George - Chapter Seven: Christmas Surprises - A Surprise Reaction

Sorry this chapter took so long! It's the end of the school year for us and it's crazy busy!  Little warning for language. Thanks so much for being patient with me and thanks for reading! Hope you enjoy!

 

 

****Charlotte****

“Are you ready?” I took a deep breath and nodded. He looked briefly at Steph and then walked to the front door. He paused and then opened the door. The second I heard her voice I started tearing up which surprised me. In all the scenarios I had thought up in my head, I never imagined that hearing her voice would bring tears to my eyes.

“Hi Mom. Let me get your coat.”

“Thanks. Did everyone make it here okay?”

“Yes, they’re all in the living room.” I saw George walk into the room and I caught a glimpse of her reddish brown hair. George moved slightly to the side and that’s when I saw her. I couldn’t stop the tears from falling at that point. When I saw her face I noticed that she too had tears in her eyes. It was like someone else took over my body and before I knew what I was doing, I was hurrying over to her and hugging her.

“I’m so sorry Mom.” It was all I could get out before I started bawling into her shoulder. She wrapped her arms around me and hugged me as I cried. All I could think about was how stupid I had been. Why had I run away all those years ago? Why had I not contacted any of them? George had tried to explain to me how hurt everyone was but it didn’t register with me until this moment. I had been so selfish, so self-absorbed that I didn’t think of how my actions would affect everyone else.

At some point I felt Mom take one of her hands away and then I felt even more people hugging. I didn’t even have to look up to see that the four of us were now hugging.  I had a flashback to when we had all hugged in the hospital when we were waiting to hear about Dad. But unlike then, when it felt like our family was being ripped apart, this time it felt like we were coming back together, except Will wasn’t there. That would have made that moment perfect; if it had been the five of us. 

I have no idea how long we stayed like that but I honestly didn’t want it to end and I was sad when we broke apart. I looked at Mom and she held my head in between her hands. “I love you Charlotte and I can’t tell you how grateful I am that you’re okay, but next time, please tell me where you are.” I started crying again and nodded. She once again pulled me in and hugged me. I eventually stopped crying and looked at George and Trev. The only time I remembered seeing them cry was when dad passed away; as I looked at them, I realized that they too had been crying. I hated that I had caused so much pain and worry. I wished I could go back in time and change the decision I had made all those years ago to leave. 

“Oh my! How thoughtless of us! Your poor friend is having to stand here and watch us all crying.” Mom worried. She walked up to Steph and hugged her. “You must be Steph. It’s nice to meet you!” I almost laughed at the look on Steph’s face. She wasn’t quite sure what to do and I was sure it was because Mom was hugging her. Mom stepped back and Steph looked at her. 

“It’s nice to meet you Mrs. Davila.”

“Oh, please call me Bridge.” 


"Ummm. okay." It was obvious that Steph wasn't sure how to respond. She needed to be saved. There was only one person in the room who was good at doing that. I jabbed George in the ribs with my elbow.

"Ow!" He looked at me and I motioned for him to step in. "Oh, hey Mom, why don't you, Charlotte, and Trev sit down and talk for a bit. Hey Steph, do you want to help me?"

 “Sure!” Steph hurriedly agreed. I chuckled as they went into the kitchen while Mom, Trev and I walked over to the couches.

****George****

Steph and I walked into the kitchen and I immediately turned around to look at her. “Sorry if you felt uncomfortable out there.” I didn’t know how uncomfortable she had been during the exchange between Mom and Charlotte, but it had been obvious that she was when Mom had hugged her.

“It’s okay. After Charlotte explained everything earlier I had a better idea of what would probably happen.”

“You seemed a little. . .unsure when Mom was hugging you. She normally doesn’t act that way with people she doesn’t know very well; she must have been caught up in the emotions of seeing Charlotte again.”

“It’s okay. I’m just not used to hugging.” She said and looked down at the floor. I really wanted to ask her why but this wasn’t the time. Maybe some other time during these next couple days I could ask her about it. She looked back up at me and I nodded.

“Hopefully the most uncomfortable part of the night is over. I do need to tell you something about tomorrow though so you won’t be completely in the dark.”

“What do you mean.”

“It’s something that no one but me knows and although I want the others to be surprised, it wouldn’t be good to keep it from you.” She raised an eyebrow and looked questionably at me.

“What?”

“I promise I’ll explain it later; I guess you’re just going to have to trust me for right now.” 

She smiled. “’Trust me’ says the tiger. I guess I really don’t have a choice.” There was that sarcasm again that always seemed to be present when she was uncomfortable.

“I guess you don’t, Sunshine.”

“Sunshine? Is that in reference to my love of pie?”

“That, or could be a sarcastic reference to your sarcastic personality.”

“Did you. . .No, I don’t believe it! You used sarcasm!” She said sarcastically.

“I sure did, Sunshine.” She playfully narrowed her eyes and was about to say something when we heard Trev.

“Damnit George! We’e hungry.”

“Trevor. . .language.” I heard Mom say.

“Sorry, Mom.” Trev apologized. Steph and I both laughed at Trev getting scolded by Mom. I plated the food and the Steph and I carried the plates into the dining room. Mom, Trev and Charlotte were already sitting at the table and when Steph and I sat down Mom scolded me.

“George, you should know better than to have a guest help with dinner. She should be sitting down, not serving.”

“Hey, I tried to convince her of that earlier and she insisted.” I defended myself.

“Well. . .still. . .” She gave me a scolding look but smiled at Steph.“So, I’m glad you were able to join us for Christmas, Steph. Charlotte’s told me how you’ve become a good friend of hers, which I have to admit, I’m relieved that she’s made some good friends where she is.” Mom and Charlotte smiled at each other.

“I’m just touched that she invited me and George and you have opened your houses to me.”

Mom smiled. I was just waiting for her to start asking personal questions. That was one thing that hadn’t changed about Mom; she still had this desire to know if people were truthful. I had often wondered if my wanting to figure people out had been something that I had inherited from her. 

“I was sad to hear that you might have spent Christmas alone. Have your parents passed?” And there was the first of the personal questions. I couldn’t blame Mom, though, to her it seemed like an innocent question but the rest of us sitting at the table knew it was a touchy subject; even if we didn’t know exactly why.


 

“Well,” I could tell she was trying to figure out a way to answer her. I was just hoping that she remembered what I had told her about Mom smelling BS. “I honestly don’t know. Like Charlotte, I left home and never contacted my parents. Although, I wasn’t as close with them as Charlotte is with all of you and I really didn’t have much of a choice about leaving.”

“What do you mean?” Charlotte asked. I was shocked that Charlotte didn’t know any of this. It seemed that she was hearing this for the first time, just like the rest of us.

“I was told to leave.” Steph said and looked down at the table. “Basically because my Mom didn’t want me there anymore.” There was a stunned silence around the table as we all took in what Steph had said. I immediately started trying to figure out what she could have possibly meant by what she had just confessed. I had guessed before that her Dad probably wasn’t the greatest guy, but I had never thought that there may have been some pain associated with her mom. I felt someone lightly kick my foot and looked up to see Charlotte motioning for me to do something. I was honestly at a complete loss about what to say or do to try to get out of this uncomfortable situation.  I was beat to the punch by Mom.

“Well, then I’m even more glad that you were able to join us. We may be a little different than some families but you’re more than welcome to be a part of our crazy Christmas.” I was floored; and so was Trev and Charlotte. Not that I didn’t expect Mom to be nice and welcoming toward Steph, but more so at how she had just taken a strained conversation and turned it into something almost uplifting. I looked at Steph and she graciously smiled at Mom.

“So, is everyone still coming over tomorrow? If so, what time should I expect you?” Mom wondered.

“I had thought around eleven thirty. . .does that sound good to everyone else?” I asked everyone and they all agreed. I had my reasons for picking that time but I didn’t want anyone to know why.

“Good! I’ll make sure lunch is ready around noon.” She turned and looked at Charlotte. “If you want, and it will make you feel better, you can sleep in the guest room. . .” Mom offered.

“But if I did that, where would Steph stay?”

“She could sleep in your old room.” I was interested to see what Charlotte would choose. She thought about it for a minute before responding.

“I think I’ll be okay in my old room, plus Steph is the guest, she should sleep in the guest room.” Charlotte said and smiled at Steph.

“See, Charlotte knows how to treat a guest.” Mom said and turned to scold me again. Everyone chuckled and I smiled as I shook my head. I glanced over at Steph and she was smirking at me. The rest of dinner continued without any more hiccups and soon I was clearing the table of dishes and placing them in the dishwasher. The next several hours were spent sitting in the living room with Charlotte and Trev catching Mom up on what they had been up to. It was interesting to hear some of what Charlotte had been doing the last several years.  We even learned how Steph and Charlotte had worked together for several weeks before realizing that they lived in the same apartment building.

 At one point, Mom looked at the clock and looked shocked. “Does that really say eleven? I better get going home. I didn’t realize it was so late.” She stood up and the rest of us did too. She turned to Steph. “I’m so glad you decided to come here for Christmas! And for heaven’s sake, don’t let George work you anymore.” She joked and this time she just smiled at Steph instead of hugging her. Steph laughed and looked at me and even I couldn’t help but chuckle.

Trev, Charlotte, and I walked her to the door and she said goodbye to each of us and gave us each hugs. I was surprised when Mom asked me to walk her to her car. We walked in silence until we reached it. “Did you have any idea about Steph’s past?” She asked.

“I kind of did, I figured she didn’t have a great relationship with her dad but I didn’t know any specifics, why?” I was perplexed why she was asking about it.

“It’s just so hard to believe. . .”

“You don’t think she made it up, do you?”

“Oh no! I’m sure it’s the truth, I just don’t understand how any parent could do that. I would have been devastated if that had happened to me, and I’m sure most people would be too. It just convinces me that we did the right thing inviting her here.” I had to agree with her, now that I had an idea that she really would have been alone on Christmas and that the reunion with Mom and Charlotte seemed to be going well, I too was glad that she had come. My thoughts were interrupted by Mom voicing her opinion. “She’s pretty, isn’t she?” I turned to look at her.

“Wha. . .?”

“Weren’t you thinking about her?” Mom smiled.

“Yes, but about her and her family. . .”

“Oh, well I just figured you would have noticed how pretty she was. . .”

“Good God Mom.”

“So you’re telling me that you don’t think she’s pretty and nice?”

“I never said that, I just really don’t want to discuss this with my mother.”

“So you admit that you think she’s pretty and nice. . .?”

“Goodnight, Mom.” I chuckled and kissed her on the cheek. “We’ll see you tomorrow.”

She smiled. “Can’t blame a mother for trying. I’ll see you tomorrow. Love you.”

“Love you too.” I stayed outside until she drove away and then walked back inside. I walked over to the fireplace to warm up after being outside. 

“What did Mom want?” Charlotte asked.

“Hmm. . .Oh, um she was asking about. . .” I looked around and realized Steph wasn’t there. “Where’s Steph?”

“Oh, she’s outside, in the back; said she needed some air.”

 I looked toward the back door for a moment and then answered Charlotte’s question. “Mom was asking about her and her family. Just wondering if we knew about her parents.” She nodded. “So, how do you think it went?”

She sighed. “I think it went well. You were right, she’s changed and is much more relaxed about things. I’m actually a little more excited about going to the house tomorrow.” She admitted and I smiled.

“Well, I’m still tired after the drive here, I’m heading to bed.” Trev announced.

“Yeah, I think I’m going to bed too.” She walked closer to me “Thanks George. I couldn’t have done this without you.” She said and then hugged me.

“You’re welcome.” I hugged her back.

We broke apart and Trev smacked me on the back. “Night, bro!”

“Night.” I said and chuckled.

“Hey, tell Steph we said goodnight.” Charlotte said as she started walking up the stairs.

“I will.” I watched her finish walking up the stairs and then turned my attention to the back door. I walked over and opened it and I wondered how long she had been out there in the freezing temps. I looked over to the right and didn’t see her, it wasn’t until I looked out further in the yard that I saw her. I started walking toward her and she turned around from the sound of my feet walking through the frozen ground.

“I thought tigers were better at sneaking up on people.” She stated.

I laughed. “I’ll have to remember to practice.” I joked back.

The way she smiled made me wonder what she was thinking. “What?”

“Just that I think this is the most relaxed I’ve seen you. You’ve even been sarcastic a couple times.”

“I can be sarcastic, I just choose to do it around people I know.” She nodded and looked up at the sky. I looked up too and noticed how clear the sky was.  “This is one of the things that I love about Appaloosa, that you can see so many stars in the sky.”

“I haven’t seen this many stars in years.” She commented and I looked away from the sky and over at her. She must not have realized what she said at first because when she did, she looked at me like she hadn’t meant to say it. “I said that out loud, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, you did.”

She looked back up at the sky for a moment and then turned to go inside. I followed her back inside and decided to go to bed. 

“Charlotte and Trev wanted me to tell you that they said goodnight. I guess I’ll head to bed myself. Night.” I turned to walk to the bedroom doors.

“Really? You’re not even the least bit curious? After the questions about my parents and then the comment I made about the sky, you aren’t going to ask me about it? I figured you’d be chomping at the bit.” She sarcastically commented. I turned back around and walked slightly towards her.

“I figured if you wanted to really talk about it, you’d bring it up. If not, then I was going to respect your privacy.”

“I just figured the psychologist in you wouldn’t be able to contain your curiosity.”

I sat down on one of the couches and waited to see if she wanted to continue. She looked at the other couch and sat down.

“I admit, that I’m curious about some of the things you mentioned but not because I’m a psychologist. More so for getting to know you better. I think all of us want to get to know you better.”

****Steph****

Hmmm. . .interesting, he wants to get to know me better. . . “Okay, what would you like to know?” I normally wasn’t this open with most people but there was something about him, even with his sometimes distant personality that made me feel comfortable.

“The sky, when did you last see that many stars?”

“The night I left home.” His facial expression changed and I couldn’t quite read it.

“What. . .Why did your mom. . .” I was surprised that he was having trouble asking the questions. I sighed. “You don’t have to tell me anything if you don’t want to.” He admitted.

“See, I don’t really mind, but my experience is that most people look at me different once they learn about my past. Like they pity me; and I hate that. So I keep it to myself and don’t usually tell people until I’ve known them for a while. But even then, some people’s opinion of me changes.”

He leaned forward and rested his arms on his legs. “I can kind of relate to that.” I gave him a questioning look. “When people find out that my dad is dead, how he died, and how old I was when it happened. . .I get that sometimes from people. They get that look on their face; the “Oh you poor thing!” face.”

“Exactly!” I felt somewhat better about telling him about my past knowing that he somewhat related to how I felt.

“So you really don’t know whether or not your parents are alive or dead?”

“No.”

“Do you want to know?”

“No, not really.” He looked like he was trying to figure out why in that over active head of his. “You see, my parents never wanted to have me; at least that’s what they told me.”

“They told you that?”

“Yeah. Many times. My Mom and Dad were dating in high school and she got pregnant. I think they were seniors. Anyway, my Mom’s dad found out and both sets of their parents forced them to get married, which my Dad bitched about all the time. How he felt trapped because he didn’t have any say in whether he married her or not. They were both so pissed at their parents, they eventually stopped talking to them” He nodded.

“So several months after they married, I was born. Even from my earliest memories, I remember my Dad calling my Mom names, just every name imaginable. But his favorites were ‘whore’ and ‘slut.’ He was convinced that Mom was cheating on him and I always thought he was a dufus for believing that, cause what young girl wants to believe their mom is a whore or a slut.”

“He was always mad, always pissed off at his life, he complained about being married to her, about how he never got to graduate high school because of her, how we were poor because of her. Which we were poor: I went to bed many nights hungry because we couldn’t afford food. At first, I only saw him yell at her, but eventually, he started hitting her and that turned into him beating her. I eventually had to stop inviting friends over to our house because she would be so beat up and people started wondering why.”

“I never really remember my Mom being a loving, caring mother; but she didn’t really treat me badly, that is until something snapped. One day I came home from school and she started yelling at me; blaming me for her messed up life. Whenever Dad yelled at her, she’d turn right around and yell at me. She eventually stopped cooking, when we had food, and it was up to me to cook if I wanted to eat. She stopped cleaning too and if I didn’t clean, she’d yell at me until I did.”

“I guess it was when I was a sophomore in high school that people at school started teasing me about my Mom being a prostitute. At first I fought anyone that called her that. I mean, it seemed absurd to me. Sure she was a bitch and she yelled at me all the time, but a prostitute?! There was just no way. I don’t know why, but one day I came home from school, and I guess she lost track of time or something like that, because I actually caught her and another man in our house. I had never felt more stupid. That was the day I lost what little respect I had for her and I never again stuck up for her at school; because they were right, she was a prostitute. She was so furious when I saw them. She had the nerve to blame me. It wasn’t her fault that she did that, it was my fault that I saw her. She threatened me that if I ever told my Dad, she would beat the living shit out of me; and I never doubted that she would because by that point, I knew she hated me.”

“Several months later, my Dad came home from work early and he caught her and some other guy. I was upstairs in my room doing homework when I heard him come home. I saw the guy climb out of a downstairs window and run away, but by that point, Dad had already seen him. He screamed at her about how she was a whore and a slut and he’d had enough, and at that point, I agreed with him. She was all of those things. She begged him to forgive her and tried to convince him that she did it for money because of how much it cost to take care of me.” I shook my head thinking back to her saying that. “At the mention of me, he asked if I was home. I heard him come up the stairs and he flung my door open. He asked me if I had known what was going on with Mom sleeping around with other men. When I admitted that I did but she had threatened to beat me if I told him, he flung his arm at me and I ended up rolling down the stairs. I’ll never forget how my Mom just kept sitting at the table, she never helped me get up, nothing. I finally stood up and my Dad came downstairs with a bag. He grabbed what little money they had and he left.”

“I have no idea if he ever came back because my Mom then turned to me and started yelling at me; telling me how it was my fault that he left, that everything was always my fault. She got up from the chair she was sitting in, calmly walked over to me and slapped me across the face. She told me to grab my things and to leave. Her exact words were ‘Get your shit together and get your sorry ass out of my house. You have 5 minutes before I physically remove your ass from here.” I ran upstairs, packed some clothes in a backpack, grabbed some money I hid under some floorboards, and ran downstairs. As I was walking out the door, she said. ‘Don’t ever bring your sorry ass back here.’ So I haven’t.”

I was surprised that he quickly asked a question. “How old were you?”

“Sixteen.”

“You’ve been living on your own since you were sixteen?”

“Yup.”

“Did you live in Bridgeport?”

“No, I pretty much hitchhiked to Bridgeport. We lived in a small town in the desert”

“How did you live?”

“I mostly had jobs as a waitress and I lived in some hell holes. Some of them were so bad that living on the streets might have been more sanitary.”

“What made you decided to go to Bridgeport?” 

“I had heard some people at school talk about it and it sounded better than where I lived, so I figured why the hell not. I eventually saved enough money that I was able to get a nicer place and then about three years after moving to Bridgeport, I earned my GED.”

“How did you start working at the same bar as Charlotte?”

“Well, the bar hasn’t been open that long; less than a year. I was waitressing at a restaurant and some of the other servers were talking about how a new bar was opening up and they were looking for servers and about how much more bar servers made in tips. I had just turned twenty one so I figured I’d give it a shot. I was fortunate that I was one of the people hired.  Not long after I started working there, Charlotte was hired.”

He nodded and then pursed his lips. “What?” I asked.

“Nothing.” He answered quickly. He looked over at me and raised an eyebrow at him. “It’s just. . .I was wondering where Tony fit into all of that.”

I nodded. “I met him at the bar. He started coming not long after I started working there. He seemed like a decent guy at first; came in several times a week and sometimes he sat in my section, sometimes he didn’t. About a month after he started frequenting the bar he asked me out on a date and things progressed from there. It wasn’t until I kind of moved in with him that he started. . .hitting me.”

“How long ago was that?”

“It was about two months before some weird guy decided to play superhero in an alley.” I joked. He chuckled a little and nodded. I stared off into the flames of the fireplace and got lost in my own thoughts. Why had I told him all of that? I hadn’t even told Charlotte any of that? What was it about him that made it so easy to open up to him?

“Penny for your thoughts?” He asked and I took my eyes off the flames and looked at him.

“Hmm. . .I was wondering why I just told you all of that when I haven’t even told Charlotte.”

He nodded. “I don’t know. Ever since I was in middle school people would tell me stuff about themselves. I eventually got used to it and started being able to sense when someone wanted to ‘unload.’” 

“Isn’t that draining? Listening to everyone else’s problems and issues?”

He shrugged. “I guess for some it would, but for me I don’t hold on to their emotion. I just listen and sympathize to a certain extent, but I’ve learned to, for the most part, just listen.”

“I would be an emotional wreck if I listened to everyone else’s problems or issues.”

He nodded and looked at me. The wheels were turning in that brain again and I couldn’t decide if he was analyzing me or just thinking. “Are you thinking, analyzing. . .?”

“Thinking. I told you, I analyze or observe people I don’t really know, people I haven’t really talked to, unless there’s something off in their behavior and then I might just because I’m curious what’s happened to change their behavior.”

“Ah. . .”

“Which is actually kind of what I was thinking about, more like wondering about; something that I’ve been wanting to know the answer to for a while.”

 

“What’s that?”

“How did you know I would analyze you that night at Trev’s party?”

****George****

She got a look on her face which I was quickly learning was how she looked when she was getting ready to either be sarcastic or tease me. “Do you think you’re the only person who’s able to observe and accurately analyze people?” 

 

I smirked. “Answering a question with a question. . .?”

“Something I picked up recently. . .But seriously, I took a gamble that you wouldn’t be able to resist, and if you did, well, nothing would have been lost.” Charlotte had most definitely been right about her.

“So you did purposely try to play me.” She laughed loudly.

“To play you. . .Hmmm. . .well, I don’t know about that, more so that maybe you should think twice before you do it; because you never know who you’ll offend by doing it. And then you’d miss out on getting to know some really interesting people.” She smiled and then stood up. “Anyway, I’m tired from the drive here too. It really was kind of scary with Charlotte driving.”

I laughed. “She wasn’t all that great of a driver in high school, I guess that hasn’t changed much.”

“See you tomorrow.” She slightly waved and opened the door to the guest room.

“Night.” I said to her. She turned around, smiled and then closed the door. I continued to sit on the couch, watching the fire and thinking about all that she had told me. I was honestly amazed that after going through all of that growing up, that she was as friendly as she was. Most people would be leery of others after having grown up in that environment. Then there was the fact that even after all of that she was still fighting; she hadn’t given up on herself and even on others. Most people would have given up or blamed others for their circumstances, something she could have easily learned from her parents. But instead she fought to make her life more positive than the one she had grown up in. She was trying to take something bad and change it into something positive; something that we seemed to have in common.

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mypalsims's - Group Hug