One of the best things about going to any conference was the networking and socialization. The talks, lectures, and Q&A sessions gave the participants valuable information, but the stated purpose of a conference did not help as much as the human interactions. Making those social connections helped those who went to the conference in many other ways than learning about a new trend. The conference-goers made their network bigger by getting new friends, new job leads, and a nice little bullet point to put on their resume.
Nancy Collive was out on the town socializing and networking when her phone rang. There was no way she was going to answer the phone right away. She was having too much fun and the nightclub was too loud. Plus she did not want anyone to know exactly where she was. Her ID might have said she was 21, but in reality, she was 20.
At the same time she knew better than to blow off the caller. The person on the other line was her mom. Nancy was a junior in college so by the letter was an adult, but by the spirit she was not. She had none of the responsibilities which came with adulthood. Nancy still lived under her parent's roof. They also were paying for her education. The underage lady understood it was their house, their rules. Following her parents’ rules was easy because the older Nancy became the fewer restrictions she had.
Both the call and the ensuing conversation were perplexing to the dancing queen. Nancy was coming home tomorrow and she just talked with Dawn, her mom, earlier today. Nancy was blessed that she did not have parents which hovered over her and shined a light on her to keep track of her like a police helicopter. They gave her room and would not call to check up on her. So getting the call itself was odd.
The relationship between Nancy and her parents meant the call should have been important. To Nancy it was not, but the directness of the questions was a sign otherwise. There was no conversation, only Nancy’s mom asking questions. If the call being information gathering was not strange enough then the subject matter made it even more. Nancy’s mom wanted to know about the borrowing habits of her and her sister. Nancy also felt like her mom was disappointed in her for not getting permission to borrow her sister Linda’s dress. The sister had an agreement that they would ask but did not have to so her mom was overreacting over nothing.
Then, right before saying goodbye, Dawn added “we will talk about this more when you get home.” Those words baffled Nancy. It made no sense that somehow this trivial topic was of high importance. There was no way her and her sister had always did warranted this call for verification. Her mom and dad could have just asked Linda. The topic of the call does not need to be revisited. Not only was it going to be revisited but it was an announced one. Those kinds of talks were always serious.
After getting off the phone, Nancy went back into the nightclub and did her best to not dwell on the mysterious phone call. It was hard until she had a couple of more drinks. The liquor became the lubricant which helped the thoughts of that call to slip out of her mind. Within 10 minutes she was back on the dance floor having a great time.
***************
The birds were singing and these heralds of the sun woke Ron Coville up by announcing the start of a new day. This morning being a Sunday in May made it also the start of a new week, and also a new nature cycle. Maybe all these new beginnings would be a sign that there would also be a fresh start with Ron and his family. The reset was sorely needed. The relationship between them was going fine until his sister, Linda, made unfounded accusations of Ron borrowing and destroying her clothes.
The damage of the family bond was done by the steps taken by the patriarch and matriarch when they heard Linda’s claims. Instead of needing proof of wrongdoing Ron was found guilty of all charges levied against him. Trying to be progressive parents, Kyle and Dawn, did not punish their son. Dawn did it because she wanted to help her son and Kyle because being the progressive parent would make him look good to others. Instead they went with forcing him to have a learning experience. Ron was made to have a compulsory weekend as a girl. A way for him to freely express his feminine side.
The name given to an action does not change the action. It is how the person who is receiving the effect of an action which makes an action what it is. How Ron had to dress and live this weekend was a punishment to him. Making someone act like the gender they are not is a punishment. Not being his true self made the boy miss his track team’s sectional meet and also the year end school awards banquet. Missing big events in one’s life for an unneeded learning experience was also a punishment.
The weekend went over as well as reality does to a conspiracy theorist. More damage was done to the connection between Ron and his family when none of them listened to his denials. His dad broke even more trust when he had Ron’s best friend, Chloe, come over to meet Ron en femme. Instead of believing Ron, Kyle took his son’s firm declaration of not wanting to be a girl as protesting too much. Having Chloe come over was supposed to open Ron up to being Ronda.
Linda’s resistance to hearing Ron out manifested in her lashing out at him. She wanted to be supportive by being there for her new kid sister. She also liked the idea of having a kid sister. It was going to be so nice to be able to be like Nancy for Rhonda. Instead of bonding with Rhonda, she had to deal with a defiant brat. One of the most frustrating things in life is offering to help someone who needs it and they stubbornly reject it. The annoyance which came from her kindness being greeted with resistance made her lash out. Linda was going to force Ron to see he wanted to be Rhonda. Her threat of cutting his hair cut any tie Ron felt with his sister.
The least amount of damage was done to Ron’s relationship with his mom. For the most part, Dawn actually did listen to what Ron was saying when he was being treated like another one of her daughters. Actually listening to Ron when he was Rhonda was overshadowed by his mom going along with the feminine weekend. Dawn should have been stronger with her objections.
As Ron was leaving his room there was the first sign that even with it being a new day there would be no new beginning with the relationship between him and his sister. Linda was waiting in the hall to speak with her brother. She was too concerned with starting to mend the tear in the relationship with her brother to honor what he wanted, to be left alone by her.
Her good morning was greeted by silence by Ron. Last night he made it clear he wanted nothing to do with Linda and in his eyes she was nothing to him. The hurt teenage girl repeated her greeting. Instead of the defending sound of silence she got the same reply as last night, an ear piercing “Fuck off!”
Their father angrily yelled “Ronald, get down here right now!” Yet another sign there was no turning of a new page in the relationship between Ron and his family. There would have been no yelling if today was a new beginning between father and son. Kyle would have understood and respected that his son wanted to keep his distance from Linda.
Even with his father and sister trying to keep the status quo, Ron did change. The respect and admiration he had for his family was gone. Respect at first is given, then people have to work at keeping it. Once lost people have to work the hardest ever to earn it back.
Ron’s new attitude to his family was on exhibit when he strongly walked down the step. Then looked straight into his father’s eyes and scornfully said “What!?”
Kyle was not going to let his son show his disdain. Ron needed to be more respectful to his authority figures. “You don’t talk to me like that!”
Being told how to talk added to Ron’s contempt. The last two days he was told how to act, how to dress, and to see himself as someone who he was not. There was more scorn in Kyle’s son's voice when he said “Like what?”
Before the cold war between father and son could heat up Dawn interjected “Ron can say fuck off to her if she tries to talk to him. He can bark back at you if you bark at him for no reason. He needs space from you two and he will get it, understand dear,”
Ron wanted to make sure that his mom did not rewrite the weekend. She might have been more understanding but she went along with the girly weekend. There was no excuse for his mom treating him like a girl. Her understanding did not make what she did any less wrong. “And you mom. I need space from you.”
“Ron, you are right. I should have included myself.”
Kyle disagreed with Dawn. His wife ending her request with dear did not work this time. There was no way that Ron was going to be able to treat him or anyone else in this house like they were not family. Ron had to start forgiving them right away. “No Honey. Ron has to treat me like his father and Linda like his sister. The weekend was a mistake, but he has to move on from it. We are making up for it.”
The common consensus was good parenting meant having a united front in front of your children. Generally that was true. Parents should come to their decision before dealing with the child. In this case Dawn had to make sure that their son knew she disagreed with her husband.
“Kyle, you have no right to say how Ron has to treat anyone. You did not listen to him, you did not treat him with respect, you did not keep your word to him. You’re already back to calling that bad decision a mistake. I should have known you would try to defend what we did by how strongly you said ‘Hell no’ to telling Jim the truth. That is not how a father acts. A father owns up when they mess up. They learn from it. You are not.
If you want to be treated like a father, start acting like one. If Linda wants to be treated like his sister, she better start acting like one. I want Ron to treat me like his mother one day, so I am going to act like one.”
Kyle did not want any change in the relationship dynamics in his family. The changing of the status quo would be a reminder of how he let his son down. “Ron needs to act like a son also, if he wants to be treated like one.”
Ron said “What will you do if I don’t. Let me guess, you are going to treat me like your daughter again. I don’t care how you treat me.”
The frustrated father said “Quit bringing that up. I know I messed up. We are moving on from it right now. Understand?”
“Oh we are moving on from what you did. You did put me in a dress for something I did not do and that is now part of our relationship.”
This was not the time for Kyle and his son to have it out. At this moment neither of them were listening to each other. Kyle was talking at his son and not responding to the legit grievances which were being aired. Being back to normal was more important to the father than the process of doing so. He thought that sweeping the weekend under the rug would not leave a huge lump which everyone would trip over,
Dawn knew the fight had to be postponed. “Kyle, drop it. We have to deal with what happened this weekend. You are not ready and we heard Linda saying good morning to Ron. She should have not done that. She really should not have repeated herself when our son said nothing.
Now, when Ron is ready, me and him are going to drop off those clothes to goodwill and then pick up that Playstation 5. Until then Kyle I think it is best that you stay away from Ron. He does not need to be aggravated by you anymore.”
**************
Even with it being six days from today, Chloe Pruitt was already making plans for her huge first date with Ron. The girl finally got the boy she had a huge crush on and wanted their first date to be as special as she saw him. The hardest part of dating for a pair of freshmen was the transportation logistics. Neither of them would have a driver license so they were at the mercy of others to get their destination. This issue was easy for Chloe to solve, ask her dad.
Her dad, Jim Pruitt, was going to be forced to say yes. Chloe’s dad would be house hunting for a better neighborhood in her heart after finding out how wrong he was. Jim’s bad decision was refusing to believe his daughter about Ron not being a crossdresser. Being their personal taxi service for a night would be a great start on him moving out of his new Chloe's dog house.
The plan had one hiccup which Chloe did not know about. Ron’s dad, Kyle, has not kept his word about telling Jim the truth. Kyle was too concerned about his pride and his friend looking down on him than clearing up what other people think of his son. Jim believing Ron had a feminine side would not hurt anyone. Now Jim knowing that Kyle forced his son to live like a girl even for a weekend would forever damage their friendship. Jim would lose respect for Kyle. How severe and drastic the punishment was would make Kyle lose trust in Jim's decision making and moral character.
Chloe’s reasonable request was not brought up until the family was having their traditional Sunday brunch. Jim, still believing that Ron was also Ronda, made it so he had no idea of his change of address. Chloe did get the expected answer. Her dad was more than happy to make sure his daughter was able to enjoy a social life. Having her out of the house also gave him and his wife, Sabrina , time alone.
The answer did come with an unexpected question. “Will it be Ron or Rhonda you are hanging out with on Saturday?”
The price for any real estate outside of Chloe’s doghouse skyrocketed with the question for her father. “Dad, you know that is not true about Ron!”
The revelation of Rhonda did not surprise or confuse Sabrina . Jim told her about how Ron was exploring his feminine side. Now Chloe’s older brother, Devlin, was confused. He said the only question which could come to him “Huh?”
Being an adult Jim put it upon himself to answer the question. These types of questions should be answered by parents, not siblings. Chloe being in denial about who her friend really was just gave more credence that he was the right one to answer it.
“Dev, Ron is also Rhonda. He sometimes likes to express that side of him by….”
Chloe was not going to let her dad lie about the boy she found sweet. “Dad, you know the truth so quit lying.”
“Chloe, you know better than to interrupt someone who is explaining something. Like I was saying.”
“Dad, you are wrong. You know that I told you when we were over Ron’s. Also, Ron’s dad called you last night and explained everything.”
“Chloe, you need to accept the truth. Ron was not ready to tell you about Rhonda yesterday, but how you two made up I assumed he told you. His dad did not call me last night. Kyle would not lie about his son like this.”
“Dad, you are wrong. His dad was supposed to, Ron told me so.”
“Chloe, this is the third time you cut me off. You need to let people speak.”
Sabrina knew something was wrong with her husband’s account of yesterday. Their daughter was respectful and would not keep on trying to take over the conversation unless Chloe truly believed her dad was not right. “Jim let Chloe speak, we are talking about her friend. She knows Ron better than you.”
Jim being irked made him more concerned about being right than knowing the truth. “Does she know Ron better than Kyle?”
Sabrina being the voice of reason said “You know teenagers. They keep things from their parents all the time. You had no idea about Devlin’s love for fishing. He knew so much about fishing by the time he asked you to buy him that nice rod.
Now Chloe, why do you think your dad has it wrong?”
“I know dad has it wrong. This is because Linda blamed Ron for taking her dress and he did not. She could not find her dress and thought he destroyed it by wearing it. With that dress being missing their mom and dad believed her. They forced him to be Rhonda for the weekend.”
Jim still wanted to be right. If he was not then he messed up big time by asking about Rhoda. People do not like being wrong and they hate messing up because of their false beliefs even more. “ Ron is bigger than Linda so he properly did destroy that dress trying it on.”
The hypocritical act of interrupting Chloe got the best of her. How dare her dad talk about not doing something and then do it right away. She was taught a rule for thee but not for me was wrong. “How about letting me finish before you interrupt dad. The dress was not destroyed. Nancy borrowed it.”
Jim's temperature went up so he started to scold his daughter.“Don’t get an attitude with me young lady.”
Sabrina again being the voice of reason was going to cool everyone down. “Hun, you just talked to Chloe about not cutting people off and you did that to her. We teach by example, so don’t cut her off again.
Chloe dear, you need to not let your emotions get the best of you. You have to handle disagreements better. Now go on.”
“Like I was saying, the truth came out when Ron saw a picture of Nancy on Facebook wearing that dress. We were talking then. He said that his dad was going to call you to clear it up.
Even before that I believed him. He said he did not like to wear dresses and explained why. He was being honest. He does not want to wear dresses.
Dad, don't worry about driving us on Saturday. We will find our own way to the movies.”
Devlin spoke up. The fog of his confusion was lifted. He understood what happened. Linda was being over dramatic about something and forced people into believing what she thought was true. “Sis, I will drive you and Ron. It will be nice to see him.”
“Thanks, Dev. Please don’t say you know about what Ron was forced to do.”
“Sis, I won’t bring up the stupid punishment his mom and dad came up with.”
Jim wanted to be right about something, anything so he had to correct his son. “Devlin, don’t call people stupid. You know better than that.”
Wanting to be right instead of doing the right thing made Jim wrong once again and Devlin gently pointed it out by saying “Dad I would never call Mr and Ms Coville stupid. I said their punishment was. They forced their son to dress and be something he was not. Even if he was exploring his feminine side, that cannot be forced upon someone. At least, if you want good results.”
The father’s injured pride might have been obscuring him from seeing the big picture, but even with his blurred vision he started to question the narrative he believed. His eldest child Devlin was neutral about the situation and believed that Ron did not want to wear a dress. This led to him to see the next path he should take, call Kyle to totally clear the situation up.
******************
Nancy was sipping her morning coffee already reminiscing about this weekend. There were so many great memories to relive. Meeting and mingling with so many kindred spirits about advancing women in STEM made those long studies sessions worth the time and effort. She knew that she was going to part of the point of the spear which helped break the glass ceiling which was still holding women back.
There was one event which kept on creeping up which she wished would not, her mom calling her last night. How the call was about checking up on something was like a miser giving to charity, totally out of character. Nancy’s mom and dad trusted their children. The information her mom wanted was trivial. Why would her parents be so concerned about the lending practices of their daughters?
Nancy not asking Linda about the dress was a huge deal to her mom for some reason. This question became work instead of just enjoying the moment. Nancy needed to know more information so she could go back to binge watching her favorite reruns of this weekend’s events. Taking a trip down memory lane was about stopping and smelling the roses, not pruning the rose bush. There was a quick and easy solution, call her sister.
Nancy felt a little uneasy when she heard Linda's voice. The younger sister’s normally cheerful tone was replaced with one which was on edge. Then hearing about her sister’s award banquet last night made Nancy feel bad. She was confused about which weekend it was going to happen. If she correctly remembered the banquet was last night Nancy would have never taken that turquoise dress. She knew her sister wanted to wear that dress on that night. That party dress was Linda’s goto dress for fancy occasions.
Nancy started to profusely apologize. Messing up her sister’s big night made her feel so guilty. This still did not explain why mom called. Linda would have just found something in her or Nancy’s closet to wear. That bright yellow A-line with the flared out hem would have also been a great choice. Nancy was right about the second choice for that was what Linda did wear.
When Linda confirmed Nancy’s thought about the bright yellow dress it made the elder sister lose interest in what the issue was. She then straight up asked Linda why the call if everything worked out great, Nancy’s sister had to know that the dress was with her if she could not find it. This was when the real issue came out.
Linda was flabbergasted when she found out about her parents thinking that Ron was a crossdresser and the punishment. Making Ron be Rhonda for a weekend because they thought he was a crossdresser was radical. She did not think her mom and dad had it in them to think so far out of the box. The eldest daughter was also impressed that the punishment her parents came up with was also a learning experience. It was supposed to help Ron. Lastly, her parents did not back down when Ron denied being a crossdresser so they did not baby their baby..
Then that new found respect Linda had for her parents quickly became disappointment when she found out the rest of the story. Her mom and dad went too far when they found out the truth. Making Linda miss out on so many of her senior year rites of passage was just cruel. Linda did not mean any harm, she truly believed that Ron ruined her dress. Nancy was warned to watch her stuff.
Linda was pissed at Ron. He was acting like a big baby over the weekend. So what? He had to wear dresses for two days. That is not a big deal, they were clothes. Instead of dwelling on the perceived slight to his manhood, her baby brother should learn from the experience. He now knew how much time and effort a woman has to take to look presentable. That selfish boy needs to have some empathy. He should have downplayed how mad he was to look out for his sister. Overall, in the long run this weekend helped Ron to become a better man if he was not so self-centered.
After the phone call, Nancy was going to become Linda's champion. She was going to advocate for her younger sister’s behalf. This decision of how to handle the situation at home was formed without important facts. Once again Linda left out vital information which would make her look wrong. If Nancy was told about how Linda lied about Ron wearing her panties and those two always asking before borrowing anything along with her threatening to cut Ron’s hair. Her story left out Ron missing his huge sectional track meet and how he did not get to go to the awards banquet.
**************
Dawn was happy seeing her son back to being more of who he really is. How Ron was using this weekend to help some less fortunate stranger by dropping off Rhonda’s wardrobe at Goodwill made it so Dawn knew that she and her husband were able to instill good morals into their son. Ron was going to be a great man. This weekend had a bad decision and thankfully its effects did not hamper Ron’s growth as a person.
The happiness did come with some pain. Dawn was doubtful if they were going to be a huge part of Ron’s life. How much Ron was hurt by the bad decision of making him be Rhonda and his parents not believing him broke the trust between them.The trust between a parent and child was vital for the family bond to stay tight. Working on making that bond strong again was going to take everyone involved. Her husband’s half-hearted attempt to accept blame and Linda acting like nothing major happened was not going to help make Ron try to meet them halfway.
Dawn’s emotional pain became stronger after Ron thanked her for the Playstation. The sincerity of his words acted like a sharp sword on the paper heart she had right then. Even with her son being mad at her actions he was still able to show his love and appreciation for his mom. She quickly excused herself to use the restroom. There was no way Dawn was going to let her son see the tears forming in her eyes. That would be emotional manipulation on her part. The mom wanted her actions and not how bad she felt to be the catalyst of her son’s forgiveness.
After regaining her self composure Dawn came back to her son. Even with regaining control of her emotions Ron knew what happened. The physical signs of his mom’s sadness and despair were still evident. No amount of makeup was going to cover up the swollenness and redness of Dawn’s eye. Ron was concerned and asked his mom if everything was alright.
Dawn was not going to lie but at the same time she was not going to pull at the strings of her son’s heart. This was not his burden to bear. She needed to make their relationship right. “It is nothing to concern you Ron.”
Ron was not going to let that non-answer be. “Mom, if it is about the weekend then it does concern me. Now instead of not listening to me tell me what is wrong.”
Dawn said “I will tell you when we get to the car. Let’s go now unless you want to get another game. I think you deserve more than two games for your Playstation.”
Ron would love to get another game, but went against going with that desire. Her offering was another peace offering from his mom. She was the only one who was making a strong effort in making amends and was not going to take advantage of it. Plus he hated to see anyone he cared for upset. Helping his mom feel better had more of a precedent than getting another game.
Once they were in the car Dawn was 100% truthful and honest. She owed that to her son. “Ron, I am afraid that I lost you as my son this weekend. That bad decision was the wrong thing to do. You were hurt by those you loved and yet you are finding it in yourself to be a good person. I don’t want to miss seeing how great of a person you are going to be.”
“Mom, yes I am still pissed at you. You fucked up this weekend. I will say this, you are letting me be mad. That helps. You are not trying to act like nothing major happened or worse like you did nothing wrong. Have my back during this and I know that we will both work on making our relationship strong again.”
Dawn let the tears flow. She knew that they would have no effect on her son’s treatment of her. Her actions were going to make their relationship what it will become. She had control of how her son saw her and was not going to mess that up. “I love you. I love you so much. Now if you are sure you don’t want another game we are going to get home so you can play. I saw you looking at that one game. The one with the knight holding a sword. Go get that if you want.”
“OK mom, but I am paying for it with my money.”
*****************
Kyle’s cell phone ringing annoyed him. Middle aged men do not get social calls in the early afternoon on Sunday. The most likely person on the other end of the call was the wife with what she would call important information. To him that important information would be bad news. Most likely she bought even another big ticket item for their son. He was not happy that he had to pay for the new Playstation after spending all that money to teach his son a lesson.
Getting that gaming system felt like they were bribing their son to forgive them over the little mistake they made. That was just wrong. Ron should forgive his family without extorting them. The father was more concerned about the health of his retirement fund than the relationship with his son. If he was more foresightful Kyle would have known keeping his word about his son’s birthday present was a sound investment in his future. What good is it to have an extremely comfortable retirement if you do not have your family to share it with you.
Kyle went from being annoyed to be feeling excited when he saw that his best friend Jim was calling him. Jim only called when he was free to do something. His friend having time meant golf on this sunny spring Sunday. 18 holes on the greens under the bright yellow sun in the clear blue sky also meant a nice stop at the golfcource’s watering hole.
This little unexpected outing was just what Kyle needed. He had enough of his son and wife treating him like he was wrong. They both are acting like the decision of believing their daughter over their son was some drastic mistake. There were two conflicting stories. Dresses do not magically disappear so Linda’s story made more sense. He should not be made out to be the bad guy for he went with what was more logical at the time. His daughter should not be punished for thinking what she thought.
The surprise retrieval from the situation never came to fruition. Jim was calling to get information about this past weekend. Kyle’s best friend had two conflicting stories about if Ron had a feminine side or not. The last thing Kyle wanted was to cause any friction between him and his best friend so he kept the fiction of Ron also being Rhoda being true to Jim. That Ron snuck into Linda room to wear the turquoise dress she wanted to wear for the banquet and ruin it. That his also had a crush on Linda’s boyfriend Sam.
Telling the harmless little lie was easy to justify for Kyle. The truth did him no good. Not being honest to Kyle was not him going back on his word. His wife forced him to agree to tell Jim what really happened. Anyways, Linda’s dress was borrowed by her sister Nancy was none of Jim’s business. What happens in Kyle’s home should stay in his home.
That harmless little lie was easy for Jim to believe. If Ron liked to wear a dress it did not affect him one way or another. Plus if the lie Kyle told was true then Jim would be right. People hate being wrong.
Another reason the lie was easy for Jim to believe was Kyle asking him to keep Ron’s sense of fashion a secret. The cover up came off as Kyle wanting to respect his son’s privacy.
Jim did bring up going on a golf outing so he could get out of the tense house, but sadly Kyle had to decline. His parents and in-laws were coming over for an afternoon cook out for a belated Mother’s Day celebration.
************
Dawn and Ron have been home for a couple of hours and the tension in the house was eased. The pressure which came from the so-called learning experience away from Ron has been in his room setting up his new Playstation and then playing some games on it. It is hard to have conflict when the protagonist is not interacting with any of the antagonists. This short period of peace was about to come to an end when a new adversary for Ron came home.
Nancy spent the entire ride home fuming about how immature she thought her brother was behaving. With Ron overreacting now her sister Linda has to miss out on so many rites of passages in her senior year and her brother was being rewarded with a new gaming system. She thought a better gift for him would have been a hammer and nails so the martyr could nail himself to the so-called cross of the past weekend.
Nancy got the normal greeting of a big smile and hug from her dad. Kyle was so proud of his daughter doing great at University. That pride in her GPA was nothing compared to how overjoyed he was with how Nancy was being proactive in making herself the best candidate she could be in the job field. His eldest girl was not going to be some introverted wall flower in the IT department, but a real go-getter who will be running it in a couple of years.
Her mom on the other hand was more worried about talking with Nancy about borrowing the dress than seeing her. Dawn told her daughter to sit because they need to talk. Nancy had better things to do right now than listen to her mom. Plus she was an adult and was not going to be told when those two were going to talk. The discussion was going to be when it was convenient for both of them. Right now Nancy had a bigger issue than to listen to whatever her mom was going to say. She had to set her brother straight so she said “I’ll be back down after I put my suitcase away.”
Kyle gave his daughter out of listening to her mom by saying “Go ahead Nancy, you do what you need to do then come down when you are ready.”
Dawn was about to correct her husband but changed her mind. She was sick of bickering with him. Also Nancy just got home so she does need to at least catch her breath from driving all the way back to Pittsburgh from Washington DC. Dawn might have not wanted to fight with her husband again but she needed to make sure Nancy knew the talk was important. “After you are done putting your stuff away, come right back down. We need to talk.”
Nancy wanted to show she the relationship between mother and daughter was one more of equals than child and parent said “I’ll be down when I am done doing what I want to do.”
After haphazardly putting her suitcase on her bed she went directly to Ron’s room. She did not want to waste a second of getting her brother to take a second chance of making what he did wrong was right. The first chance he had was when the misunderstanding came to light. Instead of acting like he had a huge grievance against his sister, he should have understood she made a mistake.
Even with the intent of going into her brother’s room and playing Ms Nice Girl, she messed up right away. The girl who was going to set what was wrong right barged right into the room. She should have knocked and asked to come in. She compounded the mistake by stating that they had to talk. When he told her not now he was in the middle of his game, she doubled down once again by making the bad decision of unplugging the power cord to his gaming console while saying “I did not ask, I said we needed to talk.”
Nancy trying to get her way made Ron feel like he was losing what little control he had in his life. His sister acting rude and controlling was like she was trying to take away any of the sense of agency over his life Ron has reagained since not being forced to be Ronda. As he was bolting up from edge of his bed he asked Nancy “What the fuck do you think you are doing?”
Nancy lost any of the minimal attempts of being nice by how her brother reacted to her. “Listen here I would not have had to turn off your game if you were being such a bitch,”
Out of all the pejorative terms Nancy could have used to cover her contempt and disapproval she chose the worst one. Using a derogatory word that was a generalized term of abuse and disparagement for a woman towards a teenage boy who was forced to act like a teenage girl was not smart. Of course when uttering that word she was not literally meaning Ron was bitch. Saying bitch was lazy unoriginal shorthand for Nacy to show she was mad at Ron. What Nancy meant did not matter, Ron took what she said at face value.
There was an important fact which Nancy did not give much credence to. Words have meaning. When using a derogatory word how the person at the receiving the belittling remark perceives it is what matters and not your intent. If they take it literal then how they will respond.
The thoughtless use of bitch in this situation was the worst choice Nancy could have made. Ron took her literally. That meant he felt his sister was making yet another attack on who he was. Ron’s voice raised as he was rising to the occasion of having to once again defend himself from yet another attack on who he was.”No you listen here. You will never call me a bitch again. I had a bad weekend because of you, so you do not come in here and order me around.”
“You need to quit being upset about this weekend. It is not fair that Linda is missing out on her prom because of your hurt feelings.”
“I agree it is not fair. I think more should be happening to Linda. She lied about me and I missed out on a huge track meet and the awards banquet because of her. If that was not enough, Chloe saw me in a dress and makeup. That could have ruined our friendship.”
Nancy did not like her brother treating her like what she was an equal. She came in here wanting to have authority over him and have him talk their parents out of Linda's punishment. To try to get her brother to cave she went on the attack. “You are right. It would have been if she knew how much you liked being cute.”
With a puckish look on his face Ron fired back “I did not look half as cute as you do on your Ohio driver's license.”
***********
The organ was playing the Let Go Bucs chant and for that moment Kyle was at the ballgame. There was nothing else in the world he much rather had than buying some snacks and never coming back. Munching on those peanuts, popcorn and Cracker Jack while basking in the sun was a lot better than still having to deal with the backlash of this weekend. Then this seventh inning stretch came to a halt when he heard yelling from his youngest room.
Kyle was right behind his wife and they both were in the doorway when Nancy made the snide comment about Ron liking being in a dress. Before being able to tell both of them to stop it the parents made eye contact with Ron and he gave them a devilish grin as he made his reply of “I did not look half as cute as you do on your Ohio driver's license.”
Ron talking about state identification would have made no sense if they lived in Ohio or Nancy went to school there. The Collive’s household was in Pennsylvania and their daughter went to Penn State. Both the parents knew the statement was aimed at them to tell them about their daughter’s fake ID.
Dawn with authority said “Nancy what is this about a fake ID?”
The guilty party was not ready to confess. There was something more important to deal with than her having contraband which is against an arbitrary rule of when she can drink and have fun with other adults. “Ron has no idea what he is talking about. We need to talk about him overreacting to this weekend. It had to have done him good, He has a better understanding of what women go through in life.”
“Don’t lie to me Nancy! Hand over the ID right now.
Also do not say that we have to talk with Ron. You are not his parent, you are not raising him. You do not have a say in it.
Lastly, don’t say Ron is overreacting to this weekend. No one believed him when he was telling the truth and Linda was lying. Your sister threatened to cut his hair more feminine. We forced him to do something which was humiliating to him. We treated him like someone who he is not.”
Kyle was more concerned about being right than his daughter underage drinking. He had the numbers behind him so he was going to resist Dawn being in control of how to handle this weekend. “Dawn, Nancy is right. Ron is overreacting. Plus like she said he got an unique outlook on how the other half lives. He is going to be way more understanding towards women from now on. You always said that you wish men had to endure what women do.”
Ron piped in “If you think having that unique outlook is so good dad then you live like a woman for a couple of days, You should also hang out with your best friend Jim like you had me do with chloe.
Mom I can’t believe you would want what happened to me. No wonder you were on board with wanting to put me in a dress. You are a freak.”
Kyle “ Ron, we are taking back your Playstation. You never talk to your mom or me like that again. You are grounded until further notice.
Dawn exploded on Kyle. She had a gallon of anger towards her husband at this moment and only a pint glass to hold it. “Shut the fuck up Kyle. You are more worried about being right than doing the right thing and I am fucking sick of it. If you ever try to make it sound like we did the right thing by putting Ron in a dress you better be in one. I am done trying to show that we are working as a team on this for you are not.”
“We are not taking back Ron’s Playstation and he is not grounded. He has the right to talk to us like that. You are trying to make it sound like we did Ron a favor by how we treated him this weekend. You also made it sound like I want men to be forced to live like women. You know I only say that when you are not showing any empathy about the differences.”
“Ron, I hope you believe. I did not actually mean that when I would say it to your dad. It was a way to make him think of how long it takes to get dressed or how a woman can feel in certain situations.”
Kyle knowing his wife was pissed at him made him listen to her and shut the fuck up. Even with trying to defend himself deep down he knew he was wrong.
Ron was not more concerned about being right instead of doing the right thing. He was more prone to go on the attack to defend himself, but he also wanted to get his family back. “Sorry mom, I was wrong. I should have known better than to believe that you wanted me in a dress.”
“No Ron you were not wrong. We just made you live as Rhonda for a couple of days so it was easy to believe I want men to wear dresses.”
Nancy could not take how Ron was getting off the hook. “Mom, you are being sexist. If Linda or I ever talked back to you or dad like Ron we would be in big trouble.”
Trying to be right instead of doing the right thing was the wrong course of action for Linda. She brought the attention back onto her. “Nancy, we never made so many bad decisions in how we treated you and your sister. We never humiliated either of you two. We never treated you like a liar when you were telling the truth. We never acted like we knew you better than you knew yourself. That is why Ron is not in trouble for speaking his mind to us like that.
Anyway, right now I really do not care if you think I am sexist. I care about you coming into Ron's room and acting like you can force him to do anything. Like I said you are not his parent, you are his sister. I care about your fake ID and how we are going to handle it.”
To Klye his wife was overreacting to his daughter’s minor transgression. She forgot that they were young and snuck into a bar to drink underageage. Klye also had to make sure he came off as being on her side when making his suggestion of being lenient. “Dear we will take her ID and have a talk with her later about it when everyone calms down. We are all tense for how Ron acted towards Nancy trying to talk some sense into him.”
Ron was only dipping his bitter words in honey so the desired effect did not occur. Anyone paying any bit of attention to what he had to say knew he mindset was that of wanting to be right instead of doing the right thing. Dawn fought fake sweetness with fake sweetness
“Sweetie, you are right about talking to Nancy about the fake ID later. We made the huge mistake of having Linda involved with disciplining Ron.
You are wrong about trying to blame Ron for this. Nancy had no right to come into his room like she did. She had no right to try to talk to Ron about Linda’s punishment. If she has an issue with that she should have come to us. We are the one who are in charge
Nancy, get down to the dining room, we are going to talk.”
“I will mom after I put my things away.”
“No, you will go down there now.”
Nancy was not going to put up a fight. Her going into Ron’s room indicated that putting her stuff away was a low priority to her. Not wanting to get any more on her mom’s bad side made it so this was not a fight she wanted. She also knew that it was not a fight she could win. Her parents had too much power over her. Nancy was living under their roof and they were paying for university. Even with not being like Dido and putting up a white flag Nancy was still going to show her defiance. “Yes mother.”
***************
Linda was wallowing in her own self-pity. Feeling like this entire situation was unfair to her was the only way she could escape taking ownership of the fact that she was the cause of the bad situation she was in at the moment. She was more concerned about being right than doing the right thing to rectify her predicament.
There was a hidden cost of becoming entrenched in feeling victimized to the short-term feeling good, The price she was paying to feel good was significantly higher than the benefit of not having to face the results of her actions. All she was doing was compounding what she needed to pay off emotionally to get her relationships with her mom and brother back to normal.
Then she had a chance to upgrade feeling vindicated about her predicament when she got a call from her boyfriend on her cell phone. Adding the additional pleasure of getting a dopamine rush from telling anyone her unfair treatment by her family was just going to throw her deeper in defending her questionable actions. With the story coming from her biased outlook it was also going to make Sam’s opinion of her family worse.
Being the supportive boyfriend Sam listened to Linda’s words as if they were gospel. His biased outlook made him not notice the red flags in the tale which was being spun to wrap in frimley on the girl’s he loved side. The vague statements were not met with inquiries about any vital information. Sam automatically concluded that whatever his Lindz left out was trivial.
Sam acted like a mark after listening to a conman carney sales pitch and bought everything his girlfriend was selling him. He gave her the comfort and the verification she was looking for. He also was going to give her one thing Linda did not know she was pitching, the rectification of the situation. Sam was going to make Ron see how wrong he was about ruining his sister’s summer social calendar.
***********
Nancy sat at the dining room table coming up with plans for the night as she calmly waited to have a talk with her mom. To her there was nothing to be concerned about. Information is power so knowing this knowledge made her at ease. The facts were she borrowed a dress from her sister without telling her. That was normal and her mom will just stress getting permission from now on. Even if her mom thought it was wrong they both were adults. That meant it would be a talk amongst peers.
Now onto the added topic of her having a fake ID. Her mom cannot come down too hard on her about that. If she did then her mom would be a hypocrite. She knew her mom used to sneak into nightclubs and bars underage. Lastly, how that knowledge came to light was something her parents were against. Ron snitching on Nancy was done just to get her in trouble. They were raised that doing something out of spite was wrong.
Nancy forgot that for knowledge to have power, people have to take all the pertinent information into account and she did not. She treated the situation like she was the protagonist of the situation so any of her wrongdoing would be downplayed. She did not see that this was the effect of her borrowing the dress without permission. Lastly she forgot that she was also taught not to take things which are not yours with asking.
The cool breezy feeling of the room changed to stifling one as soon as Dawn walked in. The look of disappointment and dismay made Nancy mentally gulp. The lady who was now getting ready for a verbal bollocking understood the disappointment but not the dismay. This is for information is power and she did not have one bit of information. Her mom heard Nancy demean Ron about being in a dress.
Even with being a computer science major Nancy used all the knowledge she had about marketing from her business class to go into full PR Mode. The novice spin doctor said “Mom I know why you are mad. I was wrong to get a fake ID. I should have waited until I was of age to go to nightclubs to dance. I promise I will wait until I legally can to go again.”
These words had the opposite effect on Dawn. The reason was that PR is just a fancy way for talking heads to say they are blowing smoke up your ass and calling it sunshine. “Nancy I am disappointed in you for having that fake ID but that is not why I am pissed at you. I heard what you said to Ron.”
Nancy was dumbfounded. She had no idea what her mom was accusing her of. This was because the put-downs she said to Ron were said without her thinking. Feeling innocent Nancy strongly asserted “I did not say anything bad to Ron.”
“Don’t lie to me. I heard you saying that Ron likes to be cute and he told me you called him a bitch.”
Hearing bitch turned the switch on Nancy's memory. She had to defend saying those words and did so as strong as a newborn child cry by replying “Oh mom, you know I did not mean any of that. He is being too sensitive.”
“No, he is not. You were not here this weekend. You do not know what your brother went through. We did not believe him when he told the truth. Instead, we believe his sister who was lying about him. We made him try to be someone he is not.”
“Come on, Linda was not lying. She believed that he took her dress.”
“She also said he was taking her panties to wear. She admitted that was made up so we would believe her over Ron. That is lying.
Also you took the dress not him. You have been doing that taking without asking.
You know what I am done talking with you. You will listen to what I have to say.”
“Mom, you can’t treat me this way. I am an adult.”
“Then start acting like one. Don’t try to force your will on your brother and when he stands up to you don’t flippantly emasculate him.”
“I said I did not mean it that way.”
“It does not matter what you meant. It was how those words were taken. You know what you said was an attack on his manhood.”
“It wasn’t. I was just mad at him for ruining Linda’s senior year.”
“First get it straight. Ron did not ruin your sister’s senior year. She did. Linda lied about Ron so we would believe her story. She said he stole her panties. Linda threatened to cut Ron’s hair in a more feminine way.
Now that you got it straight, please explain how saying he likes to be in a dress was not an attack on his manhood, then please explain what it was.”
“For the last time mom I did not mean it that way.”
“Nancy, I am disappointed in you. You know what you said would be taken but will not own up to it.
I am done talking to you. You will not listen.”
Nancy was feeling uneasy about how abruptly her mom ended the discussion. She wanted to ease the tension between her mom and herself. The only way she knew how was by owning up to having a fake ID as being wrong. To show her mom she was listening but just not agreeing to everything Dawn was saying she admitted to what she could not deny by asking her mom to wait. Then when her mom turns around, reach out confidently to give the fake ID to her mom.
Dawn said “I told you I am done talking to you. I do not care about the fake ID anymore. You are an adult and will just go get yourself another one.”
“Mom, I know I messed up by having it. I am meeting you halfway. Listen to me then you will see that I did nothing wrong with how I talked to Ron.”
“Nancy, I don't trust you right now. You will not admit what you did to Ron. I just hope you do before there is more damage done to your relationship with him.”
Chapter 2
Ron was feeling so much better on Monday. One thing he was out of the house and away from his family. Being in the place where they made himbe Rhonda was a constant reminder of how many ways he was let down by those closest to him. He did not know what was worse, being forced to be someone who he was not, no one believing him, no one listening to him, his sister showing her cruel side or his dad downplaying what he did. Another reason Ron was upbeat was that he was going to see Chloe today. Him having a date with her was like the one pearl in all the oysters which was this weekend.
The refuge of school came to an end when Sam Gracia came up to him in the hall between classes. In a terse manner Sam told Ron they needed to talk. Ron was in the mood for being treated unpleasant as much as a tired man wanted to hear his alarm screaming at him to get up. He made sure that Sam knew his feelings by a cut to the bone reply “Bathroom by the wood shop now.”
Before Sam could amp up the animosity between those two Ron was already going down the steps on his way to the meeting. Not liking the disrespect, the senior yells at Ron telling him to stop. The freshman kept on walking at the same pace. A paper towel cleaning up a water line break in the basement had more effect than Sam’s command.
Once they met in the bathroom Sam was going to show Ron who was dominant between those two by getting in Ron’s face. That he was the alpha wolf in this pack. Here is the thing: there is no such thing as an alpha. The study which came up with that concept has been disproven by the researcher who did it. The new reseach was showing that people who claim to be alphas were just trying to justify being a grade a douchebag.
Instead of backing down Ron put his face closer to Sam and then said “What do you have to say.”
“You think you are tough? Listen here I know what happened this weekend. So you are going to do the right thing and tell your mom everything is fine between you and your sister. If you ever try to get her in trouble over nothing again we will be having more than just a little talk.”
“Go fuck yourself Sam. You think her lying about me wearing her clothes, getting me grounded and putting me in a dress is nothing!”
Those words had to be the truth. There was no way a normal teenage boy could share something so embarrassing. Finding out what really happened was like a speck of dust entering Sam’s eye and making him blink. The staring contest between those two ended.
Ron took Sam flinching as a sign of the older boy giving up. He wanted to make sure that his sister’s boyfriend never tried pulling a stunt like this again. On his way out of the bathroom Ron said “Sam, don’t talk to me ever again.”
Instead of going to his next class, Ron went to the nurse’s office. The anger he had about his sister telling Sam about the weekend was making him lightheaded from hyperventilating.
************
Kyle loved being in sales. All he had to do was make sure the customers he already had stayed satisfied. People do not like to make changes unless they have to. That was why when most people were in their office doing some busy work pushing papers Kyle was out on the greens preparing to tee off with another work colleague and 2 higher up from his best customer. When he was bring up his 1 Wood to drive on this 450 yard par 5
Being paid to enjoy life is why he became tee off when he saw who was calling him on his cell phone as he was about to tee off. It was Dr Briscoe, his children’s high school principal. Nothing good ever came from getting a call from where your kids go to school.
The call made the day which was a nice birdie for his company a bogey for Kyle. When he heard that he had to come get Ron he thought that was par for the course lately with his son. Ron has been the rough in Kyle’s life the last couple of days. He did think of calling his wife to do it instead but decided against it. Doing so would have made sure he did not get out the sand trap the disagreement those two were having about Linda’s punishment. He needed out of that sandtrap so whenhe does get Linda to her prom he does end up being in the water hazard. The lead of account knew he had to excuse himself to go get out his son and did.
***********
The only thing Linda and Ron had in common was they both were happy to be at school. The senior felt like she was not getting enough support at home. Even with her dad not wanting to come down hard on her he did nothing as her mom laid out a draconian punishment. She also was going to see Sam. He was a pillar of support by being her boyfriend, best friend and how he said he was going to get Ron to back down now her champion. It was lunch time and they were going to spend it together.
The girl was a little concerned when she saw the look of anger on Sam’s face. He looked hotter than the tamales on his plate. She knew that there was not going to be good news on the prom front yet. The bad news was not what she thought.
Sam was pissed off at her. She did not tell him what happened this weekend. How she got her brother in trouble. Ever since he learned the truth he started to question his Lindz’s actions. How could she lie about her brother? How could she have seen what Ron went through this weekend as fine? How could she not think she deserved her punishment? All these questions led to a bigger question for Sam: does he even know his girlfriend and does he want to be with someone who could act like she did.
Lindz wanting to cheer up her man was sweeter than the churros on his plate by offering her faith in him being able to correct the injustice said. “Cheer up babe, Ron looks up to you. There is still one week until the prom. He will come around when he calms down.”
“Don’t call me babe.”
“Don’t take my brother not listening to you out on me.I am the one who should be getting cheered up not you.”
“Oh, that is not the reason I said don’t call me babe. I do not know if I want to be your babe anymore.”
“I see how you are. I am grounded and we can’t spend time together so you are thinking about breaking up with me.”
“I am thinking about breaking up with you because of what you did to your brother this weekend.”
“Don’t lie. You already knew that. You just are mad that we are not going to be able to go to the prom together.”
“You are the one lying. I know the truth about this weekend. I know how you lied about Ron wearing your dress for some reason.
You know what, we are done. I do not want anything to do with you. If you can do what you did to your brother I would hate to know what you are capable of doing to me.”
“I did nothing. That was my mom and dad.”
“Yes, for you lied about Ron wearing your dresses.”
“I really thought he was.”
“So what will you do to me if you think I am cheating?”
“I would never think you would cheat on me.”
Cheating was more common than a boy crossdressing. This fact was what bases behind Sam saying “Oh come on Lindz. You thought something wild about your brother. I am not taking going to chance it.”
“But you love me.”
“Not anymore. You did your brother wrong.”
Now it was Linda’s turn to go to the nurse’s office. Sam breaking up with Linda made the girl queasy. She could not believe how bad her life has become all from what she perceived as a misunderstanding.
After the shock from Sam breaking up with her settled in, Linda started to feel anger towards Ron. Her little brother was playing with her. He had to be. There was no way he was embarrassed about this weekend if he told Sam. If he told Sam then everyone in the school should know. She made a post on Facebook This train of thinking came from Linda still not wanting to take responsibilities for actions. Seeing herself as some innocent bystander in her life was going to make the runaway train she was on derail.
**********
Linda was feeling so much better after her dad took her for a nice meal at her favorite Thai restaurant before they went home. The warmth she felt from her dad reassuring her that everything was going to be back to normal matched the warmth she felt inside from the green tea she drank during her meal.
Linda’s cozy feeling was knocked with the booming voice of her mother greeting her by saying “You are in deep trouble Linda!”
The girl who was feeling good about her life was stunned. Her mom was in boss mode and the difficulty setting was master level. Even if Linda could respond she would have known better. At this moment saying anything would have just made the trouble deeper.
Kyle on the other hand was sick of being wrong,.He was more concerned about being right than doing the right thing. The prideful man believed his daughter's version of why Ron told Sam about the weekend.
This made Kyle pick this moment as his hill to die on. To him it looks like a little casual walk up a grassy knoll on a sunny spring day. In truth the situation was more akin to hiking up Everest without a guide at night during a blizzard.
“Dawn, this is over. Ron does like to wear dresses. He told Sam about this weekend and he broke up with Linda.
So here is how it is going to be. We are returning that Playstation we got Rhonda. She is going to apologize to me and Linda and Linda. She is also going to be grounded at least as long as you grounded Linda. Also she is going to take her sister’s help in getting in touch with who she is.”
That moment was a key to unlocking a door in Dawn’s mind. Until that moment she always downplayed anything which her Kyle did which showed his true personality. He was nice to her so Dawn took it as him being a good person. Her husband was not. He was a narcissistic bully.
With the door unlocked the truth of what Ron’s bad behavior came to light. She saw that how he joked with people was actually making people the butts of the joke. That he was always more concerned about what he wanted instead of what was best.
Dawn could not hide the contempt and disgust she had towards her husband at the moment. Defending her son was more important.
“Kyle, you only call our son by his name from now on. His name is Ron, use it. You never call him Rhonda again.
You are so much more worried about being right and having things your way. Here is how Sam knew, He tried to force Ron into telling us that Linda can go to the prom and she should not be grounded. Sam said he knew what happened this weekend and it was not a big deal. Ron fired back at him the truth at Sam.”
“It wasn’t that bad if Ron told Sam so I think that with Linda losing Sam because of what Ron did that is punishment enough for what happened this weekend.”
Linda saw her dad on her side so she got the strength to try to add to her case “Yeah the only reason Ron told Sam was too hurt me.”
Outnumbering Dawn was not going to have the desire effect. The mom who was on the right side dug in. “Linda I am so pissed at you. If you know what is good for you then you will stay quiet.
You are in so much trouble. You posted a lie about your brother on Facebook. You knew not to tell anyone about what happened this weekend.
Now give me your phone, go upstairs and wait for me. I will make it clear you do not talk to anyone or post anything on social media.”
Even with the cold winds of the truth hitting him in the face, and he darkness of his pride blinding him Kyle was not giving up climbing that hill he picked to die on. To him what happened this past weekend was being so overblown. “Dawn, Linda is not in any more trouble. In fact what I said earlier goes. She can go to the prom, will have a huge graduation party and she is not grounded anymore.
Our daughter made that post in good faith, just like telling us that she thought Ron was taking her things. She thought that Ron was telling people because he did like this weekend.”
Linda took a step towards her father and held her head high. She knew he was going to support her.
This moment was more that just the events of the past weekend. Right now was about the Dawn and Kyle’s relationship. The fight and disagreement was also about how the family was going to be from now on. To Dawn this was no hill to die on. For it to be a hill then they would have to be a struggle with staying on course. There was none. To Dawn this was painting a thick bright yellow line on the concrete. Her stance was not a line in the sand for they are easy to erase.
“Linda I told you to give me your phone and get upstairs. I do not care what your dad said. You are still grounded. We will talk about this later when I get up there. Right now there are more pressing issues than dealing with you not respecting your brother or me.”
Linda meekly respected her mom’s wishes. Even with her dad’s hard stance supporting her, deep down Linda knew nothing was going to get her out of having being in trouble. Her taking and acting upon her dad’s pardon will damage her relationship with her mom. The teenage girl was hurt right now by not feeling as close to her mom as she used to. Causing more damage will just pull her away from her mom. Linda also knew that this damage was from her turning her back on her mom.
Handing her mom her phone Linda remorsefully said “Sorry, mom. I will be waiting for you.”
*********
Being Juniors in high school meant Joe “Tires” Griffin and Paul Cleveland loved to gossip. Whenever their phones gave notifications they got a little dopamine high. Those bing meant that there was a chance of something new and juicy happening. So when they were informed someone in their social circle posted something they had to look right away.
The notification was the one Linda posted about her brother. Reading that Ron liked to crossdress was sweeter to them as the pieces of cake which were in front of them. This was also richer than the chocolate icing on those pieces of cake. The news was also more delicious.
Not wanting to waste time helping to spread this good news those two gulped down their cake faster than they gulped down all the satisfaction they were going to get from seeing other people’s reactions..
They knew who they were going to share this news with first, Sam Graica. They know he would get a hoot out of this. Afterall, it was always great to give the business to your girlfriend’s younger brothers. What better way to give the business than to pick on their unique sense of fashion.
Sam was still not in a good mood. There was too much drama for him today and the worse part was less than 5 minutes ago. In order, first he found out his girlfriend could not go to the prom. He knew that was going to be so disappointing to her. Then he tried to fix the situation by forcing her brother to forgive. In doing so he found out she was lying about why she could not go. If accusing someone of doing something they did not do was not bad enough, Ron told him off. Sam hated that he could not say anything for he was in the wrong. Finally he broke up with Linda. He did care about her but could not chance being with someone who was so vindictive. He might have been young and naive but he was wise enough to know teenage boys are likely to make bad decisions and mess up.
Tires and Paul were too warped up on getting yet another hit of a natural high so they did not read all the messages which were screaming “Leave Sam alone.” None of Sam’s friends at the lunch table were interacting with him. Sam’s body was coiled ready to go into action and his eyes were staring a death lazer into anything he was looking at.
As Tires was approaching Sam, the rest of the table scooted away from Sam. They did not want to be colateral damage. Even with the last warning sign occurring Tires was still clueless and open his mouth. “Hey how long have you known about Linda’s little ‘sister’”
Sam did not know how or why but knew he was not going to like this conversation. Hearing unnecessary air quotes around the word sister confirmed his assumption. Not wanting to suffer anymore drama and also any fools Sam snapped back “What the fuck are you two talking about.?”
Sam was in the dark for he knew the truth so he could not of fathomed what he was going to hear next. “You know your girlfriend little sister Rhonda. Tell us is she cute when dressed up.
Linda just posted about it all Facebook”
Sam was quick to his feet to show those two he was not playing and also give himself time to think. Finding out what Linda did made him know he was right breaking up with her. Now he had to make sure that his spiteful ex could not hurt her brother anymore. This was the right thing to do, plus Sam knew he owned Ron one for how he tried to intimidate him early today.
“I have no idea what you are talking about. I think it is just my ex spreading rumors because her brother called her out on stealing money from him to their parents. That is why I broke up with her.”
Lying about his ex made Sam feel bad about himself. He wished he could have thought of a better way of protecting Ron from being an object of ridicule. He tired to ease the guilt by thinking that sometimes people need to fight fire with fire. That she started the lying so he was attacking an innocent person.
Paul, after hearing Sam explanation of that juicy gossip, was disappointed. He believed it to the the truth. Then the disappointment went away. Another hit of dopamine came to him when he relaized that he can tell an even more juicy bit of gossip. “That sucks Sam.”
Sam said “Make sure everyone knows how much that sucks.”
“Will do, dude.”
*********************
Even with being only 30, Mike Wort, last name was German so it was pronounced Vort, loved mentoring young people. There were so many positives in doing so. He made him feel young. It helped him with not falling into the trap of always thinking inside the box for the solutions. He stayed informed on what they were teaching about IT at the universities and it felt good to see someone figure out things. This meant was more than happy to take on Nancy in his team.
Mike being 30 and also in a male dominated field made him very informal as the team manager. He gave his team the nickname of the Big Boys. This came from his team was the best troubleshooters Paulson Corp had and when something big needed done they would call his team in. James Brunnel, VP of logistics, was the first to use the moniker. The servers would not save anything and no others teams could fix it and he said on the phone to Mike, I guess it is time to call in the big boys to fix this.
Mike getting a female intern this year made it better. One he wanted more ladies in the field. The more the IT field went away from just being mostly young white men the better the field will become. After all, diversity within a team led to seeing things from a different perspective. Mike using this nickname as a way to unify his team was what made Nancy Coville’s first day at her summer internship being just like her siblings day, bad.
Mike being a casual manager was why Nancy's day was so bad. He treated his employees too friendly. He made the office seem too social instead of professional. That would be bad in any office setting, but IT made that issue worse. IT was laid back as it is. The employees did not have to worry about having a good face to the public so right away there was lack office decorum. Adding a manager who did not see keeping people minding their p’s and q’s to this mix just added to the chance of a huge social faux pas. It just so happened Mike was the one who made it.
Trying to make his new employee feel welcome he said “Hi there Linda. I am Mike Wort so happy to have you on my team. I know you are ready to be a big boy. So after you get settled at your desk come to my office and I will take you with who you will be working with.”
Nancy was already feeling a little out of her comfort zone. This was her first day at a great internship.The half day orientation was overwhelming. There was so much paperwork to fill out and then her getting her picture taken and the meetings. There were 3 meetings about the expectations of the interns, the work environment of Pauson Corp and health and safety. Then the office looking more like a college kids dorm room than a professional setting added to it. The Marvel and band posters, along with cans of pop on the desk and a playstation 4 connected to the television was not the home base she was envisioning. Then Mike making that horribly sexist remark add to it,
Instead of going into her shell Nancy stood up for herself. She was on the defensive since she been back at home and was not going to be cornered into putting up with anything at work. Being young she was still idealistic so she thought that confronting Mike right away would be the right move. After all HR will be behind her and make sure that Mike is preferably reprimanded for what was clearly sexual harassment.
In a forceful manner the new hired made the statement “We need to go to your office to talk right now.”
Mike was not used to anyone in his department not talking to him in a laid back manner. The assertiveness of his member of staff changed his demeanor. He did not want to lose his cool so he gave both of them a cooling off period. “Linda go your desk and put your things away. Then come to my office. Close the door when you enter.”
After listening to her boss, Nancy marched into his office like an invading army. She was showing full force and ready to claim what she thought was rightfully hers. She spoke first “Never speak to me like that again.”
The reasoning of Nancy coming after getting settled in her desk only work on Mike. He was lost so he innocently asked “Like how?”
She said “You know.”
“No I don’t. So please tell me so we both can have a great summer working together.”
“Fine. I will just add this to what I going to tell human resources. You said I was ready to be a big boy. I am not a boy. I am a woman. Your statement was so sexist.”
Mike was relieved this was a misunderstanding. This led to him releasing some of the build up tension with a little laugh. “Nancy, that is what they call my team here. We are the best of the best in the IT department. That was not meant to be sexist at all.”
“Don’t laugh at me and don’t downplay what you said. It does not matter how you see what the name you gave your team. It is sexist.”
“Nancy I assure you I was not laughing at you. I was just relieved that you were upset about a misunderstanding. Please listen to me and you will also understand.”
The self-righteous lady saw the plea from Mike as him mansplaining to her. “Mike, there is no need to explain to me. I am smart enough to know what happened. I will be going to HR now for we have nothing left to talk about.”
Mike might have been laid back and a causal manager but he knew already how the meeting with HR was going to play out. He heard about them too many times to not. He also knew that Linda has pressure on her about this being her first day on her job and feeling like she has to prove she belong. That has to be worse for a lady not only does is she the new person but the mindset of people thinking that IT professionals are only male had to add to it.
“Linda tell HR I sent you OK.”
“I don’t need to do that.”
“You don’t but if you want them to see you today instead of them telling you to send them an e-mail you should. Jolen Dean HR’s admin assistant is a nice lady but all she will say is for you to fill out a form and send it to them. That is how they handle these situations.
After you talk with HR come back here and we will talk. I want to make sure you feel welcomed here.”
**********************
As Kyle and Dawn were coming closer to the judgment day in their marriage, Linda was heading towards her room. She was walking at a fast pace to lower the small chance of seeing her brother. Seeing her actions were now affecting the entire family took away her strength and resolve. The defeated girl was not going to able to defend her actions anymore.
Linda paused when she got to Ron’s room. She then intensely listen to hear what was going on. The only noise was the sound of gun fire and the music score of what ever shoot up Ron was playing. Not hearing her brother cleverly smack talking his computer opponents made her feel lower. If her brother was not practicing to be as good as the Rock on making sure the jabroni knew their role then he was still not in a good mood.
Hearing that her brother was engaged with his game made it easy for Linda to go to her room. She walked even slower to ensure there was no sound and made it to her room. After entering her room she went to turn on her computer so she could gather her thoughts by typing them down. Then she thought better. It would be better to not be anywhere near social media even if she was not using it. Her mom would assume she was doing something spiteful right away. So she pulled out a notebook from her bookbag and put her thoughts down the old fashion way with pen and paper.
****************
Jolene Dean was good at her job as the office manager for the HR Department. It was not her typing ability or knowledge of Words, Excel, Meeting or Outlook which made it so. Neither was it her ability to organize. People would not doubt that she could plan a great BBQ to be held in the midst of winter. It was how she treated people. She was not a people pleaser, but knew that each person was their own individual so treated them as such.
The secret of Jolene’s success at her job came into play once again when she saw an angry young woman come into the reception area. Jolene was going to listen before doing anything. Letting the visitor say her peace gave Jolene all the information she need to handle the situation in a professional and caring manner.
Jolene treated the miscommunication between Mike and Nancy as a serious issue. This was because it was. The fellow employee who stood in front of her felt like she was mistreated and it was reasonable for her to do so. Instead of downplaying this as an insignificant situation which only needs a form filled out, Jolene listened to Nancy saying that Mike, her boss, sent her and told her to have a seat as she got one of the HR Reps to handle this.
Nancy’s righteous indignation was starting to build. This was for she was looking to be wronged. She thought not being sent right into to talk with the head of HR meant that she was going to be given the runaround. That after waiting for too long she was going to be told that everyone was busy with meeting. Little did she know that Jolene organizational skills made sure that there was always someone free from the meeting. This was so the mission statement of HR could be meet at all times. This department was about making sure their fellow employees had a great working environment, not that the inner circle of the department can make plans to be more efficient at their jobs.
The inner build up of Nancy’s tension subsided when she saw Jolene come out after only a moment away from the back and told her to come with her that Robert Gayle was ready to see her. It might not be the head of HR, but at least she was not being gatekept from talking to someone.
The meeting in the office was more corigal and professional than the IT Department. Then again to Nancy kids playing office would have been. HR depended on knowing its P’s and Q’s. They were a part of the front office and had to deal directly with their clientele.
After offering Nancy something to drink and a seat Loretta asked her why she was here while referring to Nancy as Ms Coville. The question and how it was worded put up Nancy’s defenses.
“Didn’t Jolene or Mike tell you?”
Knowing he had to give as much details as possible with coming off as being pedantic gave an answer which was just the facts. “Jolene did not tell me and I have not spoken to Mike.”
“If Mike did not call down here right away then why did he tell me to say he sent me.”
“Ms Coville, do you mind if I call you Nancy?”
There was a second of silence. Nancy took the question as being rhetorical instead of the man who was taking her complaint treating her with respect. After relaizing it was a legit question Nancy felt more comfortable and answered with “Please call me Nancy.”
“Good Nancy and please call me Bob.
No Mike did not call me. He told you to say he sent you so you would actually talk to someone instead of having to fill out the paperwork right away.”
“Oh so you want this off the book Bob.”
“No. There will be paperwork for you to fill out. It is he thought that whatever you wanted to talk about was serious enough that you needed to deal with a person and not a bureaucracy. Now tell me what the issue is so we can rectify it,”
“The issue is that the Mike is sexist. He said I was ready to be a big boy. I am not a boy. Then when I wanted to talk to him right away he had the nerve to make me wait.”
“Nancy his team here is called the Big Boys. I can assure you that he meant nothing by it. I will make sure that he does not refer to you as one of the Big Boys from now on.
I can also assure you that he made you wait for a professional reason. You have to remember he is your boss so he does set when you have a meeting with him.”
“So nothing is going to happen to Mike.”
“I will look into it more, but as of now it does not look like it. There was a misunderstanding about what he said and he will be corrected about it. If it happens again then something will happen.
Now I will be sending you a link to the forms so we can have this on record.”
The response was worse than any stonewalling or being given the longest runaround. She felt that they tried to placate her with going through the motions. She got up from her chair and said “Never mind doing so. Tell Mike I am leaving so he can have his all big boys club.”
****************
As soon as their daughter was out of hearing range Dawn started her assault on her husband.
“Kyle what is wrong with you? You are acting like this weekend is not a big deal.”
“It is simple because it is not. We did not hurt Ron. If anything this weekend will help him to build character if you did not baby him. Now he is acting like he should be in a dress.”
“Don’t you ever say that again!”
“Oh come on, Don’t be so serious! You know that I was trying to make a point by joking.”
“Joking, that is your excuse all the time when called out. I am not buying it anymore.”
“Now you don’t like my sense of humor. Maybe you should get that stick out of your ass.”
“You are not making a joke. You are demeaning our son once again. What you are saying is mean spirited. You also do not know how serious this situation is. You are so close to losing your relationship with our son. Tell the truth you are also close to losing your relationship with me. I do not like what I am seeing from you.I also will not be spoken to how you are speaking to me. Don’t try to put you messing up on me by saying I am too serious in such a flippant manner.”
This argument was a reply of so many other argument which Kyle and Dawn had. In the other ones this was whee Kyle knew he had to give an artificial apology to move on. He knew that Dawn was close to accepting her vision of him was not who he was. This time instead of keeping the illusion going in his wife’s head he kept the death march up that hill he picked to die on.
Kyle dug in by saying “Oh great now I have to deal with two drama queens. You are just upset that your baby boy is mad at you. Get over it. He is your son, not your friend. He has no right to be upset at us, we are his parents and we can have him do what we want. He lives under our roof.”
This time the excuses for his bad behavior were seen as what they were, lies. The lady who was seeing the truth for the first time knew those words were meant to manipulate her. Her husband did not care if he said things to appease her into seeing what he did was not bad or make her submit to seeing things his was. Coming to this relazition hurt.
Dawn was heartbroken to find out that the man she married was not the man she loved. It would have hurt more if she was still lying to herself about the past. She now saw all those times as her husband saying he was joking with someone as the truth, he was making other people the butts of his jokes. That he was nice to her so she saw that as him being a good person.
“Do not speak to me that way Kyle. Do you understand?”
Kyle took the order as a statement, This was understandable for that statement was made so many times before when the argument with his wife got to this point. So instead of showing his wife the respect she deserved he kept on going up that hill he pick for his last breath. “I am just speaking the truth. Ron has been running this house and this has to stop. He is overreacting to this weekend. This needs to stop. We are the parents and made a good faith decision.
Now calm down and we will get this house back in order. This will start with Ron apologizing to all of us for how he has been treating us. We are his family.”
“What part of do not speak to me that way didn’t you understand?
Somehow we mess up big time with our son and you are blaming him for our results of our bad decesion. Ron has been acting the most mature out of all of us,yet you want him to say he is sorry. I would not blame him if he just decided not to talk to us.
You are acting like this is not a big deal. If it is not then we can go shopping now for some new outfits for you to wear to work. Oh, I will show you how to walk in heels.
We made our son dress like a girl, treated him like a girl and would not listen to him. We found him guilty and he had to prove he was innocent. Then after being told not to tell anyone Linda still did.”
“That is nothing Ron told someone first.”
“The only reason he did was he thought that Linda did. Sam said what happened was not a big deal and Ron rightfully corrected him. Linda should have taken her punishment and not try to get out of it by using her boyfriend to strongarm our Ron. That is her brother.”
“Yeah he is not acting like one. He should want her to go to her prom. She should be going. It is not fair that she is missing it. She did nothing wrong.
Yeah I said she did nothing wrong.”
“She lied about her brother, threaten to cut his hair and made her brother believe she told other people about how we humiliated him. You need to learn the difference between right and wrong if you think she did nothing wrong.”
“Oh come on, quit being so literal. I meant that what our daughter did was small. You are overreacting. You are acting like one of those woke parents instead of a real one. Is our house going to be a safe space from now on.”
Rhetoric is a great weapon to use in arguments and debates. People who are against the changing times has made the word woke have a bad connotation. Instead of people thinking of what woke meant in this instant, being alert to prejudice and discrimination, people think of it as someone being oversensitive. Dawn was woke so what Kyle was doing was nothing more than a simple palor trick to her.
“Our house should always be a safe space for our kids.
Kyle we made some bad decisions and you do not want to own up to it. Then again, I should not be shock. You do that all the time when you crossed the line with people. Even when they had enough.”
“Name one time I did that.”
“How about Nadine and her husband Adam.”
“They could not take a joke.”
“Calling her a cougar and saying she is rocking the cradle was not a joke to them. They told you to stop but you did not.”
“They need to grow up and quit being crybabies.”
“ Yeah that is so mature of you calling other people names.”
Kyle still was going to keep going up this hill to die on, but needed to make a camp. He did not like how the argument went to his flaws. There was no way Kyle could keep on guiding his wife to the right destination of getting his way if she did not see him in the best light possible.
“Honey, sorry. I am just upset about how Linda is feeling. She is so upset about the punishment and now Sam broke up with her. With that happening I am thinking that we came down too hard on her. She needs those memories of going to a prom and celebrating a huge achievement with her friends.
So how about she can go to the prom and have her own graduation party. I am meeting you half way.”
“No. We are sticking to the punishment.”
Kyle knew not to press up this hill anymore. He also was not going back to base camp. That would be admitting defeat. “Fine my love. You think this is best.”
Wanting to regain that place on his wife’s pedestal Kyle made an peace offering. He walked over to his wife and while giving her a huge hug said “How about I handle dinner tonight. I will make some fettuccine alfredo with chicken . That is your favorite.”
***********
Nancy came home thinking that even with her mom stating she was done with her with those two could have discussion about today. Her mom had to be there for her, she was her daughter afterall. Parents support their kids. So when the young lady who needed guidance came home she acted like there was no strain and the relationship between them and use the greeting “Hi, mom how was your day?”
“Nancy my day was fine.”
“Aren’t you going to ask about mine?”
“No, I told you I was done talking with you until you saw how wrong you were treating your brother. I was serious when I said that.”
“I had a bad day at work and all you are worried about is Ron taking what I said wrong.”
“Nancy. Here was my day. I was called to school to pick up Ron but missed his call. You know why. Sam tried to force him into forgiving Linda so they can go to the prom. Sam said he knew about the weekend. So Ron told him the truth when Sam said the weekend was not that bad.
Sam took what happened seriously and broke up with Linda. You know what Linda did, she told everyone on Facebook Ron enjoy crossdressing. No one believed her for Sam said she was just mad about him breaking up with her for stealing money from Ron.”
Then that lead to the school calling your dad right away before I missed the call ealier and he took Linda out for a nice meal to comfort her, instead of getting her home to have a talking about how serious what she just did was.”
“That is a lie.”
“Good you are understanding why Linda is in trouble and now she is in bigger trouble.”
“NO WHAT SAM SAID IS A LIE! I swear men stick together. Just like at work today, my boss said I was ready to be big boy. Then talked with HR and the guy there blew me off.”
Dawn knew that even with Linda being 20 she was her daughter and it was her duty to be there for Linda when she needs her. Until she heard about what happened she thought Linda only needed her.
“I am sorry honey. I am.”
“Thank you now about that sexist remark. How nonchalantly Mark said you are one of the big boys now showed he did not even know what he was saying was sexist.”
“Just like you with calling your brother a bitch.”
“Fine Mom I know you don’t care about this so I will be going.”
“You are staying right here. I am your mom. I know how much that guys saying you are one of the big boy affected you. I am trying to point out how much you calling Ron a bitch is the same.
Mike at work might not have meant it as sexist but it was taken that way by you. I am not defending what he said. He should not have said it. He is in a work environment so he should have been talking professionally. You need to talk to him about it. Communication is key in a workplace.If he is a half way decent manager he will understand what happened and take you back”
Linda was an idealist so she could not see how hypocritical she was being at the moment. Even if she could, she would not admit to it. That would mean she was the one who started her new job on the wrong foot and Mike along with HR was right.. “This is so different than what I said to Ron. My brother is acting like a big crybaby. That Mike does not even know me. He is chasing me out of that job. He did not want me. You have no idea what you are talking about.
Mom if you can be done talking to me, I can be done talking with you.”
“Nancy you never were talking to me. You were talking at me. You were not listening yesterday or today. You just called your brother a crybaby to put him down. You allowed yourself to assume the worse of others but do not let them do it for you. You put people down but will not stand it when you think they did the same to you.”
***************
Jim Pruitt was drinking and thinking. He was trying to come up with how to be a good parent and a good friend at the same time. He had two different stories from two people he trusted. How could he pick which one was right. As a good father he should believe his daughter. He knew she was honest and so sweet. At the same time why the story his friend told made more sense to him. Klye forcing Ron to wear a dress against his will was so out of character of his best friend.
Then it came to him how he could be both a good father and a good friend. Ron lied. It was the simple solution and the simple solution is the best. That was why people said KISS all the time. Ron lying when found out about being a crossdresser kept his daughter being honest and sweet. If she stated something which she thought was true then she is not lying. Her strong defense of her friend also had the added benifit of making her even sweeter.
Kyle telling the truth made the most sense. His friend would not go to an extreme like. There was no why Kyle would do that even if he caught Ron in a dress. Kyle was not the type to force people into doing what they do not want to. Kyle being right also came with the added bonus of him not being wrong when he took Kyle’s word at face value.
So after coming to the conclusion that Ron was also Rhonda he had a new issue. There was no way he was going to let that boy who was really a girl date his daughter. His daughter was so sweet that she would not see that how she was being used. In being a good father he was going to have to make sure she does not get hurt.
It was going to be hard. Afterall he was a good father so he wanted to make sure he came off as the good guy. That meant he could not forbid her from dating Rhonda. Not only would that make him an ogre in his daughter eyes but also make her feel for Rhonda even more. Then she will be heartbroken by his hands. A good father cannot have dirty hands when it came to what hurts their children. Even if the grime underneath the fingernails came from them protecting their children.
After taking another sip of his whiskey another great idea came to him. Just put the fear of God in Ron. Make sure that Ron knows that he is against that boy dating his daughter. Then when Ron is scared enough to listen for any way out of the predicament he was in give throw him a lifeline. Tell him to go on the date that night and just make sure there is no chemistry between himself and Chole.
After formulating his plan Jim took the last gulp of the whiskey in his tumbler. He was done drinking and thinking. Coming up with the simple solutions to his complex problem was a little tring so he pour himself a nightcap. He deserved it plus it will help chase away away doubts he would had formed if he thought about how his plan really only made him a good friend.
********************
As Jim was coming up with his plans to make everything fit his narrative, Kyle and the rest of his family were sitting down to eat. The events of the last three days has made the atmosphere in the dinning for as cold as the iced tea Ron was drinking. The odd part of silence to the father was that his eldest was not even talking about her first day at her internship.
Good news tends to travel out of the recipient’s mouth fast. Getting paid to learn first hand experience in the field of work Nancy was passionate about should filling the room. It would distract him from feeling like he was failing his other daughter. So to get his mind and spirit in a better place Kyle broke the silence by asking “Nancy how was your first day at work?”
The response of his daughter stating that she quit added to Kyle’s feeling of frustration. He worked hard to make sure his daughter got that internship at his company. He asked her why.
“Because Mike Wort is sexist and I will not work underneath him.”
“ You should have gone to HR. They would have placed you with another team.”
“I did and they blew me off saying that people call Mike’s team the big boys so it was sexual harassment.”
Knowing what HR said was the truth did not stop Kyle from siding with his daughter. He had to make sure Nancy kept that internship. He did not want his hard work go to waste. He used up a couple of favors he kept in his pockets and promised a couple of future favors to ensure his daughtering receiving on of those few spots in Pualson’s Corp prestigious internship. The sad part of that hussel was it was needless. She had the grades, and the personality that put her at the top of the candidate list.
“You will be coming to work with me tomorrow. I will fix this. Trust me, Mike will be calling you Ms Coville when he asks you what you want in your coffee for the rest of the summer.”
Nancy’s mood perked up from her dad taking her side. She could not help but take a swip at what she saw as her mom not supporting her when showing her dad her gratitude. “Thank you Dad. It is great when a parent support their child.”
Dawn’s eyes were like die and rolled. Instead of making some witty remark the mother took the high ground. She was better than that. Saying an amusing comeback might make her feel better for a moment. That is not what parenting is about. Her daughter getting back that internship was way more important. Dawn knew her daughter worked too hard in school to not have it.
Other than some bickering from Linda about the fact she is not going to enjoy her rite of passages the dinner was silence. Hearing that the original problem was still with him made Kyle lose the feel good feelings he got from fixing Linda’s issue. He knew his wife would not back down so he was stuck at base camp on that mountain he was going to die upon.
Then a new path came to him at the end of the meal. His friend Jim called with what was great news to Kyle. His friend believed Kyle’s lie about Ron. That was nothing more than a harmless lie but having someone else believed it after geeting proof otherwise made Jim know he could start making Linda’s life as good as it was. If that lie worked on Jim an adult there is no way it would not also work on Sam a gullible teenager. That boy actually believed that high school students were capable of really being in love. After supper it was time to visit Sam at where he worked the local grocery store, Giant Eagle.
He used the excuse of going to get some ice cream as the reason for his trip. Other than people who are diary intolerant or vegan who would object of having some ice cream. They would not think of it as a cover because everyone knew that you scream, I scream, we all scream for ice cream.
****************
Sam felt like a fool for a good reason. He was one. The teenager used the wrong reason to come to this conclusion and that was just more proof of why he was a fool. He bought that his ex’s dad did not know about them breaking up. There should be no way that was true. Linda was picked up by her dad from school and she would have shared why she was upset with him. Sam knew how close those two were.
Then what solidified him being a fool was just how Mr Coville was out picking up a couple of things from the store. There were two other grocery stores closer to his home and that man did not like to take a step in any store or waste his time driving to one. Mr Coville used to ask Sam to pick up things for him on his way to coming over to see Linda.
Finally the story that Kyle sold Sam would not even have been believed on Reddit. Kyle knew the secret of selling a story was not telling it right away. Another part was gently stroking the ego of the person who you want to buy the story. So instead of just saying that Ron wore dressed, the seasoned spin doctor jokingly mention that Linda has competition for Sam’s heart.
That statement did was supposed to do. It threw Sam off and at the same time made him feel good about himself. People love to hear that somebody fancies them. With a grin on his confused looking face Sam asked the question “What?”
“Oh sorry. I thought Linda told you about Rhonda.”
“She did and that is why we broke up.”
Acting like he was mad “You really think that I would let you date Ron. That would be a huge betrayal of his sister. I thought you were a better man than that.”
Kyle was holding a masterclass on how to manipulate someone at the moment. Even with putting Sam down it was in a way to stroke that boy’s ego. “No!”
“Oh you were trying to be a gentleman and not come between sisters?”
“This makes no sense.”
“Why isn’t it making sense? It is simple. Ron is really Rhonda. That is why he was not in school on Friday. He, no sorry she, I am still not catching myself when I use the wrong pronouns, came out to us and we gave him a weekend to explore who he was. Hell Rhonda even had Chloe over. It was great.”
“Wait then why is Linda not allowed to go to the prom.”
“Her mom is overreacting. Linda was teasing Rhonda a little bit when she admittted she had a crush on you and told her she could not go among other things. I told Linda not to worry, that she will be going.”
Everything was making sense to Sam now for all the wrong reasons. Ron standing up and being mad at him was just frustration of not being able to get with who he wanted to. The story of his parents making him dress like a girl was too far out there to be true. Finally, Linda being shocked about them breaking up. She had no idea what was going on.
“Shit.”
“What is wrong Sam.”
“Ron lied to me and I believed him. I broke up with her because he said a wild story about you and Ms Coville making him be Rhoda this weekend because of Lindz lying. I should have known better.”
“Don’t beat yourself up Sam. Just say you are sorry about not taking her side and it will not happen ever again. If she didn’t tell me about you breaking up then she is holding out hope you will come to your senses.
Also make sure she has the time of her life at the prom.”
“So she can go to the prom.”
“Oh yes, would I lie to you.
Anyway I have to go. I need to get back home. It was good luck for you I happened to be here to set things straight.”
The final nail which closed the lid on the Sam being in a fool’s coffin was him believing this was just good luck. It worked out why too well for what Linda still wanted to happen, to go to the prom and having Sam as her boyfriend. Then again it was easier to swallow those lies becasue Sam also wanted to go the to the prom and be Lindz’s boyfriend.
Dawn being on the high ground and Kyle doing a lowdown dirty trick was adding more turbulence to the storm front on the mountain her husband choosen to die upon. She could not believe that he drove Linda to school without also taking Ron. How early they left meant that he was also getting them Micky D’s for breakfast. That was not how they treated their children. If any of their children were going to the same place then they all got a ride. If they were going to give one child a small treat then they all get a small treat. Her anger slipped out like a glass in a wet hand when she asked Ron “Why didn’t you go with them.”
Even with his mom apologizing for her actions, admitting how wrong she was not to believe him and have been making a good faith effort to make amends he answer was still defensive. “Don’t try to put this on me.”
Being a parent meant Dawn knew she had to do the right thing instead of wanting to be right. The anger left her voice like the unwanted guest it was and said “Sorry Ron. I worded it wrong. I was not trying to put what your dad did on you. I am just pissed off that he pull this stupid stunt.”
“Mom this was not a stupid stunt. He is doing what he always does, play favorites. He wants me to know that he is mad at me.”
Her son calling out Kyle’s behavior for what it was caused more ice to form on the path her husband was making on the hill to die on. He was going to slip and fall soon. “I know and I will have a talk with him. Now if you want I can give you a ride to school also. Sorry that we do not have time to stop for breakfast.”
His mom trying to do the right thing was good enough for Ron. He did not want to have her start her day not only in a bad mood but also rushing around. Hugging his mom he said “It is no big deal.I can take the bus. Also don’t worry about the breakfast. Now you have a good day, I know I am going to.”
*************
Linda’s stomach felt a little queasy as she exited her dad’s car. She chalked the unsettling feelings to what she just had for breakfast. Micky D’s Sausage McMuffins were greasy and that iced coffee was loaded with caffeine. If she was as honest with herself about why her stomach was acting as she was about the content of her breakfast she would have felt instantly better.
The real reason behind Linda’s stomach was stress. This uneasy feeling came from her dad telling her his plan to make sure that her senior year’s summer was going to even better than she planned. If she had not been blinded by wanting to get back with Sam and having the just rewards of finishing high school, she would have known this. Ron still being cold towards her helped her stay in the darkness also. If her baby brother could not start being nice to her she was not going to think how the method of her getting what she wanted along with her getting her way would affect him.
Linda had to do some severe rationalization going along with her father’s plan. The heartache of being broken up with by the boy she loved was punishment enough. It does not matter that them not being a couple will only last less than a day. That was real pain for those hours. The two lies about Ron are just harmless little lies. Kyle told her to make sure that Sam never tells others about Rhonda's “crush”on him. If anything Sam knowing about this “crush” will make him nicer to Ron.
Sam coming to her as soon as she got out of her dad’s car made her start to feel better. The look of remorse on his face told her he was going to ask her to be her girlfriend again. She was wrong and that pit in her stomach started to act up again. Instead of saying let’s get back together Sam pleaded for forgiveness. This was not right, Sam did nothing wrong. She knew the truth made her sound vindictive.
Telling Sam to stop it made her feel better. She then told him not to tell anyone about how Ron’s feels about him. She considered that asking for the truth because she did not mention the so called crush. Her subconscious made it so it was impossible to actually say that. The heavy duty ralionalzation she did made it so if she did not say about the crush then Ron could not hold it against her.
Then Sam trying to lighten up the mood Sam made light of the crush by giving his word on keeping the secret with a joke. “Don’t worry my Lindz, I might make sure Rhonda gets some nice looks at what she can’t have but I will never tell anyone.”
Linda’s subconscious went to work again and she in a decisive tone involuntrally asserted “Quit That!!”
Sam took the tone of the order as seriously as it sounded. He figure the reason behind it was the trouble she got into about teasing Rhonda about that. “Sorry. I will not joke about Rhonda’s crush on me anymore.”
Linda’s tone stay the same when she declared “His name is Ron.”
“Sorry again. I will never mention any of this ever again. I am just happy that I am your babe again and we will be so enjoying our senior summer together. It is going to be epic.”
Hearing about the good times ahead of them made Linda feel better once again. It was hard to focus on what she was doing wrong when the girl was dreaming about how great of a time she was going to have.
*************
Here is a list of three things that Mike Wort hated. He hated meetings. They were mostly a waste of time where people repeat themselves over and over again. He hated having meetings with management from other departments. The management from other departments had a tendency to forget they were dealing with equals. He also hated unscheduled meetings. These types of meetings are the worst. They were usually held by people who did not care about other people’s time or opinion. These meetings were more about someone trying to give an edict about an issue they had no authority over.
What was about to happen to him was going to check off all three of those items on this list with two more things that could be added on the list, coming into a room without knocking and salespeople. As Mike was finishing his breakfast of a bagel with a glass of OJ, his intern Nancy came into the office behind her dad Kyle Coville.
Kyle started the conversation because Mike's mouth was filled with the buttery goodness. “Mike, it is great to see you. We need to talk about yesterday and how you handle your team.”
Before Kyle could get the ball rolling on his presentation Mike put his finger up. That was the international sign of my mouth is full so I can’t talk right now so please wait until I can respond. Kyle knew that and was happy. That meant there would be no speed bump to slow him down as he steamrolled how this summer was going to be for his daughter.
“What you did yesterday was unacceptable. You are lucky that I understand you didn't know better. After all you are just techie, not a business person. So instead of getting you fired. I am going to tell you how my Nancy’s intern is going to be. Trust me you are lucky that I am keeping her with your team. I got her there so I can move her.”
“You will apologize to Nancy in front of everyone for making such a sexist statement. You will call her Ms Coville while giving it. This is for everyone who will be calling Nancy, Ms Collive. She deserves that respect. Plus with her minor in management she will be moving up the ladder quickly when she gets hired. They will need to get used to that.
Ms Coville gets to pick her work. She also gets to pick who will be working with her.
Ms Coville also works half a day on Friday.”
Nancy was feeling good about this impromptu meeting until Mike was done chewing his food. As soon as Mike swallowed the last bit of bagel in his mouth he started to chew out Kyle. What Mike was going to say was no bump on the road which was going to impede Kyle sharing his train of thought to its final destination, but a road block which closed the road.
Mike, wanting to make sure that Kyle knew he meant business, looked him straight in the eyes with a stare that could cause more deaths than a blue screen on a computer. “First thing Kyle, you do not charge into someone’s office when their door is closed. I was eating my breakfast before I started work. It is not a good way to get someone to listen to you by interrupting their personal time.
Another thing is you know that when someone puts their finger up that means wait a minute. I had a mouthful of bagel. You know that.
Now onto what you said. You did not get Ms Coville on my team. She did. Your daughter’s resume was amazing and did great at the interview.
I will not be apologizing to Ms Coville in front of the team. I will do it now. Ms Coville, I am sorry about the misunderstanding we had yesterday. I do see how what I said can be taken as being sexist. I do not think it is professional, so my team will not be called the Big Boys any longer. It will be the Big Dogs. The guys on the team like having a nickname and I do not see how that can be seen as sexist. Please tell me if I am wrong.
Ms Coville will do as everyone else and follow the list she is given. That means she will work with whoever I team her up with for the day. If she forms a good rapport with another team member I will have those two together. That is how I run my team.
Lastly, she can work a half day on Friday or be off. The work schedule is flexible here, so she can do 4 ten or work 9 hours Monday through Thurday and leave before lunch on Friday if she wants. As long as she gives me 40 hours I do not care.”
Kyle was not going to let some kid wearing an unbutton shirt with a t-shirt underneath it talk to him like this. He was the best sales person they had at Paulson so he can throw his weight around to get his way. “I do not think you understand….”
Not being business savvy meant that Mike did not care about protocols and once again interrupted Kyle.”Ohhh,I beg to differ, on the contrary I do understand. You are in my office. It is my office not yours and it is my department not yours. That means it is my rules. My rules fit the company’s handbook so there is nothing you can do about it.
So Kyle we are done here. You can leave and I will talk with Ms Coville.”
“I am staying for that so I can be a witness,”
“If you want to stay then it is simple. Ms Coville your internship is over. You left work on the first day without telling your supervisor, That is a fireable offense if there was not due cause for the absence. There was not. Now, I will be walking you out.”
Knowing that Mike was not buffing Nancy was in protect mode. She wanted this internship. She knew she was going to learn so much this summer, plus get paid. That was a sweet deal in her eyes. Sweet enough to deal with Mike. “Wait, no Mr Wort. Dad leave. I can handle this on my own.”
“Klye you heard Ms Coville. Now close the door on your way out.”
After Kyle left Mike said “If you want to be called Ms Coville by everyone that is fine. I will have to warn you that they will not like it. They will not be as helpful as they can be. They will only do the bare minimum. They will not share with you the little tricks that they learn. They will not point out what you are doing wrong until it gets close to them not being able to fix what you are messing up. Trust me you will do major messups if not caught. We all do at first. There are many funny stories that you will miss about them if you want to be called Ms Coville.”
Sounding as defeated as her dad was by Mike Nancy No. Even with it not being her idea she liked the sound of Ms Coville. That made her feel powerful and important. She just knew that she would be losing too much to gain that stroking of her ego.
“Nancy cheer up. You are going to be part of a great team now, not just working with them.
After you went to HR yesterday I felt bad. I was trying to make you feel like you belonged and I did the opposite. I am sorry about that. That was when I made the decision of us not being called the Big Boys anymore.”
“I just had personal things going on and I overreacted. You do not need to change the name of the team for me Mr Wort.”
“I told you to call me Mike. Also I am not doing it for you. I am doing it for you were right. It can come off as sexist. I really want your opinion about Big Dogs. I know it is not as professional as someone who aims to get into upper management would like, but having a nickname forms unity on my team and makes them work better.”
“Mike I do not want to be upper management. I want to be the best at my job. I want to fit in. I think that it is even less likely that anyone would find Big Dogs sexist compared to Big Boys.”
“If someone can find it sexist then maybe we should not use it.”
Nancy was on the verge of taking a big chance right now. Mike was showing that he was not as bad as she made him out to be, so she was going to make a joke to see if she can fit in. The joke also has the added benefit of her stating she went overboard yesterday “Mike the only way anyone can find Big Dog sexist is if they had a bigger stick up their ass than I did yesterday.”
It was not the best joke but it made Mike laugh. The build up stress of situation was gone and laughter was his release value. “Good. Now we are going to have a great day. I will tell the team that you had a personal issue yesterday. They will know nothing about this.
Now if you don’t mind. I want to finish my breakfast. I am having you work Fred Arnold. He has the most experience and loves sharing it with anyone who will listen.”
“Thank you Mike.”
“You are welcome Nancy. I just want to make sure you know what I did for you I would do for any of my workers.”
As Nancy was leaving the office she was thinking about misunderstanding. That maybe her brother and mother some valid points and her sister was being treated fairly. As Nancy was contemplating being wrong about how she handled the situation between her brother and sister. Mike was just being content. He got rid of the issue which happened yesterday. If that was not enough he still have half of the buttery goodness of his breakfast in front of him to enjoy.
*****************
Chloe wore an oversized green Michagan State Sweatshirt and black leggings to school. She wanted to be the three Cs: cute, comfy,and cozy.Being the three Cs made her at her best and that was needed today. Her boyfriend Ron was going to need some support. Yesterday at school was bad for him. It was never good when an older student got in your face in the bathroom. That was not enough. His sister lied about him being a crossdresser.
Chloe saw Ron antsingly approaching the front door. That fidgety walk the stress out freshman had would give credence to that vile Facebook post his sister mad. Wanting to make sure the students working the rumor mill still was operating on Linda being mad for some reason at her brother Chloe meet her boyfriend at the door and grabbed his hand.
Her touching his hand was what Ron needed to feel at ease. Knowing that Chloe was at his side made it so what other people thought or said was as meaningless as a class the day after taking a final. Ron being confident register to anyone who saw him. This meant the aspiring page 6 workers would still be following that Linda was just trying to stir up drama for her brother. It was a cold move but woud not change the opinion people already had of her. Her friends would try to justify it as a joke and the kids who did not like her would be reaffirming their dislike for her by what she posted.
**************
Sam was walking down the packed hall between classes and made direct eye contact with Ron. The senior chuckled thinking about how stupid Ron must look in a dress and how delusional Ron must be to think that Sam would be even be interested in going out with a boy. To Sam it was fine if boy wanted to be treated and act like girl and would do so, but that did not make them females.
Sam was like almost everyone else in the crowded hallway and did not notice him laughing to himself. This moment of self amusement would have been forgotten as soon as it happened only if Ron did not see it. It did not take being a Vulcan to for Ron to logically deduce the laughter was aimed at his direction. It also did not take being a Kilgon for Ron to confort Sam about the laughing. The freshman already knew his sister and Sam got back together so somehow she got her boyfriend to think she was in the right and Ron was in the wrong.
Seeing Ron right in front of Sam was surprising to the Senior. The surprise went to shock when Ron open his mouth and said “Don’t you laugh at me.”
Being caught off-guard Sam said what he thought was the truth. “I was not. You need to chill.”
“Yeah right. Come on I know you find it funny what my sister did to me. If not you would not have gotten back together with her.”
Then it dawned on Sam that he did chuckle. Getting enjoyment again from thinking Ron had a crush on him made a smirk appear on Sam’s face.
That smirk disappeared as soon as it appeared when another shocking statement came out of Sam’s mouth. “You will get that grin off of your face if you know what is good for you.”
Ron was making a stand. He was not going to let being forced to dress like a girl follow him around. There was no way that anyone was going to put him down for something he was forced to do. That his sister lying was not going to affect him in a negative manner.
Sam was not happy that some freshman freak who wanted to be a freshwoman was getting in his face. He was not going to be dissed in that manner. There was no way people would let him live it down. There was no way he would let himself live it down. A panty wearer with their panties in a bunch was not going to tell him what to do. “Just get out of my face. You are lucky that I don’t hit bitches.”
Right before Sam could say anything else Ron ended the converastion he said “Yeah you only go out with them.”
Sam was getting ready to defend his girlfriend’s honor. Then he thought better. He knew if he did anything at that moment to Ron then he would now be the reason they were not going to go to the prom. The fact that he also will be around Ron more often now also meant that he could wait to get the payment Ron’s disrespectful comment made for him.
****************
Coming home from a long day at work, Dawn was dreading opening the front door. She was upset at her husband, and disappointed in her daughter over how they were handling what happened to Ron. How he was not taking responsibility for his actions and sweeping them under the rug was making her see the man she loved in a different light. She was actually starting to question if he was who she thought he was. Linda could not see how she messed up big time by lying to get her way. Finally her oldest, Nancy had no empathy for Ron and tried to force Ron into seeing that nothing bad happened.
Entering her home should have felt more like being on a battlefield after a battle, but did not. Dawn would have welcomed this change if it was not too quick and the mood was different. Linda being chipper was unlikely, yet she greeted her mom with a hi attached to a smile. A teenage girl who had their senior summer ruined does not go from sulking to happy in a span of less than 12 hours. The next sign something was amiss was her interaction with Nancy. Her daughter was finally acting somewhat like a big sister to Ron, but still was trying to be right about how she treated her little brother. Her daughter should have been on board with how wrong Linda was.
The situation became even worse when Kyle came home. He had a little smirk on his face. That smirk was a sign he was getting one over on someone and Dawn had a feeling that someone was her. That smirk was also from getting something more than taking only their daughters to get breakfast today. That victory was too small and long ago for him to still be gloating about.
Dawn’s question of why are you so pleased with yourself acted like a wash cloth and wiped that smirk right off of Kyle’s face. The accusatory tone in his wife’s tone was them picking up where his trek up the hill Kyle was going to die upon. Most people who have seen this but his pride and arrogance was blinding him like the sharp winds gust.
“I am sorry that I am in a good mood about having a productive day at work. I will not come home happy anymore.”
“Don’t be scaratic with me and also do not lie. Remember we have been together for over 20 years and I know you. I know how to read you that. That smile is not your had a great day after work smile. It is hard to see your smile after having a great day at work for you are talking about it as soon as you are home.”
Kyle was too blinded to see that the benefit of the doubt was temporarily gone in the relationship. That he had to get back the trust in his relationship by being honest. This will be hard because he always depended on his charisma to get people to like and trust him. So instead of working on his wife seeing him in the light he used to Ron decided to take the easy path to where he wanted to go, having Linda be able to go to her prom.
“All right, I am still happy that I took Linda out to breakfast without Ron. She deserved it. How harshly we are punishing her is not good for her self-esteem. She needs to know that we are still on her side. Plus, even if I did invite Ron, he would not have gone. He is still acting immature about this weekend.
I know this is stressing you out, so how about you and your sister Tammy have a nice spa weekend at Seven Springs. I will handle all the stuff around the house. You need some time to relax and quit dealing with this pass weekend.
I might not agree with Linda not going to the prom but I will back you on that decision. Us fighting about it is causing a tear in our family and giving Linda false hope. Ron thinks he needs her to be punished. He might regret it later, but we do need to give him this.
Then next weekend we will go have a nice romantic dinner at that French Bristo you like. We have been at each other throats and need that personal time together. ”
His attempt to butter up his wife worked. She was not his roll anymore, but she wanted to believe her husband. There was no way he would try to pull off a stunt so Linda can go to the prom. Plus she was only a little over a hour away. She can make it back home if she found out her husband was up to shenanigans. She would know for she will make sure that Ron will call her. If she knew the truth their marriage would be over right then, “I will take you up on the Spa, but I am still mad about breakfast. We need to work on our relationship with Ron and you excluding him from that nice little treat did not help.
We do not need to work on our relationship with Linda. She is mad at us, but we need to be more concerned about her seeing what she did was wrong. That is how we will work on our relationship with her. We cannot appease her.
I am trusting you to keep your word.”
“Honey you have my word, I will not do anything special with Linda.”
*********************
Being a teenager makes time go slowly when you could not wait for something. Chole was looking past the rest of the week because her focus was on Saturday. She has gone to the movies before with Ron, but this time it was going to be so different. He was going to be her date. She was looking forward to be treated like his girlfriend and treating him like her boyfriende. Chole was not the pating part that she cared about or him getting the door for her. It was holding his hand and resting her head on his shoulder.
She knew it was going to be a great date. They were going to see the live-action version of the Little Mermaid. Those two used to watch that movie together. They must of seen it more than times than there were fishes in the ocean. They would also play Little Mermaid together. She used to be jealous of Ariel being the Princess of the Ocean but now she was not. This was for Chole was now the Princess of what she cherished the most, Ron’s heart. She knew that was her kingdom because Ron was the one who suggested the movie.
Seeing his daughter entering the living room so happy made Jim sad. He knew that his princess heart was going to be broken and the higher she got in her happiness about thinking this date with Ron was real the further the crash to Earth will be. He knew he could not banned her from going on the date, that would make him a tyrant. Instead, the loving father was going to try to lessen his daughter's greater expectations so that fall was not from a wuthering height. He did not want the strong winds of a teenager’s emotions to cause her to crash about so much during the fall.
Jim called his daughter over. before she could make out of the room by saying “Hey kiddo can we talk.”
Chole loved it when her dad called her kiddo. That term of endearment meant to her that he was looking out for her. “We can always talk daddio”
“You know I think that Ron is a great kid, but do not expect anything magical to happen on Saturday. There is a great chance this will not work out. You two might only be meant to be friends and nothing else.”
“Dad, Saturday is going to be great. We are going to see The Little Mermaid then go Sam’s Town. I am looking forward to the sharing that strawberry milkshake with him.”
With Jim thinking that Ron was really Rhonda no matter what his daughter said the date was it would be wrong. He assumed that Ron let her pick the movie. “See right there kiddo is what I am talking about. A man should plan the date he asked a woman out on and he let you pick it. That is what friends do, not a boyfriend. He would have picked a movie you both wanted to see.”
This was the first time ever hearing her dad called her kiddio felt partonzing. This made her not feel as close to her father and her choice in words showed that. “Dad you are wrong. He pickled the movie, not me.”
Ron not being able to do anything manly in Jim’s eyes made that movie the wrong choice. “What guy would want to see that movie?”
“A guy who is going our with a girl that he used to watch the original version with when they were toddlers. A guy who knows that that movie has a special place in their friendship.
You still think that Ron like to wear dresses. Why can’t you believe me. I am telling yo the truth.”
“Kiddio you are just believing what you want to believe.”
“Don’t call me kiddo. I am not. I know Ron. You want to believe this for you cannot bare to think that your friend would do what he did. Call Mrs Coville about it.
I am going to get a drink and then go back to my room.”
Wanting to be a loving father and show his daughter that he would always be there for her Jim said “Kiddio, when it does not work out I will be here for you. I will always be here for you.”
Those words come off as hollow as ocean reeds. How could her father be there for her when he would not listen to her? As she was leaving the room Chole said “I wouldn’t need you for the date is going to be great and even if I did how can you be there for me when you will not even listen to me now? I told you not to call me kiddo
“I am sorry Chole, I am just worried about you. I do not want you to be hurt.”
There was no reply to those words for by the time Jim said them Chole's body was already where she was emotionally from her dad, far away. There might be a little pain now but Jim knew he was doing the right thing, setting up the protection for his daughter fall into heartbreak
***************************
Nancy was getting flustered with the tension in her home. She did not like the fact that she felt like she had to watch what she said. Then her brother and mother were not giving her or her sister, Linda, the benefit of the doubt. Nancy was in the right to make sure that Joe did not say anything which could be taken the wrong way. There was no way that Ron should have taken being called a bitch by her how he did. That was just being childish. His immaturity was also going to cause a hugh rift between him and Linda. Linda might be going to the prom, but their mom would not be their to share it. That is taking away a life long memory from Linda.
Sitting there doing nothing was about as productive as putting a roast in an oven which was off, so she made the decesion of having trying to be the peace broker between Ron and Linda. This was the first mistake she made. She was not a neutral party, Nancy had a desired outcome and would try to push her agenda during the the talks.
The second mistake came when she went and got her sister to go into Ron’s room. If she wanted to be an arbitrator between her brother and sister she would have wanted to appear neutral. Coming in with one of the parties which have the grievance to the other one’s room does not come off as being neutral.
The third mistake was her not reading her sister. Linda was pensive about the idea of her sister brokering peace. Talking with Ron was just too risky, the situation was more likely to get worse than better. The status quo was the best for Linda right now. She trusted her dad and knew that if thing just stay the same his plan to have her be able to go to the prom would work.
Yet even with Linda thinking Nancy’s plan was as good of an idea sticking a fork in a socket she went along with it. The reason was simple, she did not want to lose Nancy’s support. She could not bear the thought of having both of her sylbings being mad at her. She knew that it was going to take a long time for Ron to come around and would need to have Nancy be there for her/
On the way to the room Linda was becoming antsy. She was not feeling good about having to face her brother. She knew why but would not admit it. She knew going along with the lie that Ron was Rhonda and had a crush on Sam was as wrong. She was betraying her brother to get what she wanted. Yeah, she thought the punishment she was facing for stating why she believed was too harsh, but she knew that two wrongs do not make a right.
Here is the fourth mistake Nancy made she entered the room without knocking. It was a wonder that she did not learn from her dad’s mistake of just barging in on someone earlier today. She was too concerned about getting her desired results than to think about the best way of getting them or if they were even possible.
If the eldest of the Coville’s brood would have thought she would have known that what she wanted was simply out of reach. Ron had too many bad feelings about his sister and this past weekend. Those feelings of contempt, bitterness, and betrayal were not going to start going away until Linda showed remorse. Linda was too selfinvolved about her missing out on what she deemed she earned to even consider how Ron’s feelings towards her was justified.
As soon as Ron looked up from his Earth science book in an crossed voice “Get out now. I am studying and do not want to deal with either of you two.”
Nancy said “No, Ron this is important. We need to figure out how to repair yours and Linda’s relationship. It is not good for a brother and a sister to not get along. We are family and we need to look out for each other.”
Ron was getting more annoyed and became irritated. How dare his sister come in her talking about family. Just two days ago she called him a bitch and said he enjoyed being in a dress. “Family, really? If how everyone treated me is being part of this family I do not want to be part of it. Now leave.”
Nancy was doing her best to be patient. She told herself her brother was just being immature because he is only a freshman in high school. He did not understand that he would regret it if he was the reason that his sister missed out on her celebrations of finishing her senior year. How graduating high school was a hugh life event.
What Nancy did not take into account is who really caused the reason why Linda was missing out on honoring her achievement. It was Linda. Linda caused this.
“Ron you need to quit thinking that we are against you. I am looking out for you. I only being trying to make you see why you are wrong. I do not want you to make a huge mistake. You will regret it if Linda is punished.”
Nancy trying to sell him a false bill of good mad Ron’s annoyance going past being, irked, incensed and irate right to pissed off. How dare she tell him she was looking out for him. She just wanted Linda to get her way. Raising his voice for the entire house to hear “ So you were looking out for me when you called me a bitch, and said that I liked being in a dress.
If anyone is a bitch it is you. This is twice you come barging into my room and try to dictate to me what I should do and how I should feel.”
“Don’t you call me a bitch.”
Linda knew a lot of damage had just been done to her chances of going to the prom. Seeing how mad Ron was made her think it might not be worth it. Instead of things between them getting better or staying the same they were getting worse. How could that be because people say time heal all wounds. That is true but for treated wounds, untreated wounds linger and become worse. Her making a mea culpa would start the shrinking the riff between them.
“Come on Nancy, let’s go. Ron is not going to listen to us.”
Nancy was trying to state that her brother did not want to have this or any conversation with them. That is not how Ron took it. He took it the worse way possible for he saw them in the worse light possible. That Linda wanted to go for she knew she was not going to get her way.
“Linda you are wrong. I am listening to you, it is just that I am not agreeing with you. Just face it, you are not going to the prom because of what you did.”
Nancy was not going to take Ron making Linda out to be in the wrong. “She did nothing. It was mom and dad who put you in the dress.”
“That happened because accused me of taking her clothes. That happened because she made up me wearing her panties.”
Dawn and Kyle now entered the room. Once again they had to be the referee between their children. Kyle hated it because it was hard work. Dawn did not like it because it meant their was disharmony in the household.
Kyle shouted out some orders “Ron you need to get over this weekend. You do not call your sister a bitch.
Linda and Nancy do not talk to Ron unless he talks to you. Linda is not going to the prom. Your mom’s decision is final. I might not like it, but I support it.”
Dawn added “Thank you Kyle, but Ron needs time to get over this weekend and he can call Nancy a bitch, she called him one.”
Kyle bit his tongue for a moment to make sure his reply did not worsen how his wife was feeling. He did not want to come off as being a bias ref. He just wanted this situation to go done so his soon to be revealed plans can work smoothly.
During Kyle’s silence, Nancy let her opinion be known. “Rhonda will not disrespect women. I think she needs to be treated like the bitch she is. Being butt hurt about a misunderstanding that Linda had so bad that she is missing some of the biggest events in her life.”
Kyle shook his head, he said “Nancy your brother’s name is Ron and he is a man. You do not misgender him. You did call him a bitch so your mom is right he can call you one. Do not dish out anything you cannot take.
Now you and your sister come with me.”
Ron saw his dad’s defense of him for what it was, bullshit. The reason is he caught his dad’s microexpression of a grin. Ron was like his mother and knew what that grin meant, that his dad thought he was pulling one over someone. He did not want to or care to know what his dad scheme his dad had cooking. Kyle’s son had a visceral feeling that whatever it was that it will blow up in Kyle’s face.
After Kyle left the room with his daughter Dawn said “Sorry you had to deal with Nancy and Linda again. At least now they will not be putting pressure on you and know not to try to get my decision changed.
I know your dad is still not 100% on your side, but at least he is on board with the punishment.”
“Mom, I think Dad is up to something.“
“He is better not be. We had a talk and he gave me his word that he is going to support Linda’s punishment. Please trust me if he tries to pull something he will pay, he will regret it. You know to call me if he does.”
How shadows accompanied the words he will regret it made Ron believe her. He knew that whatever his dad was cooking up with explode in his face. This fact is what made Ron fine with his mom going away for the weekend. Dawn was a wife and mother and she could not also be a warden in her own home. She had a lot of stress the last couple of weeks and deserved to relax, she was the only one who was taking what happened to him seriously.
Kyle closed the door to the den so he could open up and start to tell his plan to his daughter. Nancy was still fuming about being called a bitch. This was ironic for people who used that word with misogynistic intentions would point out that her immature behavior about still being mad was proof she was one. Linda just wanted to get this talking to over with.
Nancy showed her disapproval of her dad agreeing with her mom “Dad just get this straight, no one, and I mean no one, can call me a bitch.”
Kyle laughed because he knew her reaction meant everyone believed his ruse. He was still going to get Linda to her prom. That hill he was still willing to die on. He was just waiting at camp until the had more optimal weather conditions to continue the trek to their shared goal.
Nancy hated hearing that laugh and said “This is serious. How dare you laugh about how I was treated.”
“Sorry, Nancy. I was laughing because you really believed what I said.
Rhonda is being a bitch about this, but right now we need we do not need any conflict going on. So,Linda and Nancy leave Ron alone for the next couple of days. Linda make sure that Sam also does not do anything stupid. I have this handled. You will be going to the prom.
I got it so your mom is going to be away for the weekend. I did it by making your mom think I agree with her about the punishment”
Linda did not like all this deception and scheming just so she would get out of being punished. “Dad I do not want me going to the prom to cause trouble between you and Mom.”
“LInda dear, it will not. She is going to be away when it happens and by the time she comes back she will be relaxed and in a great mood. She might be a little mad but it will blow over quickly, for she is smart enough to know that there is nothing she can do.
Your mom will not be mad at you because she knows how huge going to the prom is. She will know that you was not thinking when you went along with what I was planning when I sprung it on you. She knows how good I am at getting my way.
Ron will be mad but so what? Let that bitch cry. How he is treating you is wrong. He will get over it because sooner or later your mom is going to be sick of the divide in the house and not back him“
Hearing how confident her dad was putting her at ease. Plus to her dad, people are as easy to read as a children books. He had to be right. Ron was going to be mad at her away so there would be no long-term damage caused by her dad’s plan. Plus this might help to get her mom to stop backing Ron. She would have to see that nothing bad happened from her daughter going to the prom. Smiling Linda said “You are right dad.”
*************
The next three days there was an eerie peace in the Collive’s home. Ron knew the ceasefire was not the beginning of an armistice but them being in the eye of a hurricane until his dad’s plan was enacted. His mom also had the same gut feeling but was hoping that her family was finally starting to heal. She had to have hope because if not it meant her family as she knew it was over. If her husband did not keep his word how could she be with him?
Kyle and his daughter had a different forecast. They all saw that the storm was over. Kyle thought that there would be a minor fight with his wife, which he would win and then she would start to put pressure on Ron to just get over it. He knew Dawn wanted peace in her household and also a new start to a new day for her family.
Nancy was mad that Linda could not be open with her exciting about the upcoming prom. She was not going to forget this and she was going to make Ron pay. If somehow Linda was wrong her brother should have taken one for the team and let her go. The prom was an important event and Linda should not be hiding to mom about going to it.
Linda saw all the signs of worse is yet to come. How can anything good come from her dad deceiving her mom? He is lying to his own wife. Ron wants nothing to do with her now, how he is going to feel about her after she got what she wanted yet again. She might be mad about Ron but knew why he felt how he felt. Nancy was too antagonistic. She is trying to make Ron out as the villian
Even with all the data making it was sound to come to the conclusion of her going to the prom was not a nig deal, she went along with believing her dad. She had no choice. She put too much into being on his side at the point. This was because she did not think about how her actions affected Ron. Now if she changes and states she does not want to go to the prom she will lose the people who are supporting her and not gain anything.
Sam went along with the plan. The last thing he wanted was to mess up the prom for Linda. He still felt bad about breaking up with her over a lie. How could Ron do that to his own sister? Ron might have it hard being a girl in the wrong body but he needed to not throw his sister under the bus like that. She made up a bad story to keep that private and that was how Ron repaid her? Linda’s boyfriend knew it was only until to Friday night that he had to be neutral to Ron, then he can mess with that brat again.
Friday night came and Ron was in the living room with the rest of his family. His dad forbade him from in his bedroom and informed Ron that if he knew what was good for him he would not call his mom about Linda going to the prom . Kyle liked that it was rubbing it in Ron’s face that he cannot do anything about Linda going to the prom,but that was just pepperoni on the pizza. The main reason Kyle wanted his son downstair was to break Ron’s stubbornness. If his boy had to watch the rest of his family enjoying the build up to the prom that will just make him know that he cannot win.
With Ron being quiet and very withdrawn Kyle thought his plan was working. To Klye they were doing the right thing by the taming of the male shrew. He was wrong on both points. He was wrong on how Ron was feeling and he was doing the right thing to try to break his son. Ron was getting more and more apathetic towards his dad and sisters. He was seeing them more as three people he was in the same room as instead of his family.
The living room was a stage to him and His dad, Nancy, and Linda were merely players. It was amusing to him that they thought they were taming a make shrew. How they were so bad at trying to act natural made Ron find humor in their hubris. The look of pride they had all their faces after giving a weak solique to the audience of one added to his enjoyment. How could they think that those hack lines delivered by hack the actor and actresses were working. If they could read the audience of one they would know that the lack of interaction was from indifference not from defeat.
Ron was finally pulled into the participatory theater by the unannounced special guest star, Sam entering stage front door. Sam was able to still get Ron’s ire because of his arrogance that Ron has a crush on him. The other actor and actress arrogance did not get to him because it was not about how he felt ans Sam’s was. It just got to him that somehow that Linda boyfriend actually thought that if Ron was gay that somehow he would have such bad tatse and like him.
After greeting his main squeeze Sam asked Ron if he was looking forward to tomorrow. Sam thought the question his date with Chole so he said yes to maybe talk about sense into that delusional Sam.
Sam grinning was not the response Ron expected. “I knew you were, but remember you can look but not touch.”
Ron asked “What the fuck are you talking about?”
Kyle did not do anything. He liked his son’s response. Not from Ron standing up for himself but from him falsely believing this was his son last lash out before admitting defeat. This made it so his plan was going to be easy, with Ron not putting up a fight his wife would not either.
“You know seeing me in a tux. If you like me dress like this you are going to love me all dressed up. But remember you are not my type Rhonda.”
“Sam, what the fuck is your mental malfunction? You have to be crazy to think I would like a punk ass like you. I would say a pox on your house but they are all on your face.”
In most cases Ron would have thought that was a low blow and never would have brought it up, but not right now. He wanted to show Sam how repulsive he was to Ron and the truth was not working. He knew how insecure Sam was about the pockmarks on his face from a severe case of acne he had so he used it against him.
Sam was as furious as the five who hung out with Grandmaster Flash and was ready to let his fist show it. Going to the prom be damn, he was not going to let the girl who he was the forbidden fruit of hurt him because her feeling was unrequited. Before Ron’s rage could be shown by him unleashing his fist of fury Linda screamed “Sam, how many times have I told you to stop that.! Now leave, we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow and I am not going to put up with you making snide remarks at Ron. Why do you keeping saying that Ron has a crush on you when I told you to stop? Just quit bringing it up.”
Nancy took Linda’s question for what it meant, why did Sam think that Ron had a crush on him. Ron took it as Linda wanting Sam not to bring up her lie so there was less of a chance the truth would come out. Ron believed that Linda spread that rumor to her boyfriend to get him back, that was the only reasonable explanation. He could not fathom the truth, that his dad was more concerned about being right than doing the right thing that he would stoop to lying about his son.
Sam was about to tell the truth when he made eye contact with Linda’s dad. He did that unconsciously because Kyle was who he was going to be talking about. That eye contact gave the scheming dad the chance to stop Sam for ruining his plans and shook his head no.. Kyle did not want Linda to know his lie to Sam about Ron. He knew that would make her call off going to the prom. His daughter would feel so bad about how Ron was being treated. Sam understood the nonverbal communication and stayed quiet.
Ron took this chance to just leave the living room. He was not going to stay and see the end of the performance because it was not entertaining anymore. Kyle said where do you think you are going and before Ron could give the obvious answer Linda said “Just let Ron go to his room. I have a long day ahead of me tomorrow and I do not need this.”
Kyle listened to his daughter, his work was done, and having Ron around would just give more chances of the unraveling of his tapestry of deceit. He was so close to getting his way and was happy. He did want to get one last dig in on Ron, to kick him when he was down so his son knew to stay down. “Ok, you can go to your room and pout like the bitch you are Rhonda.”
Nancy was trying to figure out why her sister said long day instead of a great day ahead of her. No one uses long to describe the day of their prom. She asked Linda “Don’t you mean great.”
Linda did not even notice that she used long until the question. “Yeah, I meant great. Sorry, I am just a little nervous about the day. It is going to be great.”
Nancy wanted to believe the lie so she did not press anymore. That answer was good enough for her but took it at face value. There was too much to do for Linda’s big day tomorrow. Linda on the other hand even with her audience believing her knew she meant long. She could not shake the feelings tomorrow was going to blow up on her and her two conspirators.
The sad expression on Linda’s face did not fit how she should feel. Right now she should feel special, like a princess. Nancy and her friends were Linda’s ladies-in-waiting in getting her ready for her big night. That scarlett princess straight sweep train tulle dresses with appliques lace sequined corset should have made her feel regal. The job Linda and her friends, Gemma and Christina, did on Linda’s hair and for her makeup should added to the sense of regality. Her hair was as perfect as a starlett on the red carpet and her make up excellently highlighted and accented her features, the eye shadow match her dress and it also drew out her green eyes.
Instead, all she felt was shame. The sparkles from the sequined corset were drawing too much attention to her. The pampering from everyone felt like it was undeserved. She knew she should not be treated this special. Wearing the dress just felt wrong. It was a great fit, yet she felt like the corset was suffocating her.
The expression did fit how Linda felt. She wanted to hide and be left alone. She was all dressed up and wanted nowhere to go. She also felt uneasy, like there was a bad omen on the horizon. Even with seeing her dad and sister smiling and flaunting over her she could not shake that feeling. Linda believed that they had to be fools, they were celebrating when they should be getting ready for whatever ill event was coming.
Linda knew part of this was Ron’s reaction to her going to the prom. It would be better to say his non-reaction. She was right about him being mad, but wrong about he was going to be yelling and making a pointless protest. She knew his apathy was a bad sign about repairing their broken relationship. Her sister and dad tried to put a positive spin on it by saying that he just knew he lost the fight, but Linda was wiser. There was no defeat in Ron’s voice, thre was defiance, disdain and disaaproval towards those three.
Linda’s audience took her sour look as nerves. This was her big night, she was coming of age. They tried to ease her uneasy feeling but everything they said and did was in vain. Then her Nancy figured out that her sister just needs to naturally get over feeling nervous. So back up from dotting on Linda and ther friends and dad followed her cue.
**************************
There was too much rushing around getting Linda ready for her big day for Kyle to worry about Ron. He needed to put his time and effort into what was important getting his daughter ready for her prom and his son was not. Kyle was under the impression that Ron was broken by him getting his way. That his son knew that resistance was futile.
Him thinking that his son was resigned to Linda going to the prom or him thinking that Ron’s feeling were not important. The worse part was why he felt his son was insignificant because of how he felt about Ron at the moment. Kyle did not like his son at the moment. He did not like that his son wanted Linda punished for her role over last weekend. He did not like that his son was standing up to him. How dare Ron not know his role in the family and Kyle’s life?
Ron being seen as irrelevant was exactly why Kyle did not notice the nonverbal signs being broadcast from his son. Ron shaking his head in disapproval when he saw the preparation for Linda’s ill gotten big day was not noticed by Kyle. It was apparent to Linda as a lighthouse. It also had the added effect of bringing to light in Linda’s mind on all the hazards of keeping the course they were going. Today was not clear sailing but navigating rough waters in a strom at night without a lighthouse. She just wanted that light to be put out so she could go back to thinking this is going to be as easy as a 3-hour boat tour.
Linda did get what she wished when Ron came downstairs. It was not everything she wished for that lighthouse did shin brightly for a moment with Ron hitting her with a stare of disapproval and his head slighly shaking back and for in befuddledment and disapproval. That did not matter for as he was going out of the door “My ride is here, I am going over to on my date with Chole.”
*********************
Jim hated to see how happy Chole was when his wife opened to door and she walked in with Ron. Some of the reason was that he knew he was losing his Kiddo, his daughrer was going to be a woman soon. If that was the only reason he would have been happy overall. It was not.
The biggest reason is that he believe that she was going to be hurt bad by Ron. The hated knowing that he was the only one in his family that saw the heartbreak coming. This budding relationship to him was a major crash and he knew he had to do what anyone would do and stop if from happening.
He knew he could not declare that Chole could not date Ron, that would do no good. Him and his wife would fight and Chole could and would just date Ron behind his back. It would not be behind both of her parents facts for Sabrina supports her child and likes Ron. She thinks they make a cute couple.
Wanting to make sure that the first date would be the last date between those two Jim was going to get Ron alone to make sure that that boy understands that he is going to tell Chole that he was not feeling anything different between them and that they should just stay friends.
Getting Ron alone was easy. Loving and caring for Chole was not the only thing those two had in common. They were both huge fans of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Kyle had some collectables and just added a game worn jersey of Syd the Kid Crosby to his shrine to his team.
Ron was more than happy to go down to the finished basement with Kyle to see the shrine. The invite had to be a way of showing his date’s father approval. Walking down the stairs to the basement Ron was feeling so good about his day that he did not notice that the conversation was one side with him saying everything.
When they got down there Jim made the true big reveal. “Ron this is going to be quick. I know you are a nice boy. I also know that you like to wear dresses. Do not worry I will not tell anyone.
I want you after the date to tell Chole you are not feeling anything different between you two and it is best if you are just friends. I rather have her hurt a little now and then a lot later when she finds out your secret.”
For a moment Ron was going to ask Mr Pruitt why he still believed that after his dad called and clear it up. Then Ron was laughing from the clarity that came to him. His dad never told the truth. Ron was going to give the man who was just trying to protect his daughter one last chance to believe the truth. “Mr Pruitt, I hate wearing dresses. I was forced because my sister lied to my parents. I would never do anything to hurt your daughter. You have to believe me”
The sincerity of the words confused Jim. They sounded true. He knew the part of Ron never hurting his daughter was true. The rest of what Ron said rang just as true as those words. Yet, he could not and would not believe them. He could not believe them for if they were then it meant his best friend lied about his own son and would not because there was no way he was even going to chance that Ron was lying because it would lead to major heartache for her daughter.
Wanting to protect his daughter was a huge mistake. He had to let her make her own mistakes. Trying to make sure that she stays protected was Jim trying to just have Chole be his kiddo for a little bit longer. He did not want to lose that.
“Ron, I do not care that you like to wear dresses. That is fine. I do care about making sure my kiddo does not get hurt, so you will tell her what I said ok. It is fine you two will still be friends and in a way become closer because both of you will now know that there will be nothing more to your relationship.”
Ron just said “I understand.”
Jim was happy getting what he wanted. He also was happy that Ron was a good kid and did not put up much of a fight. In a way he was depending on Ron being a good kid for he knows that if his wife or daughter found he sabotage the date they would be pissed at him. His son would be disappointed in him, but being more pragmatic would understand.
Little did the man who thought he got his way and won was in for a huge loss. Here is the thing it is not that Ron was not going to put up a fight he just did not start. When Mr Pruitt was giving the reason, Ron came up with how he was going to win. It was simple, he was going to tell Chole the truth about what happened in the basement.
As those two were walking up the stairs to rejoin everyone else it was Jim’s turn to be in a one-sided conversation. It was easy for him not to notice Ron engaging for he was so relieved about not having to deal with his daughter’s major heartbreak later and he was talking about how he got that game jersey.
Ron's real answer to Jim’s proposal of lying about the date started as soon as those two were in the living room with Chole and Sabrina. Chole welcomed those two back with a had a huge smile on her face, She was in such a great mood. The biggest reason for that smile was Ron was in her vision. She fancied him and just seeing someone a person fancied brings a smile to their face, it that was not enough to make her happy then there was her dad inviting Ron down to the basement to see the newest part of his collection. The teenage girl knew that was more than just showing a jersey. Her dad could have done that anytime. It was her dad’s way of showing he approved the boy she fancied.
Sabrina was happy also. Her daughter is growing up. Chole saying yes to Ron showed that she was looking for the right things in a relationship. Her daughterwanted to be in a relationship with someone she can grow with and have a connection with instead of looking for excitement and thrills. Sabrina did not think Ron was boring and she knew he was a handsome young man, but being fun and cute were just added bonuses.
Those smiles and all the feel good quickly left when Ron said “Chole my dad lie to your dad about me liking to wear dresses and he believes my dad. Your dad told me to say that I did not feel anything special between us after our date and we should just be friends.
I am sorry the date is off. I cannot date you if your dad disapproves so much of the idea that he did that. It will cause friction between you two and he will always be trying to undermine us as a couple. I will do anything to protect you. I do not want to see you hurt, but your dad has too much power over your life.”
Ron powerful words stunned Jim. He was shocked that the boy stood up to him like that. He never thought he would tell the truth about that conversation. Ron said he would never hurt Chole yet he did this by showing her dad’s real colors. If Jim only knew that Ron did not hurt Chole, the hurt was from his actions and Ron was just the messenger of the awful truth.
The smelling salt of Chole and Sabrina’s response to hearing the truth made Jim know that loss big time. That there was nothing he could say or do to get out of having to deal with the ramifications of his actions.
Chole got up from the love seat that she was going to share with Ron screaming “I can’t believe you did that dad.” Then she ran up the stairs to her room. She wanted to be away from her dad. Seeing the pain made Jim know he was the one who broke his daughter’s heart.
Sabrina’s eye were shooting lazer more powerful than one from the death star right at Jim and his heart exploded. He never saw his wife so mad before and also knew that his wife was never more justified than she ever was more. “You, how dare you. Everyone else but Kyle was telling you the truth yet you believed him over us. You believed him over your family. Then if that is not enough you try to bully Ron into not dating our daughter. I thought you were better than that. I am disappointed in you.
Ron I am going up to talk to Chole the date is not off. I will protect your relationship with my daughter. She deserves to have someone like you. You will look out for her and do the right thing.”
Ron excused himself to call his mom. He said he wanted to tell her what happened. That was true, but he in his eye there was not going to be a date. Chole was too upset, and her dad now would never let him date her. One lesson he learn from the fallout of the punishment he had last week was that most adults hated it when kids stood their ground and Ron showed Jim he will not back down.
*****************
Dawn and her sister Tammy were sitting down for a late lunch after enjoying a nice relaxing heated stone massage. By the end those stones being lifted off of Dawn’s back felt like the weight of anxiety of waiting for her son to call was gone also. Surely by now her son would have call if Kyle was up to something. Linda would have been getting ready for the prom. She did feel a little bad about not having faith in her husband, but she knew that she had to be cautious in this situation. Her husband was go against the price Linda was paying and he likes to get his way.
Before the waiter was able to take their order her phone rang as soon as she saw it was her son it felt like that those were heated stones with ones which weighed 10 times as much and were placed in a blast furnace. She knew exactly what this call was about.
She so wanted to rush home and stop her husband from succeeding in pulling off his scheme. Even with feeling the urgency of getting moving to thwart her husband she was calm. She knew that one issue that Ron had was no one listen to him. Her taking over the conversation will show her son that she has not learn anything from last weekend. So Dawn wanted to make sure that Ron lead the converastion.
Dawn was happy that Ron did not give her the chance to take over the conversation.
“Mom, dad lied to Mr Pruitt. Mt Pruitt thinks that I like to wear dresses. He tried to force me to not date his daughter and lie about why. I told Chole the truth about what her dad did.
Also Linda is going to the prom. Dad thinks this is going to blow over for you will be so relax from your weekend.”
With caring in her voice Dawn asked her son “Why didn’t you call me about the prom. I asked you to do so?”
Ron did not get defensive about his mom’s question. He knew she was not blaming him for what was happening and he answered her. “Mom, I did not care. I really do not care what Linda gets to do. She does not care about me so I do not care about her. I just want her to leave me alone. I told her that before I left to to be with Chole.
Also I did not really have a good time to call you until now. Dad said shit will my fan if I call you about this.
I know you would still find out about the prom and that dad will pay.”
Dawn reply to her son was “Ron, I am sorry. I did not listen to you again. I should have stay home.”
“Mom, you did listen to me. You had to have faith in your husband, but you said that he will pay if he did anything.”
“Ron, we will talk more later. I need to get going because I am coming home. Do you need anything else from me.”
“Come pick me up Mom. I just want to go home.”
*****************
Jim was fuming about the situation. Ron had no right to tell Chole the truth. She was too young to understand that making sure the relationship between her and Ron needed to not go beyond being friends. His daughter wound not understand her and Ron were in the relationship for two different reasons, her were emotional and his was so he could fit in.
He was going to talk to Ron right now. That kid was going to be out of his house by the time his wife and daughter came back downstairs. When they were done talking Ron was also going to out of his daughter’s life also. His daughter was acting hysterical right now. When the emotional winds of her not getting what she thought she was getting calmed down Jim would be able to show his Kiddo the truth.
He walked into the dining room, where Ron excused himself to make the phone call, as the boy told his mom to pick him up.
Jim was happy that Ron wanted to go. That was one less problem he had to deal with and in a raised voice he said “ I will take you home. You are not welcome in this house. You were going to use my daughter to cover up being a freak..”
Dawn heard what Jim said and how he talked to Ron. She was not going to let Jim talk to her son in that manner. She told her son she was on her way to get him and then asked Ron to put Jim on the phone.
Jim took the phone from Ron and In a way more respectful and toned down voice Jim said “Dawn you do not need to worry about getting Ron, I am more than happy to drive him home.”
“Listen here Jim I heard how you talked to my son, what you called my son, and I also know you still believe the lie Kyle told you about Ron.
You never talk to my son like that again, you show him respect. Do you understand?”
There was silence from Jim. He knew he was wrong for raising his voice at Ron and what he said. He also knew his trespasswas against the minor was minor and did not deserve the response he was given. He did not want to get into another fight so he just chose not to engage.
Dawn said “I will ask again do you understand.”
How dawn was talking down to him raised his hackles. “Dawn I now I was wrong, but your son should have never asked out my Kiddo. He does not like girls in that way.”
“I said listen here and you did not. I told you Kyle lied to you. I know he lied to you because you still believe that Ron likes to wear dresses.
Here is what happened, Nancy was borrowing Linda clothes without telling her. She took the turquoise dress that Linda wanted to wear to the award banquet with her to DC last weekend. Linda blamed Ron, lied to back up her story and we believed her. We thought we were being supportive of Ron. We were wrong.”
“Come on Nancy why would Kyle lie?”
“You still do not believe me? He lied for he did not want to look stupid infront of you. When he was told he had to tell you the truth he said “Hell no”. If you still do not believe everyone else then after we get off the phone Ron can show you Nancy in that dress down at DC on Facebook.
“Now I will be there to be up my son in about an hour. Do not take him home. I want to be with him when he goes back home. My husband is up to one of his schemes. My husband wil be pissed and take it out on Ron without me around”
This was a big oh shit moment for Jim. This had to be the truth. There was no way she had that kind of cover story ready. He knew how wrong he was. He believed Kyle over his wife, children and Ron. The stubborn protective man then stood his ground when Dawn told he his was wrong.
“I am sorry Dawn. See you soon.”
Knowing that the apology was from regret and not remorse Dawn did not acknowledge it. She just said “Goodbye Jim.”
Meekly the man who was wrong and knows it gave Ron back his phone. “I am sorry Ron.”
Ron told his mom see you soon and he loves her. Then after the call ended started to walk out of the dining room. A shellshocked Jim asked “Where are you going?”
“I will wait for my mom outside. I am not going to stay where I am not welcomed and I am not welcomed here. Am I right?”
Jim choose not to engage once again. This time for he knew whatever he said would just lead to worsening the issue. Ron was not open to hearing him out and Jim could not blame him. What he pulled was a dirty trick on Ron. He thought that he was right in doing the wrong thing. So now he has to wait for his daughter and wife to come downstairs so he could start his mea culpa.
*****************
Overall Sam was excited as his was driving his parents to Linda’s. He felt like an adult being the one behind the wheel. It is satisfying that his parents let him be the one behind the wheel. Being the one driving them felt like a nice unexpected rite of passage. This parents were treating him like a person and not their child. Even with his mom sitting in the passenger seat and his dad behind her he felt independent.
Another reason the boy who was trying hard to become a man was excited was Sam knew that tonight was going to a great one, one that both of them will look back on fondly. Yeah they had a little fight yesterday, but he understood why. She told him to quit joking about her brother having a crush on him.
The reason he was knew he was wrong was that he did listen to her when she told him to think about why what he was doing was funny. Yeah it is not cool to make fun of someone for having feelings for someone else. He was mad at Ron and that clouded his judgment, but if his Lindz was not he should not be either. He was going to get with Linda’s program and treat Ron with respect and be extra nice to him.
When Sam and his parents were welcomed into Linda’s home his feeling of excitement about the night rose. Linda looked amazing and that just fortified his believe about tonight being great. Sam was so happy because Linda looked as special as he found her to be. She deserved it and his desire right now was to make sure that he helped her feel as special as he found her.
After the quick pleasantries of everyone greeting each other the guests gave the two prom goers a moment of privacy.
Same was trying to show Linda his maturity when he brought up Ron “Lindz, where is your brother? I thought he would not miss a chance to see you in that dress and me all dressed up.”
Linda took the question as Sam not listening to her. “I told you to drop it. To quit saying that my brother has a crush on you.”
Sam did listen to her last night and again today. “I am sorry. I really wanted to know where Ron was. I fell bad on how I have been treating him and want to start to make it up to him.”
“Good then stop thinking that Ron, my brother has a crush on you. He doesn’t. I have no idea why you think that. He is going out on his first date with Chole.”
Linda’s loving boyfriend took his time responding. Listening means thinking about what you heard. He knew that Linda was right, that Ron does not have a crush on him. How much Sam was a dick to Ron this week that crush was long gone. “Honey, I was wrong but I am going to make it up to your brother for how I was treating him. That was not right or cool.”
Sam’s response made Linda feel even guiltier. Her boyfriend was trying to make amends for doing wrong, yet she was not. She tried lying to herself that she did nothing wrong but it was hard. There was no supporters for those lies to show how feeble they were. Instead of dwelling on what was wrong in her life Linda looked at Sam to try to get her mind on what was right. That her boyfriend was becoming a good man and she was lucky to have him. Plus Sam was going to be nice to her brother meant one less issue in her life. That will have to help clean up the fallout of her going to the prom.
“Good, he might be mad at me but I love my brother. He is having a hard time and I helped make it.”
Yes even when trying make the lies believable without the outside support of her dad and sister the truth was coming to Linda.
“It will be fine. You remember when we were his age we would be so pissed at someone one day and then best friends the next. He will come around quicker than you think.”
Hearing those words of encouragement from her boyfriend did make Linda feel better. If Ron does come around and quit being mad at Linda it would be quicker than she thought. This was for the simple fact that Linda had a feeling that her brother was never going to come around and not be mad at her. It might take time but she had all the time in the world because was young.
“You are right babe, now let’s go join everyone else.”
****************
Ron was outside waiting for his mom. He was content on just sitting there being alone. He had nothing to deal with at the moment. There was no worrying about any other part of his dad scheme being revealed to him. There was no defending who he was to others, just the sun shining on him a nice cool breeze. If he did not know better the boy who was at peace would have thought that some higher power like God, Fate, or Lady Luck made the breeze to cool him off so he would not start to feel too warm.
Then to make Ron start to feel that fortune was also shining upon him a serendipitous moment happened, Devlin was walking up the street returning from a morning of fishing in the Mon River before he chauffeured his sister on her big date with. He was not going to waste a nice day sitting at home when he could just be sitting by the river in nature. Catching a fish was secondary to Delvin when he went fishing. He used the rod as a way to just be left along by others. Being alone was nice but Ron liked Devlin and also Devlin believed the truth about last weekend. Ron would not have to waste time and energy on defending himself.
Devlin did not like see Ron sitting on their front steps. Ron’s posture also did not get Devlin’s seal of approval. A teenage boy who was going on his first date with a girl he really likes should not be sitting alone looking worn out. Ron should be inside, full of energy and excited. Devlin knew right away that his dad messed up the date and why. He just did not know the how.
Devlin was mad. He tired to hold his anger to his dad’s actions and not his dad, but that was hard. Mr Coville had to lie about Ron wearing a dress to save face and instead of believing everyone else his dad choose to believe his friend. Devlin knew that Mr Coville was a schemer which was more concern about his image then reality. Picking to believe someone who likes to say “fake it until you make it” over your family is not wise. Then messing up the social life of his daughter because of it was yet another bad choice.
The returning fisherman greeted Ron and just sat down next to him. Ron should not be alone right now. His sister’s date needed support and Devlin
“What are you doing Devlin.”
“Just sitting down and enjoying the view. It is a nice spring day and I am not ready to go in yet, so why not sit with a friend and enjoy the view?”
It was a nice view. Across the street from then was a wooded area behind a playground with a basketball cort. On one half of the court there was some teenagers playing three on three and the other half had a mom teaching her son how to shoot the ball. There was young kids being push by their parents on push swing and older children using their own momentum to go as high as they can on pump swings. The sounds of people having fun was in harmony with the birds chirping in nature.
Ron had to admit that it was a nice spring day and seeing the life happening right across from them was a nice view. He also did not mind the company. Chole’s older brother was cool. Not in the most popular kid on campus. His way of coolness was just the confidence and self-assurance he had. Devlin knew himself and was true to himself. Devlin’s confidence and self-assurance radiated from him and help Ron start to feel more at ease so his answer was “cool.”
An half of hour passed as those two just sat there. Not a word was said. The silence was comfortable. Then the silence was broken by the front door opening. It was Sabrina coming out to finish cleaning up the mess that her husband made. She had Chole feeling better about the day and believing that her date with Ron was still on. She did not have to explain to her husband that he was wrong about Ron being a crossdresser, he already found out, but she had to explain to him that she was pissed about how he tried to use coercion on making Ron not date their daughter.
The scene of her son sitting with Ron made her feel better about the situation. She was coming out expecting to see a sad boy sitting alone but was greeted by people just relaxing. She come over to thetwo friend just enjoying each other company and wanted to get rid of her son. She needed to talk to Ron alone. Devlin will find out what happened soon enough but to her right now was not the time or the place. “Hey Dev, why don’t you go in the house I need to talk with Ron.”
Ron said “He can stay Mrs Pruitt, whatever you have to say to me you can say in front of him.”
Even with Mrs Pruitt being pissed at her husband about trying to end Chole and Ron’s relationship before it even started, Ron did not trust her. How his dad and sister have been acting like what happened to Ron was not a big deal, he fully believed that Mrs Pruitt would do the same.
“Ron, I think it is best to me to just say this to you.”
“Oh, like your husband earlier.”
Right then Sabrina knew Ron did not trust her. That she did not want the moment to be private for Ron’s sake but for her sake.
Devlin wanted to reassure his mom that he knew what the topic of conversation was so there was no need for him to leave. “Mom it is fine. I know that dad try to fuck up the date between Ron and Chole. That for some reason he believed Mr Coville story about Ron liking to wear a dress and he was stupid and being overprotective.
I also know that you are out here trying to clean up the mess dad made.”
Sabrina said “Ron do not worry about my husband. He knows better than to try anything else to mess up yours and Chole’s relationship. I will keep him in line. So come on inside and I will drive you and Chole on your date..”
“I am not welcomed in your home, plus my mom is almost here to get me. I need to go home with her.”
“You are welcomed in my home, you always will be and you do not need to go home with her.”
“Ok I want to. I want to see how she handles my sisters and their father going behind her back to have Linda go to the prom. It will be nice to see them get what they deserve.
I will come back afterwards but only if your husband is not here. I do not want to have to deal with him today. He showed me how he really felt about me by what he did.”
“Ron my husband is sorry and you will have to deal with him. Just come back and see him today, he will make it right. You will see that he is sorry..
Dawn was done pulling up next to the Pruit’s front lawn and getting out of her car right then. She heard what Sabrina had to say.
“Sabrina, if Ron does not want to deal with Jim do not try to force him. If you think what your husband did was not that bad and it can be clear up quickly then there is something seriously wrong with you.”
“He went a little overboard trying to protect Chole. I am pissed at him, but Ron needs to listen to hear him out.”
“Your husband called my son a freak and told my son he is not welcomed in your home. If that is going a little overboard in your book then I do not have time for you.
Come on Ron let’s get going.”
Sabrina did not know what to say. Her not knowing what she was defending made her look as bad as her husband. Devlin knew that his mom would never defend name calling and kicking a guess out of their home for telling the truth so he spoke up in her defense.
“Mrs Coville, wait. My mom only thought that my dad try to put an end on Ron and Chole dating. That is bad and she knows that. She is just trying to clean up the mess he made.
You know my mom good enough that she does not put up with namecalling and kicking people out of her own home for no reason.”
Sabrina having a champion in her son help her find the words she wanted to say. “Ron I did not know Jim kicked you out of my house. I did not know he stooped down to namecalling. Like I said you are always welcomed here.”
“I told you.”
“I sorry, I thought you meant you did not feel welcomed in the my home. I did not know he called you a freak. That was wrong. If you come back Jim will not be here and you will not have to deal with him until you are ready to.
Dev, please go to the Shop’N Save with Chole and pick up some bread and milk.”
Dev said “Will do Mom.” He knew that they did not need bread and milk at that moment and the real reason was so his mom could have some private time with his dad. They were going to have a conversation which needed to be kept private.
As Ron was getting into his mom’s car he agreed to come back and accepted Mrs Pruitt’s apology. He knew her good enough that she did not know the entire story. He wanted to to have this date with Chole. He wanted something nice to go his way for once. The last 10 days made he feel like life was just trying to run up a hill and he needed to get to the top of it to see the nice view. His mom took off to take her sun to the summit of that hill and he can start to see the great view.
**********************
Dawn with knowing what she was going to see when she pulled up to her house Dawn could not believe her eyes. Seeing her husband taking pictures of Linda and Sam with Nancy and Sam’s parents watching made her feel as big of a fool as her felt her husband and daughter thought she was. How could her husband go against his word? How could Linda think that it was fine to go to the prom. How could Nancy be so happy about this? How could they all be so in the moment that they did not even pay attention and hear her car?
As she was parking the car she turned to Ron “Do you want first crack at them or can I have it.”
Ron was more than happy to let his mom go first. She needed it and he did not. He was done with those people and did not want to waste his breath on them. “You go first mom. I really do not have anything to say to those people“
Getting out of the car and slamming the door was the sound that made the prom goers and their audience realize what was happening. Linda reaction was oh shit and a rush of shame overcame her. Nancy was not worried it was too late for her mom to stop what was happening and Kyle started to think quickly on his feet. Gemma and Christina chuckled a little when they saw Ron.
Kyle came up with a plan and started to talk. He knew he had to set the narrative. If he led the conversation it will go where he wanted it to. “Honey this is not what it looks like. Linda is not going to the prom. I just thought it would be a waste not to get some pictures of her in that dress with how good she looks in it. “
Dawn was not having it. She busted that lie like a bulldozer. “Yeah, right. Even if that was true I said nothing special for Linda this weekend and this looks special to me. I trusted you to keep your word and you did not.
We are going to have a huge talk and you will not like what I am going to say.”
Linda did not want to go to the prom now. She felt so guilty going behind her mom’s back. Finally accepting her punishment she said “Mom, I am not going to the prom. I messed up and should have just said no to this.”
Dawn took what her daughter was saying as yet another lie. That she was trying to give credence to her dad tall tell “Linda, you really think I believe you are not going to the prom. You must think I am a fool. You do, if you didn’t then you would have never went along with your dad’s plan.
I do not care if you go to the prom or not now. You doing this shows me that you do not respect me or care about what I think. It also shows that you do not care about how your actions affect others. You know how upset and hurt Ron was and your lie cause it. So do what you want.”
Nancy was not going to let her mom make her sister feel bad about enjoying a rite of passage. “Mom quit trying to make Linda feel guilty. She has not done anything wrong. You did. You made this happen. She should be going to the prom and you know it. No she is going to the prom. Dad is just righting a wrong.
If Ron was not such a bitch she would be. It was a misunderstanding. Ron never was raiding her closest but he should have been for how much his panties are in a twist about her thinking so.”
“Shut up Nancy. You respect your brother. You talk about being respected yet you do not do so to others. You need to know that respect is given until it a person shows they do not deserve it. You have show you do not deserve it.
Your brother did nothing wrong and you are fine with how he was treated because you do not think he was hurt. You think you are an adult because you are in college. You know nothing of the real world. You do not know how it is when no one believes you. You do not know how it is when someone lies about you on purpose to get their way and everyone believes them. You do not know how it feels when someone you love did you wrong and they do not care.
You are right Nancy your father and I did it, but if Nancy did not lie it would not have happened. I said caused it not that she was responsible for it.
Here is what you are going to do Nancy. You are going to drive Ron back over to Chole’s. Take Linda wherever if she is not going to the prom. You two do not say a word while Ron is in the car.
After you drop him off I do not care but do not come back home until I call you. Hell, use a fake ID and go to a bar if you like. I really do not care.
I am disappointed and hurt by you. I thought you were on your way of becoming a great person, but you are not, so go I do not want to have to look at you anymore right now.”
Nancy asked why she could not just go to her room. She did not like being temporary kicked out of her house. She will not be around her parents so they can have their privacy.
“I will spell it out for you. Your father and I are not going to have a talk. We are going to have a huge fight. “
Linda’s mom dressing down of Nancy made her feel even more ashamed of being dressed up. She went to Ron. She had to start making their relationship better. As the estranged sister was walking towards her brother was shaking his head.
“I was wrong in not believing you. I was wrong lying to get mom and dad to believe me. I was wrong for threatening to cut your hair last weekend. I was wrong for posting about last weekend on Facebook. I was wrong in being mad at you for getting in trouble. I was wrong not accepting my punishment.
I did not think about you at all. I did not treat you like my brother.
I am sorry and will make this up to you.”
Ron’s reply was “Were you wrong in telling Sam that I was Ronda after the weekend and had a crush on him?”
These new accusations gave Linda a pikachu face. She was in total shock “I never said that. I have no idea why he thought that. I told him to drop the calling you Rhonda. I would never say you had a crush on him. Even if that is true for I know that is private. You have to believe me”
Sam just wanted to get going to the prom. To him Linda going and not going was going to have the same results so she should go. He was not going to let this family fight get in his way of their big night. He was not mad at Linda for he knew how her dad can play people to get them to see his way. He was also a victim of Kyle’s charm. “Ron it is true, Linda did not tell me you had a crush on me. It was your dad. I believed him for why would he lie about his own son in that why. I was being a prick to you because I thought you got Linda in trouble for no reason. That was wrong dude. I hope you can understand.”
Those words did register to Ron but he took his attention away from Sam to his dad. Hearing the truth also made it so Ron wanted to waste his breath on his dad.“I should have known it was you Kyle. You lied to Chole’s dad about me, so why would you not do also to Sam. I should have known you got them back together.”
After that outburst Ron was still pissed but did not want to waste his time and effort on his dad or sisters anymore, so he started to calm down. It was not worth engaging with them and he knew it. He was mindful of the situation and how they were.
Trying to get some control of the situation back Kyle yiped back “I am your father, do not call me Kyle.”
Dawn put up a huge stop sign to Kyle “You are concern about Ron calling you Kyle. After last weekend and all the stunts you pull afterwards you are lucky that he is even talking to you. You are such a self center prick. You do not care about others, you only care about getting what you want.
Now get in the house so we can get the fight over.
***********************
Jim Pruitt hated the gnawing feeling in his stomach. That was a sign he knew that the distance between him and his daughter was going to take a while to disappear and they will be close. This gut feeling came from knowing that he made a bad decision which led to his Kiddo someone he loves being hurt. Hurting someone you love to be mad at you makes the pain of doing the wrong thing worse. The pain get compounded when they said you were wrong before acting out on the decision. Then if pain was not enough it got worse for the caring dad thought he was doing the right thing and looking out for his daughter.
The emotionally injured man could not stay away from what he thought would be the cure anymore and went to talk to his daughter. Once she hears him the healing of the rift between them will start to heal and that will also make Jim’s hurt sould to start on the road of recovery.
The walk from the living room to the patio was so much longer to Jim. Not only did it seem like it was as long as hike in the forrest but it was as weary on him also. When he finally slid up the patio door his final destination got further from him. As soon as Chole saw him she turned away. This only was adding a couple of extra steps but each step was becoming more brutal to him.
Once he was face-to-face with Chole sincerely asked “Can we talk Kiddo?”
Chole’s answer of no was so quick and cold it felt like an auto-response.
Jim knew his daughter was right to be mad at him. He almost ruin her first date with Ron, a boy she really likes and already loves as a friend, but he still wanted to talk with her to start making things right. “Why not?”
“Because you do not listen to me. I told you I am not your Kiddo and not to call me that anymore, yet you did. I told you that Ron did not like to wear dresses and you did not believe me.”
“I believe you now. I need to clear this up with you then when Ron gets here him also. I messed up big time.”
“You need to leave. You said you would.
There is nothing to clear up. You believe Kyle over your daughter and his son, even when his son has proof.”
Chole stop for a second, she so wanted to swear but bit her tongue. Swearing would have added nothing to reason why she did not want to talk with her father. It would only escalate the situation and even with her being mad at Jim she wanted to show him respect. Emotions are running higher and they to be brought down, “Dad you even believe Mr Coville over his wife at first. She had argue with you to convince you.
Ron is coming over and right now it is not a good idea for him to see you.”
“I did not ruin your date with Ron, you are having it. I know what I believed is wrong now and that is why I need to do this. I do not want this to linger”
The coals in the grill Sabrina was preparing was not the only thing heating up on the patio. The cold shoulder she was giving her husband disappeared. She was going to give her husband the chance of doing the right thing but with him showing he was getting emotional by defending his actions he knew was wrong she join the conversation.
“Kyle you did mess up the date. They were supposed to go to the movies and if you did not tell Ron that he better say he did not feel it after the date it would have happened. Then you told Ron he is not welcomed in this house and called him a freak. They did not want to have any drama but you made a lot of it.
You are not going to be able to clean up the mess you made by believing Kyle today. You will only make things worse.Ron and Chole are not ready to listen to you and see things in a good light. You not keeping your word and staying will just push Chole away from you and make make Ron’s opinion of you even stronger.”
“Honey, I was only looking out for Chole. I did not want her to get hurt. I thought that Ron liked to wear dresses. I thought he had a crush on his sister’s boyfriend. I was not going to let him use our daughter to hide who he is.
I am done with Kyle he caused this.”
Jum not taking responsibility for his actions was too much for Sabrina “No you caused this. Like our daughter said you believe him over her, Ron and also his wife. You even picked trusting him over me and your son. You choose to do that.”
“If he did not lie, this would not have happened.”
“No, it was your decisions, your choices which made this happened. You called Ron a freak, you kicked him out of our home. Until you own what you did you will never be that close with Chole again.”
Jim knew that his wife was including herself in who he would not be close that but left it out. Sabrina was not being passive-aggresive by not mentioning herself. She knew that part was private and needed to stay that way for now. If the rift between them grew then her children should know, but now it is none of Chole’s concern.
“OK, yeah I fucked up. I fucked up big time. I just want to make this right.
I will be leaving now. Call me when Ron goes home and then I will come back.
Chole I hope you know how sorry I am. I was wrong. I should have believed you, you know Ron. I should have believed Ron. His dad’s story did not fit who Ron showed us he is. I will have more faith in you. I hope this is a start of you forgiving me for messing up big time as you dad.”
Jim’s sincere words were able to knock on the locked door. She was not going to let her dad back in to where he was right then. She needed to make sure his actions back up his words. She did want to acknowledge that he made a good start and she hugged him when she said “See you later Daddio.”
Jim response of “Looking forward to it Chole” was a sign his actions were going to back up his words. Not calling his daughter his favortie pet name meant he knew she was growing up. That he saw his daughter for who she was an adolescent. He knew he had to let her make more of her own decisions and that she was going to make mistakes but he will be there for her.
****************
Kyle had his special smirk on his face. His wife messed up by calling him a prick and that will now give him the oppotunity to control the situation. He saw a clear path up to the hill he was willing to die upon.
Kyle was going to follow the advise that Jack Dempsey, an American boxer and actor, popularized of”a good offense is a great defense.” Instead of the fight being about his actions he is going to make it about her name calling. He is going to start in hard to put her on the defensive. “ You are abusive. Never do that again. You have no right to do that. “
The accusations were vague for not only was did the master rhetorician want his wife backpeddal on by being on the defesne, he also wanted her to be confused. If she did not know exactly what he was accusing her of right away she could not defend herself.
The verbal trap did not slow Dawn down. How could it she was still in bulldozer mode and was going to run over any obstacles her husband in her. Dawn did not even acknowledge what her husband said and started in airing her grievances “I trusted you when you gave me your word about nothing special for Linda. You lied.
Having me go to the spa was not so I could relax, it was so you could get your way. Yet another lie.
Now I find out you lied about your own son to get your way. That is low.”
Kyle tried to distract his wife by going back to his false accusation “Oh so we are not going to cover how you are an abuser now.”
That barricade to Dawn staying on point was as weak as if it was made out of balsa wood. “I do not know what you are talking about and I do not care, for you calling me an abuser is just another lie. That is what you do to get your way. You do not want to talk about what you did for you think it will get swept under the rug. It will not.
I told Ron you were going to pay you were going to regret it if if you try to pull something and you did.”
Kyle did not notice all the debris of his traps so he tried another one. “Oh so you are worried about keeping your word to your son instead of doing the right thing.”
“You do not understand. This is not about me keeping my word to Ron. Even if I never say that to him my mind was made up you were going to regret and pay if you tried to pull one of your schemes.
These past two weeks and how you acted made me realise who you are. You are not a good person. You are charming nice man to people when you need to so they like you, but you are not a good person.
How you treated your son is a disgrace. Telling Jim he likes to be Rhonda and then telling Sam our son has a crush on him. You did not care how your lies would affect him, you only cared about getting your way. You lied about your own son.
How you handled this situation is appalling. I am sicken just thinking I used to defend you and how you treated others. It should not have been until you turn those same tricks on your own family that I saw the truth.
I do not want be with you, yet alone be around you.”
Kyle did not care about the avalanche which just hit him. He was going to defend doing what it took to get his way. “Oh come on you are overreacting, just like you you did with saying that Linda could not go to the prom. Think about what you are saying. You are being too emotional.”
“Oh Kyle I did think about it. I been thinking of it since you been going against any punishment for Linda. I had a nice long drive back from the spa to think about it. I though about you lying to me to get your way. I thought about how you treated your own son. I thought about how decent person, let alone good person would not have acted like you did. I thought about how I do not trust you anymore.
I was wrong about this being a fight it is not. I am done with you. We are going to get a divorce.”
“Come on we can work this out. We can go to counseling. I will work on treating people better. I will make this up to Ron. He was right I am a self center prick and I will change my ways. I promise you I will, you have my word.”
Hearing her husband desperate plead made her know she was doing the right thing. She did not care if those words were true or not. She assumed they were not so the trust was gone. With no trust there cannot be a healthy relationship and she did not want to waste the time and energy to rebuild the trust. Her seeing it as wasting instead of spending to confirmed her decision even more.
“Kyle it is over. I love who I thought you were, but I do not like who you are. What you just said was hallow to me. You might be telling the truth, but I do not care.”
Kyle did stay with his convictions and die upon that hill. Those words were fatal. The wight of the words were like falling rocks cascading down from the avalanche cause by by sweet and fast they hit the rocks which were above him.
Kyle knew two things were over right now his marriage and this conversation. He wanted to show his wife that she was wrong in not believing him. He is a great liar so he did believe himself. This does not mean what he said was a lie, it was just that he was so good at manipulating words that he could do it to himself. He started on what was hopefully a path of becoming a better person by starting to do the right thing.
“Dawn let me pack some things and I will be going. Until I get my own place I will be staying at my parents. Tell Linda and Nancy if they want or need anything from me to just come over or call me.”
Dawn interrupted “How about Ron?”
“Of course him also. I highly doubt that he would want anything to do with me for the time being. I was just trying to respect that and not come off as trying to be the good guy in the situation.
You do not believe me, but I know i messed up bigtime with this. I just want to make this better.
Oh please call me when when it is a good time for me to come over and get the rest of my stuff.
I do love you Dawn and I am sorry that I caused what we had to end.”
With tears slowly leaking out of his eyes Kyle went for one last hug from his wife. Dawn was pensive; she wanted to believe what her soon to be ex said, but knew better. She had to be cautious and make sure she did not believe anything that might start them on the road of reconciliation. She did choose to believe he was hurt that their marriage was over so she did open her arms and her heart.
Wanting to give her soon to be ex the chance to back his words was the reason why Dawn said this “Just move some of your stuff to the guest bedroom. Our kids need time with you and if you at your parents it will be hard.
This does not change the fact I want a divorce. I want you to be looking for a place right away. If I think you are scheming to get us back together I will tell you to go to your parents.
******************
Nancy was wise enough not to bring up the prom in the car with Ron. It would not change his mind, plus Linda is going anyway. Her trying to talk sense into her brother will just come off as gloating. She might be mad at Ron but with getting her way she wanted to give Ron the opportunity to easily come back into her good graces. She was not wise enough to figure out that Ron did not care about her being in her good graces and she was the one who needed to get back into her brother’s good graces
Also, Nancy was not wise enough to listen to her mom about not talking to Ron. She took it as an order and her mom had no right to give her orders about who to talk to. If she was as enlightened as she believed she was then she would have known her mom's words were not a command, but words of warning. That her mom would have had to have been so pedantic for the advice to come off as what it was. That any interaction with Ron would lead to him as off on her as bad John Wick on someone who wronged him.
Nancy just wanted to gripe and have someone listen to her, Her brother might be mad at her but he is her brother so he will listen to her get her feelings off of her chest. That is what family and people who care about each other do, be there when they are needed. She forgot that she was not there for Ron. She started to blow off the steam she had by saying “I can’t believe mom had the gall to tell me not to talk to you and wait to for her to say when I can come home. That is my home and no one can tell me when I cannot be there.”
Ron was done with the situation before him and his mom arrived at Linda’s leaving for the prom. He really was at peace with knowing who his dad and sister really were. That was changing. They kept on pulling him back in. The new information that his dad was spreading lies about who he was to other people and now Nancy was just poking the bear.
Trying to stay out of the drama Nancy was making Ron said “Nancy just listen to what mom said and do not talk to me.”
If it was not bad enough that her mom tried to tell her what to do, now her kid brother was following her example. “Listen here Ron, mom does not tell me what to do and you sure as hell do not give me orders. Just listen and quit being a bitch. This is not about you.”
Till this moment Ron was asking if it was worth it, worth being back. He did not really have an answer. But now he does yeah, he is back. So right now he was going to show his sister that she can either give him what he wants, to be left alone by her, or her ego can die screaming along side her dad’s and sister’s.
Ron turned off the radio so there was no other noise to distract his sister from hearing the explosion of the turth bombs he was going to drop on her.“You really think that mom was telling you what to do. No, she was giving you advice, a warning, words of caution. She knows that I am pissed at you and if pushed I am going to unleash on you.
You really think that I care about how you feel. I do not. Why would I? You do not care about how I feel. If not caring about the punishment was not enough. You do not care about how dad and Linda lied about me . You do not care about how those lies affected me.
Now onto to how you treated mom. You lied to her, you helped dad deceive her. You don’t care about her. You are like dad only caring about getting what you want. You do not even understand that she needs time to talk to him totally alone for what they are going to say to each other needs to stay private.”
Nancy went from being mad to being on the defense. “I did not help dad. I did not know what he was doing.
There was little break as Nancy was scouring her mind in how to defend against the accusation about not caring about her mom“ Oh save your lies for yourself. You need to believe that so you can still think that you have the moral high ground you do not.
If you did not know about Linda going to the prom then how was Gemma and Christina there to help get Linda ready? Why did you try to gloat infront of me about Linda would be going to the prom last night? I said tried for I do not care what she does.
So here is the deal, you can either shut up and drive me to Chole’s or drop me off and I will walk the rest of the way. I do not want to hear your voice, I do not want to talk with you, I do not want to be around you. If I have not made it clear to you I do not want anything to do with you and I do not care if you want anything to do with me or not.
You showed me how insignificant I am to you this week and I am happy that you did. I can move on with my life without anything to do with someone like you.”
Even with most of what Ron said was he just repeating himself and his mom this time it was different. Before her love of her brother made it so she thought they were having a disagreement because of his immaturity had him be a drama queen. She actually heard the words. How Ron stated she did not care about him and he was done with her made her understand how much last weekend and this week affected Ron. That he was severely hurt by what happened and it all happened because of the lies Linda told and Nancy not taking the time to be courteous and telling her sister that she was taking that turquoise dress.
She wanted to start to make amends right now and said “I am sorry Ron I do care about you it is just …..
Before she could finish Ron interrupted her “Pull over right now. I said I do not want to hear your voice or talk with you. I do not want to hear your lies. You are not sorry. I know you told your friends about me being force to wear a dress, but you left out the forced part. There is no reason for me to hear you out because you do care about me at all.”
Nancy knew she either had to stop talking or the car. She picked the car. The driver knew that there was too much damage done to their relationship and she saw it too late for them just having a heart to heart right now to do anything. “I will shut up and just drive you to Chole’s”
The silence in the car was so calming to Ron. He might be physically next to his sister but he knew that emotionally they were far away. The lack of interaction between them made it so she was just an extra to fill in the background. She was such an NPC that Nancy did not have a name to him now.
That same silence was the loudness of nothing to Nancy and it was deafening. The car engine sounded like a jet, hitting the brakes was a screech that hurt her ears. She was happy when they arrived at Chole’s and Ron just got out of the car and closed the. Him not saying goodbye was expected but still hurt and kept the loudness of nothing there even after he left. This was so because the door closing was the loudest slamming of a door she ever heard.
**************************************
Linda’s night was nice, so in terms of being at a prom it was way below expectations. The food and conversations were bland. All the other promgoers were talking about was how much fun they were having. Linda did not feel the fun she felt that they were all just playing dress up. She might have been the most immature person at her table but she knew the rest of them were also just kids like her.
The after dinner dancing did not get any better. The music was too loud, it was hard to hear anyone talk. That would have been good other than she wanted ot talk to Sam about leaving and did not want to have to scream that. The choice of the music was just as bland as the conversations and dinner. Then on the dance floor Linda just could not get in rhythm. On the dancefloor she was a beat behind and her movement felt jerky.
Everyone else at her table other than Sam was to into having the time of their life to notice that Linda’s level of enjoyment was not up to theirs. Linda’s mood started to get lower as she noticed that Sam was also not enjoying himself as much as the others. He should be relishing the night like the others. She started to worry about if Sam was going to break up with her.
The sad princess was right to worry. Just Monday Sam broke up with her when he found out the truth about Ron’s weekend. How her dad’s lies got back together with not be strong enough to keep them together against the force which had to be pulling Sam away. Sam knew that they would have gotten back together. The was confident because he knew how teenagers could be so pissed at someone one day and then the next be their best friends. He would have calmed down and came to his senses and listen to Linda. She was too much of a good thing to him.
Sam was not having a good time because he was concerned about his girlfriend. He knew that she was not in a good place. LInda knew she messed up bigtime and was thinking about how she had to pay for what she has done. Linda’s babe put the blame on her dad for this. Her dad should have never schemed to get Linda her dream prom. He should not have lied to Sam.
Sam falling for that lie was the cement what was going to keep those two together. If he could be victim of one of Kyle’s schemes it had to be so much harder for his kids to not also be. This was not taking blame away from him or Linda, but he knew that they both were lead astray.
Linda could not take trying to force herself to have a goodtime anymore and when her and Sam was alone said “Babe, I am not feeling good at all. I am going to get going. You stay here and have a great time.”
She knew that there were some single ladies at the prom solo and wanted to give Sam the chance to have a night to remember with one of them. He deserved it.
Sam was not going to stay if his babe was leaving “Come on let’s say goodbye to our friends and I will take you home. I will say that I am not feeling good.”
“Babe you stay here and have a great time, you deserve it.”
Looking straight into Linda’s eyes Sam said “I want to be with you. I cannot have a good time here without you my love. Plus tonight was lame. They call our meal fine dinning, I will stick with going to Trottier to get a pizza.
How about we get a couple of slices from Trottier and just hangout before I drop you off. ”
“I would love that babe, now let’s tell out friends that we are going.”
************************
Being upset, concern and not sure of yourself leads people to distracted. Distracted people forget things. Nancy’s mental state was all three of them so she forgot her mom telling her not to come home until she was called. As soon as she walked in the front door she remembered that she should not be there. Nancy’s state of mind also made it so she forgot etiquette and she blurted out her thoughts instead of editing them for her audience. “Oh shit, mom I forgot what you told me. I will be leaving right now.”
Dawn was relaxing in the recliner. The chair had the right combination of firmness and softness to make her feel at peace. The silnce also help add to her blood pressure going down. She was sick of all the bickering, fighting, and just overall bad vibes the last ten days had. She wanted to start to work on reuniting her family member’s bonds and also making sure lessening the bad dynamic of the family splitting from being a nuclear one.
“Nancy it is fine. I was going to call you in a couple of minutes to come home. Me and your dad are done talking.”
Hearing those words made Nancy less upset and concern. She became more confident in she was in the right in what she did. If the fight was short then her mom had to see the errors of her way. Ron might have been wronged but he was taking it way to hard. Nancy coming to this conclusion was strengthen by her mom choice of words. She said talk not fight. “I am happy that you see that it was overkill about not wanting Linda to go to the prom. She was wrong but that punishment was too much. I just hope that Ron is able to come around soon. I know how hurt he is. Where’s dad. We need to start talking about how to make happy with how it is.”
Dawn got up from the recliner, she was not going to take Nancy downplaying what occurred sitting down. “Nancy, what your father, you and your sister did was wrong. It was not too much of a punishment.”
Dawn did not answer where her husband was. She did not want to be in the middle of bickering and fighting with her daughter when she told Nancy the news about the divorce.”
“Oh great you are so stubborn that Dad left to go get some fresh air. I should have known that you cuddled your baby boy. He needs to get over it so Linda’s can enjoy her senior year.”
As soon as Kyle heard the front door open he quickly finished putting the clothes in the dresser drawer. He knew his daughter was home and once again wanted to do the right thing. The man who made this mess and not his soon to be ex-wife should have to deal with their daughter.
He hurried so he was walking down the steps when Nancy demeaned her brother once again. He responded to his daughter’s assertions “I did not leave to get fresh air. I am moving some of my things to the guest room.
Now you do not talk about your brother like that. He is right in being pissed at all of us. Your mom was right in her punishment of Linda. Linda broke our trust in her and also severely hurt her brother.”
Nancy thought Kyle was just appeasing her mom, that his admitting he was wrong was another part of her dad’s schemes. This was a sound conclusion for he just did this a few days ago. She actually had to make a conscious effort to not wink to show her dad she was in on his plan when she said. “I understand, how about me and you grab some chinese for all of us and we will come back to talk about how to handle the situation. Ron deserves to be treated better by us. We need to show him that we do care about how he feels.”
Kyle was an expert at reading between the lines. He knew his daughter want to be alone with him to get on the same page as him on how they were going to handle. “No Nancy. You can go get some chinese if you like.
You will not be talking with us on how to handle this. This is something me and your mom needs to deal with. You need to figure out how to make amends with your brother.”
We were wrong in going behind your mom’s and Ron’s back.”
She knew her dad was being a straight shooter right now. There was no plans, schemes or shenanigans going on. The feelings of being upset, concern and self doubt were becoming stronger. She did not like it so Nancy lashed her defense out as quik as a lion tamer did a whip. “Dad come on you said it yourself that Ron was being a bitch and overeacting.”
“I know and I was wrong in saying that. I should never of called my son that . I was acting like a child and showing my anger. I had no right be angry at him about how he felt about what happened to him.
I was wrong in scheming to get my way. Linda should not have went to the prom. She lied to get her way and to get Ron in trouble. She threaten him. She did not listen to us when we told her not to say anything about what we did to Ron to anyone. That is his stroy to tell and he can pick who to tell and why to tell them.
The sad thing is that she learn that behavior from me. I lied about Ron, told a flase story as his to others. I did not care about his feelings, I care more about getting my way. Linda follow my lead and I fucked up. ”
“She just wanted her clothes to quit disappearing and mom is just overreacting about it. She is kicking you out of your bedroom over this and you are not standing up for yourself and what is right.”
Dawn was not saying a word. It was being handle by Kyle. He was doing a great job. She would have not been as diplomatic as her husband was.
“You were the one who was taking her clothes, not Ron. You were the one who was making them disappear. So do not try to defend Linda by saying she lied about Ron because of she wanted what you were doing to stop. Him being blamed is wrong.
Ron was has been hurt by all of us and the only one who saw the errors of their way was your mom. She stood up for him and tried to make it right. Just think how this would have been handled without her. So do not say that your mom is overreacting.
Also your mom did not kick me our of the bedroom she offered me the guest room when I said I was moving in with my parents. We are getting a divorce. I was going to move out but your mom is kind enough to let me stay until I find my own place. I messed up and she warned me that I would pay if I let Linda go to the prom.”
“ I cannot believe you are so petty that you are divorcing dad over not getting your way.”
Internally Dawn left out a sigh. She did not want to have to defend herself. Externally Dawn was energetic and engaged with full force. “This is not over me not getting my way. Kyle broke the trust between us and it made me see the real him. He is a nice charming man but not a good man.”
“Oh mom….”
Kyle cut off his daughter before she could do any more damage“Nancy watch your words right now and you already did enough damage to your relationship with your mom and Ron. You do not want to add more regret to how you have been acting. How you are reacting now also shows me you also took the wrong lessons from me.
You mom is right in believing I am not a good man. A good man would not call his own son a bitch, he would not lie about his own son to save face, he would not play favorite with his kids and he would not lie and scheme behind is wife’s back to get his way. Trust me there is so much more I have done to make her see me in that light.”
“Like what?”
“Nancy it is personal but I will give one. You remember all friends Naomi and Adam. They quit being our friends because I would not stop joking about the age difference between them. I did not respect them like I did not respect your mom. I am losing the lady I love because I am too self cenetered.”
Dawn was showing that she was her dad’s daughter. That she really learn the lesson of being self-centered and getting her way was more important than how other felt. That people will look past her transgression because of how they felt about her. “I meant me what will I regret?”
Kyle knew not to say anything that he has already brought, that would just be treading the same ground in the same way. It would lead them right to where they were the last time they were on that trail, nowhere productive. “Calling your brother a bitch to his face, Telling Christina and Gemma about Ron dressing up last weekend. I bet that you did not even give them the full context of it.”
Dawn was going to try to use a lesson her dad taught her, plausible deniability. He did not have proof and she knew it. “I did not tell them. You never heard me say that to them.”
That flimsy lie flopped. He was the master and she was his student. Her cunning was nowhere near his, if it was she would not have tried one of the tricks he taught her. He knew he would have done the same and she should have known that. “I know you did because of how they chuckled when they saw Ron. I also know you did because I would have done the same. Look you are still freakin lying to try to get your way. You need to be doing the right things now instead of worrying about being right.”
“That was not that bad. Those two are not his friends and they are not going to tell anyone.”
“Yeah, it was. Just think about your relationship with Ron now. It is going to be worse when he finds out.
I am done talking about this. Your mom tried to talk sense into you and is she could not then I sure as hell cannot.”
Nancy did not want this talk to end. It is easy for her to believe a known lie when you are telling it to others but now she will be the only person in the audience. She did not want silence. The silence would be too loud and she would start to doubt herself again. She knew the wave of uncertainty would be bigger and stronger from having heard her dad’s words. He was right about her bad relationship with Ron becoming worse when he found out that she told her friends about him being in a dress. It did. “Ok, I know I cannot talk sense into either of you so I will be going.”
Kyle said “Dawn, I am going to finish moving my things.”
He did do a lot of repair to his relationship with Dawn. They were still going to get a divorce but he was starting to become who she thought he was.
Dawn sat back down happy just being able to relax. The past ten days have been hard on her and she needed to recoup some energy. It was nice just being and not working on how to fix all the mistakes and bad decisions they made and not worrying about what next was going to come which needed to be fixed.
**********************
Chole was looking out the window as she was waiting for Ron come back. She knew her mom told her that he was, but still she needed to see it for herself before accepting that the date was back on. What her dad did made it so she would not blame Ron for not wanting to get more involved with her family. Ron had to deal with his own dad scheming so why would he put himself in the situation were someone else would be scheming against him.
Chole started to make her way to the front door when she saw Mrs Coville’s grey Ford Escape driving up her road. She wanted to make sure her date felt welcomed and greet him with a huge hug. She made it out of the door as that Ford Escape pulled up to her front lawn. Ron laughed as he greeted by a surprise huge hug when he turned around from closing the door.
Chole said “I am sorry about my dad. He should have never done that. He cannot accept that I am growing up. He needs to. I want to be with you, be your girlfriend.”
Wanting to make Chole at ease. “It is fine Chole. I know and I want to be your boyfriend. I just did not want cause pain for you by having you and your dad fighting. I know that will not be the case.
After the hug they started to walk up to Chole’s home. Without thinking they held hands. It was going to be the natural default when those two were together. Having that physical connection to match their emotional connection just felt right. Ron opened the door for Chole and Sabrina welcomed Ron “Hey Ron, I am happy to see you. Didn’t your mom drop you off? I was hoping to talk with her.”
“No Mrs Pruitt, Nancy did. My mom will pick me up. She said she was going to stop in to say hi to you.”
“Good,
I am making steak with baked potato and corn on the cob on the grill for you two. Then after dinner you two can go to the den to find something on Netflix to watch. I know it is not the date you two wanted, but I hope that it is special enough.”
They both said yes at the same time. The Ron deferred to Chole and she said “Thanks mom. It sounds great. What makes a date is who you are with not what you are doing.”
Ron showed his agreement by saying “I could not have said it better. This date is going to be special.”
Those two were right about the date being spcial. Them spending time alone was more fulfilling and satisfying than the meal the grill mistress made. Them just snuggling on the love seat was more exciting than the action movie they choose to watch. The dialogue between them more intriguing than the big reveal at the climax of the movie. To paraphrase a line from a classic movie this was the beginning of a beautiful relationship. The closing scene of this masterpiece of a date was after Ron's mom call for him to come up from the den he held Chole close and they shared their first kiss.
**********************
Epilogue - 10 years later
Ron was still enjoying the view from the top of the hill he kept on running up for those 10 days 10 years ago. He had a good job as a purchaser for Pualson Corp and still was with Chole. Ron has a great relationship with Chole’s mom and brother. He also has a good one which was still getting better with her dad. Shame of how he treated Ron and knowing if he succeed he would have stop his kiddo, Chole will always be his kiddo in his heart, from having a great man made Kyle keep his distance from Ron. He was not going to take the chance of messing things up again for Chole. He was making sure that his daughter was able to stumble and fall on her own. Kyle would be there to help her up, but he was not going to try to stop her from living her life, mistakes and all.
Ron was surrounded by people he saw as a family. Him and his mom are closer than ever and the many his family members were not of blood so he chose the people who wanted the best for him like he wanted the best for them. Getting an upgrade in family eased the pain from losing some of his original family at first and now that pain is a distance memory.
Kyle and Dawn got the divorce. Dawn was relieved that it was straight forward and her soon to be ex did not put up a real fight. There were objections on both sides but instead of either of them digging their feet in they both worked towards a compromise. They are close friends and do get along great with the other spouse.
It took some time for Kyle’s relationship with Linda to get back to normal. He had to show her that he changed for the better before his youngest daughter would totally warm up to him. Linda wanted to make sure that she never fell for one of her dad’s schemes again and when she relaized his days of scheming were over she trusted him again.
Kyle still have not been able to repair the damage he done to his relationship with his Ron. He missed his son high school and college garduation, does not see him on Ron’s birthday and only communicate if needed. All he has is hope that one day Ron will start to open up to being around him, until then he just has to live with what he has done.
Nancy was able to mend her relationship with her mom. It took time, effort and her maturing into the person her mom knew she could be, but it was done. She remained close with Linda, they both took responsibility for what they did. Her relationship grew stronger with her dad. Kyle did a lot of maturing along side with Nancy and that was a new bond for them.
Nancy’s relationship with her brother was civil and cold. Ron knew he had to be around her on the holidays but he only said hi and gave her holiday greetings. As soon as she started to try to make small talk, Ron always heard someone calling for him. Most of the time this was Chole. The loving couple had it plan so Ron did not make a scene just walking away from his sister.
Nancy regretted this and what made the sting of her brother being so distance was knowing about all the warnings she ignored to try to get her way. Even after the prom she held on to the belief that Ron was overreacting. She was not ready to apologize because Ron would not meet her half-way. She could not admit how wrong she was until it was too late.
At first there was an unspoken agreement that they both would just stay away from each other. Nancy was under the false assumption that Ron would miss his and start warming up to her. He never did. Her stubbornness about the situation was a barrier to Ron warming up to her. Another was her friends Gemma and Christina. Those two loved to say snarky remarks to Ron about wearing a dress. Once Nancy relaized that she was even more wrong than she wanted to admitted she also learn that her dad was right about regretting telling those two and it was a big deal that she did.
Now seeing the truth Nancy could not get herself to talk to her brother. Thel eldest of the Coville siblings was too scared that he would not listen to her. She went too long not listening to him so he just moved on from having a relationship with his oldest sister. She went to long worrying about being right instead of doing the right thing for her brother to care about what she said. Nancy did make a promise to herself that she will keep her heart open to Ron and if he was ever ready to amend their relationship she will greet him with arms wide open and she will always be there if he needs her.
After five years Linda and Ron’s relationship started to heal. It took so much time because of the emotional and phyiscal distance between them, That summer she was too ashamed to talk with him and in the fall she went away for college. Her and Sam broke up her freshman year. It was a mutual decesion. They are still close friends but being away from each other made it clear that to both of them they both were becoming different people. Neither of them became bad people, their personalities and outlook of life just were not complementing each other as much as they used to. To make it simple they were like Donnie and Marie, one was a little too country and the other was a little too rock ‘n roll for them to be in harmony.
The rift between Linda and Ron only started to heal at her college graduation party. Ron overheard a conversation Linda and her group of friends were having. They were talking about hopes, dreams and desires. The question was what was one thing you did which you wish you could take back. Linda would not answer it. That piqued Ron’s interest so he went for overhearing the conversation on his way to getting himself another Coke to eavesdropping.
Linda boyfriend Ed started to pressure her to hear what it was. He thought that if she would not say it then it had to be daming and also it had to be about him and her. Linda stood her ground and said “That it was not my story to tell. It was the person who was hurt by her story and she would not disrespect that person’s privacy. I hurt that person bad and I will not do it again for anything or anyone, even you.”
Ed picked to go with insecurities instead of having faith in his girlfriend “Linda, say what it is. I know it is about us. If it was not you would say it. So just say it so I can know it.”
Sam did not like Ed to begin with. He kept that to himself, he had no right to tell Linda that her boyfriend was a douchebag. That was for her to figure out until Ed becamce an abusive diuchebag and how he was talking down to Linda he going towards becoming that.
Before Sam could say anything Ron came from out of nowhere, none of them knew he was standing there listening. They were to wrapped up in the conversation to notice their audience Ron let his presence be known by saying “Ed, it is not about you. It is about me and her so just drop it.”
Ron’s words just added to Ed’s insecurities. “Like I am going to believe you. You are her brother. You will take her side. So Linda just tell me. Come with me and we will have a talk about this.”
Except for Sam, all of Linda’s highschool friends broke out into laughter. Ed unknowing told the best joke of the night. If he knew the truth he knew that Ron would not do anything for his sister. To tell the truth they were surprise that he even told Ed to drop it. Doing so was helping his sister and she was not worth the time and effort to Ron. Sam found that accusation funny but he was too wrapped up in keeping a watchful eye on Ed’s behavior. An insecure douchebag mixed with alcohol was a cocktail for trouble.
Ed’s insecurities grew even more “You all know. Linda we need to have a talk right now.”
When saying right now he went to reach out to Linda to grab her arm. Sam was not having that one bit and quickly grabbed Ed’s arm. “If she does not want to have a talk with you then she does not have to.”
Ed pulled his arm away before Sam could get a good grip on it. How Sam came to Linda’s defense made it all make sense in Ed’s paranoid mind. He came up with the fantasy that when Linda came home on the weekend it was to be with Sam, who was her friend with benefit. How could they just be friends, men and women cannot just be friends to Ed. Looking straight at Linda He made the accusation “I see it now. You regret breaking up with Sam. You come home to see him. You are trying to get back that mooncrater face asshole by fucking him.”
Ron, knowing Sam did not like Ed and Sam’s sensitivity about his pockmarks, said “I think it is best that you leave.”
“You do not tell me what to do.”
“I would not dream of telling you what to do. I am giving advice, a warning, words of caution.”
Looking and seeing how mad Sam was made Ed know that Ron was telling the truth. His girlfriend little brother who had nothing to do with him was trying to Ed out. Knowing that Sam was pissed just added to his bad insecurity filled conclusion. To the little boy who was trying play grown up the only way Sam could get that mad at what he said was if it was the truth “Fine, I am out of here. She is all yours Sam. I was just about done with her anyways.”
As Ed was leaving Linda’s eyes were tearing up. Sam being a good friend told her that her ex was not worth it. Linda said “This is not about him.”
Linda’s tears were not for Ed, if they were they would be tears of joy. Her tears was even with only barely having a relationship with Ron, if you can count him only saying hi to her when they were at family function as a relationship, her brother spoke up in defense of her. She did not know why, but him doing so was a sign that he still cared for her.
Linda asked Ron to come over to her. The rest of the group went back in the house to give those two privacy, this was not a conversation which anyone else needed to hear.
“Ron thank you, you did not have to do it.”
“I did, you showed me that you are my sister.”
“Ron please take my thanks. I am not asking for you to forgive me, to talk to me. I am just asking you to accept that I am grateful you did something nice for me. I hope one day you can forgive me. ”
“Sis, I know you are grateful and that means a lot to me. Not telling Ed showed me that have remorse and you are making amends. That means so much to me.
I have forgiven you a long time ago. I now see that you have grown as a person and I like the person you are.”
Hearing her brother call her sis gave Linda hope that she would get from Ron what she just told him she desired. Then each word from Ron’s mouth made her hope of forgiveness go closer to being reality from being a dream.
Yeah,Linda was a little drunk but that did not make the tears coming from her eyes any less sincere. She hugged her brother and said “I love you bro.”
Ron started to cry also. He was so happy that his sister he thought he lost forever was now part of his family. “I love you to sis.”