Days 116 and 117

Secondary characters – Writing exercise

Relation to protagonist, are they trusted, dialogue differences, what is their purpose, one thing to remember them…

…

There were a few years of animosity between Alan and Jay.  And a healthy dose of resentment.

Alan was the eldest son and, as such, should have commanded some respect and, to be fair, had been treated very well.

Until Jay was born.

It didn’t matter that Mary had popped up in between them, except that she would always be their mother’s favourite.

But from the moment Jay arrived, he had commanded all the oxygen in any room he walked into.  He could do no wrong, not even when he was deliberately bad.  And no matter what Alan did, he was always wrong, or jealous, or worse, very childish.

Alan suffered it until he could leave, which was the day after he turned 18.  He simply put what he needed into his backpack, and left for work as he did every Thursday evening, went to the bus station and took the night express to anywhere that far away from what had ceased to be his home.

Over the next five or so years, Alan kept his head down and kept himself to himself, having learned the hard way that he could not rely on anyone other than himself.

He was largely a product of his experiences, and if or when anyone asked him anything about his life, he simply said he had been orphaned in his teens, bounced around the system until he was old enough to leave and make his own way.

He finished high school.  There was no possibility of going to college. His grades and finances precluded both.  He’d initially worked as a busboy and worked his way up to waiter.  He had applied to the police academy, but they had not even deigned to write back one way or another.

Perhaps it was not in his destiny.

As for home, he had only a passing interest.  There had not been one word about his departure, and endless news about the golden boy Jay.  Basketball champ, football champ, swimming champ, Prom King, and graduated top of the class.

Of course he would.

He was everything that Alan wasn’t.  He was the pride and joy of his parents.  And in that whole article about him, there was not one word about the other son.  It was like he didn’t exist.

On the seventh anniversary of Alan’s departure, the family sat around the table as they did every Sunday.  The morning visit to the church for another of Pastor Bill’s illuminating sermons, then back home for lunch.

Those occasions after Alan left were introspective, where everyone had an opinion as to why he left.  Only Mary knew why he had gone, and where, a secret she shared with the Sheriff when her parents had requested his assistance in finding out what happened to him.

Oddly, no one believed he had become a victim of foul play, but equally oddly, no one but Mary could see that their treatment of him was going to always lead to only one eventuality.

Three times, Alan’s mother secretly hired a private detective to find him.  Three times, the detective came back to tell them he had disappeared without a trace.  Only Mary knew that on the last occasion, after telling him what she knew, he found her brother, and in accordance with her wishes, he told them one thing but gave Mary a slip of paper with her brother’s address.

That had been three days ago.

Now, sitting at the table, looking at the feast, waiting for her father to say grace.  He was at one end, her mother at the opposite end, and Jay was sitting opposite her.

It had taken every one of those seven years to hate him as much as her older brother, but for different reasons.  Jay was evil.  It was as simple as that, a boy without a conscience and no scruples whatsoever.

She, too, would have left before now, but her mother was ailing, and she couldn’t leave her, not with Jay, who wouldn’t care about her, and a father who doted more on his son than his wife.

She looked over towards her and could see she was unwell.  The latest visit to the doctor wasn’t good news.  Not knowing where Alan was only made matters worse.

“I want Alan to come home,” she said suddenly, in a tone that had more fire in it than usual.  The latest report from the detective had reduced her to tears.

“Why?” Jay muttered.  “He was a spineless moron, and showed his true colours when he left, without so much as a by your leave.”

“You think?”  Mary said, glaring at him.

“What’s your beef?”

His smug look annoyed her.  She had discovered he did nothing but trash his brother’s name to anyone who would listen.

“Tell us why Bonny went to the sheriff’s office, Jay?”

Wendy, a friend of Sally, who was a friend of Ada who worked in the sherries office, had confided that Bonny, Jay’s latest girlfriend, or if the rumours were right, ex-girlfriend, had complained that he had assaulted her.  Mary suspected it was more than just ‘assault’.

Their mother switched her glare from Jay to her husband.  “What have you two done now?”

Exactly the result Mary wanted.  Jay was looking very guilty.

“It’s just a misunderstanding,” Jay muttered, suddenly standing up, sending his chair crashing backwards.  “If this is going to be another bitch session, I’ve got better things to do.  He’s gone, get over it.”

With that said, he stomped out, slamming the door behind him.

“Now look what you’ve done,” her father said. 

“No, Jack.  This is all your fault.  If you had disciplined him years ago, we wouldn’t be here.  Whatever he’s done this time, you’re not going to smooth it over.”

He simply shook his head and followed his son out the door.

Mary reached over and took her mother’s hand in hers.  She could see the tears welling in her eyes.  Jay had finally torn their family apart.

“We’re going on a road trip.  We need to spend time together away from this place.  They can fend for themselves for a few days.”

“Where?”

“It’ll be our secret.  Go throw a few things in a bag, enough for a week or so.  We’re going now.”

“What about…”

“They can clean it up or wallow in it.  You’ve done enough for the ungrateful pigs.  It’s time they did something for you.”

It took Mary a day on the road to finally coax the truth out of her mother.  A secret so devastating that she cried all night. Cancer.  Inoperable.  And six months, perhaps a year.  Mary knew it was bad, just not this bad.

The next morning, after getting back on the road and then stopping at a diner for coffee and apple pie, Mary told her where they were going.

The change in her mother was instant and brought her back to life, the slow descent into despair suddenly arrested.

“I thought…”

“I spoke to the detective this time and told him what I knew.  I figured that Alan never wanted any of us to know where he went, but there were clues which I kept to myself, and he did tell me why he left, and swore me to secrecy.  I don’t think I need to tell you, you’re smart enough to realise what drove him away.  I heard from him a few weeks after he left to tell me he was safe, that it was best not to try and find him, and he was not coming home.”

“Were you going to tell me?  Us?”

“Not Dad or Jay.  They can live in blissful ignorance.  Besides, they’re about to find themselves in a whole world of pain.  But in your case, I had decided on a road trip later, but seeing you yesterday, I realised that I couldn’t wait.  And knowing what we know, I’m glad we’re doing it now.”

“Are you sure he will be where the detective said?  Or that he will want to see me, or you?”

“That’s why I have to initially go by myself.  I know he will be surprised to see me, and when I explain the circumstances, he will agree to see you.”

“Perhaps he might be annoyed with me not trying to reach out earlier than this?”

“I think if he wanted to see you, he knew where you lived.  It might not be you personally that kept him away, but to be fair, you didn’t stop Jay.”

“No.  You’re right.  I didn’t.  For a long time, I didn’t have the courage, and now that I have, I hope it’s not too late to right that wrong.  I’ve decided I’m not going back. I don’t want to spend my last days on God’s earth with either of them.”

…

©  Charles Heath  2025