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    CLJobe
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Stories posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 

Box of Crackers - 13. Chapter 13

Jimmy and I discussed what happened that night, “Pete, I think we should go home. I don’t like the way you and the kids are being treated. I was very disappointed with your mom and dad.”

“I was thinking the same thing. I’ll tell Evie and hope she understands.”

At breakfast that morning, “Evie, Jimmy and I discussed what happened yesterday. We think it’s best if we plan on leaving tomorrow morning. I just want you to know, you had nothing to do with this decision. We’ll plan on coming back, but just to see you and your family.”

“Pete, I’m so sorry, had I known they would act like that, I would’ve never invited them.”

“Uncle Pete, Bobby said you would be leaving tomorrow. Can I come with you?”

“Alex, we’d love to have you come with us but you’ll need your dad’s permission. You know how he feels about me so I doubt he’ll let you go.”

“You better be prepared for a guest. Paul doesn’t care what happens to him. They fight all of the time.”

Sure enough Alex came over in the evening with a suitcase, his laptop and a duffle bag. I looked at Jimmy, he just smiled. Evie had that ‘I told you so look’.

“Are you going somewhere Alex?” He had a big smile on his face and handed me a piece of paper. Paul had relinquished all rights and essentially said he didn’t care what happened to him as long as he didn’t come back. I read that paper several times and still couldn’t believe that Paul would do that. I looked at Alex, he had a smile but there were tears in his eyes. He was now one of my boys.

“Alex, take the clothes you’ll need, tomorrow, after breakfast we’ll leave. Bobby, show Alex where he can stow his bags.”

When you tell Bobby to do something Butch is right there to help. It’s the same when we tell Butch to do something, there’s Bobby helping.

I looked at Jimmy and he had a smile on his face. Jimmy comes from a big family, so for him, the more the merrier. Evie was smiling, but her eyes were sad. “Evie, we’ll be back and we want you and your family to visit us. I’ll be looking for a bigger place now that my family is growing.”

“Pete, I’m really ashamed of Paul, Mom and Dad. If I could get Don to change jobs, we’d move from here as well.”

Looking into Evie’s face I could see the hurt. I took her in my arms and gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Evie, I know this isn’t your fault. We’d stay longer, but we need a break from here to get over this. I promise to stay in contact and at the first chance we have, we’ll be back. Hopefully by then, we’ll have a bigger place and you can come and visit.”

That night after dinner, Jimmy and I discussed how we were going to fit Alex into our home. “I’ll get Fred on this so we can adopt Alex. I guess for the time being, I can get a cot for him to sleep in the office. We're definitely going to need a bigger place.” “

Didn’t you say that they were going to convert the apartments to condos?”

“Yes, but I don’t know when. It might be a better idea to look for a house or something with the capability to expand. I’d like a bigger kitchen so we can eat in there and use the dining room for special meals. When I get home, I’ll contact some realtors and see what they have.”

“We are so close to everything now, your office, my work and the kids school. If anything, we should stay in the same area. I’ll ask Dad and see if he knows of any place.”

Early the next morning, with the car packed, saying goodbye to Evie, Don and Donnie, we headed home. The boys slept the first few hours and when they woke they wanted to know when we were going to stop to eat. Now after making the trip to Evie's, going home seemed faster, or maybe I just wanted to put some space between me and my family. We stopped at a fast food restaurant and got food to go. I really didn’t care if the kids got the car dirty, I could always have that cleaned. Between Jimmy and I, we drove straight home, no overnight stopping. Jimmy would sleep while I drove and I’d sleep while he drove.

Driving into my parking spot, I felt a sense of relief. We were home and it felt good to be home. After several trips, we got all the luggage upstairs. “Alex, for tonight I’ll make a bed for you on the couch. Tomorrow, I’ll get a comfortable cot for you and set it up in my office.”

Bobby offered his bed and said he would bunk with Butch. “ Okay, I'll let you can sort that out. I’m going to bed.”

The next morning I called Fred and made a luncheon appointment with him. When we met I didn’t have to tell him much, just showed him Paul’s letter.

“This is your brother?”

“Yes”

“And this is his son?”

“Yes”

“Is your whole family screwed up?”

“Yes”

“I’d like to talk with Alex.”

“Dinner at six, my place.”

I wasn’t feeling good, I told Mrs. Marlow that I was going home and if anything came up that needed my attention to call me.

Walking home, I let a few tears roll down my cheeks and hope no one saw me. The experience with my parents and Paul resurfaced and the hurt I had when they first turned on me.

Walking into the apartment, Alex saw me and came and hugged me. “I’m sorry Uncle Pete. I know it hurts because I have been hurting for a while.”

I looked into Alex’s eyes, I could see the pain there that he tried to keep out. I just grabbed him and pulled him into my arms. “Alex, you're home now.”

He started to cry, Bobby and Butch heard him and came to see what was wrong. They saw Alex crying in my arms, tears in my eyes and soon they had tears in their eyes as well.

“Look guys were men, we don’t cry.”

Bobby looked at me, “Maybe we don't cry, but we still hurt.”

“Have you guys had lunch?”

“No, can we go to Luigi’s?”

“Yes, let’s wash our faces, dry our tears and we can see what Jimmy can fix for us.”

Jimmy was surprised to see me. He looked at me as if to be asking what happened. “I was still a little tired from all that driving. After having lunch with Fred, I decided to come home. Three boys said there was no food in the apartment and we had to come to Luigi’s, as they were starving.”

The boys looked at me and seeing me smiling, “Yes, Uncle Jimmy, Bobby and Butch said you should have fixed lunch for us and left it in the refrigerator. We looked and there was nothing there.”

I thought that this was going to be ok. Alex will fit right in, and I knew his dad lost out again. What a fool that man is. Jimmy just went and got us something to drink, “Pete, did you eat lunch with Fred?”

“Yes, Babe, just bring some food for these guys and a little extra on the salad and buns.”

I saw Luigi leave the kitchen and as soon as he saw me he headed to our table. “Pete, Jimmy said you expand your family.”

“Yes, Luigi, this is my nephew Alex. He’ll be staying with us. Which means we’ ll be looking for a bigger apartment or house.”

“Jimmy asked me if I knew of anyplace close by that would be suitable. There’s a house close to mine, but I think that would be a little out of the way for the kids to walk to school ,and you would have to drive to work. There is one other option, but it would require some investment. As you know I own this building. There are two floors above me that are empty. If you were willing to invest, you could build your apartment there. Jimmy will inherit the restaurant anyway, so it’ll be convenient for him and you.” I saw Jimmy standing in back of his dad shaking his head yes.

“Luigi, if Jimmy agrees then I’ll take you up on your offer.”

The one question that has bother me all of my years. "Why do the children have to suffer?" Adults can cope, but not children. Dreams shattered, trust broken, love turning to hate.
Copyright © 2020 CLJobe; All Rights Reserved.
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Stories posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 
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Chapter Comments



  On 9/5/2020 at 12:29 AM, Scotrik1 said:

I really love this story. I was a bit disappointed in Pete and Jimmy allowing the haters to win though. No one living in his sister's home treated them badly, and the foul ones wouldn't be back, but he took the time he could have spent with the loving part of his family away from all of them. I understand the decision, but disappointed too. 

Thank you for sharing this with us! Doing a great job. 

Scottie

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Rather than staying with his sister in a negative environment, he decided he needed a break, A lung full of clean air and that only could be found at home. His relationship with his sister and younger brother is fine, as you will see.

  • Like 4
  On 9/4/2020 at 10:26 PM, Buz said:

Oh no. Why waste a perfectly good car. Paul goes to Spain to celebrate having that 'abomination' out of his house/life, goes running with the bulls, doesn't run fast enough and gets his gonads crushed beyond repair. There ya go. Lotsa pain and can't have anymore kids.

Do you mean one more as in Alex or as well as? As well as would be perfect

Lastly, when is the big Italian feast/meet "n" greet? You've mentioned a couple of times how big Jimmy's family is. I wanna see some big hugs from Jimmy's Mama. That would be ideal. I love hugs n cuddles.

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yes, I mean Alex

  • Like 3
  On 9/5/2020 at 12:34 AM, JeffreyL said:

In spite of the negative parts of the visit with Pete's family, there was a lot of good in this chapter! Pete renews his relationship with his sister, Evie, and her family. Pete and his family start a new relationship with his nephew, Alex, that will lead to adoption. Luigi offers the top two floors of the restaurant building for Jimmy and Pete's future (and bigger) home! Still loving these characters and their story! Thanks.

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You're welcome. Alex will be better off with Pete, you'll see.

  • Like 4
  On 9/5/2020 at 5:57 AM, Clancy59 said:

I just don’t remember the mother being mentioned at all.  Is she still in the picture?  Are they divorced?  Has she passed?  Is she that belittled that she has no self-esteem to stand up to a bullying husband?  Maybe Alex could explain.  If need be, maybe Pete and Jimmy, with Evie and Don’s assistance, could do something.  Why didn’t Evie do some explaining, by the way?  She would know. If there has been a divorce and Paul kept them separate, maybe she could come back now.  I don’t really think that’s in the offing, though, because Paul gave up custody WAY too quickly and easily.

I’m sorry, but there are a lot of holes here.

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This is just a story, if I decided to turn this into a book, I'll be glad to use these questions and comments to add pages to the book. But just some explanations, Paul fought with Alex, per Evie, and this was a way to get rid of him. Can a father hate his son, yes and there are many examples of that, vis a vis Bobby. I'm sure Paul thought that Alex would be a problem for Pete and he hoped that Alex would torment Pete as much as he fought with Paul. Strange family dynamics but not unusual in a family when one partner is over bearing 

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The one question that has bother me all of my years. "Why do the children have to suffer?" Adults can cope, but not children. Dreams shattered, trust broken, love turning to hate.

Children are very resilient, especially when younger.  As they get older than 6 or 7, the damage is harder to overcome, but it can be done with lots of patience and love (both in quantities one might not think possible!).  I worked as a school counselor for 36 years and have dealt with children ages 11 to 18 and have dealt with many who were in horrid situations.  With the help of our social workers, police, lawyers and various agencies, many were helped - many could not be helped, unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, legal and familial.  Through it all, I provided the love, encouragement and support as best I could.  Not all were happy endings, but those that were made it worthwhile.

If you like the theme of building a family of "tossed away" or homeless children, I recommend another series on this site:  "The Castaway Hotel" by Bill W. 

 

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Families are despicable at time and Pete's birthers and genetic male acquaintance are hideous. It would seem he and his sister are the only two that came out with a brain and a heart - Evie is such a wonderful person. The thing that surprised me in this chapter was the comment “Look guys were men, we don’t cry.” I guess being raised in such a backwards family is one explanation but having been gone so long, one would think that mentality would've passed. Tears of happiness and sadness are important in all genders. Just took me off path for a second, especially from someone so open, caring, and warm-hearted. 

  • Like 3
  On 9/6/2020 at 1:58 AM, Chris L said:

Families are despicable at time and Pete's birthers and genetic male acquaintance are hideous. It would seem he and his sister are the only two that came out with a brain and a heart - Evie is such a wonderful person. The thing that surprised me in this chapter was the comment “Look guys were men, we don’t cry.” I guess being raised in such a backwards family is one explanation but having been gone so long, one would think that mentality would've passed. Tears of happiness and sadness are important in all genders. Just took me off path for a second, especially from someone so open, caring, and warm-hearted. 

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It wasn't meant to demean men crying, it was his way of saying ,"Buck up, if they don't want us, that's there problem. Not ours. Put a smile on your face, they can't hurt us"

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  On 9/6/2020 at 8:30 AM, CLJobe said:

It wasn't meant to demean men crying, it was his way of saying ,"Buck up, if they don't want us, that's there problem. Not ours. Put a smile on your face, they can't hurt us"

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Awe, thanks for the explanation, that makes a LOT more sense now. When I was reading it, I guess I was so startled I didn't leave it in context. LOL!!! LOL!!! 

  • Like 1

Excellent chapter! There’s a lot of pain caused by Pete’s intolerable brother and parents, some of which spilled over onto Evie, Don and Donnie who were beyond loving and supportive. It’s very sad that the emotional pain caused by intolerance can spread throughout a family. I’m certain that Pete, Jimmy, Bobby, Butch and Alex never intended to cause Evie any pain and discomfort. Luigi offering the two upper floors of his building to Jimmy and Pete couldn’t have come at a better time. His love and supportive caring for his son and his family goes way beyond the norm. Once the construction is completed and the family moves into their new home, Pete and Jimmy can invite Evie and family to visit. I love this story, the complex characters and the realistic way that they interact with each other. I’m definitely looking forward to the next chapter! 😢❤️

  • Like 1
  On 9/5/2020 at 1:26 AM, Clancy59 said:

Did I miss something?  Where is Alex’s mom?  Why doesn’t she have any say in how he is treated?

 

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I was wondering the same thing. She should have been scratching and clawing Paul's eye's out for doing that. She should have already stepped in about the mental abuse he was giving Alex before this all happened.


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