Thanksgiving Forgiveness - 1. Chapter 1

Henry leaned over to take another sip of his coffee as his wife strode into the kitchen. She stood before him, crossed her arms, and tapped her foot on the slate flooring.

“What?” Henry tried hard not to look up into his wife’s face.

“Henry James Thompson, I am ashamed of you.”

Henry sighed and looked up to see his wife shaking her head.

“What did I do now?” He groused as he slipped his cup back onto the table.

Rose sat across from Henry and splayed her hands before her. “Did you do the one thing I have asked you to do for the last three days?”

Henry tried to play dumb, but knew immediately what his wife was referring to.

“Henry?” Rose sat before her husband, shaking her head again. “What is the problem? You’ve known that boy his whole life. He was the only one willing to come home to take care of his father after Bess passed from that heart attack. He is a good man.”

Henry grunted.

“It is Thanksgiving. His father is in the hospital, and he is alone. No one should be alone. Go ask him to join us.”

Henry looked at his wife, but didn’t say anything.

“Cindy and Doug will be here with their spouses and children soon. We have the room. Go ask Peter to join us.” Rose slid from her seat and wandered into the dining room to finish setting up for the meal later.

Henry took a sip of his coffee and grimaced. It had grown cold while Rose talked to him. He slipped from his seat and poured the remainder down the sink. He rinsed the cup and headed toward the living room. He figured he would hide out watching the parade. Only problem was the large bay windows that gave him a clear view of Peter raking up Nick Dandridge’s yard.

“Damn.” Henry remembered when the Dandridges moved into the house forty plus years ago. Peter was barely a year old then, and Bess was pregnant with Nancy. He smiled as he remembered Rose was pregnant with their Doug. It all seemed like yesterday, but time had marched on.

Henry made his way out the back door and tried to move far enough away that Rose wouldn’t catch the scent of his cigarette in the house. He stood watching the man across the street bag up leaves. There were already four bags at the curb. He laughed as he realized the Dandridge house was the only house on the street without any oak trees or much beyond a few low bushes. Yet they seemed to collect the leaves from the whole neighborhood.

Henry was just putting the cigarette back to his lips when he nearly screamed out loud. A hand fell on his arm, startling him.

“Stop watching the guy and go ask him.” Rose was standing there in her winter jacket. “And yes, I know you smoke, you old fool. Did you think I couldn’t smell the smoke on you?”

Henry blushed, but didn’t say anything.

“Go ask him to dinner.” Rose turned and walked to the back door before she stopped and turned to face Henry again. “By the way, that wasn’t a request. His saying no is not an option either, Henry.”

Henry dropped his cigarette and ground it out under his heel. “Damn woman is going to give me a heart attack.”

He walked to the end of his driveway and stopped. He watched as Peter cut the dead branches from the trees in front of the house and raked out the leaves. Henry couldn’t help but realize that Peter was like a linebacker. All of his children were married with children. Yet he watched as Peter, a big bear of a man was taking care of Nick’s place all by himself. It just didn’t seem right to Henry.

“You okay, Mr. Thompson? It’s cold out here. Do you need a hand with something?”

Henry looked up to find Peter had walked to the edge of his father’s property and was looking across the street at him.

“No,“ Henry started, rather embarrassed. “Don’t need help with anything, but yeah, sort of need to ask you something.”

Henry watched as Peter stiffened up.

“Rose … well, actually, Rose and I, um … we’d like you to join us for Thanksgiving.”

Peter cocked his head a moment. “That’s okay, Mr. Thompson. I was just going to make up a TV dinner later. I’ll be fine.”

Henry was about to let it go when he remembered that Rose would skin him alive if Peter didn’t come after she warned him no wasn’t an acceptable answer.

“Forget the TV dinner, boy. Make sure you are over here by three. Cindy and Doug will both be here with their families.”

Henry could see Peter start to turn, but then stopped. “Alright. I’ll see you at three.”

Henry nodded and headed in to tell his wife that Peter Dandridge would be joining them for dinner.

***

The sounds of five happy children running around and joking made the house seem alive. Henry smiled as he watched his grandchildren. They ranged from nine to fourteen, and all of them brought him a great sense of pride.

“Dad, is it true? Peter is home and coming over for dinner?” Cindy stood with a cup of tea in her hand, looking down at her father.

“Yes. Your mother had me invite him.”

“Good. God, I haven’t seen Peter in ages. I hope he is doing okay. Mom was telling me what happened to his father.”

Henry nodded and slipped away from his daughter only to have his son catch his arm.

“Dad, Mom said you invited Peter. Do you think he will come?” Doug looked at his father, a smile barely graced his lips.

Henry looked at his son and his daughter in law, Tina, who stood just behind him. “He’ll come or your mother will make me go get him.”

It was just as Henry was hoping to hide from everyone in the living room that the doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it,” came the chorus of voices from the kids as they all raced toward the door.

The door was opened, and suddenly, the sound of Kevin, Doug’s eldest son, could be heard asking, “Who are you?”

“I’m Peter. Who are you?”

“Kevin.”

Henry sighed, but before he could say or do anything, he heard his wife at the door.

“Peter, come in. So glad you could come.” Rose’s voice brought Henry to the hallway. “What’s this?”

“I couldn’t come empty handed. Mom would have killed me.” Peter blushed as he shook his head. “I made dessert, cheesecake.”

“Bess’ recipe?” Rose looked up hopefully.

“Would I use anyone else’s?”

Rose laughed. “Come in. You met Kevin, and the rest of you move back to the living room. Let Peter in.”

The kids raced past Henry into the living room. Peter nodded at Henry as he followed Rose toward the dining room.

“Peter? Oh my god. You did come. So glad to see you.“ Henry watched as his daughter hugged and kissed Peter. “How are Nancy and her husband, Thomas, doing? Has your brother finished college yet? And what about Teresa?”

Henry shook his head. After Nancy was born, Bess and Nick had two more children. David came a year and a half after Nancy, and two years later Teresa arrived. The whole group was looked after by Peter. He sort of became an older brother, protector, and guardian for his siblings and at times for the Thompsons, too.

“I can’t believe your sister has four kids, and two of them twins? I thought having three was bad,” laughed Cindy.

“Never mind Nancy, David is going for his PH.D.? I always said your brother was a bookworm.” Doug shook his head and told his wife, “Tina, his brother was so shy all the time. Peter used to stand up for him. It wasn’t until he met Lisa in college that I think David finally looked beyond the books.”

“You should talk, hun.” Tina smiled and took her husband’s hand.

“Babe, I was shy, but he was worse, trust me.” Henry leaned in and kissed his wife.

“So, what about your other sister? Teresa? What did she finally decide to do?” Rose asked as she passed around some hors d’oeuvres.

“I’m sure you have seen her. She is modeling to help pay for college.”

“Modeling? I don’t think I’ve seen her.” Doug looked over at his sister and then back to Peter.

Peter laughed. “I think you might know her stage name better. She models under T Dand. She had the cover for that new underwear that came out. They talked about how her hair hid her face but her body was dynamite. She is going for a master’s degree in chemo biology.”

“You know T Dand?” Cindy’s husband, Mark, asked, his jaw hanging open.

“Christ, close your mouth, Mark. She was like my baby sister.” Cindy smacked her husband. “Go check on the kids. Make sure they aren’t getting into trouble.”

“But what about you, Peter?” Tina asked. “What are you up to? Anyone special in your life now?”

Peter blushed and just sort of looked down into his lap.

“Peter came home to take care of his father after his mother died.” Rose smiled at Peter and stood up. “Ladies, come help me get the rest of the meal ready so we can eat.”

The women stood and hustled out leaving Henry, Peter, and Doug alone.

Doug sat for a moment and then leaned in. “Okay. I know you came home to take care of that miserable piece of shit you call a father. What happened? Why did you do it?”

Henry looked at his son, his mouth hanging open.

“I promised Mom.”

“So for that reason you live like a monk?” Doug raised his eyebrow.

“I don’t think this is any of your business, Douglas. Leave Peter alone,” Henry growled at his son.

“No, Dad. He was more like a big brother than a friend. His father nearly drove him out of all our lives. I want to know why he came back to take that sort of abuse again?”

Peter sighed and looked at his feet.

“Andrew left me. Once I came out to the family and decided he was the one I wanted he left me. I made it through college, paid for it all on my own. Dad cut me off. I didn’t get a cent.”

“Your father is a real bastard. I can’t believe he had the nerve to ask you to come home.”

“Well, Nancy is married with children. She couldn’t go home to take care of him. David is engaged, finishing his PH.D., and trying to buy a house. I wouldn’t let him give that all up. Teresa refused to let Dad help her in any way after what he did to me. There is no way she would ever go to help him. So that left me. I was renting a room, working hard, and I was living alone. He needed me, and he asked me to come home.”

Henry stopped and looked at Peter. He remembered Nick saying his son was a worthless son of a bitch who tried to get money out of him and Bess. Said the boy was a user and destroyed people and should be kept away from God fearing folk. For the last eight years, he had thought of the boy who was always helping out as actually looking for a way to steal things. Now, however, he was learning there was another side to Nick.

“So, what is the real reason your father is in the hospital, Pete? I mean, ‘cause he is really sick doesn’t tell us much.” Doug gently patted Peter’s knee.

Henry watched as the mountain of a man just seemed to shrink in the seat he was sitting in.

“What is wrong with Nick?” Henry heard it and then realized he was the one to ask this question.

“Dad was drinking again. He had always been an alcoholic, but he had tried to quit when Mom passed. However, with him fighting with everyone in the family and blaming me, I guess he started again. He was raced into the hospital with bleeding ulcers and liver damage. If I hadn’t been home, he would have bled out.”

Finally, Henry had the pieces to put together the picture. Peter wasn’t the problem. He’d been cut out of his father’s life when he came out as gay, but Nick wasn’t afraid to use his son, either, when his wife died and he needed help. Henry shook his head as he realized he hadn’t trusted Peter as his family had. Instead, he had listened to the lies and rumors and accepted those. It wasn’t easy to realize that the boy he had watched grow up had remained a good man and not the user he had allowed Nick to convince him Peter had become.

“I’m sorry, Peter.” Henry could barely get the words out, he felt so bad.

“For what?” Peter looked across at Henry, his face showing surprise.

“I didn’t follow my family’s example. I believed your father. I never had a reason not to.” Henry paused and swallowed. “I guess that is why I haven’t really checked on you since you came home to help him.

Peter was silent, but nodded.

“Alright, I have no idea what you have been talking about, but you all look depressed.” Rose stood at the doorway. “Dinner is on the table. Get up and eat, boys. I expect smiles, and remember there are children present.”

The three men nodded and headed out to the dining room. This year, Thanksgiving included a large helping of understanding and forgiveness.