Chapter 36 part 1 - Gen 2 - Tapestry

Playing classical music always chills me out, which is what I need right now.  The past four days have been pretty mental for me.  Manic even!!   My head is buzzing with so much new information that I am not sure that I can think straight any more, it feels like my head is about to explode and I need to chill it out while I have a little breathing space.

Having Rocky staying here with me is giving us the chance of a head start, before the real stuff really begins.  I now have a recording contract and am eagerly counting down the days to when the bruises leave my face and I can jump on a plane and go out to Rainbow Valley and start working officially.  The only thing that I am really not looking forward to is having to leave both Crystal and Vanilla at home. 

While Rocky has been here, I have been getting a crash course on all the does and do nots of being a recording artist and we have managed to achieve quite a lot in a short space of time.  Grumpy Grape has put Rocky in charge of showing me the ropes, to help me get my career rolling and myself established, which I am really happy about.  I almost feel like I am getting special treatment!!  Of course Rocky has been there and done it, so I feel like I am learning from the best, and while this is not one of Rocky's preferred or usual jobs, that he carries out for his old man and the family business, he says he does not mind doing it with me.  Especially as we have two joint albums in the planning and will be working closely together for quite a while anyway.

I feel like we are already growing, as friends, and this is not just a business thing, we seem to have clicked somehow and we don't just talk about music or do music related things.  I forget sometimes that he is in affect my boss and that he is this world famous rock star that I am in total awe of.  This blows my mind a little when I suddenly do remember, while we are doing something silly like rolling around giggling over something stupid, like a pair of mates would.

Rocky has really surprised me because he is not what I would have expect a famous person to be.  I thought him staying here would be awkward, but it has been far from it.  He has just fitted in like he is one of us, he is actually just a regular guy who has no airs and graces, he is not flash and does not think he is any better than anyone else.  What you see is what you get all the time, and he has time for everyone no matter who they are.  It is pretty amusing to watch a rock god, who you are used to seeing on the television performing to thousands of screaming fans, on his hands and knees cleaning up baby sick off the carpet without batting an eyelid.  He has not let fame change him in any way or let it go to his head.  One thing he keeps telling me - do not let fame change you in any way, stay true to yourself because if you don't - that is when you will fail and fall flat on your face!!

Rocky is like a coiled spring at the moment, hyperactive even, I think he is more excited about what we have planned than I am.  These four days have helped us to get a lot of things worked out in theory and a few things put into place, which is giving us a head start on these albums, especially the mash up one, and my music career is starting to roll a lot quicker than we expected.  It has basically already now started for me, and this is a good time for Rocky because his own solo album is finished and ready to go, so it is a perfect time for him to start working on new projects, which he is eager to get started.

In a way, I feel like I am cheating.  To help me launch my career quicker and without the normal hassles, Rocky has my back and I am using him as a spring board to launch my career.  My face and voices are going to be on show for the world to see instantly and quicker than normal because Rocky is putting me out there.  I am not going to struggle like a majority of new recording artists have to.  I am not going to have to push my own new name, begging for air time or venue slots.  I am not going to have to push myself or my music, any which way I can, and having the door slammed in my face just because I am new and unknown, when they would rather chase a name that they know and is successful.  You would think getting a recording contract would be the be all and end all, but it is far from it,  Just because I will have that green grape stamped on everything that I do in future, it does not mean that it is going to be successful, it has to be worked for.

I am being thrown straight out there, because Grumpy and Rocky are excited by the prospect of me and I do not have the foggiest idea why!!  They are both really baffling my head to pieces, I do not think I am anything special, far from it, but they do.  I doubt I will ever think I am any good, unless I can turn round and say I have sold more singles and albums and been more successful than Rocky.  When I have more multi platinum discs on my wall then maybe I might start to believe it and I guess that is what I will have to work towards achieving.

I will be standing on the bottom rung of the ladder and be propelled straight to the top without touching the rungs in between.  I will be riding shot gun, so when Rocky steps out on the stage, they will have no choice but to see me because I will be stood right next to him.  They have no choice but to hear me, if they want to hear Rocky they will get me too and if they want to buy Rocky's record they will be buying mine too, because for a while we are becoming a double act.

It is my solo stuff that worries me most.  It is all well and good riding piggy back with Rocky, but is that going to be enough to sell my records, the ones that Rocky does not appear on.  When it is just little old me out there alone, are they going to like just me.  When I asked him this question, he laughed at me, and bet me that within six months I will be out there, a household name and smashing it without hardly having to do a thing.

This is what Rocky says, but of course, as yet this is all just theory, we have got to put the planning into practice yet, and it could all go horribly pear shaped for the both of us.  The music world might hate me, our two planned joint albums could well be a flop, I could well drag Rocky down.  If our joint efforts don't take off, I doubt that my solo stuff will, and then I am never going anywhere! 

"Where is your music friend?"  I suddenly hear Crystal's quiet sweet voice behind me.  "Do you have some time for me now please?"

What she has just said makes me feel really guilty, I have hardly seen or spent any time with either her or Vanilla over the past four days, because I have been so busy.  Most of the time, when I have had time for them, they have both been fast asleep.  I find it strange that I am in the same house with them, yet I have missed their company so much, not being in the same room as them most of the time.

"For a short time, Rocky has gone to Sugar Falls with Prelude, they have some music stuff to sort out for me, they will be gone for a few hours."  I smile at her "I am sorry, but I did tell you I would be REALLY busy while Rocky is here.  He is going home tonight, so tomorrow it will be back to normal."

"Why did you not go with them?"

"We thought it best I stay in Sugar Valley until all the bruises have gone off my face, the last thing we need is the press taking pictures of me with Rocky then they might start asking questions about the abduction and we just want it all to go away and be forgotten about!!"  I smile at her  "Besides I have lost my glasses and I am waiting for my prescription orange contacts, they are not ready yet."

I have not actually lost the glasses, they are in the vampberry den with my earings.

"I do not like you wearing those orange things!!"  she pouts which makes me laugh.

"I will be out in the coded world remember, so to start with I have to, but hopefully it will not be for long and I won't be wearing them at home."

"Teach me how to dance properly."  she says suddenly, completely changing the subject.  I stop playing the piano and swing round on the seat to face her.  I think she looks a little angry and think it might be me who has upset her at first, but it isn't.   "I am going to shout at Storm when he gets back, he is a liar!!   He does not know dancing!!"

"Oh!!  So, you finally realized you are not dancing but jumping around like an idiot!!"  I laugh at her  "You look like you are a hyperactive clown on a spring jumping around the room.  I did tell you didn't I, that you are not dancing!!"

"Okay shut up big head!!"  she laughs at me  "River and Winter have just showed me together dancing, can you teach me."

I laugh at her 'together dancing' presuming she is talking about slow dancing.  She says the cutest things sometimes.  I can not imagine that Winter and River are in their room dancing the way that me and Honey used to dance together.  Knowing the nerd my brother is he is probably in there dancing the fox trot or something similar.  I get up off the piano stool and tell her to stay there while I go and fetch some suitable music and run into Rivers room to get one of his nerdy music Cd's.  I was a little naughty, not being able to read or bothered to wait while River waded through his CD collection to find me something suitable, I pressed eject on the cd player and took off with the music CD that they were dancing too.  Winter found it amusing, but River didn't.

After I have put on the CD, I put Crystal's hand on my waist and hold her other hand.  First mistake, I tell her to watch my feet.  She looks down quickly without thinking that I am so close and she head buts me pretty hard in the face.  I hop around for a while, holding my face, as my nose stings and blood starts to run down onto my lips.  It feels like I have just had a full force punch in the face and my eyes are watering with the pain.  I stamp my foot on the floor a few times as I shout out, it helps to take away the pain from my throbbing nose somehow.

When I look up she is just stood there frozen, a look of shock on her face, she does not relax until I tell her it is okay.  She thought I was going to shout at her especially when my nose starts bleeding and I have to run off into the kitchen to clean it up.

After stopping the nose bleed we try again.  I do not trust her not to head but me again so I tell her to watch me as I dance around the room with fresh air for a while.  She thinks it is funny at first, but then when her giggling fit stops, she watches me seriously, like she is taking it in.

"DO NOT look down!!"  I say to her nervously when I try again, placing her one hand on my waist and taking her other hand.

She automatic looks down straight away, but nervously and carefully this time, she does not head but me again, much to my relief.  After a while of watching my feet Crystal starts to get the hang of it pretty quickly and I think that it might not be so bad after all.  I start to relax and so does she.  She looks up when I speak to her and continues to dance with me like she has got it.

"You need to learn how to dance properly anyway, we have quite a few weddings coming up, and I don't want you bouncing round the room like a clown!!"  I laugh at her

"Weddings?"

"Yes five weddings,  River and Winter.  Cinnamon and Scarlet.  Mosaic and Fudge.  Coral and Gravel.  Maize and Juniper.  They are all getting married over the next five months."  I smile at her  "There should have been another weddings but that is not happening now."

"Who you?"  she frowns at me

"Hell no not me!!"  I laugh at her, I presume she might think that me and Honey were supposed to be getting married.  "Strawberry and Parsley, they were getting married but they have broken up."  she is frowning at me still even more intensely, all her brow wrinkles up and she is looking at me through squinted eyes, like she might not have the foggiest idea of what I am on about.  "Crystal, you do know what a wedding is don't you?"

"Yes of course I do!"  she laughs at me, but not for long.

I know that she has watched movies on the television where there have been weddings.  In fact the wanting to kiss me episode in Rainbow Valley was sparked off by her watching a wedding on the television.  Maybe she does remembers that.

Although, I should imagine that she has heard everyone talking about all the weddings coming up,  and someone must have explained it all to her.  At the moment it is constant, wedding talk is all I ever seem to hear.  Especially with my Dad and Sunny because they both have two of their children's weddings to fuss over.  Even though Coral is also getting married, Dad is refusing point blank to have anything to do with the planning of that wedding, she will be lucky if he even attends it.  The only marriage causing any bad feelings is Coral and Gravels, I am not sure any of us are happy about that one, I for one would much rather she was marrying Slate, but I guess he has had a lucky escape from my sister!!

It amused as well as surprised me, when I found out that everyone had been made to wait and postpone their weddings until me and River returned home, not that it would have bothered me to come home and find everyone married.  However, in Slate and Parsley's case, it was probably a good thing they were made to wait, because they both would have been married by now, Slate to Coral and Parsley to Strawberry, and both heading in the direction of the divorce courts!! 

Suddenly Crystal has gone all strange on me again, she is looking at me in the weirdest way and I do not understand why.  I try to lighten the mood and put a smile back on her face by starting to mess about.  I teach her how to twirl round while she is dancing, then I think that she forgets what is narking her and that she is supposed to be learning to dance.  All she wants to do is twirl, which I guess is the childish part of her mind, thinking it is a lot more fun.  She stops the face pulling and starts to have fits of giggles as she continuously twirls.  I know what is going to happen before it does, I try to tell her she is going to make herself giddy but she does not listen.

I love how she always makes me happy and I can not help but to really laugh with Crystal, even though my arm is starting to ache.  She has the biggest smile on her face and is laughing loudly, like an excited child, as she continuously twirls round faster and faster, her childish behaviour has come out, but I don't care!!

Like I expected, it did not take long before she became dizzy and started to lose her balance.  She lost control of her feet and she stumbles and goe's flying.  I manage to catch her in time to stop her falling.  She just stares up at me and she switches, that look washes across her face again.

"Of course I know we will never be having a wedding!"  she says suddenly as she frowns at me.  "I know you are my boyfriend now but I doubt you will be for much longer!!" 

I freeze holding her in mid air, a little shocked by what she has just said.  It almost sounds like she is dumping me, or thinking about it!!  Is she fed of me already?!  I wander for a moment, she has never actually told me that she loves me, she has come close by saying she likes me in the same way as her teddy bear, which in my mind was her way of saying it, knowing how emotionally attached she is to that teddy bear.  I wander if she even knows what love is!!   I have only actually told her once that I love her and she just squealed at me, and I have not told her since.  Maybe there is more going on with us in my stupid head than there actually is.

"What?!  Why??"

"You will not want me when you get bored of me and when you are famous, you will be cheating and throw me away when someone better comes along!!" 

I am very relieved when I realize she is not talking about herself ending our relationship, she thinks that I am the one who will do that!! 

"Don't talk rubbish!!  I doubt I could ever get bored of you!!  I love you, so how can there be anyone better than you?"

Crystal only has time to do a half smile, as I lean over and kiss her while she is still hanging in mid air.  I did not kiss her for long because I am in danger of dropping her, she relaxed herself and I end up having to try and hold all of her weight while I am stood awkwardly.

"What the hell gives you those stupid ideas anyway?"  I frown at her

"Because nobody really wants me here, not even you!!  I am not pretty, too thin, too stupid, colourless and can not have babies!!"  she looks a little sheepish.  I am just about to tell her that she is talking total rubbish again when she blurts something out that I did not expect.  "Coral and Strawberry told me."

Just hearing both Coral and Strawberry's names, especially together, puts my back up.  I stand Crystal back up onto her feet and just stare at her.  Coral and Strawberry are my two least favourite people right now, and I doubt not even Manderine could rile me up as much as they are at the moment!!  Strawberry because of the state she has left Parsley in with their breakup and the Vanilla snatching rubbish, however, she has always riled me up, I only have to look at her condescending face.  Me and Coral have never been close, but she has really upset me lately, more than normal, and I have had a right bust up with her and we are not even talking to each other right now!! 

My sister made me very angry a few days ago when she appeared with Gravel and papers that Slate has had drawn up, by a solicitor, because he wants custody of the babies she is carrying if they are his.  While I do not blame Slate for not being able to cope with the thought of his children living with and being brought up by his Dad and Coral, especially his own Dad after having an affair with his girlfriend behind his back, Coral, who he was on the verge of marrying.

I am upset with Coral because of this whole situation, I like Slate, and for the most part I am on his side with this.  However,  I was especially angry with Coral for even thinking about signing those papers, which she now has done, upsetting everyone, especially Mom and me, when she knows what I am going through because of losing Shadow.  She has signed all the rights of her babies away to Slate, so if they do turn out to be his when they are born, she will have to hand them over to him and play no part in their life, other than visits, if and when he decides that she can see them.  I am seriously struggling to understand how Coral could even do it, just giving her babies away, even more so now that I have Vanilla in my life.

"WHAT exactly have Coral and Strawberry said to you Crystal?!"

I snap at Crystal angrily.  I am not angry with Crystal, it is Coral and Strawberry that I am angry with, I am guessing they have been filling her head with spiteful nonsense!!  This scares me because Crystal is so vulnerable and gullible, she takes everything in and hangs on every word, she believes everything that she hears or is told because she still knows very little about how the world works yet.  I doubt she would know that Strawberry and Coral can both be nasty, spiteful, vindictive bitches, or even what that means.

Crystal tells me that they have both been particularly nasty to her since she arrived.  She is basically receiving from them the name calling and verbal abuse that she receives out in the coded world.  Which shocks me!!

Coral does not like her living in this house and being taken care of by our parents.  Coral has told Crystal that she should sling her hook and go and find someone else's family to worm her way into, because nobody really wants her here, including me!!  She has always been a jealous cat, especially of anyone having more of Dads attention than she is, that is why she hates me so much.

Strawberry has a different agenda for attacking Crystal, mainly Honey and Vanilla.  She is also not very happy or amused about Crystal probably being her Dad's sister and her Aunt, she has accused Crystal of being a con artist playing on peoples weaknesses.  That is just utter ridiculousness!!  Strawberry has also been threatening her, trying to make Crystal help her take Vanilla away from me.  Blackmailing Crystal saying that if she does not help her, she will take her teddy bear away and destroy it.

Under normal circumstances I would have doubled up laughing at the threat to the teddy bear, but I know just how important that teddy bear is to Crystal, it being the only possession that she has ever owned.  That teddy bear has been everything to Crystal and her only form of comfort throughout her whole entire life up until she met me.  Crystal has a very strong emotional attachment to that teddy bear and Strawberry destroying that bear would destroy Crystal.  She virtually has a nervous breakdown just watching it in the washing machine!!

Both Coral and Strawberry have been picking on Crystal separately and together!!  Constantly taunting and teasing her because of her ignorance of life, like that she can not read or write, struggles still to use a knife and fork, and her childishness, and how feral she can be sometimes.  Even her colourlessness, which makes no sense especially from Coral!!   They laugh and tease her about the things she does not understand or does not know how to do, instead of showing her, helping or explaining like everyone else does, they tease and taunt her over it.  They are basically being bullies, they are supposed to be grown women, even I have grown out of that childish game!!  I suspect Strawberry is just trying to get at me, but I really do not know what Corals motive is, other than jealousy.

The things that they told Crystal about me made me really mad, especially the lies.  They have both been really bad mouthing me.   Crystal made the mistake of saying that I am her boyfriend in front of the both of them which made them laugh at her, calling her stupid, and from the sounds of it, they had a field day with Crystal.  They told her that she was really stupid if she thought I would ever marry her.  Now I know what sent Crystal funny earlier, me saying 'hell no not me' when she asked if I was getting married, only fueled what Coral and Strawberry have been saying to her.  They told her all about Fern and how I cheated on her, sleeping with Honey while Fern was still my girlfriend and I would just do the same to her.  Like either of those two have any room to talk!!

They have told her that I am just going to use her for sex and while I'm out playing rock star, I will leave her here and pretend I am not with her because I will be too ashamed to let everyone know she is colourless and all I really want her for is a baby sitter for Vanilla.   Crystal thinks, because they have told her, that I will be out there cheating on her with loads of other women and I will dump her back out onto the streets when I am bored of her or when someone better and more suitable comes along.  I think they even scared her a little by telling Crystal different things about me, my outbursts and my past, which they virtually laid it on very thickly, making me out to be a violent thug who is going to hurt her and who she should be scared and wary of, even telling her that Storm faded because of me.

I already know that she does not like either Strawberry or Coral and now I think I know why!!  I just don't get why she did not tell anyone, especially me, about how horrible they are being.  I can not help but think that Crystal must think that I lied to her when I told her everyone would be nice to her in Sugar Valley, because Coral and Strawberry have treated no differently to how she is treated out in the coded world!!

She is really crying by the time she has finished telling me and I do not doubt a single word that she has said because she simply does not know how to lie.

It took me quite a while to calm her down and I had to talk her through a few things, as well as reassure her that I love her and we will get married one day because I am not interested in anyone else, there will be no other women or cheating going on while I am away from home working.  I just hope that she believes me!!

We start making out and she jumps up into my arms and wraps her legs around me.  Crystal is as light as a feather and I am not struggling this time to hold her weight, but I am concentrating more on holding her up, so I move over to the sideboard and sit her on it, as we carry on kissing, which starts to get a little heated.  Hands start traveling, clothes start to be moved, but not removed.

Suddenly there is a loud noise behind me, someone clearing there throat loudly and obviously on purpose to get our attention.  I stop kissing Crystal and glance in the direction of the noise.  Dad.  I swear Dad and River are both tuned into me getting up to no good, they seem to make a habit of walking in and interrupting me.  I do not know whether to laugh or cry when I notice he is holding Cotton and he actually has his hand covering Cottons eyes, so that she is not seeing what we are doing.  Like she would even understand!!

I lift Crystal off the side board and we both have to straighten our clothes up, while Crystal is just giggling her head off, making it very hard for me not to laugh.  I suddenly feel like a naughty child as Dad stands there watching us disapprovingly.

"Crystal, Sunny is upstairs with Lilly, he wants to see you."  He smiles at Crystal.

Crystal smiles at me and tells me she will take Vanilla upstairs to see her Granddad, and skips off out of the room.  I sit down at the piano and start playing, just waiting for what I know is now going to come out of his mouth.

"I am not sure that is how you are supposed to be using that sideboard!!"  and there it is.

"It depends on if you are a stuffed shirt or not!!  I snap at him.

"Maybe you ought to explain to Crystal that seats are for sitting on and beds are for that sort of behaviour, not the sideboard." 

"Dad ... don't start, it was not her fault, I put her on there and I don't need one of your prudey lectures either!!"  he raises his eyebrows at me  "Just because you keep it all in the bedroom, I doubt you know how to be spontaneous or adventurous, you are such a stuffed shirt!!"  he starts to laugh quite loudly  "Berry knows how you have managed to make five kids, but I can bet it was with the curtains drawn and lights out!!"

I look over my shoulder and frown at him wandering why he is laughing so much after he has told me to stop being so cheeky.  Cotton amuses me, she is copying Dad laughing.  There is no way she can understand the conversation, but she is laughing because Dad is.  I do not have a clue why he is laughing so much which is irritating me.

"Isn't this my space?!  It is your own fault if you have walked in on something you did not want to see!!"  he just carries on laughing at me.

"Talking about making kids ..."

"STOP!!!  I don't need your taking precautions lecture either!!  I think you know like I do, there is no point with Crystals lack of periods and ovary problems, also especially as we are not actually doing anything other than kissing, because we keep being interrupted!!"

"I was not even going to mention precautions!!"  he says and I frown at him then laugh sarcastically.  It is very unlike him not to dish out one of his prudey lectures at any given opportunity, one of which I have just given him.  "I am just wandering how you are thinking and feeling about Crystals problems and if you want to talk about it?" 

"I am trying not to do either at the moment, think or feel!!  I really don't want to talk about it either!!"  I glance at him as he pulls a face at me.  "There really is no point right now is there, not until we know it is a permanent problem.  Her medication has not even been given time to work yet has it?"

"No not really!  Well do not get bottling things up Tap, talk to River if you do not want to talk to me."  he smiles at me "So who or what has rattled your cage? and don't say me because you started bashing that peice, which you always play when you are angry before I even spoke!!"  I laugh, because he knows me so well!

"If you must know, it is the one who is causing ALL the trouble at the moment!"  I tell him 

"Why?  What has Coral done now?"  he frowns at me, it amuses me that he knows I am talking about Coral.  "Or is this still from the baby fall out the other day?"

He watched us having quite a nasty argument the other day after she had signed the babies away to Slate and I swore I would never speak to her again.   No doubt Dad thinks he will have to be playing peace maker between us, which is his usual roll.  He knows there is no love lost between us two, me and Coral fought the most when we were kids, we used to throw some serious punches at each other, and he always had to be the one to separate us and sort it out.

"No, this is new stuff!!"  I stop playing the piano and swing round to face him.  "I need to find her and Strawberry and batter them both!!"  he asks me why  "Bad mouthing me to Crystal and filling her head with crap, frightening and upsetting her!!  I'm surprised she has not packed her bags and moved back to Affairs or done one back to her homeless life!!"  Dad frowns at me because I am getting angry.  "Coral and Strawberry are not only bullying Crystal they are trying to interfere and mess up my love life, just like they have messed up their own!!.  I snap at him  "Berry I hate those two, I would love to ship them both off to Berry Shores or Cherry Hill to get them out of my face and away from Crystal!!" 

Dad tells me to calm down and makes me tell him exactly what they have been doing and saying to Crystal.  When I have finished telling him he, stupidly, tells me that Coral is upstairs so he will go and have a word with her and he walks off telling me to stay where I am.  He can go and have a go at her for all I care, but I will be saying plenty to both her and Strawberry myself when I catch up with them.

After Dad has walked off, I suddenly think I can not just sit down here and say nothing, knowing she is upstairs.  I jump up off the piano stool and go chasing after Dad, heading in Corals direction.

I go kicking off upstairs with Coral and nearly cause world war III, the place erupted with yelling and screaming, mainly mine and Corals to begin with.  She went off in her usual drama queen fashion and I was not only having a go at her over Crystal, but I was also throwing the baby thing and what she has done to Slate, quite loudly at her.  

It did not help that Dad and Sunny just had to join in and for a change it was Coral, not me, getting it!!  Dad was ripping shreds out of Coral over this and all of her behaviour of late.  Sunny, amusingly has already gone into protective mode over Crystal and surprisingly me too.  He is far from happy about what Coral and Strawberry have been saying to Crystal, and he had plenty to say, Coral had it coming from all roads.  Suddenly Sunny seems to love me too, for some reason which amuses me, but I think that is because of Vanilla and me finding Crystal and bringing her home. 

The whole household descended on the racket.  My Grandparents removed Vanilla and Cotton away from the argument virtually as soon as it started.  Crystal and my Mother were getting very upset over the argument, and it did not help that Coral started to yell at Crystal calling her a sneaky sniveling grass, in amongst other thing, in front of everyone, stupidly showing us just exactly how she has been talking to Crystal while nobody has been around.  This just set me, Dad and Sunny off again.

I saw something in Coral today, that I have never seen before, I know she can be a bitch with a viscous tongue, but today she outdid herself!!  I know I have had my moments in the past but nothing like this, she beat anything I have ever shouted in temper, hands down!!  I think what she said, totally disgusted and shocked all of us, and it was enough to unhinge Dad enough to raise his hand.  Dad who has never hit any of us, not even me and I have given him plenty of cause too in the past, even when I have thrown punches at him, he has never hit me, not even in retaliation.  In temper he slapped Coral pretty hard across the face and ordered her to get out of the house and never to come back.  I know he did not really mean it and will beat himself up later regretting it, but... Coral had called Crystal a colourless abomination and colourless freak in front of our Mother who also lacks colour!!  I know that slap was more for Mom than Crystal. as we all stood and watched Mom black out and hit the floor.

I had started to lose it and while Sunny was left to look after Crystal, River had to drag me back downstairs, away from Coral and the argument to try and calm me down.  However, I think everyone knows that this is far from over!!!  Now it is not just me that she has seriously upset.  I seriously do not know what is wrong with Coral's head right now, she took it a step way too far today and I would not be surprised if Mom is not upstairs still blacked out right now and never speaks to Coral again!!   

Luckily everything had gone quiet and calmed down upstairs by the time that Rocky returned from Sugar Falls with Prelude.  I might have faded with embarrassment, if he had walked in while all of that had been going on.

Part two tommorrow

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