The Taft Family’s Before and After - 6. A Shotgun Wedding?

Abel drove them back to Kathy's house to play face the music, part one. Kathy asked her parents into the kitchen. It was a little further away from the boys' bedrooms than the living room. What level of privacy it had, that was yet to be seen.

Travis began, "Okay, what's this about?”

“Mom, Dad, Abel and I have something to tell you.”

Mothers apparently had a better handle on situations like these. “Oh. No.”

“Oh, no, what Yvette?”

“I’m pregnant, Daddy.”

After a quiet moment for the shock to set in, Travis continued, “You must be one brave young man to come in here while she tells us this.”

“Not really, sir. I’m here to support her any way I can.”

“You've got that right. Do you even have a job?”

“Yes, I work part-time at the Marathon gas station.”

“Part time? That’ll have to change. You need to sprint down to the career center in the Goodwill.”

“I have another option I can pursue, first.”

“And what might that be?”

“My father is Realtor. He has lots of contacts in construction. If he doesn’t kill me, I’m sure he’ll help me get into that.”

“And what about your future with Kathy?”

"I'm not sure what you mean, sir."

"Do you see yourself staying with her, or hoping she murders the baby?"

"Murder? No. I made a mistake, I'll live with it and marry her, if she wants."

"That has yet to be decided. Adoption is the only other option."

"I want the baby."

"That decision does not have to be made yet, young lady."

Pleading, "Daddy?"

"Abel needs to prove he can take proper care of you and the baby before you can decide to keep it."

"But..."

Travis gave his daughter a look that she knew meant she needed to drop the subject immediately. Her father never hit her, but she was afraid of him, nonetheless.

"We will meet again in two weeks. Abel will inform us of his job status. We'll continue to do that for up to two months. Since you've only known him one month, we will make the decision between marriage and adoption at that time. When you're at three months, we'll either plan a wedding or make preparations to adopt out the baby."

"What about an abortion?"

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that, young man. That is not an option. Mention it again and I'll make your life a living hell."

"Understood, sir."

"Yvette, Kathy, I would like a moment alone with Abel."

The women left; Abel got extremely nervous. Rightly so.

"I wouldn't want it to come to this, but if you don't take good care of my daughter, I will not hesitate to make the child fatherless. Do you understand?"

"Um, I think so."

"Explain your interpretation."

"You'll make us get a divorce?"

"No. I'll make her a widow. I assume you understand that?"

Abel's mouth became as dry as the Sahara, but he was able to form the words, "Yes, sir."

Abel left to return home and play face the music, part two. That went better than he expected. His father told him he'd get him into construction. He knew of one company that was expanding. Two weeks later, at the meeting with the Nelsons, he informed them he was starting a construction job the following Monday.

"It's not that I don't trust you, Abel, but honestly, I have no reason to do so yet. I'd like to see your first pay stub. Kathy tells us you have your own room over the garage at your house. If you plan on living there after providing me proof you can take proper care of Kathy, I will want to see it."

"That's fine. I think we'd have to start out there, until we can save up enough to get an apartment. My mother said we can share meals or use the kitchen and laundry whenever we needed to."

"Very well. Good luck on Monday. After your first paycheck, we will take a ride to see your room."

"Okay, sir."

"By the way, I do appreciate the way you've handled yourself during this time, and your politeness."

Knowing Travis could kick the ever-loving shit out of him without breaking a sweat, he bypassed his first reaction, 'Like I have a fucking choice,' and replied, "Thank you, sir."

Abel started building houses. Travis approved his room as their short-term living arrangements. The wedding occurred three months after he and Kathy first met. Six months after that, a baby girl, that they named Gillian, arrived. Abel lost thirty of his forty extra pounds by the time the baby was born. The remaining ten was turned to muscle. Their life together started well.

Kathy was pregnant with their second child when they moved into their first apartment. Money was tight at times, but Abel's sister, Eve, who was six years older than Abel, had married a wealthy man and helped out when extra funds were necessary. Time rolled on. Steven was two years old when Adam, Abel's father, was at a home inspection. Apparently, there was a gas leak and faulty wiring. The explosion left nothing recognizable.

Josephine, Abel's mother, struggled with depression after losing her husband. On the first anniversary of Adam's death, she died from an overdose of oxycodone. Between Eve being well-off with her rich husband, life insurance, and the settlement from his father's death, the Taft house was paid for, with a tidy sum of thirty thousand in the bank. Abel, Kathy, Jill, and Steven moved into Abel's parents' house, and things were looking up for them.

Unfortunately, neither was the best of parents. Abel had already started touching Jill inappropriately while changing her diapers. Kathy didn't lose the extra weight from having two children and Abel grew distant; they had sex perhaps once a month. Kathy began touching both Jill and Steven at bath time. The pattern of abuse had begun.

The couple had been married five and a half years when tragedy struck again. Travis and Yvette, Kathy's parents, were returning home from a weekend away when their car went off the road. The skid marks indicated they likely tried to avoid an animal and lost control. They were both killed instantly. Their youngest child, Brendan, fifteen at the time, was home alone. His parents felt he was responsible enough to spend the weekend home alone. Brendan got nervous when it got dark that Sunday evening. His parents had told him they'd be home in time for dinner. At nine PM, the doorbell rang.

Brendan opened the door, "Did you lose your keys? Oh. Hello."

"Is this the Nelson residence?"

"It is. I'm Brendan."

"Are your parents Travis and Yvette Nelson?"

"Yes. What's this about officers? They're not home right now."

"Would it be okay if we came in?"

Brendan agreed and led them to the living room.

"We're sorry to have to tell you that your parents died in an auto accident earlier today."

"What? No."

"We're sorry. It's true. Mrs. Conklin here is from family services. She'll be taking responsibility for you until a foster family can be found."

"But... but they were supposed to be home for dinner."

"I'm sorry, son."

Brendan sat there in shock for a few more moments before the tears started falling. The officers left Mrs. Conklin in charge and departed. After a few minutes, Brendan composed himself.

"Wha... what do I do now?"

"For tonight, we have a place for you at a shelter we use for our new charges. Tomorrow, we'll begin to work on finding something more permanent."

"Permanent? Like an orphanage?"

"Initially, a home for boys that for some reason cannot remain in their own homes."

Brendan saw right through her attempt at deception, "Whatever. Sugar coat it however you want. You mean the Boys Farm."

Mrs. Conklin nodded, "Why don't you get something to sleep in and we'll go to the shelter."

"I was alone all weekend. Can't you just come back for me tomorrow?"

"No, I can't do that Brendan."

Brendan got his backpack and put in something to sleep in and a change of clothes for the next day. He went to put his Nintendo 3DS in the backpack, but Mrs. Conklin stopped him.

"You can come back for things like that. You might lose it at the shelter. Electronics tend to disappear."

And so, Brendan began his life as an orphan with the clothes on his back, one additional outfit, and a pair of pajamas. The next day, Mrs. Conklin picked him up at nine o'clock and took him to her office. Brendan had done a lot of thinking.

"Mrs. Conklin?"

"Yes Brendan."

"Do I have to go to the boy's farm if I have somewhere else to go?"

"What do you mean?"

"My older sister lives in the next town over, in Newberry. Could I possibly go live with her and her family?"

"Yes. That would actually be preferable, placing you with family, provided it was a healthy environment."

Plans were made to contact Kathy and begin the process to move Brendan there. Family services approved Kathy and Abel, and the home. Three days after his parents were killed, the funeral occurred. After the funeral, Kathy brought him to his house to get more of his things, then brought him home to her house.

Brendan had a loft bedroom in the home. Abel had already converted the room over the garage to a woodworking shop, where he would put the finishing touches on furniture that he built to sell at a local store that offered consignment sales. The loft afforded him a little privacy, but not enough.

The Monday after Brendan moved in with his sister, she had already suspected there was something different about him. She spied on him as much as she could. She sneaked quietly up the stairs to the loft. Unfortunately, Brendan was surfing the net and was on a gay porn site when Kathy saw his laptop screen. She immediately freaked out.

"Oh, my God. You're a pervert!"

"Um, Kathy..."

"Shut up. How dare you watch that filth in my house? Have you been touching the children you pervert? I bet you have been doing things to them."

The irony of that question was lost on her, as she'd been doing exactly that herself.

"No, I'd nev..."

"I don't care. Pack your things and get out."

"But Mrs. Conklin..."

"Fuck Mrs. Conklin! Break into the old house and stay there. I don't care. Just get out."

"Kathy?"

"NOW. I know you understand English. Get your stuff and get OUT!"

Kathy went back downstairs. Brendan packed what he could in his duffel bag and backpack. He left some clothing behind but took everything else. When he got downstairs, Kathy was waiting by the open front door.

"I hope you have everything you need. You're not getting back into this house."

"I guess I do. Well, thanks for nothing."

"Fuck off, faggot."

Brendan left. Abel came home from work and at dinner and wondered where Brendan was.

"I kicked his faggot ass out. I caught him watching gay porn. I wasn't going to risk him corrupting the children."

"Where did he go?"

"I don't know, and I don't care."

Next Up - “More Problems In Newberry”