Siblings (5 page)

“We have apple, cherry, and minced meat pies, and Apple Brown Betty with a lemon sauce. Help yourself.”

The men all had pies and the women chose the Brown Betty. After the second helpings were served, Richard and Wilson took their plates, excused themselves, and returned to the porch for the end of the game.

Ron followed, but not before he thanked his wife. “Everything was delicious, Lynn.”

***

After the table was cleaned off, Maggie went out to the porch. The game was almost over. She went over to Wilson. “Wil, how about taking a walk with me?”

“Sure, Sis, let me get my jacket.” He went inside and returned minutes later. “Where to?”

“Oh, let’s walk down by the park. It’s such a beautiful day for a walk. By the way, you handled yourself very well earlier. I will never understand why Richard always tries to bully you.”

“Thanks, Sis.” He grinned. “I guess my time in the slammer taught me to control my emotions. There were always guys trying to provoke fights. You had to be on your guard at all times.”

“That must have been awful for you.”

“I had some rough spots. I remember once when I was smoking a cigarette and this big, muscular guy told me to give it to him. I was ready to hand it over when my cellmate, who was six inches taller than the man and much more muscular, stepped in between us and told the guy to back off. Some threats were exchanged, but the guy backed off and never bothered me again. I tried to thank Max, but he told me that cellmates look out for each other. Anyway, I was glad that I never had to return the favor.”

“I hope you don’t mind me asking this. I’ll understand if it’s uncomfortable for you to talk about it—”

He interrupted her. “I think I know what you’re going to ask. No, that never happened to me. I know a lot of that was going on, but I guess having Max as a protector kept the predators away. He was straight arrow; a married man with three children and very religious. I think his six-foot-six stature and bulging biceps sent out the right message to anyone wanting to mess with him or me. I don’t know this for sure, but I think the warden or the chaplain had something to do with his selection as my cellmate.”

“Well, thank God for that. I’m sorry about asking. I didn’t mean to pry.”

“That’s okay, Mag, it’s normal to be curious about things like that. After all, it does go on in prisons all the time.”

When they reached the park they found an empty bench by the lake and sat down.

“Let’s talk about something cheerful, like you looking for a job in logistics. I really think that’s a great idea. Now, don’t let on that I told you, but Dad told Mom that he would check with some friends at his club to see if any of them might have an opening for you at one of their companies.”

“Of course I won’t say anything, but I am surprised, though. I remember putting him off when he offered his help. I was too full of self-pride at the time. Since then, whenever Dad asks a lot about my job, I thought he was resigned to the idea that working at the Wallington was going to be it for me.” He hesitated for a minute as he mulled this new bit of information over in his mind. “You know, Dad never ceases to amaze me. When I got in trouble he never once yelled at me or said he was disappointed in me. Both he and Mom just cared about doing the best they could under the circumstances.”

“They’re like that. I had a few instances in my teens where I thought they would ground me for life. At that age, I really believed that was possible, but they just sat me down and we had a rational discussion. I never actually thought much about it, but they both are really cool. I think we’re very lucky to have them as parents. It’s not easy raising kids while you’re trying to get established in a highly competitive business. I give them lots of credit. I don’t think we could have had better parents.”

“I agree. So, let’s talk about you. How’s your love life these days?”

Maggie gave him a punch in the arm. “You don’t ask your sister a question like that.”

“Why not? You were going to ask me about being somebody’s bitch in prison.”

“That’s different.”

“Why’s that?”

“It just is, Wil, but if you must know, I’m not with anyone right now.”

“Is that your choice, or is it just that Mr. Right hasn’t come along?”

“Well, actually, a little of both. I went with an intern for about four months, but he wanted to join a hospital group in California when his residency is finished. I don’t want to move out west. Of course, he didn’t actually ask me to go with him, but if he had, I would have turned him down flat.” She shrugged. “So I decided to cut my losses while I could.”

“That’s very mature. Well, I hope it works out for you.” He nudged her. “After all, you aren’t getting any younger.”

“Oh, thanks, I needed that. What about you, Wil? I don’t see any pretty young thing draped on your arm.”

“Touché. You don’t happen to know any pretty young nurses that want to go out with a felon, do you?”

Maggie laughed.

“No, seriously. Do you?”

“I don’t know, I’ll have to think about it. I certainly hope that you don’t think doing time for an offense like distributing marijuana marks you for life, do you? Because I can tell you that some of the people I work with have records for offenses worse than that; both men and women. It’s a sign of the times, I guess. I just want you to realize that it’s not as uncommon as you may think.”

“I appreciate that, Mag. Anyway, let me know if you think of anyone.”

“I will, Bro. I hope you’re staying away from George and Bobby Abbott.”

“I went to see a movie last week and when I came out I ran into them on the street. They wanted to go to a bar for a drink, but I refused. They seemed a bit pissed off. They have no beef with me, though. I didn’t squeal on them and they know it.”

“After they left you holding the bag, you would think they’d be ashamed to show their faces around you. They’re walking the streets because you took the rap for them. I don’t know how they have avoided doing time all these years.”

“Me neither. I guess they know the right people. Anyway, I promised you that I wouldn’t have anything to do with them when I got out and I’ve kept that promise.”

“I’m proud of you, Wil. It would have been so easy to slip back into that life again, especially with society making it difficult for you to return to the mainstream.”

“It matters what you think of me. You were my closest friend when we were growing up. Richard never cared about me, except as a punching bag, but you I could always depend on. Sometimes I wish we could go back to those days. I know that things would have ended better for me if only I had listened to your warnings about the Abbotts.”

“I think a lot about those days too. I didn’t have a lot of friends or do a lot of dating, so the hours we spent together, smoking cigarettes, drinking beer, and practicing dancing and kissing meant a lot to me.”

“Oh, my god, I almost forgot about that.” He raised his eyebrows and gave her a lascivious look. “As I remember, you were the one who taught me to French kiss.”

Her face turned crimson. “As I remember, you were a quick learner. It’s a wonder that we didn’t land up in bed together.”

“Well, we almost did. Don’t you remember that one day when we were practicing kissing and I got caught up in the emotion of the situation and felt your breast? Of course, nothing happened because Mom and Dad came home just then.”

Maggie looked shocked. “I certainly hope that you don’t think that was the only reason we stopped. Don’t flatter yourself, lover boy. I wouldn’t have let it go any further. Give me credit for having some restraint. That would have ruined everything between us.” She shook her head. “You guys get so full of yourselves when you’re in puberty. From the sound of you now, it looks as if it doesn’t end there.”

“It’s all those raging hormones. Anyway, you’re right, that would have ruined everything.”

They walked back to the house, arm in arm. Richard and Theresa were standing by the front steps when they reached the house.

“We’re going to be leaving now,” Richard said.

Theresa hugged Maggie and Wilson. “I’m glad we finally met. I hope we can get together again before the wedding.”

“I’d like that,” Maggie replied.

Richard reached out his hand to Wilson. “No hard feelings, I hope.”

“None as far as I’m concerned,” Wil answered, as he shook Richard’s hand.

“I’m glad. I know that I go overboard sometimes and still try to bully my kid brother. Anyway, I am truly sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it, Bro. We’re good.”

Richard and Theresa waved as their car pulled out of the driveway.

Maggie started up the stairs. “We better get inside and see if Mom and Dad need any help cleaning up.”

As they came in the front door they were greeted by their mother and father. “You just missed Richard and Theresa. They had to leave early.”

“We met them on their way out,” Maggie said.

Marilyn smiled. “I’m so glad you did. I think they delayed leaving for a while so they could say good-bye to you. I sensed that Richard was feeling some remorse for some of the things he said at dinner. Theresa is such a lovely girl, isn’t she? I’m pretty sure that in spite of ourselves, we made a good impression on her. What do you think?”

“Oh, I’m sure we did,” Maggie answered. “I didn’t sense any discomfort on her part whatsoever. You can tell when a person is uncomfortable. Actually, I would say this was one of the better Symington Thanksgiving dinners on record.”

Marilyn looked relieved. “Well, I’m happy that you feel that way. Are you two going to stick around for a while? I can set out some coffee and leftover desserts on the porch.”

Wilson looked at Maggie and saw approval. “That would be great, Mom. That walk sort of worked off the dinner for me. If I didn’t say so before, everything was delicious.”

“I’m so glad you liked it. Thanks to Maggie’s help, everything came out fine.”

Maggie just smiled. There was no sense stating the obvious; that all she had been allowed to do was peel a few fruits and vegetables, prepare the pie crusts, and heat up the croissants. Although her mother had earlier given her the credit for the sweet potato soufflé, all she had to do was heat it up for thirty minutes. As usual, Marilyn had already done the brunt of the work.

Marilyn headed off to the kitchen to get things ready and Ron put his arms around his children’s shoulders and led them to the porch. “In the meantime, we can watch some of the second game if you’d like.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Maggie said, as she picked up the remote. “What channel is it on?”

***

Several hours later, when they were finally alone, Ron and Lynn were in bed, watching an old movie. Both were naked, having made love the minute they hit the sheets. All the tension of the day finally and noisily dissipated as both came quickly.

“That was wonderful, Ron. I don’t think I could have waited another minute. All the time that Maggie and Wilson were watching TV, I was willing them to say goodnight.”

“You must have been reading my mind, Lynn. Another ten minutes and I would have taken you by the hand, told them to lock up when they left, and dragged you off to the bedroom.”

“My, aren’t you the big strong cave-man.”

“I can be when I have to be.”

She rolled over and kissed him. “Well, go easy on the hair when you drag me into your cave.”

“Not to change the subject, but today went well. I mean given our record.”

“I agree. There was just that spat at the table and another when we were out on the porch. Richard tried to start in again, but I managed to step in before it got out of hand. As Maggie pointed out, it was one of our better Thanksgiving dinners.”

“I’m so glad of that, especially with Theresa joining us. Richard has a keeper, there. She’s a very lovely girl.”

“Yes, she seems to be. I didn’t get much time to talk with her, but she seems very nice.”

“She’ll be good for him. We had a nice chat while you guys were watching the game. She’s very level headed and wants to have at least two children. I know that many women look at becoming a grandmother as something awful; a sign of aging, but I can’t wait till I have some little ones calling me granny.”

“Well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves, Lynn. Let’s get them married first.”

Chapter 9

Growing up in the Symington House was pretty much a classic example of sibling behaviorism. Birth order, at least according to many experts, is considered more of a determiner of success in life than parental influences, per se.

Richard was the firstborn of the Symington family
.
As new parents, Ron and Lynn were forced to experiment with their offspring, going through a period of trial and error. Unsure of just what to do, they pampered Richard. Firstborns tend to become leaders, more than likely because of the role they accede to as the eldest sibling.

It is also not too difficult to understand how the firstborn ultimately becomes controlling. They have an undeniable position as the eldest sibling. Parents look to them for help with the second and subsequent additions to the family. Growing up in this position of unfettered support, firstborns are prone to becoming leaders at school and eventually become very successful at their chosen profession.

Middle children are inclined to be what their name implies; siblings stuck in between an older and a younger brother or sister. Their lives often reflect this position; quite often they are over-active, rebellious, and crowd pleasers.

Wilson’s life mirrored this classic definition of the middle child. His older brother Richard bullied him for most of their life together. Being caught betwixt-and-between for most of his childhood, the only respite he had was the birth of his baby sister Margaret. He immediately identified with Margaret as an opportunity to be superior to someone or something.

As soon as she could walk, Margaret, the lastborn, found life to be freer than her predecessors. Her parents assumed that raising the first two made them savvy. They expected the older siblings to play a moderate role in raising the child. In reality, Richard, the eldest, resented the unwanted role as babysitter and did everything in his power to sidestep the responsibility; usually by passing it on to Wilson, who readily accepted it as an opportunity to bond with the newcomer and give his life some meaning in the familial structure. The support of Wilson served to strengthen her position in the family.

Margaret played her role as lastborn with alacrity and a bit of impishness. Early on she was aware of the extra attention Wilson paid her and that, combined with being Daddy’s little girl, was all she needed to feel at home in the Symington household.

Maggie was popular in school and a good student. She was part of the right crowd and was active in school programs. She volunteered for neighborhood, political, and church activities, where she could be the center of attention.