“Shack Man’s Surprising Revelation: What Happens When the Walls Come Down?”
Added on March 18, 2025 inASTROLOGY CARDS
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Catch up here – Shack Man
Chapter 24 – Well, Now What?
“Don’t worry about it,” I said, as we walked towards the car. Shack’s brother’s head whipped around.
“Seriously,” I said. “Don’t worry about it, especially not on my account.”
“But… but he called you…”
“He’s an asshole. I don’t care what he has to say. Now I see why you hate this bastard. I’m sorry you had to come here.”
“But you…what he said to you. You aren’t…”
“I don’t care. I don’t care what he said. I care about you though, so please, don’t worry on my account. My father is also an asshole. You think I’ve never seen an asshole before?”
I stopped talking because he looked near tears from just…being pent up? I gave him a couple minutes, and then I started telling jokes. We wound up, standing together, leaned up against this old station wagon, staring at the house, shoulder to shoulder. I mean, neither of us wanted to go in there anyway!
We could hear them yelling inside, on and off. When their voices boomed, he glanced, so I told another joke. He had to laugh because I’m funny as shit, especially in pressured situations such as this!
He was also advocating for his brother. “Please don’t hold this against Shack. He’s not like this. He loves you. We are not like this.”
I told him I knew how they were and they’d not be held responsible for what their father said. “I know your character and his.”
“You’re not going to break up with him? You’ll marry him, after this?”
“Yes! Of course I’m going to marry him! Can’t you see how much I love him?”
“I can see. I keep telling him he’s the luckiest son-of-a-bitch I’ve ever known.”
I told him I loved them both and we’d all be fine. We were in pretty good cheer when the front door opened after about twenty minutes or so. Shack emerged alone. I was glad the brother and I had a chance to chat.
Heading our way, I could see Shack was surprised we were both so calm. He was worried about us, while in the house.
Standing in front of us, he nodded at his brother in thanks for standing by me, then he grabbed me and hugged me, long and hard, whispering his thanks… which I knew was for calming his brother. His brother was okay. That and perhaps he was grateful I did not make a scene, myself. He finally released me and stepped back.
“Elsa, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for what my father said to you. I would have never brought you here, if I knew he was going to do something like that.”
I could feel the brother’s “I told you so.”
“My brother told me this would happen. I didn’t listen. I should have, because he’s smarter than me, but I’m arrogant and thought I knew better than he did.” He turned and expressly apologized to his brother and then continued to talk to both of us.
“I don’t like that my little brother is smarter than I am, but I will try to keep it in mind in the future. This was so bad, maybe even an idiot like me can learn something for a change.”
He stopped to think. I don’t think he expected us to be so damned calm. He had to edit his thoughts.
His brother must have been telling him over and over, not to take this chance. He took it, it blew up on him, but no one was berating him. Also, the sky was in its normal position. I could see him trying to grasp this, but we were set up for this type of problem.
Catch up here – Shack Man
Chapter 24 – Well, Now What?
“Don’t worry about it,” I said, as we walked towards the car. Shack’s brother’s head whipped around.
“Seriously,” I said. “Don’t worry about it, especially not on my account.”
“But… but he called you…”
“He’s an asshole. I don’t care what he has to say. Now I see why you hate this bastard. I’m sorry you had to come here.”
“But you…what he said to you. You aren’t…”
“I don’t care. I don’t care what he said. I care about you though, so please, don’t worry on my account. My father is also an asshole. You think I’ve never seen an asshole, before?”
I stopped talking because he looked near tears from just…being pent up? I gave him a couple minutes, and then I started telling jokes. We wound up, standing together, leaned up against this old station wagon, staring at the house, shoulder to shoulder. I mean, neither of us wanted to go in there anyway!
We could hear them yelling inside, on and off. When their voices boomed, he glanced, so I told another joke. He had to laugh because I’m funny as shit, especially in pressured situations such as this!
He was also advocating for his brother. “Please don’t hold this against, Shack. He’s not like this. He loves you. We are not like this.”
I told him I knew how they were and they’d not be held responsible for what their father said. “I know your character and his.”
“You’re not going to break up with him? You’ll marry him, after this?”
“Yes! Of course I’m going marry him! Can’t you see how much I love him?”
“I can see. I keep telling him he’s the luckiest son-of-a-bitch I’ve ever known.”
I told him I loved them both and we’d all be fine. We were in pretty good cheer, when the front door opened after about twenty minutes or so. Shack emerged alone. I was glad the brother and I had a chance to chat.
Heading our way, I could see, Shack, was surprised we were both so calm. He was worried about us, while in the house.
Standing in front of us, he nodded at his brother, in thanks for standing by me, then he grabbed me and hugged me, long and hard, whispering his thanks… which I knew was for calming his brother. His brother was, okay. That and perhaps he was grateful I did not make a scene, myself. He finally released me and stepped back.
“Elsa, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for what my father said to you. I would have never brought you here, if I knew he was going to do something like that.”
I could feel the brother’s, “I told you so.”
“My brother told me this would happen. I didn’t listen. I should have, because he’s smarter than me, but I’m arrogant and I thought I knew better than he did.” He turned and expressly apologized to his brother and then continued to talk to both of us.
“I don’t like that my little brother is smarter than I am, but I will try to keep it in mind in the future. This was so bad, maybe even an idiot like me can learn something for a change.”
He stopped to think. I don’t think he expected us to be so damned calm. He had to edit his thoughts.
His brother must have been telling him over and over, not to take this chance. He took it, it blew up on him, but no one was berating him. Also, the sky was in its normal position. I could see him trying to grasp this, but we were set up for this type of problem.
See, my sister was calling us, the three amigos, but the brothers called us, the three musketeers. I took this as a sign, but in any case, it’s “all for one and one for all”. I could see his brain grasping this.
I’d done the same thing. This was the moment in my life, when I really understood the value of strong, committed alliance.
“I bet you’re wondering what we were talking about in there,” Shack said. “Why I went in the house. I went in there to talk to my father and straighten this out, once and for all,” he said. “I went there to resolve this, permanently.”
Shack’s brother was silent but skeptical. Shack knew it too, and addressed his brother, “I know you think it’s impossible, but you know how important, Elsa, is to me. I have to do everything right. That means, everything. So just let me do this.”
“Elsa, what happens next, is up to you. I put you in this situation and I will spend my life trying to make up to you, if you’ll let me. Are you going to let me?”
I nodded.
“See? This is why I’m in love with you. You trusted me and I fucked up so now I’m going to give you the reins. Whatever you want to do about this situation, that’s what we’ll do. Well, that’s what I’ll do.”
I’d already advised the brother, we should be all cool, casually leaning against the car, staring at the house, in case father peeked out. I was pretty sure he was peeking by now. If so, there was no meal being served. This was our stance as he was explaining the situation.
“From here, the whole world is open. My brother can drive us to the airport and we can go straight to New York, if you want. We can also go home if you would like that better. Hell, I will take you to, Italy, right now, if you want. I mean it, Elsa. Whatever you want to do, we will do it. It’s the least I could do after putting you in this situation. Do you want to go now? If yes, we can go. Or do you want to hear what else I have to say?”
I was beyond curious. “I want to hear what you have to say.”
“My father is sorry for what he said to you,” he said. I snorted and his brother rolled his eyes and in fact, his entire head.
“No, he is sorry. I made him, sorry. I’m not saying he does not use words like that, because clearly he does. I should have told you. I should have warned you. Everyone told me to, but as you know I’m an arrogant asshole who thinks they know everything. I’m willing to pay for that, I just explained. But he is sorry. He is a racist. He is a complete asshole, but he is sorry he said that to you. He wants to apologize for it.”
The brother made noises and I agreed. Shack glared at his brother, who didn’t care anymore. “He won’t mean it,” the brother said.
“He will mean it. He means it. Elsa, he wants to apologize. He wants you to come in the house. He is going to apologize for what he said to you. He knows he was an asshole and he wants to apologize. He also wants us to stay for dinner and he wants us to spend the night, as planned.”
Shack’s brother’s eyes popped out of his head. “You mean, you want her to walk in that house, after what he said to her? You’re fucked up.”
“You’re right. I am fucked up, but I don’t want to her to come in the house. I want her to do whatever she wants to do. I thought I made that clear. I’m saying, she has this option. Elsa, if you want, we can continue with our plans. We can walk over there and knock on the door. If we do, my father will open it and he will greet you and welcome you into the house. He will do what he should have done in the first place. He will then apologize to you and he will mean it. We can then have dinner; his wife has been cooking for us. She’s made a wonderful meal. I haven’t told you a lot about her, but she’s nice and I think you’ll like her.”
I hadn’t even tried to conceive what or who the woman in the house was, but I knew plenty about cooking for guests. I’m saying, this woman was real to me, as of that moment.
“They’ve also got a room fixed up for us. They had to put it together kind of makeshift, because of the space they have, but I saw it and we’ll be fine. They will leave us alone in there and it will be private. I made sure of this. We’ll have to keep our voices down, so we won’t be heard, but if we go in there and shut the door, we will not be disturbed. In fact, if you do choose to do this, I think we should go into that room, right after dinner, and just have some time alone. She made some kind of special after dinner drink, so we’ll have that and then go be by ourselves. We could use it after all this. I can’t tell you how grateful I am to you; both of you, for putting up with the hell my stupidity has caused you.”
I cocked thumb at the brother and, Shack agreed. “Yeah. Especially my brother, who I do not deserve.”
“You don’t have to go in there,” Shack’s brother said. “Fuck him, Fuck that guy!”
“No, she does not have to but I need to tell you what will happen if you don’t,” he said.
“Um…?” I said.
“I told my father I was sick of him. I’ve had it with him. I told him I love you and I’m going to marry you. We’re going to have a family, no matter what. He will have no say in this, no matter what. This is nonnegotiable.” We were listening.
“I told him as far as I was concerned, we’re already married. He’s disrespected my wife and if he doesn’t find a way to make it up to you, I will never see or speak to him again. This would be the last time he will ever see his son. Both his sons,” he added. “Am I right?” he asked his brother.
“Right.”
“Well that’s what I told him. My brother loves you as much as I do. Now, Sprout, loves you too and she’s already done with him. He’s got to make this right with you, or he will have no chance of seeing three of his children, nor any of the grandchildren, they produce. And he knows it. This is if you give him the chance.”
The brother and I knew. So did Sprout and the Italian. But I knew right then, I was going in.
I’m not some kind of queen. I was not going to be the one to drop the guillotine. I also knew the father had me. I break this family, the day would come when it turned on me. “He wanted to apologize, but you wouldn’t let him…” No, you bastard. I see your hand. The father, I mean.
I also thought, staying there was in the brother’s best interest. If I didn’t go in, we’d have to climb in the car and talk about this. If I went in the house, the brother could be off duty, get in the car and drive the fuck out of there to what he had to do. Cry, probably.
I had more ideas, but this was enough. “I’m going in. Let’s go have dinner and stick with our plan. She’s been cooking all day.”
“You don’t have to,” the brother said. “I wouldn’t do it, if I were you. He doesn’t deserve a chance to apologize to you… to any of us.”
“I know. But don’t worry. This doesn’t affect me like it does you.”
“Suit yourself,” he said.
Shack put his hands on my shoulders and looked me in the eye. “Are you sure about this?”
“Yes.”
“Okay. So here’s what we’ll do, if it sounds okay to everybody. Elsa and I will go the house, get the apology, eat dinner and spend the night. Two nights is off the table. You can stay with either mom or Sprout.”
He said he was going to the mother’s house to avoid talking about this all night, as his sister and the Italian would want to.
“Good plan,” Shack said. “Then can you come back and get us in the morning? Early. Before nine.” He agreed.
“Tomorrow, we’ll see how we feel. If we feel like it, we’ll go to the memorial, next. If we feel like it. Is that okay with everyone?” More nods.
“Okay, so we’ll go to the memorial, unless we can’t for some reason. But I think we should, if we can. It’s important and realistically, this the first chance we’ve had. That’s thanks to you, Elsa. My brother and I are both grateful. We can’t go there without you. There’s something about you. You keep us calm and neither of us know how you do it, but we do want to go there and we want you… no, we need you with us.” I nodded.
The brother asked, “Want me to wait out here, for a few minutes, in case he doesn’t apologize?”
“No. He’s going to apologize. You go ahead. Take a break from all of this.”
“What if he doesn’t apologize?” the brother asked again.
“If doesn’t apologize for what he did to my wife? If he doesn’t apologize, then I am going to kill him.”
I laughed, though he may have been serious.
“If he does not apologize to, Elsa, and if her doesn’t treat her with the upmost respect, which she deserves, more than anyone I have ever known, then I’m going to kill him. If I do that, I will probably have to ask you to help me get rid of his body. That will make me even more indebted to you so let’s just hope it goes how I think it will go.”
Shack’s and I turned to walk to the house. Unsurprisingly, I saw the curtain move. We were being watched and it was good to have that confirmed.
Shack’s brother drove off, leaving us standing at the door, no doubt with his father, standing on the other side.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Yes.”
Knock, knock! Guess who’s coming to dinner.
To be continued.
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