Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Outside the brightly decorated homes of Slagtree Court, fresh white snow fell gently in sheets that enveloped the quiet cul-de-sac. From outside, amid the chilly winter silence, the sounds of jovial conversation and singing could be heard, echoing from one little blue house at the center of the neighborhood. Frank and Sue Murphy were renowned within the community for their parties, and New Years Eve was no exception.

“Come on, everyone! The ball’s gonna drop soon!” Sue called out in a sing-song tone, making her way through the crowded house with yet another plate of finger foods. While the adults drank and made merry in the living room, the kids had retreated to Bill’s room, partially to get away from boring, unrelatable conversations about work and responsibility and politics, and out of fear of enraging the home’s formidable patriarch.

In Bill’s room, Kevin sat on the bed, scribbling away at some song lyrics while his younger siblings, and the Bonfiglio brothers kept busy, underfoot. Amid the chaos, Maureen stood on Bill’s bed, next to Kevin, rifling through Bill’s shelves. “Maureen! I told you to stay the fuck OUT of my STUFF!” Bill screamed, voice breaking in frustration as his cunning little sister continued to thumb through and subsequently disorganize his carefully arranged record collection. “I’m not touching your stuff, idiot, most of these are Kevin’s anyway!” Maureen tattled with a smirk, unceremoniously dropping several albums at her oldest brother’s feet. Fortunately immersed in his work, Kevin merely glowered at the teary eyed redhead and mumbled something under his breath about how Bill better watch his back.

Bill gritted his teeth and lunged at her, accidentally landing a kick to Kevin’s chest and knocking the notebook from his hands in the jump. “You are fuckin’ DEAD!” Kevin snarled as he joined the onslaught. Bill tried to best Maureen, tugging on her shirt in a futile attempt to throw her to the floor, but the short-lived brawl quickly devolved into Maureen and Kevin ganging up on poor Bill (as these fights usually did.) “OW! OW! MOOOM!” Bill cried out through the battery.

On the floor, by an abandoned “Tobacco Town” board game, Phillip Bonfiglio stared on uneasily, while his younger brother Anthony twirled around the room with half the pieces stuffed in his overalls pocket, babbling about as usual. “I believe I heard your mother calling!” Phillip declared quietly, but as usual there was nothing the soft-spoken boy could do but wait this fight out, like every other Murphy battle. “SHE NEEDS TO GET IN HERE! OWWW! MOOOM!” Bill wailed, kicking desperately at Kevin on one end, and slapping aimlessly at Maureen on the other.

From back in the crowded living room, Sue stared at the clock from the kitchen, setting up another tray of deviled eggs, it was 11:55, and none of the kids had come out yet, and there had been some suspiciously distressing noises coming from the room (no more than usual) but she knew better by now than to assume it was all harmless play. Glancing over to the couch, where Frank, Goomer, and Babe were happily chatting away over beers, she breathed a sigh of relief that it seemed the rowdy noise hadn’t caught her husbands’ attention.

Even Vic and Otto were hitting it off, with Otto glad of the upbeat playboy’s company, though he had thankfully been (at least a little) tamed by Vic Jr., who was presently stealing the show as his proud father took every opportunity to show him off. — The party had thus far gone off without a hitch, a perfect end to a stressful year, even Frank was genuinely enjoying himself. — Not wanting to involve her husband during one of his rare moments of contentment, Sue sighed and marched down the hall, armed with a wooden spoon from a nearby drawer. Before she could even reach the bedroom, a loud ‘crash’ could be heard from inside, and then concerning silence. “Damn it to hell.” She grumbled to herself, glancing over her shoulder; over the laughter, varied conversations, and volume of the TV, it still didn’t appear as though Frank had heard anything, for which she counted everyone lucky. Sighing once more, she pushed open the door, this time her “DAMN IT TO HELL!” Was indeed loud enough for Frank to hear.

“Oh Christ! Sue?!” Frank leaned back to see the kitchen empty, and light pouring out into the hall from Bill’s room. He rubbed his temple and gritted his teeth. “Those fuckin’ animals.” Preparing himself for the worst, he stomped down the hall to meet the chaos. Inside, the three older Murphy children sat on Bill’s bed, nursing varied locations where Sue had already whipped them with the spoon. “What the hell is this?! It’s New Year’s Eve, we’ve got the whole fuckin’ neighborhood in our living room, and all I asked for is ONE night of goddamn peace to close out thi—“ From behind the scorned kids, Frank noticed the shattered window. “What…the FUCK is this?” Frank seethed in an enraged monotone as his cheeks reddened.

Stomping over to the trio, he stared them down and pointed an accusing finger at the eldest. “Kevin Francis Murphy, what the fuck is wrong with you, you goddamn degenerate?!” Exasperated, Kevin leapt up from the bed. “ME?! YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT HAPPENED!” “Ohh, I don’t NEED to know what happened, I know I put YOU in charge, and this shit happened on YOUR watch.” Frank jabbed a finger at Kevin’s chest with each inflected word, until the surly teen smacked it away. “This is BULLSHIT! I was doing fine until these two cock-knots started fighting!” Kevin gestured to his younger siblings, only to earn a quick smack to the back of the head. “OW!” “I don’t wanna hear that kinda language in front of your sister!” Frank chastised. Maureen sat up straight and properly placed her hands in her lap with a smirk, sticking out her tongue. Bill rolled his eyes, sulkily slumped over with his arms propped against his knees. “Fuck me, I guess, as usu—OW!” He moped, receiving a smack himself. “What the fuck did I just say, you smug little bastard?!”

From out in the living room, the family heard the distinct sound of their neighbors counting down. “10…9…8…” “Ohhh, Frank, we’re gonna miss it!” Sue shook Frank’s shoulder and headed out to the living room. “7…6…5…” “Jesus Sue, it’s just, ugh. I’ll deal with you little shits after your mom’s thing, try not to fuck anything else up, if you can manage that for ten fuckin’ seconds!” Red in the face, Frank attempted to leave the room, only to step on Phillip’s board game, stabbing his foot on several small, and inconveniently sharp pieces. “4…3…” “MOTHER FUC—GAHHH! WHO THE FUC—OHHH! GOD DAMNIT!” Frank fell to the floor, holding his injured foot. “Ahh! I’m so sorry Billy! I gave your dad an ouchie!” Phillip wailed, though it was hard to miss the sadistic little smile that followed his feigned concern.

Anthony came toddling over to the defeated Frank, asking his favorite question on loop. “Um, you know what? You know what? You know what? You know what? Wheee!” Before tossing a handful of game pieces at Frank’s head, garnering some stifled laughter from his children. “2…1…HAPPY NEW YEAR!” From out in the living room, Frank heard the joyous sounds of his circle ringing in the New Year, while he sat, defeated on the floor of his son’s bedroom. Everyone was quiet, wondering what gears were turning in the sullen looking man’s head. From further down the hall, the sound of baby Megan stirring, then bursting into desperate wails rang out. “Does it ever fail? Happy fuckin’ New Year to Frank Murphy!” He seethed to himself, palm to his forehead. He took a moment to collect himself, breathed deeply, and walked out with a slight limp from his accident with the game board.

“Oh shit! I gotta call Alice! Mine should be the first voice she hears in the new year!” Kevin leapt up from the bed excitedly. Bill rolled his eyes. “Wouldn’t the first voice she heard be someone’s who’s actually at her house?” Immediately Kevin’s smile turned to visible confusion, then defeat, then irritation, in record time. “Agggghhhhh! Man!” He huffed. “Pfft. Numb nuts.” Bill snarked to himself, Kevin briefly peered back into the room to stare his brother down once more, earning a frightened stare.

As Kevin made his way to the kitchen, he nearly bumped into his mother. “Hey mom! Happy new year!” He smiled, Sue glanced down the hall, looking puzzled. “Um…Happy new year, sweetheart, where’s your dad?” Kevin gestured behind him with his thumb. “Megan started crying and bailed us out from his reign of bullshit. Dildo.” Sue placed a hand to her head. “Kevin. Don’t start.” “But mooooom!” He pouted. “KEVIN!” Sue approached with a deep breath and placed a hand on his cheek. “We are not even five minutes into a new year, I want you to focus on getting along with your dad, and—“ “I thought you said you wanted me to focus on my grades! Make up your mind! God!” Kevin whined. “KEVIN. I need you to do BOTH. Look, I will talk to your father about the window, we’ll get to the bottom of who’s really responsible, but YOU need to make an effort this year. I mean it.” “Pfft. I guess I’ll just take my punishment now, then.” Kevin scoffed, and his mother raised an eyebrow. “I thought you said it wasn’t you…” Kevin shrugged, “Yeah, it wasn’t…it was Maureen though. Chucked a lamp at Bill and she missed. Sooo, not a chance in hell of the one who did it really getting punished, right?” Sue looked on, shocked, and defeated. Partly because of the identity of the guilty party, and because in the back of her mind, she knew Kevin was probably right about the outcome. Sue sighed, kissed Kevin on the cheek and headed back to calm Frank’s nerves. “Say hi to Alice for me.” She said softly, disappearing down the hall.

Sue carefully opened Megan’s door, she smiled at the sight of Frank sitting in the rocking chair in the corner, looking down softly at his youngest child as he swayed slowly back at forth in the chair. As soon as he noticed his wife in the doorway, his gentle expression hardened into his usual brusque scowl. “I’m tellin’ you Susan I have HAD it with these fuckin’ kids.” Frank got up from the rocker and passed Megan off to his wife. “Frank, I talked to Kevin, and —“ “Oh, do not get me started on that delinquent little shit. And to think, I was having such a great night…Never fails, does it!?” Frank griped, gesturing to the window. “Does he have ANY idea how much a new fuckin’ window costs?!” “Frank…” “No Susan, he doesn’t! He’s got no respect, no ambition…God help us all if he ever has kids!” “Frank…” “If he does, we’ll probably be raising ‘em! Hard to feed a family when you can hardly fuckin’ READ…House full of thankless fuckin’ D students…high school dropouts…breakin’ all my shit…no respect for anything, like their no good—“ “FRANK! Maureen broke that window!” Sue screamed, immediately regretting it when Megan startled awake. “Oh, ohhh, don’t cry baby, mommy’s sorry.” She soothed, gently bouncing the three month old in her arms. “MAUREEN?! Oh I am gonna put that lyin’ little shit through that FUCKIN’ WALL!” She gave Frank a serious stare. “Frank, Kevin had nothing to do with it. I talked to him. I told him I really want him to make an effort with you. And I want—“ Frank scoffed, throwing his arms up in the air. “Ohhh, did you tell him what to do, Susan? Let me know how that shit works out. Hasn’t gotten us very far in the last fifteen fuckin’ years, but hey! Maybe THIS is the year Kevin turns it all around, huh?” Sue narrowed her eyes at him, picking up where she left off before the interruption. “…And I want YOU to do the same. Frank…you jumped all over him without all the facts. He thinks you won’t hold Maureen accountable becau—“ “You’re God damn right I won’t! Because I don’t believe it! It’s one lie after another from him and you know it! And even if she did, guess what? Kevin’s older. He should’ve been payin’ attention!” Sue sighed and placed a hand to her forehead.

Meanwhile, Kevin had dragged the phone out to the garage to get some much needed privacy for his phone call with Alice, oblivious to yet another conversation centered around him unfolding only a few rooms away.

“Yeah, totally. Oh! Did I tell you I passed algebra?! Well…remedial algebra, movin’ on to the real deal next semester.” Kevin stated proudly. “Wow, Kevin! I’m really proud of you! Who knows, maybe you’ll make it to advanced calculus with me by senior year!” Alice joked. “Nahhh, I dunno about that. You’re a great tutor, but I don’t think you’re THAT good!” Kevin laughed, seeking the opportunity to segue into a more appealing conversation topic. “Buuuut, you are that good at something else…” He raised his brows and chuckled suggestively, inwardly congratulating himself on the smooth transition. “Hmm well, you weren’t so bad yourself, Mr. Murphy.” Alice cooed. “EWWW! Mr. Murphy is my DAD! That’s so fucked up!” Kevin cringed, garnering laughter from both parties. “So…Do you wanna come over?” Kevin asked shyly. “Now?” Alice asked, sounding somewhat surprised. “Yeah! My parents wouldn’t know, they’ve got the whole neighborhood crammed in our living room. Plus it’ll keep me out of the DICK-tator’s war path.” “Ohh, sorry you’re fighting with your dad. So what’s up?” Alice inquired softly. “Oh man, where do I START?!” Kevin leaned back against something in the corner. “He busted my balls because Maureen broke Bill’s stupid window.” “Wow. Why’d he blame you?” “Tch! Fuck if I know! Something about me being “older” and therefore “responsible” for those little dildos.” Kevin complained. “That’s…unfortunate. That must’ve made you feel pretty bad, right?” As embarrassed as Alice acted about her father’s openness and desire to discuss emotions with everyone in his path, she certainly did a good job of it herself. “Yeah. But, that’s the breaks of being the oldest…I guess…I dunno. I’m always gettin’ blamed for something in this stupid house anyway.” From behind him, a familiar voice spoke up. “Growing up can be sooo hard.” “WHATTHESHIT!” Kevin exclaimed, whirling around in surprise. The garage light suddenly turned on to reveal Goomer standing watch. “Kevin?! Kevin! Are you there? Is someone there with you?” Alice’s voice chimed out faintly from the receiver. “Just a sympathetic friend. Oh. And your dad’s lookin’ for ya. Nice to hear ya again, Alice!” Goomer took his leave, newspaper in hand. On both ends of the conversation, Kevin and Alice looked repulsed.

Kevin walked back inside, rubbing the back of his head. “Ugh. Okay, well, I’ll see you later. If you decide to come over, you know where to find me! My parents’ house…in the basement…door’s outside…also inside?” Kevin took his shot one final time, laying down his hints, heavily. Alice chuckled on the other line. “Sure, Kevin. I’ll see you soon. Kevin?” “Yeah?” “I-I love y—“ “HEY!” Before Alice could finish that long-awaited sentence, someone yanked the phone from his hand and slammed it back against the wall with a harsh ‘ding!’ Kevin turned to see Frank standing before him, looking cross. “What the FUCK dad! I was talking to Alice!” Frank took Kevin by the arm and led him back to Bill’s room. “Yeah, and I’m the one payin’ the fuckin’ bill, and I say you’re done talking! You’ll see her at school anyway, provided you actually go.” “SUCH A DICK!” Kevin growled. Frank placed his hands on Kevin’s shoulders and sat him down forcefully on the bed alongside Bill and Maureen. Sue waited for them by the door, Megan in hand.

“So, is there anything you’d like to tell us about the window…Maureen?” Sue asked, a single hand on her hip as she balanced the babbling Megan in the other. On the floor, Anthony tugged at Sue’s pant leg eagerly. “Um, you know what? You know what? You know what? Maureen threw, threw the light and it went, it went outside and flew away!” Sue and Frank exchanged surprised glances, at the young boy, then at each other. “Huh, first useful thing outta his fuckin’ mouth.” Frank mumbled. “Mr. Murphy said the FUCK word!” Anthony giggled with delight, Sue rolled her eyes. “Nooo Anthony! If mother hears you swearing, I’ll get…the time-out corner.” Phillip shuddered. Frank smirked, gesturing at the awkward brothers. “See that?! Common knowledge! Older sibling’s job is to watch out for the kids! Little big-headed weirdo’s more of a man than you are, Kevin!” Kevin crossed his arms and slumped over.

“I think we’re getting a little off track.” Sue intervened. “Yes, Kevin should have been paying attention, but Maureen and Bill, the two of you are old enough to know better, and you shouldn’t have been fighting to begin with.” “It wasn’t MY fault! SHE was messing with my stuff!” Bill shouted, pointing accusingly at Maureen, who smacked his arm away. “Yeah, and YOU stole MY stuff!” Kevin yelled back. Bill punched Kevin in the side, Maureen pulled Bill’s hair, and Kevin landed two solid punches in Bill’s stomach before Frank grabbed both boys by the arm and pulled them apart. “HEY! I thought this shit was over and done with when we gave Kevin his own room! The fuck’s the matter with you maniacs?!” “When you gave Kevin his own room…” Sue seethed to herself. Frank stepped back and rubbed his forehead, Sue tagged herself in and stared her children down. “Maureen. Apologize to your brother.” “Me?! But Bill was the one who—“ “Ohh no, I didn’t do—“ “What the hell?! You were the one who—“ Instantly the arguments of the three children blurred together, and Sue was having none of it. “ALRIGHT THAT’S ENOUGH!” Sue stared down at Megan, who was oddly calm, perhaps getting used to the regular volume in the Murphy home. She breathed deep and calmed herself momentarily. “Okay, ALL of you, apologize to each other.” Three half-hearted ‘sorries’ blended together in a low grumble. “Maureen. The cost of the new window will be coming out of the Christmas money Pop-Pop gave you. Bill, you need to learn to share with your sister, and don’t get so possessive. And Kevin, you need to do what we ask, and make sure fights THIS bad don’t happen on your watch.” Sue leveled her verdict, and none of the kids looked too pleased with the outcome, but all somehow unanimously sensed that tonight wasn’t the night to keep pushing.

“Alright, alright, best way to solve the Bill and Kevin situation is exactly how we did the first time!” Frank clapped his hands together, seemingly rejuvenated from the brief break, and jumped back into leadership. “Kevin, get your ass to the basement, Bill, shut the fuck up and go to bed, Maureen…I know your brother can be frustrating and accidents happen, but daddy would appreciate it if you didn’t break anything else, okay angel?” Frank patted Maureen’s head and smiled. “Oh come on. OW!” Bill sulked until Frank gave a light slap to the back of his head. “Knock it off Bill! And tape a sheet over that window! We don’t have money to pay the ransom if some creep comes through and snatches ya!” Frank bellowed, slamming the door behind him. Bill’s eyes widened, this sort of thing wasn’t exactly out of character for his father to say, but the prospect was admittedly frightening. “I’ll help you Bill!” Phillip chimed from the floor with a smile. Bill grimaced slightly. The two had been so quiet, he’d briefly forgotten they were still there.

In the living room, Frank and Sue began the lengthy process of cleaning up as the last of the guests cleared out. Babe had unwittingly followed Vic and his baby back home, leaving Marie to collect the boys. “Anthonyyyyy! Time to come home with mamaaaa!” She sang out down the hallway. “Mommyyyyy!” Anthony giggled excitedly, rushing out to her from Bill’s room.

“Younger siblings are the worst…older ones too.” Bill groaned, struggling to get the cheap scotch tape to stick to both the wall and the sheet. “Nana Rose says all children are blessings.” Phillip smiled wholesomely, chubby arms beginning to shake from holding up the sheet. Bill rolled his eyes. “I can’t wait to get outta here…And, I think that should do it!” Bill replied. The boys stepped back and admired their handiwork.

Marie Bonfiglio appeared at the doorway, Anthony sleeping in her arms. “Philly! Time to go! Lord knows it was a terrible idea to let you stay up so late, you’re gonna be sooo cranky tomorrow!” Phillip blushed in frustration. “Mother! I’m a big boy now!” As Phillip climbed down from the bed, the sheet fell from the window, revealing the fresh destruction. Mrs. Bonfiglio looked horrified. “Bill Murphy! You let my Philly play with broken glass! How could you! Come on Phillip! I knew that red headed boy was a bad seed!” She held out her hand and gestured with her fingers for him to take it. “Goodnight, best boy-friend!” Phillip waved, earning a laugh on the way out from Kevin and Maureen. “PHILLY!” His mother snapped, yanking him out of sight. With that, the family was gone, and in a way it was a relief. Bill and Phillip were thick as thieves, but internally Bill knew that Phillip didn’t have much of a mind of his own when it came to their heart-to-hearts about life. A sharp wind blew snowflakes into the room, and Bill shivered, looking for more blankets to pile onto the bed. “Fuckin’ hate it here.” He bemoaned.

As Kevin turned to leave, Sue ruffled his hair. “Goodnight honey. Tomorrow will be a good day.” She encouraged. Kevin stared blankly at his mother. “Why? We goin’ somewhere?” Sue just continued to smile, pretending to be unshaken by her eldest son’s ignorance. Sue peeked over into the kitchen, loudly clearing her throat as a hint. From inside, Frank glanced over his shoulder at him. “Goodnight son.” Kevin narrowed his eyes expectantly. “Anything else you’d like to sayyy?” He encouraged. “Yeah, don’t fuckin’ sleep until noon tomorrow.” Kevin balled his fists and turned towards the kitchen, until Sue placed a firm hand on his shoulder, shaking her head. Kevin retreated to the door, slamming it shut behind him. “DICK!” Could be faintly heard outside, followed by the familiar metallic slam of his basement doors. Sue sighed and shook her head. “Happy new year.”

At the bottom of the basement stairs, Kevin kicked snow from his shoes and undressed for the night. “Hey Kevin.” A sultry voice called out softly in the darkness. “FUCK! Mr. Goomer?!” Kevin jolted, holding a shirt in front of himself. “Mr. Goomer? Kevin! It’s me!” Turning on the light, Kevin was delighted and relieved to see Alice, cozied up on his bed in a sunny yellow and orange night dress, and a bright red winter coat draped openly over her shoulders; a far more romantic and attractive look than the baggy tee shirt and hole-covered sweatpants he was putting on.

“Alice! Hi! I didn’t think you’d actually come!” Grinning ear-to-ear Kevin flopped down on the bed next to her, taking her in a warm embrace. “Phew! It’s cold in here!” Alice sighed, holding onto Kevin tighter. “Well, I can think of a few ways to…warm up.” Kevin mused suggestively. The pair sank beneath a pile of blankets, sharing kisses and gentle touches all the way down. “Do you have a rubber?” Alice asked in a whisper. “Oh yeah! Hang on!” Kevin leapt up and began rifling through his dresser. He was so sure he had at least one lying around. “No, no, no, NOOOO!” At this point, the panicked teen was frantically tossing clothes and personal effects from every drawer and shelf in hot pursuit, while Alice watched uncomfortably from the bed. “UGHHHHH! God damn it! Sorry Alice, the one we used last time was all I had…” Kevin slumped over, defeated. “You don’t…you don’t still have that one, do you?” He asked in desperation. Alice laughed and punched his shoulder gently. “EW! KEVIN! You can’t do that!” “Yeah I know. Sucks.” He flopped back down next to her, the mood officially killed. “Well, you can still sleep over, that’d be cool.” Kevin offered, turning his head to look at her, she smiled in return, moving in to kiss his forehead. “Goodnight Kevin. And…I meant what I said over the phone. You know, before your dad hung up on me.” She wrapped her arms around him, Kevin blushed in her warmth. “I…I love you too.” He said unsteadily, both glad and nervous at the opportunity. Kevin turned over to face the tiny window off to the side of the room. There was just enough moonlight left that snowflakes could be seen steadily falling in the peaceful night sky. “Happy new year.” He whispered, but Alice was already fast asleep.

Chapter Text

It was early morning, and the faintest cool breeze wafted through the air, in stark contrast to the speeding aircraft that deftly cut through at high speed. Outside the windows of the fighter plane, a bright sun shimmered through undulating layers of soft white clouds. The early sky was a stunning mix of colors, near psychedelic to the eye, and the dashing young pilot in the cockpit drank it all in with gusto. — Performing several aeronautical acrobatics, adrenaline coursing through him, he prepared to shoot back down to Earth, unbothered by the breakneck speed of his descent.

Below, a cheering crowd awaited him, and a large, grand banner with his name in golden letters gradually became more and more visible: “FRANK MURPHY!” Bringing the soaring aircraft to an improbably sudden and gentle landing, the young man stepped out from the plane, a red velvet carpet unfurling at his feet, leading to a beautiful young blonde standing with open arms. Striding proudly down the aisle, he waved, flowers and money rained down around him, paving his way into his lady’s arms. “Oh Frank! I love you!” She praised, enveloping him in a warm embrace. The young pilot dipped her low and planted a firm, passionate kiss to her lips, and the two waved at his adoring crowd. “FRANK! FRANK! FRANK! FRANK!” — “Frank! Frank! Hey, honey, it’s time to wake up!” With that, the voices of the crowd softly faded into Sue’s voice, and Frank Murphy, the valiant young pilot, only in dreams, woke up.

Staring at the ceiling, he sighed with disappointment. Sue rolled over and gently draped an arm over him, kissing his cheek. “You must’ve been having such a wonderful dream. You were smiling and everything, it was sweet.” Sue smiled and kissed him again. “Yeah. I was.” Frank lamented, staring blankly at the alarm clock on his nightstand, it was six o'seven in the morning, still mostly dark out, and the house was at least peaceful, being the first Monday since Christmas break that the kids were due back in school, he knew the onslaught was about to start.

Not a minute later the front door opened, Bill returning home from a frigid but dutiful morning on his paper route. Next would be Maureen, who rose like clockwork at quarter after six, Kevin would likely have to be woken up last minute, and everyone, everyday prayed that baby Megan would stay asleep amid the pandemonium.

Frank hopped in the shower while Sue set about laying out their clothes and tidying up the bed. “Frank?” She called in to him. “Yeah?” “You know…tomorrow’s a big day for you, is there anything special you wanna do? Any ideas?” She asked hopefully. At first, Frank was admittedly puzzled, until he remembered tomorrow was January 7th. “Oh. Right. My birthday. Hell if I know, Sue, it’s just another day, as far as I’m concerned. If anything, today’s a big day! Moving all my possessions to the cramped little shit box they’re calling my new office!” Frank crushed Sue’s inquiry surprisingly fast, reminding her of his recent demotion, and causing a bit of worry for her. “Frank, let’s…let’s focus on the good, for now, you’re turning forty, that’s a big milestone, honey! We should do something special, maybe go out?” Sue encouraged, waiting outside the shower for Frank to finish up. With the squeak of the faucet turning off, she handed him a towel, hoping her smile would entice a more favorable response. Frank dried his face roughly and put on his glasses. “What do you want me to suggest, Sue? Get the kids dressed up so they can complain about it all night, pile the family in that beat up fuckin’ eyesore in the driveway, go out for a nice dinner, that I then get to pay for?” He said straightforwardly.

Sue stood in the bathroom doorway, cross-armed. “You know I don’t mean that. I want you to do what you want to do! But it would be nice to be included…” “It’s just a day, Sue, it’s a Tuesday morning, I’m gonna have to get up and do the same shit routine I do every other morning. I’ll go to work, bust my ass, sit in traffic, come home and listen to my rotten kids bitchin’ about nothing, eat a delicious home-cooked meal, hopefully watch some Colt Luger, take a shit and fall asleep…maybe pepper in a little birthday action, but outside of that, it’s just a day.” Frank gave his wife a playful smack on the rear, smoothed his hair and checked his watch. “Maureen’ll be up any minute. I’m giving Kevin until six thirty before I go down there and put him through that basement wall. See you downstairs, honey.” Frank kissed Sue’s cheek and made his way downstairs, where sure enough, the sound of Maureen’s alarm clock echoed through the hall. “Rise and shine, princess!” Frank called out sweetly. Sue shook her head and sat at the vanity table. Frank had never made a big fuss about his birthday, and she’d long-guessed that had something to do with his father. But she wasn’t about to open that can of worms, again.

At the table, Bill and Maureen poured themselves some cereal and had wheeled the TV into the kitchen. A news program about the dangers of prostitution, gangs, and drugs preached grimly to the pair. “And after your pimp forced you to help mule his stocks of cocaine and methamphetamines, what happened?” A familiar obese prostitute with her face poorly censored answered straightforwardly. “Well after some of those bags busted in the ole hershey highway, I spent a week laid up in the hospital comin’ down offa one hell of a high, and my only son Quinc…Quimby, had to stay with my sister, who lives outta his school district, and my pimp made me work the next month free to recoup his losses. Eh, it was either that or get shot...again.” The reporter grimaced at the woman, gesturing to cut the camera. “Jesus Christ! Turn on a fuckin’ cartoon!” Frank interjected, shutting off the TV, Bill and Maureen groaning in protest.

Frank looked around, no sight of his eldest, and it was past six thirty. “Where’s your brother?” Frank asked, Maureen shrugged. “I don’t know, Daddy.” “Probably tuggin’ on his wing-wang.” Bill chuckled. “Gross! Why would he do that?!” Maureen dropped her spoon and flicked cereal at her brother. “BILL! If I hear you spewing that filth in front of your sister again, so help me God, I will put you through that FUCKING WALL!” Frank strode out the back door, snow crunching beneath his feet as he grumbled about his pant legs getting wet. “So, what are you gonna get daddy for his birthday?” Maureen asked innocently. Bill shrugged. “Why should I do anything for that asshole? YOU’RE the favorite, you figure it out!” Bill grabbed his lunch bag from the counter and headed for the door. Maureen stirred the remains of her cereal, deep in thought. “I don’t have any money cuz of the stupid window!” She pouted aloud to herself.

Outside, Frank knocked (kicked) at Kevin’s door, shivering without his coat. “Kevin Murphy! Up and attem! You’re gonna be late, you lazy little shit!” No response. Frank cupped his bare hands and blew into them several times, warming himself before grabbing hold of the frigid metal handles. “Dad, what’re you doing?” A familiar voice called out from the sidewalk. Frank whirled around to see Kevin and Alice, side by side on their bikes. “Where the fuck were you?!” Frank asked, half surprised at his laziest child being up and alert at such an early hour. Kevin approached and brushed aside him to unlock the doors. “I slept over at Alice’s last night. I just forgot my report.” “You what?” Frank asked, somewhat surprised by the openness of Kevin’s response, he followed him down the stairs, until meeting Alice’s gaze from the sidewalk. “Nice to see you, Alice!” He waved sweetly, she gave a quiet smile and a waved in return.

Frank followed his son downstairs and shut the doors behind them. “Kevin, what do you mean you ‘slept over’ at Alice’s last night? Do her parents know about this?” Frank prodded, as Kevin walked the room, collecting disorganized sheets of paper, smoothing many of them out for presentability. “Yes! God! And we didn’t even do anything!” Kevin exclaimed, throwing an arm up defiantly. Before he could head back upstairs, Frank placed a firm hand on his shoulder. “Hey! Don’t think we’re done with this discussion, young man. I’m not having everyone in town think I’m some fuckin’ sleazeball that’s okay with his kid shacking up with the whole God damn neighborhood!” “Alice doesn’t even live in this neighborhood!” Kevin scoffed, brushing Frank’s hand away. “YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN, YOU SMART MOUTHED LITTLE SHIT!” Frank shouted at him from the stairs. “DICK!” “Bye Mr. Murphy!” Kevin and Alice shouted back, respectively. “HAVE A GREAT DAY, GOD DAMNIT!” Frank screamed, kicking the doors shut.

Frank rubbed his forehead and took a long, deep breath, until a familiar and unwelcome noise made itself known. “Hey, hey, hey, Frank!” From just over the fence, Vic’s cheerful bravado echoed through the frigid morning air, instantly adding to Frank’s burgeoning headache. “Of course.” He whispered sarcastically to himself, but outwardly mustered the calmest, “Morning Vic” that he could. Looking up, he noticed the handsome blonde, clad in a vulgar bright red coat, trimmed in lush white fur. It almost hurt Frank’s eyes to look at something so bright, and boldly contrasting to the soft white snow. — In his arms, a happily sleeping Vic Jr. wore a miniature version of the same coat. It was ridiculous to waste so much money on finery for an infant, Frank thought.

“So a little birdie named Susie Q tells me you’re turning Foxy Forty tomorrow?” Vic prodded with a wink. “Uh, yeah. Yeah, tomorrow’s the big day.” Frank shrugged, somewhat annoyed at another instance of Sue sharing his personal business with perhaps his least favorite neighbor. “That’s good shit, man! You know that’s one of the things about the “Old Vic” I miss when I get down. Man sure threw some wicked ragers.” Vic gave a nostalgic half-smile and stared off at nothing, until Vic Jr. stirred awake with a contented smile. Close by, the chime of a bike bell echoed in the crisp air as Bill and Maureen prepared to leave. “Bye daddy!” “See you.” The pair shouted, Frank waved them off with a smile before turning his attention back to Vic. “Yeah, those were some good times, but, you know, I wouldn’t trade this for all the blow, babes, and booze in the world. Ahh, there ain’t nothin’ like bein’ a daddy, right, Frank?” Vic beamed. “Yeah, yeah, it’s great. Look, I gotta go. Good talk.” Frank said flatly, checking his watch and giving his neighbor a half-hearted wave goodbye.

Frank stomped back to the house and knocked the snow off his shoes, quietly ranting about having to endure Vic’s irksome positivity so early in the morning. In the kitchen, Sue sat at the table feeding Megan, Frank’s freshly bagged lunch waiting for him on the table. “Good morning, angel!” Frank cooed at the baby, and quickly turned to put his coat on. “What was all that about?” Sue asked. “Just. Vic.” Frank rolled his eyes, but somehow, Sue always knew when something else was amiss. “Frank.” She pressed. “Did you know Kevin slept over at Alice’s last night, but they ‘didn’t do anything?!’” Frank narrowed his eyes, imitating Kevin in a mocking tone, coarsely pulling his coat buttons through the holes. “What? You’ve long since warned me that Kevin’s getting to ‘that age,’ and—“ “That’s not the point, SUSAN. Whatever Kevin does with his…personal time, I don’t wanna know. But what I don’t want, is the whole God damn neighborhood thinkin’ I’m okay with my kid sneakin’ off whenever he damn well pleases to chase…Oh shit, Sue I’m late. Fuckin’ Kevin!” Frank quickly grabbed his lunch, kissed Sue and Megan, and prepared to leave. “I love you, have a wonderful day, I’ll see you tonight—we’ll pick this back up, later!” Sue sighed and shook her head. “It’s gonna be World War 3 in this house tonight, sweetie.” She mused tiredly to the baby, only half-joking.

Kevin slammed his locker shut and tossed his history books inside with abandon, sifting through the wads of graffitied paper and assorted junk to find his math book. He stared at the cover with a mix of annoyance and uncertainty. “Algebra: Level 1.” A soft and familiar hand on his shoulder soothed his nerves a bit. “You’ll do great, Kevin! Algebra is SO easy once you get the hang of it.” Alice said reassuringly. “And, since you’re not down the hall in remedial anymore, we can walk to class together.” Kevin shrugged. “Yeah, but you’re still in a different class!” He whined, staring at the calculus book in Alice’s arms. “We’ll never have another class together…unless you get really dumb.” He joked, Alice laughed and gave a playful punch to his arm. “I keep telling you, you’re NOT dumb, Kevin! Everyone has their thing, and your math is improving. You know I—“ Alice stopped in her tracks, eyes wide as she placed a hand to her mouth. Kevin turned to face her, gently patting her shoulder. “Hey! Alice, are you okay?!” She nodded quickly and gave herself a moment. “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. I’ve just been having these really bad nauseous spells over the past few days.” “Maybe something you ate?” Kevin suggested innocently. “As long as it isn’t the flu or something. I can’t afford to miss a bunch of classes.” Alice muttered groggily.

Over-head, the bell rang, and the two glanced at their classroom doors at the opposite ends of the long hallway. Alice took Kevin’s cheek in her hand and kissed him. “Good luck!” Kevin blushed happily and waved to her. “You’re great, I-I love you!” He simpered, growing fondly accustomed to giving and receiving those words. Outside the door, he took a deep breath and entered.

The classroom was a world apart from the bleak and broken remedial room. Evenly spaced desks with minimal graffiti, no broken windows, and a slightly less depressing teacher than Mr. Durkin scribbling his own name on the board: Mr. Parker. Kevin smiled to himself and took a seat by the window. Taking out his notebook, Kevin triumphantly scribbled some self-indulgent notes. “Dear Future Rock Historians, today, January 6th 1975, I, Kevin Murphy, begin my journey to conquer algebra…for the second time.” A sudden shadow blocked the light from the windows and Kevin stared upward in surprise. The teacher, a tall, red-headed man with a rather military haircut stood cross armed over-head. “Ah, Kevin Murphy, Mr. Durkin warned me you’d be darkening my doorway this year!” He joked, earning some awkward chuckles from the rest of the class. “Why don’t you put all that away and we can get started…Rockstar?” He coaxed, ruffling Kevin’s hair. Kevin blushed with embarrassment and pulled away in a cross-armed pout, as the awkward laughs from his peers turned genuine. “Dildos.” He thought petulantly to himself as he turned away from the rest of class.

At the airport, Frank packed up the last of his personal effects from his old desk. The last thing to go was the shiny brass “Frank Murphy: Chief of Ground Services” plaque from the front of the desk. Defeated, he slid the plaque out from its secure prop and tossed it into one box. Hands on his hips, he stared out the windows, last look at the outside he’d get at work for awhile. In silence, he watched the planes taking off, and fleetingly found himself consumed by snippets of the dream he’d had the night before. “Heya Frank.” An irritatingly familiar monotone called out from behind. Frank closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Alaquippa Ed.” “Actually, it’d be Ala-Hican Ed.” “Jesus take me now.” Frank groaned. “You look like you could use a hand, friend.” Ed smiled, gesturing to the pair of boxes on Frank’s desk. “Yeah, thanks, Ed.” Frank said, picking up the heavier of the two. Ed took the other and matched Frank’s stride, walking down the long hallway, and several flights of stairs, each floor more dismal and disheveled than the next, until they finally reached a small row of offices, with a single flickering light in the hallway.

“Home sweet home. But really, this is your new office. Loading Supervisor is still an important job, you know.” Ed presented flatly, opening the door with an audible squeak. “Uh, thanks, Ed.” Frank entered the gray, sparse little room and placed his box on the desk. It wasn’t as bad as all that, but it was a far cry from the spacious office he’d inherited from Pogo (after it’d been completely gutted, of course.) There were no windows, the light was dim, and a faint but noticeable musty odor permeated the air. But he could work with this. At the very least, it wasn’t saturated with layers of sweat, grease, or abandoned remains of what he guessed used to be food, like his hand-me-down office from Pogo.

Ed placed his box on the desk next to Frank’s, and patted him thrice on the shoulder, sympathetically. “We’re glad to have you, Frank. Remember, there are no small parts on the Ala-Hican stage.” He encouraged before taking his leave. Frank sighed deeply and leaned back against the desk, taking in his new surroundings.

Frank tipped one box over and began the arduous task of trying to mimic his old office in his cramped new haunt. He was never one to clutter his workspace with a tremendous amount of tacky tchotchkes, but his Mohican Airways souvenirs had to stay; his own subtle “fuck you” to Alaquippa.

The most important thing were the photos of his family, arranged just-so on the far-right of the desk. With no window to look out of, he could at least have a reminder of why he put up with all this nonsense. First was he and Sue’s wedding photo, followed by a picture of a rather miffed Maureen in her Honeybee Scouts uniform, Bill and his hockey team, with Coach Fitzy’s head strategically cropped out, a blank floral frame Sue picked up at a yard sale, which gave Frank pause to write a note, reminding himself to procure a photo of baby Megan. And finally, a photo of Kevin from last school year. For some reason the sullen photo of his oldest child, feigning an attempt at a smile, made him sad. — Kevin had been difficult for most of his life, always butting heads with his parents, always questioning authority and slacking off. Part of Frank knew that Kevin was his father’s son; he, himself had put up similar fights with his own father at Kevin’s age, but still. Kevin had it leaps and bounds easier than Frank had, so why was he so combative? So insistent he had it all figured out in spite of his frighteningly limited ambitions and life experience?

The words weren’t spoken often in the Murphy house, but Frank did love him, though he sometimes worried that Kevin didn’t believe that. Frank wiped the glass over the photo with his tie and sat it among the others. “This is why you do it, Frankie Boy. Thankless fucks.” He said with a smile.

Kevin watched the clock above the blackboard make the painfully slow crawl to eight thirty. It was eight twenty eight now, and Mr. Parker’s lecture had faded off into the background about half an hour ago. Kevin scribbled away at his notebook, these days his drawings were more in tune with life, than with his rock and roll dreams. — Sketches of Alice, some with exaggeratedly large breasts, littered the pages, outnumbering the scant notes he had taken that were actually pertinent to the lesson at hand. He smiled to himself, until the loud siren of the bell snapped him out of his daydreaming. Beaming at the thought of meeting up with Alice again, even if it was just for a few short minutes on the way to their next classes was the highlight of his days, this year.

He quickly began packing up his things, as classmates exited around him, Mr. Parker cheerfully congratulating everyone on a good first day, that is until the last student to leave strode past his desk. “Mr. Murphy. I’d like to have a word with you.” Mr. Parker said sternly, Kevin widened, then rolled his eyes as he stopped in his tracks at the threshold of the door. The freedom of the hallway inches ahead. But Alice was nowhere in sight, so he guessed he could spare a moment. “Yeahhh?” He asked, his apparent inconvenience firmly presented in the tone. “Kevin. I noticed you weren’t paying attention during the lesson today. Care to explain what was so enthralling that you just had to slack off on the first day?” He asked. Kevin wasn’t sure what ‘enthralling’ meant, but as usual, he immediately jumped on the defense. “I was SO paying attention! Took notes and everything!” He retaliated with defiantly crossed arms. Mr. Parker held out a hand, smiling. “Well then, would you care to show me your notes? If it’s true what you say, I’d be happy to give you an apology.” Kevin looked astonished, clearly a bit cornered in his half-truth. “I, uhhh…here.” He offered the notebook, cringing at what he knew would be found there, and prepared himself for the teasing. At least the classroom was empty, unlike when Mr. Durkin called him out. Mr. Parker flipped through the boy’s notes, and there were indeed some notes, but the real captivator of his attention was difficult to ignore. The barrel-chested man laughed heartily and closed the book, sliding it back across the desk, Kevin snatched it up in feverish embarrassment, as if he’d just had his private diary invaded. “Well. You did take SOME notes, I’ll give you that. But I want you to take in all the material. I won’t give you a detention, since you did…sort of tell the truth.” Kevin’s eyes widened in surprise at the man’s fairness. “But, everybody gets one in this classroom, Mr. Murphy. If I catch you off-task again, it’ll be one week’s detention, understood?” He stated. Kevin nodded in surprising compliance.

Mr. Parker grabbed his bag from the floor behind the desk and rifled through it, pulling out a sheet of paper and sliding it across the desk. “Now. I want these problems solved by tomorrow. Each one covers the equations and solution methods we discussed today, so I’m sure you’re equal to the task!” He winked. Outside the classroom door, both caught sight of Alice waiting patiently. “Ah! Miss Goldman, it’s been quite awhile! How’s the riveting world of calculus treating you?” He asked happily. Alice pushed her glasses back up to her face and chuckled nasally. “So far, so good, Mr. Parker. It’s starting tough right out of the gate, but I like a challenge.” Mr. Parker nodded proudly. “If you ever need a tutor, Kevin, Miss Goldman comes with my strong recommendation!” Kevin walked over to his girlfriend and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “Oh, I know! Alice already tutors me…she’s also my girlfriend.” He bragged. Mr. Parker crossed his arms and nodded. “Don’t you keep this one too distracted, Miss Goldman! I think he’s got what it takes, but it’s gonna take everything he’s got!” He laughed deeply at his own quip. Kevin rubbed the back of his head, this feeling was near completely unfamiliar, but he liked it. “Well…thanks, Mr. Parker, but, I think we’ve gotta…” The teacher waved at the pair and urged them on their way. “Yes, yes, don’t be late to your next classes. Kevin, I’ll see you, and your completed work tomorrow, Alice, have a wonderful year, and nice to see you again.” He smiled, Alice waved and wished him well, also.

“Oh man, I’m the only one who got fuckin’ homework on the first day!” Kevin whined, looking at the already slightly crumpled worksheet before stuffing it into his bag. Alice placed a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. “You’ll be fine. I’m relieved you got Mr. Parker, too. He’s a really nice guy, a lot more patient than Mr. Durkin.” She said encouragingly. “Yeahhh, still sucks though.” Kevin griped, leaning up against the stair railing. “So, where’re you headed next?” He asked. “English! First floor, next to the library. What about you?” Alice leaned back, gently pressing her hip against him. “Uhhh…I forget? I think I have my schedule somewhere.” He patted down his jeans, to no avail, but finally remembered the note folded in one of his vest pockets. Much of the typing was grayed out due to being folded up and abandoned in his pocket since before Christmas break. “Looks like I’ve got…HA! English!” His heart leapt for joy, until Alice pointed out the “remedial” in front of it. Kevin groaned loudly, Alice patted him gently on the shoulder, dragging him down the stairs with her at the chime of the second bell. “It’s alright! The remedial English classroom is in the library, so we can still walk to class together, plus I think we actually have the same lunch period this semester!” She encouraged, Kevin excitedly pumped his fist. “YES!” Alice blushed and smiled, walking him to the entrance of the library, and sharing a kiss before departing again. Walking backwards towards her destination, she blew Kevin a kiss. “Until we meet again, but parting is such sweet sorrow!” Kevin waved back clumsily. “Yeah! I’ll see you in a bit! I love you!” He reveled in every time he got to say those words.

The third bell toned and the halls emptied out. “Shit!” Kevin exclaimed, rushing down towards the library doors, promptly running straight into the locked one and falling backwards to the floor. The unlocked door opened sharply, and a stout, short old woman stared him down irritatedly, a near permanent scowl imbedded on her tacky, bright red lips. “Ah, Kevin Murphy, we meet again.” She droned tensely. “You’re late.” Kevin leapt up and collected himself. “I-I’m sorry Mrs. Clark, I would’ve been on t-“ She reached up and symbolically silenced him with a raised hand. “No excuses. That’s detention for the rest of the week.” She leveled her judgement mercilessly, and nudged the shocked student through the open door. Kevin glanced back up at the classrooms at the tops of the stairs, surprised at the internal notion that sitting in a math class seemed almost preferable. At least the non-remedial classes didn’t treat everyone like undeserving delinquents. The door closed behind him and he followed Mrs. Clark to the remedial English room.

Located near the back of the library, even the walk to the dank little room was heralded by a sharp change in atmosphere; tall, well organized shelves of books gave way to mostly empty, unused shelves hidden in the back, mostly populated by books that had seen better days, trash, and crude graffiti, and the unmistakable odor of cigarette smoke hung heavily in the already musty air.

Just beyond those depressing shelves lay the equally depressing remedial English classroom; like Mr. Durkin’s room, it was dingy and in some degree of disrepair. Cracks on the walls and chalkboard, sporadically placed desks laden with graffiti, a few missing chairs, and most abysmal of all, the only windows were narrow, rectangular and prison-like. So high up that only scant shreds of sky could be seen when sitting. It sort of reminded him of his basement window. “Sit down, Mr. Murphy! Or do you want another week?” Mrs. Clark chided, Kevin tossed his bag to the floor, and slumped down in a seat off to the corner, behind a few other students. He ran his fingers across some of the carvings on the desk and stared blankly at the front of the room. The uplifted feeling he’d received from his unexpectedly positive reprimand from Mr. Parker was instantly dashed, and a familiar pessimism set in.

Back in the Murphy house, Sue sat folding laundry on the couch as baby Megan babbled to herself. For some reason she couldn’t shake the incomplete conversation Frank had left her with earlier that morning. — Kevin was growing up, and he certainly seemed to be more than just a little smitten with Alice, but as much as she tried to encourage him as a mother, she knew in the back of her mind that Kevin wasn’t always the brightest, or most thoughtful planner. “If something did happen, would he know to use a condom? Or—Wait…does he even know about condoms? God damnit Frank…still can’t believe you never gave your oldest son the talk…” Sue placed a hand to her head, like the rest of the perpetually stressed out household, the last thing she needed was more cause to worry. She glanced down at Megan, who was currently fixated on a “Nickel & Pickle” commercial on TV, and smiled before checking her watch. “It’s just about nine, wanna go see if Vic and all your new friends are ready for class?” She asked sweetly, dangling a solo sock for the laughing baby.

Almost as if on cue, there was a knock at the door. “Coming, just a second!” Sue called out, quickly dressing the baby in some winter clothes. Sue didn’t even make it to the door before taking immediate notice of the tall, brawny man waving at her from the window, then holding up his baby’s hand and waving at her. Opening the door, she smiled at the two, Megan wiggling about in delight in her grasp. “Hi Vic, we were just about to see if you wanted to head down to the dojo together!” Sue offered. “Nah, Susie Q, I’m afraid it’s a no-can-do today! I was just stoppin’ off before me and this lil’ son of mine head out on our trip!” Vic gestured behind him to his suped up car (now sporting a flame-embellished baby seat.) Sue was a bit taken by surprise, to say the least. “Oh. A trip sounds nice, where’re you off to?” She inquired, trying to brush off her disappointment. “We’ve got a whooooole thing planned! Ringin’ in the new year right, gonna get Vic Jr. here a few stamps on his little baby passport.” He bragged, though without malicious intent, as always. “Oh. Wow. That’s uh…nice?” Sue grimaced. “Yep! Headin’ off to seek some cool vibes in warmer weather. Serious bummer that we’ll be missing Frank’s big day, but you know how it is, gotta go where the wind takes you…But you take care now, Susie Q! My friends’ll still be in class, so you run along, those little beans need ya! See you when the grass is green!” Vic whipped around and nearly sprinted back to his house, with a halfhearted wave from Sue. “Have fun.” She whispered flatly. She did have to admit though, it was amusing to look back on past Vic leaping into his car without a care in the world and speeding off to God knows where at all hours of the day, compared to present-day Vic, carefully struggling with a baby seat just like the rest of them. She looked down at Megan and shut the door behind them. “Well, I guess you’ll just have to settle for me on the ride down.” She joked.

Back at school, Mrs. Clark has scrawled some words and definitions on the board for the students to copy, yet another point of self-consciousness for Kevin. But, he was legitimately trying to do what she asked. Suddenly a ruler slapped down on the corner of his desk, bringing his hunched form to a sudden and sharp upright position. “Mr. Murphy! As usual, your penmanship is a total embarrassment!” Mrs. Clark criticized shrilly, tapping a ruler steadily against her desk. A few of the other students laughed or offered insults in response. Kevin squinted at the teacher, face getting hot with anger. “Nothing to say for once? Start again. I want sixty lines by the end of class, young man!” Kevin shot up defensively. “What?! We don’t even have an hour left in class! How the fuck am I supposed to—“ “BE QUIET!” Mrs. Clark frightened the whole unruly lot. Approaching Kevin closer, she slapped a hand to his notebook, crumbling the page as she stared him down until he slumped back into his seat. “You’ll sit here for as long as it takes you to get it right.” She commanded, walking back to the front of the room with a noticeable waddle.

As she walked away, Kevin felt it, the familiar discomfort of anxiety, anger, and threatening tears welling up inside him. He leapt from the desk, shoving his work from it in a flurry of litter. “FUCK THIS! I’m outta here!” He shouted. Earning “oooo’s” and cheers from the others. Mrs. Clark stared, mouth agape as he headed for the door. “S-sit down! You can’t just! KEVIN MURPHY! YOU COME BACK HERE THIS—“ He took a deep breath as he shut the door, the old crone’s wailing mostly disappearing behind it. He wiped the tears from his eyes before they had a chance to fall and headed towards the main doors of the library.

Outside, the hurried rush of shoes on the polished laminate floors could be heard drawing closer. Out the windows he watched as the school nurse, accompanied by an unfamiliar girl, rushed towards the classrooms next to the library. Sauntering out of the room, draped in a towel, was Alice. Kevin gasped and pushed through the door, thankfully remembering which was the unlocked one. “ALICE!” He cried, nearly knocking over the approaching janitor and his mop bucket. “One side, you little prick!” He snarled at the worried boy. Alice stared wearily up at him, a smear of vomit and lipgloss stained her mouth and cheek. “Oh my God! Are you okay?!” He doted, grabbing her hands, immediately taken aback by the overwhelming odor of vomit emitting from her, and the adjacent classroom. “I…ugh…I’m so embarrassed!” She groaned. The nurse patted Alice’s shoulder and gently ushered her forward. “Now, now, it’s nothing to get upset about. Let’s get you cleaned up and call home, okay?” She said kindly. Looking over to Kevin, she frowned forcefully. “Young man, why aren’t you in class?” Kevin stood firm and stared her down challengingly. Alice finally spoke up, squeezing Kevin’s hand. “It’s okay, I’m going home, but we’ll talk later.” Kevin watched in defeat as the nurse walked her away. “MOVE!” The nurse called back to him. The boy turned on his heel and made a break for the front doors, muttering some incomprehensible swear-laden nonsense about the perils and injustices of his life at the hands of ‘dildos.’

Outside, he abrasively pulled his bike from the rack and made haste towards home. He didn’t even bother to grab his jacket from his locker, which he immediately regretted as the frigid winter air stung against him; he didn’t dare re-enter the building for it, though. Feverishly he rode as fast as he could down the mostly empty streets of Rustvale, until the shops and rented office buildings gave way to familiar neighborhoods.

Turning onto Slagtree Court with a deep lean of his bike, he came to a stop just as his mother was pulling out of the driveway. “SHIT!” He exclaimed, forcing himself to an ungraceful stop. Sue turned around in the driver’s seat and threw the vehicle in ‘park.’ “Oh man.” Kevin mused to himself as she exited the car with a loud ‘slam’ of the door. “Hey mom.” Kevin looked up at her sullenly, shivering from the cold. Sue glowered at him, cross-armed and frowning sternly. “What the hell are you doing here, Kevin? It’s half past nine! I thought we just had another discussion about you finally taking school seriously this year!” Sue left nothing to the imagination, and Kevin looked down with a pout. “I hate school. Fuckin’ dildos.” He groaned quietly.

Sue ran a rough hand through her bangs and scoffed. “Kevin! I’m sick of it always being somebody else’s fault with you! Every year you immediately fritter away these opportunities, and…where’s your coat?” Sue asked, her motherly concern briefly overriding the scholastic disciplinarian. Kevin rubbed his freezing arms. “I left it at school.” Sue rolled her eyes. “Well that’s just great, Kevin. And you never answered me! What happened? Did you get kicked out today, or did you just —“ “Alice is REALLY sick, mom! We went to school together, ask dad, he saw us! A-and, math went really good, I got Alice’s old teacher who wants us to study more together and stuff, and he likes my notes, but then I had to go down to stupid fuckin’ remedial English in the back of the shitty library, then Mrs. Clark, KING of the DILDOS made fun of my writing, and, and Alice got sick and she…and she…I dunnooooo…” Sue stared at her oldest child at a loss. She could hear in his voice and long winded rambling that he was getting overwhelmed, but she had little experience soothing him when this happened; he always wanted Frank. She softened her tone and wrapped him in a gentle hug. “It’s okay…it’s okay. Look. I won’t make you go back to school today…do NOT tell your father! But I’m not gonna let you just sit at home and do nothing all day. If you’re not being productive in school, you’re gonna come be productive with me! Go get one of your dad’s old coats and meet me in the car. We can talk more on the way to baby class.” Sue offered, gently rubbing Kevin’s cheek. “Um…cool?” He muttered, following his mother’s direction.

As soon as she heard the front door close, she reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a cigarette. “I’m telling you, your big brother is gonna put one of us in the ground someday soon.” She said, staring at Megan, playing contentedly with her feet from her car seat, oblivious to the discussion that has unfolded around her. If only things could stay this simple, for just a little while longer.

At the airport, Frank typed away at his desk. He was getting good with a typewriter, though it felt a little emasculating to be relegated to essentially secretarial duties with this new position. Like a well oiled machine, he typed a few lines, glanced over at Ed’s handwritten training schedule, and copied it word-for-word in type. Glancing at the schedule made him feel more like an outsider, not just because Mohican was gone, but because every name on the training roster was unfamiliar. Red, Carl, Rosie, all had moved on to other pursuits. And here he was, a holdout, the one longstanding name left among a list of strangers. For a fleeting moment, he was even sorry not seeing Pogo darken his doorway.

Suddenly the phone off to the side of his desk rang, echoing loudly in the still mostly empty office. Frank rubbed his strained eyes and answered. “Ala-Hican Airways, your family in the sky. This is Frank Murphy, Loading Supervisor and new-hire training coach speaking, how may I help you?” Frank huffed and closed his eyes, as soon as the voice on the other end presented itself from Huey Long High School, he knew exactly what was coming. “Fucking Kevin.” He seethed quietly to himself, slamming the phone down harshly.

In the car, Kevin sat unbuckled and draped over the front seat, making faces for Megan. Sue smiled, enjoying how nicely Kevin got on with the baby, and although she hated to dampen the moment with a rather sobering conversation, she knew she had to. Better her than Frank in matters like these.

“So, Kevin. You were saying Alice got sick at school? I hope she’s doing alright, now.” She began. Kevin rested his face against his fists and sighed. “Yeahhhh. I dunno, she seemed a little off a couple times this morning, but before that she was okay, I think. When I left the nurse was gonna call her dad and have him come get her.” Sue bit her lip before making the choice to continue pressing. “So…Alice’s dad…is he…is he comfortable with you spending the night at their house?” Kevin could’ve been knocked over with a feather, but as he so often did, he was able to (try) and flip the script quickly. “I…I uh…I can’t believe dad TOLD YOU that! S’none of his fucking business what I do anyway…and I wasn’t DOING anything!” The teen flopped back and crossed his arms, engulfed in the oversized sleeves of one of Frank’s old coats.

“Kevin. I’m serious. Alice seems like such a nice girl, and your father and I are so glad you have someone special in your life. But I want you to be careful, and I want you to be respectful of her family’s rules. I think it’s pretty safe to assume Alice’s parents wouldn’t be too happy if they found out you were sleeping together.” “MOOOOOM!” Kevin whined. “I…I mean having sleep-overs together.” Sue corrected, attempting to alleviate some of the awkwardness. As the car came to a gentle stop, Kevin quickly threw open the door. “Oh, thank God we’re here.” He breathed impatiently. Sue collected Megan and met Kevin at the door. “We won’t discuss this in class, but I meant what I said.” Sue finalized sternly. Kevin nodded once in understanding. “Good! So, tell me all about your math class, it’s good to hear it’s going well!” Sue cheerfully shifted the conversation as they made their way inside and waited for the other parents to arrive.

Inside, Kevin sat on the padded floor mats and spread Frank’s coat out for Megan to lay on. The baby waved her hands around in the cozy sherpa interior, warm from being freshly worn. Sue bustled about, setting up activities and trying to carefully take in Kevin’s story; it was exceptionally rare he had a good story to tell about school. “And Mr. Parker was really cool about it. He didn’t bust my balls or anything! Not like Mr. Durkin…or Mrs. Clark…or Mr. Hackett.” Kevin listed off all of the remedial teachers and their less than stellar methods of dealing with their classes. Sue raised a brow. “That…doesn’t seem very effective in getting struggling kids to learn.” She replied under her breath. “But Mr. Parker thinks I have what it takes, so…that’s good!” Kevin smiled, his mother smiled back, pleased to see his confidence a little lifted.

“I’m glad. But just remember what we talked about. No more cutting class, and no more fighting with your teachers, okay?” Kevin rolled his eyes. “Fine.” “I know it’s hard, honey, but you only make things more difficult for yourself when you go out of you way to make these teachers dislike you…There!” Sue finished lining up the activity kits and took a seat on an exercise ball next to Kevin, watching him entertain Megan effortlessly. “You’re so good with her.” She beamed. “It’s pretty easy, she likes good music, so she usually stays pretty calm with me.” Kevin bragged, not bothering to look at Sue as he played with Megan’s feet. “Well, I’m proud of you. I bet you’re gonna be a great dad someday.” With that statement, it hit her: Frank’s birthday! “Oh! Ohhh my God. I almost forgot. Kevin! Did you get your dad anything?” Sue panicked. Kevin looked up at her, puzzled. “For what?” He asked, Sue leapt up from the ball and slapped her forehead. “Jesus, Kevin! For his birthday…his fortieth birthday!” Kevin winced. “Ew. Dad’s forty?!” His mother rolled her eyes.

Meanwhile, at Alfred P. Southwick Elementary School, a similar conversation was unfolding (separately) between the middle Murphy siblings and their usual companions: Maureen with Bridget, and Bill with Phillip and Jimmy. — As the bell rang and classes changed, Maureen rushed to the third floor girls’ bathroom, with it being the least trafficked bathroom, she knew Bridget liked to sneak off there to smoke whenever the opportunity arose.

Pushing the door open with a long, resounding ’creeeeeak’ Maureen tapped a rhythmic code onto the second stall, sure enough, her thuggish cohort was there. “Aye! Maureen! What’s shakin’ bitch? Just a sec, lemme finish this smoke.” The girl lisped, blowing a hazy cloud of smoke up over the stall. “Eh, nothing. I’m just stuck on what to get my dad for his birthday. Stupid Bill was no help. Go figure.” Maureen rolled her eyes. Bridget flipped her hair over her shoulder and leaned back against a wall, lighting another cigarette.

“Ah, that’s EASY. Just get your old man the same thing I get mine every year!” Maureen smiled hopefully. “Really? What do you get your dad.” “Nothing! Fuck that lazy shit-eatin’ booze-bag!” Bridget laughed. “It’s different…I like my dad. Well…sometimes. I dunno.” Maureen hugged her knees and sank to the floor, deep in thought. Bridget took another deep drag and ran a hand through her strawberry blonde curls. “My dad’s turning forty, mom say’s it’s a milestone birthday, so it needs to be something really good!” “Sheesh, if he’s THAT fuckin’ old, who knows how many birthday’s the geezer’s got left!” Bridget smirked, unintentionally worrying Maureen, who clasped her cheeks in her hands. “Oh my God. You’re right!” She shot up from the floor with renewed vigor. “Who knows how long he’s got left? His dad didn’t look that much older than him when he died! But…I’ve got no money. I broke my brother’s stupid window and my mom made me pay for it with my Christmas money.” Maureen lamented. Bridget tossed her spent cigarette into an open stall and patted the younger girl’s shoulder. “Aw, I get it. Whenever I break a window, my dad just replaces it with new ones he lifts from that construction yard three blocks over.” She laughed. “Anyway, you don’t need money to get your dad something good.” Maureen smiled innocently. “Oh yeah! The best gifts are always the homemade kind, that are really from the heart!” Bridget laughed and punched Maureen’s shoulder. “Fuck no! Meet me in town after school, in front of Sawitzki’s place. I’ll show you how it’s done.” The older girl instructed before departing from the bathroom. Maureen grimaced and gave a thumbs up, quickly rescinding it to nurse her pummeled arm. She liked Bridget, but sometimes she could be a bit much even for Maureen.

Down on the first floor, Bill, Phillip, and Jimmy sat at their shop class bench and chatted while they awaited their instructor’s arrival. Bill held up his admittedly slipshod napkin holder and winced. “Well this looks like shit.” Jimmy smirked and dusted the finely crafted roof of his birdhouse. “Yeah, can’t argue with that. If I was a dad and my kid gave me that hunka shit, I’d kick their ass!” Jimmy grumbled, shaking his balled fist at the softer pair. Phillip wrung his nervous hands together. “My parents love every gift I make for them. Mother says it isn’t about the grandness of the gift, but the beautiful thought of the gesture.” He said encouragingly. “Pfft. Fuck that. You know my dad, Phillip, Jimmy’s right. I mean, I’ve got Christmas money, but I don’t wanna blow it all on that asshole. I need something cheap and easy.” He contemplated. “Like your mom?” Jimmy snorted. He and Bill were getting along famously these days, but the vulgar teen could hardly resist such an easy set up. Bill merely raised an eyebrow at him.

The boys faced forward with the rest of the class as Mr. Harding walked in. Raising his maimed hand to silence the class, he greeted everyone with a smile. “Good morning class! I hope everyone had a fun Christmas break! Like we talked about before the holidays, we’re gonna start drafting our independent projects next week, so start thinking about what it is you’d like to make. That being said, you boys have the rest of this week to finish up your currently assigned projects. — Beginner class: napkin holders should be assembled, sanded and stained by Friday, advanced class: birdhouses should be move-in ready! And Phillip Bonfiglio…I look forward to your oral report on the history of carpentry.” Mr. Harding finished with a twinge of sympathy in his tone. Phillip smiled nonetheless, just happy to be there; predictably his mother allowed him to take shop class with his friends, but totally forbade him from so much as touching any tools or equipment.

Jimmy looked at his birdhouse, as usual, nearly finished well ahead of schedule and smiled. “Hey! I got an idea. I have lots of wood crafts at home, you can buy one offa me and tell your old man you made it!” The gears were definitely turning in Bill’s head, and Jimmy was an extraordinary young carpenter; it was certainly tempting, but he still didn’t want to be out too much of his precious Christmas money. “How much?” Bill asked very directly. Jimmy shrugged. “Throw me a five, I guess? Enough to get something in the fridge. Papa traded most of our food for keg.” Jimmy laughed, Bill smirked at the depressing response, but shook his hand in agreement.

Meanwhile, Sue’s class was carrying on swimmingly as usual. Kevin plucked at his acoustic guitar and sang for the babies in between his mother’s lessons, as her ‘students’ squealed with delight. Sue smiled. Kevin really did have a gift for working with the little ones. Even as an encouraging mother she was realistic enough to not see teaching in her flighty oldest child’s future, but seeing him confident and flourishing, doing something unexpected that he enjoyed was tremendously rewarding. “Thank you baby class!” Kevin cheered with a final strum of his guitar, the parents clapped and bounced their giggling babies on the exercise balls, Kevin smiled and Sue exchanged a happy glance. — Her oldest child was growing up. This Summer he would be sixteen, more independent, probably working, learning how to drive, another year closer to (hopefully) graduating from high school on time…As happy as it made her to see him fulfilled and in the moment, in the back of her mind, she couldn’t help but constantly worry about what the future had in store for him, if he kept toeing the line the way he did.

Almost as if on cue, the phone in Lewis’ office rang. “Oh! Sorry everyone, it seems I have a phone call. Kevin, maybe another song?” Sue suggested, strapping Megan into her rocker seat. Closing the door to the small room behind her, Sue cleared her throat and answered the call, putting on her best mix of fun and professional. “Good morning! This is Sue Murphy, “Giggles and Wiggles” parent and baby class instructor, may I help you?” The familiar voice on the other end wasted no time. “Sue, I just got a call from Kevin’s school.” Defeated, Sue sighed deeply before responding. In spite of warning Kevin not to tell his father about him cutting class early, she’d briefly forgotten that just before Christmas break, Frank had taken it upon himself to make his workplace phone the primary contact for Kevin’s school; with good reason.

“Good morning to you too, Frank.” “Did you hear me, Susan? I got a call from Kevin’s school…ONE DAY back, and that lyin’ little bastard’s already cuttin’ class! One of his teachers is refusing to have him back! I swear to God, when I get home, I’m gonna—“ Sue cut him off before he could inevitably threaten to put him through a wall. “Frank.” She started calmly. “I know. Kevin’s with me right now.” “What?! Well why the fuck isn’t he in school?!” Her husband demanded. “Frank, he’s had a rough day…” “Well I’m havin’ a rough LIFE! Christ, if I skipped out on work every time someone pissed ME off, we’d be livin’ on the God damned street, givin’ the kids baths in the gutter and fightin’ off rats and junkies for scraps!” Frank shouted. Sue let him vent his exaggerated “what-if” scenario before continuing. “…We already discussed it, I told him there’s no excuse, and that he will be apologizing to Mrs. Clark when he goes back tomorrow. But for today, he’s helping me with my class. He seems to be feeling better, and at least he’s being productive.” “Productive?! Susan, you can’t just let him tag along with you to play around in your baby class every time he comes home bitchin’ about something!” Frank escalated, but must’ve sensed Sue’s burgeoning annoyance over the phone, and backed down a bit. “…You know what I mean. If you really want him to be productive, make sure he’s doing his job. Next time this happens, and we damn well know there’s gonna be a next time, you put him in the car, drive his ass back to school, drag him back inside, and make sure he fuckin’ stays there! — Look, you can’t just keep letting him off with a pat on the head, like you ALWAYS DO.” Sue shook her head. “Honey, I’ve gotta go. We can talk more about this tonight, but…” “Your class. Yeah. I’ll see you tonight, love you, Sue.” “Love you, Frank.” The pair hung up in unison. Leaning back against a wall, Sue rummaged through her purse for a cigarette and took a few long drags before composing herself to rejoin the class.

As the school day drew to a close, Maureen waited outside by the towering Alfred P. Southwick statue in front of the school, keeping an eye out for Bill. An aggressive flick to the back of her head let her know that her brother was already there. “Ow! You jerk!” Maureen reeled back to smack him, but Bill dodged it with a smirk. “You’re walking the rest of the way home alone today, I’m goin’ over to Jimmy’s, he’s gonna help me try and figure something out for dad’s birthday present.” He gestured over his shoulder to the slouching boy behind him. “I don’t care. I’m going to town with Bridget, anyway. Same reason. See ya!” Maureen stated quickly, adjusting her coat before making a hasty departure, opposite of their usual travel destination. Relieved at the ease of shirking his older brother duties, he walked with Jimmy, soon joined by Phillip, towards Jimmy’s block.

Maureen leisurely took her time making her way to Sawitzki’s, strategically eyeing the contents of each shop’s windows along the way, hoping for some inspiration. Sporting equipment, records, shoes, elder-care products…nothing from anywhere seemed to scream “Frank,” in her mind. Why were adults always so difficult to buy for?

As she neared the intersection towards Sawitzki’s electronic shop, she could already see the familiar, bright blue plaid uniform standing across the street. Leaning back against the side of the graffitied side wall, one foot propped up against it as she waited. Maureen guessed she must’ve cut school early, as usual, in order to beat her there by what appeared to be a good while. Nonetheless, she was glad of the help on her gift hunt. As the ‘walk’ signal gave her the go-ahead, Maureen raced across the street, waving wildly to Bridget. The redhead extinguished yet another cigarette with a twist of her foot against the sidewalk, and strode to the corner to meet her. “Hey Maureen! You ready to do some ‘shopping?’” Bridget asked with a devilish embellishment on ‘shopping,’ which went completely over Maureen’s head.

Bridget grabbed Maureen’s hand and ran her further down the street to the pawn shop. Stopping in front of the seedy building, with its barred windows and worn sign, Maureen wrinkled a brow. “Here?” She asked pensively, struggling to see the appeal, while Bridget was visibly excited. “Yep! Isn’t it great?! All kindsa stuff in here!” Bridget pushed the door open, and Maureen followed listlessly.

Noticing the two young girls, one in a proper Catholic girls’ school uniform casually strolling in, the shop’s owner barely lowered his newspaper from behind the counter to meet their gaze. Maureen glanced around, at first uneasily. The shop was dim and smelled musty. Packed full of an odd mix of people’s precious, sacrificed possessions and quirky, outdated junk. There were some intriguing things among the hoard though; random gold teeth, guns with graceful engravings, a whole display case of assorted glass eyes, which was tempting for more than a brief second. “Cool!” She breathed quietly to herself, glancing at some of the more ‘mystical’ artifacts behind the counter, “Hey Maureen! Check this out!” Bridget called from across the shop.

There, in a jewelry display case was an old watch. At first, Maureen raised an eyebrow at the admittedly lackluster item. “Didn’t your old man work for them before they shit-canned him, or something?” Bridget asked, causing Maureen to examine it a bit closer. Indeed, her surprisingly observant friend was far more in tune with the lives of the Murphys than Maureen had previously thought. — The worn blue and orange band, decorated with tiny white airplane graphics had certainly seen better days, but the watch itself looked to be in great shape. A brightly colored enamel face, set against a shiny dark blue plate, and a tiny “Mohican Airways” logo on the ticking second hands, and the original Mohican logo from the 1950s smiling on the center of the clock’s face. “Oh my God, Bridget! This is perfect!” Maureen beamed, pulling her into a quick hug. Her excitement was dashed as quickly as it had appeared, once she noticed the thirty dollar price tag. “God damn it, I don’t have thirty dollars. Oh well. We need to think of something else, I guess.” The younger girl huffed in disappointment. “Do we?” Bridget whispered, holding up a hammer she’d taken from a nearby bin. Maureen gritted her teeth nervously.

At the Fitzsimmons’ residence, Bill and Jimmy sat on the filthy couch, each with a cold White House beer in hand, staring mindlessly at the grainy TV. Off to the side, Phillip stood, anxious as always, both refusing to indulge in the alcoholic beverages, or sit on any of the Fitzsimmons’ admittedly grubby furniture.

Downing a hardy gulp of beer, Jimmy wiped his mouth on his sleeve and turned to Bill. “So, what do you think your old man’ll want? I’ve got birdhouses, napkin holders, curio shelves, and my personal favorites, artisanal marionettes.” Jimmy listed that last strange item with pride, immediately garnering inquisitive stares from his guests. “HEY. Puppetry is a technically sophisticated art form, dick lickers!” Bill sank back into the couch and placed his hands in his pockets. “I dunno…he doesn’t give a shit about birds…or puppets…or napkins, I guess?” He moaned. “I also just…don’t care?” Feeling mildly guilty for the statement, he remained quiet for a bit afterwards.

“You don’t really mean that, Bill. Your dad’s your hero. And you wouldn’t want him to be sad on his big day…would you?” Phillip innocently guilted. Bill wasn’t sure what to make of his friend’s point. Sure, he cared about his dad, but he certainly didn’t look at him with the same childlike wonder he did when he was little. Internally he figured the both of them knew their relationship was careening down the same path that his father presently had with Kevin. — A gruff pat to his shoulder snapped him out of his internal monologuing. “Remember what I told ya, family is all you got in this world…so your old man’s a douche, so’s everyone’s. But you gotta —“ “My dad is my best friend…besides you Billy.” Phillip interrupted in a saccharine tone. Jimmy snarled and tossed his empty beer bottle at him, earning a terrified squeal from the younger boy. “Don’t interrupt me, SHIT STAIN! Like I was saying…you gotta swallow your pride and do somethin’ for him. He’s still your old man, and the only one you’ll ever have.” Bill didn’t allow his expression to show it, but he was somewhat impressed by the intuitiveness displayed by his dullard former bully. “Okay.” He sighed. “Show me what you’ve got, so we can get this over with.” Eagerly, Jimmy leapt up from the couch and led the pair to his room.

Back at the pawn shop, Maureen’s heart felt like it would burst from her chest at what Bridget was proposing. She had grown in her rebellious and risk-taking nature, but stealing? Something about this felt entirely wrong, terrifying, and oddly thrilling in the moment…but still not worth the possible risk of her parents’ wrath if it all went awry. Her dad might actually threaten to put HER through a wall, for the first time!

“Bridget! No! I can’t do this!” Maureen feverishly whispered, pleading with her alarmingly calm companion. “Don’t puss out on me now! You said you wanted help finding your old man a gift, you don’t have two fuckin’ nickels to rub together, and I go outta my way to give you the perfect idea, only for you to shit all over it?! Some friend you are, you ungrateful twat rocket!” In her frustration, Bridget’s tone was leagues above Maureen’s, enough to garner attention and suspicion from the clerk behind the counter, who had long since folded his newspaper and was staring the pair down. “We got a problem, ladies?” He growled, patting the handgun holstered to his hip as he squinted at the hammer in Bridget’s hand. The pair winced and tensed up. “Ah, we were just leavin’ cum-catcher!” Bridget tossed the hammer over her shoulder, miraculously missing the numerous glass cases lining the perimeter of the small shop, then snatched Maureen up by the hand and dragged her to the door, like a parent with a naughty child.

Wordlessly, Bridget pulled the younger girl down the street, letting her go with a slight shove at the end of the block. “Ow.” Maureen pouted, rubbing her arm. She looked up to meet Bridget’s irritated gaze. “Well, I suppose I can’t be too pissed at you for bitchin’ out. That crazy old fucko had a gun! So I guess we’re even…for now.” Maureen winced with as much of an awkward smile as she could muster. “Even? For what?” Her mind was wracked with confusion at the prospects of what Bridget meant by that, but in the moment, she chose not to question it.

Bridget reached over and slapped Maureen’s back. “Ah, don’t worry about it. I’ll let ya know if I come up with another great idea. Just don’t shit all over that one!” Bridget waved and took her leave. Maureen stood propped up against a lamp post, staring at her shoes. Right back where she started, and her father’s birthday was tomorrow.

Across the street, the chime of a little bell over a familiar door caught her attention: her uncle Lewis’ dojo. Parents and babies flooded out of the little studio space, and Sue, with Megan in hand, said her goodbyes. Maureen smiled to herself. She wasn’t exactly crazy about the idea of spending her afternoon hanging out at her mother’s baby class, but she also felt in need of some comfort and calm.

As Sue waved the last parents off, she noticed Maureen across the street waving in her direction. “Hi Maureen! Come on over, honey!” Looking both ways, Maureen dashed across the street, Sue patted the top of her head as she brushed past her and into the warmth of the building. “What’re you doing downtown?” Sue asked, taking Maureen’s coat. With a deep sigh, Maureen flopped back on the floor mats. “Trying to find a gift for dad, but I don’t have any money because of Bill’s stupid window, and there’s nothing around here he’d like anyway.” She vented. “See? Told you dad’s just hard to shop for.” Kevin spoke up from the back of the room. “Hi Kevin.” Maureen said listlessly, as her oldest brother flopped down on the floor beside her with a halfhearted “Hey.” Sue placed Megan on the mats and reclined back with her children with a deep sigh.

“I just want your dad to have a nice day.” Sue breathed solemnly. “I’ve been asking him for weeks now, and he just…doesn’t seem interested. But we can’t let his fortieth birthday just pass by with nothing special!” “Dad let my birthday pass by with nothing special, last year!” Kevin interjected. Sue rolled her eyes. “In your dad’s defense…it was a difficult Summer for us all.” Perhaps the most stressful part of that Summer was Frank fawning over Chet, but that was yet another door she refused to reopen. “Your dad’s really not a ‘bells and whistles’ guy, is he?” She asked aloud, struggling to recall the last time they had enjoyed a nice outing together as a family, that didn’t include almost getting kicked out of “Sam’s Starving Boy.” Kevin scoffed. “Pretty sure he’d be totally cool with unlimited beer, the house to himself, and a “Colt Luger” marathon.” Although it was intended as an obvious jab at his father, Sue’s eyes widened at the accuracy and merit of his ‘idea.’

Sitting up, she looked at the clock on the wall overhead, it was nearly four o’clock. “Well, that was my last class of the day. There’s a couple hours before your dad gets home, you guys wanna run to the store with me, or will it just be me and Megan?” Sue asked, bouncing the baby gently on her knee. “Will you get us a soda?” Kevin asked with a smirk, Sue rolled her eyes. “We’ll see.” The pair groaned but grabbed their coats anyway, preparing to leave.

On the way out, Maureen held the door open for her mother to carry Megan out, and Kevin to carry some of Sue’s supplies. There on the step, a small, rather beat-up looking cardboard box caught Maureen’s eye. Where had it come from? It certainly wasn’t here when she arrived. Kneeling down to open the crumbled mess, she was astonished to find that Mohican watch from the pawn shop, nestled underneath a ripped piece of notebook paper that read: “You owe me one!” Rapidly turning to look in every available direction, Maureen’s head was a flurry of emotions. — Elated, because this was perhaps the most perfect gift she could think of. Nervous, because how she obtained it with no money would certainly come into question. Angry, because she now owed her morally ambiguous friend a debt she never agreed to in the first place. And nervous yet again, when it dawned on her exactly how Bridget probably got the watch in the first place.

“What’s that?” Kevin asked, feverishly she shoved the watch and note into her coat pocket and rushed to the car, practically jumping inside without a word. “Jesus!” The elder of the two exclaimed.

Frank watched the clock struggle slowly to five, frustrated at he and Sue’s argument, and moreso at Kevin’s immediate return to truancy had his head buzzing with anger. “Oh yeahhh, this’ll be the year he turns it alllll around! You’ve just gotta be gentle and nurturing! Fuckin’ bullshit.” He seethed to himself, mocking Sue’s parental tips.

Suddenly a trio of gentle, monotone raps at his door turned his attention elsewhere. The equally gentle and monotone Ed stood in the threshold of the tiny office, wearing his usual halfhearted smile. “Hey Frank. Just checking in, to see if those schedules I gave you are finished.” “Yeah, here ya go.” Frank held out the stack of freshly typed papers, secretly hoping his extended arm would keep Ed from approaching his desk, signaling the desire for a lengthier conversation. “Nice work. Thank you.” Ed smiled, Frank simply nodded, staring him down, hoping he’d just leave him with another task and he wouldn’t have to see him again until tomorrow. “Frank, I was hoping to get your opinion on something.” “Oh for Christ’s sake.” Frank muttered under his breath. “What?” “Nothing. What is it, Ed?” In one hand, Ed held out the schedules Frank had just typed, and in the other, an old Alaquippa schedule. — Nearly identical to the untrained (and less nitpicky eye) the one major difference being the additional spaces in between the names and times on the Alaquippa schedule. “They’re the same thing, Ed.” Frank predictably griped. Ed reached over to the typewriter on Frank’s desk and tapped the space key four times. “Doozy of a little secret, eh? The extra spaces make it a might easier for everyone to read, friend. So what do you say? Think you could redo these before tomorrow? I know you won’t have the time, then.” Ed asked, knowing full-well Frank had no choice. Frank wondered what he meant about ‘tomorrow’ but chose not to press the matter, unwanting of any extra conversations with the bland man. “Sure thing, ED.” Frank, hot in the face, seethed through gritted teeth.

Before his disgruntled subordinate had a chance to fight it, Ed shuffled from the room, quietly closing the door behind him. “Mother FUCK.” Frank bemoaned, looking back up at the clock, his unknown time off now even further out of reach. “Ugh. God damnit.” Frank reached over to his phone, dialing home. He knew Sue wouldn’t be back yet, but it was wise to leave a message. He waited for the robotic voice on the other end to instruct him to leave a message and released a deep sigh. “Hey Sue, it’s me. Uh, I’m gonna be late getting in tonight, no clue WHEN, but uh, Ed’s got me doing his fuckin’ paperwork the “Ala-Hican way!” He said mockingly. “So…yeah. I’ll…I’ll see you when I get home. Love you.” With that he hung up, briefly taking off his glasses to rub his eyes, preparing himself for the arduous task ahead.

At the grocery store, Sue carefully packed the cart full of essentials, keeping a vigilant eye on Kevin and Maureen, occasionally tossing extra goodies and snacks in, only to be immediately caught and asked to put them back, while Megan babbled happily from her baby seat, gumming at the corner of a pasta box.

“Alright, we just need…eggs, two loaves of bread, and if those mashed yams Megan likes are on sale, get us some of those.” Sue read off the list; Maureen made a bee-line for the bread, located next to the magazine display, where she hoped to find the latest copy of “Technology Today.” Kevin, hands in the pockets of his oversized coat, sauntered to the refrigerated section to retrieve the eggs. Sue smiled down at Megan, gently removing the partially soaked pasta box from her firm but tiny grasp. “Okay! Let’s see about getting you those yams, Megan!” She cooed, gently tapping Megan’s nose.

As Kevin checked the dates on the eggs, a pair of familiar voices caught his attention. “No, stupid! That’s NOT the brand she likes!” At the cigarette vending machine off to the side, near the bathrooms, his two friends, Bolo and Lex argued over a purchase. Kevin smiled, running over to meet them, “Hey guys!” Kevin raised an arm to wave, the sleeve of Frank’s coat, several inches too long for him, flopped out of his pocket with a slap. The older two boys chuckled throatily. “Hey Kev, what’s with the coat? You a hobo now?” Lex asked, tugging lightly at the flopping sleeve. Kevin pulled away with a smirk. “Shut up man, it’s my dad’s. I left mine at school.” Bolo retrieved two packs of Freshington cigarettes from the bottom of the machine and joined the conversation. “Ohhh yeah, we heard about that! You cussed out Mrs. Clark and took off. Righteous.” He opened one pack and offered Kevin a single cigarette. Leaning up against the wall by the machine, the trio passed around a lighter and puffed away, a mix of trying to finish their cigarettes before getting kicked out, and just trying to take advantage of some time to catch up. After all, they hadn’t seen much of each other since before the holidays.

“We were just heading over to Claire’s place, wanna come?” Bolo asked, blowing a crude smoke ring up towards the ceiling. Kevin rubbed the back of his head. “Eh, nah, I don’t think so, man. I’ve got a good thing going with Alice and all.” Bolo scoffed. “I didn’t invite you so you could bone her, STUPID. Besides, she’s shacking up with Ben now. Lucky little shit” Kevin raised a brow. “No way, really?” Lex nodded. “Oh yeah, he’s gettin’ ALL the chicks, man. His guitar skills are good for the band, but—“ “The greedy little fuck’s leaving the rest of us in the dust! After every show he pulls every girl’s attention, and we don’t get SHIT!” Bolo interrupted frustratedly, taking in a long drag. “Don’t bore Kevin with your blue balls, man. He wouldn’t know the struggle, anyway, heh heh heh!” Lex teased. Kevin smirked, although he wouldn’t think to brag about it in front of his (slightly) older friends, it did give him a devilish sense of pride that in the relationship department, he had run leaps and bounds ahead of them.

“So, everyone good for practice tomorrow night? I got some ‘new stuff' for us to try out.” Bolo winked, obviously hinting at a new strain of weed. Lex nodded, Kevin was about to solidify their plans until he remembered the date. “Ah shit. It’s my dad’s fuckin’ birthday tomorrow. No way in Hell Sue’s gonna let me escape.” He bemoaned, sliding down the wall, and sinking to the floor. “Well, sucks to be you! Come around the day after, we might have something left over.” Bolo extinguished the scant remains of his cigarette against the grubby linoleum floor. “Sounds good. Well…I gotta go.” Kevin held up the carton of eggs and gestured back out to the sales floor. “We get it man, gotta be a good boy and help mommy with her shopping!” Lex teased, earning laughter from Bolo as well. Kevin slapped his arm back, the long sleeve flopping again. “Shut the fuck up!” He chuckled. “I’ll see you later, then.” The older pair grabbed their things and prepared to head off to their destination. “See ya Kev, and ditch that back-alley hobo coat next time!” Bolo yelled.

Kevin peeked down the aisles until he caught sight of his family at the back of a checkout line at the front. “Kevin! Where were you? And…why do you smell like smoke?” Sue sniffed and squinted at her delinquent son. Kevin winced and shrugged. “Oh uh, the case with the eggs was near the uh…break room, or something, and they left the door open.” Kevin lied on a dime. Sue rolled her eyes, obviously he was lying, but she hadn’t exactly been honest about her own lack of indulgence in cigarettes. “Well, your timing is spot on, at least.” She said, watching as the customer in front of them finished up their purchase.

Loading the conveyor belt, Sue noticed Maureen’s magazine conveniently slipped underneath the loaves of bread, but chose to keep quiet and let her daughter have this small victory. “So, anymore thoughts about what we can do for your dad?” Sue asked. “I got everything to make his favorite dinner, but we still need to come up with—Ah, damn.” Sue rifled through her purse, cutting the repetitive conversation short. “Kevin, could you run to the car and grab the coupons? They should be…somewhere in the front.” Kevin groaned and make his way outside. “Thanks! You’re a darling! You can pick a soda when you get back!” She called out.

Suddenly, Maureen’s already clever mind was invigorated by an unexpected idea. “Mommy! Mommy! I think I know what we can do for daddy’s birthday! I’ll be right back!” Before Sue could even inquire as to what this great idea was, Maureen made a mad dash out of the checkstand, returning moments later with a packet of colorful construction paper. Intrigued, Sue gestured for her to put it on the belt.

Back at the Murphy house, Bill sat in the garage, carefully sanding Jimmy’s name off of the bottom of a small wooden box. It was the simplest thing Jimmy had made, besides the napkin holder, and at least this seemed to be a piece with multiple functions. — And for coming from the brutish hands of Jimmy Fitzsimmons, he had to admit it was a beautifully crafted piece. All four sides perfectly cut, measured, and attached. The lid smoothly opened and closed with the aid of a pair of tiny hinges, perfectly spaced an inch or two apart. All of that beautiful craftsmanship was contradicted by the crude “JIMMY F” carved rather deeply into the base. Feverishly, Bill scraped at it until the name was at least illegible. But he was certain he’d end up sanding right through it, if he tried to erase the deep carvings altogether.

Suddenly, the bright beam of familiar headlights approached and flooded into the open garage. Bill hid the box behind his back until he noticed it was Sue’s car pulling up the driveway. “Hi honey!” Sue called out, unbuckling Megan from her carseat. “Hi, mom. Dad’s not home yet. He left a message saying he was working late tonight.” Bill dutifully notified, approaching the car. With her free hand, she patted him on the head. “Well, I’ll go ahead and get dinner started, go help Kevin and Maureen bring in the groceries. Speaking of, Maureen says she’s got a great idea for your dad’s gift!” Bill held up the box. “Oh, yeah, I already—“ Sue walked past him unquestioningly. “Step aside, little dick!” Kevin brushed past his younger brother, shoving him aside. “Ow!” Bill whined as Kevin slapped the back of his head.

As the rest of his family made their way inside, leaving him alone yet again, Bill looked down at the box in his hands and scoffed. “What’s the fuckin’ point.” Reaching up to close the garage door, he made his way inside, an annoying sense of defeat creeping over him. It was hard being a middle kid.

Joining the others inside, Bill sat the box on the kitchen table. Maureen stood on a kitchen chair, and excitedly rifled through the brown bags until she found the packet of construction paper. “So Maureen, honey, what’s this brilliant gift idea? I’m dying to know!” Sue asked encouragingly. Proudly, Maureen smiled, holding up the paper, and a couple of her mother’s coupon clippings. “Coupons!” Sue raised a brow, and stared on questioningly, exchanging a similar glance with Kevin. “We’ll make coupons for stuff dad likes us to do, or…not do, and daddy can cash them in whenever he wants. It’ll be like having little presents all year!” Maureen beamed, Sue was impressed. “Maureen! That’s a wonderful idea! And Bill, I see you have a little something too?” Sue invited her younger son to the conversation, he looked on with a bit of surprise that she’d actually noticed the box.

“Oh, yeah. Ji…I made this in shop class.” Bill pushed the small piece forward with a listless hand, Sue examined it in awe. “Bill this is beautiful! Homemade gifts are a treasure. Your dad’ll love this, and we can put Maureen’s coupons inside!” She smiled, happy about the opportunity for her often quarrelsome middle children to collaborate.

“So I guess we should start working on a list of stuff dad’ll like?” Bill groaned, clearly struggling to come up with any ideas. Kevin and Maureen taking seats at the table alongside him, each looking equally deep in thought. For a few moments the trio sat in silence, a blank sheet of paper in front of Maureen, waiting eagerly to be filled.

“Hmm…no talking during “Colt Luger?” Bill suggested, Maureen jotted that down with a smile. “Oh! Clean out all of the ash trays in the house before dad gets home from work!” He added. Kevin laughed. “Quality time with dad, no bitching, guaranteed!” The younger two joined in his laughter. “Sit in dad’s chair before he gets home to keep the seat warm!” Maureen called out. “Take Major out!” “Beer on demand when dad gets home from work!” “Wash dad’s car!” Finishing up with the groceries, Sue smiled, enjoying the rare site of her older children actually getting along and enjoying each other’s company. Though she knew that at least some of these coupons would likely go unused, as Frank was quite particular about how certain tasks were done, and would rather not have his often flighty and impatient children carry them out, she chose not to squash their creative efforts.

Just over an hour later, the kids had compiled a whole list of things, some practical, some nonsensical, to include, and were currently seated in near total silence, carefully cutting, writing, and drawing their coupons, filling the box, one lovingly crafted piece at a time.

From across the kitchen, the oven timer buzzed, and Sue walked back in to check on dinner. “Looks like everything’s well under control here!” She smiled, pulling the hot tray of baked ziti from the oven. “We’ll just let this cool down for a bit, have the table cleaned up in ten!” She instructed, no one responded, but she knew they’d heard. Leaving again, she went to retrieve Megan to join the family for dinner.

“So how’s Alice now?” Maureen asked. Kevin immediately turned his attention to his younger sister, surprised and wondering how she knew anything was even amiss. “Uh…I dunno. I think she’s okay. She had to go home today, she puked in class. I think she’s got food poisoning or she’s getting sick or something.” He groaned, propping his head up in one hand. From across the table, Bill smirked devilishly. “Or she’s just sick of YOU.”Kevin kicked him under the table. “You are fuckin’ DEAD!” He snarled, both silencing and enraging the younger boy. “Well, that didn’t last long! Can’t you kids just get along?!” Sue sauntered back into the kitchen, bouncing a fussy Megan up and down. “This little dildo started it!” Kevin pointed accusingly at Bill. “He did.” Maureen corroborated, neatly organizing the craft supplies and cleaning off the table. Bill cross his arms and covertly flipped her off. “Bill, be nice. Kevin’s worried about his girlfriend, and I think that’s sweet.” Sue placed Megan in her high chair, and Kevin proceeded to make her laugh, waving a few pieces of colorful scrap paper at her. Bill rolled his eyes.

At the Rustvale Airport, it was just about six, and Frank was finally wrapping up the extraneous task Ed had abruptly placed in his lap. “Extra spaces cuz it’s ‘easier to read!’ Fuckin’ bastard, waitin’ until he knew I was almost done, fuckin’ asshole.” He incensed to himself, stacking the completed schedules neatly into a manilla folder. He left it sitting on the edge of his desk, knowing full well that Ed would come to retrieve it himself. Not to mention the fact that Frank wanted to avoid another encounter with the drab source of his current rage today.

Pulling his coat on forcefully, he prepared to make a hasty exit, but of course, the universe, as always, seemed to have other plans for him. “WAH! JESUS!” Frank exclaimed, opening his office door to find Ed already standing there, hand lightly extended. “Oh, right. Here.” Frank grabbed the folder and practically slapped it into his superior’s outstretched hand. “That’s good work, Frank. And thank you for listening to me. The crew will thank you too.” He said encouragingly, placing the folder under one arm. “Yeah, I’ve gotta go, my family’s already been kept waiting long enough.” Frank replied coldly, brushing past him. Ed waved lightly. “Have a pleasant evening. We’ll do this again tomorrow, friend.” “Ugh. That guy.” Frank griped to himself, practically sprinting to the front doors.

“Slamming the dented white door shut, Frank settled into the frigid car for the ride home, hoping there wouldn’t be too much traffic. He turned the radio down to almost inaudible volume and immersed himself in his thoughts. — He was turning forty tomorrow. Four decades. Nearly half a century. Probably more than halfway through his admittedly unfulfilling life…wow, what a depressing thought. But really. Forty years on this Godforsaken planet and what did he have to show for it? He thought punishingly to himself. A shit job that just seemed to get shittier every year, three kids who constantly disobeyed and undermined him, a new and unexpected baby that would leave him raising a child long after the aforementioned three moved on to their own, adult lives, a wife who was as supportive as she was combative against him, a cramped house that seemed in constant need of some kind of repair, hardly any notable life outside of work and family, hardly any savings to fall back on, and a depressing trail of broken dreams and unrealized potential. — Forty years.

By some standards he was still rather a young man, with plenty of time left to bring at least some of those broken dreams to fruition, but he was so tired, just beaten down by life. Part of him knew this was about as good as it was going to get for him. And although it wasn’t all bad, it certainly wasn’t a walk in the park, either. But, as his TV hero Colt Luger often monologued, “a man’s gotta do what a man does,” and Frank embraced the fact that a man provided for his family. Thus, this was his life. All forty years of it, and this daunting task would almost certainly occupy whatever remained of it, as well.

Finally crossing the bridge over into Whitesboro, Frank breathed a sigh of strained relief and turned up the radio, a catchy but obnoxious Tommy Tahoe song undulating from the speakers. Frank hummed along quietly, patting the steering wheel as he turned into Slagtree Court. Parking the car, he took a couple of quiet moments for himself before heading inside. “Alright Frank, here we go.” He murmured to himself. Stepping out of the car, he was met with Goomer, walking back to the front of the house, stuffing a rolled up newspaper into his interior coat pocket. “Heya Frank! You’re in for a treat tonight, Sue made ziti!” He announced happily. Frank cracked a smile, good ole Goomer. “Thanks neighbor!” He offered a wave and headed inside.

“Hi honey!” Sue called out from the kitchen. Reaching into the oven, she pulled out a warm plate of ziti for Frank and set it next to a cold beer at the table. “Careful! It’s hot!” She warned, kissing him as he unclipped his tie. “Smells great, Sue. Sorry I’m late, fuckin’ Ed! He’s got me doin’ damn secretarial work for him! Bitchin’ about how extra spaces on the schedule was how ‘Alaquippa used to do it!’” He said mockingly, dropping down hard onto his seat at the head of the table. “I swear, he’s just doin’ this to fuck with me. He knows how hard this fuckin’ merger was for me…” He gave up his rant and shoveled a piping hot forkful of ziti into his mouth. Sue patted his hand sympathetically. “I know, honey. But look on the bright side, tomorrow’s a big day for you!” Frank rolled his eyes and gulped down some beer. “Oh Sue, you’re not on about that shit again. I told you, honey, it’s just a day! You don’t need to go outta your way to do anything big!” Frank shrugged, feigning a smile. “Now, I wanna hear about your day!” He offered, hoping to steer the subject away from his birthday.

Suddenly, his mind wandered back to their phone conversation from Sue’s class, earlier. “Kevin. What happened at school today?” His tone flipped on a time from almost jovial to stern. Kevin dropped his fork in a huff. “Nothing!” “Nah, don’t you ‘nothing’ me! I got a call from your Principal today sayin’ that you disrespected your English teacher and left school!” Sue bit her lip, knowing for certain that a blowup was coming. “She disrespected ME!” Kevin snapped back. Frank pounded a fist on the table. “Oh bullshit. And since when have you done anything worthy of being respected, anyway?!” He asked, volume raising steadily. “Look! I went to class like you WANTED me to, algebra was GREAT by the way, thanks for ASKING! But Mrs. Clark yelled at me and said my handwriting sucks!” Kevin bit back, Frank raised his arms agitatedly. “It DOES suck! Maybe that’s part of why you’re in fuckin’ remedial English, you fuckin’ DOPE! And the Principal said you were late to class! If you got to school on time, why the fuck were you late?!” Frank jabbed. “Alice was sick!” Kevin cried. “Well she seemed FINE this morning! Oh! And while we’re on THAT subject, since when the FUCK do you sleep over at your girlfriend’s house?!” Frank continued piling on the accusations, by now the rest of the family was fully tuned into the onslaught.

“Since when do you CARE?!” Kevin spat, jumping up from his seat, his father did the same, pointing an accusing finger at him. “Since I’m your father, and I’ll put you through that FUCKIN’ WALL!” He screamed. Suddenly Megan’s distressed whimpers unleashed into full sobs. Sue took a deep breath, brusquely scooting her chair out and taking Megan to her room to calm down, soothing her all the way down the hall.

“Pfft. Nice going.” Kevin narrowed his eyes at Frank, who admittedly looked a bit ashamed, but refused to let the previous conversation die. “This doesn’t change a thing! I forbid you from sleeping over at Alice’s house. And God fucking help you if I ever find her sleeping over here!” Frank bellowed. “You can’t do that!” The teen protested. “The fuck I can’t! It’s MY fuckin’ HOUSE! What if she gets pregnant, huh? You ever stop and entertain that notion? Of course not! Because you don’t THINK! You just slack your way through life doin’ whatever the fuck you want, waiting for mommy and daddy to pick up the pieces! Fuck if I’m gonna be raising your kid!” Frank jabbed at the side of his head mockingly, Bill and Maureen exchanged glances and quietly decided it was time to clear out.

“We used a CONDOM, DAD! Is that what you wanna hear?!” Kevin crossed his arms and turned his back on Frank, not wanting to look him in the eyes as he dropped details about his burgeoning sex life. “Ah HA! So you DID ‘do something!’ It’s always lies with you! You know what? Go to your room! I don’t wanna see your face for the rest of the night!” Frank pointed to the back door, Kevin was already well ahead of him, slamming it behind him with deliberate force.

Standing alone in the cleared out kitchen, the only noise besides Megan’s babbling from the back of the house, was Frank’s heavy breathing, as he calmed himself down. Dropping back down into his seat, he lit a cigarette and took a long, deep drag. Sue emerged from the hallway. “Well, I certainly wasn’t prepared for that bombshell.” Sue commented tiredly. Of course, Kevin was crazy about Alice, and he was, as Frank put it, ‘at that age,’ but she wasn’t ready for her eldest child, especially as immature and flighty as he could be, to be crossing over into such a risky milestone. She took a seat next to Frank, who offered her the cigarette. Rarely did they ever smoke in the house, but given the mounting stress of the evening, they unanimously decided not to care. “You will have to pick this conversation back up, another time. You know that, right?” Sue said straightforwardly. “Yeah.” Frank took another drag and prepared to head upstairs. “I’m gonna go lie down.” He said flatly, taking another cold beer from the fridge, he kissed Sue on the cheek before heading upstairs.

Meanwhile, Maureen sat on her bed, deep in thought at the watch in her lap, and Bridget’s note, on her nightstand. — CLEARLY she must have stolen the watch. But why hadn’t the police come to arrest her, yet? Could she even gift this to her father, given the fact that the whole family knew her precious Christmas money had been sacrificed to replace Bill’s window? Furthermore, what was Bridget going to hold her to, to repay this unexpected debt?! She flopped back in her bed and stared at the ceiling, her mind in a flurry of stressful thoughts.

Suddenly, there was a knock at her door. Before she could even invite the intruder in, Bill opened the door and walked in, flopping down next to her. “Welp, that was more than I ever needed to hear about Kevin…” He attempted to joke. “Yeah.” Maureen responded on impulse, not fully invested in the conversation. “So what’s this?” Bill asked, taking the watch from his sister’s hands. She shot up nervously. “SHHH! Not so loud!” She ordered, snatching the watch back. “Bridget got it for me, for dad’s birthday.” She whispered. Bill raised a brow, knowing all too well how every seemingly generous act from Bridget came at a price. “She just…gave it to you?” He asked in disbelief. “Where’d she even get something like this?” Maureen gritted her teeth. “The pawn shop, on Main Street.” “Okay…So…” “I think she stole it!” Maureen exclaimed in a panicked whisper. “When we were there earlier, she was gonna smash the case and grab it right there, but the guy at the counter had a gun and—“ “Holy SHIT Maureen! Why are you even FRIENDS with that fuckin’ psycho?!” Bill asked, louder than intended. “But what do I do, now?!” Maureen asked, reaching for the note. Bill read it and crumpled it in one, tiny fist. “Fuck that! You don’t owe her shit! And if she tries to do anything I’ll…I’ll…” Bill was unable to complete his threat, reminded of how tough and ruthless his former love could be. “Just…maybe just stay outta her way for awhile. In the meantime, we gotta figure out how to return this.” Bill suggested, completely unsure of how exactly to go about the daunting task.

Downstairs, Kevin sat on his bed, struggling through the homework Mr. Parker had assigned him. He surprised himself by breezing through the first few questions rather quickly, and to boot, he understood the material! But the two problems towards the end, which involved fractions, were exhausting mental gymnastics for him. “Tch, fuck this.” Kevin folded the paper in half and placed it in his notebook. He reached for his guitar and leaned back against the pile of pillows propped against the wall. He couldn’t wait to get out of here, he thought to himself. Strumming some random chords, his mind wandered back to Alice, wondering if she was okay. He really did love her, so much. He didn’t dare sneak back in the house to use the phone though. Staring up at the night sky through the tiny window up in the corner, he silently willed his good wishes to Alice, hoping she’d receive them.

The next morning, Frank stirred awake mid-snore in a rather undignified snort, patting the bedside next to him, to find it empty. “Hnn, Sue?” He groaned, putting on his glasses. He caught sight of the time on the alarm clock by the bed, it was nearly six thirty. “SHIIIIIT!” He exclaimed, kicking the sheets from the bed, he made a mad dash to the bathroom. “Shit! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Shiiiit! Why the FUCK didn’t the alarm go off?” Frank cursed to himself as he sped through his typically leisurely morning routine in record time. “And where the Hell is—Sue?” As Frank hopped out of the bathroom, pulling his pants on with noticeable struggle, he emerged, surprised to find Sue lounging on the bed, clad in an attractive and new bright red piece of lingerie. In one hand she held a red velvet cupcake - his favorite - with a “40” candle on top. And judging by the legible amount of the numbers that were left, she must’ve been sitting there for a few minutes.

“Happy birthday, Frank.” She cooed seductively, holding out the cupcake for him to blow out the candles. Frank leaned over and blew them out rapidly, giving her an equally fast and insincere kiss, he checked the clock again, it was now quarter till seven. “Ah, Sue! I’m gonna be late! I can’t do this right-“ “Frank, wait!” Sue stood up, watching her husband feverishly run around, gathering his things for the day. “Sue! I gotta go! I love you, and we’ll pick this up after work! But I—“ Sue cut him off, taking his cheeks in her warm hands, she planted a warm kiss on his lips. “Frank. That’s what I wanted to tell you. I called you out for today. Surprise!” At first it took him a moment, but now Ed’s comment about knowing he wouldn’t be able to finish those damned schedules ‘tomorrow’ made sense. “Why the Hell would you do that, Sue?! I have a job to do, I’ve gotta be there!” Sue shrugged, gesturing for him to join her on the bed. “One of the perks of your new job, I guess, Ed hardly put up a fight when I told him I wanted you to take the day off. So come on, birthday boy. Don’t you wanna unwrap your present?” She asked suggestively. Frank’s heart was still racing from the anxiety of having woken up so late, but that quickly vanished in the wake of his wife’s generous invitation.

“Happy birthday to me, I guess!” He laughed, kicking off his shoes, he locked the door, pausing only when he remembered it was Tuesday. “Ah shit! Sue! The kids have school.” “I know, which is why I got them up already! If it rains this afternoon, Otto offered to drive the kids home. I would’ve asked Vic, but he’s out of town for…awhile, it seems, and—“ Frank’s eyes widened, and a wider smile spread across his face. “Holy shit, this is already shapin’ up to be the best birthday ever!” He laughed, kissing Sue’s cheek. Unfastening his belt as Sue unbuttoned his shirt, the pair sunk into each other’s embrace and collapsed back onto the unmade bed.

Downstairs as the older three Murphy children quietly finished their breakfast, the familiar (and for one, traumatizing) bang of a headboard against the wall, and creaking of bed springs could be heard. The trio exchanged glances. “So gross!” Kevin whinged, collecting his things and practically running out the door. Bill simply stared on with a blank, dissociative stare, and Maureen, still maintaining some shred of innocence, kept filling up on sugary cereal, unbothered by the sound whose meaning she (thankfully) didn’t seem to comprehend, yet.

Frank watched out the bedroom window as the kids left for school, one by one; mostly to make sure Kevin actually went. As soon as all three of the older children rode out of sight, he turned back to his wife, running over to her and practically leaping onto the bed, invigorated with renewed, youthful energy. Sue laughed and pulled him over to her, stroking his curly dark hair.

The school day dragged on as usual for the Murphy kids. — Alice was altogether absent from school, causing Kevin further anxiety. He tried his best to do as he was asked, and apologize to Mrs. Clark, but of course, she had to set about making class even more difficult for him. Maureen kept her head down at school and tried to avoid Bridget, though she was suspiciously absent. Even her smoking spot in the third floor bathroom was unoccupied. And Bill, heading towards his moody teenage years and perturbed by the morning’s disturbing noises, slagged through the day with his friends without much incident. — As for the remaining members of the family, Frank and Sue enjoyed a quiet, simple day together, with Sue teaching Frank some of her baby-parent exercises and taking some much needed time to bond with Megan. — Although they still had the baby to occupy, it was by far the most relaxing and enjoyable day Frank had had in a long time, and he tried to enjoy every second of it, knowing he’d have to slump right back to Ala-Hican in the morning.

At the end of the day, Frank sat contentedly in front of the TV, watching “Colt Luger” reruns and guzzling ice cold cans of his favorite beer, while Sue worked diligently in the kitchen, preparing his favorite dinner: pigs in blankets (topped with mustard, of course) with mashed potatoes and peas. Frank looked on at his four children seated quietly (as promised for his birthday) on the couch. — They were growing up. Even baby Megan looked a little bigger each day, and he knew in the back of his mind that before long, there would be first days of school, graduations, new boyfriends and girlfriends, moving out, marriages, grandchildren…so many beautiful, frightening, amazing milestones ahead of them. And he hoped quietly to himself that someday they’d all be as fortunate as he found himself, to be surrounded by loved ones who were there to support and celebrate with them when they reached those milestones.

“Dinner’s ready!” Sue called into the living room, enlisting Bill and Maureen’s help in setting the table, while Kevin kept Megan occupied. “Smells great, hon!” Frank said cheerfully crushing his spent beer can before making his way to the table.

“Before we eat, the kids have something very special for you.” Sue said with a smile, squeezing Frank’s hand and she gestured with a tilt of her head for the kids to retrieve their gift. “Oh, kids, you didn’t have to do anything! Just a day, remember?” Frank smiled, reveling in his uplifted mood. Bill ran to his room and returned with the wooden box; unwrapped, but polished and presentable. “I made this for you in shop class, and there’s something from all of us inside.” Bill lied, feeling somewhat guilty after seeing the look on his father’s face.

“Aye, Billy Boy, this is nice work! Maybe you’ve got a future in carpentry!” Frank complimented, examining the box at all angles with a smile. He ruffled Bill’s hair; the boy grimaced with uncertainty, hoping his father wouldn’t look too hard at the suspiciously over-sanded part on the bottom; thankfully Maureen saved him that explanation. “Open it!” She demanded excitedly. Frank peeled back the lid to reveal the colorful hand-drawn papers littering the inside. Tilting the box over, he let the coupons rain down over the kitchen table in a flurry of rainbows. “Hey! What’s all this?!” Frank asked with a genuine, warm smile. Sue reveled in the rarity of that moment.

“Coupons! ‘DAD’ coupons!” Maureen beamed, holding one up for him to examine. “Whenever you want something, you cash one of these in, and we’ll do it! No questions asked! It was MY idea!” She said proudly. Frank chuckled, reading off a few of them, placing each carefully back in the box. “You know honey, you should do what I tell you to because I’m your dad!” He smiled, Maureen looked a bit miffed, which he acknowledged and remedied quickly. “But! This is a great idea! It’ll be like getting to cash in on a present all year ‘round.” Maureen smiled again, happy that her father had made the exact same connection she did when she initially conjured up the idea.

“Sue. Kids. Thank you.” Frank said sincerely, giving Sue’s hand a little squeeze. “This is. This is perfect.” The evening continued, later into the night than usual. Frank didn’t even mention missing the new “Colt Luger” episode premiere, he was so wrapped up in the festivities and conversations. These rare, happy moments were longed for in the Murphy house, and savored when they finally rolled around.

Glancing down at his watch, Frank noticed it was nearly nine. “Okay, okay! Kids, I thank you, this was a wonderful evening, and an even better birthday, but all good things come to an end so chop-chop!” He clapped his hands twice. “You’re already gonna be late for bed, so take your baths, brush your teeth, say your prayers and make it snappy! I wanna see asses in beds by nine thirty! Goodnight!” Frank commanded, a bit of his usual bravado coming forward. The trio groaned and departed from the living room, and Megan had long since fallen asleep, leaving Frank and Sue cuddled up together on the couch. They sat in silence and listened to the noise of their household running about as everyone prepared for bed. Sue leaned over and kissed Frank’s forehead. “Happy birthday, Frank.” He kissed her in return, pulling her closer to him.

Contentedly, Frank stared out the windows at the small white flecks that danced around outside, against the chilly darkness of the night atmosphere, as more snow began peacefully falling from the cloudy Winter’s sky. Who knows? If it kept on coming down, the family might have another enjoyable day together.

Chapter Text

CHAPTER 3 : FEBRUARY 13TH - THE END OF EVERYTHING

[[TW: Scene of domestic violence]]

Valentines Day was tomorrow, and one of the few school-going holidays that the Murphy kids actually looked forward to. Bill and Maureen gleefully anticipated bags full of candy and other goodies given by classmates (nevermind the actual Valentines cards) and Kevin, flush with the bliss of a happy, new relationship, was eager to gift Alice with the first grand gesture of his affection…as soon as he figured out a good lyric that rhymed with “Alice.”

Presently, the older trio sat at the breakfast table; Bill and Maureen shoveling down spoonfuls of sugary cereal, and Kevin, too preoccupied with jotting down ideas for Alice’s song, hadn’t made himself anything.

Frank hummed to himself as he strode through the kitchen, sipping a fresh cup of coffee, only putting it down to check the time and clip on his tie. “Alright, you got about fifteen minutes to get your asses moving, so hurry it up! And don’t leave your dishes on the table this time!” The patriarch ordered, his gaze falling to his oldest son. “Kevin, eat something! Breakfast’s the most important meal of the day, it’s your brain food! Ha! God knows your brain needs all the help it can get!” He joked, but Kevin didn’t bother looking up, or even acknowledging his father’s jabs. He kept his attention fixed on his notebook, face contorted in a mix of deep thought and frustration.

“Hey! I’m talkin’ to you!” Frank chided. He grabbed a banana from the fruit basket on the counter and tossed it to Kevin, hitting him on the head. “Tch! What the fuck?!” Kevin griped, staring daggers at Frank, who returned the same gaze. “Dick.” The boy hissed in annoyance. “What the fuck’s got YOU all wound up today, anyway?” Frank asked, stepping over to catch a glimpse at Kevin’s notebook. “Why do YOU care?” He spat back. “Because I’m your father, and I’ll put you through that FUCKIN’ WALL!” Kevin rolled his eyes at his father’s trademark threat.

“Good morning!” Sue’s calm voice cut through the early tension in the room. She placed Megan in her highchair, and set about making the kids lunches. “There she is! Good mornin’ beautiful!” Frank’s tone flipped on a dime, as it so often did with his wife.

“So Kevin, have you decided what to do for Alice for your first Valentine’s Day?” Sue asked, with a bit of well-intended motherly embarrassment. Frank smiled and patted Kevin’s shoulder roughly. “Ohhh, so that’s what this is all about. Actually putting a little effort into something, good for you!” He downed the rest of his coffee and kissed Sue’s cheek. “Alright honey, I’ve gotta get going. Kids, have a great day, get your asses to school on time, Kevin, eat some God damn breakfast, and don’t you dare cut out early!” “Fine, I won’t!” Kevin threw his arms up irritatedly, earning a light smack to the back of the head as his father swept from the room. “Fuckin’ dildo.” Kevin whispered, though apparently not quietly enough to escape Sue’s notice. “KEVIN.” She said sharply. Sue sat the lunches on the table and raised Kevin’s chin to meet her gaze. “Kevin, I’m tired of having this discussion. PLEASE, try to—“ “Make an effort with your dad!” Kevin imitated, much to her annoyance. “I’d make an effort if he’d stop starting shit!” Kevin retaliated, slamming his notebook shut. Sue sighed, something about it being too early to deal with this, and quietly acknowledging that Kevin actually had a point.

“So did you make a Valentine for Scott?” Bill asked jokingly, batting his eyes at Maureen, who couldn’t have been less amused. “What about you? Did you make one for Phillip?” She asked, repeating his same mockingly affectionate tone, earning a laugh from Kevin. “Ooh, who’s Scott?” Sue prodded with a wide smile. Maureen rolled her eyes. “Just…just a friend from school. Remember? You and dad made him cry in that meeting about me, when you thought I cheated off him on that math test?” “Ohhh, oh! That’s right.” Sue bit her lip, a twinge of embarrassment temporarily flooding back as she remembered she and Frank’s verbal brawl, in front of Maureen’s vice principal.

Bill and Maureen dumped their cereal bowls into the sink with a series of loud, glassy ‘clangs,’ and Kevin returned the unwanted banana to the fruit bowl. “I just hope Alice is actually around for Valentine’s Day.” Kevin sighed, packing his notebook away. “Oh, is she still not feeling well?” Sue asked. Kevin shrugged, leaning on the edge of the counter. “Yeah, she was doing okay for a bit, but she had to go home a couple more times a week or so ago because she got sick in class.” He stated very matter-of-factly, though Sue could tell by his expression that he was (as usual) deeply intrenched in his worry over her. Sue patted his shoulder softly. “Well, I’m sure she’ll be eager to get better in a hurry and hear your song. Your first Valentine’s Day with a girlfriend, what happened to my little boy?” Sue ruffled his hair in a saccharine tone, Kevin reddened in embarrassment and ducked away, much to her amusement. “Alright, I gotta go!” Kevin exited the back door with an unintentionally loud ‘slam.’

Meanwhile, in the Goldman house, Alice was still in no condition to go to school. Laying flat on her bed, she stared up at the ceiling, head pounding. “Alice, are you awake?” Her father’s gentle voice flowed in through the crack in her half-open door. Weakly, she turned her head to acknowledge him, but didn’t bother sitting up. “Yeah. Come in.” She invited, but Erwin was already pushing his way in. “Good morning, Peanut, are you feeling any better?” He asked, extending a hand to touch her forehead. “You don’t feel feverish…” Alice lightly nudged his hand away and sat up, hugging her knees. “Yeah, I dunno I just…I just get sick, and I—“ “Well, I warned you about eating those school lunches, sweetheart! I suggest you start brining real home-cooked food to school again, and maybe this will all sort itself out.” Alice rolled her eyes. “Speaking of which, please come down and have some breakfast. Even if you’re staying home today, you need to eat something.” “Dad, if I’m HUNGRY, then I’ll EAT.” Alice snapped, crossing her arms. “Alright, well, I’ll be in my office if you need anything at all, get some rest.” He patted her on the shoulder and swept from the room, gently closing the door behind him.

Alice sat motionless in the bed for a few more moments, until the sound of his squeaking loafers on the staircase had vanished. Reaching behind her pillow she pulled out a little blue book. Inside, Alice had counted the days since her last period, and she was definitely more than a little late. Biting the tip of her pen, she added another tally to the book, like a prisoner counting down the days until freedom. Her heart pounded hard in her chest, and she felt tears prickling at the corners of her eyes. “Ugh. Calm down, Alice, just calm down…We used a condom! We were safe! This is just…food poisoning or something, it’ll pass, noooo need to worry!” She monologued internally, but it was no use. The creeping anxiety of a potential pregnancy was too much to bear, and she desperately needed answers.

Alice quickly got dressed and prepared to sneak down stairs. Packing a handful of change for a payphone, and what little money she had saved, she picked up her shoes (electing to put them on downstairs, to avoid any extra noise) and took a deep breath. Her mother worked in real estate and was often out of the house early in the day, but her father — working from home and hardly ever venturing out, was the obstacle. Plus, she had never snuck out before. Admittedly, part of it was a little thrilling! Sure, she did plenty of things her parents wouldn’t approve of, same as any teenager, but she did try hard to stay in line and above all suspicion, most of the time.

Slinking slowly down a couple of stairs at a time, Alice kept a watchful eye through the banisters, ensuring that her father wasn’t there. Quickly she descended a few more, stopping once again to check things out. Then a few more, until finally she reached the final stair. The house was silent, other than some easy listening music undulating out of her father’s office.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Alice reached for her coat and the rack and prepared to make a break for it. “Alice! Are you feeling better?” Suddenly her father’s gentle voice, ironically cut through her with an intense, unexpected fear. She leapt back, eyes wide. “Oh…um…I was just…I was just gonna…I was gonna go take a walk. I thought, maybe some fresh air would make me feel a little better. After all, I’ve just been sitting inside for the past few days and all.” Alice lied. Erwin, none the wiser, gave her a warm half-smile. “Alright, Peanut. Just be sure to stay close to home, and be safe! I have several appointments starting at nine, so please don’t get too rowdy when you come home!” He joked, Alice, still nervous from the scare of pretty much being caught, took her leave in silence.

Quietly, Alice walked to the nearest payphone, just a block or two up from her neighborhood, kicking at the snow on the sidewalk all the way there. “What if I AM pregnant?” Her intrusive thoughts pushed forward once more. “I don’t know anything about babies! Kevin and I don’t have jobs, we’ll have to get some crappy apartment, drop out of school…and Kevin…my dad would kill him…HIS dad would kill him!” Alice managed to shake off her mental doom and gloom momentarily, finally reaching the phone booth. Yanking the door open, she popped a few coins into the slot and prepared to dial a friend. “Rachel? It’s Alice! I kinda need to ask you a favor…”

In Mr. Parker’s class, Kevin had been doing remarkably well with his algebra, but today his thoughts were admittedly elsewhere. Sitting slumped over with his head in his notebook, he continued to hammer out some sort of compatible lyrics for Alice’s song. — He was getting wise to Mr. Parker’s system and unexpected callouts though; alongside his song lyrics, he kept a few loose sheet of paper with notes about the day’s lecture, just in case. Only glancing up when he heard something new, or that “this is definitely gonna be on the test!” inflection in Mr. Parker’s voice. A passing glance at the clock above the blackboard gave him a sigh of relief, it was just about eight thirty, and the bell would ring any second.

Right on cue, the bell blared through Mr. Parker’s drawl and he jumped a bit in surprise; as if this didn’t happen every day. “Oh! Well that’s the time! Have an excellent rest of your day, be sure to have pages thirty-four through thirty-seven completed by next class!”

Kevin packed up his things and headed for the door, when a heavy hand landed, soft, but firm on his shoulder. He closed his eyes and sighed with a deep, annoyed moan. “Yeah, Mr. Parker?” The rotund man used the hand on Kevin’s shoulder to gently turned the boy around to face him, smiling his usual, goofy smile. But Kevin knew better. Mr. Parker was all ‘sunshine’ and ‘positivity’ until you got called to talk with him after class, over and over. “Mr. Murphy.” He began somewhat sternly. “I know you’ve been working diligently since you started my class, and I just wanted to say congratulations!” Kevin raised an eyebrow, completely lost as to where this conversation was heading. Mr. Parker reached into his desk and pulled out the most recent test he’d taken, folded in half so the final grade was a mystery. Poor Kevin had more than enough experience to know what that signified.

“I wasn’t going to give these back until next class, but I figured while I have your full and undivided attention,” He winked, Kevin acknowledging to himself that the teacher clearly knew he’d been slacking off. “I thought now was a good a time as any.” Kevin unfolded the test, astonished as ever to find a ‘B+’ at the top of the paper. Mr. Parker laughed at his exaggerated looks of disbelief. “You sure this is right?” Kevin asked. Again, the teacher laughed a hardy laugh, and patted him on the shoulder. “Yep! Like I said, you worked hard, and it shows! Now that being said, I’ve noticed over the past couple of days that you’ve been a bit distracted. Everything alright?” Kevin shrugged, gently placing the folded test paper into his notebook. “Eh, not really. You remember Alice, my girlfriend? She’s been really sick lately, and I’m just worried, I guess.” Mr. Parker nodded with pursed lips. “Young love, eh? Well, Alice is certainly lucky to have someone on her arm who cares for her as much. I’m sure she’ll be just fine, BUT, that doesn’t excuse the lack of attentiveness in class, Mr. Murphy.” As usual, he leveled his judgement with a firm but kind tone, Kevin nodded in response.

“You’re working hard and doing well, don’t sabotage yourself when you’ve come this far! You know, you’re still struggling a bit with fractions. Maybe if you devote ALL of your attention to the material in class, this ‘B’ will be an ‘A’ just a couple of exams from now!” He encouraged, peeking back up at the clock. “Oh! Well it looks like you might want to get going! I know how Mrs. Clark can be about punctuality.” Mr. Parker winked with a chuckle. “Yeah, see you!” Kevin dashed down the stairs, heart fluttering in disbelief and pride of his accomplishment. For the first time in years, he was excited to get home and show his parents.

Meanwhile, Alice sat in the passenger seat of her friend Rachel’s car, both girls stone-faced and silent in the parking lot of a women’s clinic in Ryetown. “So…how long did they say this could take?” Rachel asked. “Two hours, or so?” Alice struggled to remember, her mind a bit fuzzy from the stress of the afternoon’s secret escapade. “Have you decided what you’re gonna do…you know, if you are pregnant?” Rachel asked, gesturing at Alice’s belly. Alice slumped down in her seat. “Rachel, I have no idea. The more I think about it, the worse I feel. I mean…we have no money, no jobs, we’ll have to find somewhere to live…we’ll probably have to get married…” “Fat chance on that last one. Kevin’s not Jewish, right? So you might get outta that part, at least. I can’t see your dad ever letting you—“ “Rach, no, it’s not…I don’t want to…I mean, we can’t just…” Alice struggled to find the words, but her friend’s unintentionally cold and direct response had new gears turning in the back of her head. — She hadn’t once considered the difference in faith with their families, or whether or not her parents would fight to keep them apart.

But that also raised the question, did she really want to spend the rest of her life with Kevin? They had a great deal of growing up still left to do; in a decade’s time, they could very well be completely different people. And after all, what fifteen year old has family-planning on the brain, anyway? “You wanna go get something to eat? My treat. We can just pop back in a couple of hours.” Rachel suggested. Alice smiled, clearly still deep in thought. “Yeah, let’s go.”

The girls settled on a small burger joint a few miles from the clinic. Rachel’s father would be furious about any signs of food or teenage shenanigans on his pristine white leather seats, so the pair sat at an adjacent picnic table. Alice quietly tried to keep some fries down as she ran her fingers across the worn and bumpy surface, comprised of more carved graffiti than untouched wood after assumed years of service. “Hey. It’s gonna be okay!” Rachel said encouragingly, patting Alice’s hand; she mustered something resembling a smile and downed a few sips of soda. “I’ll feel better once I know for sure.” She said flatly. “So, you never really answered me back there.” Rachel pushed again. “What are you gonna do?” Alice crossed her arms and leaned over the table. “Well…I know I’d most likely end up keeping it. But…I just don’t know how Kevin’s gonna feel about it. You know, if “it’s” even happening.” She exhaled. Rachel placed a fist on her hip. “Well, I think it’s a bit late for that! He’ll have to get used to the idea, and fast!” She said feverishly. Alice briefly caught a familiar flash of green over her shoulder and whipped her head around, but just as quickly as it came, it was gone.

“Hey. You think we should head back, soon?” Alice asked cautiously. Rachel looked surprised. “Buh we jus go’ here!” She pointed out, mouth full of burger. Alice glanced over her shoulder again, preoccupied by the green flash. “Yeah. Yeah, let’s go.” She grabbed her back and ducked into the car, slamming the door unintentionally hard. She sunk down into the seat and as out of sight as possible, waiting for Rachel to finish eating. In her panic, she neglected to tell her friend that she swore she’d seen her mother’s green sedan cruising by earlier.

Back at school, Kevin sat patiently through yet another one of Mrs. Clark’s boring and long-winded English lectures. He was actually putting some effort into paying attention, but he couldn’t help but nod off; everything that came out of the old crone’s mouth was so dry and devoid of any energy. It was either try to catch a few minutes of sleep before getting caught, or continue trying to work on Alice’s song. — At least the latter of the two options would give the illusion that he was taking notes.

Chewing on the cap of his pen, Kevin looked down at the lyrics he’d scrawled out so far, and he loathed them. Normally it was so easy to write a simple song, the lyrics just seemed to flow so easily from his brain to the paper. But, this was the first time he’d really sat down to write an intentionally meaningful song about someone important to him. “Mr. Happy Guy” was an obvious masterpiece, but even he didn’t realize at first that the song was about anything more than his new positive outlook on life. He loved Alice, he was crazy about her! So why was it so naggingly difficult to put those thoughts into words?

Suddenly, a familiar, wrinkled hand slapped down on the surface of his notebook. Kevin jumped back in surprise. “AH! Why’d you do that?!” He asked defensively, trying to recover his composure as the rest of the class made mocking noises at him. Mrs. Clark glared down and adjusted her glasses. “Care to share what you’re working on with the rest of the class? Because it certainly doesn’t look like the list of prepositions I asked you to copy!” She snatched the book up before Kevin had a chance to react. He leapt up from his seat with nervously gritted teeth. “Just give it back! Please…” Kevin let that ‘please’ escape him with as much detectable attitude as possible; he promised to do better in school, and he was already on incredibly thin ice with Mrs. Clark, but the thought of having those cringeworthy lyrics read aloud was already causing him to preemptively go red with embarrassment. Kevin stared the old woman down, a pathetic look on his face, clearly, silently pleading for her to surrender. But that just wasn’t her style.

“Alice, I love you to the moon and back
I loved you from the day Mr. Versaki sat on his nut-sack
Your hair smells great
I only think of you when I masturbate
You have the world’s best tits
You’re so pretty and I love you to bits”

Every word Mrs. Clark read reinforced Kevin’s burgeoning understanding that this was NOT his best material, by far. And the fact that it had the whole class rolling with tears and laughter really wasn’t helping matters, but the brutal woman continued.

“Alice Goldman
A life with us together is the goal, man
You’re my forever love
And until we’re married I promise to use a glove
You’re so pretty and you have the best face
It always makes me happy when you come to my place
Alice, Alice, Alice
Alice, Alice, Alice.”

Kevin stood, frozen in place, mouth agape, the gravity of his own words being read back to him, in the weathered voice of his teacher. His cheeks burned bright red and he felt cold sweats coming on. The whole class was still in an uproar, some kids barely able to contain themselves. Kevin bit his lip and looked down; although he’d never been a popular kid, and the remedial English class was small, he knew that words traveled fast in school. She’d gleefully signed his social death warrant in reading this God-awful song aloud.

Mrs. Clark closed the book and smirked at Kevin, clearly getting some twisted enjoyment in tearing him down. “Well Mr. Murphy, poetry isn’t on the lesson plan for quite some time, so it appears you’re actually ahead of the game for ONCE!” She chortled, sliding the book back onto his desk. She gestured with her hands to silence the class. “Settle down! Settle down! And take your seat, Mr. Murphy. Now, where were we?” Kevin was a bit stunned that she was able to seamlessly transition back to her lesson after dishing out that brutal and frankly unnecessary humiliation, but it did push him to rethink his lyrics. “Oh man.” He whispered to himself, reading over the song, the awareness of how bad it was suddenly washing over him. Their first Valentine’s Day was tomorrow, and at this rate he’d have nothing to give Alice. Without any regard for the small disruption it caused, Kevin ripped the pages out and balled them up and jammed them roughly in his bag.

At the women’s clinic, Alice and Rachel sat wordlessly in the waiting room, Alice’s leg bouncing furiously as she kept her attention firmly focused on the clock. “Hey.” Rachel whispered, placing a hand on her leg. “It’s gonna be okay, no matter what.” She reassured, Alice smiled weakly. Suddenly a door opened, and a nurse emerged. “Miss Goldman?” She said, gesturing for Alice to come back. The girl took a deep breath. “Do you want me to go with you?” Rachel asked, Alice simply shook her head, heart pounding as she walked alone into the unknown.

“So. I’m…” Alice couldn’t even get the word out. Although she’d had the sinking suspicion for a short time, now, hearing it medically declared really set the tone for the severity of the event. “Pregnant.” The nurse finished for her. “Yes, dear. We estimate you’re approaching two months gestation. Due date should be sometime towards the end of September, perhaps early October, if the baby’s late.” Alice wrung her hands in her lap, her breathing shallow as she tried to keep her composure. The doctor placed a firm hand on her shoulder. “It’s alright, Miss Goldman. There are plenty of centers for unwed teenage mothers, and several options available to you, should you choose to—“ “Thanks.” Alice leapt from the exam table and sped out of the room without another word.

In the waiting room, she breezed right past Rachel, who fought to catch up to her. “Hey! Alice! Wait up! C’mon, these are new boots, I can only—“ Rachel caught up to Alice near the landing of a stairwell. She sank to the floor behind a large potted plant and burst into tears. Her friend took a seat next to her, pulling her close. “So, I guess…these aren’t tears of relief?” She chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. “I’m PREGNANT Rachel!” Alice choked out through her sobs. “What am I gonna do?!” Suddenly, a looming shadow appeared around the corner; glancing upwards, Rachel was shocked to see Mrs. Goldman. Judging by her expression, she guessed she’d just heard her daughter’s confession.

Keenly unaware of the life-changing news coming his way, Kevin managed to slag through the rest of his school day, mostly unscathed. Although he was still mentally recovering from his mortification in Mrs. Clark’s class, he was mostly preoccupied by his creative block, paired with the dauntingly short deadline to produce a musical masterpiece worthy of Alice. But, the one good thing he still had to hold onto from that day was tucked safely in his bag: His first ‘B+’ math test! As the final bell rang, he found himself excited (cheesy as it felt) to rush home and show his parents. Especially after the drawn out fight he and Frank had had over Kevin and Alice’s intimacy, this would be the perfect thing to smooth things over: Prove he was taking school seriously, and not letting his relationship interfere with his studies. With nearly an ‘A’ grade, who would argue that he wasn’t working hard?

Later that evening, the Murphy family was seated down to dinner. Bill and Maureen occasionally flicking bits of pasta at each other, Sue keeping the peace, and Frank telling a long-winded story about Ala-Hican Ed’s latest pile of ridiculous requests. Meanwhile Kevin, all smiles for once, kept his notebook, with his precious good grade inside, firmly planted beneath one hand on the surface of the table, waiting for the perfect moment to ‘wow’ everyone.

“Man, I am tellin’ you, Sue, if I wasn’t nearly sixteen years in, I’d be out lookin’ for somethin’ else TONIGHT!” Frank bellowed. Sue patted his hand sympathetically. “Oh, honey. It’s just…an awkward adjustment period. Ed knows that you’re fit for more than just Loading Supervisor. Once the whole Buster Thunder Jr. debacle has all blown over, you’ll wow ‘em like you always do, and get promoted again, you’ll see.” She said encouragingly. “Yeah, it’s just a long fuckin’ climb back up that ladder.” Frank muttered. “I swear, I can’t take ONE MORE bad news announcement for the foreseeable fuckin’ future…” Frank rubbed his forehead and closed his eyes, trying his best to destress in the moment.

Kevin beamed to himself, seizing the perfect opportunity. He cleared his throat ceremoniously and stood up, notebook in hand. “Family, I have a special announcement! An announcement of GOOD news!” He proclaimed boldly. Frank rolled his eyes. “What? You movin’ out?” He smirked, Sue gave a light smack to his hand. “What is it, honey?” Kevin whipped the folded test paper out, tossing its protective notebook aside. Admittedly, Sue bit her lip with cautious anticipation; the last time Kevin proffered a hidden piece of paper for his father, it was his freshman year failure notice. “What the Hell’s this?” Frank asked brusquely, clearly recalling the same thing.

Snatching the paper from Kevin, he unfolded it and took quick notice of the big ‘B+’ at the top of the paper. His hardened expression gradually softening into surprise, then pride as he looked at the paper, then back to Kevin repeatedly, completely thrown for a loop at the good news. “A ‘B+’ in MATH? Good for you, son! At this rate, you might actually graduate this decade!” He teased with a smile. “Kevin, this is wonderful! We’re so proud of you!” Se leaned over and kissed his cheek. Taking the test from Frank, she leaned over and popped it onto the fridge with an apple shaped magnet. The teenager beamed with pride, it had been years since he brought home anything worthy of making the illustrious fridge.

“Hah, so who’d you cheat off of?” Bill smirked, earning an under-the-table kick from his older brother. Bill gritted his teeth at Kevin, and Frank, noticing the mounting tension between the two, jumped in to smooth it over. “Knock it off, you two. Bill, quit bein’ a smartass. Kevin, good job. I mean it. Keep it up, son!” “I will. Mr. Parker says —“ As it always seemed to in the Murphy household, the annoying clatter of the phone ringing against the wall cut sharply through the conversation. “Does it ever fail?” Frank seethed, preparing to get up, surprising everyone by sitting back down. “No. You know what? No! I’m not in charge anymore, if it’s work, they can just get someone else to clean up whatever fuckin’ messes unfolding in that miserable shithole.” Frank gestured for Kevin to continue. As he bragged about his teacher and how promising he’d been saying Kevin was, the phone stopped ringing, and the robotic tone of the answering machine gave way to the singular ‘beep,’ and Alice’s voice, meek and worried, appeared. The distinct sound of a screaming, tearful argument clashed in the background, nearly drowning her out. “Kevin. I…I think we need to talk.” The table fell silent, and the family exchanged worried glances.

“Um, dad, can I call Alice?” Kevin asked, nervously trying to keep his calm despite his worried expression, “Eh. It’s fine. But just this once! We don’t make personal calls during family time!” Frank reminded. Kevin took the phone and walked around the corner, his heart beating fast as he dialed the Goldman house. It rang thrice and cut to the answering machine. Hanging up with his finger, Kevin dialed again. Same outcome. “Come onnn, Aliceeee.” Kevin whined in a whisper. As he prepared to dial a third time, Sue raised a hand. “Kevin, honey. Give her some time, it sounds like whatever’s going on must be a big deal. She’ll call again when she’s got a minute, I’m sure.” Defeated, Kevin slumped back to the table, flopping down in his chair, unable to continue eating with his eyes fixated on the phone, ready to jump up at the next ring, oblivious to whatever conversations were unfolding around him.

The phone didn’t ring again. But it wasn’t long before the distinct screech of tires pierced through the nighttime air, and the blinding flood of headlights filled the living room windows. “Who the fuck is that?” Frank asked irritatedly, squeezing his half finished can of beer, downing the remainder in one hardy gulp before getting up to investigate. From the kitchen Sue peered over the bar inquisitively. “Kids, go to your rooms, just to be safe. Kevin, go with Bill, I don’t want you outside until…whatever this is, is settled.” She suggested quietly, as the slam of car doors and indistinct shouting grew closer. “WHERE IS THAT GENTILE PIECE OF SHIT?!” Kevin’s eyes widened and he froze in his tracks. “Wait a sec, that’s Alice’s dad!” He pushed past Bill and walked back out to the living room. Smiling innocently, he waved out the window, just in time to see a thoroughly enraged Erwin pounding on the front door, then pulling on the locked knob. “Jesus Christ! Hold on!” Frank smoothed his hair and approached the door, leveling an accusing glance at his oldest son. “What the fuck is this about?” He inquired in a sharp whisper, Kevin shrugged, legitimately lost on what was unfolding before him.

“SHIT!” Frank exclaimed, suddenly colliding backwards into an end table. As soon as he unlocked the door, he was violently pushed back by Erwin rushing through, fists balled. “Hey Dr. Goldman!” Kevin greeted cheerfully, the bespectacled man’s face reddened and he took a swing at the boy, clocking him in the cheek and sending him to the floor.

In the kitchen, Sue dropped her oven mitts and raced to the garage to procure her trusty bat. Meanwhile, Frank, still reeling from the fall, collected himself with lightning speed once he saw Kevin get hit. Bearing his teeth and charging the man with his blood boiling; Frank grabbed Erwin’s shirt so vigorously that he popped several buttons from his sweater. “HEY!” He practically roared, landing a punch to the side of his head. “DON’T YOU EVER TOUCH MY FUCKING KID, YOU CURLY HEADED FUCK! I WILL PUT YOU THROUGH THIS FUCKING WALL!” Frank and Erwin continued their altercation, Maureen and Bill watching, awestruck from their open doors, Megan wailing from the kitchen, Kevin disoriented and in pain on the living room floor, and Sue racing back in, posturing the bat, ready to deliver a blow any second. “BOTH OF YOU SIT THE FUCK DOWN!” She bellowed. The two men, breathing heavily, practically snarling at each other like wild animals, parted ways. Frank reached down and helped Kevin up, wrapping an arm around his shoulder, placing him between he and Dr. Goldman. “You okay?” He asked, taking notice of the bruise forming on Kevin’s cheek. The boy nodded, too in shock at what had just happened to acknowledge the discomfort.

Once Sue was certain that Kevin was alright, and that the fight had at least temporarily been quelled, she went to comfort Megan, whose distressed cries were the only sound piercing through the air amid the tension.

“Okay.” Frank huffed, putting his glasses back on, still out of breath. “Kevin. PLEASE tell me you know what the FUCK this is all about.” He asked, wiping a trail of fresh blood from his nose. Kevin, still a little shaken, shrugged his arms lightly. “I don’t know! I…I haven’t even seen Alice in like, days! Oh my God…did she send you here to break up with me?!” The oblivious boy panicked. Outside another car door slammed and Mrs. Goldman emerged in the open doorway, dragging a tearful Alice by the arm. “You can forget about that, you little degenerate!” Dr. Goldman spat. “My daughter has some news for you. Alice?” He stood firmly with his fists on his hips, gesturing for his daughter to approach. Poor Kevin was still totally lost in his usual sea of innocent confusion, but the gears were already turning in his parents’ heads, both of whom were exchanging wide-eyed glances, telepathically praying in unison they were wrong in their predictions.

“Go on, tell him! You couldn’t have expected to keep this a secret for much longer!” Alice’s mother prodded, wiping tears from her already reddened cheeks. “Jesus Christ.” Frank firmly squinted his eyes, trying to prepare himself for what he was now one hundred precent sure was the dreaded ‘secret.’ Alice looked down, placing her face in her hands, she mumbled something so quietly that no one else heard it, shoulders heaving. “SAY IT!” Erwin thundered down at her. “I’M PREGNANT!” With those broken, tearful words, the house fell totally silent aside from Alice’s guttural sobs.

“Oh my God.” Frank pinched his temple and collapsed into his chair. Sue, still holding Megan, placed her forehead in her hand and looked away, totally overwhelmed with every possible emotion in that moment. Kevin stared blankly, unsure of how to process the bomb that had just been dropped on him.

“Alice…are you…are you sure?” He asked quietly, she didn’t look up for a few moments. “Doctor was…I’m due in September.” Her reply was eerily similar to Sue’s revelation to Frank when they found out they were expecting their first child, a detail both of them seemed to take quick notice of. “Alice…this is…this is AMAZING!” Kevin grabbed her hands and squeezed them tight. “KEVIN! WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!” Alice cried, shocking him with her first ever use of ‘fuck.’ Kevin slowly retracted his hands and stared on, sadly. “Why? We…we love each other! I mean…we were gonna get married and have kids eventually, right? So…why not now?” He pushed encouragingly, trying desperately to salvage the awkward situation.

“Kevin, I…I don’t know.” Alice looked away as she said this, Kevin placed his hands on her shoulders and forced a smile, though his heart was nervously pounding in his chest. “It’s gonna be okay! It’ll be okay Alice, you’ll see! I’m gonna take care of us! The guys and I have been working nonstop on our first album! Once we get a record deal, we won’t have to worry about anything!” “What in the world is he on about?” Dr. Goldman asked frustratedly. Abruptly Frank, mentally reeling from the situation unfolding before him, shot up from the chair with gritted teeth, and in a moment of blind, impulsive rage, he snatched Kevin up by the shirt with one hand, and slapped him hard with the other. “Holy shit.” Bill whispered from the hall, his heart pounding. “FRANK!” Sue shrieked. Again, the room fell silent, with only the brief wooden clatter of Sue’s bat falling to the floor, and Kevin’s stifled, breathy whimper permeating the air. Even Frank briefly looked shaken by what he’d just done, especially given the pathetic stare Kevin met his fiery gaze with. But he forced his anger to linger at least long enough for him to get all his feelings out.

“JESUS FUCKING CHRIST, KEVIN! WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!” Frank, still holding Kevin by the shirt, screamed inches from his face. Kevin trembled, his eyes closed tight and face contorted in distress, desperately trying to will himself away to somewhere else, and trying equally hard not to cry. “You got a girl PREGNANT, son! You’ve got no MONEY, no JOB, no PROSPECTS…as if it wasn’t already a fuckin’ toss-up whether or not you’d graduate fuckin’ high school, you’ve got no EDUCATION! Jesus, you’re FIFTEEN FUCKING YEARS OLD!” Frank released him with an unintentionally rough shove, Kevin stumbled backwards, but maintained his footing, backing up against a wall.

“Where are you even gonna LIVE when this kid’s born, huh?! You’re sure as SHIT not livin’ here!” Kevin’s eyes widened and he looked down, biting his lip as he felt the heat of tears beginning to fall, stinging his cheek. “Fuck, I can’t even LOOK at you right now, God damn disappointment!” Frank stepped back to take breath, his head pounding. “I don’t wanna hear SHIT about your ‘band’ or your ‘album’ or how you’re gonna be a ‘big, famous rockstar!’” Frank said with mocking gestures and tones. “Your useless ass is gonna be lucky to get a job washing dishes! If your childish fuckin’ pipe dreams weren’t already dead in the water, they sure as SHIT are, now!” Frank watched as the gravity of the news finally started to sink in for Kevin, who shielded his face in his hands, shoulders starting to heave in sobs he was desperately trying to keep quiet.

Frank turned to Alice. “And you. Alice, I’m sorry you had to be…attracted to my son, of all people. I’m sorry that the ONE promising future here is getting fucked up…but that’s what he does…there’s not much to be done about it now, is there?” Alice bit her lip and looked down again, more tears coming.

“Frank…” Sue quietly interjected from the background. “Susan, don’t…just don’t. Not now, alright?” Frank ordained, red in the face as he calculated his next talking point. He turned to Kevin, as he raised his hand to point to the door, the boy flinched, Frank’s stomach lurched at the trauma he knew he just caused. “And YOU. Get the fuck out! I don’t wanna see your face in this house until I ASK for it, you understand me?! GO!” Frank shouted, Kevin turned to leave, only managing to hold it together until he got to the threshold of the door, bursting into loud wails as he disappeared in the darkness, with a slam of the heavy metal cellar doors. — Alice looked to the door, half wanting to run to him, half wanting to get in the car, drive anywhere, and try to move on from this nightmarish evening, but she stayed put, quietly weighing her options. Just trying to unravel the formidable path that was now unfolding before her.

As the two sets of parents continued talking, and arguing, and yelling, and crying late into the night, the chaotic mix of emotions gave the two middle Murphy siblings ample time to sneak out. Both silently met in the hallway, a pillow and blanket in hand, each appearing to have had the same idea, without having discussed it aloud. They crossed the snow-covered yard in bare feet, temporarily unbothered by the cold, the importance of their mission having given them an increased strength. — The pair didn’t even bother knocking on the cellar doors, Bill pulled them open, allowing Maureen to go down first, he followed, closing the world outside behind them.

“Hey.” Bill said softly, descending the stairs to Kevin’s basement. “Hey.” Kevin replied, sounding equally defeated. Bill sat on the cold concrete stairs, watching Kevin, who lay curled up in bed, facing the wall. The small redhead looked down, he wasn’t sure how to feel right now. Sure, his older brother could be an asshole and a bully, but he was still his big brother, and seeing him in such a broken state just felt wrong.

Frank had never deliberately hit one of them with such intentional force, and all three could sense how they had somehow all been affected by Kevin’s misery. Maureen climbed over Kevin and curled up next to him, he draped an arm over her. Bill remained on the stairs for a few more minutes, and decidedly curled up behind his siblings, cocooning himself in his “Nickel and Pickle” blanket, staring up at the confusing trail of pipes and wires that lined the concrete ceiling. — Internally he took note at the complex interweaving of the tubes and wires, so seemingly confusing to the eye, and yet somehow they all ended up leading to the same corner of the room. Kevin’s future was like that too, he guessed; no matter what path he chose, no matter how he tried to steer himself further away from his preordained destination, he was bound to end up exactly where he was now, eventually. The victim of his own unintended self-sabotaging.

“Hey Kevin?” Bill asked quietly, echoing in the darkness. “Yeah?” His brother responded groggily. “What the hell are you gonna do, now?” Bill asked, but his question trailed off, vanishing in an echo in the quiet darkness of the basement bedroom. Kevin was totally unsure of that, himself. And for perhaps the first time in his young life, any thought of the future terrified him.

Awhile later, the Goldmans took their leave, several of Slagtree Court’s residents were still wide awake and periodically staring out from their windows and doors, trying to piece together what had just unfolded in what was already arguably the most dysfunctional house on the block.

From the living room window, Frank and Sue watched as the tan and white car pulled out and vanished in the cold night. The pair stood in silence, watching nothing for what felt like an eternity. Sue reached over and gripped her husband’s shoulder before turning to head upstairs. “Frank. Let’s…let’s go to bed. I’m fucking exhausted. I just…I just can’t take anymore tonight. We can talk more about this tomorrow.” She breathed, defeated. “I hit him, Sue.” Frank droned blankly, maintaining his faraway gaze. Sue returned to Frank’s side, squeezing his hand as tight as she could. “You know my dad used to…I never should’ve…I-I should go…” As Frank tried to process everything that had just occurred, and what he had done to Kevin, she urged him to keep his head. “Frank, just let him sleep. I’m sure everyone’s out like a light after all that commotion.”

Sue glanced over her shoulder at the hallway, Bill and Maureen’s doors were propped slightly ajar. She quietly pushed into each one and took notice of the empty beds. “Frank! Where are Bill and Maureen?!” She asked, quick to panic with her emotions still running high. Frank closed his eyes and breathed deep. “I have an idea.” Slipping on a pair of shoes, he headed outside, Sue in tow. He looked down at the small footprints in the snow, and gestured to Sue, leading her by the hand to the doors of Kevin’s room. Quiet as he could, he slowly pulled the doors open and the two stared down, able to make out the three lumps in the bed, awash in the darkness. Frank gingerly closed the doors behind them and wrapped an arm over his wife’s shoulders, leading her back inside. “We Murphys always look out for each other in the end, right?” He said with as much of a smile as he could muster.

In bed, Frank and Sue didn’t exchange so much as a “goodnight” before settling into their respective places. Tonight, facing away from each other. Frank removed his glasses and turned to stare out the window. Although it’d been at least a couple of hours since the climax of the evening’s debacle, he swore that his right hand still stung. Looking closer, it was still noticeably red. Frank pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed deeply.

All his adult life, from the moment he’d found out he was going to be a father, Frank had pledged to uphold his childhood promise, to be a better father to his own children than his father was to him. In many respects, he knew he had succeeded, though sometimes, just barely. But he couldn’t help but feel that tonight, that one moment of lost control could be the end of everything. Sure, Kevin was notably tougher than Bill, but it wasn’t lost on Frank how sensitive he was…would he be afraid of him, now? Would he get angrier, and lash out at him in return? Would he avoid him altogether, the fragile bond they’d managed to forge, perceivably shattered? Would he be more obedient?…How terrible he was to try and look for a positive in this.

And on top of the trauma he’d caused Kevin, what about the rest of his family? Would Sue threaten to leave him, once she had time to really mull over the evening’s jarring events? Would Bill and Maureen tiptoe around him wondering if they would be the next ones to incur his wrath? At least Megan was far too young to ever remember this night…

As much as it pained him to even conjure the thought, Frank was his father’s son. He’d done as well as he possibly could to keep his temper under control, especially given his constantly stress-inducing circumstances, but still, the Big Bill in him kept rearing his ugly head far more often these days than Frank was comfortable with. And it was a problem. Staring out at the clear night sky, Frank allowed (rather, forced) himself to drift off to sleep, already dreading the many conversations he had to internally prepare to have with his family the next day.

The early morning sun leaked through the half-hung curtain, draped against the tiny basement window. The older Murphy children still lay fast asleep in a pile on Kevin’s bed. Maureen, curled up tight in the dark gray blankets, facing the wall, Bill at the edge of the bed, legs dangling freely over the edge of the mattress, while his top half clung to a pillow for dear life. And the barrier between the two younger siblings lay flat on his back, wide awake and staring at the ceiling. — He hadn’t slept more than a few unfulfilling minutes that night; similarly to his father, understandably there was far too much on his mind for him to just shut it all down and rest.

Turning his head, he could see part of his alarm clock just behind Bill’s bright red locks, it was nearly six, he didn’t have much time before Frank would come barging to the doors to wake him up. Extending an arm, he unplugged it so the blaring radio wouldn’t wake his siblings, who he gently maneuvered himself around to get up. The frigid concrete floor stung his bare feet, sending a chill through his whole body.

Staring at his mirror, he focused his attention on the beaten reflection staring blankly back at him. His right cheek was slightly bruised from Frank’s slap, and his left was bruised and swollen from Erwin’s punch. Out of curiosity he ran a finger across the teeth in his left cheek, thankfully none were loose. For a usually soft-spoken teddybear of a man, Erwin had a hell of a right hook. He wasn’t in much pain anymore, but he had a pounding headache, likely from the hits to his head, coupled with a near complete lack of sleep.

Upstairs, Frank and Sue were both wide awake. Despite being Valentine’s Day, neither one had breathed a word about it, or opened up a discussion about any plans. Wordlessly, Sue thumbed through a book, and Frank brushed his teeth, briefly glancing up at the clock, which read just about quarter of six. For a fleeting moment he’d forgotten that the kids were all holed up down in Kevin’s room, and he pondered whether or not he should go wake them, or for that matter, the exceptionally rare thought about whether or not they should even attend school today after last night entered his mind; after all, he, himself had elected to take a sick day from work, in hopes of at least clearing the air with Kevin.

Staring back up at the mirror, he noticed Sue, standing tiredly behind him. “Morning, honey.” Frank kissed her on the cheek. “So. Do you think you’ll be able to talk to Kevin, today?” She jumped right to the point, joining Frank at the sink, brushing her hair. Frank sighed. “I…I don’t know. I don’t know what to say. HE fucked up, I fucked up…it’s just…what do I even…” Frank stepped back and sat on the toilet, mind still reeling from last night.

Sue bit her lip before pushing this issue, but it had been eating at her since Alice’s announcement. “Frank. I think you really need to have ‘that talk’ with Kevin. You know…the one you gave Bill last year?” Frank furrowed his brow. “Well it’s a little late for that, Susan, seems to me like he’s got a pretty solid fuckin’ grasp on where babies come from!” “I know, and maybe, if he’d gotten the talk sooner, then—“ “Oh of COURSE this is MY fault. Christ, it’s never your little golden boy, is it?! What ever happened to accountability, SUSAN?!” Sue took a deep breath, turning to face her husband. “Look. I’m not blaming you for Kevin’s…carelessness. BUT, I am saying that he needs you.” “Yeah, and I needed him not to get a girl pregnant while he’s still fully fuckin’ dependent on me!”

Sue sat on the edge of the tub and draped an arm around Frank’s slumped form. “Please Frank…Kevin is going to need us all to be there for him as much as we can. Alice too. I really think the two of you need to have a man-to-man talk, and try to figure out where to go from here. At least figure out where to start in all this. Now I’m gonna go make breakfast.” Sue swept from the room, leaving a kiss on Frank’s forehead. He scoffed. “He’s no man, a real man doesn’t get a girl pregnant and…oh…right.” He cut himself off before he could finish his insult, once more reminded of just how truly alike he and his wayward son were. Slumping over further, Frank placed his head in his hands, staring blankly at the garish, pink bath tiles, a flurry of intrusive thoughts still buzzing around in his head.

Back in Kevin’s room, he’d gotten dressed and woken Bill and Maureen. Kevin sat on the stairs, and his younger siblings on the bed, mostly in silence. “So…What are you and Alice gonna do?” Bill asked sheepishly, staring at the floor. Kevin sighed and slumped over. “I dunno. I don’t think her stupid fuckin’ parents are gonna let me see her anymore.” He pouted. “I wouldn’t want the asshole who got my daughter pregnant to come around, either.” Bill smirked, hoping that his well-intended jab read as a mood-lightening joke rather than an insult.

Suddenly, the basement doors opened, the bright morning light and frigid February air rushing in. Kevin leapt back from his spot on the stairs and retreated to a corner in the darkness. Frank took a couple of steps down and gestured over his shoulder. “C’mon, time’s a wastin’ your mom’s makin’ breakfast so go get ready!” Bill and Maureen exited the room in silence, Maureen briefly glancing back to her oldest brother with visible concern.

Frank remained on the stairs, and Kevin knew he was waiting on him. Taking a deep breath, he grabbed his coat and school bag and headed up the stairs, gaze cast downward all the way. Suddenly, he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder, looking up, he met Frank’s oddly soft gaze. “Leave your books.” Frank ordered, in surprise, Kevin raised a brow at his father, who waved him on. “Well go on! Enjoy it! You’re NEVER gonna hear me say you don’t have to go to school, again! Now get in the fuckin’ house!” Kevin seized the granted opportunity, dropping his bag on the steps before following his father inside.

Frank held the back door open and gestured with a bunt of his head for Kevin to enter; he walked in silently, again forcing himself not to make eye contact. Inside, the delicious smell of home cooked breakfast: pancakes, bacon and scrambled eggs with cheese filled the air. Sue glanced over her shoulder and smiled. “Good morning, honey.” “Morning.” Kevin said blankly, taking a seat at the table, next to Megan in her highchair.

Frank gently ran his hand over the top of Kevin’s head as he made his way to sit down. Rather than sitting at his usual spot at the table’s head, he took a seat across from him, he stared at Kevin, halfheartedly smiling; Kevin could feel that stare, and it was uncomfortable. “What are you—“ Before Kevin was forced to fully acknowledge the unease, Bill and Maureen entered the room, perfectly timed. “Oh thank God.” The eldest muttered under his breath.

Wordlessly, Bill and Maureen exchanged glances, displaying equal discomfort as their older brother, and sat down. The arrangement was odd for both of them, as the family rarely ever changed up their seating when eating together, but Bill dared not ask his father to surrender his seat on a good day, let alone a day after abject chaos, and arguably the angriest he’d ever been. He took the seat next to his father, as Maureen had already claimed the head seat. Frank noticed, but didn’t say anything when he caught Bill pulling the chair a little further away from him, out of the corner of his eye. He wasn’t mad, but it did hurt.

“So! Everyone excited for Valentine’s Day? I made you something special, today!” Sue beamed, carefully setting everyone’s plates at the table; the pancakes all made in carefully prepared heart shapes. For once, the trio had nothing to say, everyone still quietly trying to process last night, and all equally unable to bring up the topic. “Eh, not really.” Bill muttered, picking at his plate, he caught sight of Kevin’s bruised face in the full light of the kitchen, and it disturbed his appetite.

Sue sat down with her family and attempted to feed Megan some eggs, which she was more keen on squeezing in her tiny hands. At the very least, it did get Kevin to smile a little. “Well, I’m sure you’ll get heaps of treats today, just don’t spoil your lunches!” Sue smiled. “Yeah.” Bill and Maureen murmured listlessly.

Frank took a deep breath. “Alright. Kids, I…I think we need to talk about what happened last night. I…I’m sorry. I lost control, Kevin, I never should’ve reacted the way I did, and I promise you, I’ll—“ “Oh! Look at that, it’s almost seven fifteen! Maureen, we should probably get going!” Bill interjected, pushing his mostly untouched plate away. “Hey, hey, hey! Where the hell’re you goin’, this is an important conversation, you FUCKIN’ ingrates!” Frank pounded down on the table with an audible clatter of silverware, but to no avail. The pair grabbed their lunches and went to put on their coats; Frank and Sue exchanged defeated glances, and Sue got up from the table. “I’ll drive the kids today, be back soon. We’ll be sure to pick this back up tonight, honey.” She kissed Frank on the cheek and grabbed her purse, leaving Kevin alone with Frank and the baby.

The pair sat in silence, Kevin briefly looking his father in the eye. An obvious sense of tension between the two, but Frank seemed to breathe a sigh of relief that he at least didn’t look afraid, but he dared not speak a word. Megan’s babbling was the only sound echoing in the kitchen, and Kevin kept his attention fixated on her, trying hard not to fixate too much on Frank’s prying gaze. Unwittingly, he was giving Frank something to stare at though; the small bruise on his right cheek, the result of the hard slap he’d dealt him.

Frank sighed and prepared himself for a difficult discussion. “Kevin.” He said softly, gaining his attention. “Son, I…I’m sorry. I…there’s no excuse for what happened last night. I got all worked up, there was too much comin’ at me on all at once, after awhile I was just seein’ red. But I—“ “Dad, you don’t have to do this.” Kevin interjected. “Yes I do. A real man admits when he’s wrong and tries to make things right.” Frank declared. Kevin shot Megan a side-eyed glance, his own small gesture of acknowledging the hypocrisy in his father’s statement. “Look. I’m sorry I…I hit you.” Frank struggled more than he thought he would with that admission. “And I promise you, it’ll NEVER happen again. Never! I just…I’m scared for you, and on top of everything else, I don’t want you to think I’d ever do somethin’ to hurt you on purpose. I mean…you don’t…you don’t feel that way, do you?” Frank’s question unexpectedly stung at Kevin, and he looked away.

Quickly Kevin jumped up, staring blankly as he gathered dishes and put them in the sink. “Kevin, I asked you a question.” Frank stated firmly. Kevin wiped off Megan’s high chair and cleaned the smushed eggs from her tiny hands. “I’m gonna put Megan in her rocker. I’ll be at Bolo’s.” He said quietly, scooping up the baby and exiting the room. Frank didn’t bother repeating himself again, nor did he question how Kevin knew for certain his friends wouldn’t be in school that day, and sat at the table staring down at his hands. “Oh shit.” He muttered to himself, removing his glasses and rubbing his eyes.

Though he would normally be barreling through the streets like a bat out of Hell, Kevin took his time, leisurely peddling his bike down to Bolo’s house, deep in thought. He wasn’t intimidated by Frank, no more than he had been before all of this…so why was the conversation surrounding the evening’s events to hard to broach?

Maybe his mind just wasn’t too fixated on the superficialities of the night; his thoughts wandered back to Alice. — Never in his life had he felt so stupid. How could he have ignored the signs? He was by no means an expert, but he knew enough to know about morning sickness and missed periods. “Ohh she’s just not feeling well! You stupid dildo!” Kevin chastised himself in a whisper, rounding a tight corner.

Once he arrived at Bolo’s house, he dropped his bike unceremoniously in the yard next to the driveway. Hands firmly planted in his coat pockets he walked up the stairs to knock on the door. It felt weird, not going straight for the garage, and arriving without his guitar, to boot. But he felt like he needed someone in his own small circle to talk to about this. Knocking on the door, he peeked inside, until he noticed Bolo emerging from the hall bathroom, a noticeable cloud of smoke wafting out with him, and Lex in tow.

“Hey, Murph! Whoa, you look like shit.” Bolo remarked, his goofy smile downturning as he took notice of his friend’s battered face. Kevin unbuttoned his coat and shrugged it off, letting it fall to the floor; Bolo retrieved it and tossed it on the couch. “Yeah, looks like you could use a little green.” Lex offered kindly, ushering him to the bathroom. “Thanks guys. I actually wanted to talk to you about something.” Kevin sat on the edge of the bathtub and watched Bolo roll another joint atop a book sitting on the vanity. He exchanged a glance with Lex before rolling his eyes. “We already told you, Murph, there’s no room for Elfin King shit on our first album!” Lex chastised, Kevin vigorously shook his head. “No, no! This is serious! Guys, I dunno what to do…” Kevin took a brief hit from the freshly lit joint and passed it back to Bolo, tears in his eyes. The display of emotion made the two older boys a little uncomfortable, but nonetheless, they sat down to listen.

“Fuck, man. So…what are you gonna do?” Lex asked, now fully reclined in the tub, head pressed against the wall. “I have nooo idea. It’s pretty fucked up, right?” Kevin bemoaned, sinking down next to him, finishing off the last of the weed. “I mean, it should be cool, right? TONS of big time musicians have kids with babes all over the world! One baby’s not gonna stop our rise to stardom.” Bolo chuckled, seemingly unfazed by Kevin’s plight. “Yeah, that’s the plan…I tried to tell Alice that once our album gets famous, we won’t have to worry about anything, but…I think that just pissed her off. She yelled at me.” Kevin said sadly. “I wanna go talk to her, but I don’t think her fuckin’ parents’ll let me.” He added, Lex turned to face him with a sudden epiphany. “Ohhh shit. That makes sense.” He started, garnering the full attention of the other two boys. “We go to the same temple as the Goldmans, Alice’s old man is pretty respected there. Just this morning he called a meeting with some other families there to talk about some emergency…think it has something to do with the baby?” He asked. Kevin’s eyes widened, as usual, his wild and anxious imagination took the wheel. What could they be talking about? Were they sending Alice away? Was the whole family skipping town to keep Kevin out of her life? Were they going to give their baby away? Lex did tell him once that Alice wold likely marry someone within her own faith’s community…were they plotting to hastily marry her to some guy from her temple and put their troubled relationship to bed, for good?

Whether it was the weed, or simply Kevin’s overactive imagination, either way, his heart was beating rapidly with every passing, exaggerated thought. “Holy shit, I’ve gotta go to her! NOW!” Kevin sat up a bit too fast, attempting to pull himself up out of the tub with already reduced coordination, the sudden pang of dizziness sent him falling right back to where he sat. “Take it easy, man! We don’t wanna go now, we’re high as fuuuuuck!” Lex warned, eyes wide and red. “Yeah, let’s hang out and play it cool for a bit. My mom’s passed out for a good while, we can take the car.” Bolo offered. Kevin took a deep breath, leaning up against the wall and rubbing his sweaty forehead. “Okay. Okay…let’s wait. But not too long! I need to talk to her.” The boy declared determinedly. Little did he know, that in the midst of some of the many conversations presently unfolding in the Goldman house, at least some of his manufactured fears were being entertained.

In the Goldman house, Alice sat awkwardly on the couch, her mother and several ladies from her temple sat adjacent to her. “You are too smart, and too YOUNG to possibly be giving this…this tomfoolery an ounce of thought!” Mrs. Goldman spat. Alice kept her gaze cast downward and hugged a throw pillow against her. “This is my decision, mom. And I think it’s what Kevin wants, too.” The women groaned and mumbled amongst themselves, her mother threw her hands up in the air. “OH! I don’t want to HEAR the name of that…that awful little delinquent in this house!” “Well I’m having his BABY, so you might wanna get used to it!” Alice retaliated.

An elderly woman on the chair next to Alice’s seat on the couch reached over, and patted her hand gently. “Now Alice, you’re not the first young lady to be suckered in by a wayward gentile boy. And you won’t be the last. There are things you can do, dear. There is a Jewish women’s center up in New York, you can have the baby there, let a more…well-prepared couple adopt it, return home, and move on with your education.” She suggested. Another woman piped up. “Oh! You’re so studious, we can always tell the community that you’ve been accepted to a prestigious ‘study abroad’ program!” “Or you had to undergo a medical procedure and rehabilitate at a private facility!” “You know my nephew and his wife have been trying to adopt for—“ “THAT’S ENOUGH!” Alice shot up from the couch, heart pounding, and silenced the lot.

“I know you’re just trying to help, but I’ve made up my mind…I’m going to keep MY baby. I’m going to raise MY baby. And…I’ll figure out what to do about school as soon as I can, I just…I need some air.” Alice exited the room in a huff. She didn’t even make it out of the living room before the women resumed their invasive conversation, further annoying Alice. How dare they sit there, holding their high-and-mighty conference, attempting to dictate the course of HER life?! She thought to herself, leaving the house with a ‘slam’ of the front door.

Alice sank down onto the cold porch steps, resting her arms on her knees. Stretching her legs out, she stared down at her belly, there wasn’t much to see yet, but it was medically certain, that there was indeed new life taking root there. She placed a hand to it and stared off into nothing in particular. “What am I doing?” She asked herself internally. “I haven’t even gotten to talk to Kevin since last night…what if…what if he doesn’t want this after all? Maybe…maybe he was just trying to look mature and supportive in front of our parents?” Though normally in staunch control of her emotions, Alice felt herself slowly beginning to break down. Hot tears fell down her cheeks and fogged up her glasses, and she pressed her head down into her crossed arms. “I…I can’t do this alone!” Without realizing it, some of her internalized monologue slipped out in her tearful breakdown.

Suddenly she felt the weight of a familiar hand on her shoulder. “Sweetheart. Your mother and I aren’t pleased about this little…bump in the road, but we’ll be here to support you.” Her father said, tone markedly calmer than last night. Alice glanced up at him. “I…actually meant…Thank you.” She cut herself off, not wanting to bring Kevin up, while it seemed her father had at least calmed down a little.

Erwin sat down next to her and draped a hand over her shoulder. “Has ‘he’ been here yet today?” He asked, with narrowed eyes. Alice shook her head. “No. I think that’s what I’m worried about.” Erwin sighed. “As much as I resent the idea, it’s inevitable that we’ll all have to sit down for a serious conversation, soon.” He said, the annoyance obvious in his tone. He glanced over to the door, and at the assortment of cars lining the block adjacent to the house, before turning his attention back ate Alice. “So I assume your mother’s guests are still here?” “Unfortunately.” Alice rolled her eyes. “Peanut, we want what’s best for you. Me, your mother, our community…they’ve all come here with good intentions. And honestly, it wouldn’t hurt you to at least hear them out.” Erwin encouraged, causing Alice to pull away from him. “Yeah. Encourage me to just give my baby away.” She said stoically. Her father’s gentle expression hardened. “Alice. You are a child. This is an…ENORMOUS responsibility you’d be undertaking. And what about college? There’s no feasible way you’ll be able to attend classes with a toddler to look after—“ “WE will figure that out.” Alice defended. “And by ‘WE’ I’m to assume you mean you and ‘him?’” Erwin prodded, crossing his arms. “YES! ‘HIM!’ Kevin Murphy! The father of my baby! Of course he deserves to have a say in this!” “Alice. I know several people on the school board, I’ve seen that boy’s grades, his attendance, disciplinary records…do you seriously think a nobody who’s going nowhere like that is going to raise a decent human being!?” Erwin pounded a fist against one of the concrete steps. Alice took a deep breath and stood up. “Well, I guess that’s something we’ll have to figure out, together.” Leaving her father outside, Alice stepped back into the house, quietly closing the door behind her.

Left alone outside, Erwin pressed a hand to his forehead and smoothed his already receding hair back. Internally he wrestled with his daughter’s daunting predicament, and the affects it would undoubtedly have on the rest of her life. And for now, whether or not he should jump on making an uncomfortable, but necessary phone call. — With a deep sigh, he retreated to the house, and made his way to his office.

Closing the door behind him, he sank into his plush desk chair and pulled the phone closer. Thumbing through the thick phonebook he kept nearby, he located the number and dialed as he drummed his fingers against the desk, waiting for a response. “Hello?” The gratingly familiar voice on the other end answered. “Mr. Murphy, it’s Dr. Goldman. Would you like to meet me somewhere? I think we have quite a great deal to discuss.”

Back at Bolo’s place, the trio had polished off several Plast-A-Ware bowls of mysterious leftovers in the fridge and were presently sprawled out on the living room floor, staring mindlessly at the TV. Kevin, having come down from his high significantly sooner than the others, and unable to enjoy it with his anxious mind dwelling on Alice, sat hugging his knees, with his back pressed up against the couch. He glanced down at his watch, it was nearly half past noon. “H-hey guys, you think you’re good to go, now?” He asked, Bolo and Lex stared at each other briefly. “Ehhh I dunno, Kev, I’m still flyin’ over here!” Bolo chortled. Annoyed, Kevin jumped up and paced the room. “C’moooon! I NEED to talk to Alice and I have to do it TODAY.” He startled Bolo and Lex with the sudden and serious shift in his tone.

“Whoa, whoa, take it easy, man!” Lex pacified, but Kevin kept pacing. “I mean…be honest, Kev, do you even wanna have this kid?” Bolo asked, even Lex shot him a surprised glare at that comment. “I’m just sayin’ how many rockstars do you know of that bring their babies on tour with ‘em? A baby’s just gonna hold you back!” Kevin stopped in his tracks and stared at the floor, visible concern in his face. — Although his parents had never really (openly) held it against him, he was not ignorant to the fact that his birth threw a major wrench in his parents’ youthful ambitions. Perhaps the cycle was repeating itself…perhaps everything his father had said last night about giving up on his ‘childish pipe dreams’ was right after all. — Either way, Kevin found himself somehow unable to answer that question on the spot.

“I…I uh…fuck it. Just gimme the keys, Bolo, I’ll go by myself!” Kevin ordered. Electing not to fight him on this, Bolo exchanged a surprised stare with Lex, and tossed Kevin the keys. The two watched quietly as Kevin disappeared out the door and peeled out in the sleek red and white car.

Meanwhile, Frank stood in his bedroom, standing in front of a mirror, holding up different ties, tossing each rejected one onto the bed. He has baby Megan seated in her rocker on the floor, and playfully asked for her judgement on each one. “Ohh, you like this one?” He cooed, holding up a blue paisley tie, Megan responded with her usual babbles. “Tch, why do I even bother?” He complained to himself, finally just settling for his good dinner tie; the wide green striped one, which he embellished with his Ala-Hican tie tack. Taking notes about the appearance of his outfit, he pondered whether or not he should wear a nice jacket with it. Opening up the wardrobe, he glanced over the few dress coats he had; all three of them were part of suit-sets and simply wouldn’t work with his usual brown work slacks. “Ugh. Fuck it.” He grabbed his usual Winter coat and dispensed with the whole idea; who was he trying to impress, anyway?

Outside, Frank rubbed his hands together and blew warmth into them as he climbed into the freezing car. Buckling Megan’s baby seat in, he took extra care to make sure the belt wasn’t choking her, this time around. It was quite sunny out, but the air was still bitter-cold. Rather fitting for the occasion, he thought grimly. Gripping the steering wheel tight, he drove in uncomfortable silence, radio switched off. He glanced down at the handwritten address on the piece of paper sitting on his passenger seat: “Stein’s Place, 5509 Earles Terrace, Whitesboro, PA.” He’d never heard of it, but judging by the name, he guessed it must be an establishment within in the town’s Jewish districts. He’d told Erwin he’d have to bring the baby, so he guessed it wasn’t a bar, which in a way was unfortunate, because the ensuing conversation certainly left him longing for a drink.

In the silence of the car ride, Frank let his mind wander about what exactly Dr. Goldman could want to discuss with him. After all, this was Kevin’s problem, not his! Stopping briefly at a red light, a familiar red and white car tore through the intersection, with an even more familiar young driver at the wheel. “What the fuck? KEVIN?! Oh for CHRIST’S SAKE!” As the realization set in, Frank didn’t even wait for the light to turn green before peeling out after him with a loud ‘screech’ of his tires.

Kevin raced towards Alice’s neighborhood with abandon. He wasn’t sure what he was going to say, or how this discussion was even going to pan out, and what’s more, Bolo’s remarks about Kevin’s rockstar career being put in jeopardy by this admittedly unwanted baby bounced around in his head. “Oh man…oh man!” He whinged to himself. Suddenly the sound of a blaring car horn coming up on him caught his attention. “What the fuck?!” He said in annoyance. The teen peeked up into the rearview mirror and immediately recognized his father’s car, his heart pounding. “Dad?! SHIT!” Turning his attention back to the road, Kevin rounded a corner violently, just barely missing a stop sign. Regaining control of the car, he made a final swerve onto Alice’s street, managing to stop at the curb, still heavily populated by cars belonging to the Goldman family’s temple guests.

“ALICE! ALICE ARE YOU THERE?!” Kevin leapt out of the car, leaving the driver’s side door wide open, and raced towards the house. Swiftly, Frank pulled up right behind him, slamming his door shut, Kevin recognized the familiar ‘squeak’ of the heavy, rust-laden door. “KEVIN!” Frank boomed, approaching quickly from behind. “Shit, shit, shiiiit!” He panted to himself, racing up Alice’s front porch. Before Kevin could bang on the door, he felt his father yank him back by the coat. Held hostage by one hand, he stared up to meet his father’s angry gaze. “You wanna tell me what in the FUCK you think you’re doing?” He asked, his voice angry but eerily calm. Kevin pulled himself away. “What do YOU think YOU’RE doing?!” Kevin repeated, defensively. “Well, I WAS on my way to meet Alice’s father, but I got sidetracked by the little moron haulin’ ass in a stolen car!” Frank practically shouted, voice echoing in the thankfully empty street. “I didn’t STEAL IT, it’s Bolo’s! Well…Bolo’s mom’s. H-he told me I could take it though! I was gonna bring it back!” Frank threw his arms in the air. “Aaaand yet again you’re out here doin’ stupid shit you’re too young to be doin!’ Hey, here’s an idea! If you wanna act like a grown ass man, how about you start takin’ care of your own problems, huh?!” Frank approached Kevin, both of them staring angrily at each other. “I AM taking care of my problems, GENIUS! That’s why I came here in the first fuckin pla—“ “Kevin?!” Alice’s voice cut through the argument, and the pair turned to see her standing in the doorway.

“Alice! I was scared you wouldn’t wanna see me!” Kevin simpered, running over to her with open arms. Alice didn’t return the hug, instead she glanced back into the half-open door at the now silenced ladies in the living room, all staring her way. She closed the door and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Kevin, I’m glad you’re here.” She smiled kindly, her smile faded once Frank wordlessly made his way over to them. “Um. It’s nice to see you again, Mr. Murphy.” She mused quietly, Frank smiled back at her. “Kevin, I really think there are some things we need to discuss.” Alice continued. “I…I don’t know how you feel about it, and I want you to have a say, too.” With that passage, Kevin quietly dreaded whatever was coming next. “I know you have goals, and…and I have plans for school. We’re not really in a position to handle something like this, I mean we’re still in high school…and I don’t want to scare you into doing something you don’t want to, but…” “Alice, I meant what I said last night.” Kevin interrupted, trying his best to be reassuring. “I want us to…I want to have this baby with you.” Alice smiled, with tears in her eyes, faltering Kevin’s bravado. “Oh man. Does this mean…that you don’t want—“ Alice pulled Kevin into a kiss, Frank turned to give them a bit of privacy. “Me too.” She whispered.

With that, the front door opened once more, and Dr. Goldman emerged. “Ah, Mr. Murphy…I thought I’d said I wanted to meet at “Stein’s Place,” there was no need to…invade my home.” His eyes narrowed when he caught sight of Kevin, who immediately backed away from Alice. “I-I wasn’t doing anything!” He said meekly. Dr. Goldman took a good look at the small group standing at the threshold of his home, and put his car keys back into his coat pocket. “Well, Kevin, I was hoping to have a private discourse with your father, here, but I suppose now is as good a time as any to hash things out, together.” Frank and Kevin exchanged glances, both visibly surprised at the return of Dr. Goldman’s peaceful demeanor. “Won’t you come in?” He invited, holding the door open. Frank gestured for Kevin to go first, while he retrieved Megan from the car, and he entered, holding Alice’s hand. Frank followed, one hand in his coat pocket, the other holding Megan. “Thanks.” He said listlessly, as Dr. Goldman shut the door behind them.

Inside Erwin’s office, Frank looked around, it was spacious and finely decorated. Multiple degrees and certifications lined the colorful walls, and portraits of their happy family, particularly of their children, were everywhere. The decor in every inch of the meticulously organized space was modern and looked quite expensive, an admittedly far cry from the aesthetics of the Murphy home. On couches, separated by a glass coffee table, Kevin and Frank sat across from Alice and Erwin with Megan sitting cozily on Kevin’s lap, neither party seeming to want to be the first to break the tense silence.

“So, you’ve made your decision.” Dr. Goldman began. “And, I suppose there’s nothing anyone can do or say to change it?” He added, earning a miffed look from Frank. “Nope.” Alice stood her ground with crossed arms, not bothering to meet her father’s eyes. “So, that leaves some hard-hitting talking points. Finances, living situation, school…” Erwin listed. “Yeah, and not to mention the wedding.” Frank huffed, both Alice and Kevin stared, wide-eyed at him. “What? You’re havin’ a baby together, you’ve gotta get married!” Kevin’s wide-eyed stare turned mischievous and he playfully punched his father in the arm. “Ahhh, he’s just fuckin’ with us! He made me believe he was selling me to the Army, once.” He joked. “Good God…” Erwin muttered under his breath. Frank turned to give the teens a stern glare. “This isn’t a joke, son. You got a girl pregnant, you’re gonna be bringing a child into this world, and I’ll be damned if my first grandkid’s gonna be a bastard.” Kevin stared on angrily. “What the Hell, dad? That’s so fucked up!” Kevin exclaimed, Frank looked confused and shrugged his shoulders. “What?!” “My kid’s not even BORN yet and you’re already assuming they’re gonna be a bastard?!” From across the feuding pair, Dr. Goldman removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes harshly.

“It just means I don’t want your kid live with the stigma too being born out of wedlock, you fuckin’ DOPE!” Frank spat down at him. Dr. Goldman took the opportunity to attempt to smooth things out. “Alright, alright, relax, you two. Kevin, your father is trying to say that life for children who are born to unmarried parents can sometimes be made more difficult by judgmental people. And Frank, I think we can forgive Kevin for his…misunderstanding.” The two slumped back with remarkably similar expressions. “Now, with that being said. I don’t know if a marriage will be possible.” Dr. Goldman said with a stern expression. “Well why the Hell not?! They’re havin’ a kid, why not just go the extra mile and be done with it?!” Frank interjected.

Erwin gestured to the gold Star of David around his neck. “Mr. Murphy, our faith is an integral part of our lives. And if I’m being ‘frank,’” he paused to chuckle at his pun. “we would’ve MUCH preferred that Alice settle down and start a family with someone within our own community. Who shares common beliefs, backgrounds, traditions…” “HEY. Our family is JUST as ‘faithful’ as yours! Ha! Maybe MORE!” Frank challenged in offense, jabbing a finger down on the table. “And I’m glad to hear that, Mr. Murphy. But it doesn’t erase the fact that we’re coming from different religious and cultural backgrounds. Decisions will have to be made on how this child will be raised, which family’s traditions they’ll abide by, and—“ “Ohhh no. No, no, no. You don’t get to stake a claim on my son’s kid before it’s even born! Your side is only HALF of it, so get the fuck off your high horse, actin’ like it’s the only side that matters!” Frank pointed accusingly at Erwin. “Well, it’s as you say, Mr. Murphy, ONE side is only HALF the equation.” He said calmly, brushing Frank’s finger away.

As the two continued their banter, Alice and Kevin stared at each other from across the table. “H-hey.” Kevin interjected. “Don’t you guys think you should be asking US what we wanna do?” The fathers glowered at the teen. “Shut UP, you little asshole, I’m tryin’ to help you, here! Fuckin’ ingrate!” Kevin smacked his forehead in frustration. “You JUST SAID you want me to start solving my own problems! Well I’m TRYING!” Frank’s expression softened slightly, realizing (but unwilling to admit) that Kevin was right. “Alice. I wanna have this baby with you. I’m gonna get a job, and start saving, and we can get a place together. I don’t really care about being ‘Catholicish,’ so having a Jewish baby is cool…and I’m doing better in school now, I got a B+ on a math test the other day! So I’m sure I can graduate on time, and I know you will! You’re so smart.” Frank felt his frown curl into a slight smile, impressed by the fact that Kevin had clearly put some level of planning into this response. But, it didn’t remove the fact that he’d all but rejected his Catholic upbringing. “‘Catholicish?’ Huh, must be a new branch of ‘Catholicism’ I’ve yet to hear about.” Erwin said sarcastically. “Whaddaya mean you ‘don’t really care’ about our religion?! We’ve taken you to Mass EVERY SUNDAY since you were born! If that’s not fuckin’ investment, I dunno what the Hell is!” Kevin crossed his arms. “No you don’t…We haven’t gone to Mass since like, Christmas or something…” Kevin accused under his breath, earning a smack to the back of the head from Frank.

Suddenly baby Megan stirred, straight away Kevin took to soothing her. He bounced her gently on his knees, then held her close, baby-talking to her with a smile, until she calmed down. “You know, baby-talk isn’t conducive for proper brain development.” Erwin chastised, earning an irritated glare from Frank. “Oh, she’ll never remember it, anyway! If it calms her down, it’s good enough for me!” Frank defended. “A-and look how GOOD Kevin is with her! Megan’s given him SUCH a valuable opportunity to learn about childcare, and I’m sure there’s a lot that he’ll be able to teach me!” Alice beamed, trying to improve her boyfriend’s image for her father. Kevin caught on and smiled at her.

“Either way…This is quite the predicament we find ourselves faced with. And I highly doubt ANYONE is more disappointed in this than me.” Erwin said, staring sympathetically down at Alice, and brutishly at Kevin. “But, we have to face the reality of the situation. Mr. Murphy, I’d like to invite you and the rest of your family to dinner to discuss this as a group. My schedule’s most open next month, around the eighth, if that works for you.” Erwin pulled out a small pocket calendar and glanced over the month of March, circling the eighth. “Ohh no, WE’RE inviting YOUR family to dinner! The date’s fine, but WE’RE hosting! Show you how good we’re doin.’” Frank finished under his breath. Kevin rolled his eyes and leaned into the couch. Erwin reclined back as well, seemingly enjoying the outcome. “Wonderful. I look forward to it.” He said cooly.

Glancing at his wristwatch he noted the time. “Oh dear, well, I have a REAL session to be attending to, shortly. I’ll see you out.” He held the office door open before following them to the front of the house. As the pair made their way to the front door, the temple ladies from earlier were still seated in their circle in the living room, glaring silently at them as they departed, seemingly frozen in the same positions they were at their arrival. “Ladies.” Frank said flatly. He ushered Kevin out the door first, then turned back to shake Dr. Goldman’s hand. “We’ll see you next month.” He responded emotionlessly, leaving Frank’s extended hand hanging as he closed the door behind him. “Fuckin’ prick.” Frank seethed.

“And YOU.” Frank grabbed Kevin’s shoulder roughly. “Since when are you out here takin’ joyrides?! You could’ve fucked somethin’ up that I’d be stuck payin’ for! Or you could’ve been KILLED, you fuckin’ MORON!” He yelled. Kevin pulled away, opening his mouth to respond, but he thought quickly enough about the consequences of telling his father that he and his friends had been ‘joyriding’ in Ms. Chiurimbolo’s car for quite some time. He was already wound up from his encounter with Dr. Goldman, no need to give him another reason to put him through a wall, today. Instead he settled for a half-hearted “Sorry” and just took the defeat.

Frank grabbed his arm, pulling him towards his car. “Hang on!” Kevin protested. “I’ve gotta get Bolo’s car back!” Frank sighed deeply and squeezed his temples. “Fine. But I’m ridin’ your ass the whole way there! So no speedin’, no runnin’ lights or stop signs, and no fuckin’ pit-stops!” After strapping the baby in, he got into his car with a loud ‘slam’ of the door and waited for Kevin, who was currently locking eyes with Alice from the window of her bedroom, he waved at her, and she blew a kiss at him. He smiled, but the loud ‘beep’ of his father’s car horn snapped him out of perhaps the one happy moment he’d had that day. “LET’S GO!” Frank shouted, Kevin rolled his eyes and prepared to leave.

True to his word, Frank kept his eyes and vehicle vigilantly glued to Kevin. Again, he drove in silence, this time out of devoting all of his concentration on watching the boy’s every move. — It was a strange and unfamiliar feeling. Kevin actually wasn’t doing too badly! Part of him was angered by this sight as he knew it likely meant he’d been doing it for quite longer than he’d realized. Another part of him felt strangely sentimental about it; Kevin was growing up. This would soon be yet another thing he no longer needed his parents for. As much as Frank chided his family on their constant requests and demands, deep down he liked to be needed.

Kevin pulled into Bolo’s driveway and knocked on the door. Lex emerged, clearly still stoned. Peeking into the living room, Bolo was passed out on the couch. “Give Bolo his mom’s keys for me, would ya?” Kevin asked, tossing them to Lex, who missed spectacularly in his intoxicated stupor. “Sure thing, Murph! Oh shiiiit, your old man’s outside!” He ducked behind the door, wide-eyed. “Yeah I know, I gotta go. See ya.” Kevin hastily made his exit, picking up his bike and preparing to ride home. Frank rolled down his window. “Hey, hey, hey! It’s cold out! Just stick your bike in the back and get in!” He said brusquely. Kevin stared blankly at him; Frank never remarked about the kids being outside in any type of weather, clearly something else was coming. “C’mon ya little shit! Time’s a-wastin!’ And your sister’s gettin’ cold!” Frank ordered. Kevin surrendered and put his bike in the trunk, taking a seat in the back.

Kevin rolled over slightly, pressing himself against the door and staring out the window. The ride was silent and awkward. “You know, we should get you on the road soon. Get you prepared for your driver’s test.” Frank smiled, breaking the silence. “Really? Cool.” Kevin turned to face Frank’s reflection in the rearview mirror. “Yeah. Since you’re gonna be gettin’ a job soon, it’ll be ideal for you not to have to bum rides offa your mom and me all the time.” Kevin nodded. “So. Did you…did you really mean all that, son? Gettin’ a job, findin’ a place, takin’ care of your family?” Frank asked, noticeably reducing his speed as their neighborhood approached, clearly trying to savor the conversation while he had Kevin hostage. “Well…yeah. I mean, someone has to.” Kevin responded uneasily. “That’s good.” Frank said in a calm but upbeat tone; it wasn’t exactly a compliment, but Kevin knew that on most occasions, such a response was a close to one as his father would give.

Pulling up to the house, Frank headed inside with Megan. Kevin dropped his bike on the lawn and headed for his room. “I’m gonna go practice for awhile. Maybe take a nap or something.” He called out tiredly. “Sure. Make sure you get all your homework done.” Frank ordered, Kevin simply shrugged in response, disappearing behind the metallic ‘slam’ of the cellar doors. Clearly the recent events had exhausted them both. “For once I think your big brother’s got the right idea, how about a nap? You’d like that, huh?” Frank cooed sweetly to the baby.

Kevin lay in bed, face down in the pillows. He was too mentally exhausted to practice his guitar, and not quite physically exhausted enough to sleep. Although the talk with Dr. Goldman had been remarkably more civil than he’d anticipated, the nagging feeling of remembering he’d walked out on his father’s attempted conversation that morning still gnawed at him, and he knew it would be resumed. For the moment, he took the much-needed opportunity to have some alone time.

A few hours later, Frank sat on the couch, staring blankly at the TV, and occasionally bouncing Megan in her rocker. The back door opened and he turned to see Kevin rifling through the fridge. “Hey.” He called out, tone noticeably relaxed. “Heyyy?” Kevin drawled, pouring himself glass of juice. Frank gestured with one arm for Kevin to join him. “Nah, why don’t you bring us both a drink?” He suggested. Kevin poured his juice back in the bottle (as neatly as he could manage) and brought a couple of White House beers to the living room and sat them on the coffee table.

Frank looked up at him with a slight smile. Adjusting his stance on the couch, he lowered his crossed leg and patted his lap. Kevin acknowledged this, and sat beside Frank, deliberately leaving about a foot of space between them. For a few moments, the pair stared emptily at the TV, neither one too invested in the bevy of colorful commercials bombarding them.

Suddenly, Kevin caught sight of Frank closing in on him, out of the corner of his eye. Before he could react, Frank lifted him up and pulled him closer, sitting the teen awkwardly on his lap with a stifled chuckle. Frank smiled, Kevin looked on with visible discomfort. “Um…what are we…” Frank leaned back into the couch, holding Kevin in place with one heavy arm wrapped firmly around him. “I just think we need to have a talk. Plus, it’s one of your coupons!” Frank smirked enthusiastically, taking one of the birthday coupons out of his shirt pocket. Kevin read it closely: ‘Quality time with dad. No bitching, guaranteed!’ “Fuck me.” He grumbled to himself, resigned to his fate, and regretting ever including that coupon.

On the coffee table, Frank looked down at baby Megan, contentedly watching the screen from her baby seat without a care in the world. “You know, when you were Megan’s age, you would cry and cry from the—“ Kevin shrugged and interrupted; “Yeah…I was a baby? Pfft. And you call ME a dope?” He smirked. Frank squeezed his forehead and took a deep breath. “Kevin. Could you just shut the fuck up for ONE minute? I’m trying to do somethin’ here!” He caught himself before his volume could reach its peak, and continued as calmly as he began.

“As I was saying…When you were little, your poor mom never got a moment’s peace in this house. From the time you woke up, until the time I got home, you would cry and cry and cry. I’d get calls from her every day, usually around this time. I’d hear you in the background screamin’ your little head off, and your mom was just exhausted, at her wit’s end. She didn’t know what to do! The one thing that always calmed you down was me.” Kevin’s expression softened a bit, noticeably more invested in the tale. “Yeah. As soon as I got home, I’d pick you up, bring you to the living room, and just…sit with you. Ha ha! Your mom used to get so pissed!” Frank laughed nostalgically. “She spent hours every day trying whatever she could to shut you up, but it turned out that the one thing that was a sure-fire win every time was just some quality time with your old man.”

Frank tightened his grip on Kevin with a smile, which was returned. “Look Kevin, I know you’re growing up, and you don’t need me as much anymore…but things are about to get a whole lot harder for you, and I don’t want you to feel like you have to handle this all on your own. We Murphys stick together!” Frank playfully jostled Kevin a bit. “I just wanted you to remember a time when things were simpler…easier. When there wasn’t a problem in your life that couldn’t be solved with just a little time to cool off together, you know? We’ll…we’ll figure this out. You’ve got a lot of growing up to do before September.” Frank’s tender openness was rare, and Kevin reveled in it when the opportunities arose, but the teenage urge to save-face overrode the part of him that actually loved what was happening.

“Sooo…how long do I have to sit here?” Kevin asked sulkily, quickly masking his contentment as he gestured at his father’s lap. Frank shrugged with a sarcastic smile. “I dunno! Until you feel better, I guess your ass is mine!” Kevin rolled his eyes and crossed his arms in response to his father’s teasing. “Sucks ass.” He muttered to himself. But like it or not, it was making him feel better.

After a few wordless minutes, Kevin allowed himself to lean into Frank, pressing the side of his head against his chest. Frank looked down at him, contentedly. “What? I can’t see the TV if I’m not facing this way!” Kevin excused, Frank smirked. The boy defiantly refused to look at his father, lip stuck firmly in a pout, arms still pressed in crossed fashion against his chest. Frank ran his hand up and down Kevin’s back, and reached for his beer with the other.

More than an hour later, Kevin was asleep. His crossed arms lay limply in a half-crossed position, pressed against Frank’s torso, and his mouth was slightly open in a quiet snore. On the other side, Megan lay fast asleep in her rocker. Frank watched the clock over the TV, he didn’t know quite how long it’d been, but his legs were definitely asleep.

Suddenly the front door opened, Maureen and Bill rushed in noisily, each with an armful of groceries, Sue in tow. “No way, you can’t…whoa.” Bill stopped mid conversation when he took notice of the surprising spectacle on the couch. Bill quickly ran to drop the bags in the kitchen, then nudged Maureen and pointed to the couch; Frank leaned over and ‘shushed’ the pair, who exchanged glances of disbelief. “Mom, are you seeing this?” Bill whispered, Sue looked surprised at first, but the initial shock melted into a relieved smile.

Placing her bags in Frank’s chair, she leaned down to kiss her husband and son. “Maureen!” Sue urged in a whisper. “Get the camera!” Maureen beamed with a giggle and ran up the stairs, Frank rolled his eyes and huffed. “Frank, pretend to be asleep, at least for the picture. For me?” Sue begged. “Oh Christ, Sue, we were actually havin’ a moment!” Frank retaliated, just in time for Maureen to come bounding back down the stairs with Frank’s old Polaroid in hand. Sue stepped back and prepared to take her shot, briefly lowering the camera to frown at Frank, whose eyes were still wide open, and face contorted into an annoyed stare. “Fraaaaank! Please! This is so cute, you haven’t done this in years!” Sue begged sweetly. Frank rolled his eyes. “Fine. I’ll abet this lie, because it’s ‘cute.’” “Thanks honey.”

Frank leaned his head back and comically opened his mouth, wide, making obnoxiously loud fake snoring noises. “FRANK.” Sue growled through Bill and Maureen’s laughter. Frank guffawed. “What?! You’re always sayin’ I snore too much! Just tryin’ to make it look realistic!” With that, Kevin stirred awake. Grumbling tiredly to himself, he wiped his eyes and looked around. As soon as he realized the rest of his family had encroached on he and Frank’s moment of found peace, he attempted to jump from the couch, only to be held back by his father, now intent on embarrassing him. “WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!” He cried out, fighting Frank’s tightening grip. Sue sighed and dropped the camera in defeat. “I give up.”

“Now, now! Your mother wants a picture, so just lay back down, and just pretend to be happy and ‘cute’ for a few more seconds!” Frank chided with a smirk. “UGHHH! This is SO embarrassing!” Kevin whined, uncomfortably settling back into his previous position, though noticeably more rigid and less at-ease than before. “Okay now close your eyes!” Sue instructed, happily positioning the camera while Bill and Maureen chuckled. “Hey mom, any chance we could get some copies of these?!” Bill asked maliciously. “Shut up!” Kevin yelled, briefly sitting up to cast an angry glance at his younger brother. “C’mon Kevin, the sooner you sit the fuck down the sooner we can get this over with.” Frank closed his eyes and leaned back. — The pair separated almost as soon as the shutter clicked. Kevin practically jumping up from Frank’s lap, standing sullenly with his usual crossed arms. Frank leaned forward, resting his hands on his knees as he chuckled, taking the photo from Sue.

Once the picture developed, the group looked at it, Kevin seemed slightly less miffed, and Frank smiled, gently shaking his shoulder as he handed it to him. “See? Now you have a happy memory with your old man to look back on. And one day when your relationship with your own kid sucks, you’ll —“ With that, Kevin tensed up, scowling at Frank, who seemed a bit surprised. “What?” He shrugged. “What makes you think my relationship with MY kids is gonna suck?!” He asked, the offense clear in his voice. Frank rolled his eyes and ran a hand through his hair. “Oh Jesus, Kevin, it was a JOKE.” “SUCH A DICK!” Kevin stomped past the family and made his way to the door, but not before Frank could continue laying into him. “Ah, you’re too fuckin’ sensitive! Look, all I’m saying is that one day, a long time from now, when your kid is a teenager with a shitty attitude and an annoying commitment to fightin’ you on everything, hopefully you’ll have made SOME happy memories for them to look back on and remember that there were some good times between you two, and MAYBE—“ He didn’t get to finish his thought before Kevin disappeared with the slam of a door. Leaning back against the couch, Frank took a deep breath in frustration. “Ah, fuck it. Moment’s over, anyway. What’s the point?” Tiredly, he surrendered, excusing himself to go grab another beer.

In his basement dwelling, Kevin sat on the cold concrete steps, staring down at the photo in his hands. Part of him wanted to rip the embarrassing piece of paraphernalia to shreds and forget it ever happened, but there was a nagging part of him that also treasured it.

Ever since his relationship with Frank had become strained in the wake of his rebellious teenhood, he’d quietly longed for more time to reconnect with him, but now things felt even more twisted and hard to understand. — Kevin knew deep down that although they fought constantly, his father did care about him, and in spite of what had occurred the other night, deep down he did know Frank wouldn’t hurt him deliberately. Frank had always been an angry person, but the whole of the household seemed to be on the same page in their understanding that his anger was surface-level; no matter how many times he threatened to put someone through a wall, the threat was never realized. It was just an ordinary and accepted piece of his dialogue. But now, there was at least a tiny shred of doubt in that notion.

On top of that, there was the concerning idea Frank had planted into his subconscious, regarding his relationship with his own child. — Given what little he knew about his father’s relationship with his own late father, he did acknowledge that he and Frank weren’t THAT bad off, but they were still incredibly strained. Neither one liked that, but neither one quite knew how to fix it; and how does someone with a damaged parental relationship even BEGIN to forge a positive one with their own offspring?

Kevin placed the photo underneath his alarm clock atop the stack of books next to his bed; he didn’t want it hanging in full-view for everyone to see, but he did want it close by, so he could look at it whenever he wanted. It was a happy memory. A strange, unconventional, admittedly funny and awkward, happy memory. He wanted more of them. And in that moment, he knew what he wanted to have, and would likely have to fight for with his own children, if they were anything like their father.

Chapter Text

CHAPTER 4 : MARCH 8TH - WHAT A MAN DOES

[[TW: Scene of physical fighting]]

Thunder clapped and early Spring rain poured outside, as it had relentlessly, for the past two days. Down in his basement dwelling, Kevin lay awake in bed, picking at the slightly rolled corner of a poster on his wall. Although it was a Saturday, he was fully up and alert at six o’clock, a growing stack of job applications sitting on the chair by the steps. — Frank had driven him around to just about every establishment in town with a “Help Wanted” advert over the past two weeks, pushing hard to get him to make good on his somewhat reluctant promises to start working and saving money.

He knew that such daunting tasks were inevitable, but he couldn’t help but feel a little miffed at the idea of having to slag through some shitty, boring retail or service-industry job for an undetermined amount of time. Time was marching forth quickly, though, it was hard to believe it had already been just about a month since Alice had told Kevin that he was going to be a father, and there were many moments where the life-changing news just didn’t seem real.

Rolling over, he picked up his alarm clock and unearthed that embarrassing, but cherished Polaroid of he and Frank from last month. He found himself looking at that photo far more often than he ever imagined he would.

Internally, he knew his father was just (cruelly) joking with him, as he so often did, when he made that quip about Kevin’s relationship with his future child, but ever since that day, that seemingly surface-level jab was something the teen just couldn’t shake off. “What if he’s right?” He’d ask himself. “My dad had a shitty dad. My dad’s only slightly less shitty than his dad…I’m probably gonna be a shitty dad, too.” Kevin did the math in his head, and indeed, it appeared the odds were against him. After all, how does one even begin to break the cycle when they have no well-founded examples of how best not to repeat the sins of the fathers in his family?

Speaking of fathers, Kevin was suddenly snapped out of his melancholy internal dialogue with a familiar trio of knocks (stomps) against the metal doors of the cellar. “KEVIN! GET READY AND MEET ME INSIDE! AND HURRY IT UP, IT’S FUCKIN’ POURING OUT HERE!” Kevin hid the photograph and rolled his eyes. “Fiiiine!” He groaned back in response. Shuffling lazily around the room, he picked up several random articles of clothing that had been abandoned in various locations, and got dressed.

Picking his trademark vest up from its spot on the beanbag chair in the corner, a folded piece of paper fell out from one of the pockets. Kevin picked it up and examined it, it was a handwritten note he’d jotted down about one of Alice’s upcoming appointments. Monday, March 10th at the women’s clinic in Ryetown. — Sometimes he didn’t know why he bothered. Alice’s mother was usually the one who took her, and she really wasn’t on decent enough terms with Kevin to allow him to tag along. Though it did make him worry about what Alice thought of his absence during a time of need.

Ascending the stairs, he held his job applications underneath his shirt and prepared to make a mad dash for the back door. Slamming the doors shut behind him, he raced through the wet grass, over to the back door, heavy rain dousing him all the way. “Shit, shit, SHIIIIIIT!” Rounding the corner, Kevin slipped and fell backwards, landing flat on his back, soaking wet. “God damnit!” He moaned to himself, winded from the fall. He rolled over, arms still crossed against his torso, trying his best to protect those damned applications. Getting up with a limp, he opened the door and sauntered inside.

Panting as he tried to regulate his breathing again, he reached under his shirt and slapped the now crinkled, and slightly wet applications onto the counter. From his usual spot at the table, Frank stared him down, eyes wide as he gave him a once-over. “What the Hell is this?!” He asked, the annoyance clear in his tone. Kevin shrugged, equally annoyed at having to answer what should’ve been obvious from his disheveled appearance.

“Uh, I fucking fell?” The boy snapped back, preparing to enter the kitchen. Frank leapt up and blocked his way. “Ohhh no you don’t. Your mom just cleaned this floor yesterday, she’ll have BOTH our asses if you fuck it up!” “Well what am I supposed to do?!” Kevin asked, throwing his arms up in frustration. “Hang on, hang on! Fuckin’ moron.” Frank uttered those last two words under his breath, though still loud enough for Kevin to hear, and walked out into the garage. Frank rifled through the dryer and pulled out one of his tee shirts and a random pair of sweatpants; he wasn’t sure if they were his or Kevin’s, but they’d do in a pinch.

“Here.” Frank said flatly, tossing the clothes at Kevin. Change out and go shower. You look like shit.” Frank ordered, keeping his eyes cast downward at the newspaper on the table. “Jesus.” Kevin rolled his eyes and groaned, slipping out of his wet and muddy clothes, he kicked them aside and slid on his father’s shirt, several sizes too big for him. He started down the hall to the kids’ bathroom just as Sue emerged from Megan’s room. “Good morning, honey.” She said quietly, holding the half-sleeping baby. “Morning.” Kevin responded listlessly, disappearing behind the bathroom door. She could tell in his voice that something was off.

“Good morning!” Sue entered the kitchen, kneeling down a bit to kiss Frank on the head, he looked up and smiled at she and Megan. “And how’s the best baby in the world today? Oh yes she is!” Frank baby-talked at a delighted Megan as Sue placed her in her highchair to start on breakfast. She caught sight of Kevin’s admittedly shoddy applications on the counter. “So, today’s the day?” She asked with an upbeat tone. Frank didn’t even have to acknowledge what she was looking at to know what she was talking about. He nodded, taking another deep gulp from his coffee cup. “Yeah. I know he’s only doin’ it because of the baby, but the more I think about it, it’s high-time he started doin’ something actually productive, instead of runnin’ around with those dopes from his band. When I was his age, Christ, I’d already been workin’ for almost two years.” Frank jabbed, recalling his less than pleasant, but thankfully brief memories of working in his father’s shop.

“I know. And I think it’ll be good for him, too. But you know Kevin! This is going to be quite the adjustment on multiple levels.” Sue warned, whisking some eggs. “So, where all did he apply to?” Sue asked, Frank got up to fetch the applications, and attempt to tidy them up a bit. “Honestly I don’t remember all of ‘em, I told him he can’t afford to be picky, so just about everywhere that was hiring, he got an application from.”

Upon closer inspection, Frank knew the fifteen-year-old had wasted his time filling some of these out; among the pile were several applications for liquor stores, a bar or two, and a random one for an accounting firm, that Frank had no clue how he procured in the first place. Sitting the rejected applications aside, he was left with: bag clerk at “Lawson’s Grocery,” delivery boy at the newly resurrected “Captain Chuckle Crust’s Pizzeria,” evening shift stock loader for “Champagne Chariot Vending Services,” cashier at “The Bargain Bin,” or waiter at “Sam’s Starving Boy.” — “Oh, that last one would be ideal!” Sue said excitedly. “Close to home, we go there fairly often, some of the staff know us—“ “Yeahhh, that might throw a wrench in him getting the job.” Frank muttered under his breath, recalling the multiple times in the past couple of years that the dysfunctional bunch had caused some kind of ruckus there.

Suddenly, Frank caught sight of a note taped to the face of one of the cabinets. “Goldman family, dinner, Saturday 3/8, 6:00pm.” The patriarch slapped his forehead. “Oh Christ. Tonight’s that, that thing with Alice’s folks.” Sue continued cooking without missing a beat. “Oh, I know.” She responded cooly. “I’m taking a trip to the Jewish market today with Mr. Holtenwasser. I figure I’ll do that while you take Kevin out job-hunting. Bill will be at Phillip’s most of the day, and Maureen’s got plans with some friends from computer club, so, I figured it’d be as good a time as any to get some knowledge and really do my best to make a good impression with this dinner!” Frank smiled, impressed and relieved by his wife’s commitment to the ever-challenging crusade to improve the family’s standing.

Emerging from the bathroom, Kevin flopped back down in his chair and smiled at Megan, playing with one of her tiny hands. Frank turned to him sternly. “So, what’re you gonna wear? Your family’s LIVES depend on you gettin’ a decent job, son. Can’t go turnin’ in applications dressed like a bum and expect to get anywhere.” Kevin crossed his arms and glowered at him. “I dress like a rock God.” He muttered to himself. Frank rolled his eyes, opting not to stir that pot.

Sue placed a plate of eggs and bacon in front of Kevin and Frank, pausing to kiss Kevin on the head. “How about a white dress shirt and that blue tie from your school pictures, last year?” Sue suggested. Kevin groaned. “That shirt makes me look like a fuckin’ Bible salesman or some shit.” “Well maybe it’ll do you some good in the job market, you can at least walk in LOOKIN’ like you’ve got a shred of moral fiber.” Frank retaliated, only half-joking.

“Kids! Breakfast!” Sue called down the hall for Bill and Maureen, and sat the last of the plates at the table. — Bill was already wide awake, lounging back on his bed, reading the last few pages of an assigned chapter for homework. Although the two weren’t close, Kevin’s rapidly changing life was having an affect on him, too.

Languishing through his final year of pre-teenhood, Bill quietly hoped he’d eventually get to seek his older brother’s advice on certain matters. In spite of his slowly acquiring toughness, the prospect of high school was daunting. As much as they fought, he did have to admit that Kevin had figured out some pretty remarkable ways to rig the system in his favor. Not to mention, the only male influence he’d be left with once Kevin moved out would be Frank. It was already uncomfortable enough broaching certain topics with one’s parents, but given the shocking revelation he’d thrown in his father’s lap about his traumatic experience beneath the bed a year or so ago, ANY talk with Frank felt even more awkward and strained.

He’d never let Kevin know it, but he also felt a bit sorry for him. Sure. Getting Alice pregnant was his fault, and there were many times where Bill sorely wanted Kevin to reap what he sowed, but in the end, it wasn’t lost on him that his big brother was still just a kid, like him. The prospect of starting a family and establishing your own household was frightening enough for grown ups, but for a kid as easily overwhelmed and admittedly dim-witted as Kevin, he wasn’t sure how he was going to pull it off. At the very least, Alice seemed a great deal more mature and grounded, but on second thought, that meant poor Alice would likely be saddled looking after Kevin AND their baby…The whole affair was just a mess.

Meanwhile, Maureen, timely as usual, was already dressed and pacing the floor of her room, nervously. She hadn’t seen or heard from Bridget in weeks, and she was still sitting on that ominous watch that she mysteriously “owed” her for. As far as she knew, Bill and Phillip had still been routinely hanging out with Jimmy, so it begged the question: where had Bridget been? And for that matter, what would her ‘debt’ to her amount to?

The younger two siblings crossed paths in the hallway, Bill nudging his way ahead of Maureen with a smug smirk, much to her annoyance. She elbowed him in the chest, racing ahead. “OW!” Bill exclaimed as Maureen laughed devilishly at his misfortune. “Mooom!” Bill whined. Frank and Sue rolled their eyes in unison. “Knock it off, Bill!” Frank predictably laid blame on his second son and leaned over to kiss Maureen on the head. “Good morning, Princess.” He simpered.

“So! Everyone has a full day planned, it sounds like? Hopefully this weather clears up later on.” Sue remarked, joining her family at the table. As idle conversation carried on between Sue and her middle children, Frank checked his watch and patted his hand against the table. “Alright, Kevin, finish up! Time’s a wastin,’ I don’t wanna spend my whole Saturday in the car.” He said sternly, Kevin rolled his eyes. “Go pick something NICE to wear, and uh, I’ll help you with…all that, before we go.” Frank finished, gesturing at Kevin’s untidy hair. Kevin put his dishes in the sink and disappeared out the back door.

In his basement dwelling, Kevin rifled through his dresser, pulling through the piles of jeans, tee shirts, and old stained and hole-laden clothes now relegated to loungewear, he sorted through the few pieces of ‘presentable’ clothing he owned and laid them out on the bed. It was between a long sleeved button-down shirt, in either white, sage green, or light blue, or that dreaded short sleeved white “Bible salesman” shirt. Either a blue, dark brown, or red tie; and given the fact that the red tie was decorated with clouds and trains, he guessed he’d totally forgotten he ever owned that juvenile monstrosity, and it was thus down to just the first two. As for the pants, it was either khakis, black pants belonging to his funeral suit, or those dreadful brown corduroy slacks he’d gotten last Christmas. — He hadn’t worn the green shirt in some time, so he selected that one, with a dark brown tie and the khaki pants; he hated them, but they were the most benign option out of the few that he had.

Peeking out of the partially open cellar doors, Kevin took notice of the steadiness of the rain, trying to gauge whether or not it was safer to just get dressed inside, rather than ruin another outfit; indeed, that was the better option. Exiting the basement, he kept his outfit pressed firmly beneath his father’s oversized tee shirt, careful not to repeat his previous mistake of rounding the corner to the back door too fast. Reentering the house, Kevin headed to the bathroom to change, ignoring the uninteresting conversation between his younger siblings at the table.

Kevin undressed and tossed his father’s slapped-together outfit aside. He stepped into the khakis and pulled them up, realizing that he was just on the verge of being a bit too tall for them, as his ankles were fully visible; he pulled them down a little for good measure. As far as he was concerned, he could bid those hideous pants ‘good riddance’ and Bill would have another hand-me-down after today. Smoothing out the sage green formal shirt, he did have to admit green was a good color for him, but not for a rockstar, so it’d be straight back to blacks and blues once they returned home. The brown tie was underwhelming too, but at anything was better than that babyish train tie. He’d have to trash that embarrassing thing, soon, he thought.

Looking himself over in the mirror, he sighed remorsefully. He knew this was something he had to do, and tried to remind himself that he was doing it all for Alice, for their little family…but he didn’t look like himself, and something about that bothered him. He couldn’t figure out why, it was just an outfit, after all. Something he could shed and change to give whatever appearance he wanted, whenever he wanted. But still…he just didn’t look like himself. He guessed that didn’t matter much though, none of the jobs he was about to apply for looked like anything he’d WANT for himself, either.

Sue smiled as Kevin swept from the bathroom, his usual scowl visible on his face. “Ohh, look at you! So handsome!” She encouraged sweetly. “Come here, son!” Frank called from the other side of the kitchen. Kevin stared at his father, who’d dragged a chair over to the sink, patting the seat to summon Kevin to him. “Okay! Let’s fix that hair!” Frank smiled exaggeratedly, holding up a pair of scissors, clipping them in the air. Kevin’s eyes widened and he made a bee line for the stairs. “FUCK NO! LEAVE ME ALONE!” He yelled. Sue and Maureen shot Frank an irritated stare, while he and Bill shared a hearty laugh. “I told you it wouldn’t be funny.” Sue chastised with crossed arms. Frank, still smiling, rolled his eyes and put the scissors back in a drawer. “Alright, alright.” Frank headed upstairs after his sullen oldest child. “Kevin? It was just a joke, now get your ass movin,’ I wanna be on the road by eight!” He called up as he ascended the stairs.

In Frank and Sue’s room, Kevin lay flat against the floor, firmly planted beneath his parents’ bed. If only he knew what a dangerous and scarring hiding place that could be. — He silently watched as his father’s feet appeared in view from beneath the bedskirt and cautiously shallowed his breathing, watching Frank make his way around the bed. — He failed to take into account that his parents’ bedroom was the ONLY room upstairs, and that the possibilities of where he could be hiding were dramatically reduced up here. Not to mention Frank could totally see the tips of Kevin’s toes peeking out from beneath the bed. Frank smirked to himself upon making this discovery and quietly bent down, yanking Kevin out from under the bed by the feet. “GOTCHA!” Frank laughed. “WAH! JESUS CHRIST! WHAT THE FUCK?!” Kevin practically squealed. He rolled over, heart pounding as he stared Frank down. Frank reached down and helped him up, patting him on the back. “I’m not gonna mess with your precious lesbian haircut, son.” He jabbed with a snarky smile, Kevin crossed his arms silently.

Looking down, Frank caught sight of Kevin’s untucked shirt and rolled his eyes. “Jesus Christ Kevin, at least try to LOOK like you’re puttin’ in a little effort!” He chided, tersely tucking in Kevin’s shirt for him. “Hang on! I got it!” Kevin pulled away, finishing the job himself. “Now come on, I’m just tryin’ to help you make a good impression today.” Frank said, tone noticeably more relaxed.

Frank opened the bathroom door and gestured for Kevin to join him. “I PROMISE I’m not gonna cut it, we just need to clean it up a bit. Scout’s honor.” With that, Kevin surrendered and followed him in. Frank placed a firm hand on Kevin’s shoulder, gesturing back at the bed with the other. “And seriously. NEVER hide under our bed, son.” He said sternly, Kevin raised a brow. “Why?” Frank blushed and looked away. “Oh uh…nothing, it’s just uhh…could be a safety hazard, you know…fire and all?” Frank quickly lied, hoping Kevin wouldn’t press the matter.

Back downstairs, Sue thumbed through the few recipe books she had in the kitchen. She had never attempted authentic Jewish dishes, and she only had a base-level understanding of “kosher” foods, but undertaking the daunting task was an absolute must, to make a favorable impression with the Goldmans.

“So, mommy, what are you gonna make for Alice’s family dinner?” Maureen asked, savoring the last sweet sips of cereal milk in her bowl. Sue slumped over the table, running a hand through her bangs with a deep sigh. “THAT is an excellent question, honey. Really I don’t even know where to start, thank God Mr. Holtenwasser agreed to help us out with this.” She cracked a soft smile.

Bill raised an eyebrow and pulled one of the books across the table, thumbing through the limited Jewish section. “Cha-llah Bread, Sha…shak…shakshuka? What kind of weird shit is this, anyway?” He asked, furrowing a brow as Sue took the book back. “That’s not nice, Bill. Don’t say it’s ‘weird’ just because you don’t understand it, okay? And I expect BOTH OF YOU to be on your BEST BEHAVIOR tonight, do you understand me?” Sue pointed at both of them with a stern expression. The pair rolled their eyes and offered half-hearted agreements. “Good. We have to make a good impression on Alice’s family tonight. Things are already strained enough as it is around here and we—“ “I think Kevin getting Alice pregnant is already a shitty impression.” Bill snarked, earning an irritated glance from Sue.

“Bill. What Kevin…and Alice did was, it was foolish, and…and careless, but…it happened. And we ALL need to be there for each other, and that includes both families, okay? This baby coming is going to affect each and every one of us, not just Kevin and Alice. You two are going to be an aunt and uncle, after all!” With that revelation, Bill and Maureen exchanged surprised glances. Although the information was obvious from the start, neither one had dwelled on that knowledge at all since the announcement. Suddenly in both of them, a small glimmer of a sense of duty to Kevin’s unborn child lit up.

“OW! Dad! That—OW!” Kevin sat on Sue’s vanity stool, gripping the sides for dear life as Frank brusquely ran a comb through his long hair. Frank paused only to slap the back of his head. “Well if you weren’t fightin’ me so much, I wouldn’t hurt ya!” He said, frustratedly. “You won’t get a sensible haircut, so I’m tryin’ my damndest to at LEAST make sure you look SORT OF presentable and have a half-assed shot at gettin’ a decent job, you FUCKIN’ INGRATE!” Kevin rolled his eyes at one of his father’s trademark jabs and resigned himself to his fate. “Okay, there! Uhh…that looks…better?” Frank stammered nervously. Kevin stared up at his reflection in the mirror; his hair was a bit more tidy, pushed back neatly behind his ears, but Frank had (attempted) to slick his bangs back, out of his face, resulting in various strands and clusters of hair standing up haphazardly at the top of his head. Kevin started back at Frank, who shrugged and was obviously stifling laughter. “What? I have a MAN’S haircut, I’ve never had this problem!” He smiled, a chuckle escaping him. “Dad…you can’t just slick bangs back like this…” Kevin smirked, laughter threatening on his end, too. “I look like a fuckin’ dildo!” He exclaimed, garnering laughter from both parties.

Kevin took the comb and smoothed his bangs back down, parting them at the center of his forehead. “Yeah, that looks better.” Frank complimented. It was no secret that he wasn’t a fan of Kevin’s long hair, but at least they’d reached an agreeable middle-ground, for now. Frank patted Kevin on the shoulder. “Yeah, there you go, I think you’re in good shape for your job hunt, and now you don’t have to get dressed up for dinner tonight! Two birds with one stone!” Frank said encouragingly. He raised an arm and checked his watch. “And right on time, it’s almost eight, let’s hit the road!” He ordered, exiting the bathroom. Kevin followed, stealing one last glance at his appearance in the mirror. He now looked even less like himself than before, but he opted to shove the negative feeling aside, for now.

Frank grabbed Kevin’s job applications from the table and gave Sue a kiss. “I’ll see you in a bit, honey. Kids, have a great day, and stay outta your mom’s way! She’s got a lot ridin’ on this dinner, so don’t you dare blow it!” Frank warned; everyone seemed quietly surprised that for once, he didn’t absolve Maureen from that warning, as he usually did. “C’mon Kevin, this is good practice for actually maintaining a schedule!” Frank called up the stairs. Kevin wordlessly emerged, grabbing his coat from the hook on the wall. Sue smiled, wrapping him in a brief hug. “Ohh, good luck today, my little working man!” Sue reached over to ruffle his hair, Kevin quickly dodged it and backed away. “No! Mom! It took me forever to fix what dad did to my hair!” He griped exaggeratedly. Frank grabbed his keys and handed Kevin his applications. “Again, I was just tryin’ to help, you little shit!” He seethed under his breath. “Love you, honey!” Frank called back to Sue as he and Kevin disappeared out the front door.

Meanwhile at the Goldman house, Alice stood in front of a mirror in her bedroom. — Akin to Kevin, she was also struggling with the lack of connection to her own appearance. Although most of the violent sickness she experienced earlier had subsided, she was constantly tired, and it showed in her young face. A small bump was starting to become noticeable, and she wondered how long she could keep this a secret at school. Really, she was surprised the rumors hasn’t started flying, already.

Presently, her bed was littered with clothing that for the foreseeable future, was no longer doable because of how it either accentuated her growing baby bump, or flat out didn’t fit anymore. All that remained in her closet now were a few Summer dresses, and a few baggy sweaters. At least two of the dresses had a concealing empire waistline, but it was clear that she desperately needed to do some shopping.

Abruptly there was a soft knock at her door. “Alice?” Her mother’s voice called. The girl was surprised, to say the least. Her mother hadn’t had much to say to her, lately, taking the news of her pregnancy with much difficulty. “Come in.” Alice said, taking a seat on the edge of her bed. Mrs. Goldman emerged from the hallway and took a seat next to Alice, noting the mounting pile of clothes behind them. “Ah. I don’t miss those days.” She said sympathetically. “So…how are you feeling?” She asked, neither one willing to look at the other. “Fine. Well, at least a little better.” Alice said flatly, gently kicking her legs. “So, I guess a little shopping trip is in order?” Mrs. Goldman offered, smiling at Alice. Alice turned to her mother, pushing some hair back behind her ear. “Yeah…thanks.”

“So, do you have anything to wear to dinner tonight?” Mrs. Goldman asked. “I think so. It’s a little chilly for it, but Kevin likes this dress. Maybe I can pair it with a sweater or something.” Alice held out a pale blue dress with small embroidered flowers on its gauzy surface. “So, has Kevin made any headway on finding a job?” She asked. Alice draped her dinner dress over her desk chair before taking a seat back on the bed. “He and his dad are turning in applications today. I’m not sure where he’s applying to, but I’ve been helping him fill forms out all week, so I have a good feeling.” Alice replied. “Well, I hope he’s able to nail down something good, the clock is ticking.” Alice rolled her eyes at her mother’s obvious quip at Kevin.

“He’s trying, mom.” Alice defended. “And I’m being serious, I REALLY want you and dad to at least TRY and act like you like him. This dinner is supposed to be a positive experience, I don’t want a fight breaking out if—“ Mrs. Goldman placed a hand to her chest. “Alice Esther Goldman. Do you honestly think so little of me…of US, to assume we’d go in, guns blazing, and embarrass you like that? I have my plans, but the discussion will be civil and as pleasant as is possible.” She stated in a deliberately guilting tone, which Alice immediately squashed. “No, mom, I don’t think you’d do it on PURPOSE. But I know how you and dad can get sometimes. And I know things have been…strained between you guys and Kevin ever since we found out I was pregnant.” Mrs. Goldman rose from her seat and towered over her daughter. “Can you blame us?! Don’t misunderstand. I am pleased to hear that Kevin is taking this seriously, really I am. But it doesn’t change the fact that you haven’t even touched the precipice of the ‘hard parts’ yet. That’s where the real tests lie…” She said ominously.

Alice leaned back into the pile of clothes behind her, feeling the bed sink further down as her mother laid back next to her, squeezing her hand. “You guys were so kind to him the first few times I brought him over…God, dad got on with him so well, it was like he’d always been here. And you both see how happy he makes me, how well he treats me, and tries to encourage me…in his own…unique ways. I know this isn’t what anyone had planned, but…are you really that upset that it’s happening with Kevin?” Alice asked, a twinge of sad confusion in her tone. “My dearest girl…we are upset that this is happening at ALL. Pregnant at fifteen…out of wedlock…with a gentile…” Mrs. Goldman’s comment caused Alice to pull away from her grasp. “Ohhh, and THERE it is. I KNEW it was a prejudice thing.” Alice guilted, sitting back up, her mother practically jumping up alongside her. “Alice, we are NOT bigots. How DARE you say such a thing?! We just wanted you to—“ “Stick to ‘our people?’ Right?” Alice finished, pointing out the hypocrisy in her mother’s statement.

Mrs. Goldman didn’t bother to continue the battle. Gently getting up from the bed, she smoothed out her blouse and made her way to the door. “I’ll be downstairs. If you want to do any shopping, be ready no later than nine. I’m showing some properties today at one.” She said firmly, exiting the room with a gentle shut of the door. Alice stood staring at it, tears welling up in her eyes. She wasn’t entirely sure whether it was hormones, her continued upsetment and confusion over this crazy ordeal, the frustration of all of her clothes suddenly not fitting, or all of the above, but she couldn’t help but cry.

Back in the Murphy home, Maureen took her time getting ready to leave for Scott’s house. Packing a bag, she stuffed her notebook, some pens, and the four most recent issues of “Technology Today” magazine in her bag. She knelt down and zipped the heavy bag up, jostling it with one arm, making sure it’d be light enough to carry.

Sitting on the floor by her bed, she reached under it and pulled out an old shoebox. It contained numerous little found-treasures she’d procured from her various childhood escapades, but these past few weeks, it also doubled as a hiding place for the ominous Mohican watch Bridget had mysteriously procured. She held the watch in both hands, gingerly running a thumb across its fragile surface. The note Bridget had left with it also sat in the box, a steadfast reminder that some ‘debt’ needed to be paid. — But, being the smart young lady she was, Maureen mulled over the idea of erasing the debt altogether. What if she gave the watch back to Bridget? Would she be furious, or agree to cancel the forced agreement? The prospect was far too daunting to decide on, right away. And while on that train of thought, why hadn’t she seen or heard from Bridget in so long? Sure, she skipped school on more than just the rare occasion, but it was unusual that no one, not even their shared bully, Amy was talking about her prolonged absence.

Looking up over the surface of the bed, she noticed that the sky seemed to be clearing up, at least a little. The rain was still coming down fairly steadily, but she hadn’t heard thunder in awhile, and a few scant rays of sunshine were beginning to peek through the gray clouds. She breathed a sigh of relief, hoping this trend would continue, and her whole bike ride over wouldn’t end up being a miserable, soaking wet rush.

“Mom! I’m going to Scott’s!” Maureen called out to her mother, exiting her room. Sue peered out into the hall, bouncing Megan against her hip. “Okay honey, I’ll be with Mr. Holtenwasser for a couple of hours, and Bill’s got plans with Phillip, so I’ll leave the front door unlocked for you. Be careful!” “I will!” Maureen called back to Sue, picking her bike up from the lawn, her mother watched from the living room window as she rode off down the street.

As Maureen rounded the first turn just outside of Slagtree Court, she caught sight of a familiar redhead near the tree-line between their neighborhoods. She sat atop a discarded washer, puffing away at a cigarette. Maureen’s heart skipped a beat and she sped up, hoping Bridget wouldn’t notice her; though it was quite difficult to miss her bold blue coat sticking out like a sore thumb on such an otherwise gray and dingy day. “Aye! Maureen!” Bridget waved cheerfully, taking in one last hardy drag before tossing the cigarette aside. “God damn it!” Maureen cursed to herself, bringing her bike to a stop. “H-hey, Bridget. I…I haven’t seen you in awhile.” The younger girl greeted uneasily. “Yeah, I’ve been ‘around,’ just busy.” Bridget replied with a smirk.

Maureen avoided Bridget’s gaze for a few more seconds, mulling over whether it was worth it to mention her suspicious absence. “Well…I haven’t seen you at school, lately. Everything…okay?” She inquired awkwardly. The older of the two rolled her eyes and threw up her arms. “Those fuckin’ cock goblins! You try to blow up ONE frozen frog in the science lab and all of a sudden it’s the end of the fuckin’ world! Got me suspended for two weeks…then I just stopped goin for awhile, layin’ low, you know?” Bridget laughed. Internally Maureen was somewhat relieved, but the nagging guilt and yearn for answers about the watch still gnawed at her conscience.

“So, where you headed?” Bridget asked, noting Maureen’s bike. “Oh. I have this thing with the Computer Club today, so I was gonna head over to—“ Bridget scoffed and slapped at the air. “Pfft! Computer Club, buncha fairies and dorks! I say you bail on that pussy shit and have a girls’ day, just you and me!” Bridget enticed, gruffly shaking Maureen’s shoulder. Maureen knew she’d never be able to shake Bridget off, but she also wanted to stave off the inevitable conversation for as long as possible.

“Uh…s-sure? What did you wanna do?” She asked uneasily. Bridget pulled another cigarette from her coat pocket and had it between her clenched teeth. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a small book of matches and lit her cigarette with a swift strike of a match, tossing it to the ground. “Well, there is something I wanted to talk to you about.” She said, exhaling a mix of smoke and warm breath in the chilly Winter air. Maureen tensed up. “Y-yeah?” “Remember that ‘little present’ I helped you get for your old man? Well, now I need you to help get something for ME.” Bridget’s tone took a serious turn, and Maureen’s stomach did backflips in anticipation for what the formidable girl was going to ask. “Are we gonna have to kill someone?! Steal a car?! Break her friend outta jail?! Rob a bank?!” As intelligent as Maureen was, she knew in the back of her head that such predictions, even for Bridget, were likely just ridiculous exaggerations, But, creative, anxious thinking certainly ran deep in the Murphy family.

“Okay, so after the school shit the bed over the frozen frog thing, shit-ass Principal Stoger took my best lighter. Shit was the only present my stupid dad ever gave me! I need you to help me get it back.” Maureen instantly recalled Mr. Fitzsimmons’ keys to the school and attempted to capitalize on that way out. “But…but doesn’t your dad have the school’s master keys? Can’t you just—“ “No! Principal Stoger has my lighter in a safe in his office. That’s where he keeps all the good shit you never get back! Thievin’ piece of shit! Keys’ll get us inside, but won’t do shit for the safe!” Bridget interjected. “So…what am I supposed to do?” Maureen asked, a bit afraid of the answer that awaited her. “Easy! You’re a good-grades, straight-arrow goody-goody! NOBODY is gonna suspect it was you who broke into Stoger’s office! Just grab that safe, and fuckin’ run for it!” Bridget’s enthusiasm over the farfetched plan was almost too ridiculously unbelievable to intimidate Maureen, who simply stared back at her, blankly.

“Bridget. How in the HELL am I supposed to do THAT?! Outside of that stupid math test, I’ve never been in trouble! How am I supposed to get sent to the office…and how am I supposed to carry a SAFE?!” Maureen exclaimed frustratedly. Bridget rolled her eyes. “Oh Jesus Christ Maureen! It’s a SMALL SAFE. It’s right under his desk, just pick it up, and chuck it out the window! And as for how you’re gettin’ in there, don’t sweat it! It’s a SATURDAY, no one’s gonna be there, which is why we’re doin’ it TODAY! And you OWE ME. If I hadn’t grabbed that watch for you, you woulda looked like a selfish dick-flip at your dad’s birthday! But I bailed you out, now YOU gotta bail ME out! That’s how it works, now come on!” Maureen stopped in her tracks and let Bridget walk ahead. It took several feet before the older girl turned back around to face Maureen, whose face was presently contorted in thought and nervousness.

“What?” Bridget asked, tone noticeably, suspiciously innocent. Maureen swallowed and took a deep breath. “Bridget…I never…I never gave my dad that watch.” She kept her eyes firmly shut for a few moments, waiting for any, unexpected retaliation. Bridget dropped her half-spent cigarette and extinguished it against the sidewalk before approaching her friend. “Whaddaya mean, you ‘never gave it’ to him?” “I just—“ “GREAT! After ALL THAT WORK I did to help your ungrateful ass out, you didn’t even GIVE IT TO HIM?!” “Bridget! I—“ “Do you know what I coulda bought with that thirty bucks?!” Bridget cried, Maureen’s eyes widened and a deep and sudden pang of guilt washed over her, for her negative assumptions. “You…you bought that watch?” She asked sheepishly. “Pfft! YES! How the fuck do you THINK I got it, you fuckin’ rube?! What? You think I broke in there, bashed that crusty old fucker’s head in and stole it?” Maureen grimaced, as Bridget painted a pretty good image of what she has actually been thinking, all this time, but she smartly chose not to answer. “What? I just…did some poor fucker in, made a break for it, only took some musty old watch and left all the money in the register and other good shit behind? And NO ONE in this tiny fuckin’ hick town’s been talkin’ about it?! Maybe you’re not as smart as I thought!” Bridget chastised.

Maureen stood, staring at her boots, firmly grasping the handlebars of her bike, unsure of what to say or do next. Of all the things she expected to come from this conversation, Bridget’s shocking innocence surely wasn’t one of them. “Bridget. I…I’m sorry, I just—“ “Ah, FUCK your sorry! I stuck my neck out for you, now you’re GONNA do the same for me!” “Bridget! I-I can just give you the watch back! I—“ “You’ve got until sundown at six, I’d get thinkin’! I’m fuckin’ outta here.” Bridget turned on her heel and headed back home, living Maureen to think over what she was going to do. “How did I get myself into this?” She asked herself, continuing off to Scott’s place, the wind officially knocked from her sails. Her head shot back up as she suddenly remembered that night’s upcoming event. “BRIDGET! I CAN’T DO SIX! WE HAVE A—“ “NOT MY PROBLEM!” Bridget dismissed, not even bothering to face her.

Meanwhile, Sue sat in the back of Mr. Holtenwasser’s car, keeping Megan entertained while the elderly driver parked the car in the already crowded lot of “Turtletaub & Sons Jewish Market.” “Thank you so much, Otto, this honestly means the WORLD!” Sue praised, much to the delight of her aging assistant. “It’s my pleasure! You know, Mary and I never had children of our own, so it’s ‘wunderbar’ to have somevone to share our traditions vith!” He said sweetly. “I just hope I’m able to pull it off, things between us and the Goldmans have been tense, to say the least, ever since the…announcement.” Sue lamented, trying in vain to conceal the facts of the ‘announcement,’ as if the tiny neighborhood wasn’t already well aware. “Ah, yes, ze blessed event! Vell don’t you vorry, Ze Goldman family attends temple with me, I know vhat zey like!” Sue smiled in relief at Otto’s valuable intel.

Cruising the aisles of the small shop, Sue examined all of the fascinating and unfamiliar items that lined the colorful shelves. So many things she’d never even heard of, some she couldn’t pronounce or even read, with their labels printed in Hebrew. She was also surprised at how many familiar faces she saw perusing the aisles. — Although the Murphys didn’t have any foothold in the local Jewish community, judging by the occasional dirty look that came Sue’s way, she guessed that the Goldman family’s circle was already party to their shared news. She tried her best to ignore it.

Lost in the confusion of the new environment, Sue aimlessly looked around, taking in the new sights and smells, listening to the unfamiliar mix of languages from unknown conversations unfolding between people all around her, she was trying to be helpful, but had no clue where to start. Thankfully Mr. Holtenwasser (in between smalltalk with the many people he ran into) was practically racing around the market with their cart, effortlessly knowing just what was needed at a glance and tossing it into the cart. Occasionally he handed something to Megan to entertain her. “Just sink, Megan, very soon you vill have somevone little like you to play vith!” The old man smiled, Megan giggled, uncomprehending of his good news. Sue walked alongside him, feeling rather useless during the excursion. “Again, I can’t thank you enough for this, Otto. It seems there’s still quite a bit I’m unfamiliar with in the kitchen!” She joked. The old man smiled. “It’s no trouble! I have some old cookbooks I can lend you…I believe some may be in English.” He finished under his breath.

One aisle over, Sue swore she heard two familiar voices. “Yes, we’re just here for a quick grocery stop, then off to do some…much needed shopping, right, Alice?” Sure enough, Mrs. Goldman’s voice rang out, followed by a lackluster “Yeah.” From none other than Alice. Sue bit her lip, briefly considering whether or not it was a good idea to approach them, or if she should just stay out of sight until that evening. But, as it so often happened for the Murphys, fate had other plans.

“Alright! Well, it looks like we’re pretty well settled here, right? We should get going.” Sue urged in a hushed tone, noting their abundant shopping cart. She took the cart from Otto and pushed it hastily to the front…only to bump right into Alice and her mother’s cart as they rounded the corner in front of her. “Oh! I’m so sorry, I…” Mrs. Goldman’s concerned expression hardened once she recognized Sue. “Mrs. Murphy.” She said coldly. Sue feigned a smile. “Mrs. Goldman! Alice! So nice to see you! We’re looking forward to seeing you all at dinner, tonight. Any special requests?” She asked kindly. Mrs. Goldman’s expression remained stern. “Yes, we’ll be there. My daughter and I were just stopping in for a few things, but we’re leaving now. VERY busy day ahead of us. Alice?” Mrs. Goldman turned her back and continued on her way. Alice brushed her hair back behind her ears and smiled at Sue, she smiled back.

As the pair disappeared from view, Sue stared down with a defeated exhale. Otto placed a sympathetic hand up on her shoulder. “Don’t vorry about zat, zis is a difficult situvation for everyvone. Just give her time.” His wise words were indeed some form of reassurance, but Sue just couldn’t shake the usual feeling of other people’s pressures planted firmly on her shoulders. “Thank you.” Was all she could muster, as they pushed their cart into the checkout line.

Across the store, Alice stared her mother down with crossed arms. “You didn’t have to be so rude.” She reprimanded quietly. “Alice, I can’t deal with this right now. It’s bad enough we have to deal with this embarrassing situation, at all. I don’t need to see ANY more of that family than absolutely necessary. Now let’s go.” She practically threw some items into the cart and pushed forward, Alice frustratedly in tow, quietly praying that everything went smoothly for Sue tonight.

In the parking lot of “Lawson’s Grocery,” Frank waited, propped over the steering wheel for Kevin to emerge from the store. So far, both “The Bargain Bin” and “Captain Chuckle Crust’s Pizzeria” had turned Kevin down without so much as looking at his application; both establishments were already full of teenagers and recent high school graduates and had no further need of extra help. Next on the list was “Champagne Chariot Vending Services.” Inwardly, Frank had conflicting feelings about that prospect. Part of him hoped Kevin would get it; spending some time under Smokey the no-nonsense disciplinarian would certainly whip him into shape. But on that same note, he hoped he wouldn’t get it…largely for the same reason.

Glancing back up at the store, Frank caught sight of Kevin, rushing back to the car, arms over his head, trying to shield himself from the rain. The boy threw open the car door and jumped inside. “Well?” Frank asked, wasting no time. Kevin shrugged. “They took my application and said they’d call if they had any openings, but right now there’s nothing for me.” Frank slapped his forehead. “Oh, Christ.” He gripped the steering wheel and took a deep breath. “Okay. Okay, let’s just keep going down the list. Looks like it’s “Champagne Chariot” next. Smokey’s my old boss, kinda a friend, I guess, maybe he can pull some strings and get you in.” Frank said hopefully as they exited the parking lot.

Kevin sat wordlessly in the passenger side, staring out the window, watching raindrops race each other down the window pane as Frank drawled on about this seemingly doomed job search. “Hello?” Frank bellowed. “Are you even fuckin’ listening to me?!” Once the car came to a stop at an intersection, Frank glared down irritatedly at Kevin. “YES! God…” Kevin lied, rolling his eyes. “What’d I say then, huh?” Frank challenged, earning silence from Kevin. “Yeah, that’s what I figured, fuckin’ moron.” Frank criticized under his breath, peeling out as the light turned green. “I ASKED YOU if you had a backup plan in case this doesn’t work out. One way or another you’re gonna have to find some way to make a living.” Frank remarked very sternly. Kevin rolled over to face him. “I dunno. I honestly figured I’d have a job already, with all the applications I filled out.” He said, defeat clear in his tone. “Well, life doesn’t always go according to plan, so it’s always a good idea to have something else to fall back on.” Frank concluded, pulling into the shady lot, full of its graffitied yellow trucks.

“Alright, let’s get this over with.” Frank mused, exiting the car with Kevin, hoping he’d get a chance to talk to Smokey, again. Walking up the concrete steps to the loading dock, Frank caught sight of his gruff former employer, seated off to the side, next to a payphone, his attention firmly fixated on an obscure book in his hands. “Heyyy, Smokey!” Frank said cheerfully, waving to him as they approached. At first, Smokey looked a bit miffed by the interruption, but that demeanor quickly dissipated upon seeing Frank. “Frank Murphy! What the Hell’re you doin’ out my way? If you’re lookin’ for work, you’re in luck. ‘New Larry’s’ waitin’ on his idiot brother to bail his stupid ass outta jail, and that shifty ass Puerto Rican done quit on me! Stole three cases of Freshingtons on the way out, too. Slick ass muthafucka.” Smokey griped, greeting Frank with a rough half-hug.

Frank pulled away with a smile and shook his head. “Nah, got demoted to ‘downstairs nobody,’ but I’ve still got a job. I’m actually here for my boy, you remember Kevin?” Frank introduced, gently nudging Kevin forward. Nervously, Kevin held his application out for Smokey, who shed a single tear in recalling his failed attempt at distracting the lovelorn Kevin from heartbreak late last year. “Oh yeah, yeah. Kevin. So, how’s that girl of yours?” He asked, trying to sound much less invested than he was. Frank rolled his eyes and butted in before Kevin could answer, himself. “Well, that’s why we’re here! Kevin and Alice did get back together…but THIS ONE got Alice pregnant. He’s only got a few months to start makin’ somethin’ of himself.” Frank reproved. Smokey shook his head. “Damn. Between you and me, I learned that shit the hard way, too, kid. More than once! Best to stick with that wise ole sayin’: ‘no glove, no love!’” Smokey replied. “Yeah, I know that. That’s the weird part though…we DID use one. Hey! I actually got it from the truck when I was working or…was going to work for you, last year!” Kevin pointed out, innocently. Smokey’s eyes widened and his expression went blank with shock.

“Smokey?” Frank asked. Instantly, the stunned man shot up from the chair and walked to the open loading dock gate, holding up Kevin’s application. “I’ll give this a once-over, Frank Murphy, but I ain’t makin’ no promises! Ole Smokey’s heart can’t take another Larry!” With that, he disappeared out of view; the distinct sounds of muffled sobbing and self-chastising followed. The father and son exchanged glances. “What the fuck was that about?” Frank asked in a whisper, Kevin shrugged and followed him to the car. — It was an interesting quandary though; the more Frank thought about it, an awful lot of pregnancies had occurred around him over the past year, all seeming to crop up wherever Smokey’s condoms were sold…

In the car, Kevin held his last precious application in his hands. “Fuck me. “Sam’s Starving Boy” it is, I guess.” Kevin moaned, Frank peeled out of the truck lot in silence. The gears turning in the back of his head after Kevin’s seemingly innocent comment about the ill-fated condom he’d gotten from Smokey’s truck…Frank seemed to recall a certain roll of cherry flavored rubbers he’d procured from his old “Champaign Chariot” truck that failed to do their duty as well. Perhaps both Murphys had fallen prey to a defective batch? Fitting that such a crazy ‘coincidence’ would plague the already perpetually unlucky family.

“Alright, this is your last shot, you better hope this works out. I’m not schlepping you out of town to find somewhere else to work.” Frank said grimly as they approached the gaudy bright yellow building, with its admittedly racist mascot signs. “I knowwww.” Kevin whined, rolling his eyes as he exited the car with a creaky ‘slam’ of its rusty door.

Frank watched as Kevin disappeared through the front door, after pausing there for a few moments. He sighed to himself and cracked the window, lighting a cigarette. How did he always seem to find himself in the dead-center of these dismal situations? Through one of the many windows lining the side of the sizable establishment, Frank watched Kevin talk to a rather cross looking man behind the counter, hoping internally that his demeanor was at least more inviting than his expression. — Minutes later, Kevin shook the man’s hand and he handed him something.

Frank extinguished his cigarette and turned his attention to the doors, watching as Kevin returned, holding a bright red and yellow shirt and hat. He breathed a sigh of relief and put on a smile. Kevin flopped back into the car, looking rather downcast. “So! I guess you got the job? Saved the best for last, it looks like!” Frank said, trying to remain positive. “Yeahhh, it’s better than nothing. Lots of people I know hang out there, though.” Kevin moped. “Ugh. Kevin, there’s no shame in a hard day’s work. You’re about to have a family to provide for…only thing you should be judged for is not doing your job for ‘em. For that matter…how are things at school?” Frank asked, much to Kevin’s surprise. “Um…fine? I haven’t skipped in a long—“ “No, no. I meant, how are things because of the baby? Anyone giving you guys a hard time?” Frank specified. “Uh, no, not really. I mean…we haven’t told anybody. Well, other than Bolo and Lex. And maybe a couple of Alice’s friends.” Kevin replied. Frank wasn’t sure how to respond; on one hand it was good that it seemed the two had at least the good sense to shield themselves from rumor and speculation, but on the other, it was clearly only a matter of time before said rumors started flying, anyway.

“Well, that’s good, son. But, you know people can be assholes…go outta their way to make people’s lives Hell just because they can. You’re probably gonna have to stick up for Alice quite a bit, in the coming months.” Frank warned, earning a concerned stare from Kevin. The remainder of the car ride home was endured in awkward silence. Little did either one anticipate that Frank’s thoughtful warning couldn’t have been more perfectly timed.

Alice and her mother thumbed through shelves at “The Blooming Belly,” a local maternity supply shop, fortunately located in a part of the shopping district with low foot-traffic, mostly populated by new buildings that weren’t yet home to new businesses. But still, Alice was careful to shield herself behind shelves and racks of clothing as much as possible. The front of the store was all windows, and regardless of the lack of population in that area of town, it was still a small town, and the last thing she needed right now was for someone familiar to see her there.

“How about this? It’s not pretty, but it’s stretchy, you’ll need as much room for growing as possible.” Mrs. Goldman suggested, holding up a gaudy plaid sweater with a high, lacy collar, much to Alice’s dismay. “You can’t afford to be picky, dear. And it’s only for a few months…Or this! High waistline, comfortable fabric, and yellows look good on you.” Mrs. Goldman pulled a baggy, empire-waisted top from the discount bin. It was a pale yellow, and adorned with orange polka dots, and a tiny orange bow at the low collar, to match. Alice took it and rolled her eyes. It wasn’t her style at all, but it was leagues better than the lacy plaid monstrosity she’d previously been presented with. “Alright, we FINALLY found something you didn’t turn your nose up at, I’ll consult a clerk and see if they have other, similar styles.” Mrs. Goldman offered, Alice nodded and continued searching through the racks.

Outside, a group of young ladies from her high school walked by, chatting away. One turned and glanced inside the store, suddenly freezing in her tracks when she realized she knew the solitary young shopper inside. “Wait, wait, wait! Holy shit…is that…is that Alice Goldman?!” The tall blonde asked, mouth agape. Her two friends paused and nearly pressed their faces to the glass, trying to get a better look. As Alice turned to face her mother and the clerk, who had come with an arm full of clothes for her to look at, they got a full-view of her. “Oh my God, it IS her!” “So…is she pregnant? Or is she just here with her mom?” The clerk silently answered their unheard question as she held several articles of clothing up in front of Alice.

Continuing on their walk, the trio kept their eyes firmly cast inside the building’s many windows until they disappeared down the street, their topic of conversation (rather, gossip) abundantly clear. “So who do you think the dad is?!” “I’m more impressed that there’s a dad at ALL! She always seemed like such a quiet little wallflower, never expected her to be out here gettin’ dicked down!” “Hey, she was in study hall with me last semester, she was dating that weird stoner kid who never shows up.” “Oh yeah! I think his name is Kevin-something.” “Damn, I wonder if anyone knows?” “Well, everyone was bound to find out eventually…it’d be…a ‘public service’ to let people know!”

Frank and Kevin pulled up to the curb by the Murphy house. “Well, mission accomplished. That’s at least one big check off your list.” Frank said encouragingly, jostling Kevin’s shoulder with one hand. “Yeah.” Kevin sighed pessimistically, looking down at the garish uniform in his lap. “Hey! I don’t wanna hear any bitchin’ about this! You said it yourself, you NEED this job. So, did they tell you when you start?” “Next Friday, the 14th, after school. I can just take my bike, it’s not that far.” Kevin answered, Frank nodded. “Okay, good. Well…stay outta your mom’s until dinner, she should be back soon, and this stupid thing’s a big deal for her. Well, it’s a big deal for all of us, but you know your mom, she always takes shit to hea—“ “Oh, hey honey!” Frank’s tone flipped on a dime when he noticed Sue standing next to his car door, Megan in hand.

Exiting the car, he gave both of them a kiss and waved to Mr. Holtenwasser down the street. “You’re a lifesaver, neighbor!” Otto waved back, grabbing a couple of bags. “Kevin, go help the poor old bastard!” Frank gestured over to Otto, Kevin rolled his eyes and headed over, the “Sam’s Starving Boy” uniform pressed unceremoniously under one arm.

“So how’d it go?” Sue asked, Frank sighed. “Well, he got a job! Only catch is we’re all gonna have to dial it back, some at the diner!” He joked about their frequent misdemeanors at the questionable establishment. Sue sighed and smiled. “Well, that’s a relief. Alice’s parents will be happy to hear that. Speaking of, I ran into Alice and her mother at the market today, Mrs. Goldman was SPIKEY!” Sue breathed exasperatedly. “She saw me and IMMEDIATELY gave me the cold-shoulder! They’ll be here, but it’s safe to say, no one’s looking forward to it.” Frank wrapped an arm around her. “Aw honey, just think of the Goldmans, the same way you do your parents when you defend them for how shitty they are to me! — Kevin got their little girl pregnant, I think we’re in for the cold-shoulder-long-haul!” He joked, Sue playfully punched his arm, quietly acknowledging that he indeed had a point.

After dropping the bags off inside, Otto held out an old book with several handwritten pages sticking out of its worn contents. “Here you are! I translated some of our favorite recipes into English for my dear Mary. Lots of good staples in here!” He smiled kindly. Sue flipped through the time-worn pages and smiled, placing a hand on Otto’s shoulder. “Mr. Holtenwasser, I can’t thank you enough. You know, you’re more than welcome to join us tonight!” She offered. “Oh no, I couldn’t impose. Zis is an auspicious occasion for your families! But please, let me know how it turns out, I am always happy to help!” He said cheerfully, heading for the door. “Thanks, Mr. Hitlerburger!” Kevin waved him off with a smile. Otto rolled his eyes. The simple boy meant well, but why did he ONLY seem to remember ‘Holtenwasser’ at the most inconvenient times?

Sue thumbed through the pages and breathed a sigh of relief. “Mr. Holtenwasser is such a sweet, caring man.” Frank rifled though the bags, equal parts intrigued by the unfamiliar contents, and irritated at how much extra work Sue would be putting into this evening, for the comfort and impression of a family who already seemed committed to admonishing them. But, he opted not to add to Sue’s burgeoning stress levels and remained silent on the issue.

At a nearby park, Maureen sat listlessly on a swing, all interest in Computer Club activities or spending time with friends for the day had vanished in the wake of she and Bridget’s fight. Suddenly, a familiar bike, still smeared with vibrant pink paint rode into view. “Hey.” Bill greeted. “Hey.” Maureen repeated, quietly. “I thought you were doing Computer Club shit today.” The older sibling pried, taking a seat on the swing next to her. “I thought YOU were with Phillip.” Maureen retaliated, Bill rolled his eyes and smirked. “Yeah, I was…for about fifteen minutes, then his mom forced us to watch “Hobo Jojo” with his stupid brother. Fuck that baby shit, I had get outta there. It’s bad enough we’ve gotta waste a Saturday night with Alice’s family, I didn’t wanna shoot my whole Saturday to Hell.” He said gruffly, gently swaying back and forth. Maureen was somewhat glad of the conversation, but it wasn’t lost on her how much her formerly timid and sweet older brother was changing. More often he sounded like Kevin or Frank, stewing in his angst and anger.

“Hey, Bill…so…I got to talk to Bridget today.” Maureen started, Bill came to a stop and stared her down angrily. “Ugh. WHY do you even BOTHER with that fuckin’ psycho?!” He exclaimed, calming down a bit when he took notice of her concerned expression. “I tried to tell her that I never gave dad that stupid watch, and that I wanted to give it back to square my debt to her, but she wouldn’t listen. She wants me to help break into the school to—“ “Oh, FUCK no!” Bill cried, jumping down from the swing, he snatched Maureen’s wrist and yanked her down from her seat. “OW! Billy what’re you doing?!” She demanded, pulling away. “That fucking asshole! Listen, you don’t owe her DICK! You’re not gonna help her break into SHIT! Just stay the fuck away from her, and if she tries to do anything, I’ll…” Bill didn’t finish his threat, upon seeing how concerned Maureen looked. “Eh…just…just stay outta her way for awhile, okay?” Bill breathed, slumping back down onto his swing.

“You know…I was also thinking about what mom said earlier today.” Maureen continued, joining him on the swing set. “What?” He asked, turning his full attention to her. “You know, about Kevin and Alice’s baby. We’re gonna be its aunt and uncle.” “Yeah, so?” “Well, do you think that means we’re gonna get stuck taking care of it, like with Megan?” Maureen asked. Even Bill was slightly confused by that comment, as it was normally Kevin who was tasked with looking after her, when their parents weren’t around, but still, the prospect of looking after Kevin’s child was a nightmare that Bill refused to entertain. “Fuck that. WE’RE not the ones who knocked Alice up. And anyway, I don’t think it’s really gonna matter much until the kid gets a little older, you know? Like getting to do cool aunt and uncle stuff? You can’t do anything fun with a baby.” Bill scoffed. Maureen nodded in acknowledgement. “Yeah. When the baby grows up, it’ll be able to come to the movies with us.” She smiled. “And come watch my hockey games.” “Join a school club.” “Go to its first Rustys game.” “Watch “Colt Luger” with daddy.” “Go out to eat with us and not annoy us with all the crying.” “Ha ha! Yeah! And now, Megan’ll have someone to grow up with, when we’re all gone.” The pair smiled at each other warmly, many more uplifting ideas swimming around in their heads about sharing the next generation’s milestones.

“So…what do you think I should do about Bridget? She’s not just gonna let this go…” Maureen hated to dampen the mood, but if anyone knew just how twisted and unpredictable Bridget could be, it was she and Bill. Her brother sighed, standing up from his swing once more. “I dunno. But whatever she was gonna have you do, I wouldn’t do it. If you pissed her off enough about that stupid watch, the nutcase could just be tricking you.” Maureen stared at her feet, eyes wide in surprise at the fact that she hadn’t entertained such a possibility. Sure, she and Bridget had formed something resembling a friendship, but all the while, it was never lost on her that Bridget could flip on a dime. It was best not to place complete trust in her.

“Yeah, you’re right, I just don’t know how to get away from her! I’ll see her at school, around the neighborhood…she knows where we live…” Bill placed a hand on Maureen’s shoulder. “Just stick by me and if we run into her, we’ll tell her we’re BOTH done with her crazy ass.” Bill encouraged, despite his own strong reservations about confronting and likely angering his formidable ex-crush. Meanwhile Maureen was quietly mulling over her own plan of action.

Hours of cooking and careful preparation, as well as some degree of trial and error, deciphering Otto’s handwriting and occasionally questionable translation had Sue racing. Fortunately, baby Megan was napping peacefully, and Frank and Kevin were seated out of her way in the living room.

“Everything smells dynamite, hon!” Frank complimented, raising his beer before finishing it off in one deep gulp. “Thanks, uh, Frank, could you go ahead and break out the kids’ table? I want to have everything ready to go as soon as possible!” Sue panted. Frank rolled his eyes. “Fine, it’s about to go to commercial anyway, just gimme a second.” He grumbled, waiting for his program to pause. “Thanks Frank.” Sue said flatly, not breaking eye contact with the multiple pots on the stovetop.

“So Kevin, how are you doing?” She asked. Kevin turned around to stare her down from the couch. She was certainly the more emotionally-available and caring of his parents, but it was still somewhat unusual for her to ask after his welfare off-the-cuff like this. “Um…fine, I guess? Why?” He responded quizzically. “Well, there are a LOT of big changes coming your way. Work…family…starting your independent life…it’s a little scary, right?” Kevin tensed up a little. Indeed, he was more than just a little intimidated by the daunting tasks that awaited him, but truthfully, he was trying hard to stave off all thought of those daunting tasks for as long as possible.

“I’m fine, mom. Really. I’m happy I’ll get to see Alice tonight.” He said optimistically. Frank reemerged from the garage, struggling with the cumbersome folding table. “Ugh, Kevin, get your ass in here and help me!” He commanded. Kevin rolled his eyes and came to assist. “REALLY mom. I’m FINE. So you can quit asking me!” Kevin spat defensively, earning a smack to the back of the head from Frank. “HEY. That’s your MOTHER! Show some respect!” Kevin rubbed the back of his head and walked to the door. “I’ll be in my room, staying out of the way!” He said sarcastically, slamming the door behind him.

Frank shook his head and rubbed his temples. Without turning around, Sue could sense his frustration. “Fraaaank.” She said in a sing-song voice, getting his attention. “Oh, don’t start on me, Sue. I know he’s got a lot of shit on his plate right now, but that doesn’t give him the right to act like a fuckin’ asshole to his own family!” Sue briefly turned her attention to Frank. “Honey, he’s scared.” Frank smirked. “Good! If he wasn’t, I’d say he’s even dumber than I thought!” Sue shook her head. “Frank.” “Ah, Sue. He’s FINE. Like you said, it’ll be an adjustment for him…for both of them, but there’s nothin’ to be done about it but what needs to be done! He needs a job, he’s got one. He needs to graduate, he’s doin’ better in school. He needs to get married and find a place to live, and we’ll talk about that tonight!” Frank’s enthusiasm painted the picture that he felt as though these expectations were so simple to meet, which visibly concerned Sue.

Downstairs, Kevin sat on his bed, once more eyeing that photo of he and Frank. He wondered what kind of father he’d end up being once he was working all the time. — If he got stuck at some shitty, dead-end job he hated, like his father had been relegated to, would he also be angry and distant, pushing his children away? He hoped not. But the more days he ticked off his calendar, and the further along Alice’s pregnancy progressed, the more he found himself lost amid life’s frightening unknowns.

Until recently, his future had seemed to certain and so simple: maybe finish high school, become a rockstar, sell millions of albums, go on a star-studded worldwide tour, bone as many hot chicks as he could get his hands on, and live it up with riches to rub his father’s disapproving face in…Now he sat in his parents’ basement, staring down a gaudy diner uniform, knowing he’d be busting his ass for minimum wage, to save for a hopefully not-too-shitty apartment and to care for his girlfriend and baby at fifteen. For the first time in recent memory, his future felt hopelessly lost, decimated in the wake of the child he never asked for. And it hit him…was this how Frank felt about him?

Hours later, Sue smoothed out the good holiday table cloths, while Bill and Maureen tugged uncomfortably at their semi-formal clothing. — Bill wore a crisp white shirt with a green tie, and khaki slacks, while Maureen was annoyed to be stuck in the soft pink dress with puffed sleeves and an itchy, lacy collar that her grandparents had gifted her for Christmas last year. Bill smirked at Maureen’s clear discomfort. “Nice dress, you look like one of those freaky antique dolls at Grandma Nora’s place.” He chided, earning a punch in the chest from her. “MOOOM!” Bill exclaimed. “Hey! Hey! Hey!” Frank stomped down the stairs, adjusting his tie before busting up the tussle. “BILL! Leave your sister alone, or I’ll put you through that FUCKIN’ WALL!” Maureen stuck her tongue out at Bill, who stared her down angrily. “The Goldmans are gonna be here any minute, and like your mom said, we can’t afford any bullshit tonight! So mind your manners, stay outta each other’s hair, and at least try to ACT like a happy family tonight, okay?!” Frank commanded, placing a hand on each of their shoulders. The pair grumbled in agreement. Kevin emerged from the back door and entered the living room, awaiting Alice’s arrival, he smirked at his gussied up younger siblings.

Almost as if on cue, the beam of headlights appeared in the living room window. “Oh! They’re here!” Sue practically ran to the door, smoothing out her blouse before answering. Frank rolled his eyes and adjusted his buttoned sleeves. “Let’s get this farce over with.” He muttered pessimistically. “Hi! Good evening, come in! Come in!” Sue smiled wide, holding the door open for the Goldmans, only one of whom returned her jovial expression. “Hi, Mrs. Murphy.” Alice said kindly, stepping in ahead of her family. “You look lovely!” Sue complimented, admiring Alice’s cute floral dress. “Alice! Here! Let me take your coat!” Kevin greeted enthusiastically, practically leaping forward to attend to Alice, who smiled as she looked Kevin up and down. “That green’s a good color on you. And you know I love your hair like that.” She winked. Kevin smiled and walked her hand-in-hand back to Megan’s room.

“Mrs. Murphy. Mr. Murphy.” Mrs. Goldman droned robotically, standing off to the side as her husband and son followed. Dr. Goldman extended a hand for Frank to shake, but his expression appeared stern, almost annoyed, in spite of the obviously fake smile he sported. “Nice to see you again, Frank.” He said softly. “Yeah. You too.” Frank responded lazily. Looking down at Daniel, he offered a more genuine smile. “Well, who’s this?” He asked, patting the boy’s shoulder. “This is my son, Daniel. Daniel, say ‘hello’ to the Murphys.” Dr. Goldman ordered, but Daniel returned Frank’s gesture with a rough shrug of his shoulder, sauntering into the living room. He took a seat on the couch across from Bill, the two exchanged irritated glances. Frank’s nonverbal response to the disrespect was much the same, earning a shrug from Dr. Goldman. “Heh, you know how children can be.” He excused. “Ohhh do I.” Frank seethed quietly to himself.

Sue ushered the group into the living room. “Please! Have a seat, dinner will be ready in just a few minutes! Only a few last minute touches to go!” Mrs. Goldman approached Sue, looking rather stoic. “I’ll lend you a hand, Mrs. Murphy.” Sue grimaced at the somewhat uncomfortable offer, but chose to oblige. “Oh! Well…thank you, Mrs. Goldman. And you can call me Sue, if you like.” “Where do you keep your kitchen tools, Mrs. Murphy?” She repeated brusquely, putting extra sharp emphasis on Sue’s full name.

As the two matriarchs worked awkwardly together to finish up the meal, Dr. Goldman and Mr. Murphy sat vexatiously across from each other in the living room. “Bill, take Daniel to your room until dinner, I think Dr. Goldman and I need to have…a grown-up conversation.” Frank suggested. “That sounds like a splendid idea, now remember to be cordial and open to sharing.” Dr. Goldman simpered, crossing a leg. Frank rolled his eyes as the boys and Maureen disappeared down the hall with an audible groan from Bill.

“So! What’s this ‘grown-up’ conversation you seem so eager to endeavor on?” Dr. Goldman asked, somewhat mockingly. From his favorite chair, Frank turned to face him, sternly. “I wanna pick up where we left off last month. This kid’s gonna be here before we know it, and there’s a ton of shit we still gotta get settled between our kids.” Frank wasted no time getting to the point, Dr. Goldman nodded with pursed lips. “Still stuck on the topic of marriage, hmm?” Frank pounded a fist down against the arm of the chair. “You’re damn right I am! I said it before and I’ll say it again, no grandkid of mine is gonna come into the world a bastard. It’s gonna fuck ‘em up enough, bein’ raised by two kids, they don’t need the stigma of livin’ with unmarried parents. I mean for Christ’s sake, they’re already startin’ a family, why not make it official?!” Frank rationalized. “Well Frank, it may comfort you to know, that times are changing. That ‘stigma’ you speak of, really isn’t of great concern to the younger generation. A great deal of people co-parent without the cumbersome addition of a marital agreement…especially so young.” Dr. Goldman retaliated calmly.

Frank gritted his teeth, the sensation of holding his usual outbursts in getting to him more than he anticipated. “‘Co-parent?’ You mean give the kid zero sense of stability? Oh, one day you’ve got mom and her new boyfriend, then dad and whichever girl he’s shackin’ up with in the moment, then mom and dad together, toss the grandparents into the mix once in awhile…not knowin’ what’s normal, what’s up from down…what the Hell kinda life is that for a kid?!” Dr. Goldman nodded, somewhat impressed that Frank’s push for marriage was about a great deal more than sticking to his guns of tradition.

“I hear your concerns. And they are indeed valid concerns! But…’normal’ looks different for everyone. As long as this child is healthy, happy, and well taken care of, I don’t see the harm in an…unconventional arrangement. And, I want you to think about something. Kevin and Alice are VERY young, even if the state did approve of the marriage, who’s to know how long it’ll last.” Dr. Goldman began, Frank’s defensive nature immediately springing forth. “What the fuck’s that supposed to mean?!” He demanded, Dr. Goldman maintained his composure. “They both have a great deal of growing up left to do, different paths to take in life, the recurring issue of the difference in their religious denominations, I mean, in a few years’ time…they’ll likely be completely different people than they are, now. Youthful compatibility is seldom ‘forever.’ — I ask you, is it worth it to potentially put this child at risk of enduring the trauma of a nasty divorce, for the sake of maintaining tradition? Or is it better to allow them to grow and thrive with both parents in their life, each living their own ideal lives, free from the stress and upsetment of maintaining a forced childhood union?” As much as Frank hated to admit it, his soft-spoken counterpart had a point, and his lack of verbal response clearly relayed that to Dr. Goldman, who lightly smirked at his partial victory.

In the kitchen, Sue and Mrs. Goldman plugged away at putting the finishing touches on Sue’s dishes. Mrs. Goldman eyed the spread and nodded lightly. “You’ve done a decent job, considering the lack of experience.” She half-complimented. Sue chose to acknowledge it with a smile. “Thank you, I certainly hope I did these dishes justice. Otto Holtenwasser is one of our CLOSEST neighbors, and friends, he generously offered me some of his translated recipes to make everything as spot-on to traditional as possible!” Sue placed extra emphasis on the family’s relationship with Mr. Holtenwasser.

As Mrs. Goldman started carrying dishes to the table, Sue followed her eagerly, unable to tone down her incessant talking in her nervousness. “You know, I really am SO glad I got to have this opportunity! So many new things I’ve never tried, interesting ingredients, expanding our cultural—“ “Sue. Please.” Mrs. Goldman gently held up her hands and took a deep breath. “I appreciate the…fanfare. But please, just…dial it back a touch. I think both ends of this unfortunate happening just want to get through this night with a civil discussion about the future, and as little discontentment as possible. I wouldn’t be fishing for friendship, right now.” Sue stared on, eyes wide with surprise at the audacity of this woman. As if SHE wasn’t feeling every identical, complex emotion, herself! “Oh…okay? Well then…I suppose we’re ready.” Sue said quietly, trying to shake off the deliberate insult.

Meanwhile, in Bill’s room, a similar conversation, with similar results from the scorned Murphys was unfolding. — Bill and Maureen sat on Bill’s bed, reclining back against the wall, eyeing Daniel rather judgmentally while he paced the room, examining Bill’s posters, occasionally shaking his head or rolling his eyes pessimistically.

“What’s YOUR problem?” Bill finally sneered. Daniel gestured with a thumb over his shoulder to a large ‘Colt Luger’ poster. “My dad doesn’t let us watch ‘Colt Luger,’ it’s violent and racially insensitive. Plus it’s all fake, that potbellied old fart doesn’t even do his own stunts.” He explained with a twinge of superiority in his tone; the two siblings stared on, visibly annoyed. “Ugh. It’s just a TV SHOW, you fuckin’ queerdo.” Bill spat. “And what’s with the holes in the back of your door? And…whatever this is all over your wall?” He asked, gesturing at a large stain on the purple wallpaper. It was true, when the Murphy boys shared a room, considerable havoc was wreaked. “Are your parents THAT poor or do they just not care?” Daniel asked smugly. Maureen and Bill smirked and briefly shared an amused expression, both mentally noting that the answer to that was simply “Both!” But they couldn’t let this petulant little stranger talk down to their family like that.

“If you keep pissing me off, I’m gonna break that stick off in your ass, you fuckin’ fairy!” Bill gestured to his trusty hockey stick propped up against the wall nearby. Daniel scoffed, noting the crudely illustrated rat, complete with the nickname, drawn onto the tape of Bill’s stick. “Oh yeah, ‘The Rat.’” He rolled his eyes. Bill narrowed his angry eyes at the boy. “Yep. That’s me, crossing MY path on the ice is a fucking DEATH SENTENCE.” He smirked darkly, hoping to incite fear in the young annoyance. Daniel shuddered slightly. “Oh my God…no wonder my parents hate you people. My sister’s kid is gonna be born half-psycho AND half-loser!” He sneered, Bill and Maureen leapt up from the bed, both rearing for a fight.

From in Megan’s room, Alice and Kevin sat on the floor, taking turns playing with the baby, blissfully unaware of the mounting tension in just about every other room of the Murphy house. “And I mean, it’s definitely not ideal, like I don’t wanna be slaving away in that shithole in my forties, but…for now it’s a job! I’ll be getting paid every week, plus tips, so I can start saving soon.” Kevin informed Alice of his newfound job. She kissed him on the cheek and pulled him close by the shoulder. “That’s exactly right, a job’s a job right now. I’m proud of you, Kevin!” She encouraged. Kevin smiled halfheartedly, playing with Megan’s feet as she reached up, trying to grab Alice’s hair.

“So..have you thought about…what it’s gonna be like, yet?” Alice asked, attention fixed on Kevin and the baby. “Like, how?” He asked innocently, not breaking his eye contact with Megan. “You know, when it’s just…us. Just you, me, and our baby. I mean…it’s gonna be hard. I still want to finish school, and you have school and your music. I don’t want either one of us to have to give up on what we want.” Alice’s words caused Kevin to tense up slightly, revisiting his thoughts from earlier that day.

He picked Megan up and held her in his lap. “Well, we’ve still got time to figure stuff out. I don’t want us to have to give up anything either…and…whenever we get married…I don’t want us to be the way my parents are, sometimes. That means we have to make sure we’re okay, too, because…I don’t want our kid to ever wonder whether or not they were wanted. It’s a pretty shitty feeling, really…” Kevin admitted, the depth of the response clearly surprising both of them. Alice placed a hand on Kevin’s leg. “Kevin…” Alice began in a whisper, suddenly the bedroom door opened to reveal Frank. “Hey, dinner’s ready!” He said flatly, gesturing behind him. Alice headed out first, smiling kindly at Frank. Kevin, discontentment clear on his face, headed off after her, with Megan in-hand. He didn’t look at his father on the way out, mentally locked onto wanting desperately to know whether or not Frank had heard the honest, but not entirely ill-meaning comment.

In the hallway, Bill, Maureen, and Daniel were all unusually quiet and cross-looking as they headed off to the kitchen. Maureen paused for a second to steal a glance at the clock over the TV, it was nearly quarter to six; closely approaching the time Bridget declared she was going to undertake her mission to break into Principal Stoger’s office. If she was going to put this debacle to bed, she had to decide soon whether or not she was going to jump on it. And for that matter, how she was going to slip away from this already terribly strained dinner party.

Kevin placed Megan in her high chair, now positioned at the makeshift kids’ table. Mrs. Goldman helped Sue arrange the dishes on the table, while Dr. Goldman set out plates and utensils. Frank stood behind the couch, trying to catch the last few minutes of a “Colt Luger” rerun, while the kids took their seats; Kevin and Alice seated across from each other, closest to the main table. Turning to the kitchen, Frank placed a hand on Kevin’s shoulder and gestured at the main table with a nudge of his head. “Nah, you two sit with us. You’re gonna be the center of every painful conversation tonight, so get up there! Front and center!” The two exchanged glances and moved up to the main table, Kevin sitting next to Sue, and Alice next to her mother; the opposing families facing each other, awkwardly.

“Everything looks amazing, Mrs. Murphy!” Alice complimented, eyeing the impressive spread. “Thank you Alice! I have to admit, this was my first time attempting, well…all of these dishes, but thankfully Mr. Holtenwasser was more than eager to help out!” Dr. Goldman pulled out Frank’s usual chair at the head of the table, Frank narrowing his eyes at him. “Frank.” Sue whispered firmly. “No, no, no, it’s fine, I’ll just sit down here. Not like it’s my fuckin’ house, my wife’s fuckin’ dinner…” Frank finished in a frustrated whisper, pulling out the loose-legged spare chair positioned at the opposite end of the table, the two men glaring daggers at each other.

Sue clapped her hands together and stood up. “Okay! So we have potato latkes, egg and cheese knishes, beef and veggie-filled blintzes, matzo ball soup with mushrooms, and a chocolate babka for later…I have to admit I picked that last one up at the market, but it looks good and came with Mr. Holtenwasser’s seal of approval, so I’ll take it!” Sue beamed with accomplishment. Although the majority of the spread was more in-tune with celebratory Jewish meals, no one was begrudging the delectable spread; even the Goldmans seemed (somewhat) impressed by the efforts taken.

“Thank you for your…cultural attentiveness, Mrs. Murphy. I hope you don’t mind if I lead us in prayer?” Dr. Goldman offered, gently placing his yarmulke on his head. “Oh for God’s sake…” Frank muttered, rolling his eyes, Kevin nudged him angrily. “Cut it out.” He hissed under his breath, like a parent chastising a naughty child. For the sake of the evening, Frank opted to back down.

As Dr. Goldman’s prayer drew to a close, both tables were unified with their ‘amen’ thanks for the meal. Sue stood up to start portioning food out as the group passed their plates her way, one by one. The room was deathly silent aside from the noise of Sue’s serving utensils scraping against the dishes. Mrs. Goldman was the first among the group to break the uncomfortable silence, and she wasted no time making her opinions known.

“So,” She began sternly, placing her clasped hands atop the table. “while this is a lovely gesture, I think we need to get down to the nitty-gritty and endeavor on a somewhat…cumbersome topic.” Frank rolled his eyes. “Jesus Christ, I’ve been waitin’ all day for somethin’ decent to eat, can’t we just sit down and enjoy it before someone starts their bitchin’?” He complained. Mrs. Goldman furrowed her brow. “Well! I do apologize, Mr. Murphy, I thought that the purpose of this whole affair was to discuss the futures of our children, but by all means! If you think that stuffing your face is more important than such a consequential topic, don’t let me stop you.” Sue bit her lip and side-eyed her husband, awaiting his reaction. Frank, getting red in the face, noisily dropped his utensils and crossed his arms. “No, no! Please! I’m allllll ears! Go on! Let’s get this shit-show on the road!” He goaded. Glaring over at him angrily, she cleared her throat and continued. “This baby is due in half a year. That may sound like a great deal of time, but the clock is ticking, fast! We need to use this opportunity wisely, and get all of our ducks in a row, as soon as possible.” With that, Mrs. Goldman opened her purse and pulled out a thick stack of papers.

“The fuck’s this?” Frank asked, gesturing for Alice to hand it over to him, but before she could reach for it, her mother snatched it up and held it up for everyone to see. “This is a contract of terms. It will be notarized and made legal first thing next Monday, provided we get it all settled tonight, of course. We want to ensure that this child has the most advantages in life, in spite of the…unusual circumstances which brought them into being. This outlines exactly how this child will be raised, their education, terms of custody, visitation rights, holiday guidelines, and—“ “Oh Jesus, are you FUCKIN’ kidding me?!” Frank pounded against the table. “Mom! Wh-what the Hell is this?!” Alice spat, allied with Frank in her anger at the unexpected display. “Watch your mouth!” Mrs. Goldman chided, thumbing through the makeshift contract. “ALICE has a bright future ahead of her. She cannot afford to have her life jeopardized by a severe lack of proper planning and protocol, on top of this unexpected…event.” Sue looked across the table, sympathetically. From mother-to-mother, she had to agree about the benefit of good planning, but something about this didn’t sit right with her. “Well…I’m all for planning ahead, but doesn’t this feel a little…extreme?” She asked.

Alice snatched the papers up and flipped through them briefly before practically throwing them at Frank. “Unbelievable.” She seethed quietly. The conversation unfolding between the two wives became white noise in the wake of Frank’s burgeoning anger, reading the fine print within the openly one-sided document’s contents. “How the fuck is this fair?!” He blurted out. “The Murphy family will be entitled to visitation for three weekends every month, and one week in the Summer. Child support must be provided, monthly, and will include dues for private religious schooling…The child will be raised to observe the Jewish faith, will attend Temple Beth along with their maternal family, and receive due ceremonies that accompany this commitment…The child may take either the Goldman family name, or a hyphenated family name in combination with mother and father’s last names…Due to questionable examples in the Murphy household, unsupervised visitation is debatable…” Frank paused and stared down at Kevin. “Kevin, are you fuckin’ HEARIN’ this HORSE SHIT?!” By now, sweat rolled down Frank’s wrinkled brow and he ripped the papers to shreds, tossing them across the table.

“Dad, stop!” Kevin said through gritted teeth. “Fuck this and fuck YOU!” Frank continued, Alice jumped up to join in the onslaught. “Mom, you PROMISED ME that you wouldn’t go out of your way to embarrass me, tonight! How could you do this…” By this time, Kevin jumped up, taking notice of the large tears welling up in Alice’s eyes. “How could you…how could you be so…so… FUCKING SELFISH?!” She screamed, voice breaking as her face contorted in overwhelmed wails. Kevin walked over and wrapped her in a tight hug. “We…we already settled everything.” Kevin bravely asserted. “We’re raising OUR baby, OUR fucking way. And if you can’t accept that…then I…WE don’t want anything from you.” He replied in a serious, but quiet tone. The table fell silent again. Frank’s angry expression softened in the wake of Kevin stepping up for his little family.

By this point, the ominously peaceful Dr. Goldman took a deep breath and jumped in. “Alright, alright. You’ve ALL made your stands, but let’s all take a deep breath, and discuss the proposal with calm, clear heads.” He turned to his daughter, still being calmed by Kevin. “Alice, as we discussed previously…do you honestly think that this boy is capable of raising a child? Most specifically, do you think he’s capable of raising a DECENT, STABLE, and PRODUCTIVE human being?” Dr. Goldman’s question visibly hit hard for every Murphy; even Bill and Maureen looked on with a mix of shock and irritation at the nerve of this man.

Glancing over to the clock, Maureen noted the time; it was a bit past six, but Bridget wasn’t exactly the punctual sort to begin with, she hoped that she’d be able to get to her in time to break off this inconvenient arrangement. Reaching into her skirt pocket, the clutched the Mohican watch; beneath the table, she kicked Bill’s leg gently and cocked her head to the side. Bill nodded firmly, acknowledging Maureen’s plan. The pair kept their sites fixed firmly on the debacle unfolding at the main table, slowly scooting their chairs out and preparing to make a sneaky exit. “Let’s go!” Maureen urged in a whisper. Daniel exchanged glances with both of them, visibly confused. “Hey! Where are you going?!” He whined. “Just shut the fuck up and sit there, you goody-goody little asswipe!” Bill hissed back, sliding on his coat, as he crouched low to the floor. “You’re not leaving me here with that! I’m coming too!” The younger boy asserted, perfectly timing his own escape with Frank pounding on the table once more.

“GREAT.” Bill griped, rolling his eyes as he led the trio out of the kitchen and across the living room, to the front door. “I hope you can run fast, WE have BIKES.” Maureen stuck her tongue out, taunting the younger boy. “If you don’t gimme a ride, I’m going right back inside and TELLING.” Daniel threatened, smiling deviously, arms firmly crossed. Bill rolled his eyes and gestured to the front of his bike. “UGH. FINE. Grab on, and if you fall off, you’re on your own from there!” Bill grumbled. Victorious, Daniel climbed atop the front of Bill’s bike, and the trio sped off into the quickly arriving darkness of night.

Frank’s rickety chair scooted back violently from the table. Pounding his hands on the surface, the loud ‘clangs’ of everyone’s dinnerware quaking at his fury silenced the table. “OH. FUCK YOU. LISTEN. You think you’re gonna come into MY HOUSE, insult MY KID, and disrespect OUR PARENTING and think you’re just gonna get away with it, you high-and-mighty sack of shit!? Well YOU’VE got another thing COMIN’! I’ll put you and your smug mouth through that FUCKIN’ WALL!” Frank jabbed a finger across the table, red in the face, but Dr. Goldman stood, steadfast and unshaken. “You see that, Alice? THIS is the ‘family environment’ you want to bring your first child into? Angry outbursts? Swearing at and threatening people who DARE to disagree with you?” He targeted his gaze at Kevin, whose attention was still fixed on Alice. “And you think you’re going to get anywhere in life with HIM as head of your household? Now there’s a laugh! Skipping school, chasing unrealistic, childish goals, failing the most BASIC classes, he’s got no plans for the future, beyond a menial job at a seedy diner — congratulations by the way — and having grown up in such rampant dysfunction, he’s bound to become his father, eventually. Is that what you—“ Frank opened his mouth to retaliate again, but was surprised when Kevin approached instead.

“Oh, I’m SUCH a worthless, dumb piece of shit, right? Well guess what, GENIUS, I’m doing GOOD in school! I hardly ever cut class anymore, and I’m getting a ‘B’ in ALGEBRA! I got myself a job so I can provide for our kid…I AM still gonna become a rockstar, but we need money NOW, so like, I had to get a shitty job, it’s just temporary…and if I turn out like my dad…maybe…maybe that won’t be so bad.” Kevin’s hot-tempered reply noticeably lost steam when he (sort of) complimented Frank, but the point was not lost on the strained party. Frank even cracked a bit of a smile. “Alice and I are gonna get married. Okay, and we don’t care what religion our kid is, when they grow up they can decide that on their own…or they can be Jewish, since that’s important to Alice, it can be important to me, too. The kid’s last name is gonna be ‘Murphy,’ and so is hers!” Kevin gripped Alice’s shoulder, brushing the remaining tears from her eyes, she smiled. “We’re gonna do our best, it’s not gonna be easy…but you’re not making it any easier by being such a—“ Kevin glanced at Alice, for a silent blessing to finish that sentence, she nodded with a chuckle, knowing all too well what was coming. “—a selfish, bossy, know-it-all fuckin’ DILDO!” He finished, pounding a fist on the table, staring Dr. Goldman down.

Frank stared on amid the awkward silence. He was almost proud of him. Mrs. Goldman clasped a hand to her mouth in shock and horror at Kevin’s boldly disrespectful display, Sue stared on with an undisguised half-smile, not wanting to fuel the fire, she made no comment, but Frank could tell that the pair were unified in their pride of Kevin, in that moment. “You…you’re just going to let him SPEAK to ADULTS that way?!” She gasped. “You’re damn right I am. He’s steppin’ up for his FAMILY, that’s what a man does.” Frank replied firmly, shooting a brief wink at Kevin.

Sue gently stood up, placing a hand on Frank’s shoulder. “N-now, I do think we ought to sit back down, and CALMLY move forward with our planned discussions. Regardless of our…differences, this baby is going to affect everyone here, and we all need to TRY to come together and—“ At that moment, Sue noticed the empty kids’ table. “Agh! Where are the kids?!” She blurted out in irritation. Frank waved it off. “Ah, they’re fine, Sue. They’re probably hangin’ out in Bill’s room. To be fair, things did just get a bit dicey out here.” He rationalized, sitting back down. The rest of the table followed suit.

“Okay! So, Kevin and Alice, why don’t YOU tell US what your plans are. We’re just here to listen, and if you need help with somethin’ let us know.” Frank directed calmly. Kevin placed a hand on the table, Alice reached over and held it. “Okay…so, I got a job. I’m gonna start there in a few days, it’ll be long days on the weekends, and every day after school. I think I can save a good bit of money before September, so hopefully when school lets out in May, we can start looking for somewhere to live.” Kevin illustrated his plan with a surprisingly deft maturity; Alice squeezed his hand, having regained enough composure to join the dialogue. “And as for the wedding, we were thinking just…something simple. Probably just a courthouse thing. I’d love to have it at Temple Beth, but…I don’t think they’d have us, especially right now.” She said sadly. “Well, there’s always OUR church…” Frank quietly suggested, Sue squinted at him. “…but if you don’t wanna go with that, that’s fine!” He finished in a whisper.

“I’m gonna keep doing my best in school so I can graduate on time, and Alice wants to keep going to school during the day…” Kevin glanced over to Alice, dropping the conversation in her lap. “…Once I start to…show more, I think it’ll be best for me to go to night school. It’s all the same classes, same levels, but…less people there to make big deal of things, you know?” Alice frowned a little, admittedly beaten down by the somewhat humiliating prospect of having to remove herself from regular school society, knowing she’d certainly be the subject of even more humiliating rumors and taunting.

“And what about keeping up with all of these grand plans, Alice? You both still have two more years of high school left, and not to mention college…for YOU, anyway. How is any of this going to be possible once the baby’s born?” Dr. Goldman asked. “Well…since we have Megan, we have all the supplies we need on hand, and I lead a parent-and-baby activities class, I take Megan with me. I’d be more than happy to bring the baby with me during the day so the kids can keep their schedules. And it’ll be so nice for Megan to have someone her own age around to grow up with.” Sue offered with an optimistic smile, which Frank returned. Their plans were beginning to take some shape.

Back outside, Maureen, Bill, and Daniel were approaching Alfred P. Southwick Elementary, Maureen riding leagues ahead of her brother, annoyed to be saddled with and weighed down by their irksome stowaway. Maureen brought her bike to a rough stop in front of the school’s statue and practically threw it aside, rushing halfway up the stairs to the building. “COME ON!” She shouted down to the boys. “JESUS! HOLD THE FUCK UP!” Bill shouted back. “We’re here, you can get your ass off my bike, now.” He practically shoved Daniel off the bike and chased after his sister, Daniel lagging further behind.

“So what are we doing at school, at night anyway?” He asked in a breathy whisper. “None of your business! You forced us to let you tag along, but that’s all you get. Now stay the Hell out of our way!” Bill reached back and shoved him again.

Far ahead of the two boys, Maureen rounded the corner and frantically looked the building up and down. She had a rough idea of where Principal Stagers office was, but being such an excellent student, and having caused no trouble warranting a visit, she didn’t know exactly where to look.

Suddenly, Bill rushed past her, landing a well-intentioned slap to her back. “This way!” He pointed up at a third floor window on the farthest side of the building. Immediately Bill noticed the familiar green dirt bike, belonging to Jimmy, lying beneath a tree adjacent to the school. “That’s Jimmy’s bike, she’s here alright. Now…how in the FUCK did she get in there?!” Bill looked up at the inconceivably steep climb, hands on his hips in contemplation. “Her dad’s also the janitor, remember? She steals his master keys all the time!” Maureen explained. “That figures. Come on, let’s go see if the front door’s unlocked!” Bill suggested. “Nope, someone should wait here…Daniel, YOU go look.” Maureen commanded, Bill smiled in agreement. “Me?! But why do I—“ “You wanted to come along, you’ve gotta help! No get your ass over there!” Bill stood his ground, positioning himself intimidatingly before the boy, who begrudgingly relented, stomping his way back around the corner.

The siblings smiled at one another. “Okay, so…if the doors are still locked, what’s ‘Plan B?’” Bill asked, once again noting how high up that third floor window was. Maureen smacked the back of his head. “She went in through the front door, idiot, she’ll be coming back out that way too! No way in Hell’s she gonna drop a SAFE out the third floor window, for some stupid—“ With that, two perfectly and horribly timed events aligned. Daniel came rushing back around the corner, calling out to the pair that the doors were indeed locked. And from above, the third floor window slid open with a sharp, resonant ‘squeak,’ and a small black box slowly creeped over the sill.

“It’s locked!” Daniel yelled, a somewhat upbeat tone in his voice; perhaps he was just happy to help, or a bit excited by their clandestine mission. The safe continued making its way across the sill, with a familiar, nasally grunt echoing from the room upstairs. “DANIEL! GET OUTTA THE WAY YOU STUPID FUCK!” Bill screamed, just as the small, but weighty safe plummeted out the window, with Bridget’s unwelcome face popping into view shortly after. Daniel jumped up and sprung out of the way with all his might, landing hard on the ground. The safe landed less than a foot behind him with a loud ‘THUNK,’ one of the sharp corners planting itself firmly into the grassy lawn. “Jesus Christ!” Bill breathed in shock, heart pounding.

Maureen approached the window, visibly agitated. “Well all right, Maureen! Better late than never! I was afraid you were gonna bitch out on me, I’ll be out in a sec, just hold your dicks!” She said enthusiastically. The siblings watched with a mixture of awe and intimidation as the bold girl postured herself out the window, grabbing onto a thick branch of the adjacent tree. Deftly scaling down until she reached a comfortable jumping height, she landed on both feet without a blink. Once safely on the ground, she gave Maureen a rough punch to the shoulder. “Okay, I did the hard part already, just help me get this thing back home and we can crack this fucker open! I bet your dad’s got some tools we can use and—“ Bridget paused as Maureen wordlessly held out the watch, along with the note Bridget had given her.

“…What the fuck’s this?” The strawberry blonde asked, some modicum of hurt apparent in her otherwise gruff tone. Maureen took a deep breath. “Bridget…I…I’m sorry. I’m sorry I thought you stole this, and I’m sorry you wasted your money but…I don’t wanna have some kind of crazy debt hanging over my head, forever.” Bridget cracked a smile. “It’s not forever, you dumb shit! That’s why we’re here NOW! You help me get my lighter back, and we’re square. I do think it’s pretty cool you think I’m badass enough to rob that fuckin’ place though.” She smirked. “Ugh! No! Bridget, I can’t! I’m giving this back. Whatever you wanna do from here…that’s your business. But…but I don’t want any part of it.” Maureen shakily stood her ground, arm still extended with the watch in-hand.

Bridget wordlessly stared her younger friend down for a few moments, her expression quickly souring. “FINE! Fuck you, then! I shoulda known you’d be just as much of a useless pussy as your dipshit brother!” Bridget grabbed hold of Maureen’s coat and threw her to the ground. Normally, Bill wouldn’t hit a girl, but seeing someone bully his little sister, resilient as she was, ignited a fire in him that he couldn’t just extinguish on will, alone.

“Just take your shit and get outta here, you psycho fucking ASSHOLE!” Bill roared, rearing back, he managed to land half a punch to Bridget’s chest before she attempted to dodge it. “TCH! What the fuck was that?! You’re hittin’ LADIES now?! I dunno what I ever saw in jizz-slurpin’ TRASH like YOU!” Bridget swiftly raised a leg and kicked Bill in the crotch, a high-pitched squeal of pain emitting from him as he sunk to the ground. “AGH! MY BALLS!” He groaned. Maureen composed herself and leapt onto Bridget, pulling her hair and pinching her arm. “YOU FUCKIN’ ANIMALS! I’m gonna put you down like the dirty fuckin’ dogs you are!” Bridget clenched her fist and punched Maureen, hard in the side of the head.

As the onslaught continued, no one in the unruly group noticed the police car pulling up just down the hill, until the lights and sirens sounded. “SHIT!” Bill exclaimed, inwardly hoping the on-duty officers weren’t his (former) police buddies. “What the Hell’s goin’ on here?!” Officer Dahmer’s guttural voice rang out as he pushed his large form from the small car. Shining a light on the kids, the fight drew to a sudden end, or rather draw, with only the loud breathing and stifled whimpers of all parties permeating the night air.

Officer Dahmer gave the odd scene a once-over, shining his flashlight up and down that corner of the building, noting the open window as he slowly traced the beam of light down to the safe on the ground. “Well, well, well, looks like I’ve got some little burglars on my hands!” He sneered. Bill stepped forward. “N-no Officer! This was all HER! She tried to force my sister to help her break into the school to get some of her shit back from the principal, we just came to stop her!” Officer Dahmer looked Bill over and squinted at him, shining his light over to Bridget, he raised a brow. Noting her Catholic school uniform, and the large tears rolling from her pitiful eyes, the cunning little actress had him hooked. “SHE’S the mastermind? THIS girl, right here?” He asked in disbelief. “YES! She’s a LIAR!” Maureen backed Bill up.

Stepping forward with her hands clasped tightly together, Bridget sobbed pathetically, quivering mouth and all. “P-p-pleeeease Officer! I-I-I h-had nothing to do with thiiiiiis! It was THEM! Th-they’re bad kids! Th-they hit m-m-me a-and f-f-forced me t-to steal from good Principal S-Stoger! I just wanna g-go hoooome!” She blubbered convincingly.

From behind them, Daniel, who had been inexplicably absent from the brouhaha this whole time, emerged holding his arm, genuine tears staining his reddened cheeks. “And what’s with you?” Officer Dahmer asked, noting the slightly misshapen bump on the boy’s forearm, and reexamining the scene, he didn’t even give Daniel a chance to explain before drawing his own incorrect conclusion. “Ahhh, I see! Lemme guess, shrimp…you’re the smallest, these two thieves had ya climb in to get the goods and ya took a tumble on the way down, eh?” Bill and Maureen eyed Daniel, hoping he’d corroborate their side of the story. Through his tears, Daniel gritted his teeth at the two, using his one good arm to point accusingly at them. “N-no Officer! She’s right! These guys are PSYCHOS! They beat me up when I wouldn’t help them stash the loot!” “WHAT?!” Maureen cried in shock, mouth agape. “‘Stash the loot?’ What the fuck is this? The wild fuckin’ West?! HE’S a liar TOO! Ask ANYONE! Bridget Fitzsimmons is fucking NUTS! And THIS little pussy’s done nothing but bitch all night! He wouldn’t have gotten hurt if he stayed the fuck home like we TOLD HIM TO!” Bill desperately tried to stave off their seemingly inevitable arrest.

Officer Dahmer raised a hand. “Alright, alright, that’s ENOUGH! I’m callin’ someone to take this one to the hospital…As for the rest of ya, what’re your names?” He demanded, pulling out a notepad. “B-B-Bridget F-Fitzsimmons, sir!” Bridget simpered tearfully. “Bill Murphy.” “Maureen Murphy.” The siblings released their information in defeat. The portly policeman narrowed his gaze at them, “Murphy? Ah, you’re that family who caused all that ruckus at the Memorial Day parade!” The two siblings shrunk under his accusation. “I shoulda known you were all bad seeds. Predictable, with a father like yours.” He finished that sentence in a sarcastic mutter, jotting down their information. He seated himself back in the car and set the radio to call for assistance for Daniel. “And I’ll be taking THIS!” He sneered, effortlessly scooping up the small safe, carrying it under one heavy arm before tossing it unceremoniously in the trunk. Out of his gaze, Bridget looked on with angrily gritted teeth, but there was nothing be done, now.

Bridget smirked devilishly at the siblings, but no one dared utter a word. “Alright, you three, in the car. And you, just wait down by the curb, Officer O’Roarke will be here soon to take ya to a doctor.” He gestured at Daniel with his flashlight before opening the back door to the car, ushering the other three inside. Bill squinted angrily at him, quietly letting him know he wouldn’t forget this night. — Whether his promise of vengeance was real or not didn’t matter, the frightened reaction from Daniel was all he needed to know the boy would stay out of his way, moving forward. It irked him to no end to think this little annoyance would soon be his brother-in-law.

Back at the Murphy house, the tense negotiations had finally begun to settle into something peaceful, or at least mutually agreeable. “And you know, I don’t see why we couldn’t have our kid learn about Chanukah AND Christmas. It’d be so nice for them to get to fully know both sides of their family and heritage.” Alice suggested. “Yeah! And they’ll get more presents, too!” Kevin agreed enthusiastically. “Hopefully we’ll be able to find someplace to live that’s close to home, so it won’t be a big deal traveling to either family’s place.” Alice stated, her mother turned to her with a smile. “Well, I was going to wait awhile to bring this up, but…I do work in real estate. I’ve already been looking for good, affordable places for the kids to live, I think I may have a few nailed down that we can tour soon, if you like.” Sue beamed. “Oh, Mrs. Goldman, that would be wonderful! Thank you so much!” “You can call me Rebekah if you like.” Mrs. Goldman smiled kindly. Frank and Kevin exchanged pleased expressions, both equally glad the evening seemed to have been salvaged. For now.

In the back of Officer Dahmer’s car, Bill and Maureen watched as Bridget exited and made her way inside. From the living room window, Jimmy eyed his sister, unsurprised as she entered, slamming the door behind her. Bill raised a hand to the window and waved at him, earning a shocked stare, until something thrown by Bridget slammed him hard in the back of the head, knocking him to the floor. The pair shuddered, both now consumed with thoughts on what fresh Hell awaited them now that they’d poked the proverbial bear. “I hope your parents are home, we’re gonna have to have a serious talk about your futures!” Officer Dahmer bellowed, turning one street over onto Slagtree Court. Bill clenched his hands in his lap.

As the police car parked in front of house #201, several nosy neighbors poked their heads out from the curtains, unsurprised that it was yet again for the Murphy house, but yearning to learn what exactly the latest drama was. As the car shut off, and Officer Dahmer eyed them from the rearview mirror, it suddenly hit Maureen that this was the WORST possible time for such an unwelcome interruption, especially without the Goldmans’ son with them. “O-Officer Dahmer! Can we just…drive around for awhile or something? Our parents are having some stupid fancy dinner party, and we CAN’T—“ “Well that explains the frilly clothes…but that’s not how this is gonna shake out, little miss! If ya didn’t wanna embarrass your parents, ya shoulda thought of that before becomin’ BURGLARS!” He chastised, exiting the car.

As he pulled the back door open, the pair took their time getting out, dodging glances from neighbors. Officer Dahmer waited until he reached the front door in a huff, taking a moment to enjoy a cigarette, leaving his two charges to stew in their nervousness for a short while more. “Alright kids, time to face the music!” He knocked on the door thrice, Bill and Maureen looking down, defeated. Both telepathically sharing thoughts, wishing they could knock the heartless fuck out, steal the car and make a hasty getaway, at least until this cumbersome dinner party was over. But it was too late for all that.

“Hang on, hang on! I’m comin’!” Their father’s voice, muffled from behind the door rang out. Frank, all smiles from the miraculously relaxed conversation unfolding over coffee and chocolate babka instantly reverted to his surprised, then agitated demeanor. “Um…good evening, officer? Uhh…can I help you?” He asked, somewhat put off by the intrusion. Kevin had been with him all day, and to his knowledge, Bill was in his room, as for precious Maureen, she was, as usual, not on his list of suspects.

“I believe these belong to you.” Office Dahmer smirked, stepping aside to shove Bill and Maureen to the threshold of the house. Frank looked at the kids, then back to the policeman, instantly recalling his tussle with his irritating son, Jeffrey at the Memorial Day parade. “Oh, Christ, it’s YOU. And where the fuck were YOU?! We thought you were hangin’ out in your room with…where’s the Goldman kid?” Frank asked in a whisper, realizing the group was one short. “Frank, who is it?” Sue asked from in the kitchen. Frank gritted his teeth, trying not to arouse any further missteps, but of course, Officer Dahmer was having none of that. “I radioed assistance to take the other boy to the hospital, I believe HIS family is here, too.” He practically yelled into the house. Suddenly, everyone came rushing to the front door.

“Oh Jesus Christ.” Frank breathed angrily, rubbing his forehead. “You said ‘the other boy’ was at the hospital?! That must be our son!” Dr. Goldman exclaimed. “What in the world did you, you ANIMALS do to him?!” Mrs. Goldman cried, pointing accusingly at the Murphy siblings. “Don’t you call my children out of their names, in MY house!” Sue defended. “Daniel did it to himself!” Bill started. “Maureen and I were going to stop Bridget from breaking into the school, and Daniel bitched until we let him come. He just fell and hurt his arm, he’s FINE!” The redhead exclaimed. “Well clearly not! Seeing as he’s in the HOSPITAL!” Dr. Goldman boomed. Officer Dahmer stepped forward. “I caught your kids and the Fitzsimmons girl tryin’ to move a safe they pulled out of the third floor window at the elementary school. And—“ “How the Hell did you get to the third floor?! It’s fuckin’ Saturday!” Frank exclaimed, raising a brow. “Bridget’s dad is the janitor, she broke in through the front door, and pushed the safe out of Principal Stoger’s window!” Maureen corroborated. Frank and Sue stared at Officer Dahmer, awaiting his rebuttal.

“I took the Fitzsimmons girl home. Based on what she told me…and on the…’troubled’ environment these two find themselves comin’ from…I’m inclined to believe her.” He smirked in Frank’s direction. “Troubled environment?!” Sue scoffed. “This is a HAPPY home!” The three older Murphy children all looked away, in various directions. “Heh, that’s awful convincing.” The policeman chuckled, quickly resuming his strict demeanor.

“Officer, may we go? If our son is at the hospital, we need to leave, straight away!” Dr. Goldman grabbed he and his wife’s coats, preparing to make a hasty exit. “Sure. Rustland General. Have a splendid evening.” He said with a tip of his hat. The pair didn’t exchange a further word with the Murphys before racing outside. Alice placed a hand on Kevin’s shoulder and the two shared a kiss. “Let me know how things go, okay?” Alice whispered. “Thank you so much for dinner, Mr. and Mrs. Murphy, everything was delicious!” Alice complimented. “ALICE!” Mrs. Goldman screamed from outside, he father honked the car horn several times. “Very much appreciated, Alice. We hope Daniel’s okay, have a nice—“ Alice rushed out and disappeared into the night, quickly followed by the sound of Dr. Goldman’s car peeling out of the tiny neighborhood.

“The school will of course be notified. Because they don’t appear to have caused any damages, or made off with any property from that safe, there won’t be any charges filed. Well…I can’t guarantee the other kid’s parents won’t file charges…but! None from the school or the city, anyway.” Officer Dahmer said smoothly, placing his hands on his hips imposingly. “Thank you…Officer.” Frank seethed. “You know, children thrive in environments with affectionate and attentive parents, who take an active role in their upbringing. It’s worked wonders for my Jeffrey, perhaps you should try it, sometime.” He said smugly. Frank gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, Sue squeezed his shoulder and stepped forward. “Thank you Officer. I assure you, this will NEVER happen again.” Officer Dahmer nodded. “That’s what I like to hear. Have a pleasant evening.” He said, disappearing with a slam of the front door.

Officer Dahmer hung around for a few minutes, enjoying a cigarette, leaning against the exterior wall of the garage. “Nice night for a walk, eh, Officer?” Goomer appeared out of nowhere with a beer at hand, garnering a frightened jump from the rotund cop. “AH JESUS!” He exclaimed, dropping the cigarette. Annoyed, he extinguished it with a turn of his foot against the sidewalk. “I’ve got work to do, it’s a nasty habit, anyway. Move along, sir.” He composed himself and sauntered to his car, Goomer waving with a smile as he pulled away from the little blue house.

“WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!” Frank bellowed, red in the face. Bill and Maureen sat on the couch, not daring to look up at their enraged father. “I told you. I TOLD YOU this evening was SO IMPORTANT for Kevin…for US! We were FINALLY making some fucking headway, and just like that, we’re right back to square one!” Sue shouted with a snap of her fingers. “I’m TELLING YOU, it was all Bridget’s fault! She was holding some kinda debt over Maureen’s head and she was gonna force her to help break into the school to get some shit back that Principal Stoger confiscated from her. I was looking out for MAUREEN, like you ALWAYS tell me to!” Bill pleaded his case in a shout.

“Yeah, and what a STELLAR fuckin’ job you did of THAT!” Frank slapped his forehead, turning to Maureen. “Your sister’s probably fuckin’ TRAUMATIZED! Gettin’ dragged home in the back of a police car…if you were watchin’ out for her, this NEVER woulda happened!” Frank knelt down and placed his hands on Maureen’s shoulders. Maureen locked eyes with Bill, then turned to face her father. “Dad…it wasn’t Billy’s fault. It was me.” She admitted, noting the strange look on her father’s face. An unfamiliar mix of disappointment, confusion, anger, and sadness. Frank glowered at Bill again. “What? You’re just gonna sit there and let your little sister take the fall for you, you little bastard?!” “Dad! Stop!” Maureen defended. “It. Was. ME. Okay? I…I was stuck on what to get you for your birthday, and Bridget took me to this pawn shop and showed me this watch she found. She acted like she was gonna steal it, so I didn’t want any part of it…well it just…showed up one day with a letter from her saying that I owed her, now. I thought she DID steal it, so I tried to give ti back before she roped me in to helping her break into the school, but we got in a big fight, and…that’s what happened.” She confessed, deliberately staring at the floor. She suddenly felt the weight of Frank’s hands lift from her small shoulders as he stood up.

Squeezing his temples as he took a deep breath, Frank faced his two middle children, trying hard to look stern in the wake of his exhaustion. “Bill. I’m sorry I snapped at you. You…you did right by lookin’ out for your sister tonight. Maureen…” Frank pursed his eyes closed, what he knew he must say paining him to utter. “I…I’m VERY disappointed in you. You were right not to accept the watch, but you shoulda come to ME instead of tryin’ to handle crazy people like that on your own. Look at the mess it got everyone in, tonight.” He chastised gently. Although his tone wasn’t the least bit intimidating or loud, tears still pricked at the corners of Maureen’s eyes. This was the first time she could ever recall in her mere decade of life that her doting father had EVER punished her.

Sue stepped in and placed a hand on Frank’s shoulder, relieving him of duty. “You two, go to bed, NOW. We’ll talk more about this in the morning.” She patted Frank’s back as he exited the conversation to flop back into his usual chair. Turning to her oldest, she gave him a sympathetic look. “And Kevin, oh honey…I’m so sorry. I tried SO HARD to make it all work…” She apologized in defeat. Kevin smiled and removed his tie. “Nah, mom, it was great! Tch, in this house I KNEW we weren’t gonna get through the night without SOMETHING happening!” He chuckled. “Anyway…this is further than we’ve ever gotten with Alice’s parents in talking about the future, and they seem at least…a LITTLE cool with us getting married and having our baby together, so…that’s gotta mean something good, right?” He pointed out optimistically. “Of course it does.” Sue breathed a sigh of relief that half the focus of this grand event wasn’t disappointed in the outcome. She kissed him on the cheek. “You should get to bed too, you’ve had a big day, all around!” Sue suggested. “I will. ‘Night!” Kevin called out, departing from the house, Frank simply nodded once in response.

As he made his way down to his basement bedroom, Kevin’s own words were swimming around in his head, the gravity of their meanings coming into full clarity once he was alone in the relatively peaceful and personal space. “I’m getting married…I’m having a baby…I’m…I’m gonna be someone’s FATHER.” He didn’t bother changing out of his admittedly uncomfortable formal attire. Flopping back onto the bed, he sank into the pile of pillows behind him and stared up at the ceiling; lately some of his posters were covered up by magazine clippings Alice had given him, and admittedly, a couple torn-out pages from interesting library books about childcare he’d glanced over. He hadn’t been to band practice in a couple weeks, and his “Shire of Frodo” posters were barely visible behind pictures of cribs, articles about a baby’s key milestones, and his mother’s old Lamaze pamphlet. — His childhood ambitions and very identity were beginning to slip away into something new, and he hardly noticed it until this morning, when the awkwardly put-together young man in the stuffy formalwear didn’t register to him as anyone he recognized. But for the first time since Alice had delivered the crushing news…he didn’t feel afraid of what awaited him in the great unknown of their future.

Chapter Text

Hey guys, I thought I’d just pop in to give you all an update about my absence and what all’s been going on.

First of all, I wanna say I’m genuinely touched and so happy by the uptick in kind messages and well-wishes I’ve been receiving for this story! With the FIFF fandom being so small and intimate, I’ve gotten to know some of you and for the most part, it’s been a pleasure. However, not all of the attention has been positive; I ended up receiving some hateful, and one threatening message on my Tumblr regarding my absence (I believe all 3 messages were from the same source as they were all sent via ‘anon’ and all worded similarly 🙄)

The fact of the matter is, being an asshole to someone who’s creating something for free when they just need time to breathe and take a break is a dick move to begin with, but also 9 times out of 10 it won’t yield the result that you’re after. Creators have lives, families, jobs, hobbies, and needs outside of their creations, and mine has most definitely taken some turns over the past year, and not all of them good. My mental health has been extremely poor, I was dealing with the aftermath of having a stalker at work, my grandmother’s health worsening (my dad and I have been her full time caregivers) and I’m being pulled in all directions…I just need a break.

On top of this, I ended up getting wrapped up in some other unfortunate (though mostly private, thankfully) drama on Twitter with a fellow FIFF fan. (Due to the fact that this was a mostly private issue and this person is mentally unstable, I will not be revealing names, usernames, or real-life specifics.) To make a long story short, we became friends, talked regularly, they commissioned me, it was good! Then out of nowhere they began relentlessly trauma dumping on me, over sharing and asking for advice on how to handle their situation, and getting clingy and generally unsafe to talk to when I didn’t respond to their many messages right away. I also have reason to believe they had begun cyber stalking me, as they commented on some posts I had made on Twitter in completely separate, non-mutual fandoms, so I ended up cutting ties and stepping back while my own mental health suffered.

Honestly? It all kind of soured my experience in the fandom and love for working on Summer Joy. I would love to tell you all that I haven’t given up on it, and that I’ll return to it, someday, but honestly…I really don’t know if I can guarantee you that. I really try to make a habit of only working with stories that I know I’m inspired and excited enough about to see all the way through, but I genuinely didn’t expect these issues to impact me as severely as they did.

I still love FIFF, but it’s not the only fandom I belong to, nor is it the only thing I’m inspired to create content for, and I will be around, but as for this story, specifically? I really, really hope to get back to it someday. But for now, thanks so much for everyone who supported this work and especially for the few of you who have checked out my work in other fandoms!

Thanks so much, I hope you all understand my decision. 💖😔
~Steph