Chapter 23: Trouble

We sat there in silence for what seemed like an eternity. I was ready to leave.

―Nothing changes, does it, Adam?‖ I started to get up.

―Wait.‖

―Yes,‖ I said settling back into my chair, dreading the thought that I had once again

opened Pandora's Box.

He gave me his spin on what we already have some knowledge of, that all of his

problems were everyone else's doing, the police did this, the neighbor did that, the lady

next to the grocery store did something and on and on and on.

It was so frustrating that he could never take responsibility for anything. He told me he

got a job at a local fabric store where they lived in Maine. He said they lived in a rental

and had to lie about how many children they had. When the landlord came by one day

and needed to get into the apartment, Adam told him that he couldn't come in, that he'd

paid rent, and he did not need to let him into the apartment. He was confrontational and

argumentative with everyone! He had no friends, all he had was enemies. Is it any

wonder?

―You don't get it, do you?‖ I said

―Don't get what?‖

―You make people dislike you. Half of your problem starts from being mean and nasty.

Like the neighbor that came over to welcome you with an offer to help when you moved

into the little peach colored house. When I arrived you were yelling at him. ‗don't ever

come into my home, you are not a friend and you are not family, and I don't even know

you.' Well, he didn't waste much time contacting the police and truant officer when he

noticed the children weren't going to school.‖

―Just goes to show, they're all out to get you.‖

I shook my head. ―There's no hope for you, Adam.‖ I left.

Over the next few days, I learned more of what happened. It was basically the story in

chapter sixteen from the Maine Court Documents. I could hardly believe that he fled the

state of Maine. I didn't know he could be that bold and brazen. The more I heard and

found out, the more I was dumbfounded by how he blatantly ignored the authorities.

―Why didn't you just take the children to the doctors and get their physicals like the court

ordered? You wouldn't be in this pickle now?

―I couldn't afford it.‖

―This was the health of your children at stake. You've asked me for money for far less

important things.‖

There had to be another reason why he didn't want them to get checked out, I thought.

There was always an ulterior motive with Adam.

―You're in trouble with the law now, Adam. That's no joke.‖

―It's not a big deal. You don't let these people push you around, especially when it's

family.‖

It was so simple, all he had to do was take the children to have their physicals and the

authorities would leave them alone. They would just be dealing with the home schooling

thing, but no, he had to make his life, and more to the point, his children's lives hell.

As I learned more from doctors and state officials, I knew why he didn't want them

checked out. Adam was hiding the heart murmur showing up in my youngest niece,

Katherine, and the bowed legs the children had from being confined to the playpen until

they were four-years old. They were kept from running and playing around outside, for

God's sake! What can be more normal, no essential, for the raising of healthy and well

adjusted youngsters? And, probably the most egregious of all the issues Adam wanted to

hide from the officials was the fact that his children were malnourished.

I kept asking myself, ―Why would such a smart man allow this to happen?‖

Later, I spoke with the court psychologist who did the evaluation of him. He said that

Adam was of ‗superior intelligence' however, he also had personality disorders. I could

have told the guy that much myself.

When he fled Maine, he went to Margaret's house in PA for a few months. While he was

there, she told me later, he tried to talk her into buying a house with him. When she said

no, he came back to Massachusetts to Ma's place. He had nothing more to do with

Margaret after that. That was our Adam; if you couldn't, or wouldn't help him out he had

nothing more to do with you. God help you if you needed his help!

After hearing about Adam's troubles and what led up to them, I should have left. My gut

was telling me to get the hell back to California. But, no, I stayed and suckered myself

into the whole sorry mess. Who needs the psychologist??? To be honest, I wasn't ready

to leave Ma right then. I wanted to spend as much time with her as I possibly could. I

always felt like that when I had to leave her, but this time was different. And, how could I

abandon those children?

• • •

Abbey was having a great time visiting with her cousins, and she always had so much

fun. Her eighth birthday was coming up, and she wanted to do something with them. So, I

set up a party for them at Ma's place with cake, ice cream, balloons and a few presents,

not a big deal. My nieces and nephews were having such a good time. But, it was a

different experience for them. Their birthdays were usually quiet celebrations with Adam

presiding, so it was heartwarming to see them having a great time with their cousins

present.

I was eating a piece of birthday cake, enjoying the cousins fussing over Lucas, but deep

down I worried. Their health issues were much more apparent to me now that I knew

about the warrant for Adam's arrest.

Lilly was standing up in the playpen, giggling, looking at me and holding out her hand.

Poor little thing had clumps of hair missing.

―You want a piece of my cake, Lilly?‖ I asked as I broke off a piece and handed it to her.

―Don't give her that!‖ Susan's shrill voice cut through the laughter in the room. Suddenly

it was dead quiet. Ma, who was sitting in her chair, stared at the bitch.I glared at her. ―What?‖ I hissed through clenched teeth barely able to contain my anger.

The ‗ulterior motive' Adam jumped in, realizing that his best interests would not be

served by upsetting me. ―We don't ever give her sweets, Amelia,‖ he said while giving

Susan a ‗shut the f...up look.' ―The sugar is not good for kids. I don't mind the older kids

getting a small piece on special occasions.

―You're worried about sugar hurting your children. What's causing all these bald spots in

Lilly's hair?‖

―Oh, that happens when she gets bored. She pulls her hair out.‖

―You're kidding. You're concerned about her having a piece of cake, and here she is, two

years old, and pulling her hair out because she is bored. She needs to be taken to a

doctor.‖

―Well, we have and that's what they told us.‖

Later, when I had all the court paperwork, I found out Lilly suffered from severe anxiety

attacks, and that's why she yanked out the chunks of hair. The more I learned, the worse

it got. When I gave my nephew, Brian, he was 10 at the time, a piece of the cake he said,

―We don't usually take things from strangers.‖ That I would be considered a stranger was

shocking to me, but what concerned me much more was that his speech was so bad I had

a hard time understanding him. In fact, it was difficult to understand what any of the

children were saying because their speech was so bad. All of the children sounded the

same but I guess that's to be expected when all they hear are their own voices bouncing

back at them.

It was obvious that here was another reason Adam did not want these children to be

exposed again to the court doctors. In fact, he didn't want anyone to have contact with

them, which was why he never took them out, of course. Did he seriously think he could

do this forever? I think his pride was part of it, too. He claimed that home schooling was

best for his children. How could he explain the bad speech problems? They could only

point directly to him and Susan.

We didn't stay late that evening; I just couldn't bear being around Adam any longer. My

mind was going a mile a minute; should I call the authorities, should I take Katherine,

what could I or should I do? I had to get out of there and think. I still had a couple of

weeks left in Massachusetts before we went home to California. It had been a stressful

time dealing with Ma's illness, and Lucas was little more than five months old. I have to

say that he behaved superbly, considering how the familiar surroundings and routine of

his early life had been disrupted.

I did my best to avoid Adam, but he showed up a couple of times when I was at Ma's

house. What was unusual, though, was he was almost cordial in his discourse with me on

both occasions. I know he liked seeing Abbey and Lucas, so most of his attention was

centered on them.

We left to go home to San Francisco in August. I was hoping that this was the end of

having to deal with Adam. I couldn't have been more wrong. Labor Day was fast

approaching and the worst of my brother's transgressions were soon to have an even

greater impact all of our lives.