AUTHOR'S NOTE: In this short series, Tyler & Trevor explore what make them tick as they discover their "grandfathers" and begin to see their father, "Todd Manning" in a whole new light. The story is rich in the Manning Teens and if you haven't been exposed to them yet, I suggest catching up on their history with "Gifts" "For Her Love" & "His Lonely Heart." All The Best, Dim!
Sins of the Grandfather…
“What do you think?” asked Trevor.
“He was holding her down…” muttered Tyler, a bit disgust by what he had read.
“Yeah, he was.”
“Did he rape her Trevor?” asked Tyler finally.
“I dunno. Probably,” admitted Trevor.
Tyler sat there in silence as he digested that realization. It was war. Life was different. But that didn’t excuse him from what happened.
Trevor got up and went to the open box that Tyler had gotten the journal from where he found stacks of yellow stained paper, wrinkled, crumbled, aged. Like a curse that passes down from generation to generation. He discovered a letter dated from 1945.
Tyler was aware of Trevor rummaging through the old chest but he was still mediating on what he’d just read. Trying to make it “make sense” for himself. Right now, he didn’t really think about girls…romantically. Sure, he’d admire posters but he had yet to find a girl who interested him. And he realized that what he was looking for in a girl was what his father had found in his mother – someone who was attractive, smart, gutsy, and totally understood him. Someone who cared about him. That was what he was looking for.
While Tyler knew he was a bit of hothead he knew that when it came to girls, he had no desire to belittle them.
But he did like winning. He liked being competitive. He liked pursuing a goal. Nothing had been more satisfying to him than winning the state hockey championship recently. And what he liked – what he wanted – he went after it like it was an obsession. A dangerous fascination he had to acquire and he didn’t know how to deal when what he wanted didn’t come true. Somehow, he’d find a way to deal with it.
As Tyler sat there, involved in his own thoughts, Trevor became fascinated with the chest of World War II memorabilia. Victor Lord was the eldest of 3 children. He had a brother who moved away to San Francisco but as Trevor discovered that from reading Victor’s bitter words, he realized that his brother had fled Llanview and Pennsylvania because as Victor put it:
“Matthew wasn’t man enough to handle father’s discipline”
“Trev, what are you doing?” whispered Tyler finally looking up at his brother.
Trevor looked at Tyler and held up a journal.
“Listen,” said Trevor reading Victor’s words, “Father is a strict disciplinarian. I disappointed him today. I was taken out of the game today after I was sacked. He smacked me across the face, butting my eyebrow.” Trevor paused, “Father is proud of me today. I joined the Army and was accepted by the OCS program. I’m going to be an officer. Father makes me keep a journal. He wants to know everything I think. I have to show it to him every night after dinner.”
“Trevor,” said Tyler, “Has Dad ever hit you? Hurt you physically?”
“Me? C’Mon Tyler! You know he hasn’t. I’m a hemophilic. He wouldn’t dream of it,” said Trevor, “You?”
“No, but sometimes when I think I disappoint him he’ll distance himself form me. That hurts worse than being hit,” admitted Tyler.
“I think Dad has a tendency to internalize things,” said Trevor, “In case you hadn’t noticed, Dad can get very moody and intense.”
“Like he’s fighting himself?” asked Tyler.
“Maybe,” said Trevor, “I really think Mom’s a very grounding force in his life.”
“Yeah. He’s really intense when it comes to Mom. He’s very protective of her,” stated Tyler.
It grew awkwardly silent before Tyler finally spoke up, “Tell me more.”
Trevor began to scan pages of letters and looked up, “Victor had a sister. This letter refers to going to visit her grave.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. She was young. Eleven I think when she died,” said a curious Trevor.
“I wanna’ know what happened to her.”
“Um…” Trevor and Tyler began to tear apart the chest finding a medical report concerning an eleven year old Mary. As they skimmed the report it revealed she had suffered contusions, laceration and internal hemorrhaging consistent of a blow to the head.
Trevor read, “Father advises deceased had fallen down stairs, however there are contusions and lacerations on various other body parts, mostly old and in the process of healing. It is possible someone in the household was abusing the child.”
Silence.
Tyler looked up at Trevor with the saddest eyes, “Trev, I think our grandfather was abused and became an abuser himself.”
“Yeah, Tyler, without a doubt. There’s a pattern. I think in school in school they said abuse was like a vicious cycle.”
“I wish Starr were here,” said Tyler softly.
“Why?” asked Trevor.
“She always knows how to put things in perspective.”
“Yeah, she does,” said Trevor, “But I think perspective is staring us in the face.”
“Huh?” asked Tyler as he kneeled down on his knees and leaned back on his calves staring at his brother.
“Love. Dad got to know love. He’s not perfect Tyler but that’s the difference. I don’t think our grandfather knew love but Dad has,” said Trevor wisely.
Tyler said nothing as he digested Trevor’s words. He made so much sense. Still, Tyler couldn’t help but feel confused.
“Is there anything in there about grandfather’s feelings about our father?” asked Tyler as if the answer to his question would bring him peace.
“I can answer that.”
Trevor and Tyler looked up only to discover their Aunt Viki standing at the door. Time had past quickly while her nephews had been exploring the attic. It was now early evening, close to dinner and Todd, concerned for his sons had called Viki and asked her to check on them.
“Was Dad the only boy Victor had?” asked Tyler, both boys receptive to her presence.
“No. Victor had several children by several different women. Me, my sister Meredith, you know your Aunt Tina, your father, and another son, Tony. Tony was much older than your father and died after your father was born, but they did not know each other,” explained Viki.
“How?” asked Trevor.
“He was a reporter for the Banner’s Middle East Department. He died on assignment,” said Viki simply, “Victor,” she paused for effect, shifting gears, “Was desperate for a male heir, because at the time he took up with Irene Manning, he thought he didn’t have a son. He wasn’t aware of Tony because Tony was illegitimate. Only he was big on keeping appearances up. He entered into an affair with Irene Manning an affair he never acknowledged publicly? Did he love her? Maybe in his own sad way but Irene gave Victor two children, your aunt Tina and your father. And while Victor literally delighted in having a son to publicity acknowledge him and the affair would shame him. So he arranged to have your father adopted to be well cared for and provided for. He arranged for your father to receive a hefty inheritance when your father came of age. Victor kept journal about your father but they were more generic than anything, brief notes, and he never referred to your father by name just simply “the boy”, finished Viki.
“Poor Dad,” said Tyler, “He never…”
“Never what?” asked Viki.
“He never knew his own father like the way I know him,” finished Tyler.
Trevor just sat there, letting his Aunt’s words sink in after listening intently. It sounded incredibly sad to him but after reading about Victor, he didn’t find his actions too shocking. And suddenly he saw his father in a new light. Yes, his father wasn’t perfect but his father loved him and cared for him. And he appreciated that.
TO BE CONTINUED IN LEGACY PART 5 Sins of The Adopted Father……
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