Trapped

I

Gerry Clifford watched anxiously as his wife and daughter argued. Even though Alice—his daughter’s name was Alice, wasn’t it? Even though Alice had just entered the study moments ago, he couldn’t remember why she was angry. It had something to do with something Rose said, or was it Rita? Neither of those names seemed quite right. Regardless, Gerry knew that they were arguing over him, and that chap standing off to the side didn’t want to get in the middle, you could see it by the look in his eyes.

“Oi, Frank, come over here!” Gerry called to the tall, sturdily built man with the golden-blond ringlets of hair cascading to his shoulders.

The man hurried around the battling mother and daughter, giving Gerry a warm smile.

“Hullo, Mate,” Gerry greeted. “Blimey, but we’ve a right barney goin’, innit? And it’s blusterin’ outside too. Makes me wonder if the giant Kraken that Yank author wrote about back in nineteen thirty-summit is preparin’ to rise from the briny deep and give us all a right thrashing.”

“Could be, Gerry,” the amiable chap agreed.

“I recognize the accent—don’t tell me—Welsh, innit?”

“Welsh it is.”

“Well, that’s a bit of all right then. Now, I’m sorry, but yer gonna have to refresh me memory. Absolutely bollocks me memory is of late, I’m afraid. If you’d be so kind, can you tell me which of me sisters yer married to?”

“I’m married to your daughter, Amber. We got married three years ago. I’ve pictures of you walking down the aisle with her and celebrating after the wedding. There couldn’t have been a prouder Papa.”

“Well, cer. It ain’t every day yer little girl ties the knot. Only she ain’t such a little girl anymore, is she? Look at her—taller than her old dad by nearly half a meter. Well, I was never much in the height department, and neither was me brothers, at least the ones that was me biological kin. I’ve a lot of adopted brothers. Have you met Kyle? Tall, black-haired Indian bloke what looks like a stork.”

“Oh, Kane. Yes, of course. Shall we look at some photo albums, Gerry?”

“Yeah, if you’d like. Me son, David, or maybe it was me brother, David, he put together a photo album for me with pictures of some of me old friends from back when I was in a band. I liked being in a band, but I can’t remember how to play too many songs anymore, ‘cause me memory’s for shite these days.”

II

“I don’t see why you’re making such a fuss, Amber,” Anne Clifford protested. “I was simply having a discussion with your father regarding the most sensible handling of his assets.”

“You don’t see why I’m making such a fuss. You were trying to coerce a cognitively compromised man into signing over his assets to you. Daddy is in no way capable of making such a decision on his own.”

“No, he is not, which is why I felt that having me handle the distribution of the assets was the most sensible course of action. Your father should not have such a burden weighing on his shoulders. Oh dear, I wonder if they’re feeding him right at that place. Don’t you think he looks awfully skinny?”

“Don’t bloody try to change the subject!” Amber hissed through clenched teeth. “The people at Candlelight Ridge love Dad. They oughtn’t to, but they play favorites with him because he’s so sweet and charming. I’m rather certain that Ace would lay down his life for Dad.”

“Ace—that tattooed night nurse, correct?”

“You know exactly who I’m talking about. Yes, the tattooed night nurse. I know for a fact that he makes sure that Dad eats well. He’s the one who sent those snacks that taste bloody decadent but are terribly healthy.”

“Nurse Ace and that heavyset, tattooed security guard give off an old married couple vibe, don’t you think?”

“You sound like a fucking broken record,” Amber groaned. “Stop trying to gaslight me. I caught you red-handed trying to convince your cognitively impaired husband to sign his assets over to you. Were you planning to leave me and Vance and any potential future grandchildren high and dry, Mum? Well, it’s true that Vance and I are young and healthy enough, and Vance is gainfully employed. But what about Dan? You know, your epileptic son whose seizure dog is waiting for him at home because she clashes with your décor scheme.”

“I’m allergic to animal dander, Amber, you know that. Really, it’s a puzzle the way you paint me as the wicked stepmother. Do you know, when I discovered that I was pregnant for a second time, I considered aborting, but I’m glad that I didn’t. My life is richer for having you in it. We need to try and repair our relationship.”

“I think that ship may have sailed back when I was eight years old and you introduced me to your legal adviser, Mr. Al-Mufti, and both of you were wearing robes. I may have been young, but I wasn’t stupid. You had, one might say, a zeal for Mr. Al-Mufti that you never had for Daddy. Even at that age, I knew exactly what was happening, and it made me sick at my stomach. Did you ever feel guilty, even for a moment, for cuckolding the man whose money was paying for you to live the high life while a young lawyer zinged the strings of your heart, or whatever passes for a heart in your case?”

III

Upstairs in his childhood room, Amber’s older brother Daniel curled into a fetal position and squeezed his eyes closed.

“My name is Daniel Oliver Clifford,” he told himself. “I am thirty-three years old, and I am safe. My father is Gerry, my sister is Amber, my brother-in-law is Vance, and I’ve a seizure dog named Scarlet. Scarlet is home now because Mum is allergic to dog dander. I will see Scarlet this evening. I am safe and everything is all right.”

Daniel walked over to his computer and opened his private blog. He gave his therapist, Yevpraksia, permission to read the post. Praksi was a nice young Russian woman just beginning work on her master’s degree in psychology. She was technically a therapy assistant, but Daniel resonated better with her than he did with his assigned therapist, so she was the one he interacted with most often.

“Upstairs listening to my mum and sister arguing. Mum dismissed me from the conversation and Amber suggested that it might be best for me to scarper since all hell was going to break loose. Amber and Mum have been at odds for as long as I can recall. Amber was always daddy’s girl coz Dad has a very forgiving nature. He’s a slavedriver with himself and to a degree with the other chaps in his band, but he’s never been so with me or Amber.

“I know Mum is up to no good, and it pains me. It ain’t like she’s evil, but she’s more than glad to have Dad off to Candlelight Ridge so she don’t have to be responsible for him. Mum didn’t put me in an institution because I was able to move forward. Dad is regressing, and he’s a danger to himself because he goes off wandering.

“Other than being a depressive sod that can’t pull his own weight, I’m a normal enough chap. I hit all the developmental milestones when it was expected and sometimes sooner. Dad is losing everything, not just his physical health.

“I know this might sound hyperbolic, but the staff at Candlelight Ridge are angels. They treat all the residents with kindness and respect, but I know that they think Dad is special. Ace and Thomas on the night shift are my favorites. Mum thinks they’re gay for each other, but they’re just mates. I wouldn’t care one way or the other, but she’s got a dirty mind, and that’s why it bothers me for her to think that.

“Amber thinks that Mum is going to take all of Dad’s assets. I think that Mum feels like she has to be in control of everything. I can understand that. I certainly feel powerless. I’d do anything to make Dad better. I know that I can’t do a damn thing to save him, and it tears me apart.

“Because of the seizures I probably can’t ever be a neurosurgeon or such, but I want to do research to save others from dementia, even if I can’t save my father.”

Daniel slumped over the desk and wept.

IV

Amber was trying to control her temper. Nothing good could come from her flying about the room shrieking like a banshee, no matter how justified her rage might be. She remembered the day when Vance’s Uncle William found her in his study in a state of distress and encouraged her to express whatever was troubling her so.

“I hate my mother!” Amber confessed, and she feared that the zeal with which she said it might cause the even-tempered Welshman to think her a madwoman and advise his nephew to lock her away. However, William’s expression remained placid. He gently patted Amber’s shoulder.

“Now, isn’t it better to have that out of your system?” he inquired. “Lord knows how long you’ve been carrying that burden, but I’ve a sense that it’s been close to a lifetime. Come sit down and let’s chat a spell. I’ve an electric kettle so we won’t have to leave the study; and look what that husband of yours gave me—a fresh Quality Street assortment. That boy surely knows his uncle.”

“That’s Vance for you,” Amber said. “He pays attention to what people like, and I think that’s the main reason I fell in love with him. He’s very much like my father in that regard. Da can be a bit dense at times, and if pushed he has a beastly temper, but he don’t yell at me or Dan. He ain’t ever abused Mum, but she pushes his buttons until he raises his voice, and then she behaves as if he’s being harsh towards her with no provocation. Why do people stay in marriages where there’s no love, Mr. Collins? Have you any idea?”

“You needn’t call me Mr. Collins. You married my nephew, which makes you my niece. Therefore, I am your Uncle Bill, or Uncle Will, or Uncle William if you’d like to be formal about it. Never saw myself as a Liam, but Uncle Liam would do if you like that.”

“I like Uncle Will,” Amber decided.

“Splendid! Have you ever inquired why your father remains with your mother?”

“I’ve thought about doing so, but I suppose it isn’t my place. I don’t wish to distress him. Vance may have told you, but my father isn’t well. He’s been diagnosed with dementia.”

“Oh, my girl, I am so very sorry.”

“Thank you,” Amber sniffled, reaching for a tissue to dry her eyes. “But you see, it means that now I have to deal with Mum directly without my father to act as a buffer. Whenever I have a question, she deflects, and it makes me furious. Then I wind up shouting at her, and she tells me with a pained look that I need to learn to control the raging storm of my emotions.”

“A bit of advice, my dear,” William offered. “Remain calm for your sake, not your mother’s. One can never see clearly during a raging storm. Remember, a zephyr soothes, a typhoon destroys. Be calm as a zephyr and don’t let yourself fall for your mother’s tricks. She benefits from having you in a rage. If you can study her rather than fighting her, you will have the upper hand.”

V

Vance Collins wished that there was some way he could bring about peace between his wife and mother-in-law and some way he could stop the deterioration of his father-in-law’s brain. He wished that he could cure Daniel’s seizures and instill some confidence in the poor bloke.

Regardless of how foolish some people thought it sounded, Vance believed that he was meant to be part of Amber’s family in some fashion from the first weekend that she brought him home to meet the crew fourteen years ago. They were both attending the University of Reading. He was in film school and she was studying literature.

Amber kept to herself at University. She didn’t go to parties or do much of anything besides study. However, when she saw a sign on the student union bulletin board calling for performers in a film project billing itself as a twisted version of Sleeping Beauty, she was intrigued. The script was written by Cleopatra Pavlova, real name Kaaren MacArthur, a feminist rabble-rouser who was, in Amber’s opinion, possibly the most interesting person on campus.

Cleopatra was a tiny Vietnamese-Caucasian woman who Vance thought looked like an angry mouse. She had a narrow face with a sharp nose and a perpetual scowl. Despite dwarfing her by a meter, he felt it would be unwise to cross her. Besides, Vance saw no reason to act like a dick. Cleopatra, and women in general, had ample reason to be angry.

Despite her fearsome reputation, Cleopatra and Vance hit it off. There was never anything romantic between them. Cleopatra introduced herself as “Cleopatra Pavlova, feminist, not the sexy, fun kind,” and she was a lesbian in any case. Vance introduced himself as “Vance Collins, ordinary Welsh bloke hoping to make extraordinary films,” at which point Cleopatra smiled brightly, laughed, gently punched his arm, and said “all right, Mate, let’s find us some top-notch performers and make some bloody extraordinary films.”

Despite being optimistic and believing that there probably was some sort of higher power, Vance was a practical fellow and did not believe in magic or love at first sight. However, when Amber walked in and said that she was interested in playing a part in the film, he felt as if the sky had opened and squadrons of unicorns and happy birds had painted the world with fairy dust. The sturdy, toffee-haired girl with the moss-green eyes looked like an elf princess.

“Oh, blimey!” Vance’s internal voice declared. “I don’t know if I ought to hope that she ain’t a lesbian and that she ain’t got a boyfriend, or if I should hope to find out quickly that she is a lesbian or has a boyfriend so I can get over her, ‘cause the longer I’m in her presence, the harder I’m gonna fall.”

Vance was shaken from his reverie by the exuberant Cleopatra.

“Vance, come down from the clouds, Mate!” Cleo insisted. “Do you not agree that we needn’t look further? This is our Sleeping Beauty! Now, it ain’t simply ‘cause she’s a looker, mind. It’s how she looks. She looks like she notices the world around her. She takes it in. She analyzes it. And sometimes she’s bloody fucking distressed by what she sees! What say you? Do you see it?”

VI

Anne wondered why she ever thought that marrying Gerry Clifford was a good idea. At five foot four and 110 pounds, Gerry was nobody’s idea of a manly man. He had a fetching face with a sweet smile and big, innocent eyes. Still, Anne was never the sort to be taken in by boyish charm. She planned to marry the kind of fellow who could grace the cover of GQ.

Anne met the Clifford brothers while working as an assistant to Mainline's manager, Odovacar "Odo" Cokes. She came from a wealthy family and didn’t need to work but wanted to be self-sufficient rather than depending on the distant parents that she hardly knew but spent her formative years trying to prove herself to. The bond between Paul and Gerry fascinated Anne, who had no siblings and wondered what it would be like to have a bosom companion.

When Paul and Gerry learned that Anne would be spending the holidays alone, they said they’d have none of it and invited her to dinner with their family. Anne was astounded by the closeness and ingenuousness of the Clifford clan.

Gerry was a depressive and hypersensitive sod at times. At a Valentine’s Day party in 1979, Paul met his soul mate, a tall, blonde French model named Sophia van der Zee. The youngest of the Clifford clan was positively gaga for this cross between Twiggy and Brigitte Bardot, whose fussing over her Petit Paulie made Anne want to gag.

Anne found Gerry on the seventh-floor balcony at the Regent Hotel where Excellence Records was throwing their Christmas party. Gerry was sipping Scotch on the rocks, smoking a cigarette, and shivering in the cold air. He was evidently unhappy, and for a horrible moment, Anne feared that he might throw himself from the balcony. She encouraged him to come sit with her and chat.

“It probably won’t last, Gerry,” Anne soothed the unhappy fellow. “Pretty birdies like Sophia tend to be flighty. She’ll find someone else to latch onto soon enough, and then you’ll have your best mate back.”

“Well, I hope she don’t fuck off, it would break Paul’s heart,” Gerry counted. “Anyways, she ain’t flighty if you get to know her, and she likes Paul as much as he likes her. Also, close though me and Paul are, could you imagine me straightening his tie or bloody tying his shoelaces for him? I’d tell him ‘tie your shoes, Arsehole, before you trip.’”

Anne had always thought Gerry a plain-looking fellow, but his sweet nature and the cocktails she’d been imbibing in enhanced his charm. Before the night was out, she kissed him. Four months into their new relationship, she was pregnant with Daniel and her fate was sealed.

Acknowledgments

The giant Kraken, Cthulhu, is the creation of that Yank author, H.P. Lovecraft (1890 – 1937).