Fanfic: B&S episode 602: part 2/4
Season 6 - Episode 2 - UPSIDE DOWN (DIZZY DOES IT MAKE ME)
By Marea67
About: Brothers & Sisters (general)
Rate: Can’t go higher than PG-13, as this is American Television, but I may add a few ‘deleted scenes’ here and there. ;)
Disclaimer: Just escaping from reality here, not created for financial gain
Summary: It is my very own season 6, you guys! Go with it! ;) Don’t complain! If YOU can do better, post your own story! (I dare you!)
***** PART 2/4 *****
Kevin pretends to be reading the file on his latest case, but the words are just a meaningless string of letters for him. His mind keeps going back to his meeting with Alex and how awkward it all had been. Just seeing Alex again had brought so many bad memories and not so bad ones.
“I gather this is not a social call. So, why are you here?” Alex asks, not entirely unfriendly.
“I was in the neighborhood.” Kevin answers. Alex rolls his eyes, clearly not impressed with Kevin’s excuse.
“Kev, being the good boy I am at the moment, I take my pills. I’m not crazy right now. You come here. You pose as my lawyer, although I’m pretty sure that you’re not, and you wish to talk to me… You clearly need something from me, so why don’t you put both of us out of misery and tell me what it is.”
Kevin can’t help but wonder which Alex freaks him out more. This calm and normal Alex or the insane one he had met some time ago.
“How’s life at the moment?” Kevin asks, still wishing to get out as fast as he can.
“I’m in prison, what do you expect?” Alex sarcastically replies.
“I just ….” Kevin starts, but he doesn’t know how to go on.
“You just wanted to see if I was miserable? No, I’m not. See if I’m still crazy? No, I’m not…. And if you want to know if I still love you…? …. I do.” He’s clearly teasing Kevin with those last words and he's a bit amused when Kevin looks away, obviously embarrassed.
“I… ahm.. I need to know something and … I think you may have the answer.”
“Me?” Alex seems genuinely surprised. “About what?”
“Wh… Wh…” Kevin struggles with his question. “What is it like to kill someone?” Alex blinks at his question.
“What does it do to you?” Kevin asks. “How do you deal with it afterwards? How can you move on after… taking someone’s life?” Kevin nervously plays with his hands and Alex, so far disinterested, sits up. He’s intrigued.
“Why do you want to know?”
“Just want to know. Need to know.” Kevin replies. Alex looks at him intensely and he doesn’t like the idea to come to his mind.
“Don’t.” He then says.
“What?”
“No matter how angry, hurt, confused you are, no matter how much you feel that he or she deserves it, don’t do it.”
“Do what?”
“Kill someone.”
“I wasn’t … It’s not like … I just keep thinking…” Kevin rattles on. “This was stupid!” He jumps up from his chair and walks up to the door, but before he can call the guard, Alex raises his voice.
“Kevin! Sit down!!” There’s so much authority in his voice that Kevin turns around, stunned by the strength of Alex’s words alone. Alex makes a soothing motion with his cuffed hands. “…Please…” Alex finishes more politely. On his guard, Kevin returns to his chair and Alex lowers his head so he can massage his temples, before speaking to Kevin.
“Kevin, this would be just the baddest idea of all bad ideas you’ve ever had…You’re not a killer… You’re the type of person that might kill in self-defense, when you can justify it for yourself and still … it would be eating at you. Murder is something else entirely. Yes, I’ve killed people before. It was easy enough for me. I’m… crazy. There. I admit it. But you are not.
I can compartmentalize my emotions. Just shut them off. I can shut off feelings like compassion, care, pity, regret. I don’t dwell on my feelings for my victims. Most of them were shit anyway, but then, if you have reached the point where you seriously want to kill someone, I don’t think it’s because that person is a nice, caring philanthropist either…?”
Kevin bows his head and Alex tries to reach out to his hands, the cuffs however limit his range. Kevin looks at Alex’s hands and, after some hesitation, he moves his own hands closer to Alex, so Alex and he touch each other and it shocks Kevin to realize how strangely comfortable this sudden intimacy is to him. God knows, it shouldn’t be.
Now that Alex is calm and normal, Kevin feels as if he has the old Alex back. The one who would look out for him. This was not the one who tried, and nearly succeeded, to kill Scotty.
He can hear Alex sigh as if Alex has been tensely holding his breath for a long time and finally can let go and relax. Their eyes meet.
“This is not you, Kevin, don’t do it. If not for your own sanity, then think about the others. You and Scotty are still happy, right?”
“We have 2 kids now.” Kevin nods, at the same time he wonders if that is a smart thing to tell Alex.
“Two kids? That’s great. You must a be a great father.” Alex says with sadness.
“I try to be.” Kevin replies modestly, but Alex knows that Kevin will do more than his best to be a good father..
“Then think about Scotty and your kids and what impact it would have on them. Killing someone, even if you don’t get caught, will change you, Kevin. If you kill somebody, something inside you dies as well. A certain innocence. The barricade that tells you that there is something you shouldn’t do, has been broken. It will change you forever.
And there’s something else you should be very aware of, Kevin, murder is permanent. You can un-do what you did. If you regret it afterwards, and I know that you will regret it inevitably, you’ll be so miserable. And have you thought of the repercussions if you do get caught….?" Alex holds Kevin's hands even more tightly.
"Seriously, Kevin, you have a husband … and kids! I read on the internet about Café 429. The impact that a murder you commit will have on Scotty? And on his restaurant? You will destroy all his hard work… And your kids and their future…? It will be huge. And what about Nora? Or how will Sarah tell her kids that their uncle is a murderer?
And what about Kitty? Or the legacy of Robert McCallister…?” Alex now includes them in his guilt-trip and immediately he feels the tension in Kevin built and now he knows. “How is all this connected to Robert McCallister?”
*****
Nora picks up a pair of socks. Sometimes she can strangle Brody for being such a slob. Can’t he just clean up the mess after him? It was bad enough that she had to run after William and the kids for so many years. She can handle the grand-kids, but Brody is a grown man. What is so difficult about using a wash-bin?
“Brody! Would it really be so terrible to….?” She can’t finish her question because Brody and Tommy are lost in the base-ball game on tv and just wave her to go away. Nora closes her eyes and marches into her kitchen.
It will calm her down to do some cooking. She will start with some preparations for dinner tonight and … damn if she can finds the pans she needs. She throws around the pots and pans.
“Why are you making such a noise?” Brody comes in and asks.
“I can’t find what I’m looking for! Why do you never put things back from where you took it?!” She rages.
“If you tell me what you’re looking for….?”
“That is not the point! I will most likely find it any minute, it’s just that it’s not where it’s supposed to be!” Tommy now enters the kitchen as well, wondering if he should remind his mother that these last few weeks he had been minding the kitchen, but one look at his mother’s face tells him, he shouldn’t even try.
“You are in trouble.” He warns Brody softly, but Brody is not so convinced of that.
“Why do you makes such a fuss about it, mhmm? Just relax and…”
“How am I supposed to relax if I break my neck over clothes on the floor or nearly tumble down the stairs, because of a lost shoe? How am I supposed to react when I can’t cook, because I can no longer find what I’m looking for? Seriously, Brody, you alone are worse than my 5 kids put together!” Oh, how Nora wishes she could slap that satisfied grin off Brody’s face. Brody comes closer to her.
“See, what is going on? We’re already starting to sound like a married couple….” He says with a smile and Nora knows that it’s supposed to make her melt and go all ‘awww’, but she’s not in the mood.
“You don’t want to go there.” She tells Brody and the look that accompanies those words, tell Brody that he should stop.
*****
It turns out it’s not so difficult to park near the hotel and, after some moments of hesitation, Scotty and Tyler enter the hall.
“Oh, my!” Tyler says softly.
“This is… something else.” Scotty agrees.
The wallpaper has a dark green color, the ceilings are painted in a dark color of chocolate-brown, some of the lights in the chandeliers don’t work, making it look awfully poor. There is a waiting area with a couch that has known better days and two huge chairs that look as if someone literally put some patches on them using almost, but not quite the same color.
Upon approaching the front-desk, Scotty can see the soft layers of dust on the carved symbols, the stickers indicating that smoking is not allowed have faded and the counter shows that it’s worn out, because the shiny top-layer is nearly gone. An elderly lady walks up to them.
“Can I help you?” She asks.
“Yes, my name is Scotty Wandell and ...”
“Oh! You must be Bertha’s son! Oh! This is so beautiful! Oh! I don’t know…” Her eyes fill with tears and Scotty suddenly realizes that she was the woman who had been crying on the phone earlier this week.
“You called me… Not long after he died. Did you know Mr Corvin well?”
“I worked for him for nearly 43 years. My name is Cleo Baxter. I’ve been in charge of this hotel since 1984, when Mr Corvin wanted to take things easier and I’ve been running it since Mr Corvin got too sick to do so, 2 years ago.”
“I’m sorry. It seems his loss is a very heavy one for you?” Scotty asks carefully.
“It is. He was a good boss. Well-loved. Generous. He’s had a troubled heart for the last few years and he needed someone beside him 24/7. And we got even closer when he was diagnosed with a brain-tumor not long ago. It’s not like he and I were, … you know…. an item… a couple... but we came as close to one as we could be. Without the physical aspect, I mean. He and I … He was too much of a gentleman….” She stammers.
“And I’ll bet you were too much a lady…?” Tyler smiles and Cleo smiles back.
“Unfortunately, yes. But, I've been his personal assistant, his confident, his replacement when things got difficult and, when he really couldn’t do much anymore, these last few months, I was his nurse… Maybe I should have been straightforward with him. Maybe he would have left me everything.”
“Would you have been interested in this old hotel?” Scotty asks, surprised by her words.
“Yes…” She replies reluctantly. “Did you come here to see it? Or to sell it?”
“I first wanted to see it.” Scotty replies.
“You’ll love this place.” Cleo nods with a satisfied smile and Scotty gives Tyler an uncertain smile as they follow Cleo. So far, he’s underwhelmed and the idea of selling comes nearer with every step he takes.
*****
“Miss Ridge….” The principal carefully looks at Julia. “Just a few days ago, I warned you about the consequences of your less than correct behavior lately…” Julia look at him.
“I know, but….”
“I explained that it was no longer acceptable. And I thought I was clear about it.”
“You were. You absolutely were.. I’m sorry I overslept, it’s just….” Julia wants to explain how Elizabeth was sick last night and that she had been exhausted by the time she got to bed around three and that she never heard her alarm go off and…
“It’s always something, isn’t it?” The principal asks with a sad smile.
“I… I really meant to be on time…” Julia looks miserable.
“I’m sorry. I’m very sorry. You can no longer stay here.” The principal says decidedly.
“Wh..What?!” Julia stammers. He can’t be serious!
“You’re fired.”
“I can’t be. My class…”
“You should have thought about that before. I’m really sorry about this. You used to be such a reliable teacher, but these last two months it’s been one thing after the other. Early this week, I warned you of how serious we were. And today you were late again.
How can you demand of the parents to bring their children on time, if the teacher can’t be bothered to show up on time either? You class was here this morning, but you weren’t. One of your colleagues had to step in and run two classes at the same time, while we tried to reach you.
Needless to say that this isn’t in the best interest of your daughter either. Elizabeth’s progress in class is below sufficient. She’s a smart girl, but her teacher has noticed that she’s become more withdrawn and that she no longer keeps up with the other kids in her class. I don’t know what is going on, but … I can no longer accept it in this school.”
“What if I promise…?” Julia tries, but the principal shakes his head.
“You’ve had all the chances I can give you. If had been someone else, he or she would have long been fired, but because working with you was so pleasant before we gave you some extra chances.
We feared that there might be some issues in your private life or something like that, but we can no longer wait until you’ve solved your problems, whatever they are. We may not have control over what is going on in your private life, but it starts to affect you work and that is something we do have control over.”
Julia’s eyes fill with tears.
“Please, don’t do this.” She whispers. "I can promise...."
“You can stay here until the end of the month. It will give you time to look for another place to work…”
“But, that will be so hard…. It was nearly impossible to get this job…” Julia nearly cries.
“You should have thought about that, before you threw it all away. Again, I’m very sorry, but you’ve become too unreliable…” Julia jumps up and runs from the principal’s office, no longer able to stop her tears from coming.
*****
“I can’t believe that you won’t help me search for a comprise.” Kitty argues. Seth shakes his head in anger. They’ve picked up their fight where they left off earlier that day.
“And how do you propose we ‘compromise’. You either are pregnant or you’re not. There’s no middle ground.
You can’t be half-pregnant or be pregnant the last 4.5 months… What you want is for me to sheepishly follow you into your insane ideas and that isn’t working…. Because I can’t do that.” Seth yells back. He sees the pain in Kitty’s eyes and, more gently, he continues:
“I love you, Kit. I want a future with you, but I can’t see that future with another child in it. We have Evan and that is enough. I don’t need more. I don’t have the drive to procreate. It’s not some must-do thing for me. I like our little family just the way it is. Especially if not having this child means that I can have you.” He explains once again.
Kitty knows that somewhere she should feel his love for her in these words. The fact that he prefers her, safe and healthy, even if it means losing their unborn child, should make her feel like the most important person in his life. But it doesn’t.
“I don’t want an abortion.” Kitty cries softly.
“And I don’t want this baby.” Seth replies with determination.
*****
Kevin closes his eyes. He tries to ignore the voice Alex that is still haunting him, but he can’t.
“How is this connected to Robert McCallister?”Alex asks again.
“How..? Wh.. What makes you think this is connected to him?”
“Simple, my love, I mention Scotty, Nora, Sarah, Justin, Kitty, nothing happens. I mention the Senator’s name and your heart-rate goes up… and don’t insult my intelligence by denying it… This is about him, isn’t it?”
“Yes.” Kevin replies honestly.
“Talk to me.” Alex offers, his voice is soft and caring and Kevin crumbles. He knows this is not a good idea, but he can’t stop it. It’s been on his mind for a few weeks now and he doesn’t dare to speak to anyone about how he really feels.
“I want to kill Bill Stanton.” Kevin confesses quietly.
The stunned look on Alex’s face is worth it and Kevin can somehow almost smile over it.
“Are you for real?” Alex asks, his eyes search Kevin’s face for a trace of a joke, a hint of a smile, but there isn’t any. “You are.” He concludes without waiting for Kevin’s reply. “Wow! This is bad.”
“It is…. It’s becoming an obsession.” Kevin looks miserable and Alex is serious too.
“Why? What did he do that was so bad, that you, of all people, believe that he should be killed?”
“He’s responsible for the death of Robert McCallister.”
Alex raises an eyebrow, but doesn’t ask for anything further. Instead, Kevin starts to talk. About the accident, the aftermath, he even mentions - as a throw-away line, as if it is totally unimportant - that it nearly destroyed his marriage when Scotty cheated on him.
Then he tells about the earthquake, the accident he had during it and the memories it triggered. He explains about the tapes and that he found out that Stanton had a motive to want to get rid of Robert… All this time, Alex lets Kevin talk, as if he realizes that talking about his thoughts without contradiction, is what Kevin needs.
Once Kevin stops talking, Alex becomes even more serious.
“And there’s nothing you can do? As a lawyer?”
“All circumstantial evidence.”
“But you’re sure that he’s the one responsible?”
“I have no doubt whatsoever.”
“Kevin.. What I’m about to tell you has to remain between us…”
“Alright?” Kevin answers hesitantly. “I’m your lawyer at the moment, I’m supposed to keep my confidentiality.”
Alex can’t help but laugh softly and cynically.
“You’re not my lawyer. You’re only here to squeeze some information out of me. So, forgive me for not being too impressed by your claim of confidentiality.”
“You’re forgiven.” Kevin now smiles as well.
“Carlo Bendini, that is the man, who ran your brother-in-law off the road, is dead.”
“How do you know who he was or what he did? How can you be sure?”
“He was a stupid man… He got put in here for a murder related to a drugs-deal. He thought he was ‘the man’. Boasted too much about his other jobs.
He was particularly proud of the fact that he was the one that put ‘a Senator’ in the hospital. Didn’t take long for me to find out which Senator he was talking about, that he was your brother-in-law and that the idiot didn’t nearly kill Robert, but, worse, nearly killed you too.”
“But he didn’t kill me.”
“He could have with his stupidity. And I wouldn’t let him get away with it, now could I?”
“What happened to him?” Kevin asks astounded.
“He was clumsy.”
“Clumsy?”
“I was accidentally carrying a sharp object and he walked into it about 9-10 times.” Alex shrugs and Kevin’s jaw drops.
“That is… clumsy.” Kevin then carefully says.
“Yes… Some people just are.” Alex shrugs it off.
“Was there any reason why you… accidentally… carried a sharp object around someone so clumsy? Or was that on purpose? ...Over me?” Kevin wants to know. Alex nods.
“Didn’t you get punished?” Kevin is surprised by how easy it all sounds and Alex shakes his head.
“Strangely enough… There was a new guard, third night on the job. He saw me do it, but told me he hadn’t been there to witness it. He took my knife, left and never came back. Personally, I think he was send in here to kill Bendini, but that I beat him to it.” Alex claims thoughtfully.
Kevin looks down on the name of Carlo Bendini. He had immediately written it down when he got out of the prison. A bit of digging had made him aware of the long crime-sheet he had. Running Robert of the road may even have been the smallest of his crimes, though he had paid dearly for it.
*****
“Seriously, Nora, there are more important things in the world than a boy-friend who leaves his things everywhere.” Saul sighs, although to be honest, he does appreciate the fact that Jonathan is someone who likes to be organized.
“Such as?...” Nora asks. Saul doesn’t answer.
Nora gives him a satisfied grin, knowing he doesn’t have an answer straightaway.
“That’s what I thought.” She says. “I don’t know. I am aware that it is a part of him to be this messy, but… it comes into conflict with my own principals. This morning I could have just strangled him…” She sighs.
“How would you feel if he simply announced that he wanted to spend time with his ex?” Saul suddenly asks. Nora frowns.
“I’d be surprised. His exes can’t stand him, apparently. Why?... Jonathan?”
“He just told me this morning. Just like that. I know I should trust him…”
“But…?” Nora asks.
“He was so eager to leave… What if I bore him? What if he prefers Ian over me?..”
“Why would he? For heaven’s sake, he wants to enter in a committed relationship with you…. Speaking of which, have you set a date yet?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I just can’t, if it is this easy for Jonathan to go to an ex boyfriend…” Nora makes an ugly face at Saul’s jealous undertone.
“Well, why wouldn’t he? Just because he’s in relationship with you, it doesn't mean he can never see anyone else besides you. That would be ridiculous!”
“Ian is his ex and a very handsome man. He and Jonathan had been together for quite a while.They know each other very well. And when he called, Jonathan just ran off.”
“Saul Holden! Are you insinuating that Jonathan would be a cheater? He loves you, adores you and wants to marry you. Stop it! You are desperately looking for flaws. Maybe there was an emergency, maybe it was important. Have a little faith in him.” Nora tries to be sympathetic, but gets annoyed when she sees Saul just shake his head and look miserable.
*****
“No!” Paige yells and she tries to outrun Gabe and Cooper, who are running after her with a water-gun. She quickly makes a turn to the right, around the tree, ending up behind her brothers and pulls the trigger of her own water-gun. She hits Gabe in the back and Cooper on the shoulder.
They both tumble down making disgusting ‘dying’ sounds.
“You guys are gross.” Paige shakes her head with a smile. Gabe reaches out to her and croaks:
“I have one more thing to tell you before I die…” and he motions her to come closer.
Paige cautiously approaches as Cooper remains ‘dead’ on the floor.
“Come closer….” Gabe hardly makes a sound. Paige comes closer. “Closer….” Gabe moans. Paige, ready for any ruse, takes another step. “I have to tell you now, where you can find the gold that we’ve hidden..”
“Gold?” Paige repeats. That wasn’t part of the game. “What gold..?”
“The gold we’ve hidden….”
“So, where did you hide it…?” Paige plays along. Gabe falls back, clearly ‘near dead’, but then has a last minute of strength left in him as he sits up a bit.
“The gold… You can only find it if….if you survive….”
“Survive what?” Paige comes closer, because Gabe whispers something she can’t understand. Gabe reaches out to her, grabs her t-shirt, makes her fall over and on the ground she is.
“Survive the tickle-death!!!” Gabe yells, in an immediate attack.
“By us, the Zombie-brothers!!!” Cooper now yells as well. Paige screams in fake-terror.
“Oh, no! Not the Zombie-brothers!!!” She has no choice but to surrender as it is two against one by now.
“Dad! Paula! We’ve just turned Paige into a zombie as well…” Cooper announces.
“Good!” Joe laughs. “Just in time for the barbecued sausages.”
“I rather have brains…” Cooper tries to look scary as he approaches Joe, walking stiffly like the monster of Frankenstein. Joe shrugs.
“Eat Paula. She’s the only who’s got them.” Joe says. Paula laughs and sticks out her tongue. It is so good to see the kids have so much fun. She places the tomato-salad on the table and watches Joe ‘fight’ off 3 hungry zombies and she gets her camera to make some pictures.
Paige in covered in dirt and Gabe and Cooper are not much cleaner, but it doesn’t really matter. This is what a holiday is all about. To just have some fun.
“Wash your hands first…!” She says, pointing at the jerrycan of water and she makes some more pictures as the children ‘help’ each other get clean.
*****
End of part 2/4
**** COMMERCIAL BREAK *****
By Marea67
About: Brothers & Sisters (general)
Rate: Can’t go higher than PG-13, as this is American Television, but I may add a few ‘deleted scenes’ here and there. ;)
Disclaimer: Just escaping from reality here, not created for financial gain
Summary: It is my very own season 6, you guys! Go with it! ;) Don’t complain! If YOU can do better, post your own story! (I dare you!)
***** PART 2/4 *****
Kevin pretends to be reading the file on his latest case, but the words are just a meaningless string of letters for him. His mind keeps going back to his meeting with Alex and how awkward it all had been. Just seeing Alex again had brought so many bad memories and not so bad ones.
“I gather this is not a social call. So, why are you here?” Alex asks, not entirely unfriendly.
“I was in the neighborhood.” Kevin answers. Alex rolls his eyes, clearly not impressed with Kevin’s excuse.
“Kev, being the good boy I am at the moment, I take my pills. I’m not crazy right now. You come here. You pose as my lawyer, although I’m pretty sure that you’re not, and you wish to talk to me… You clearly need something from me, so why don’t you put both of us out of misery and tell me what it is.”
Kevin can’t help but wonder which Alex freaks him out more. This calm and normal Alex or the insane one he had met some time ago.
“How’s life at the moment?” Kevin asks, still wishing to get out as fast as he can.
“I’m in prison, what do you expect?” Alex sarcastically replies.
“I just ….” Kevin starts, but he doesn’t know how to go on.
“You just wanted to see if I was miserable? No, I’m not. See if I’m still crazy? No, I’m not…. And if you want to know if I still love you…? …. I do.” He’s clearly teasing Kevin with those last words and he's a bit amused when Kevin looks away, obviously embarrassed.
“I… ahm.. I need to know something and … I think you may have the answer.”
“Me?” Alex seems genuinely surprised. “About what?”
“Wh… Wh…” Kevin struggles with his question. “What is it like to kill someone?” Alex blinks at his question.
“What does it do to you?” Kevin asks. “How do you deal with it afterwards? How can you move on after… taking someone’s life?” Kevin nervously plays with his hands and Alex, so far disinterested, sits up. He’s intrigued.
“Why do you want to know?”
“Just want to know. Need to know.” Kevin replies. Alex looks at him intensely and he doesn’t like the idea to come to his mind.
“Don’t.” He then says.
“What?”
“No matter how angry, hurt, confused you are, no matter how much you feel that he or she deserves it, don’t do it.”
“Do what?”
“Kill someone.”
“I wasn’t … It’s not like … I just keep thinking…” Kevin rattles on. “This was stupid!” He jumps up from his chair and walks up to the door, but before he can call the guard, Alex raises his voice.
“Kevin! Sit down!!” There’s so much authority in his voice that Kevin turns around, stunned by the strength of Alex’s words alone. Alex makes a soothing motion with his cuffed hands. “…Please…” Alex finishes more politely. On his guard, Kevin returns to his chair and Alex lowers his head so he can massage his temples, before speaking to Kevin.
“Kevin, this would be just the baddest idea of all bad ideas you’ve ever had…You’re not a killer… You’re the type of person that might kill in self-defense, when you can justify it for yourself and still … it would be eating at you. Murder is something else entirely. Yes, I’ve killed people before. It was easy enough for me. I’m… crazy. There. I admit it. But you are not.
I can compartmentalize my emotions. Just shut them off. I can shut off feelings like compassion, care, pity, regret. I don’t dwell on my feelings for my victims. Most of them were shit anyway, but then, if you have reached the point where you seriously want to kill someone, I don’t think it’s because that person is a nice, caring philanthropist either…?”
Kevin bows his head and Alex tries to reach out to his hands, the cuffs however limit his range. Kevin looks at Alex’s hands and, after some hesitation, he moves his own hands closer to Alex, so Alex and he touch each other and it shocks Kevin to realize how strangely comfortable this sudden intimacy is to him. God knows, it shouldn’t be.
Now that Alex is calm and normal, Kevin feels as if he has the old Alex back. The one who would look out for him. This was not the one who tried, and nearly succeeded, to kill Scotty.
He can hear Alex sigh as if Alex has been tensely holding his breath for a long time and finally can let go and relax. Their eyes meet.
“This is not you, Kevin, don’t do it. If not for your own sanity, then think about the others. You and Scotty are still happy, right?”
“We have 2 kids now.” Kevin nods, at the same time he wonders if that is a smart thing to tell Alex.
“Two kids? That’s great. You must a be a great father.” Alex says with sadness.
“I try to be.” Kevin replies modestly, but Alex knows that Kevin will do more than his best to be a good father..
“Then think about Scotty and your kids and what impact it would have on them. Killing someone, even if you don’t get caught, will change you, Kevin. If you kill somebody, something inside you dies as well. A certain innocence. The barricade that tells you that there is something you shouldn’t do, has been broken. It will change you forever.
And there’s something else you should be very aware of, Kevin, murder is permanent. You can un-do what you did. If you regret it afterwards, and I know that you will regret it inevitably, you’ll be so miserable. And have you thought of the repercussions if you do get caught….?" Alex holds Kevin's hands even more tightly.
"Seriously, Kevin, you have a husband … and kids! I read on the internet about Café 429. The impact that a murder you commit will have on Scotty? And on his restaurant? You will destroy all his hard work… And your kids and their future…? It will be huge. And what about Nora? Or how will Sarah tell her kids that their uncle is a murderer?
And what about Kitty? Or the legacy of Robert McCallister…?” Alex now includes them in his guilt-trip and immediately he feels the tension in Kevin built and now he knows. “How is all this connected to Robert McCallister?”
*****
Nora picks up a pair of socks. Sometimes she can strangle Brody for being such a slob. Can’t he just clean up the mess after him? It was bad enough that she had to run after William and the kids for so many years. She can handle the grand-kids, but Brody is a grown man. What is so difficult about using a wash-bin?
“Brody! Would it really be so terrible to….?” She can’t finish her question because Brody and Tommy are lost in the base-ball game on tv and just wave her to go away. Nora closes her eyes and marches into her kitchen.
It will calm her down to do some cooking. She will start with some preparations for dinner tonight and … damn if she can finds the pans she needs. She throws around the pots and pans.
“Why are you making such a noise?” Brody comes in and asks.
“I can’t find what I’m looking for! Why do you never put things back from where you took it?!” She rages.
“If you tell me what you’re looking for….?”
“That is not the point! I will most likely find it any minute, it’s just that it’s not where it’s supposed to be!” Tommy now enters the kitchen as well, wondering if he should remind his mother that these last few weeks he had been minding the kitchen, but one look at his mother’s face tells him, he shouldn’t even try.
“You are in trouble.” He warns Brody softly, but Brody is not so convinced of that.
“Why do you makes such a fuss about it, mhmm? Just relax and…”
“How am I supposed to relax if I break my neck over clothes on the floor or nearly tumble down the stairs, because of a lost shoe? How am I supposed to react when I can’t cook, because I can no longer find what I’m looking for? Seriously, Brody, you alone are worse than my 5 kids put together!” Oh, how Nora wishes she could slap that satisfied grin off Brody’s face. Brody comes closer to her.
“See, what is going on? We’re already starting to sound like a married couple….” He says with a smile and Nora knows that it’s supposed to make her melt and go all ‘awww’, but she’s not in the mood.
“You don’t want to go there.” She tells Brody and the look that accompanies those words, tell Brody that he should stop.
*****
It turns out it’s not so difficult to park near the hotel and, after some moments of hesitation, Scotty and Tyler enter the hall.
“Oh, my!” Tyler says softly.
“This is… something else.” Scotty agrees.
The wallpaper has a dark green color, the ceilings are painted in a dark color of chocolate-brown, some of the lights in the chandeliers don’t work, making it look awfully poor. There is a waiting area with a couch that has known better days and two huge chairs that look as if someone literally put some patches on them using almost, but not quite the same color.
Upon approaching the front-desk, Scotty can see the soft layers of dust on the carved symbols, the stickers indicating that smoking is not allowed have faded and the counter shows that it’s worn out, because the shiny top-layer is nearly gone. An elderly lady walks up to them.
“Can I help you?” She asks.
“Yes, my name is Scotty Wandell and ...”
“Oh! You must be Bertha’s son! Oh! This is so beautiful! Oh! I don’t know…” Her eyes fill with tears and Scotty suddenly realizes that she was the woman who had been crying on the phone earlier this week.
“You called me… Not long after he died. Did you know Mr Corvin well?”
“I worked for him for nearly 43 years. My name is Cleo Baxter. I’ve been in charge of this hotel since 1984, when Mr Corvin wanted to take things easier and I’ve been running it since Mr Corvin got too sick to do so, 2 years ago.”
“I’m sorry. It seems his loss is a very heavy one for you?” Scotty asks carefully.
“It is. He was a good boss. Well-loved. Generous. He’s had a troubled heart for the last few years and he needed someone beside him 24/7. And we got even closer when he was diagnosed with a brain-tumor not long ago. It’s not like he and I were, … you know…. an item… a couple... but we came as close to one as we could be. Without the physical aspect, I mean. He and I … He was too much of a gentleman….” She stammers.
“And I’ll bet you were too much a lady…?” Tyler smiles and Cleo smiles back.
“Unfortunately, yes. But, I've been his personal assistant, his confident, his replacement when things got difficult and, when he really couldn’t do much anymore, these last few months, I was his nurse… Maybe I should have been straightforward with him. Maybe he would have left me everything.”
“Would you have been interested in this old hotel?” Scotty asks, surprised by her words.
“Yes…” She replies reluctantly. “Did you come here to see it? Or to sell it?”
“I first wanted to see it.” Scotty replies.
“You’ll love this place.” Cleo nods with a satisfied smile and Scotty gives Tyler an uncertain smile as they follow Cleo. So far, he’s underwhelmed and the idea of selling comes nearer with every step he takes.
*****
“Miss Ridge….” The principal carefully looks at Julia. “Just a few days ago, I warned you about the consequences of your less than correct behavior lately…” Julia look at him.
“I know, but….”
“I explained that it was no longer acceptable. And I thought I was clear about it.”
“You were. You absolutely were.. I’m sorry I overslept, it’s just….” Julia wants to explain how Elizabeth was sick last night and that she had been exhausted by the time she got to bed around three and that she never heard her alarm go off and…
“It’s always something, isn’t it?” The principal asks with a sad smile.
“I… I really meant to be on time…” Julia looks miserable.
“I’m sorry. I’m very sorry. You can no longer stay here.” The principal says decidedly.
“Wh..What?!” Julia stammers. He can’t be serious!
“You’re fired.”
“I can’t be. My class…”
“You should have thought about that before. I’m really sorry about this. You used to be such a reliable teacher, but these last two months it’s been one thing after the other. Early this week, I warned you of how serious we were. And today you were late again.
How can you demand of the parents to bring their children on time, if the teacher can’t be bothered to show up on time either? You class was here this morning, but you weren’t. One of your colleagues had to step in and run two classes at the same time, while we tried to reach you.
Needless to say that this isn’t in the best interest of your daughter either. Elizabeth’s progress in class is below sufficient. She’s a smart girl, but her teacher has noticed that she’s become more withdrawn and that she no longer keeps up with the other kids in her class. I don’t know what is going on, but … I can no longer accept it in this school.”
“What if I promise…?” Julia tries, but the principal shakes his head.
“You’ve had all the chances I can give you. If had been someone else, he or she would have long been fired, but because working with you was so pleasant before we gave you some extra chances.
We feared that there might be some issues in your private life or something like that, but we can no longer wait until you’ve solved your problems, whatever they are. We may not have control over what is going on in your private life, but it starts to affect you work and that is something we do have control over.”
Julia’s eyes fill with tears.
“Please, don’t do this.” She whispers. "I can promise...."
“You can stay here until the end of the month. It will give you time to look for another place to work…”
“But, that will be so hard…. It was nearly impossible to get this job…” Julia nearly cries.
“You should have thought about that, before you threw it all away. Again, I’m very sorry, but you’ve become too unreliable…” Julia jumps up and runs from the principal’s office, no longer able to stop her tears from coming.
*****
“I can’t believe that you won’t help me search for a comprise.” Kitty argues. Seth shakes his head in anger. They’ve picked up their fight where they left off earlier that day.
“And how do you propose we ‘compromise’. You either are pregnant or you’re not. There’s no middle ground.
You can’t be half-pregnant or be pregnant the last 4.5 months… What you want is for me to sheepishly follow you into your insane ideas and that isn’t working…. Because I can’t do that.” Seth yells back. He sees the pain in Kitty’s eyes and, more gently, he continues:
“I love you, Kit. I want a future with you, but I can’t see that future with another child in it. We have Evan and that is enough. I don’t need more. I don’t have the drive to procreate. It’s not some must-do thing for me. I like our little family just the way it is. Especially if not having this child means that I can have you.” He explains once again.
Kitty knows that somewhere she should feel his love for her in these words. The fact that he prefers her, safe and healthy, even if it means losing their unborn child, should make her feel like the most important person in his life. But it doesn’t.
“I don’t want an abortion.” Kitty cries softly.
“And I don’t want this baby.” Seth replies with determination.
*****
Kevin closes his eyes. He tries to ignore the voice Alex that is still haunting him, but he can’t.
“How is this connected to Robert McCallister?”Alex asks again.
“How..? Wh.. What makes you think this is connected to him?”
“Simple, my love, I mention Scotty, Nora, Sarah, Justin, Kitty, nothing happens. I mention the Senator’s name and your heart-rate goes up… and don’t insult my intelligence by denying it… This is about him, isn’t it?”
“Yes.” Kevin replies honestly.
“Talk to me.” Alex offers, his voice is soft and caring and Kevin crumbles. He knows this is not a good idea, but he can’t stop it. It’s been on his mind for a few weeks now and he doesn’t dare to speak to anyone about how he really feels.
“I want to kill Bill Stanton.” Kevin confesses quietly.
The stunned look on Alex’s face is worth it and Kevin can somehow almost smile over it.
“Are you for real?” Alex asks, his eyes search Kevin’s face for a trace of a joke, a hint of a smile, but there isn’t any. “You are.” He concludes without waiting for Kevin’s reply. “Wow! This is bad.”
“It is…. It’s becoming an obsession.” Kevin looks miserable and Alex is serious too.
“Why? What did he do that was so bad, that you, of all people, believe that he should be killed?”
“He’s responsible for the death of Robert McCallister.”
Alex raises an eyebrow, but doesn’t ask for anything further. Instead, Kevin starts to talk. About the accident, the aftermath, he even mentions - as a throw-away line, as if it is totally unimportant - that it nearly destroyed his marriage when Scotty cheated on him.
Then he tells about the earthquake, the accident he had during it and the memories it triggered. He explains about the tapes and that he found out that Stanton had a motive to want to get rid of Robert… All this time, Alex lets Kevin talk, as if he realizes that talking about his thoughts without contradiction, is what Kevin needs.
Once Kevin stops talking, Alex becomes even more serious.
“And there’s nothing you can do? As a lawyer?”
“All circumstantial evidence.”
“But you’re sure that he’s the one responsible?”
“I have no doubt whatsoever.”
“Kevin.. What I’m about to tell you has to remain between us…”
“Alright?” Kevin answers hesitantly. “I’m your lawyer at the moment, I’m supposed to keep my confidentiality.”
Alex can’t help but laugh softly and cynically.
“You’re not my lawyer. You’re only here to squeeze some information out of me. So, forgive me for not being too impressed by your claim of confidentiality.”
“You’re forgiven.” Kevin now smiles as well.
“Carlo Bendini, that is the man, who ran your brother-in-law off the road, is dead.”
“How do you know who he was or what he did? How can you be sure?”
“He was a stupid man… He got put in here for a murder related to a drugs-deal. He thought he was ‘the man’. Boasted too much about his other jobs.
He was particularly proud of the fact that he was the one that put ‘a Senator’ in the hospital. Didn’t take long for me to find out which Senator he was talking about, that he was your brother-in-law and that the idiot didn’t nearly kill Robert, but, worse, nearly killed you too.”
“But he didn’t kill me.”
“He could have with his stupidity. And I wouldn’t let him get away with it, now could I?”
“What happened to him?” Kevin asks astounded.
“He was clumsy.”
“Clumsy?”
“I was accidentally carrying a sharp object and he walked into it about 9-10 times.” Alex shrugs and Kevin’s jaw drops.
“That is… clumsy.” Kevin then carefully says.
“Yes… Some people just are.” Alex shrugs it off.
“Was there any reason why you… accidentally… carried a sharp object around someone so clumsy? Or was that on purpose? ...Over me?” Kevin wants to know. Alex nods.
“Didn’t you get punished?” Kevin is surprised by how easy it all sounds and Alex shakes his head.
“Strangely enough… There was a new guard, third night on the job. He saw me do it, but told me he hadn’t been there to witness it. He took my knife, left and never came back. Personally, I think he was send in here to kill Bendini, but that I beat him to it.” Alex claims thoughtfully.
Kevin looks down on the name of Carlo Bendini. He had immediately written it down when he got out of the prison. A bit of digging had made him aware of the long crime-sheet he had. Running Robert of the road may even have been the smallest of his crimes, though he had paid dearly for it.
*****
“Seriously, Nora, there are more important things in the world than a boy-friend who leaves his things everywhere.” Saul sighs, although to be honest, he does appreciate the fact that Jonathan is someone who likes to be organized.
“Such as?...” Nora asks. Saul doesn’t answer.
Nora gives him a satisfied grin, knowing he doesn’t have an answer straightaway.
“That’s what I thought.” She says. “I don’t know. I am aware that it is a part of him to be this messy, but… it comes into conflict with my own principals. This morning I could have just strangled him…” She sighs.
“How would you feel if he simply announced that he wanted to spend time with his ex?” Saul suddenly asks. Nora frowns.
“I’d be surprised. His exes can’t stand him, apparently. Why?... Jonathan?”
“He just told me this morning. Just like that. I know I should trust him…”
“But…?” Nora asks.
“He was so eager to leave… What if I bore him? What if he prefers Ian over me?..”
“Why would he? For heaven’s sake, he wants to enter in a committed relationship with you…. Speaking of which, have you set a date yet?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I just can’t, if it is this easy for Jonathan to go to an ex boyfriend…” Nora makes an ugly face at Saul’s jealous undertone.
“Well, why wouldn’t he? Just because he’s in relationship with you, it doesn't mean he can never see anyone else besides you. That would be ridiculous!”
“Ian is his ex and a very handsome man. He and Jonathan had been together for quite a while.They know each other very well. And when he called, Jonathan just ran off.”
“Saul Holden! Are you insinuating that Jonathan would be a cheater? He loves you, adores you and wants to marry you. Stop it! You are desperately looking for flaws. Maybe there was an emergency, maybe it was important. Have a little faith in him.” Nora tries to be sympathetic, but gets annoyed when she sees Saul just shake his head and look miserable.
*****
“No!” Paige yells and she tries to outrun Gabe and Cooper, who are running after her with a water-gun. She quickly makes a turn to the right, around the tree, ending up behind her brothers and pulls the trigger of her own water-gun. She hits Gabe in the back and Cooper on the shoulder.
They both tumble down making disgusting ‘dying’ sounds.
“You guys are gross.” Paige shakes her head with a smile. Gabe reaches out to her and croaks:
“I have one more thing to tell you before I die…” and he motions her to come closer.
Paige cautiously approaches as Cooper remains ‘dead’ on the floor.
“Come closer….” Gabe hardly makes a sound. Paige comes closer. “Closer….” Gabe moans. Paige, ready for any ruse, takes another step. “I have to tell you now, where you can find the gold that we’ve hidden..”
“Gold?” Paige repeats. That wasn’t part of the game. “What gold..?”
“The gold we’ve hidden….”
“So, where did you hide it…?” Paige plays along. Gabe falls back, clearly ‘near dead’, but then has a last minute of strength left in him as he sits up a bit.
“The gold… You can only find it if….if you survive….”
“Survive what?” Paige comes closer, because Gabe whispers something she can’t understand. Gabe reaches out to her, grabs her t-shirt, makes her fall over and on the ground she is.
“Survive the tickle-death!!!” Gabe yells, in an immediate attack.
“By us, the Zombie-brothers!!!” Cooper now yells as well. Paige screams in fake-terror.
“Oh, no! Not the Zombie-brothers!!!” She has no choice but to surrender as it is two against one by now.
“Dad! Paula! We’ve just turned Paige into a zombie as well…” Cooper announces.
“Good!” Joe laughs. “Just in time for the barbecued sausages.”
“I rather have brains…” Cooper tries to look scary as he approaches Joe, walking stiffly like the monster of Frankenstein. Joe shrugs.
“Eat Paula. She’s the only who’s got them.” Joe says. Paula laughs and sticks out her tongue. It is so good to see the kids have so much fun. She places the tomato-salad on the table and watches Joe ‘fight’ off 3 hungry zombies and she gets her camera to make some pictures.
Paige in covered in dirt and Gabe and Cooper are not much cleaner, but it doesn’t really matter. This is what a holiday is all about. To just have some fun.
“Wash your hands first…!” She says, pointing at the jerrycan of water and she makes some more pictures as the children ‘help’ each other get clean.
*****
End of part 2/4
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