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  Lucille was a good-sized and healthy baby. Mira especially fussed over her baby sister — being a caregiver by nature. Soon, things were reasonably stable in the family, not to mention extremely busy for Anna. She was unable to shake her hip problems, and, at this point, the doctor told her the bad news.

  “Unfortunately, you will likely have the problem for the rest of your life, Anna. I am sorry to say this to you, but too much damage has been done to the nerve. It is better to face it than to hope and get even more disappointed later on.”

  But Anna already knew the prognosis. Not having had any help during her childbearing years and not having Joe’s moral support had done more damage than expected.

  Mira was a very quiet child who enjoyed reading, not that she had much opportunity to do so. She was forever second to Joe Jr., who took centre stage from day one. He had been told time and time again to look after his little sister but he simply forgot that she was smaller and he treated her like hired help. She had no problem with that, for she loved her brother.

  Later, when Ivan came along, Mira became his second mother and she felt important being the only girl in the family. She was very devoted to her parents, and her mother appreciated any help from her.

  “Mira, you are being very helpful looking after baby Ivan but you mustn’t let Joe boss you around while you are busy helping around the house. He can look after himself. You know that, don’t you?”

  “Yes, Mama, but I don’t mind helping both of them. As you always say, they are boys, right?”

  She was even more delighted when her baby sister was born. She was no longer the only girl in the family but that meant she would now have a sister to talk to. This was important because boys don’t understand girls. Too bad, thought Mira, that it takes so long for babies to talk and run . . . She wanted to confide in baby Lucille but she was too small to understand. Nevertheless, Lucille demanded very little attention, so their mother suffered that much less from her legs, which were giving her endless problems. At times she could hardly get out of bed, much less carry a baby around.

  As time went by, and Lucille could hold her own, Anna Kramer knew that her girls would soon be able to replace her, more or less, in everything.

  There was no question that Joe loved his children and adored his wife, but he had his work. He was a hard-working man, and Anna knew it. She hardly ever complained. She loved her children, and they always came first. The children were very different from one another; young Joe was stubborn, Mira was gentle and giving, Ivan was happy-go-lucky, and baby Lucille soon started showing her strong and sharp personality. Mira had more time and compassion for her baby sister than anyone else, and Lucille knew it. Children sense when their parents are under a lot of stress. In these circumstances, Mira tried to act as her mother figure and there was always her brother Ivan, who would even risk making a fool of himself in order to make his baby sister laugh. But Lucille was to become a bit of a loner as she grew older. She loved her big brother Joe, and he in turn spoiled her. Of the two brothers, Ivan was the much more giving, but she favoured her big brother.

  The children were all trained to do their chores according to their ages. They all participated in daily routines, and Lucille was not a baby for very long. Life was moving along quickly, but there was something very unsettling lurking under the surface that was never quite spoken about.

  CHAPTER TWO

  The Carpenter and His Son

  JOE AND ANNA STILL LOVED EACH OTHER VERY MUCH — having been childhood sweethearts as well as good friends. The problem was that he would not — or could not — slow down. He was in too much of a hurry to control everything and everybody’s life. As far as he was concerned, there was no time, or willingness on his part, for fun.

  Joe’s parents lived right next door and noticed that their son was not being attentive to his family and that the children, as well as Anna, were not happy.

  Joe’s mother felt it necessary to comment, “Joe, you must get your priorities in order. You have no time for your family and have hardly seen your baby ever since she was born. Don’t think that we can’t see the looks on their faces, while other children play outside or go places. I am sure that you must see it in Anna’s face as well.”

  Yes, he had felt it in his heart for some time that Anna was suffering quietly with all the stress and her pain. However, he had tried to ignore it, hoping that it would go away. He knew his mother was right.

  Joe was a proud carpenter, and a good one at that. He made all kinds of furniture but he specialized in cabinetmaking, especially kitchen cabinets. He had started his own business before he and Anna were married; and now he had it all figured out: his first-born son would join him someday in the family business. So, when young Joe could barely see over the top of the workbench, he was quite happy to help his father, as any little boy would. Somehow, that lasted only for a while, but Joe Sr. refused to see it.

  “I am so proud of you for wanting to help in the shop. You will see how wonderful it is to make people happy when you deliver the goods.”

  “But Dad, I can’t work here all the time. I still have to go to school and then, after I finish school, I will have to decide what will suit me best. Who knows, I may want to be a fireman or a policeman. Sometimes we talk at school about things that we might want to do when we grow up, and those two things often come to my mind. What do you think?”

  Talk like that always caused some big arguments in the shop. So it was pointless to try to discuss it any further.

  “That, my boy, is out of the question. I am breaking my back in order to provide for all of us, and you come out with statements that are meaningless and outrageous. End of discussion!”

  Once young Joe joined the business after completing school, the work in the shop progressed well. But he was bitter for not having had the chance to choose his own future. He felt trapped.

  With father and son both being carpenters, business did well. The work was always done on time. The problem was that Joe Sr. was manipulative and stubborn when things didn’t go according to his plans. His temper then took over, and the two of them clashed. Anna could hear them arguing long before her husband stormed into the house complaining. “That boy thinks that he knows everything.”

  Anna became the sounding board for both of them.

  “I am not going to put up with this much longer if he doesn’t back off and let me think for myself at least once in a while. I am not a child anymore.” Not only was he no longer their first-born baby boy, nor was he any longer a first grader. He was approaching his manhood. Working alongside his father was a young man who had never been allowed to voice his own opinions freely, nor to spread his wings, between going to school and earnestly helping to run the family business. After all, there is more to life than work, and young Joe was tired of having to sneak around in order to have some freedom.

  “Mama, why don’t you tell Father to let Joe have some fun? When I used to sing for them at the shop, Joe used to sing along, but now he is not allowed to do so. Father gives him that look, and he stops.”

  “Well, Lucille, darling, you must not interfere with their work, as there is much to be done at the shop.” The child knew that there was something wrong about all that. Nobody was going to tell her that Father was right. She may have been a loner, but that didn’t mean that she was not aware of what was going on around her. Quite to the contrary! The child was brilliant and knew who was right and who was wrong. She had some strong beliefs even at her young age. She also noticed how Father concentrated mostly on her brother Joe, while ignoring the rest of them as being unimportant. She often spoke to her dog, Pepper, about it.

  “You must not tell anyone about this, but Father yells at Joe much too much. It makes me feel bad. Joe wants to go away, but I would feel really bad if he did. Joe is good to me and he understands me.” Poor Pepper would lick her in order to make her feel better, b
ut she would then stare into the creek that ran beside the house with such calmness that one could feel much better by just doing so. Lucille was deep and honest, even if it meant she would get into trouble for her honesty. She was never afraid to look one in the eye, while stating her opinion, but she always approached the subject politely and with respect.

  After her mother had assured her that she must not interfere, she retreated with a heavy heart. “Why must parents always be right?” Lucille retreated to her room.

  Joe Jr. was tall, with strong features and dark hair. Mother Anna had known for quite some time that young Joe had been seeing Katherine Spencer. He chose not to tell his father about it, knowing that Father would not approve of her. Katherine was a beautiful young lady with long, light brown hair blowing in the wind as she moved ever so gracefully. Her actions spoke louder than any words ever could. She was in love, carefree, and quite naïve. She was spoiled, as she was the youngest daughter of a wealthy family. Katherine was happy-go-lucky and reaching for the stars. She and young Joe were a handsome couple, but Katherine knew that Joe Sr. did not approve of her. Not knowing why, she convinced herself that she would win his heart.

  “Just you wait, I will win him over.” She would say to Joe, but he was not convinced that she could. After all, she had never had to work hard to win her own parents’ hearts. Joe Sr., on the other hand, made it very clear that in his opinion Katherine was off balance, and this was before he knew anything about the young romance.

  “You must tell your father about Katherine if you ever plan on marrying her,” Anna warned him.

  “Mother, I just want to work hard to impress the Spencers, so that they will not mind my marrying her. I know that Katherine can’t possibly appreciate this idea, as she has never had to struggle about money, but her parents have to know that I am capable of looking after her financially.”

  Since young Joe shared his plans with his mother, she was put in a bad position. She worried about both of them. She wanted to please her husband and her son at the same time. She also had to deal with the fact that her husband ignored the rest of the family. This is where Mira stepped in, helping her mother without ever complaining to anyone. Mira had too much respect for her parents to add to their problems. She most likely needed as much, if not more, attention but as long as she could remember, everything had revolved around her brother Joe.

  As for Ivan, he also learned to improvise from an early age. Whether for real or pretence, he seemed to have more fun at school and around his peers than at home. He loved his brother, but young Joe always seemed tense, and it was not a good idea to question him about anything. Not that the children didn’t have fun at home sometimes; it was just short-lived. Ivan chose a trade for his future that totally puzzled his parents. He was to become a shoemaker, and a very successful one at that.

  “Mama, Father — what would you two think if I were to go into shoemaking? I have long had a fascination for the trade, and if you don’t mind, I would like to learn all about it.”

  “As far as I am concerned, your idea is wonderful.” Mother backed him up willingly. “Son, if that is what you wish for, you know that we will back you and help you as much as we can.”

  The youngest of the siblings, Lucille, was too young to start planning her future just yet. She worshipped her older brother Joe; he was a father figure to her. Joe Sr. was much too stern and his attitude often pushed her away from him, even though in reality he favoured her in many ways. But Lucille preferred to confide in her brother instead. He was her hero.

  And then there was Pepper, the family dog, who spent a lot of time in the kitchen looking for scraps of food. Once he got some, he happily ventured outside with Lucille for some fun and exercise. That meant for some private bonding where nobody else would listen or argue with Lucille.

  “You know that Dad and Joe shouldn’t argue as much as they do, don’t you, Pepper?” And Pepper always barked in approval without fail. Sometimes you could hear Mother say: “Don’t believe it, Pepper, she is wrong this time.” But Pepper preferred the fun-loving youngster, for the more he rolled on the ground, the more she giggled. This kind of fun was good for both of them.

  After another year had passed, and not much time to court Katherine, young Joe decided to approach Father about making some changes in the business. “Father, how would you feel if we made some changes in our design? Times are changing, and there is more competition out there.”

  “What is wrong with you? It was my ideas that have brought us this far. We have plenty of work, so why make changes?” Joe Sr. was furious. He knew that his son was going somewhere with this.

  “Father, I want to marry Katherine Spencer, and it would help if you and Mother would be all right with that. We have been dating now for some time, and I would like to impress her parents with some improvements around here in order to get their permission to marry her. I hope you don’t mind?”

  Nothing could have annoyed Joe Sr. more than a marriage at his son’s age — and particularly to that girl. “That girl is too spoiled, too immature, and too fancy for a young, hard-working, and serious young man like you. And why must you impress the Spencers? What is wrong with us?” Mother was in trouble as well after admitting that she knew about the young romance.

  “Why could you not tell me about this if you knew about it?”

  “If you weren’t so unwilling to listen to your son, and weren’t so unreasonable about everything, he would have told you about it himself a long time ago. It is outbursts like these that made young Joe postpone telling you about Katherine in the first place.” Anna was defending herself and her son.

  Pepper also rather avoided the two men, trying not to offend either of them. He only lightened up at the sight of his pal Lucille. But Anna told him that it was all right and not to worry, for she would still give him food scraps as always.

  After a while, Father Kramer insisted on meeting with Katherine. Needless to say, he wasn’t being friendly by talking to her and he promptly told her not to get any fancy ideas in leading young Joe the wrong way. Joe had certain responsibilities to the family, being the eldest child. He was needed to help run the family business. But Katherine, being who she was, did not appreciate being told what to do or what not to do. She was in love and she told her parents that Joe was planning to start his own business. She then proceeded to encourage him to do so.

  What she did not know was that young Joe had a different plan in mind. An old friend had told him how successful some people have been in going to America. It was not easy to go, but Joe started dreaming of going to America with his beloved Katherine and starting a new life. No matter how hard it would be to get there, he wanted to get away from his bullying father.

  However, he had yet to present the idea to Katherine. Time and time again, he tried to talk to her about his plan, but she always had some urgent matter to discuss with him before he could get his moment, as well as his courage, to come right out and tell her about his plans for the two of them.

  “Your father has no right to talk to me like that and criticize me. I have never done anything bad to him, so why the lectures?”

  This gave Joe an idea as to how he should approach her about leaving. “I have an idea of how we can avoid all of my father’s bullying. I found a way to immigrate to America. We can start a new life there and never again have to listen to anyone telling us what to do.”

  She was not impressed with the idea. In fact, she thought at first that he was joking. When he assured her that he was serious, they started arguing back and forth well into the spring. Suddenly, the spring no longer looked as bright and promising as usual. The flowers had lost their magic, their scent, and their wonder. A shadow came over the once free-spirited young girl that Katherine once was. Nothing was to be said to either set of parents about this.

  But Anna was not about to be fooled and she suspected there was trouble. “Is something wro
ng that you have started avoiding the family meals and any family discussions?”

  “No, Mother, everything is fine. I am just busy lately and I like to spend time with Katherine.”

  Mira avoided prying, but she told her brother that she loved him and would like to help if she could. But knowing her brother, she knew that he likely wouldn’t tell her what was bothering him. So be it. Lucille, on the other hand, worried about everybody — mostly her mother. She knew that Mother was being pulled in all the possible directions, trying to keep peace in the family.

  Winter had come and gone without any major incidents, and Anna had tried to talk with young Joe about his father and Katherine, but young Joe dismissed any such conversations in order to protect his mother. By doing so, he had only hurt her even more. Each of the men was insensitive to the other’s needs. What a shame to lose precious time for mere self-satisfaction!

  The tension was severe, but Joe and Katherine still wanted to get married, and like it or not, the preparations for the wedding were starting to take place. Both sets of parents hardly ever spoke to one another. The Spencers had nothing against young Joe except that he wasn’t from a wealthy family. The Kramers considered the Spencers to be snobs, and their obviously beautiful daughter to be way too immature and demanding. And they were right about that. Even Lucille was by now old enough to know that there was something seriously wrong about the whole situation. She had this heavy feeling that followed her day and night.

  Katherine was counting on the upcoming wedding as a distraction for Joe. She hoped that by the time they were married he would change his mind about going away. She also hoped that his father would change his mind about her once she was a member of the family. But she was not the only one who had plans that would involve the wedding that was about to take place.

  “Joe, you must give the two of them a chance to get married and once and for all prove to themselves, as well as to you, that they can do this with or without your blessing.”