Monday 31 October 2016

Chapter 51 - Gen 2 - Tapestry


I sit staring around at my surrounding, I am taking in one of the very few places in Sugar Valley that I have never been inside before. ... The Undertakers.

The room we are sitting in is quite nice, it is very light, bright and not exactly what I expected for a place where the faded rest until they are buried, however, I am not sure that I like the smell of the place.  The scent that keeps assaulting my nostrils is not very nice at all, and I wander for a moment if this is what the faded people make the place smell like.  Mom just thinks that they have a bad taste in air freshener, she says it smells like Lavender mixed with something else, but I'm not so sure.

This is a place that I was never allowed into when I was a child and growing up, with my conditions, they did not think that I could handle it, and I probably wouldn't have back then.  I remember playing holy hell up when Storm was here, but they would not let me near the place.  I was so desperate to see him one last time, thinking it would be the last time.  Little did I know back then that he would still be here and with me, in spirit form.

      "It really does not make any sense!!"  Mom mumbles quietly as she wipes the tears off her face.
      "Seriously Mom, you need to give yourself a break!!"  I laugh at her

Her eyes catch my attention, and not for the first time, they trouble me and I can't help but wander.  Mom's eyes have always been as bright as mine, Crystals, Vanilla's and Magnolia's.  Those of us with bright eyes see the spirit world, so I wander why she can't.  Or at least she says she can't, but sometimes I am not sure I believe her.


      "You will be blacking out and switching off before I even get you into see Sunny.  I am sticking my neck out here, if Dad finds out I have brought you here he will be measuring me up for my coffin!!  You know he is going to give me hell later when he finds out, especially if you do black out!!"
     "Oh just ignore him, he fusses way too much!!  You just leave him to me!!"  she frowns at me  "Why?  Why was Sunny walking down the old road steps, it just does not make any sense!!"
     "You have asked me that question a hundred times now, and I don't know!!  I guess it is something that none of us will ever know!!"
     "Somebody must know, like whoever he was meeting in the woods!!  You know what they are saying about him don't you.  You know what Ruby thinks.  She has been suspicious for quite a while about the disappearing acts that Sunny kept doing, which she noticed started to get worse around about the time Honey faded."
     "No, Sunny was not having an affair Mother!!  Like Ruby has room to talk anyway, everyone knows now that she's been shagging Turmeric since he landed in town along with every other man she can jump, she's just a dirty slut like Strawberry!!"  I tut at her as she slaps my leg, probably for swearing.  "If Sunny ever would have wanted to have an affair with anyone, I think it would have been you!!"  her eyes widen and she slaps my leg again.
     "Don't be so ridiculous!!"  she snaps 
     "The way you two used to dance together ... "  I laugh at her.  "You put some of the dancers on my last music video to shame!"
     "Don't be stupid!!"  she laughs at me  

I laugh in my head about the rumours now flying around about Sunny.  Everyone thinks he has been having an affair, with some woman in town, behind Ruby's back.  Nobody ever uses those steps, that he supposedly fell down, unless they are going into the woods and why would Sunny be coming out of the woods, they wander.  That along with his disappearing acts makes them come up with the conclusion that he is having an affair with someone.  Of course they are right ... he was having an affair, but not with a woman in this town!!  If only they knew the truth about Sunny being a closet gay and bigamist.  His homophobic act sucked us all in, and I am not sure they would even believe the truth if they were told it!!  I am still struggling with it myself, even after Shadow showed me the proof, which he had sneakily seen in Sunny's head, as well as meeting Mustard, himself.  Ruby took some convincing,  Mustard had to show her his and Sunny's marriage certificate, photographs and some of his Sunny Maize ID, like passport, driving licence etc. before she would believe it.


Of course I know Sunny's disappearing acts were partly to go into the vampberry den to see Honey and Shadow, I told him he was doing it a little too often and his vanishing acts would be noticed, but he did not listen.  I only knew half of what he was up too.  He was also sneaking off to see Mustard Maize, his gay husband in Apple hill, I really don't know how Sunny managed to get away with it for so long.

I find myself having to bite my tongue again, like after the abduction, because of the lie that everyone has been made to believe, about him falling down those steps when I know he didn't.  I am also having to keep the fact of Sunny being married to another man to myself, not even my Dad or River know the truth about that.

River was very worried about them moving the body, because during an autopsy, they would have been able to tell by the movement of the bones.  Dad was dragged into knowing the truth about how Sunny faded and how the spirits had to move his body so it could be found.  River jumped on the autopsy, so he conducted it along with Dad, which enabled them to hide the truth about Sunny's body being moved after he faded.

Otherwise there would have been another murder case going on in Sugar Valley, that could have dragged a lot of people unnecessarily through the mud, especially all the gay guys in town who all were constantly fighting with Sunny.  Granite and Saffron would have been the first two in the frame for his murder.  It also would have put the vampberry den in danger of being found, if the police had started to poke around in that area, which we can not afford to ever happen.

Keeping Sunny's other life a secret and away from his children ever finding out has been a struggle.  It has all been worked out in theory, now we just hope that it all pulls off.   He will be getting two funerals, one here and one in Apple Hill, which will keep his two lives and identities apart, which will hopefully stop them colliding where the secret would come out.


After the funeral here, as far as his children are concerned, his body is being flown out to Amber Meadow to be laid to rest next to his twin brothers, as he requested in his will.  In reality, that is where it will end up, but it will be doing a sneaky detour to Apple Hill first so that Mustard can do what he has to.  The only thing we have got to be careful to stop is Scarlet and Saffron, trying to go out to Amber Meadow for the burial.  Being the only two who can, being pure berries to the eye.  Scarlet shouldn't be a problem too heavily pregnant to fly, Saffron I am going to have to sit on and distract somehow.

Me, Mace Granite and Turmeric have had to all but sit on Ruby, because she was the one who was being awkward over it.  I've seen a side to Ruby recently that I really don't like.  While Mustard was all for doing the right thing and keeping quiet so that Sunny's children didn't get hurt, Ruby was crawling the walls and kicking off, she wanted to shout it from the rooftops because she felt so angry and betrayed, which is understandable, but she didn't seem to care what she might be doing to her children, if she let the secret out, especially Saffron, which is the whole reason why we were working to keep his secret from ever coming out.  Even Turmeric was struggling to control her, we thought she was going to blow it wide open.

I sit laughing at myself, thinking about what I did.  There is no point me having this mind reading ability if I don't put it to good use sometimes, so I got her on her own and rifled through her head.  What I saw in her memories was pretty shocking.  What she has been doing and who with, has kind of opened my eyes and changed my opinion about a lot of men in this town, including one of my brothers and Uncles.  So I used it and turned it on her, I told her I'd expose her and all her sleeping partners if she didn't sit on Sunny's secret for Saffron's sake.  A few of her sleeping partners have really shocked me, and are ones she really would not want exposing for her own sake, and I thought Strawberry is bad!!  I also compelled her to play ball just for good measure.  Ruby really not understanding how I knew about all these men, and especially her reaction when I stood in front of her and named them all, was the most amusing part.

      "Are you okay?"  Mom frowns at me  "This isn't really the place for hysterical laughter!!"
      "Sorry, I switched off, my head was somewhere else!"
      "Have you taken your meds?"
      "YES!!  I seriously wish everyone would stop asking me that, I'm not a kid anymore.  I was just thinking about something that amused me, I didn't zone out!"
      "Share the joke then."  Mom chuckles at me
      "Trust me Mom, I doubt you would find this joke very amusing!!"



I hear a door open and think it is Crystal coming back from the toilets, but it isn't.  I am very surprised to see Atlas and Saffron both walking in.

     "Atlas you can sit by me!"  I laugh as I grab his arm and pull him into the seat next to me, Both Atlas and Saffron give me a funny look.
      "You be careful bright eyes, he's spoken for!"  Saffron laughs at me
      "Don't worry Saff, I am not after your boyfriend, I just want to smell him."  I laugh at them as both of their eyebrows raise and eyes widen
      "Now I'm starting to get worried!"  Atlas laughs at me
     "The smell of your aftershave Atlas, beats the stink in this place!!"

Everyone starts laughing including Mom, who is now sat quietly reading a book.

     "I'm surprised to see you here."  I frown at Saffron
     "He has not shed a tear yet, and he has been very aggravated and angry since Sunny faded, you know they did not part on very good terms."  Atlas answers for him  "It was your Dad's idea actually, he thought it might do him good to see him one last time.  He can tell him how he feels and maybe get off his chest what he needs to."  he laughs  "Your Dad is funny ... he told Saff that Sunny would hear him, so he can make his peace with him, without getting a mouthful back."

This amuses me, Dad knows that Sunny's spirit is now wandering around with all the rest, so I guess he thinks if Saffron says out loud how he is feeling Sunny in spirit form might be around to hear it.  I wish he had warned me, then I could have made sure he was around to listen.


     "Is Crystal not with you?"  Saffron smiles at me, a little awkwardly, like he is trying to change the subject away from himself.
     "Yeah, you might guess, she is in the toilet throwing up!"
     "Where are Nilla and Snow?"
     "With Slate, Bay and River at mine having a play day.  They've got Nilla, Snow, Ocean, Amber, Poppy, Clay, Sugar, Moon and Magnolia - they need their heads testing!!"  I laugh
      "How come the triplets are there?"
      "We had them last night to give Cherry and Affair a break - Cherry is all over the place at the moment."
      "I know the feeling."   Saffron mumbles  "So I guess you didn't get much sleep, Moon is a little bugger at night."
      "Yeah, and so is Snow, I had both of them demanding chocolate pudding at 3am this morning.  I swear I must have Choccy pudding machine written on my head"  we both laugh
      "They have got you sussed Tap!"  Mom starts to laughs  "You are too soft and give into them too easily, mark my words, they will be running rings around you when they are older."

Crystal comes walking in, busy chatting away on her phone.  I guess that is why she has taken so long.  She always amuses me when she is walking she always has a hand on her stomach, which is now really bulging and a little worrying to say she is not very far into her pregnancy, I get a horrible feeling that there is a lot more than just one baby in there.   I frown at her as she approaches us and she mumbles Scarlet to me as she sits on my lap and continues to talk to her Niece.   Something that Storm told me, hits me then, remembering that Scarlet isn't actually biologically Crystal's Niece, but nobody knows that yet.  Another one of Ruby and Sunny's secrets that I have to worry about and probably help clean up somehow.  I am seriously not looking forward to this one getting out, knowing who Scarlet's real Dad actually is.

A woman walks in and tells us that Sunny is ready for us to see now.  Crystal is still nattering away on her phone so I tell Saffron to go in first, which Mom does not mind.  I ask him if he'll hang around while we go in so he can help me with Mom if she does black out.  I can not help but notice how twitchy Saffron starts getting, he is kind of giving me the impression that he does not really want to go in to see Sunny's deceased body.


Atlas walks with him to the door holding his hand, he kisses him and Saffron starts to go into the room alone, but stops suddenly and backs out.  He tells Atlas he will have to go in with him, they bicker quietly for a few seconds, then Atlas rolls his eyes at me as he follows Saffron in.

Which brings us to why we are sitting here.  It is not for Crystal's or my benefit, my Mother wanted to come and see him to say her goodbye.  Pretty much against Dad's wishes, so she bent my ear after Dad went to work to bring her here.  Me and Crystal are finding this whole thing amusing in a way, only this morning Sunny's spirit was sat in our room playing with Vanilla, for the three of us, Sunny is still very much here like the rest of the spirits.

The door opens and a young guy comes in with an elderly couple.  I frown at them as I watch them sitting down on the couch closest to the door, I have never seen them before.  The old woman is crying, so I guess they are from out of town and they have lost someone too, however I can not imagine who because I did not know anyone else in this town had faded recently, but I have been away in Berry Shores working, so I might not have been told in all the commotion over Sunny.  The three people sit down and I don't think any more about it, as Crystal distracts me, she has now finished with her phone call.

She jumps up off my lap. her hand covering her mouth as she runs off in the direction of the toilet again.  This chronic sickness that she has, has kind of become a way of life for us, and there seems to be no signs of it stopping.  Suddenly the young man annoys me.



     "This town is full of freaks!!"  He snaps loud enough for us to hear, as his eyes follow Crystal running out of the room  "As if the colour mixing isn't bad enough, now what is with all this disgusting lack of colour?"  he laughs  "It's pregnant too, breeding more abominations!!"
     "You want to shut your mouth mate!!"  I snap at him
     "Or what?!"  he snaps at me  "I'm not your mate, you mixed berry piece of scum!!"
     "Or you will be lacking colour yourself and find yourself six feet under after you have rested in this place for a while!!"  I snap at him as I jump up off my seat, he also jumps off his and comes towards me with attitude.  "If you don't like mixed or colourless berries, sling your hook out of this town you narrow minded twat!!"
     "Tapestry leave it!!  They are not worth getting yourself into trouble for!!"  Mom yells at me  "Just ignore them!!"  she snaps as she grabs my arm and tries to pull me back into my seat, while the old couple are trying to do the same to him.  I hear them calling him Sulfur and that name rings a bell with me, but I can't think why.
     "No Mom I won't leave it!!  I am sick of twats like him, coming into this town, if they don't like it they should keep out!!  He does not even have enough decency or respect to keep his twisted trap shut, in this of all places."

The young guy is now just stood there silently and stationary staring at me, his mouth and eyes wide open.  It takes me a few seconds to realize what his new problem is.  He recognizes me and knows who I am.

     "Oh Berry!!"  he mumbles  "I read in a magazine that you live Sugar Valley.  I know you ... you are ... Storm!!"  I laugh sarcastically as I turn away from him and sit back down  "I ... I am sorry mate!"
     "I'm not your mate, and never will be!!   You make me sick, one minute I'm mixed berry scum, then when you realise I'm famous, I'm suddenly your mate!!  Hypocrite!! "  I snap at him.  "Insult my colourless Mother, girlfriend or unborn children again and I'll be banging your lights out!!"  I laugh  "Better still I could write a song about you for the whole world to hear ... and I think I'll call it  "Sulfur The Narrow Minded Twat!!"

      
I guessed the idiot had recognized me, and now he is going to aggravate the hell out of my by keep staring at me.  If ever he asks me for my autograph or a photo, I will probably bang him out.  I get seriously hacked off, when my fame harasses me in Sugar Valley, home is the only place where I am free of it, because most people treat me like they always have done, here I am just Tapestry.  I also get very annoyed when people bad mouth the lack of colour when they are referring to either my Mother or Crystal, especially when outsiders come into Sugar Valley to do it!!

    "Can I ask you something, how can you be orange if your Mother is colourless?"  Sulfur asks suddenly
    "Colourless people rarely have colourless children, they have children with colour - the colour they should be or the colour of their partner.  My Mother's parents and brothers are purple and my Dad is orange.  Me and one of my sisters are all orange, my other sister and brother are purple and orange.
      "What about you girlfriend?"
      "My girlfriend has yellow parents and a brother ... so our children will be yellow or orange."
      "So why are they colourless if their parents are purple and yellow?"

Me and Mom look at each other and laugh.  I jump up out of my seat and pull out of my pocket one of the leaflets that River had made up and printed for me, which I always carry around with me to give people.  The leaflet explains all about the Albino condition, because I am sick of having to keep answering exactly that question and others over and over when I'm out in the colour coded world.

     "Here read this, and it might just educate you into not being so narrow minded and brainwashed!!"  I snap at him as I slap the leaflet in his hand.

Before I get to sit back down, the door to the room Atlas and Saffron are in suddenly flies open.  I see Atlas's head for a second, he shouts me to help him, before it is gone again.  When I run into Atlas, I see Saffron is sprawled out on the floor, holding his chest, tears streaming down his face, he looks a mess and like he is struggling to breath.

    "I think he's having a panic attack, but I don't know what to do to stop it!!"  Atlas is becoming frantic
     "I do ... hang on!"

I run out of the room and straight over to Mom

     "Mom give me one of your bags."   she frowns at me  "Brown paper bag!"

I snatch the bag off her and run back into Saffron.  Mom sometimes has panic attacks and Dad always insists that she carries brown paper bags around with her in her bag, just in case.  We laugh at Dad for being so neurotic, but I am glad of it right now.


I open the bag and scrunch it up by the neck like I have seen it done many times before, when Mom is getting herself into a state.  I hold the bag to Saffrons mouth and tell him to take deep breaths into it.  Crystal comes in and stands holding his free hand, while Atlas is rubbing his back.  It does not take him long to start calming down.

While I am waiting for Saffron to calm down completely, I can not help but glance over into the coffin at Sunny.  Even though it is not the first time that I have seen him like this, I had sat staring at him just after he faded in the den, four days ago.  However, then he had looked just like he was sleeping, now he looks totally different and it seems to disturb me a little more.

His hair doesn't look right for a start, it is brushed off his face which is not how he normally has it, and the change in Sunny's face, where the muscles have started collapsing and the waxy, paler look of his skin, is bizarre as well as a little scary, he is starting to not look like Sunny any more.  I can feel myself starting to panic a little inside and have to look away.  I am seriously now not looking forward to bringing Mom in here!!

As soon as Saffron has calmed down enough, we help him out of the room.  He is now feeling  embarrassed and really stupid, even though he has no need to be.  I felt myself going, and he is not my Dad, and I doubt that many people do not freak out seeing a deceased body, especially someone that they are related to.  The smell of this place is really getting to me.

Crystal goes out ahead of us and Me and Atlas have both got an arm around Saffron because he is unsteady on his feet, as we walk out of the room.  We start to make our way over to the seats where my Mom is still sat reading her book, when the commotion starts.



     "Saffy!!"  the old woman says as she jumps up out of her chair, followed by the old and young guy.  This really confuses me for a moment.
     "Gran!"  Saffron says as he starts to break down again and she runs over to hug him.

I stare at Crystal wide eyed, who is now backing away with a terrified look on her face.  Being colourblind I didn't realize they are yellow, or even think for one minute that they could be here to see Sunny.  She obviously must be thinking exactly what I am thinking ... they are Saffrons Grandparents, which makes them Sunny's parents ... which means, they are also her parents!!!  I go over to her and put my arm around her and she hides her face in my shoulder. 

I notice the young guy trying to put his arm around Saffron, who pushes him away quite nastily, that is when Atlas starts kicking off.  It takes me a few minutes to catch on to why.  I reaslise now why I recognised the name Sulfur, he is Saffron's ex stalking boyfriend.

     "What the hell are you doing here!?"  Atlas is virtually yelling
     "Is that really any of your business?"  Sulfur snaps
     "You was warned by Crimson, to keep away from Saffron as well as out of this town, in exchange for him not doing you for assault!!  I guess we should have known you would use his father fading as your excuse to come sniffing around him again!!"
     "Not that it is any of your business, replacement, but I drove the Grandparents here, so get lost!!"
     "How pathetic are you!!  Latching onto his Grandparents!!"  Atlas starts laughing sarcastically  "Got no family of your own to stalk?!"


     "Saffy, I seriously can't believe you replaced me with that! " Sulfur points at Atlas and laughs
     "Just sling your hook Sulfur ... the best thing you ever did for me was dump me, because I've now got somebody a hundred times better than you could ever be!!"  Saffron puts his arm round Atlas which makes me laugh
    "It is not even yellow, it is brown!!"  he snaps sarcastically  "Have you suddenly gone colourblind like everyone else seems to be around here!?"
     "Granddad get Sulfur out of here before I seriously lose it!!"  Saffron shouts  "You should not have brought him here and you should have warned me that you were coming!!"  he snaps as he looks nervously at Crystal.

Saffron knows as well as I do that Crystal wants absolutely nothing to do with her parents, and now here the three of them are standing in the same room.  Crystal has refused to see or speak to them since we have discovered her true identity.  Sunny tried so many times to talk her into seeing her parents, but she flatly refused.

After he faded, Sunny and Saffy sat us down and told me and Crystal the whole truth about the story of Crystals life, which was a lot more shocking than we realised.  Saffy was there watching and he saw everything.  I have only spoken to Crimson about it so far, because he is looking into how we would go about doing something that both Sunny and Saffy want, Crystal's twin sisters remains moving to where they should be, in the cemetery with her headstone. 

Crystal has been thinking about having contact with her Mother since, because according to Saffy, her Mother never wanted to get rid of her, she was beat up and bullied into it by her Father.  Crystal has a very big problem in her head with her Father after hearing the story, so I know the very last person she would want in this room right now is her Father.

The door opens again so I look towards it.  I start to feel very sick, seeing who is just walking in.  Like there is not enough going on here already, and in walks Mustard Maize.  I hear a choking sound behind me, I turn to see Sunny's spirit floating there.


       "Tap ... you seriously need to get Saffron out of here NOW!!!"  he mumbles behind me.

I am angry suddenly, and stuck in a situation that I don't know how to handle.  Mustard promised he would keep away from Sugar Valley and Sunny's family.  Now here he is as large as life, it is Saffron I am worried for.

     "That is my baby isn't it ... that is Crystal ... isn't it!!"  the old woman starts rambling, who I noticed has been staring at Crystal for a while.  Suddenly she looks demented.

I can feel my head going - suddenly it becomes bedlem, when the old woman starts walking towards us and Crystal starts screaming, which has my Mother jumping up off her seat, the old man is shouting at the old woman, telling her to keep away from the abomination, which makes me angry.  Atlas and Sulfur start arguing quite loudly, while Saffron is trying to keep his Grandparents apart, as well as stop the old woman from getting to Crystal.  Crystal who promptly throws up all over the floor in front of me.

Amusingly Mustard nods his head at me, as he walks past me, going to the far end of the room, quietly and just sits down and starts reading a newspaper, like nothing is going on here.  While all the racket is going on, Sunny's spirt sits down next to Mustard and he starts continuously pecking my head and going on, telling me to get Saffron out then he reminds me of something him and Saffy had told me, that I need to get his Mother on her own and away from his Father.  I notice Mustard virtually has his head hidden behind the newspaper, I am very surprised Sunny's parents did not recognised him as he walked past them.

      "Get the bad man away!!"  Crystal is now starting to get hysterical



      "EVERYONE STOP!!!"  I yell really loudly.  "SUNNY ... SHUT THE HELL UP - Like you didn't help to create all this damn mess!!"

That does it, everyone freezes and turns to stare at me.  I hadn't meant to shout out Sunny's name or what I was thinking in my head, but in all the bedlem it just came out.  They are all staring at me now in stunned confusion.  Everyone except for my Mother strangely, who is chuckling to herself, and Crystal who just continues crying, because she can see and hear Sunny's spirit like I can.

My Mother pulls Crystal gently off me, gives her a tissue to wipe the vomit off herself then puts her arm around her and takes her over to one of the couches to sit down.

     "Old man, take Sulfur outside and keep him out and away from Saffron, like he asked you to!!"  I snap at the old man  "In fact, the pair of you can GET OUT OF TOWN - Crystal doesn't want you here and Saffron don't want him here!!"
     "Who the hell do you think you are, telling me to get out of town, when I am here to see my Son!!"  he snaps at me  "I have every right as his Father, where as you have no right mixed berry!!"  he almost spits the word mixed berry at me.
      "I have every right, and your narrow minded colour coded bullshit doesn't wash in this town!!"  I snap at him  "Call yourself a Father you are a joke!!  Arrange to see Sunny another day, if you must, when none of us are here!!  Not that he would actually want you here, like the rest of your family don't!!"  I snap at him  "We don't appreciate narrow minded twat's coming into this town who have an aversion to mixed or colourless berries, especially when it's their own family!!  Both of you use the word abomination just a little too much for my liking!!"  I snap  "You in particular old man, that is not an abomination that is Crystal, your daughter!!"  I yell at him as I point at Crystal who my Mom is still holding.  I see a shocked expression flash across Sulfur's face which amuses me, I guessed he didn't fully realise what was going on here.  "You are disgusting ...abandoning your own child like she was nothing and dumping her when she was less than six months old, out in the world alone to fend for herself, hoping she would fade.  Don't think I don't know about everything that you've done!!"
     "You know nothing!"  he laughs at me sarcastically


      "Oh I know a lot more than you realise, like how you tried to drown and suffocate Crystal when she was a baby, but your wife stopped you and all the beatings she got from you, because she wanted to keep her colourless baby when you didn't!!  How you dumped Crystal and told your wife you had faded her!!  I also know what you did actually bury unceremoniously under Saffy's tree in a sports bag!!"  he looks very shocked  "You are despicable!!  Crystal doesn't want you here and neither do I, you are lucky I don't punch your lights right out for what you did to her!!  It's you who should be lying in that coffin, not Sunny!!  You old man can get arrested and locked up in this town for your crimes, so I'd sling your hook now while you both still have the chance, Sulfur is already pushing his luck just by being here!!"
      "What ... just because he played his mouth at you Mr Rock star!  I bet you think you are something special don't you!!  Stood there throwing your weight around."  the old man scoffs sarcastically
      "No, as it happens I don't think I'm anything special, because I'm not.  In reality I'm just a dyslexic, colourblind, half deaf, idiot with ADHD who just happens to be able to play a guitar and sing in tune, so I get paid to do it.  I am just plain old Tapestry taking offence at the two of you upsetting and insulting my family, Crystal and Saffron, who also happen to be your family old man, but you don't know the meaning of the word family do you!!"  I laugh at him sarcastically  "Sulfur obviously hasn't told you, he actually has already had a run in with the law in this town for stalking and harassing Saffron and assaulting Atlas. The stupid idiot even took a swing at Crimson, so he is lucky he isn't already doing time."  I laugh at Sulfur who pulls a face at me  "Crimson, one of your mixed berry Grandsons, is a police officer, and he's already warned Sulfur to keep out of this town or he will arrest him.  Crimson would love to lock up both of your ass's, especially yours old man, for what you did to both his Aunts, Crystal, and her colourless twin Sister, and mark my words, he will if he sees either of you in town!!"  I snap at him  "NOW GET OUT OF OUR TOWN  ... BOTH OF YOU ... before I phone Crimson, which you are both seriously going to live to regret!!"
      "Come on woman!!"  he snaps nastily at the old lady
      "Just you two go!!"  I shout angrily  "Like I would let her go with you now, because no doubt she is in for another beating!!"  I snap at him  "Don't worry about your wife, she can stay, she is here to see her Son.  Saffron will bring her home, when and if she chooses to ever come back.  NOW GET OUT before I throw you out!!"



       "Shit Tap, you are starting to sound like Mango!!"

I hear Sunny's spirit hysterically laughing behind me.  I seriously wish I could punch him right now.  Surprisingly Sulfur and the old man do head for the door and leave the room without another word, which I am relieved about.
   
     "Atlas can you take Mom and Crystal into see Sunny, while I speak to Saffron and his Gran."

As we watch the three of them going into see Sunny.  I laugh at Saffron who is frowning at me.  I glance over at Mustard, who is still sat behind his newspaper, which he is not reading, because he is slyly watching us, in particular I think Saffron.

     "What the hell was all that about Tap?  What has Granddad actually done?"  Saffron asks me as he stands there with his arms around his crying Grandmother.
     "You need to ask your Grandmother."  I smile at him  "I'm giving your Grandmother a chance to tell the truth about everything that really happened when Crystal was born.  I'm also giving her the chance to escape from that evil old man, so she can get to know her daughter and mixed berry Grandchildren, if that is what she really wants."  she just stares at me for a moment
      "Yes I do, I always have done, he just wouldn't let me!"  she smiles at me  "How  ... how do you know?"
      "Sunny managed to get the truth out of your husband just before he faded, by threatening to beat it out of him.  Luckily he told me and Crystal, so we can do something about it."  I smile at her.

I am lying, because it was Saffy's spirit who witnessed it all, to tell me, but it was the only thing that we could think of as a plausible cover for knowing something only Sunny's parents knew.

The door swings open and Dad comes marching through it, I'm very surprised that he is holding Vanilla.  I start laughing at the expression on his face.

      "Daddy!!"  Vanilla starts squealing when she sees me.



     "I'm going to throttle you Tapestry!!  Where is your Mother?"  he snaps at me
     "In there with Crystal, saying goodbye to Sunny."  I laugh  "Who grassed me up ... Daddy clone I bet!?"
     "Yes, because River was worried, and he obviously has a lot more sense than you do!!"
     "Don't blame me - Mom made me bring her here.  I was only doing as I was told!!
     "Yeah right Tap, I know you remember!"  he laughs at me  "You've never done as you are told once in your life!!"  I frowns at him
     "Why have you got Vanilla?"
     "River called me home, Ocean tried to cave her head in with the xylophone, they have been fighting again."  he tuts  "Seeing as you and Crystal sloped off with your Mother, he didn't want to leave Bay and Slate looking after three babies and five toddlers, so I have had to take your daughter to the hospital and put a few stitches in her head."  he leans her head forward to show me. 
      "Me's a big girl Daddy."  she grins at me  "Look Gangy sewing!  Naughty Ocean!!"  she tries to touch her injured scalp so I grab her hand to stop her from touching it. "Me's had a lollipop for being a brave girl."
      "Yeah I can see you still have half of it all over your face!"  I laugh at her "Naughty Granddad hasn't cleaned your face."
      "Why are you out here if Crystal and your Mother are in there."  he frowns at me  "They shouldn't be in there on their own!"
      "Atlas is with them, don't worry he is watching Mom.  There has been a kick off - Crystals parents turned up with Saffron's ex stalker boyfriend.  I had to defuse the situation, and get rid of Sunny's Dad and Saffron's ex."  I laugh as I point over towards the old lady and Saffron who are now sat down and deep in conversation.  Saffron glances up at me a little wide eyed.  "That's Sunny and Crystals Mom, she's like Grandma Orchid, she has been bullied into not having anything to do with Crystal and her mixed berry Grandchildren, so I get the feeling we might be gaining another lodger ..."



I don't get a chance to finish what I'm saying.  The door to Sunny's room opens and Mom comes walking out in floods of tears, followed by Crystal and Atlas.  I am very relieved that Mom has not blacked out.  Dad hands me Vanilla quickly then automatically rushes over to Mom and starts fussing.   I laugh because I know I am going to enjoy winding Dad up later, yet again he was being too over protective and he now can not have a go at me for bringing her here.  His whole reason for her not coming here is because he said she would never get out of the place without blacking out - and he was wrong!!

      "Mommy!!"  Vanilla starts squealing and jumping up and down in my arms when she sees Crystal.

She takes Vanilla off me when I tell her about her head and starts to fuss over her.

     "Crystal, you remember what Sunny and Saffy told you about your Mother."  she nods at me  "Well we are going to take her home, so you two can talk ... okay."
     "Yeah, okay."  she mumbles.

Crystal goes off home ahead of me with Mom, Dad and Vanilla.  I sit talking to Atlas as we wait for Saffron and Crystals Mother, who have gone in to see Sunny.  I am very amused with Mustard, who has sat quietly hiding himself behind his newspaper, not being the slightest bit of bother or adding to the situation, which could have got a hell of a lot worse if he had exposed himself.

After Saffron and the old lady have finished seeing Sunny, we start too make our way out of the undertakers. I am pretty flabbergasted that the old lady didn't recognise Mustard.  He told me when I first met him that he knows Sunny's parents very well, but it has been years since he has seen them, he backed out of their lives and kept his distance so that they didn't work out that Sunny and Mustard were still together.

I am the last one through the door, so I stop and glance back at Mustard.   I can see he has been quietly crying behind his newspaper.


 He smiles at me weakly as he wipes the tears off his face.  He folds up his newspaper, then gets up and starts making his way across the room..

      "I'll phone you later."  I mumble to him
      "Okay mate."  he smiles at me nervously before he enters Sunny's room.

I can't help but laugh at Sunny's spirit, miserably trailing after Mustard.  I can see where his priorities lie, with Mustard, while I am the one here having to clean up all his and his families mess!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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