Keeping Company Ch. 02

The funeral was a quiet affair; I'm told you will know what your true friends think of you when you read your own obituary. The page was blank when it came to Steven. The Californian sun that he so loved came out for him as he was buried. The headstone was simple and summed my son up. On it was his name and date and birth and death. Beth wanted nothing else on it and looked to me to back her up, which I did.

We spent the rest of the day at Beth's house. I kept the twins company and we even went for a walk around the block, a hand in each of mine. The girls were in a huddle when the children and I returned. Once they realized we were back they set about a light meal for the children. When the children went into the day room after they had finished, I sat with the girls but watched the twins at the same time.

It was Beth that started the conversation. "In six weeks it's a national holiday. I'm going to take the children with me to see my folks."

Something just didn't feel right. The rest of the girls sat and watched, almost waiting.

"Beth, my son is dead. He can't hurt you or the children anymore. You don't need permission to visit your folks and you have the funds to do so. Enjoy your short break. I'm sure your folks will love to see the twins."

This time Beth looked towards Amy for support. Amy seemed to expect it and with a quick glance at the children she looked at me.

"While you were taking your walk we talked. We have offered Beth membership."

As my head turned to each of the girls they all nodded.

"Who initiated this conversation?"

"I did." This time I looked at Beth but she remained defiant.

She had owned up and was now standing by it. She cast a glance once more at Amy before she looked intensely at me and back down to her hands. It seems the evening Amy showed me what Steven had done to her and removed me from the conference room with Carol and Mandy in the hope I would get it out of my system, she had come back to Beth's, sat her down and explained everything.

The discs they had found and how it was left to Carol and her to check every disk. They knew the systematic abuse and violence that Steven had inflicted on his own wife and assured her all the discs were now destroyed. Both women had spoken well into the night about the past with Steven and how his own sadistic manner grew steadily worse over time. They also talked about the funeral and how the girls would be leaving soon after.

At such a vulnerable time in her own life she felt relieved and unsure. I suppose if you opened the door to any caged animal as you're about give it back its freedom, it too would pause. The cage it lived in may disgust it but it's the only environment it knows and that is their comfort.

The outside world has its freedoms, a new beginning, away from the tyrant who made the decisions however wrong and forced them on everyone in the family. With Beth being the head of that family now she was going to have to find the Beth that had been beaten into submission for so many years and learn to live again, for all their sakes.

It was Beth that brought up the relationship that all four of them had with me. So Amy shared with Beth some of the past histories the girls had and why each of them had gravitated towards each other. She knew about us but never how deeply involved we were with each other.

Amy knew she had to back off, so she stood and left, telling Beth that Mandy would be by in the afternoon to sign for the delivery of her new car, but not again until the funeral the following day. It left Beth to think and when Mandy came by she asked questions. Mandy refused to answer, telling her that the particular questions she wanted answers too had to be with all present. None of the girls talked about their relationship outside of the others knowing.

"You understand the rules that apply to this group?"

Amy smiled but said nothing as I waited for Beth to answer.

"Yes I do. I know I'm not as rich or powerful as any of you but I'm asking for something, anything you can give me. I'm alone for the first time since I left for college and I don't want to be alone."

Although I understood her answer I needed to emphasize a point.

"If you only see the material worth of any of us you will miss the point to why the girls started this in the first place. You are richer than any of us."

I pointed at the twins watching cartoons on the TV.

"That's your worth. None of us will ever have children for many reasons. All we can be are aunts and uncles. We will never spoil those two but they will never want for the things they need. You also bring yourself to this table, you're an individual in your own right and you would be listened to as are the others. Are you sure you want this?"

This time Beth blushed and looked down at the table to compose herself before she nodded her head.

"Mandy, get up and join the children. Amy, take Beth back with all three of you. She needs to talk without little ears listening in. Mandy and I will stay with the children tonight."

All stood and walked to the door. Beth was the last to stand. To her making a decision was one thing, following it through was perhaps another. For a moment I wondered if I had called some bluff within her, yet she stood and walked over to the twins, hugged them both and told them that Mandy and I were going to be here tonight and that she was going to be back in the morning.

Sadness reigned for a moment before they realized that Mandy was on her cell calling for as cab to take us all for pizza. I pulled Amy to one side and asked her if all the girls were sure about this. She nodded before telling me that Mandy had suspected Beth's questions were leading to this. It took Amy confronting her to force her to tell Amy the truth.

Amy seemed reluctant to say what was on her mind. In the end she blurted it out, although I've known her for some time and realized what she was about to say. I never got a chance to totally head her off at the pass.

"You know that you will..."

"No. My son stole her innocence. For now she has to rediscover the joys of this life. Once she understands what she gains from you girls then perhaps we will talk but I can't promise more at the moment."

Beth was afraid to look me in the eye when she hugged me and left with the girls. Our cab pulled up twenty minutes later. We had gotten the children out of the clothes they wore for the funeral and into there comfortable clothes. I'm not sure who won in the fun stakes, I'm almost sure I had more fun than the twins, but not by much.

We put two very tired children to bed that evening and when Mandy and I adjourned to the kitchen for a drink she seemed to speak my thoughts.

"Don't think for a moment that Beth is speeding along here. She has suspected for sometime the theory of our relationship with you. She doesn't need my math's brain to figure out that four healthy women can't fit into one male of the species so she knows what else goes on as well."

"Did you tell her about yourself?"

Mandy shook her head.

"It didn't take me long to figure out what her angle was when we went over her finances and the questions she kept asking. I think in her head she was trying to work out the dynamics of our group. What I am won't interfere with her."

"She still gives herself away. I'm Steven's father and I keep catching her looking and I suspect that one of the thoughts that still dances through her head are 'is it like father like son?'"

Mandy shrugged her shoulders and sighed and then stood and held out her hand.

"Come on, let's get this over with."

That confused me.

"What, you don't think us girls talk? The last time that happened Amy went all laser on herself. The other girls love it when you shave us so no laser is getting near this pussy. But I wasn't here when you needed me and Amy took the brunt of what you wanted to give me. Now I have to suffer boring sex as my penance."

I laughed and her face smiled right back at me. The so called boring sex lasted a good ten minutes before Mandy went straight to slut and stayed there for the night. Being quiet when her slut gets to play is real difficult for her. Mandy liked to express herself when we make love. But we were both aware that we were not alone, so the pillow showed some real tidy bite marks by the morning.

The twins came crashing into the bedroom and used the bounce on the bed method to wake me. It seems Mandy took great pleasure in telling them that's my favorite way of being woken in the morning. Beth and the girls arrived back at the house at eleven. We had the twins fed and the washing machine on for the sheets. Mandy and I took one look at Beth and told her to go back to bed while the girls and I took the twins to the park.

The children running for the door seemed to make up her mind for her. Ice cream in the park seems to be a must according to the twins and an equal amount of it seemed to live around there mouths when they had finished as well. The ever present tissues in women's bags were used to wipe away the evidence though.

Amy sat with me while the girls kept the twins occupied.

"You think we ambushed you with this, don't you?"

"That thought had crossed my mind but Mandy told me that Beth kept asking her questions about us almost as soon as she came through the door."

Amy giggled. "She sure picked the wrong girl to ask, huh?"

"I assume that's why you got involved. Mandy told you and you went looking to see what she was after."

"Pretty much, but last night confirmed our suspicions. Steven has done a real job on that girl. For now she lives for the children and that was to be her life. Then you came back into their lives and brought a bunch of women with you. Yes, she knew me because of the legal fight Steven got into with you, but then three more pop up and all connected with you and that confused her."

Amy slipped her hand into mine and held on.

"She told us everything. Not that we needed much because of the discs but she started and we listened until she was done. Then Wendy pulled her out of the chair and into the bedroom before she had a chance to change her mind. When Wendy was done Carol took over. We wouldn't let her sleep, all night we took turns with her or double teamed her. We made sure we left a hefty tip with room service before we came here."

Something just didn't sit right in all this; I had to wonder if we were going to fast in all this. Surely Beth knew she no longer had to worry about Steven. Hell, we had even sorted out her next move when the twins broke from school. Amy still felt she had to push Beth's case along.

"She has family commitments so she won't be around us all that often. We will of course go and see her and Beth can come to us. I'm sure her folks would want to play catch up in being grandparents anyway."

Her pause was longer this time.

"Your vote is the deciding factor. You know the rules; we all agree or it won't happen."

The Past...

As luck, either good or bad I'm not sure, would have it, Ginny had phoned to tell me she was working late. Ten minutes after her call I got a phone call from Steven. He was planning on bringing the children to see us now they were at an age that the airline would be more conformable with small children traveling.

I understood his meaning, far too many times I had either sat behind or in front of a young mother trying to keep her child from screaming as the plane either took off or landed. Small children suffer the worst from the changes in cabin pressure and the pain in their ears scares them. It was going to be a nice surprise for Ginny since her birthday was close.

A week later I sent him full air fare for the whole family. I'm just glad I didn't tell Ginny because no amount of phoning him was met with any answer after that. My wife's birthday came and went and neither sign nor phone calls from Steven. Part of me was so sad that Ginny never got to see her grandchildren. Steven used them as a club to beat us with at every opportunity.

His greatest insults was getting me to pay money into his account so he could buy tickets for them to visit us, only to use that money to visit Beth's family instead. When Steven gloated about it on their visit, Beth's father phoned us and apologized. Of course it wasn't his fault; we were the ones with a bastard for a son.

I got to hold Ginny half the night when we found out. This time I also got to say 'I love you' ten times as she cried her heart out on my shoulder. We both searched our thoughts and memories, hoping to find something, anything that we could point to and say that was why. We never did and other than each other we kept our peace on the subject.

A year later Ginny came home early from work feeling run down and tired. I left her in peace for a day or so. When nothing changed I marched her to the doctors. The tests lasted all afternoon and within a week we were called back again. Ginny had Leukemia. The doctors talked and neither one of us was in any real emotional state to listen.

They called in specialists and did more tests and a week later when every test conceivable came back they sat us down and gave us the news. Ginny's leukemia had gone to far and short of sitting her next to an atom bomb at the point of explosion, no amount of operations and radiation therapy was going to make her better.

It's hard to walk out of a doctor's office in a straight line after being told that the woman you're hanging onto is dying and that she may as well go home and make her last days as comfortable as possible. I closed my work down and smothered Ginny in love. It was probably the only argument we ever had between us.

"Dammit Mark, I'm dying of cancer as well as suffocation. I want you to go out and play a round of golf. Please honey, I need time alone, you've got to give me this. I need you to get out of the damn house and not come back until eight tonight."

She saw me hesitate, I simply wasn't sure I could leave her alone for that long.

"Mark, if you don't get out of this house I'm going to divorce you."

Never go up against a woman with nothing to loose. The golf was a joke and I gave up after the fifth hole. I stayed for lunch and tried the driving range for awhile. Thankfully my wife took pity on me and at six she called me and said I could come back now. Amy Baxter was sitting with Ginny when I got back. She pulled a file out and asked me to sign next to the red crosses. I looked towards Ginny and she smiled.

"Be honest with me Mark, when I die, what state of mind are you going to be in?"

That was amongst the easiest questions I'm ever had to give an answer to.

"I'm loosing my soul mate, I'm going to be able to breathe and cry a lot. I haven't thought much about anything after that."

Amy left shortly after that. She had tears in her eyes when she kissed my cheek. Over the next week I saw a lot of Amy but I always seemed to be chased out of the room when she came. Wendy Morgan came by every evening and it gave me the chance to have a shower while they talked. Also, Mandy Trenton came to the door and introduced herself. It seemed she was our accountant and had been for almost eight years now.

She was another one who spread sheets of paper in front of me and Ginny and said sign next to the red crosses. I looked at Ginny and she smiled and nodded, so I did. Two days later Ginny took a turn for the worst and was rushed into hospital. I sucked it up and called Steven. He thanked me for letting him know and put the phone down. I seethed for a minute, the phone still in my hand before I yanked it from the socket and threw it against the wall.

A month after Ginny's death I bought a picture frame and placed it over the dent in the drywall the phone made when it hit it, as a day to day reminder to me that some children should never have been brought into this world.

I was with Ginny to the very end. God will never tell me why and he will never tell me how many times I told my wife how much I loved her and for the final time she looked at me and smiled that smile that has held me to her for all these years.

"Please my darling, don't follow me. Live like I know you deserve. I've left gifts for you that will help you to live again. Treasure them all because each gifts individuality will keep that great big heart of yours beating if you just let them in."

Her eyes flickered for a moment and then she breathed her last once more before closing her eyes and leaving me alone. The nurses are angels in disguise, they held me after I bent down and kissed Ginny's lips one more time and walked me to the door.

Amy Baxter was waiting for me in the corridor, her mascara was a mess. I told her so and she laughed. I never noticed Amy carry a suitcase in with her when we got home. She told me later that I may as well have been a robot. She told me when to eat and sleep and all I did was nod and go and do it. Three days before the funeral I tried to make peace with Steven but when I called him and told him of his mother's death he said nothing.

"Steven, I'm sending you money so that you can come to her funeral."

"Sorry pops, I'm washing my hair that day. Darn it and I was so looking forward to saying good bye to mommy dearest."

And the phone went dead. I bought another picture frame to compliment the first one. I now had two reminders why the meek need to inherit the Earth, so that scum bags like my son don't get a chance at fucking everything up.

Wendy Morgan had to close the factory for the day of the funeral. So many people wanted to attend, she had little choice. I had intended it to be a simple funeral but the folks from Wendy's factory weren't about to allow that and asked if two of the staff could say a few words. I was touched and agreed. Ginny was well liked by all at the factory and through tears and tissues one of the office supervisors gave a five minute speech.

When she sat down a big burly man from the maintenance department of the factory got up and spoke. His voice carried his thoughts, his pain at her passing and joy at knowing Ginny. She had time for everyone whether it was a problem at work or personal. She had even played matchmaker for him and his new bride. A fresh wave of tissues came out then. The man tried so hard to keep the emotion out of his voice when he spoke of Ginny.

I hadn't planed to speak, yet these two people had touched something within me so I stood. Amy shifted her position and gave me access to the isle. The walk calmed my thoughts but only until I turned and looked out towards the full church. My voice refused to have sound. Then I looked towards all the girls in the isle. Amy, Wendy, Mandy and Carol all looked back at me and somehow my courage grew within me.

"My wife loved her job. Wendy Morgan gave her the opportunity and Ginny grabbed it with both hands. Every working day she looked forward to any challenge that life or the factory would give her. Many times she would come home exhausted yet still have the biggest smile on her face. She knew each of you by your first name because she said that friends never use last names.

"You all knew her as Ginny, Wendy Morgan's PA. I knew her as my wife and soul mate. She said she would miss you all. Ginny left this world the richer for knowing each and everyone of you. Thank you for coming."

The padre held my arm and guided me back to my seat. Minutes later we followed the coffin to its last resting place. Carol and Mandy stood either side of me, an arm wrapped around mine as the padre said a few words. The reception afterwards was held at the factory canteen. It was the only place we could think of that could hold us all. I met many of the people Ginny worked with and what they said confirmed that we would all miss her.

The Present...

Our original plan for Beth fell apart within weeks. Beth called a meeting of the group and we turned up at her place the following weekend. This was the first time I had ever met her mom and dad. They shook all our hands and told us they were taking the twins to the park to let us all talk.