I will know. Never think I won’t- because God hears the cry of bastards.

 

 

It was shortly after the Baptismal party that an enraged Brother II, co-owner of the deli, abruptly informed Blarney Boy and the Sister Who Shall Not Be Named, of their change in family status.

One evening,  they were quietly summoned into the kitchen.

With his usual good-humored grin, Blarney Boy greeted the family players, seated around the table, with a “Hey, what’s up?”

Poor Blarney Boy…He never saw it coming. He was the apple of the Woman with the Rock in her Shoe’s eye. He was the king she served rib-eye steaks to while the remainder of the family, including Pretend Father, ate meatloaf for dinner.

Blarney Boy was about to be served poetic justice, raw. He was moments away from being dethroned then tossed off stage into the orchestra pit. He never saw it coming.

Brother II, demonstrating his lack of diplomatic acting skills, blurted out in a thundering voice, “Where’s my fifty grand?!”

 

Blarney Boy was genuinely surprised and confused that he had not been apprised of the copy change. He was a lead character on the family stage and began flipping the script while improvising his lines, “What are you talking about?”

The accusation had been hurled deep from a backstage wing. Beloved Blarney Boy was momentarily shocked. He was stunned by the arraignment that had landed on his head with a thump. He had no time to kiss the Blarney Stone for luck.

Brother II, his six-foot frame now puffed with indignation, continued to ask Blarney Boy for the fifty thousand dollars he allegedly stole from the deli.

Blarney Boy adamantly denied taking any money. The Sister Who Shall Not Be Named as well voiced her stunned outrage at the charge levied against her husband.

Blarney Boy’s pleading eyes found cold stares as he glanced at each person now standing next to the table. His glimpse at the Sad Girl was the swiftest. He knew she would not plead his case.

He held the Woman with the Rock in Her Shoe’s once affectionate eyes the longest. There would be no mercy for Blarney Boy from her that evening. He would not be able to put his hand on the bible and swear. She had already tried and sentenced him in absentia.

Brother II continued to blame Blarney Boy, adding pilferer and leach to the charge of thievery. With conviction, Blarney Boy protested the charges as any innocent man would. Somewhere during the verbal melee, Brother II disclosed the method the Woman with the Rock in Her Shoe employed to set him up. The Sister Who Shall Not Be Named, rightfully so, was furious.

 

Back and forth they verbally battled with Brother II lobbing accusations and Blarney Boy ducking out of the way.
“Why would I live in your parents’ house like a pauper if I stole fifty thousand dollars? Give me a lie detector test. I swear I didn’t take it!”

 

A sneering Brother II, cocksure that Blarney Boy was a thief, took him up on his offer. Blarney Boy had scrambled up from the orchestra pit. He would not go quietly off the stage.

 

That evening, the Sad Boy slid a small dresser in front of the lock-less bedroom door. Together he and the Sad Girl set objects on top. They would fall if someone attempted to open the bedroom door.

The Woman with The Rock in Her Shoe had struck a note of fear through the home. Blarney Boy, now formally branded a thief, might aim to hurt someone in the night. The Sad Girl was now officially afraid of a violent Blarney Boy slitting her throat while she slept. It was a simple case of stage fright that left her body numb and frozen on the stage.

 

 

Goldilocks