Chapter 8
Trouble In Paradises
Aaron didn't feel comfortable playing in the gym with my father so close, so he waited outside the office for me. I apologized for taking so long and said. "We are going to have a blast going to the father and son's camp-out." I wasn't quite sure how to rate this one lie, considering we could have a blast or the fact what I discussed there had nothing to do with the fathers and sons camp-out, so I'll give it a half a brick. It was almost an hour before my mother came in to fetch us. For once today my father left us completely alone, most likely because we weren't alone, or the fact Officer Kenly had joined us for a little one-on-one with the basketball in the gym.
Mom had an enormous stack of papers and several books that showed that my "Carefree Lifestyle" is a good thing, with more positives than bad. The trick would convince my sisters and even harder it would be to convince my father. I take my hat off to Mom when it comes to fighting the big bad wolf when she sits them down to read it, and I am not talking about a little light reading.
While we drove to the pool, I read through some of the material, telling Mom that she had a sound argument, but some of the material was redundant and quite boring. Mom quickly placed her arm around my shoulders and said: "that's why my very bright Sunshine's going to help me." Mom knew I loved challenges and putting all this material into something that would sound interesting and instead of a bunch of blah words was just up my alley.
When we got to the pool, there was a note on the door saying it was closed for repairs. Mom just shrugged her shoulders and said. "How about if we stop by the Dairy Freeze for a large banana split and a couple of greasy cheeseburgers then will go home and run through the sprinklers?"
I knew if I said. "We can always go to the one in Provo or the one in American Fork." Mom would have been more than happy to take us there. But I also knew Mom thought they had money to burn. Instead, I said. "How about we stop at the store and buy some beef patties and make our own and our own banana splits?" In the long run, it was more cost-effective than spending it on gas and fast food. I also said, "We could call it Family Home Evening." Mom was all in for that, wishing she had come up with the idea herself. Like I said, when it came to prayer or a church my parents were not by any means churchy, unlike the Rothwells.
Keeping my mother on a tight leash in a grocery store or any store for that matter is a hard thing to do. Now when Aaron and I shop we go in, get what we need, and make a quick exit. Mom would pick up items and put them in the cart. I would put them back on the shelf, showing her the same item for a cheaper price.
I thought maybe the Dairy Freeze was a better idea and quicker, but the cool air felt good. When we reached the aisle for water toys, Mom had picked up water guns. I told her guns of any kind are a bad idea and put them back on the shelf and grabbed several bags of water balloons and two five-gallon buckets. Then put the buckets back and told Mom I could get them for free at Stringham's and a good deal on charcoal and a barbecue, just to get her out of the store.
Mr. Stringum was more than willing to help a friend out even more so when it was me. He gave me four slightly used buckets and a small stand-up barbecue at cost with a 50% friends discount and two large bags of charcoal, but most importantly three bags of penny candy on the house. Mom opened her wallet to pay, but her money was no good here. All he wanted was four, maybe five hours of my time to help in the store. The deal was struck by giving no set date, but he knew I would fulfill my promise.
My sisters were furious about the idea of running in the backyard, having us chase them with water balloons and drenching them with cold buckets of water. Yet they had little to say about it, having Mom kick them out of the house and lock both doors. She gave them a choice to either put on a bathing suit or get soaked in being fully dressed. Becky chose the bathing suit and Susan chose the other. Becky telling her it's better than running around naked. For some reason, Susan didn't find the joke funny.
Aaron and I considered it, then changed our minds with the houses being so close it was having the entire world see you. Not that they would see much because we all had high fences. The only way they might see into our yard would be to climb on top of their roofs.
Personally, I thought the water balloon fight was the best thing ever when it came to getting a little payback, watching several of my balloons sail in the air and drench my sister's backs. Aaron too was having a great time, even more so when we ran out and used our buckets to soak them.
Mom was an excellent shot when it came to water balloons, and she looked great in her new swimsuit. The party ended quickly when my father came home; it was his own fault for seeing Susan and Becky running to avoid getting drenched and hiding behind him. Three buckets full of water drenched him from the head down. He was so angry that water steamed off him. Susan and Becky told him we had been terrorizing them for the past hour.
Give me a break. Is that why we were just as soaked as they were and the fact, they didn't have any water balloons left except a half bucket of Susans? My father eyed my mother from top to bottom and said. "And this was your idea of having the neighbors see us as immoral indecent freaks?"
Mom grabbed two water balloons out of Susan's bucket and threw them at him said. "Nothing immoral about a water fight dear, when half the neighborhood likes to run through the sprinklers in the front yard," patted his cheek said. "Dinner will be ready in a couple of hours, plenty of time for you to prepare a lesson for family home evening."
I thought he would blow it off and spit in her face. Instead, he grinned an evil freakish grin. Mom told him to take his wet clothes off before going into the house, but all she got was the door slammed in her face. As I have said before, I have never seen my father go barefoot or wear a pair of shorts or so much as take off his shirt outside, inside the house, or in public.
I knew the second I came in that the air had changed. My father was sitting on the couch in dry clothes and a second pair of work shoes. Here it was at least 100 degrees and here he was torturing himself while everyone in their right mind was looking for something to bring down the heat. I almost asked if I could grab him a winter coat and an electric blanket. The first thing he said was when he saw me. "Sissy boy, have you and your fag-it brother put on some clothes? I will not tolerate you immoral freaks running around my house half-naked, any longer. I do not care if you like it or not, my rules, my house."
I didn't answer back. Instead, I turned around asking Mom for the meat for the BQ. If my father wants to play hardball, so be it. He said nothing about wearing clothes outside. I grinned and dropped my bathing suit right where he could see it. Mom giggled, giving my bare bottom a nice loving pat. Hearing my father growl as he lunged for me, only to be stopped by my mother swatting him over the head with a frying pan, leaving a nice-sized goose egg on top of it.
Being almost bald didn't help much, nor the fact I had created a monster watching Aaron take his off. I grinned, seeing my sisters' red faces yelling for my father to do something only to hear my mother say. "Your father said nothing about any clothing outside the home, and as far as I am concerned, the backyard and the front yard are free gain, and the neighbors be damned." I watched my father as he took a long walk down the street with a cold pack on his head. I also knew that our so-called family home evening was over, and it was all my fault. Sometimes I always did the stupid things that always would anger my father, instead of thinking first before I acted.
I quickly ran to my room and dressed, hoping to salvage the evening so that when my father came back, we could gain back what we had lost. Only to be stopped by my mother growling angrily at me. I had yet to see the monster come out and here it was, hiding all the time right in front of me. Mom grabbed me by my shirt to bring me close to her face. I closed my eyes, waiting for the full force, knowing if she hurt me. Not only was family home evening ruined, but so was the relationship we had built over the past year.
But instead, she kissed me on the forehead, telling me if I wasn't out of my clothes in five seconds, she would cut them off me and burn every piece of clothing I had in the house. I pulled off my shirt and tossed it onto the floor, waiting for me to make the next move. She wasn't satisfied until I was standing in front of her only in my skin.
My father didn't come back until late that night, having cold leftovers that we had made earlier that night. I did not doubt if he was a drinking man, he would have spent the night at the only bar in town. In some ways, Santaquin has changed and in others not so much. The bar on Main Street is no longer there, nor is the old post office and pharmacy that used to be on the corner. Mr. Stringham died years later, and the business was sold, but now it is on top of the hill known as the Frontage Road looking over the valley of Santaquin still bearing the name Stringham's Hardware and Goods. Even the new Post Offices and Pharmacy have a new home here in town, becoming bigger and better. But it would be at least fifteen years for any of that to happen.
When I called home using my new phone in my room, instead of taking the chance of my father walking in the house without a stitch on, which would be breaking one of his cardinal rules. In some ways, Aaron and I were confused about which rules we were following. Yet Mom meant every word and emptied my closet and left me one pair of boxers, warning me if I even so much as thought about putting them on she would cut them off. She made her point by cutting a large heart shape in the back and one in the front, so I would look ridiculous wearing them rather than simply show all of me. Besides, it's not like none of them have seen all there is to see when it comes to family.
When I called home, I had gotten a sense that something was wrong. When I asked Dad about it, he said the three bad boys were grounded again. Nothing for me to worry about. My foster Mom told me that because of problems at home that they would have to reschedule our skinny-dipping party for a later date maybe later on during the week. My mother had already told them about the father and son camp-out, but I reminded them about it, anyway.
Dad was silent for a moment. I could tell something was more wrong than having the three bad boys being bad. When he simply said to call him when I got back and make damn sure my special wristwatch was working. I said I would and told them both I loved them and missed them; the phone went dead. I sat there stunned, wondering what the heck happened. Mom and Dad had always told me they loved me every night, but tonight, for the first time they didn't say it.
I immediately called them back, but the phone kept ringing. Then someone picked it up and hung up the phone, if that wasn't enough to worry me, the fact they refused to talk to me about it and realizing Dad had just told me to call him when I returned from the camp-out, scared the living daylights out of me. My foster parents made damn sure without fail that I call them every night, but now they didn't want me to until after the camp-out, which was almost three days without a phone call.
People always tell me I am a worrywart, but I like to say I am prepared, so I don't have to worry, and right now I have a lot to worry about. The first thing I had to do was make sure all my safety nets were in place, starting with the people I trusted the most at my foster home. I had long ago memorized the scout motto "Be prepared." I sucked at memorizing things like phone numbers or words on a page. I even struggled with the Articles of Faith which had taken me months to memorize, but inside my backpack, I always kept a notebook with phone numbers and extra money hidden away in case of emergency.
I didn't like asking my mother for favors, but it was late and even though I was told to call them day or night if I needed anything, somehow, I didn't feel comfortable doing it. Besides, I could be jumping to conclusions just because they didn't say they loved me back wasn't enough cause to be alarmed.
Second, I wasn't in any real danger that needed someone to bail me out or I would die. Or the fact my foster parents could have been rattled enough not to realize they had told me not to call them. Or that they loved me, but something was off, and I needed to know what it was.
I waited until my mother came into my room to wish me good night, telling her the door was unlocked. Mom and I had made a pact that I wouldn't hide anything from her if she didn't hide anything from me. My thoughts were still stuck on the moment I had thought the monster was about to come out tonight. Wondering how close it was it before the gate closed shut.
Right away, I told Mom that our skinny-dipping party had fallen through because of problems at home. In some ways, I was looking forward to it and in others I wasn't. Let's just say it had a lot to do with Susan and Becky. It was ok; I needed to work on my mother's special project and I having a free day open made it ok to do it, besides we could go swimming later. I knew Mom would let me make any phone call I needed to make, well within reason. Mom told me I shouldn't worry about not having my foster parents tell me they love me back, or the fact they didn't expect me to call. It was most likely because of the problem at home. Yet, I saw the worry on her face as if she, too, didn't believe that answer. Even more so when she said, "It couldn't hurt to dot all my 'I's' and cross my 'T's.'"
After Mom left, I locked the door, knowing my father was in the next room after hearing him ask why all my clothes were piled in the corner. Mom said to him, that she felt the need to see all of me and my brother today and most likely the rest of the week, and if he didn't like it, he could sleep at the church house. My father growled angrily and said. "Why do you insist on fighting me for this? Adam and Eve were given clothes so they wouldn't feel immoral before God?"
Mom was calm as I lay there listening, knowing my father had a point. Mom corrected him and said, turning to the page of scripture stated. Adam and Eve, once they had tasted the forbidden fruit, discovered they themselves were naked and were ashamed. God permitted them to hide their nakedness because they felt ashamed. Not God he wasn't ashamed … Adam and Eve were the ones ashamed of their nakedness.
Mom had my father over a barrel said. "You, my dear husband are the one that is ashamed, wanting them to hide their nakedness from you and the world. When it is them that are not ashamed or embarrassed in what God has given them. God is not ashamed or finds my beautiful sons or me immoral. In fact, my dear husband I have felt more closely to them and God because of it. When I see them not hiding beneath all that unnecessary clothing and love them the way it was meant to be, now shut up or go to sleep on the couch."