, smell the fresh sea air and bask in his new found freedom. He had been cooped up for so long, he needed to just be by himself, to think and adjust to being out. With years of no hair product, his unruly mop had gone back into its natural thick mohawk, similar to how his father's had been when he was younger. He knew his father was dead. A lot of things were different now - his wife had hardened through necessity and his kids had grown up without him. But a trip to the barber would sort out the hair trouble.

While Luke Hans gathered his thoughts at the beach, not far away, Curtis, alone at home, was having breakfast and daydreaming about how meeting his father would go and if they would do things together. It had been just the three of them for so long he could hardly imagine his father living with them now.

 As he washed up his dishes, all kinds of worrisome thoughts flooded his mind. Would his Dad be nice? Would he try to take over things at home and tell them all what to do? Things had been perfectly good without him here all this time, what did they need him for anyway? A sense of anxiety settled over Curtis. He had to admit he was not feeling so positive about his Dad's imminent arrival.

He showered and dressed and heard a knock at the door.

Suddenly he was opening the door and his father stepped into the house saying "Hi Curtis. It's good to see you!. Wow you are almost a grown up young man! Ummm why aren't you at school? It's a Tuesday....school is in right?"

Curtis didn't know what to say. He felt like Luke was both a stranger and also picking on him within minutes of being here. There was a long and uncomfortable silence in which the two of them took the other's measure. Curtis decided he didn't feel like submitting to Luke's authority right there and then. He had Study Hall on Tuesday mornings and didn't have to go to class until 11am, but he shrugged instead and said coldly "What's it to you?"

__ ~ __

Marjorie of course had organised a celebration to welcome Luke back home.  She invited a few work colleagues, her boss the owner of Plumbob Pictures, Frederick Bedlington and other friends.

Luke was overwhelmed. He was not used to social gatherings like this, but he wanted to make a good impression on everyone. So he tried to be polite and friendly, but inside he was amazed that Marjorie had done so well without him.

Lesley came over to mark the occasion. She considered it bittersweet. On the one hand at long last her son was safely home, on the other hand her son was an ex-con with years of wasted time and a tarnished reputation that would be hard to shirk. She was under no illusions.

Luke was astounded at how much his mother had aged. She looked so frail and old and ...he could tell she was still judgey.

This is Tara. She adores a good party. But she's feeling a little weirded out at this one. Total stranger jailbird father. Overly happy overcompensating mother.....

 Missing in action rebellious brother. Stiff old judgey croc grandma. And a bunch of try-too-hard people she hardly knows.

 Her grandma shuffles up to ask her where Curtis is hiding. "I haven't seen your brother all night? What's happening?" Tara thought Lesley had this animal like sixth sense, she could smell a problem like a bloodhound. Must be all those years animal wrangling. Tara really quite liked her grandma, she was a game old bird, had toughed it out raising two boys by herself. She was straight with her.

" Shh grandma, don't say anything but Curtis has skipped the place and gone out clubbing. He seemed really off today, like just looking to cause a fight, being really difficult. So I guess he's better off out of it."
"Clubbing!!??" Lesley repeated a little too loudly.
"Yeah at that cool place in town - the Ocean Room? They have a suspended water tank pool thing. He has a fake ID and everything...."

Marjorie, standing within earshot, stifled a shriek of dismay. This was not how it was supposed to go....they were supposed to be a reunited family.

Lesley told Marjorie to go back to her guests and not to alert Luke, she had a plan. She would call Jethro, who was working late at Shear Perfection and get him to track Curtis down.

Across town Curtis was soothing his dark mood with a zingy cocktail. The Ocean room was a new discovery for him, the music was loud, he was eying up a hot mixologist and feeling mellow away from the drama at home.

Luke went to the bathroom to relieve himself and freshen up. He felt a rising heat that made him want to dance and laugh for no reason. This was fun!

When he returned to the bar, standing at the bar was his Uncle Jethro.
"Heeeeyyyyy, Uncle Jessroooo!" Curtis felt surprisingly giddy and delighted to see his Uncle.
"Arryooo out to partay t'nite too!! Lemmeee shout youse one of theeeshamazing pink drinks!"

But Jethro looked less than happy to be there. "Good grief. You are wasted. How long have you been here? An how many drinks have you managed to con them into serving you?"

"Awwwww Unkers! Uncle Jeffrooo....isssmeee Curtis. Your very own nefffoooo. C'mon don' be mad! Gizzahugg! C'mon less hug it out....." Curtis felt like he was weightless, happy and carefree and could not understand why Jethro had such a sour look on his face. This place was so pretty and everyone should be happy. But Jethro was not going along with it. He pushed Curtis away and shouted at him, "Get your hands off me. You're in big trouble my lad! Come with me now and I'll take you home.We can talk to your Mum and Dad and maybe sort things out."

Upon hearing Jethro mention his father, Curtis' mood changed in a heartbeat.

"Gerrraway from me you....TRAITOR!" snarled Curtis. "You don tell me what to do! Berra runnnnn Uncle....before I lose my happy feeling and smack you up eh?"

The look on Curtis' face was demonic. His menacing tone and demeanour scared Jethro so much that he decided to back off.

  

 Curtis ordered another drink. he took it to the bathroom with him in case his goody-two-shoes Uncle decided to get all righteous on him and steal it. After drinking it he got his happy place back again and felt much better.

So much better. "These drinks are amazing!" he noted.

So good in fact he decided to strip down to his shorts and dive in the big blue glowing water tank that was part of the bar display, shouting "parrrrrty onnnnn!"

But the adrenaline rush was short lived. No one noticed that Curtis was partying in the tank. Curtis suddenly saw the cops entering the club while he simultaneously felt cold, wet and stupid.

The cops did not go lightly on him, once they took his details and discovered who his father was, they went all hard and unfriendly. Sobering up in the cruiser on the way home, he felt lucky to be getting away with just a warning. He knew the real punishment would be the look on his Dad's face when he arrived home in a cop car.

And he wasn't wrong.

Luke Hans went completely ballistic at him. "Are you an idiot or what?" he yelled. "Have I spent all those years locked up in a cell for no reason? That did not teach you any lesson at all? Do you want to end up wasting the best years of your life like I have?"

Curtis was tired and damp and very sorry for himself. "I only had a couple of drinks at a club Dad. Jeez its not like I was robbing a bank or...."

"It's against the law!" Luke cut him off brusquely. "And from now on the law is something you will respect! If anyone is going to go breaking any laws around here it will be me, and only me! We will not have another Diarmid going to prison. Okay?! Do you understand?"

Curtis nodded. It was too exhausting being all rebellious and bad and stuff. He just decided to agree and opt for a life of partying without the illegal stuff.

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.

__ ¬ __

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.

Chapter 11: Oh Baby!

Here we have Tessa Fisher arriving at Luke and Marjorie's home to celebrate the first birthday of baby Curtis. Being a grandma seems to be sitting well with Tessa. She's not her normal sour faced self is she? She seems....joyful and friendly. It is amazing all the changes a baby brings, some are most unexpected.

The gentleman just coming through the front door in the background....well this might be a bit of a shock to you...because we know him quite well, but he too has undergone some extraordinary changes. It's Sammie - family friend and boyfriend to Luke's brother Jethro.

And as Tessa continues, quite out of character, to smile and laugh and dance at her grandson's birthday, here comes Lesley.  Yes - time has moved along for her too. She's still fit and active, but age can not be avoided.

 No one considered that Sammie and Lesley were of the same generation and that the age difference would be so marked between Sammie and Jethro when the years took their toll on him. He and Lesley are now closer than they ever were, but he and Jethro are no longer a couple. They drifted apart when Jethro took a position as a fashion consultant at Shear Perfection Salon and Sammie retired and really started to let himself go.

And right on cue, Jethro arrives with some homemade chili and notes straight away the presence of his ex. Things were going to be a bit awkward. Luke Hans sensed the tension and went into damage control mode, trying to mediate between the warring parties.

"So, Sammie, what have you been doing with yourself since you gave up the domestic engineering business?" enquired Luke.
"Oh, I've GIVEN UP quite a lot more than cleaning people's homes Luke." snarked Sammie eyeballing Jethro. "According to some people, I've also given up being the most fun person on the planet, the sexiest guy with the best hair in town and the slickest fashion."
Jethro snorted and met Sammie's direct glare. "I guess the old gay cowpoke in everyone eventually comes screeching to the surface..." he muttered darkly.

Luke sighed and suggested Sammie would be more comfortable on the couch.

Curtis was finally awake from his nap and Marjorie brought him through to the kitchen to feed him.

Luke managed to settle Sammie near his mother as he crowed happily about the new baby.

"Oooh Luke you'll need to watch that boy. I'm telling ya - he'll be a real lady killer that one! He's inherited his father's charm and his mother good looks alright! Better keep your eye on him..."

Lesley sniffed stiffly. She looked uncomfortable and tense, as though there was something on her mind.

"What's up Mum?" asked Luke Hans. "You haven't said much all day. Is everything okay?"
Lesley held herself formally and looked at her son. She had been hearing all sorts of rumours around the town, from the Blanco's to the Bird's that Luke was working with some not so nice characters, he was doing a lot of work at night and the work he was doing was of the dirty type, lucrative but shady.
"Well with a baby to look after now, you have a lot of responsibilities Luke. Do not forget you are responsible for keeping a roof over their heads and food on their table....you need to be ..." she let her sentence trail off into silence. "Careful" she concluded ominously.

"I am responsible Mum." Luke shot back. He suddenly got the vibe that Lesley knew something about his nefarious activities. "I will do anything for my family. I will do anything to make sure Marjorie and Curtis are happy." This was not good, he thought. The last thing he wanted was for his mother to find out what he had been up to in the dead of night up at the old mill.

To break the uncomfortable silence that ensued, Luke jumped up and began dancing wildly with his mother in law. Tessa had never let her hair down like this at any other family gatherings...everyone looked on with wonder as she shimmied and strolled with both Luke and Jethro.

Jethro gave it all he'd got just to make sure Sammie knew he still had it.

Later that evening when the guests had gone, Luke held his baby boy and played "This Little Piggy". Curtis roared with laughter. He was a very happy baby, Luke thought. I must protect him from the truth.

The truth in Luke's mind was that he knew he was a thief, he was a criminal. He knew it was wrong. But he had somehow compartmentalised that fact and conveniently split himself into two different people. He was also providing for his family and giving them the level of comfort they deserved. He was a good husband and a good father. Somehow the two Luke's never seemed to meet each other.

Luke thought he could keep everything under control. But things were about to go a little awry.

One morning Marjorie said to Luke. "Honey, I have something to tell you. I want you to stay calm and not get all panicky okay?"
"Okay.." Luke smiled at his beautiful perfectly glowing wife. Everyday he asked himself how he had been so lucky. He replayed that thought in his head again this morning - then realised he had noticed how glowing she was. The last time she had been glowing like this she had been.....he looked at the noticeable bump that was there again!
"Pr..pre..egnant?" he stuttered.
"Ummm yes?" she looked at him closely for signs of a freak out.

But he just embraced her and kissed her and told her everything would be alright.

Secretly he was freaked out, it was another set back. But he didn't allow himself to show it.  He would work harder if need be.

That night something even more terrible went down. From an anonymous tip off the Old Mill was
raided by the cops. Luke Hans was caught red handed in the midst of finalising a shipment of illegal animal skins - bearskin, cougar, mink and squirrel. The hand of the law came down with full force on him that night. After the police had taken full inventory of the place, he was taken to the station for further questioning.

 Later that day he was charged with felony theft and fencing stolen goods, possession of stolen goods and trading in illegal animal products, tax evasion and money laundering. It was just about as bad as it could get. Luke Hans Diarmid was now publicly recorded as a criminal.

What would Marjorie do when she found out?