Troubled
Waters
by Janet
Disclaimer: The characters and situations of the TV program
"Big Valley" are the creations of Four Star/Republic Pictures and
have been used without permission. No
copyright infringement is intended by the author. The ideas expressed in this story are copyrighted to the author.
“Nick!” he screamed at the top of his lungs. “I don’t want to talk about it! Just leave me alone!”
“But Jarrod,” Nick said looking at his brother, “you need
to talk it out before it drives you over the edge. You’re letting the kids get
to you and that’s not good.”
“I don’t either,” Jarrod shot back. “I’m not talking to anyone about it is that
clear?”
“No!” Nick yelled at Jarrod. “You have to tell mother and father. They can help you. And you need help.”
“I won’t!” he cried his face becoming very red. “And if you tell them, I’ll slug you.”
Tom was working in one of the corrals and heard his two
sons arguing. Walking over to them he
noticed that Jarrod was irate with anger.
“Jarrod,” he said very calmly, “I heard you and Nick all
the way over in the corral. What is
this all about?”
Jarrod didn’t look at him. Nick started to say something but Jarrod’s expression made him
stop.
“I asked you a question Jarrod,” Tom said looking at his
son. “I want an answer.”
“I have nothing to say to anyone,” he replied and walked
away.
Before Tom could stop Jarrod, Nick pulled him back.
“Father,” Nick said looking up, “let him go. He needs to cool off. He’s not really mad at
me. He’s more angry with the kids at
school.”
“What is going on between you two?” he asked very
concerned. “I’ve never seen Jarrod this
angry.”
“It has something to do with Heath and school,” Nick
answered looking at the barn door. “I’m
not completely sure of the entire details but some of the kids at school have
been calling Jarrod names about the situation with Heath. And he’s lost Frank’s friendship. That’s
hurt him more than anything.”
“What exactly are they saying?” he asked very much
concerned about Jarrod and Heath. “I mean what about Heath are they saying?”
“Well,” Nick answered beginning to pace the length of the
barn, “I think it has to do with Heath having a different mother and how you
were un... to mother. You know that word you used when you told us about
Heath’s mother.”
“That’s unfaithful to your mother,” he said understanding
dawning. “I had a feeling that
something like this might happen. But
there’s more to this than that.”
“Yes sir,” Nick replied sitting down on a bale of
hay. “Jarrod is angry about Heath. I think he’s partly jealous of all the time
you spend with Heath and the fact that Jarrod is still angry with you. He’s not accepted all of this completely and
I think he’s having second thoughts about welcoming Heath into our family. Oh he
loves Heath but he’s just not sure if he can be the brother everyone wants him
to be toward Heath.”
“I see,” he told his son.
“What about Frank? They have been friends since Jarrod started to
school.”
“Frank is siding with the other kids and teasing Jarrod,”
Nick said shaking his head. “It’s
really hurt Jarrod because he thought Frank was his friend. I told Jarrod he should tell you and mother
but he told me no. I don’t think he
should keep all of this locked up inside of him for too long.”
“I agree,” he replied nodding. “Do you know where Jarrod went?”
“I think probably to his room,” Nick told him. “He feels safe in there and Heath can’t come
near him. He still doesn’t know what to think about all of this. This is so much for Jarrod as well as for me
to understand. Jarrod just needs some
time to come to terms with it all.”
“Is he that uncomfortable with Heath?” he asked
shocked. “The way he acted in
Sacramento I thought he really cared about Heath. He welcomed Heath with open
arms and showed so much love toward the little boy.”
“He does and he does love Heath,” Nick answered. “But Jarrod is tired of being left out
because you are busy with Heath and with me.
He feels that he doesn’t belong here in the family any longer. In fact, he mentioned something about
running away.”
Tom thought about what his son had just told him. He stood up and headed toward the house.
“Have you seen Jarrod?” he asked as he walked into the
kitchen where his wife was fixing the evening meal. “I need to find him. I need to straighten out this situation
before the lid blows off.”
“He’s in his room,” she answered looking up at him. “He seemed very angry and upset. I was going
to talk to him when I finished here but I thought that maybe he would rather be
alone.”
“Do you remember how Jarrod acted not long after Nick was
born?” he asked her. “It’s the same
thing with Heath only worse because the kids at school are calling him names
because of Heath’s background. They can’t accept the fact that Heath has come
here to live under our roof and the fact that he’s got another mother other
than you.”
“You mean he’s jealous of Heath just like he was of Nick,”
she said remembering. “I remember how
angry he became when Nick was born. At
first he was so happy but after that the behavior change. We had a very hard
time getting him through that. We have
to help him now before it gets any worse.”
“Yes,” he replied nodding. “We need to help him before it’s too late and there’s one other
thing.”
“What’s that?” she asked.
“Frank and Jarrod are no longer friends,” he
answered. “I believe that has hurt
Jarrod very deeply. They’ve been so close since Jarrod first started school and
I think he feels lost and alone without Frank.”
“I agree,” she said shaking her head. “First we need to calm him down and then we
can help him.”
“I’m going to talk to him right now,” he replied starting
for the door.
“Tom,” she told him stopping him, “let me. He’ll listen to
me and I believe that I can get through to him.”
“All right,” he said nodding.
Jarrod was lying on his bed crying because he was so mad
and upset.
“Why did that bastard have to come here in the first
place?” he asked hatefully. “I wish I
had never heard of Heath Thompson.”
“Jarrod,” she said very calmly, “I would like to talk to
you. May I come in?”
“The door’s open,” he replied hatefully.
Victoria walked into the room and saw Jarrod’s face. She knew that he had been crying.
“Would you like to talk about it?” she asked sitting down
on his bed. “I will listen if you want
to talk.”
“Mother,” he said sitting up, “I wish I had never heard of
Heath. I hate him. He’s taken everything away from me.”
“What do you mean honey?” she asked making sure what he
meant.
“He’s taken my brother Nick, my father and even you away
from me,” he answered very angry. “I
don’t even have Frank as a friend because of him.”
“I know it’s been hard having Heath living with us,” she
said very calmly. “Your father just
wanted to make sure he felt at home here on the ranch. You have to realize that Heath is all
alone. His mother is dead and he’s
living with strangers that he has no idea really who they are. He’s so young and we just want to make him feel
like he’s part of a family.”
“I guess I didn’t think about the fact that his mother was
gone,” he replied looking up at her. “I
just got mad at school today because they kept calling me the bastard’s
brother. They said that father cared
more for that bimbo than he did for you.
It made me realize that father really did fall for another woman. I don’t understand why he did it but I don’t
want to be constantly reminded of it either.”
“Jarrod,” she told him holding him, “your father made a
mistake. He didn’t mean to fall in love
with Heath’s mother but he was hurt so badly and thought he wouldn’t live. He wanted to be happy instead of in constant
pain and agony. He wanted to feel
needed by someone. And that someone
turned out to be Heath’s mother. Put
yourself in Heath’s shoes. How would
you feel?”
“All alone I guess,” he said nodding. “I guess I didn’t realize that father
thought he wasn’t going to live and that’s why he fell for her. I’m sorry I called Heath a bastard and his
mother a bimbo.”
“Do you know what those words mean?” she asked.
“Not really,” he answered looking at the floor. “But I do know they are not nice words to
call someone. I just wanted life to go back to normal instead of everyone
walking around on eggshells because of Heath.
But I guess it will take time for him to adjust to his new home and family.”
“You’re right,” she said smiling at him. “Don’t you think you owe some people an
apology?”
“You’re right mother,” he replied standing up. “I’m still angry but I’m not as angry at
Nick or father or Heath any more.”
“I know you’re not,” she told him rising from the
bed. “As for Frank just give him some
time and I think he’ll come around.”
“I really hope so,” he said as they walked out the door.
Tom was working at his desk when Victoria and Jarrod
walked into the room. Jarrod slowly
walked over to his father.
“Father,” he said as he stood in front of Tom, “I wanted
to say I’m sorry for saying all those bad things about you. I know that none of this is really your
fault. I didn’t stop to think that you were probably hurt so bad that you
thought you would die and wanted to feel loved and cared about. I’m glad that Heath’s mother helped you come
back to us. I just wish she was here
for him. He could really use her I
bet.”
“Son,” Tom replied turning to look at Jarrod, “it’s all my
fault and I’m sorry for not realizing that you needed me more than Heath
does. You have had a rough time dealing
with all the secrets and I haven’t been there to help you through them. But that’s going to change. I will be here whenever you want to
talk. I mean that. As for Heath, I’m
going to tell him some stories about his mother that I do remember. I think that will help him get through this
hard time. The love we have showed him
has already helped. He thinks the world
of you and Nick. He can’t stop talking
about you both and that makes me so proud of you two.”
“It’s all right sir,” he told his father. “I know you have to help Heath adjust to his
new life. I realized just how alone he
is not having his mama here with him. It must be so hard for him to live with
total strangers. But I’m going to try
to help him overcome that. I’m going to
take him fishing and riding as well as spend time with him just talking. I want you to know that.”
“I appreciate that son,” Tom said smiling. “As for school just give the kids time and
they will adjust to our family. We know who we are and that’s all that matters
son. We’re a family. All of us, your mother, Nick, Heath you and
me. We have each other and that will
never change.”
“I know,” he replied smiling. “Thanks for listening father.”
“Anytime son,” Tom told him. “Anytime.”
Jarrod found Nick in the barn brushing Loco.
“I’m sorry Nick for being so mean to you,” he said as he
walked over to his brother. I didn’t
have any right to yell at you.”
“It’s all right Jarrod,” Nick replied smiling. “You want to help me brush Loco and then
I’ll help you brush Cinnamon.”
“All right,” he told him picking up a brush.
“Heath is too small to help but he likes to watch me,”
Nick said as they worked. “It’s funny. I bet I did the same thing to you.”
“You did,” he replied laughing. “You followed me where ever I went. Sometimes that made me so mad
but I realized that you were learning from me and I tried to help you. So you need to do the same with Heath.”
“So does Heath,” Nick told him. “I guess he just wants to feel part of a family again.”
“Yeah,” he said nodding.
“We have to remember that Heath is all alone. His mother is dead and he doesn’t know his father or us. We have to show him that he does belong in
this family. And we are a family. All
of us.”
“You’re right,” Nick replied turning to look for Heath.
“We sure are.”
“What are you looking for?” he asked watching Nick.
“I’m looking for Heath,” Nick answered looking around.
“He’s in the house with mother and father,” he said
pointing. “Father is talking to him
about his mother. He wanted to tell him some stories that he thought Heath
would enjoy.”
“I guess he needs to feel that she didn’t leave him
because she was mad at him,” Nick replied getting back to work. “She did love
him and father.”
“Heath has to remember her,” he told his brother. “He can never forget her because she was his
mother. And we are his brothers no
matter what anyone says. And father is Heath’s father and no one can say that
he’s not. I’m sure when they realize
that everything will get back to normal.”
“You’re right,” Nick said nodding. “The heck with those kids at school. Just let them have their laughs. We know the truth and that’s all that
counts.”
“You’re right,” he replied smiling. “And I’m proud to have you and Heath as my
brothers.”