The Outsider - Part 14 - Christmas 2008

Christmas 2008 – The eldest sister and second eldest sister had gone to visit the third eldest for Christmas.  She (the youngest daughter), together with her son was to spend Christmas Eve with her Father and the “new” family.  She arrived with her son and set to getting to work in cooking the Gammon.  Then while waiting for the gammon to cook she had to sit outside with her father.  Her son too, but he mostly swam in the pool.  She had to endure listening to his life’s stories – which he told over and over again to anyone who would listen.  Then he would go on to how he did not like his eldest Grandson (Sadly he was another who was not favoured by her father … no true reason given either … the eldest grandson an adult with his own business and two son’s of his own), how he felt his eldest grandson was a Mommy’s boy, which ofcourse was totally untrue … how he used to see his grandson on his motorbike chatting to school girls at the school after he in fact had already left school and was working.  And that was exactly it .. whoever it was he saw on a motorbike at the school certainly was not his grandson as his grandson was at work.  There was no possible way he could be riding around on his motorbike visiting girls at the school.  But even so, if it was him visiting the school girls … so what?   If he had just matriculated what was wrong with him visiting girls that were at school with him?????  So in that sense she was not alone in that department – there was another family member who could not understand why he was disliked.  The grandson however refused to visit his Grandfather.  He knew his Grandfather did not like him and felt it unnecessary to visit a man who did not like him.  There she was … listening … and that is another thing with all the daughter’s – they just did not have the nerve to give this man a piece of their minds – except for the time when she told him what she thought of him when her mother had passed away.  They just sat and listened.  Perhaps it was still purely out of fear or perhaps respect for the “elder” … or not wanting to upset him … who knows … they just did not speak their minds…. Eventually after listening to everything and after having eaten she announced that she was leaving to go to her eldest nephew (the grandson he could not tolerate).  His remark remains ingrained in her memory … “For what?  He’s got his own family!”  She then finally said “Well I am going because he is also my family” …. What did she get in return … the stare from those ice blue eyes …