by Terri Marie
Once they were all by the door, Tyler tried to open it. Once again, they were locked out.
"Hey Tyler, look up there. It looks like someone has tried to climb up." Renee shielded her eyes and pointed upward.
Tyler thought he'd pass out. What Renee saw swinging from the balcony, was his mother's noose.
Chapter 21
Tyler didn't respond verbally to the rope his mother had chosen to end her life with, but he was screaming inside. Tyler felt like he had the strength of ten men surging into every muscle. His anger was peaked, his mind was splintering, and all he could think of was WHY?! Tyler slammed into the weather-beaten door with his shoulder, instead of using his fist like he'd wanted to. He had to get them inside before he self-destructed in front of his brothers. When the frame cracked and the door flew open, he ushered everyone inside.
With the light streaming in, Tyler was able to make his way to a corner lamp. His hands were shaking as he tried to switch it on, but he knew he'd have to get a grip. He never allowed himself to fall apart in front of his siblings before, so he wasn't going to start now. He'd had to be strong; his parents threw him in the deep end to learn to swim.
The light was dim, but he was relieved when it turned on. After the group made their way through to the kitchen, they found the light switch and flicked it on. One foot in front of the other, Tyler told himself, just like he did when he was sixteen.
Sounds of amazement came from everyone when the area was illuminated some. Not only was the kitchen spotless, but the house smelled amazing with the scent of homemade bread and fresh air.
"There must be windows open to keep the place aired out," said Tyler, after he regained his composure. Just like he did seventeen years ago, he shut off his emotions. "Someone has definitely been taking care of this place. This house is huge. Let's take a look around."
The seven bedroom Montclair home was full of expensive furnishings and antiques. On one of the mantels were professional photographs, which Tyler picked up and studied. They were definitely pictures of his grandparents, as their resemblance to his father was uncanny. He'd never met them. His mom said that all of his grandparents had died before he was born, and she didn't have any pictures of them. He stared down at their faces. They looked serious; angry even.
There were two spacious bathrooms on the ground floor that were clean and tidy, but the mirrors were tarnished. The fixtures, like most of the house, were antique.
Tyler found his grandfather's study. The large roll top desk was locked, but several first edition books lined the bookshelf. An empty pipe lay on a small mahogany table, but there wasn't any evidence that the room had been used recently. Tyler lifted the pipe to his nose. It was the only thing that smelled foul so far. The Persian rug underneath his feet was showing some wear, as was the red velvet cushion of the desk chair.
The sitting room by the front entrance wasn't cluttered, but had enough furnishings for two, maybe three couples. So far, Tyler estimated that there were hundreds of thousands of dollars in antiques, and they were all well cared for. He was amazed at the size of the ground floor. There was more than one sitting room, and on every wall were photographs of his grandparents posing at a variety of social functions. Their facial expressions remained unchanged. Not one brown hair was out of place on his grandmother's head, and his grandfather always posed with the pipe in his mouth. His hair was short and wavy, and his face was clean shaven. The broad shoulders were definitely a Montclair trait.
Tyler knew his ancestors came over from Europe. He figured the furnishings in this house had been passed down through generations. Then again, buying antiques would have been easy. Anthony and Maria Montclair, were loaded. He had no idea where all of their money came from. His mom once told him that his great-grandfather was in the oil business, as was his grandfather. Because his father had never brought up his childhood, or his parents, his knowledge was limited. Tyler had no desire to research the family he was trying to forget. Sometimes, filling in the blanks isn't necessary; it can even be harmful. But how could he ignore the past, while standing inside of this house with his brothers?
By the time Tyler reached the beautiful, oak staircase, which matched the rest of the flooring, he was anxious to find the bedrooms. He felt like he could sleep for days on end. The bedroom doors were closed and scattered down a long hallway. They were big, but not huge. Each had decent sized windows, and most of them were open a few inches. Now Tyler knew where all the fresh air was coming from.
At the end of the hallway was the last bedroom. While the others were looking around, he opened the door. It was definitely the master bedroom, but it was full of dust and cobwebs. The French doors were closed and the curtains were drawn. The covers were rumpled and clothes had been carelessly tossed on the floor. On the nightstand was a pair of wire-framed reading glasses, a half-full bottle of red wine, and a wallet. He opened the wallet and inside was the license of Sabastian Montclair. Beside the wallet lay a locket, an exact replica of the one he had at home. Carefully opening it, he saw pictures of his father and mother. He set the locket back down on the table and once again, felt like he would be sick. He ran to the French doors and opened them wide with his eyes closed. He let the cool wind fill his lungs until he felt like he'd no longer lose his lunch. When he opened his eyes, he saw the rope that had been tied in knots, swaying in the breeze from the banister of the balcony. His legs grew weak as he slowly proceeded outside, the wooden slats were creaking underneath him. As he carefully walked to the edge, he looked down; there was nothing but the crashing waves against large jagged rocks. He realized then, that he'd just taken his mother's final steps.
"This is dad's!" announced Jacob as he held up the wallet from the nightstand.
Tyler quickly spun around to go back inside of the room, but he wasn't fast enough. Vincent came walking out towards the edge of the balcony, and had begun pulling up the rope.
"Why is this here?" he asked. When he got to the very end, he saw that it was a noose. "What in the hell is this?!"
Tyler could clearly see the devastation on his face.
"Someone hung themselves?" asked Vincent as he looked Tyler in the eyes.
"Let's go downstairs, my Brothers. We need to talk."
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
Tyler brought Renee, Emma, and Brian, into the kitchen. He checked the fridge and cupboards, and found them to be stocked full of fresh food. He sent Renee and Brian into the wine cellar, and when she returned with a couple of bottles, he left them to cook something up to feed them all. Tyler, meanwhile, found a nice bottle of scotch. He grabbed four glasses and walked to a sitting room, which had beautiful views of the lake. His brothers looked up at him and smiled when they saw the bottle of scotch.
"Drink up!" announced Tyler. He decided to wait until they had taken a few swallows before beginning the conversation that he'd been dreading for over half of his life.
"Say what you need to say, Ty," Vincent encouraged with a serious expression.
"Alright." Tyler got up and walked over to the window. He stood there for a minute without saying a word. This could easily be the last time he and his brothers would ever speak.
"Are you okay? You're making me nervous, Ty," Sean said as he leaned forward in his chair.
"We need some ground rules before we begin. First, no one leaves them room until things get resolved. Second, know that right or wrong, I had your best interests at heart. Third, and most importantly, I love you guys."
"It's okay, Tyler. Just say what's on your mind. We're family." Jacob smiled, but his anxiety was evident.
"The night before we were taken into foster care, we were laughing and eating pizza. Mom and dad weren't home so we stayed up pretty late. You guys finally went to bed around midnight, and I decided to stay up and watch some television. I'll never forget this." Tyler closed his eyes and swallowed back tears. He couldn't look at their faces.
"Anyways, I fell asleep on the couch. When I heard mom's alarm go off in the o
ther room, I thought I was going to get in trouble for not being in bed. I prepared myself for a good grounding, but the alarm just kept buzzing. I got up and shut it off. It was six o'clock and their bed was still made up. That's when I realized they'd never come home. There was no note, other than the one that mom had left for us about ordering pizza. I got you guys up, poured your cereal, and walked you to school. While sitting in my English class, the office called over the P.A., and asked the teacher to send me down." Tyler paused again and cleared his throat.
"The principal brought me into his office and sat me down in front of a cop and a woman in a suit. She reached over and held my hand as the cop said these words to me. "I'm really sorry, Son, but—" Tyler began to pace.
"Ty, is that when he told you mom and dad died in the wreck?" asked Jacob.
"Okay, here it goes. This is the part where you guys don't get to leave the room." Tyler had never felt his gut wrench so bad in his life. This pain he was feeling right now, was the worst he'd felt in thirty-three years.
"Mom didn't go to a card club gathering that night. She drove up here to this house. Something happened to her, and I still don't know what it was, but the rope you saw upstairs was hers. She hung herself from that balcony. I knew she died here, and I knew how she died, but I had no idea about the location until I saw the noose when we arrived." There were some soft mumblings from his brothers, but so far they weren't expressing any anger. Tyler was grateful for that.
"That's what the cop told me. It was the first time I'd heard about this place. After school, I'm sure you guys remember, we were driven to our new home. Our foster parents weren't bad people, but they were getting up there in age. When I turned seventeen, we were all separated. Sean and Jacob went to one family, I stayed where I was, and they put Vinnie in a foster home two hours away. All of us were treated well, and I know each of you remember those times, but I wasn't doing so hot. I felt like someone had ripped my heart out. I made promises to you guys that I'd get us all back together and I did. When I turned eighteen, the estate was handed over to me, along with a lot of money. I bought a crappy car, an apartment on West Avenue in Southfield, and went to work at Montclair Pharmaceuticals. We may have inherited the company, but I had to start in an entry-level position, and work my way up. I knew a little from working with dad, like my way around and stuff, but that was about it." Tyler paused when Sean got up and poured everyone more scotch.
"I never forgot my promise to you guys. I was scared shitless, but I jumped through every hoop necessary to keep it. With the help of Bob Nelson, the attorney who retired when Vinnie took over, I went to court and legally adopted you all. We had a social worker checking on us frequently, but I made sure you guys were well taken care of."
"What about dad, Ty?" asked Vincent, who was looking more and more like an attorney with every minute that passed.
"I was told by the cops that dad was the one who found mom hanging. They found blood below the balcony, and they believe he'd jumped. He would have died instantly when he hit those rocks and the tide would have pulled him out into this lake, which has to be like what, a few hundred miles long and several hundred feet deep? His body was never recovered."
"That would make sense," began Sean. Dad's wallet, mom's locket…"
"About the locket," explained Tyler as he downed the rest of his scotch. "I have the identical locket at home, only it's a picture of dad and some other woman. I have no idea who she is."
"Where did you get it?" asked Jacob.
"It was the only personal effects I was given from mom that day, which I wanted to keep. The locket was inside of her dress pocket when they found her." Tyler stared at each of them. Their expressions were hard to read.
"Was dad married before? Maybe the locket belonged to someone he knew before he married mom," suggested Jacob.
"I have no idea what dad's past was. I wish he was alive, though. I'd ask him about lots of things," shrugged Tyler.
"I remember things from back then," said Vincent. "I remember mom's funeral, but we never had one for dad. How come?"
"I was sixteen, Vinnie, and had no idea of what to do. In my safe is a copy of his death certificate. I really didn't know how to handle it. If you guys would like to hold a service, I'm all for it." Tyler still felt sick, even though his secrets had finally been poured out from his soul.
"Vinnie, Sean, Jacob…I really do love you guys. I'm sorry for screwing up so much, and basically lying to you for all these years, but you were so young. I knew that if I had trouble hearing about and handling the way mom and dad died, then you guys would too. I didn't want you growing up plagued by our parent's suicide." Tyler could remember so vividly, waking up from nightmares of his mom hanging. He didn't even realize he had tears on his cheeks until one dripped onto his hand.
One at a time, his brothers rose to their feet, and embraced him.
"We love you, Ty," began Vincent as he wiped at his own eyes. "Thank you for everything you've done, and still do for us. Mom and dad decided to make selfish decisions that left us alone in this world. You stepped into their shoes; not because you had to, but because you wanted to, and you did a great job."
"I'm going to clean out that room upstairs tomorrow, Ty," said Sean. "We can finally remove the past which has been haunting you."
Haunted, thought Tyler. That's exactly it.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
When Renee saw Tyler and his brothers walking back into the kitchen, she could tell by their blotchy faces and watery eyes, that something was definitely wrong. Terribly wrong. She finished setting the table, while Emma placed a platter full of egg-salad sandwiches down. It wasn't much, but it was the best they could with what they had. She poured the wine and sat in a chair beside Tyler. She took a bite of her sandwich, and noticed that she, Emma, and Brian were the only ones eating. The wine, however, was flowing down all of their throats like fountain drinks. It wasn't too long before Sean went down to the cellar and brought up a few more bottles. The men were looking a lot more relaxed the longer they sat around the table, but she could tell Tyler was still hurting and it was killing her. Underneath the linen tablecloth, Renee moved her hand to Tyler's thigh, and rested her hand on it. He looked over at her, and she could see the hint of a smile on his face. Soon, she felt Tyler lay his hand on top of hers. Renee wanted to whisk him away to another room so she could talk to him in private, but she didn't know if he'd push her away if she tried to comfort him.
Tyler's fingers curled around her hand and Renee felt him gently squeeze. He poured more wine for her, and then lifted his glass in a private toast to her. He took a long drink. She turned her hand a little and locked her fingers in his, and then returned the squeeze.
Just when she was feeling so many wonderful emotions, Tyler let go of her hand, and told everyone he'd be taking the last bedroom on the right. Her heart sank.
After helping clean up the kitchen, Vincent went to the linen closet near the bathroom, and pulled out blankets. He stumbled to the front room, and curled up on the couch. Renee took a hot shower, as did Emma. They found some old fashioned night gowns in a closet, so they were ecstatic to have something clean to wear.
Renee was on the way to her room when she spotted Brian sitting on the floor by the stairs. She knew he was waiting to make sure everyone got a bed first.
"Let's go, Buddy." Renee showed him to his room, and her best guess was that he'd fall asleep in seconds.
While she was lying in bed, her mind began to race again. Renee had three glasses of wine with dinner, and was sure they'd help her sleep soundly, but she found herself tossing and turning.
After an hour or so, Renee sat up on the side of the bed. She got up to look out the window, but there was very little moonlight. While walking back to her bed, she heard a noise coming from the room to the right of her. Slowly she stepped out into the hallway, and saw the light on underneath the master bedroom door. That room wasn't suitable for anyone to sleep in. I hope Brian's not in there. She slowl
y opened the door and peeked inside. There stood Tyler, with tears on his face, and the bed linens lying in a heap on the other side of the room. She froze. He turned around and walked out onto the balcony. Tyler cursed loudly. She quietly pulled the door closed and walked back to her room, unsure of what to do.
Suddenly, Renee heard him walk briskly down the hall, and then down the staircase. She could hear the lock on the front door release. In a panic, she ran down the hall and followed him. When she reached the front doorway, there stood Tyler, outside, on the front porch.
"Tyler?" she whispered.
"Renee. Good morning!" he said rather loudly as he wiped his face and took a long swig from the bottle scotch in his hand. "Do you need something? Is there anything I can do for you?" he asked, as he staggered.
Oh my God, she thought. What happened to him? Renee suddenly remembered the expressions on his and his brothers' faces when they walked into the kitchen earlier. Quickly, she stepped onto the cold cement in her bare feet, took the bottle from his hand, and sat it on the ground. Slowly, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and held him close to her.
"Your husband's a real son of a bitch, but you already know that one!" Tyler said as he slurred his words. "The things I'd like to do to his wife, will probably send me to hell for eternity, so shhh don't tell em'!" he laughed while putting a finger to his lips. "I don't feel bad about that kiss Renee. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Ya see, I'd be a good man to you. Yep! I wouldn't cheat on you and break your heart when you bust your ass everyday raising our kids. I would never! I wouldn't cause you to drive allll this way, just to see where I bed my mistress. I wouldn't rob you of a family, or hurt you sooo badly, that you felt like you had to put a rope around your neck to make the pain stop. So as your potential suitor, I will always make you feel loved, and put you first! Not last, but first! So you tell me what I can do for you on this wonderful morning in the great Castle Lake! Whatever you want it's yours." Tyler looked down at her face and smiled.