“Of course you do. This is your home.”
Reaching the door, Hope turned around and looked back at her parents. “A home… I’ve never had a home in my life. How can any place with you two in it be called a home?”
Walking through the door, Hope closed it with an almost soundless click. The finality of the sound sent reverberations of change throughout the now quiet room.
“Do you see what you’ve done?” Mason asked his wife through bared teeth.
“What have I done, Mason?” Taryn asked, uncaring of his answer, in that moment not caring about him.
“Our daughter came home because she needed us, and your drunken display has turned her away from us!”
“Us? Don’t you mean you, Mason? Well for the first time in years I see you, Mason. I see you clearly. I know what you’ve been doing, and tonight it stops. No more drink, no more pills! Now what are you going to do? I take back my power… so what are you going to do now, Mason, hmm?” Taryn mocked.
“Stop repeating my name in that ridiculous fashion!”
“I take back my power, Mason, and I’m taking back my child!”
“Good luck with that. But to my way of thinking, I’d say you were about twenty-four years too late!”
Chapter 2
Hope laid in bed, her mind running the gamut of her emotions, chopping and changing to all that had taken place over the last two days. How she had so quickly gone from having it all, the perfect life; to having nothing but a drunken mother and a controlling, manipulative father.
The scene that had played out on her arrival home was nothing new. She had been through it a thousand times. Her mother being sorry, professing she was done with alcohol and the pills. Hope clinging to her father, knowing that they were deliberately shutting her mother out of their closeness, just to hurt her. Hope knew that their behavior pushed her mother further into her addictions, she knew it, and somehow she took a perverse pleasure in it.
Tonight though, tonight something had been different. Her mother had acted as though she were actually sober. For the first time in decades, Taryn had appeared sober. Her eyes were clear, her speech lucid, and Hope was unsure how to deal with this new Taryn. The woman who had stood before her an hour ago was the polar opposite of the woman she had known throughout most of her life.
Hope’s introspections shifted, listening intently to the noise that had disturbed her thoughts. It had sounded as though it was coming from the direction of her mother’s room and she froze. She had heard the sound many times before but had pretended otherwise. Gripping the bedding tightly around her shaking body, Hope gasped for breath. She wanted to block out the sounds, but instead, and almost against her will her mind honed in, strained to hear what was taking place.
In the past she had prided herself on her ability to remain untouched, uncaring of what was being played out in her mother’s bedroom. But something had shifted, her feelings of inertia were gone. She needed to know what was taking place in her mother’s room. No more burying of her head under the covers. Too much had already taken place in her life while she cowered behind a closed door.
Rising from the bed, Hope padded on silent feet to her bedroom door and pressed her ear against the wooden paneling. The sounds were still muffled, only now she could hear her mother crying and the deep drone of her father’s voice.
Turning the handle, Hope made her way down the hallway and stopped a few steps away from her mother’s door. In her indecisiveness, fear gripped her in earnest, her breathing increased, afraid at what she was about to encounter.
Turning the handle of the door, Hope paused when it was just wide enough for her to see the scene unfolding before her. Her mother was sitting in a chair crying. Her father beside her, one of her hands grasped in his. He was on his knees, also crying and pleading with her mother.
“Why won’t you love me?”
“You know why. We’ve been through this too many times, Mason.” Wiping her eyes with one hand, Taryn attempted to pull the other out of the death grip Mason had on her hand.
As Hope watched, she was again struck by the look in her mother’s eyes. The tears were gone in an instant. Tugging at the hand enfolded within Mason’s, Taryn gained her release.
“Go away, Mason.”
Hope was immediately aware of the dispassion with which Taryn spoke. It was almost as though weariness had overtaken her and she wanted an end to the outpouring of emotion.
As Hope watched, she could see that her mother’s words or actions had registered with her father. Rising to his feet, he stood looking down at her, his cheeks still glistening with tears.
“When did we come to this point, Taryn? How did it all go so wrong?”
“What?” Taryn laughed. “Please tell me you’re joking?”
“I love you, woman. I’ve always loved you. You know that, and you abused my feelings for you!”
“My Lord, can you hear yourself? You are not the only one who has had to put up with this farce we call a marriage.”
“What the hell are you talking about? You’re the drunk. You’re the one who has neglected your only child for most of her life!” Mason shouted, all impressions of his pleading gone.
“I know I have, Mason, but you’re the one who made sure I kept doing exactly what you’re accusing me of. When the pills ran out, there was always another bottle. When the vodka ran out, there were always two more bottles to take their place.”
“So, it’s all my fault, is it? You being a lousy mother and an even worse wife, is all my fault?”
“I didn’t say that. Listen to me. For once in your pompous life, will you listen to me? Hear me, Mason, hear… me!”
“Why should I listen to you? You’re a goddamn addict. Not even your own daughter wants you. Who does she come running to when she needs something? Who can she rely on when something goes wrong in her life? You, Taryn? Don’t make me laugh!”
Hope could hear the scorn in her father’s voice, and it was all directed towards the beautiful shell of a woman who had given birth to her. She had never seen her father like this before. Never heard him speak to her mother in this way. They were true, all the things her father was saying, they were all true, but somehow Hope knew something unjust was unfolding before her.
“I’m taking my life back, and I’m taking Hope back, Mason.”
Again, Hope heard Taryn’s words spoken without effusion, just a simple truth.
“I already told you, you’re too late. She belongs to me!”
“She’s my daughter, and I want her back. You’ve done enough damage to the women in this mockery of a family, and it stops now.”
Glued to her hiding place, Hope saw her father begin to pace the room, his expression ever changing.
“You have until morning, to leave this house, Taryn.”
“What? You can’t throw me out of my own house!”
“Yes, I can. Pack your bags and get out! You’re sober now, get out there and earn your keep. Let’s see how you manage that. Let’s see how you manage your life without me or Hope in it. God knows you couldn’t even manage to be a half way decent wife or mother!”
Jumping to her feet, Taryn faced off against Mason. “You get out! This is my home, and I will not leave it!”
“You couldn’t keep this house going for a month without me!”
“You just watch me, just watch me and see. Now you have until morning, to pack your bags and get out, you supercilious bastard!” Taryn threw back.
Looking Taryn up and down, it seemed to Hope that her father was calculating the standoff.
“Okay, I’ll leave. I’ll be gone first thing in the morning, and I’ll be taking Hope with me.”
“For God’s sake, Mason, Hope is a grown woman. Stop trying to manipulate her. It’s time for her to grow up, and I’m going to see that she does whether she leaves with you or not.”
“Oh, she’ll leave with me.”
“In a way I hope she does. At least that way the more time she
spends with you the more she’ll come to know you, and exactly what kind of man you truly are, mistress and all!”
Hope saw the look of amusement overtake her mother’s face even as her father’s visage changed to astonishment at Taryn’s last comment.
“Oh my God. You thought I didn’t know. Did you honestly think that I didn’t know that you’ve been changing your mistresses, every two years for the last twenty-two years? I’m a substance abuser, Mason, not an idiot.”
“Well what about you? Answer that, Taryn… what about you?”
“I made one mistake, Mason… one, and it was a mistake that I readily admit to. But you know what, if I had it to do over, I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”
“You bitch!”
“Yeah, I’m a bitch of your creation, and so is my daughter. I don’t know what happened tonight, but I bet it’s got you written all over it. That man was the first person in her life who could possibly get her away from you. Yet instead of us attending her wedding, she’s here, without Steve; and you’re placating her with ‘Daddy’s going to take care of everything’.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about. He wasn’t good enough for her. He was never good enough for her, and she’s better off without him.”
“He is good enough for her. Stephen Blackman is exactly what and who Hope needs in her life, and if I have anything to do with it, he will be in her life for the rest of her life.”
“I’ll fight you on this, and you know I’ll win.”
“I would expect nothing less from you, Mason.”
Hope had heard enough. Her head was spinning with their constant back and forth jibes for supremacy. As far as she was concerned, she didn’t want a damn thing to do with either of them. They were as bad as each other. No wonder she was such a monumental fuck up.
Chapter 3
Steve knew he was awake, but his mind almost refused to accept it. He knew there was something his subconscious was attempting to pull up, but currently recollection eluded him. Using his other senses, he concentrated on his surroundings in an attempt to focus his mind.
He could feel that he was laying on his back on cotton sheets, his naked body attested to that. He could hear the sound of an air conditioning unit as it droned in an attempt to cool the air, but his body still felt sticky with sweat.
Running his tongue across his lips, Steve was aware of the horrible taste of his mouth. The taste that normally came the morning after an over indulgence of alcohol.
Flashes of light passed behind Steve’s closed eyes, and he instantly recalled what had taken place at the house between Hope and Jason. His hands fisted in the material of the bedding as his breathing intensified until he was panting. Fresh sweat broke out across his body as his agitation grew.
He didn’t want to remember, but he had no control over the direction his thoughts took him. Over and over again he heard her, Hope. He heard the way she had blatantly propositioned his best friend. The way she threw herself at Jason, refusing to take no for an answer.
He replayed the way he had stood outside the balcony door and heard it all. He recalled How he had felt as the woman he loved above all others, had ripped his heart out of his chest leaving behind a gaping hole that sent shockwaves of pain through him with every breath.
Steve’s eyes popped open in an attempt to push away memories of what had taken place. Gazing up at the ceiling, he attempted to regulate his breathing, to take short breaths, but it was no use, calm eluded him.
Not wanting to look but knowing he had to, Steve slowly turned his head, and only just managed to hold in his groan at what he saw. Spread out beside him were two women he had no recollection of ever having seen before.
Steve’s eyes sprung to the nightstand. He had no recollection of the past night. He wasn’t concerned with the time, he just wanted there to be evidence that he had used protection. Please let me have had enough of my faculties in place to have used protection… please… please. The prayers played again and again in his head as he tried to focus his eyes.
There it was, a box of condoms. Steve breathed a sigh of relief as his eyes settled on the box. Giving up a prayer of thanks he again turned his eyes back to his bed partners who were both still dead to the world.
Looking at them, Steve felt the bile rise within him, and he knew he had to get away from these nameless women as soon as possible. Sitting up too quickly, his world tilted on its axis. His head spinning, the residue of alcohol still in his system, almost found a way to his throat. Gulping for breath, Steve somehow managed not to empty the contents of his stomach where he sat.
Grabbing a sheet that was pooled at the end of the bed, he fought through the pain that hammered away in his head. Standing, Steve wrapped the material around his body, toga style. Sheet in place he looked over at the sleeping women only to see that one of them looked back at him. Her crystal blue eyes regarding him in a way he could only describe as vacant.
Licking his lips, Steve tried to speak and failed. His throat was dry, and the taste in his mouth again caused bile to rise within him. Breaking eye contact with her, he looked around and spotted another door, which he hoped was the bathroom. Heading in that direction, he pushed open the door and exhaled. Closing it behind him, Steve braced his back against the wooden panel and closed his eyes. Blurred flashes of the night before began to move through his mind in rapid succession, but they all passed too quickly for him to hold on to.
Steve tried to bring up a solid memory of what for most men would be a fantasy come true. He drew a blank. He could remember nothing of the night he had spent with the women.
Steve knew he had a healthy sex drive. It had been that way since he and Jason had first discovered girls at the age of fourteen. In this day and age that might be old for some, but he and Jason had been kept busy by his parents, their days filled with school and sporting activities. Their tough schedule had left little to no time for girls.
Once he and Jason had hit puberty they had been plagued by the demands of their bodies. They had spent countless hours talking about it, and Jason seemed to have all the answers to any question Steve had asked. Steve later found out that Jason acquired his wealth of knowledge through accessing the Internet and somehow managing to wipe the memory clean so that his parents never found out what he had been looking at.
Steve also remembered the talk he and Jason had endured from his father about the facts of life as he had termed it.
Twenty-One Years Earlier
“Take a seat. We need to have a talk. Your mother thinks the time has come for us men to have a talk about the facts of life.”
Steve and Jason looked at each other, and both of them broke out in a sweat of embarrassment and agitation.
“Now your mother and I know that you have both been, how can I say this? Let me start again. You have both reached a time in your life where you are beginning to experience certain changes in your bodies.
The way you boys are dealing with these changes is perfectly normal, both your mother and I want you to know that. You both have nothing to be ashamed of. However, your mother, as the only female in this household needs for you both, although she has not voiced this in so many words. She needs for you both to be a little bit more... discreet in your… again, how can I say this delicately? Nope, can’t think of a delicate way to put it, your incessant jacking off! For the love of God, if it’s not one of you it’s the other, and God forbid that you should both feel the need at the same time!”
At that moment, it was Steve’s earnest prayer that the floor would open up and take him. He even contemplated shouting fire, fire. He knew the thought was foolish, but at least he would be doing something, anything to distract his father and lessen his mortification about what his father had just said.
Looking over at Jason, Steve saw he was bright red with embarrassment. His father had gone on to ask them what they actually knew about the changes they were experiencing and Steve was struck dumb.
Jason stepped u
p to the plate and spoke for them both. His voice taking on a monotone quality as he recited what sounded like all the many facts he had picked up during his Internet trawls.
His father had eased back in his chair, folded his hands across his abdomen and listened to the whole spiel without interruption. When Jason was finished, they all sat in silence for a few moments before his father spoke.
“Stephen, am I correct in thinking that you understand all Jason has just said?”
“Yes, sir, I do.”
“Good, very good. I only have a few more comments to make, and then I’ll leave this subject alone. I want you boys to know that there is never anything wrong with partaking in consensual sexual activity. You boys are only fourteen years old so, of course, I would much rather you both refrained from said activity until you are much older. I of course understand that I cannot stop you if that is your mind-set. All I can say is, enjoy these years as boys, you will be men soon enough, don’t rush it.
I also want you both to know that your mother and I are here whenever you need us. I know I don’t have to tell you again of the importance of being gentlemen. I know that lesson has already been imprinted in your minds. Isn’t that so?”
After hearing their choruses of, “Yes sir.” He continued.
“So these are my rules: You will always treat women with respect. You will never raise a hand to a woman. You will never force a woman into doing something against her will, and you will always use a condom when having intercourse for the protection of both you and your partner. Do you both understand my rules?”
He and Jason nodded their heads quickly wanting nothing more than to get away from having to endure another moment of the conversation.
“Good. This didn’t take as long as I thought. I think I can still get in a game of golf. You can both go. Just remember what I said, and keep the noise down!
Oh, one final word of advice.” Both boys stopped in their tracks. “I’m going to tell it to you just the way my father told it to me. When you reach that particular point in your lives where you are contemplating sleeping with a woman, always remember, never, and I mean never, remove your draws before your shirt. You’ll only end up looking like a damn fool. That’s about it, you can both go.”
The Ties that Bind (Kingdom) Page 2