CROOKED HEARTS- CHAPTER I BY CHERYL V.

CROOKED HEARTS-CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION:
Jus what came by without a matter of choice, the predicament into which Dave jus happened to have gotten himself into, is in having gotten Maria, his wife, pregnant, before the two were even married. By the way, then, because Maria chose not to take any more birth control pills, jus because she couldn’t trust herself to keep up with taking them, Dave ended up having four babies with her.
Maria jus happened to have started with getting pregnant with her son, Charlie. When Jeanette jus happened to find out, Maria was pregnant with her first child, whom she nicknamed Charlie, at that time, she and Dave, in a way, were ridiculed by a friend of his.
So, then, in that way, Maria and Dave were hassled into getting married by one of his friends, Mike, a minister, jus because he wanted them to have their children, assured of being brought in family life.
The predicament for the kids, certainly, would have ended up being bad for their lives, if he didn’t make an effort to get married, without fail, as soon as he found out; she was pregnant with her first child.
However, then, at the same time, during that stage in their relationship, their love for each other, was, still, being questioned to a point. That this could have broke the two up, anyways, even if they didn’t get married, right away.
Then, chances would have been, if the two waited too long to get married. Then, what love, the two were having for each other at that time, could have, actually, have left love without any solid base, on which to build their relationship enough.
So, that kind of love could have caused their relationship to fail to the point. That then, what love,, the two were having for each other at that time, could have started going downhill, and, therefore, ruin whatever chances, they had for having a family of their own, and at the same time, having been able to stay together as a family for life.
What could have happened to Dave and Maria could have been that every one in the family, all three sons and a daughter, could have ended up in all being born out of wedlock. Then, this could have placed such a strain on their relationship that the two, then, could have broken all ties with each other, which in the end could have caused their relationship to go down the drain.
In every one of the kids, having been born out of wedlock, could have caused every one of the sons, including the daughter, to be brought up without a father, thus breaking up the main family relationships.
And if every one of the kids were to be brought up, only, by Maria, it could become very difficult for her to even be able to keep any of the family, together.
Then, she might have gone to all extreme, to giving up most or all of her children for adoption, jus because she wouldn’t have been able to bring up four kids on her own without her husband’s help, in him, in having gotten into his role as a father to all of the kids.
CHAPTER I
Although, Dave’s, still, somewhat, in love with Jeanette, one of his three sons, in a family of three boys and a girl, seemed to be involved in a in a fantasy over her. This happened to Tom, jus because he happened to overhear Maria, one time, reading one of Dave’s love letters to Jeanette, which he, actually, wrote to himself about her.
Although, he has been, really, buried, in what he thinks could be true love for his wife, Maria.
However, in having had three sons and a daughter, now, from the ages of eight to fourteen, he, still, seemed to be confused over who he, really, is in love with. Was it Jeanette or Maria, whom he’s, really, in love with? Or was he in love with both of them, and doesn’t realize, that he is?
However, he must, at least, be in love with one of them, because of all the love letters, he’s written over Jeanette, and there could be some notes, hidden in the bedroom, which he has written to Maria, which she hasn’t come across, yet.
One night, while Dave and Maria were jus trying to have some privacy in their bedroom, little did either know, that one of their sons, Tom, at the tender age of eight, jus happened to be standing at their bedroom door.
And of course, being that both of his parents needed their privacy, from time to time, it was a necessity, that they have their door closed.
Tom, surely, knew jus by using his sense, that both of his parents have a right to be able to be by them, sometimes, jus to get away from the rigor, it takes to bring up a family of four.
However, anyways, he jus figured he wanted to be one big shot, and eavesdrop on his parents, that night. And at the time, they jus happened to be having a secret conversation amongst themselves in their bedroom.
As Tom jus stood, there, by the door, hoping that neither one of them would surprise him by opening up the bedroom, while he was at the door. So, in the meantime, thinking that no one, not even Tom, was trying to invade their privacy, Maria jus happened to say to Dave.
“I’ve been keeping this, a secret, for what has seemed some time, since, we’ve gotten married. So, I need to tell you something, and this is that, before while you were looking after the kids, lately, it jus occurred, by chance, that I happened to be looking for something, I needed at the time.”
“Then, what happened next, my dear?”
“I just happened to be looking through the closet in the hall, when I came across something, right there, in the closet. Then, I pushed some of my clothes over, and then, noticed that there was a safe, almost, hidden in that part of the closet. So, then, in knowing the number to the safe, I sensed in my mind, that maybe you have had something in the safe besides money.”
“What are you trying to tell me; that I shouldn’t have had that safe, there, to begin with?”
“No, that’s not what I’m getting at; I didn’t even go into your safe. And then, not finding what I was looking for, I, then, looked through all the dresser drawers. And upon doing so, I jus happened to come across what looked like a book.”
“You shouldn’t have given into the urge to look through my dresser drawers, in the first place, at that time.”
“I was curious to look inside it, so, then, I opened it up, and on the cover of the book, I happened to find the combination to the safe. So, then, I went back to the closet, and opened up the safe. And I was surprised to find a bunch of letters addressed to Jeanette, and some with her signature on them.”
“What did you find out about her?”
“”No, I didn’t, actually, read any of your love letters. I wouldn’t do such a thing as to open any of them up. But being I came across one of them, opened up, I did read that one, and I, then, found out that you have a former love, Jeanette, which you said in the letter, that she was your pal, and that you miss her a lot.”
“Don’t get me wrong, here; I’m not in love with her, anymore. I’m sure of this, because why would I go on and do things for you, like as to have more babies after Charlie was born?”
After a brief pause, trying to regain his composure, he said to her, “Wait a minute, I believe you, my darling, and trust that you won’t read any of these other love letters, or even tell any one else in the family about any of them, either.”
Then, he jus happened to hear someone near the door. So, he, carefully, walked over to the door, very stealthily. As he neared the door, he opened it, abruptly, to Tom’s surprise, and then, for a moment, the two jus stood at the door, jus staring at each other.
So, then, Maria said to Dave, “Is something wrong, Dave? How come you’re jus standing, there, at the door, like the world is ready to cave in?”
“You won’t believe who has been eavesdropping on us, my dear? Tom is here at the door, and he’s so shocked at seeing me, here, that he can’t seem to move. It’s like I’ve placed him in a state of shock. Well, I am shocked about you, Tom.”
Since, he wouldn’t give him, a valid answer, his dad said to him, “How do you dare stand, here, and try to invade both my and mom’s privacy. What’s the matter with you, now? I thought I brought up you boys to understand, that sometimes, Maria and I need to be alone. And you don’t seem to care if we have our privacy or not. Now, why did you do this to us?”
However, he was so shocked at seeing him at the door, that he couldn’t even get one word out to him.
“What’s the matter, Tom, has the cat got your tongue, now?”
He, still, wouldn’t speak to his dad, so, then, his dad said, “What did you hear us, talking about, here? Did you happen to hear anything; we were talking about, jus now? Please be speedy about it, because I’m ready to slap you right across your face.”
“Well, I happened to overhear that mom has been reading some of your love letters. And that some of them were opened, that she has read. That is all I heard, and I don’t even know where you have been keeping all those letters, either. And even if I knew where they were, I wouldn’t be dumb enough to get myself in trouble through reading any of them.”
“I jus hope that you are telling me, the truth, because your mom can hear every word, you are saying at this time to me.”
“Yes, I am telling you, the truth, dad. I swear about it, too.”
“Okay, get away from this bedroom door, right now. Because if you continue to stand, here, then, I’m going to take you aside, and make you, regret you ever tried to eavesdrop on us, in the first place.”
So, then, Tom jus hurriedly ran away from the door, and he ran right into his bedroom and shut his door behind him.
Then, upon hearing the door slam, Charlie happened to be doing something, that needed to be done at the time, like some school work, which he hated to do. And he was thinking about quitting, because he hated school, especially, the girls, which were in his classes.
Charlie, then, walked right into Tom’s room, without even knocking on his door, being his door was open at this time, being that Tom, himself, has opened his door, because he heard Charlie, mumbling to himself outside the door.
As Charlie walked over to Tom’s bed, Tom had this shocked look on his face, yet. So, Charlie felt obligated to ask him, what the matter was.
He said to Tom in a surprised voice, “What’s the matter with you, tonight, Tom? Did dad say something to you, which upset you in some way?”
“Yes, he has, Charlie, and he got after me through having overheard his and mom’s conversation, tonight, while they have been in their bedroom. And he accused me of invading his privacy. So, I don’t know what he’s planning to do next to me, now. He jus might come into my bedroom, tonight, and do jus like he said he was doing to do, slap me right in the face.”
“Now, Tom, neither dad nor mom ever would do anything like that to any of us, especially, to your sister, Mary Ann.”
“Of course, he wouldn’t do this to Mary Ann. Because if he ever tried it, mom would, surely, get mad at him for doing such a thing, being jus because she’s a girl. She never would approve of him, doing such a thing as this to a girl at any time, no matter, if the girl was part of the family, or even one of our friends.”
“Why, Tom, do you happen to have a lady friend, which I don’t know about?”
“If I do, it’s none of your business, because she’s a lot different from me as far as age goes.”
“You don’t happen to be in love, are you?”
“No, I wouldn’t, exactly, call it love, now. I, barely, know the girl, but she’s a waitress over at that restaurant, that the whole family, usually, goes to, now. But I’m jus in a fantasy world with her, and every night, it seems, that she’s in one of my dreams. And I, really, have taken a liking to her, because she’s a very nice girl.”
“How come you won’t tell me, her name, now? Are you afraid that mom or dad is going to find out about this?”
“Yes, I am, Charlie, now please get out of my room. I want to be by myself for now, and try to figure out the situation, I’ve gotten myself into, all by myself. I know that dad’s mad at me, and I think that mom might be mad at me, too, for invading their privacy, tonight.”
So, without saying another word to Tom, Charlie, then, quietly, left Tom’s room. And he even shut his for him, so, that he would be able to take some action, in case, either mom or dad reprimanded him for what he had caused, tonight.
Being that Tom had invaded their privacy, tonight, both of his parents’ jus seemed to avoid him the rest of the night.
And Tom was surprised, that neither of them even entered his room, that night, unless one of them have sneaked into his bedroom when he happened to be sleeping.
The next morning, after Tom jus happened to have a bad dream, and then, awakened early that morning, he, then, sneaked into Charlie’s room. And he jus happened to be sleeping, but he must have been sleeping lightly at the time, because as soon as Tom walked inside his room, he jus happened to open his eyes.
And then, Tom jus stood, there, by his bed for a minute, while Charlie was taking a big stretch. However, upon seeing on his clock, that it’s, only, seven o’clock in the morning, then, Charlie said to him in a nice tone of voice.
“What brings you, here, into my room at seven o’clock in the morning? Is something wrong, Tom, dad didn’t happen to scold you, again, do he, by chance?’
“No, Charlie, dad didn’t scold me for anything. I think that he and mom are, still, sleeping, yet, because I jus came from the kitchen, and neither of them is up getting breakfast, yet. Neither are any of them in the bathroom, either, because the door is open at this time.”
“What is it, then, Tom is there something on your mind at this time, that seemed to make you wake up early? You didn’t, by chance, have a bad dream, did you, my boy?”
“Yes, that’s, exactly, what woke me up, this morning.”
“Well, can you, tell me what the dream was about then.’
“Yes, Charlie, you might think that it’s silly, but I dreamt that I was in bed with Jeanette, the waitress over at the restaurant. And the thing is that I don’t even love here, either. And then, in the dream, when she got in bed with me, she happened to turn into a monster, and then, I happened to fall out of the bed, and, almost, hurt myself. It, really, scared me out of my sleep, Charlie.”
“Well, do you like this waitress, Tom? Do you think of her as being pretty and beautiful?”
“In a way, I do, because every time, we happen to go to eat over there at the restaurant, I tend to want to sneak over to her. And, sometimes, she even smiles back at me, but never has she said anything to me, yet. So, I don’t know if she likes me; she, probably, thinks that I’m, definitely, too young for her.”
“Don’t worry, Tom, I won’t say anything to either mom or dad about this, now. You can trust me on this, now. I have found out one thing about dad, though, and this is that he’s been in this fantasy world with her. And I think that he may, still, love her, yet, because I’ve found out from dad, that Jeanette was his former love jus before he happened to meet mom.”
“Is that right, Charlie? Well, I, really, like her, and want to keep seeing her. And maybe one of these times, she’ll start talking to me.”
“Whatever you do, don’t say anything about her in front of dad; because he might jus get mad at you, and then, stop taking us over to that restaurant in Los Angeles.”
So, being that in, still, being in love with Jeanette in a way, Tom’s father, Dave, and his wife, Maria, frequently, paid a visit to that same restaurant in the city.
And every time, the family went there to eat dinner, somehow, it seemed that Tom happened to start mooning over Jeanette, himself, although, he was kind of young for her. And it didn’t seem to bother her that she could tell, that he was mooning over her.
The next time, the family went over to that restaurant to eat in the heart of Los Angeles, the family jus sat down when Tom said to the whole family.
“I don’t know what to order for breakfast, today. So, if any of you can get Jeanette to wait on us for our orders, then, jus tell her, that I want my breakfast, the original way, bacon, eggs, sausage, and of course, some ice tea.”
Jeanette happened to wait on them, that morning, and when she walked over to the table, she took all of their orders. However, Tom wasn’t there at the table at the time, so, then, she’s sensing, she’s having a feeling, that he has a liking for her in some way.