Accommodation UC Max/Maria k/t A/I Adult COMPLETE
Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2007 5:51 pm
Title: Accommodation.
Author: ken_r aka Ken242 aka Ken Renouard
Genre: UC Max/Maria, kt, ia
Adult because it deals with terribly angst emotions.
Disclaimer: All names of characters belong to the writers of Roswell High books and to the writers and producers of the Roswell TV show none of them are mine and I did try to follow the character as much as possible.
Read this story at your own risk.
Warning this story deals with very sad events. It also deals with death of characters we all love. It was suggested that I write about subjects I know about and dealing with grief is one I know well. This is surely not a Dreamer story, neither is it a Candy one. I believe that Max and Maria are called Ground Zero. It doesn’t follow that either. It is always said that Max of the TV show, shy and quiet would not ever be with the Maria, a rock singer and generally loud person. I think that is usually right. But what if conditions so horrible that we do not like to contemplate, happened and to survive Max and Maria were thrown together. Believe me, when you survive such horrible events, you are not the same person. You change and you can’t help it. You also change to protect those left behind that you still love. This is such a story. The events that happen to the couple are real. They come from several different people I have known. The solutions are my own.
I couldn’t think of a banner and this is rare. Maybe it is because this story bothered me so much.
Accommodation
Chapter 1
Maria woke up. Every part of her body ached. She tried to move. As her eyes focused, she saw that her arms were restrained, by straps against the stainless steel side of her bed. Her mind began to wander.
Graduation, the summer following was one of the happiest she could remember. All eight of them spent the summer working and hanging out together. They had, by this time, all paired off. There was Alex. Alex who, along with Liz had been, her friend since grade school. Alex who, sometimes, was so geeky that Maria wanted to murder him and, at other times, was so wise that she wanted him to be close always. Alex, who was considered almost anti-social, but who secretly had the suave character of a movie star. It just took the right person to bring it out. Alex, who had been like a sad puppy, pining for the beautiful Isabel Evans. Isabel was the fashion queen. She had been adopted and she seemed to strive to make up for her lack of heritage by creating a regime in the here and now over which she could rule. Isabel, adopted into a fairly affluent family, had learned to live and act the life of royalty. How could Alex ever pursue her? His family of two professional parents had no idea of his lust and, if they did, they would not have known how to help him.
Maria and the others never did have a clear idea of how he did it. One day he was a sick puppy and the next he was taking the Ice Queen to the prom. It was never understood except between Alex and Isabel how Isabel finally tired of the artificial fawning of the “in kids” of school. Suddenly, she saw the genuine adoration in the smart, geeky teen on the side line. Trouble was, Isabel was tremendously smart. She, for years, had concealed this from those surrounding her. Suddenly, she had thoughts of the empty minds she was with and a thought of being a trophy to one of the handsome studs frightened her a lot. She had never given in to the pressure to sleep with any of her suitors and it was becoming a challenge. Who would crack the virginal Ice Queen, first? After one of the intoxicated football players almost raped her one night on a date, Isabel decided the problem was hers. She needed to surround her self with a better class of friend. When she gravitated to the young, budding computer geek, she saw that he loved her for so much more than just her curves. He saw inside of her shield and he wanted to be with her, not just sleep with her. Their friendship grew into being lovers, going to college together and, finally, it became marriage.
Maria thought how happy she had been for Alex. The woman, who as a girl Maria almost detested as one of those who had everything, now was married to her best friend. She and Maria had also become friends. Maria struggled through the fog. She wanted to be free of the restraints. She tried to call out. No sound came out of her lips. They were parched and her throat was sore. Her mind, again, started to drift.
Kyle had not been really a member of the group. He was a jock stud. His conduct with Maria’s other friend, Liz, was reprehensible. Kyle felt every girl was his to fuck. He had no depth at all. Even when Liz was dating Kyle, Maria detested him. It was after Liz and Kyle broke up and in the summer before Kyle’s Junior-year, at football camp, that Kyle discovered Buddhism. Kyle had not, to this time, had any religious teaching. His father was a law enforcement officer and a single dad who seldom had much time for his son. After Kyle’s conversion, he gravitated away from his former friends. The decking of Pauley, his “bud” since middle school, at the prom was the final break.
There had been a real outsider, who arrived to the group. Her name was Tess. Her father and mother moved to Roswell when he got a job with the military base arranging the use of surplus base equipment. Tess had come on so strongly to Max that it threatened to rupture the group entirely. Liz and Max had so close a bond by this time, there was nothing that could spoil it. Tess had tried to get close to Isabel, thinking that she would be the conduit to Max. Isabel, at first, was intrigued with the little blond, but she soon tired of her constantly hitting on Max. At this time Isabel wasn’t enthralled with her brother’s choice of girl friend. Tess, though, did not seem to have Max’s best interest at heart. Who better to understand artificial attractions than Isabel. Isabel, who had been subjected to such most of her life did not want to live through this with her brother. Isabel, who now reveled in the genuine affection of Alex, just did not want her sometimes clueless brother, to have to live with that. Isabel took another look at Max and Liz and saw that she was now to become their most ardent advocate. Max and Liz were decreed from heaven to be together. It took a while for Isabel to straighten Tess out. Soon, Tess was at a loss. She turned to the social circle, who like yapping dogs, were clamoring for her attention. Tess instinctively saw that the lust in so many of these super studs, by their own definition, could be dangerous. Tess had always gotten who she wanted. Now for the first time, she was unable to reach Max and his solid love for Liz. She turned and found among the suitors, one who admired her. Yes he was also lusting for her, but he had something else that she couldn’t quite place. Kyle was a lot deeper than most of the other boys who constantly crowded her. She tentatively allowed herself to go on a date with Kyle. She was shocked. Yes, it was obvious Kyle would gladly maul her, but he also showed remarkable restraint in how he treated her. When she finally let him into her whole soul, it was not just an experience of sex, but she felt a truly strong feeling of care. When they went to the prom and the drunken Pauly told Kyle in front of the entire team that as soon as Kyle was through with Tess, he wanted to be first in line to fuck her, then Tess saw how Kyle felt. He decked Pauly and severed his final tie with his old life in one swing. Tess and Kyle went to New Mexico State University together. Kyle majoring in physical education and Tess in business. This led to their marriage and both of them returning to Roswell. Kyle took a job as a coach in Roswell high and tried to reshape the characters of those who formally reminded him of himself. Kyle was a good coach and he was a good mentor. His Students made higher grades and were better behaved than any team in the history of Roswell high. Tess had found a job with a local bank and was an administrator within a few years.
Maria’s reverie was interrupted as a smiling, motherly face appeared. “Dahrling, you are now awake? Let’s see if I’ah can remove these ole straps. You had a bad night last night, dahrling. I will call the doctor as soon as I can.” With this, the motherly woman dressed as a nurse left. She had the drawl that was common in Roswell so close to little Texas, an area so different from the rest of New Mexico that natives throughout the state, sometimes, thought the boundaries had been misdrawn so long ago.
Maria’s mind drifted again. That summer. It was a picnic where they all were teasing and playing until they noticed that Max and Liz had disappeared. Maria was worried. She wanted to hunt for them immediately. It was her boyfriend, Michael, and friend, Alex, who convinced her that Max and Liz just wanted a little time alone. Maria was still a bit frantic until she saw them coming from over a hill returning from behind a line of trees. In the distance, she spied Max and Liz, a blanket over his arm and smiles on both of their faces. Maria could have kicked herself. She knew that Liz had always claimed to still be a virgin throughout high school. Maria and Michael in a time of passion had given into their feelings during their senior year. But Liz still waited and, surprisingly, Max was very tolerant. Now, Maria understood that their love had been consummated and in their eyes, they would be there for each other forever.
Maria and Michael had a stormy relationship. They fought and made love with equal passion. Maria could never understand her self enough to know what she wanted. At first, she enjoyed the sex. Michael was a boy who never had a family. To him, giving in to these emotions was more than just a roll in the grass. He soon found himself developing a passion to the person of Maria. Maria, though, was looking for so much more in her life. Maria since she was a little girl wanted to be a singer. She loved Michael, but did she want to sacrifice her dreams for him? Maria admitted she was very selfish. She wanted Michael’s person, his body and, also, her freedom. That, later, led to their stormy breakup. Maria followed her dream and Michael, alone as he was for the most of his life, concentrated on surviving.
Maria found her self discovered. She was whisked away to New York. She was stripped of her personality and most of her life. They took away all of her clothes and the ones they gave her in replacement were representative of a lot Maria detested. Maria had always lightened her hair. They bleached it and straightened it. Everything she wore showed cleavage and navel. Her comfortable shoes were now spike heels, which to her, always gave the impression of giving up and dumping her. Her beautiful acoustic guitar, given to her by Alex and Liz many years ago, was taken away. In its place, she had a plastic instrument with as much character as they were trying to leave Maria with. She didn’t even know why she was supposed to hold a guitar. The wires leading from it were fake and she had instructions not to touch it. They hired a band for the music. Maria was the visual trapping. Maria, whose alto voice was almost that of a torch singer, was forced to sing an octave too high so she could never summon the power she felt she should have as a singer. That was all right because they had amplifiers that could shape her tone and power. All they needed her for was as an object for the audience to concentrate upon. That, and the arranged affairs for the press media. Maria was almost threaten if she didn’t sleep with certain men and her agents always arranged for them to get caught in the act or as close as possible. The last straw was when she was before national television. In the middle of her song, amplified to the point that no speakers could give it real tone, her blouse just let go and, simultaneously, her skirt broke at its waist band. Maria was almost naked before the nation. Going back to her dressing room, embarrassed more than she had ever been, she heard her agent and a member of the press laughing. They had arranged for the fastenings of her clothes to break, hopefully, when she was in full song. It was all called an arranged costume mal-function, but Maria felt it was the final indignity.
Maria went back to her trailer found her old guitar in the closet and with only the clothes she had changed into after the show, she returned to Roswell. She was threatened with lawsuits, but she just ignored them and soon, she was back to her self in Roswell. It was not the same place as she had left. Her mother, who was renowned for her affairs, found a final one. She had married Kyle’s father, the sheriff. Oh my, now Maria and Kyle were stepsiblings. All of the other couples had left for college. Kyle was back along with his wife. Kyle working at the school and Tess at the bank. Maria fitted in nowhere. Tess got Maria a job as a receptionist with an insurance firm. It barely paid enough to cover her rent on a studio apartment. Her mother had no understanding of why her daughter would give up such a lucrative position as a nationally recognized singer. So what if she had to suffer a few indignities. They were paying her well. Her mother had no idea of how her daughter had felt used by the whole system.
It was a few months later when a tall, very strong young man entered the insurance office. His shoes were covered with cement and his skin was bronzed. He was carrying a hardhat in his hand. Maria looked up and smiled. She didn’t recognize him at all. It was his strong, blue-eyed stare that finally stirred her memory. When she did discover that it was Michael who stood before her, Maria was completely unsure of how she should act.
Maria had left Michael. She had broken his heart. She had left him to pursue the harlot life of stardom. She knew he must be aware of the many stories told about her. Some of them even, unfortunately, were true. Michael was not sure about what liberties he would be allowed. After all, Maria was nationally known and Michael was just a contractor. Michael had only passed his exam a few months ago. He was becoming very successful, but he was now before a figure, who he had seen as being served as almost royalty. Did anything of their old love still exist? Was he just someone she would as just as soon forget? Did that smooth body serve so many other talented studs that she wouldn’t want to be with the coarse man before her? Neither of them understood what to do. The clock solved the problem. The others in the office were preparing to leave, wondering at the two still in stasis looking into each other’s faces for recognition, acceptance and forgiveness. “Could we have dinner to talk over old times?” Michael asked.
Maria’s mind raced. She didn’t want Michael to know how low she had fallen. She smiled “Yes I think we could,” she answered. Michael held her coat and helped her through the door. These were niceties that she didn’t remember from the old days. He asked if he could take her home first. Maria shook her head. No, she would go just as she was.
Michael shrugged, “I have to shower and change, so let us stop by my place for a few minutes and, then, we can go.”
Maria was surprised at the house Michael called his. It was an older house, but Michael, as a contractor, had completely redone it. Inside, it was modern with tasteful décor. Michael left her in the living room as he hurried to showere and change. Maria looked around. She was glad she hadn’t allowed him to see her small studio apartment. It bespoke so much of the things she had lost. This was the man she had left to chase the fickle muse of music. The muse might not have been so fickle, but for those managing it, who were horrible.
A man in a lab coat came in with the motherly nurse. He looked at Maria’s poorly focused eyes. He performed several tests of her eye tracking ability and asked her questions. “Miss Deluca, you were always a celebrity in my house. My daughter had every record you ever made. Even though she is now in college, she listens to your music. We need to talk, but for now, you need rest.” He nodded to the nurse who put something in the tube leading into Maria’s wrist.
He spoke of her career like it was way in the past. What did that mean? What did it mean that they needed to talk? Who were the people she saw at the door when he entered and still there, when he left? Her blurred mind was like a computer system rebuilding itself.
Again, it tried to attack her memory. Michael had come back into the living room and he was dressed in slacks, a polo shirt and sport coat. He extended his hand and she was led back outside to his car. Surprisingly, it was a Jaguar. She was seated and surrounded in leather. They merged into the traffic. Soon, they were whisking through traffic to a quiet restaurant. Maria was beginning to wish she had been able to go home and change, but really, change into what? She barely had enough wardrobe to keep up with her work days, much less something nice to wear on a date. This was a date even though she kept saying it was just two old friends rekindling old memories. Michael had really grown up. He was starting a business on his own with help from his former employer and his friends.
Maria waited for the dreaded questions about the dress and the public scandals surrounding her life. They never came. Michael wanted to know how she was and how she was doing, now, back in Roswell. He did ask if she had seen lots of interesting places and how she was feeling about her music. Finally, Maria broke down. “They were horrible. The kept me almost in bondage. They told me what to say, what to wear and who to be seen with. The whole four years have been the worst in my life!”
She was crying and Michael moved his chair to where he could put his arm around her. “Do you want me to take you home?” he asked.
Maria shook her head. She couldn’t face that small apartment with the knowledge that it contained just remembrances of her failure in life.
“Do you want me to take you back to my place?” his voice controlled to keep any quiver down. She nodded yes, wondering what was being implied. Did he want to make love to her, the person who had broken his heart? Did he just want to fuck her and make her a trophy so he could brag to his workers about sleeping with the famous and, maybe, infamous singer? Maria was shaking as they returned to his house. She had done this for her career before. Maybe, she owed it to him to be whatever he wanted her to be for the night.
Michael took her into his house and led her into the bedroom. He kept looking into her eyes. When he had known her in high school, her eyes had sparkled with a mischievous gleam. Now, they seemed almost dead. When Michael had slept with Maria, it had been a ride of almost adventure. Now, it was almost automatic. Michael knew that she had suffered a hard life those four years. He yearned to bring back that sparkle, which he refused to believe had been lost. It was just hiding and he would search for it.
When Maria felt Michael inside her body, she hoped that the experience would drive out the demons that had taken up residence inside of her soul since she had left Roswell. Maria had almost forgotten how to make love. For so many years, any sex was purposeful to further her career. She accepted what she had to do. There were no endearments or love play. It was just for the exposure that her career would receive. Michael was hungry for her body and, more than that, he was hungry for her soul. Even after their climax, Michael kept up the caresses and kisses as he told her how much he had missed her. Oh why did she ever leave and chase the wings of dream and leave the heaven she could have had here? As the night proceeded, Maria became more involved in his ministrations. Soon, she was as passionate as he in her touches and clinging. Oh how long it had been since high school? She had felt this way before, long ago. When they both were finally exhausted, they lay back, Maria on his chest and he with his arm around her naked body. Usually, Maria had felt dirty after sex. Now the stickiness that was on her body felt like a vindication from the things she had suffered over the last four years.
Michael took her home and said nothing about her apartment. It, after all, was similar to the one he had lived in while in school. Things progressed and within a few weeks Michael and Maria were wed. The only unhappiness about the day was her oldest friends couldn’t attend. Max was tied into his medical school and Liz was working on her master’s program in biology. Isabel and Alex did hear about it, but they both were in graduate school and they didn’t have the ability to take off. Michael has made it clear he didn’t want to wait any longer.
Wait, she had a husband Michael. Where was Michael? “Michael, Michael,” she screamed. Nurses came running and they gave her something in the tubes running into her arm. She felt a warm sensation but she was still asking, “Where was Michael?”
Soon, a doctor entered the room and the nurse closed the door. “Mrs. Gueirn, your husband was killed in the accident.”
Husband, yes, that was it. She had the husband of her girlhood. He was the boy she had made love to while in high school. He was the man she had made love to when she came back to Roswell. Now, it was coming back to her. She and Michael had gone to a Roswell High ball game with their long time best friends, Doctor Evans and his wife, Liz. She remembered now. Max, Doctor Evans had been driving. He had pulled the mini van up to the walk where the three of them were waiting. Max had run around the van to open the door for Liz. Michael had opened the side door for Maria and she had slid across the bench seat. Then Michael had crawled in behind her. Then Max had driven them out of the school area. They were on the main street of Roswell. All she could remember was a car coming at them from the right. She heard it hitting the side where Michael was sitting and then she remembered nothing.
They had been married two years when her child was born. They named him Michael and called him Mikey. She had been a housewife then for two years. Michael was working hard and they lacked for nothing. His friends had helped him and he hadn’t forgotten them. There were now three companies who steered work to each other when they had more than they could do. All three companies prospered. Maria was even happier when Alex and his Isabel had returned. They both had their degrees. Alex was employed at a near by firm writing software for government contracts. Isabel was working in design and writing for a national magazine. Maria found the adult Isabel to be much preferable to the one she knew in school. Isabel, now a mother herself, was a help to Maria in many ways. She, along with Tess, now made up most of Maria’s women friends. The men all got together every so often and they had barbeques and softball games. Even Alex, who was always the geek, had learned a bit of skill at sports and he was now one of the men in the many activities. Maria needed help with her son, Mikey. He was a handful. With his father, he was perfectly behaved, but when Maria was caring for him, he was a trial.
Mikey, Mikey, what happened to Mikey? Maria started screaming again bringing in the phalanx of nurses to give her further medicine to calm her.
Soon, her doctor brought in a little boy of about seven. He tightly held the doctor’s hand. He stared at the “thing” before him. The thing was swaddled in bandages and where she showed, she was blue with bruises. Maria wanted to hug him, but she did not have enough strength in her arms to do so. He hid behind the doctor and a nurse came up and took him out. “Mikey is fine, Maria. What else do you remember?” the doctor quietly asked.
“I remember getting in the van at the ball game. We had gone with our friends, Doctor Evans and his wife. I remember the car hitting the van and I remember screams. I think they might have been my own. Oh gosh, what happened to Max and Liz?”
It had been over eight years since they had all graduated from college. Kyle and Tess were secure in their jobs. Alex and Isabel had found what they had always been looking for in each other. Maria and Michael were happy with a two-year-old boy. Isabel announced that she had a letter from Max that he and Liz were returning. Liz was taking time off from her graduate work because she was pregnant. Max had taken a position at the Roswell General Hospital. That was the most exciting news Maria had received since she returned to Roswell. They were returning because both of the Parkers, Liz’s parents, had fallen sick. Liz wanted to be near her parents and Max was lonesome for those he knew. What a celebration there was! The eight teens, now adults married with families, were all back together. Every dream Liz and Maria had shared about growing up and sharing family things was now coming to pass. It was a time of joy, almost. Liz’s parents passed away before seeing their granddaughter. Liz was very sad. The rest of the group surrounded her and supported her. Her baby was born and she named her Katherine. For a time, Liz was determined to be just a house wife. She wanted to enjoy Katherine. It was as if she was frightened that something would take her away from Katherine and no more would she have joy. She was right.
“Oh my gosh, what happened to Max and Liz?” Maria screamed.
The doctor came back with his ever-present patience, and said, “Maria your friend, Liz, was killed instantly in the crash that also killed your husband. Doctor Evans is in stable condition, but we are very worried about his depression.”
Maria wept. She wasn’t sure who she was weeping for. She finally decided she was weeping for an uncaring world. She was weeping for the fact that she was alive. She was weeping for a son and a little girl who had to grow up with outone of their parents. She screamed, “The whole fucking thing is messed up! Where do we go from here? Who did we offend to give us this curse?”
The doctor upped her medication. A priest came in and the first words out of his mouth were, “It is hard to understand the will of God.”
That was it. Even through her medication, Maria screamed. “What kind of God would do this to us? What kind of man would serve him?”
The priest was shaken, but the reaction was not unusual. He knew that Maria wasn’t striking out at him, but her grief was striking out at everything simply because it had to hit something or she would break apart her self. He quietly left, but just outside the door he said a tearful prayer for himself. “Oh, God, please let me have understanding, if you want me to bring comfort to others.”
It had been five days. They had delayed the funerals until it was felt that Max and Maria were strong enough to attend. Of course, the funerals had been closed caskets. Both Max and Maria had viewed the bodies each privately. Their doctors felt they both needed this to let go of any thought that this tragedy hadn’t happened. Michael was hurt so many places that the mortician had totally rebuilt his face from putty looking at a picture. Liz had so many internal injuries that her body seemed deformed. Both Max and, in her turn Maria, spent considerable time uncontrollably crying after this. No more could that little spark of hope remain within the far reaches of their minds.
Both Max and Maria were in wheel chairs. Someone wheeled the chairs close together. Max reached over and held Maria’s hand. He squeezed so tight that Maria felt pain. That was all right because his tight squeeze and her pain gave both the indication that they, at least, were still alive. The only trouble was neither wanted to live any longer. First, her mother the sheriff’s wife, and then, Isabel put their hands on her shoulder. It wasn’t until a little boy stood near his mother and asked. “Mother, are you going to leave and go to heaven after daddy?” Maria turned to him and dropping Max’s hand she held the child to her chest. A chest that was throbbing with pain both physical and also pain within her soul. No, Maria wasn’t to be allowed that luxury of following Michael into death. First she had to raise the only thing left of Michael, her son.
This had been the first time Max had seen Maria since the accident. They had asked him in the hospital if he wanted to be taken to see her, but he had just stared at the wall as was his usual action. When he saw her, he realized that two families had been ripped apart. The police had told him that he was not at fault. It had been his idea to take Michael and Maria with them on this outing. He had thought that since he and Michael had always been such friends and he knew of the friendship between his wife and Maria, the evening would be a joy to both. That word, that word he could never use again, his wife. No, Liz had been so much more that his wife. She was the part that completed his un-completed being. Liz had kept him in Medical school when he was convinced that he no longer wanted the stress of being a doctor. It was Liz who had remained steadfast through high school that they belonged together. It was Liz, who on the picnic, told him to bring a blanket. She was the one to give up her virginity and to fill his life with love. With out Liz, Max had nothing and now it was true, Max had nothing. He felt the small hand touch his face. He looked into they eyes of his daughter. Looking out of those eyes, he saw his Liz. No, she would never be his Liz, but it was up to Max to raise her to be someone else’s Liz and bring the love of her mother back into the world. No more than Maria, could Max give into his desires and follow his wife into death.
The priest mumbled something neither Max nor Maria could hear or did they want to hear. The only thing they knew was the most precious things in their lives had been taken. They had been left with remembrances of those folks and their responsibility was now to their children.
The people of the church had prepared a dinner for the mourners. Max and Maria both, after a few minutes, asked to return to the hospital.
They were soon released from the hospital. They both faced a lot of out patient therapy both physical and mental. Mikey was staying with Isabel. He couldn’t get along with his grandmother.
Katherine was staying with her grandmother, Diane Evans. She was an adorable girl, much like her mother. Max was worried because she triggered crying reactions within him every time he was with her. He was working through the therapy, but it wasn’t helping. His therapist wasn’t surprised. She had seen many cases like him. she had talked to Maria’s therapist and she saw the same things. Love so strong that when broken, it took more than just one of the lovers. It took half of the remaining person also.
They worked hardest with Max. They needed to convince him that Liz wasn’t in Katherine, but rather Katherine offered the best part of Liz. She was an individual unto her self and she deserved all of her father’s attention. Slowly Max was able to love Katherine again. He began to reorient his life. Now, he lived for Katherine alone. The rest of the world was empty. Max had already paid off his student loans. He had massed a considerable saving account in the last few years. He and Katherine settled down into a more or less stable relationship. He would be ready soon to go back to work, at least part time.
Not so with Maria. She had been concentrated in establishing control on Mikey. She had been trying to pickup the pieces of her life. Her mother had worlds of advice and it was driving Maria wild. Amy was determined that her daughter should remarry immediately. She told Maria to mourn and get over it. When Maria told her mother she would never get over it, Amy left mad yelling that Maria was being an impractical baby just like she had been when she was on tour, leaving such a wealthy position just because they asked her to do things she was uncomfortable with. Maria, finally, asked her mother to go home for a while. It was Jim, Kyle’s father and now Maria’s stepfather, who told his wife that she should just back off at least for a while.
Maria was called in by the bank. Her mortgage was long overdue. Michael had financed his renovations and easily covered the financial payments. Now, no money was coming in from the company. The foreman had tried to cover for Maria as long as he could. He just didn’t have the drive and know-how to do Michael’s job. Finally the company had to be broken apart to cover their depts. The bank was extending the mortgage as long as they could. They told Maria that the best thing would be to sell the house and move into a smaller place. They thought that they might be able to get a good price so Maria would have something after paying the debts. In addition Mikey was becoming impossible. He was given to fits of tantrums, fits of depression and fits of anger and uncontrollable rage. Maria found him almost abusive. She just wasn’t able to handle him any longer.
Maria sat at the table. It was covered with pill bottles. She was so medicated that she was frightened that she was surely facing addiction.
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Author: ken_r aka Ken242 aka Ken Renouard
Genre: UC Max/Maria, kt, ia
Adult because it deals with terribly angst emotions.
Disclaimer: All names of characters belong to the writers of Roswell High books and to the writers and producers of the Roswell TV show none of them are mine and I did try to follow the character as much as possible.
Read this story at your own risk.
Warning this story deals with very sad events. It also deals with death of characters we all love. It was suggested that I write about subjects I know about and dealing with grief is one I know well. This is surely not a Dreamer story, neither is it a Candy one. I believe that Max and Maria are called Ground Zero. It doesn’t follow that either. It is always said that Max of the TV show, shy and quiet would not ever be with the Maria, a rock singer and generally loud person. I think that is usually right. But what if conditions so horrible that we do not like to contemplate, happened and to survive Max and Maria were thrown together. Believe me, when you survive such horrible events, you are not the same person. You change and you can’t help it. You also change to protect those left behind that you still love. This is such a story. The events that happen to the couple are real. They come from several different people I have known. The solutions are my own.
I couldn’t think of a banner and this is rare. Maybe it is because this story bothered me so much.
Accommodation
Chapter 1
Maria woke up. Every part of her body ached. She tried to move. As her eyes focused, she saw that her arms were restrained, by straps against the stainless steel side of her bed. Her mind began to wander.
Graduation, the summer following was one of the happiest she could remember. All eight of them spent the summer working and hanging out together. They had, by this time, all paired off. There was Alex. Alex who, along with Liz had been, her friend since grade school. Alex who, sometimes, was so geeky that Maria wanted to murder him and, at other times, was so wise that she wanted him to be close always. Alex, who was considered almost anti-social, but who secretly had the suave character of a movie star. It just took the right person to bring it out. Alex, who had been like a sad puppy, pining for the beautiful Isabel Evans. Isabel was the fashion queen. She had been adopted and she seemed to strive to make up for her lack of heritage by creating a regime in the here and now over which she could rule. Isabel, adopted into a fairly affluent family, had learned to live and act the life of royalty. How could Alex ever pursue her? His family of two professional parents had no idea of his lust and, if they did, they would not have known how to help him.
Maria and the others never did have a clear idea of how he did it. One day he was a sick puppy and the next he was taking the Ice Queen to the prom. It was never understood except between Alex and Isabel how Isabel finally tired of the artificial fawning of the “in kids” of school. Suddenly, she saw the genuine adoration in the smart, geeky teen on the side line. Trouble was, Isabel was tremendously smart. She, for years, had concealed this from those surrounding her. Suddenly, she had thoughts of the empty minds she was with and a thought of being a trophy to one of the handsome studs frightened her a lot. She had never given in to the pressure to sleep with any of her suitors and it was becoming a challenge. Who would crack the virginal Ice Queen, first? After one of the intoxicated football players almost raped her one night on a date, Isabel decided the problem was hers. She needed to surround her self with a better class of friend. When she gravitated to the young, budding computer geek, she saw that he loved her for so much more than just her curves. He saw inside of her shield and he wanted to be with her, not just sleep with her. Their friendship grew into being lovers, going to college together and, finally, it became marriage.
Maria thought how happy she had been for Alex. The woman, who as a girl Maria almost detested as one of those who had everything, now was married to her best friend. She and Maria had also become friends. Maria struggled through the fog. She wanted to be free of the restraints. She tried to call out. No sound came out of her lips. They were parched and her throat was sore. Her mind, again, started to drift.
Kyle had not been really a member of the group. He was a jock stud. His conduct with Maria’s other friend, Liz, was reprehensible. Kyle felt every girl was his to fuck. He had no depth at all. Even when Liz was dating Kyle, Maria detested him. It was after Liz and Kyle broke up and in the summer before Kyle’s Junior-year, at football camp, that Kyle discovered Buddhism. Kyle had not, to this time, had any religious teaching. His father was a law enforcement officer and a single dad who seldom had much time for his son. After Kyle’s conversion, he gravitated away from his former friends. The decking of Pauley, his “bud” since middle school, at the prom was the final break.
There had been a real outsider, who arrived to the group. Her name was Tess. Her father and mother moved to Roswell when he got a job with the military base arranging the use of surplus base equipment. Tess had come on so strongly to Max that it threatened to rupture the group entirely. Liz and Max had so close a bond by this time, there was nothing that could spoil it. Tess had tried to get close to Isabel, thinking that she would be the conduit to Max. Isabel, at first, was intrigued with the little blond, but she soon tired of her constantly hitting on Max. At this time Isabel wasn’t enthralled with her brother’s choice of girl friend. Tess, though, did not seem to have Max’s best interest at heart. Who better to understand artificial attractions than Isabel. Isabel, who had been subjected to such most of her life did not want to live through this with her brother. Isabel, who now reveled in the genuine affection of Alex, just did not want her sometimes clueless brother, to have to live with that. Isabel took another look at Max and Liz and saw that she was now to become their most ardent advocate. Max and Liz were decreed from heaven to be together. It took a while for Isabel to straighten Tess out. Soon, Tess was at a loss. She turned to the social circle, who like yapping dogs, were clamoring for her attention. Tess instinctively saw that the lust in so many of these super studs, by their own definition, could be dangerous. Tess had always gotten who she wanted. Now for the first time, she was unable to reach Max and his solid love for Liz. She turned and found among the suitors, one who admired her. Yes he was also lusting for her, but he had something else that she couldn’t quite place. Kyle was a lot deeper than most of the other boys who constantly crowded her. She tentatively allowed herself to go on a date with Kyle. She was shocked. Yes, it was obvious Kyle would gladly maul her, but he also showed remarkable restraint in how he treated her. When she finally let him into her whole soul, it was not just an experience of sex, but she felt a truly strong feeling of care. When they went to the prom and the drunken Pauly told Kyle in front of the entire team that as soon as Kyle was through with Tess, he wanted to be first in line to fuck her, then Tess saw how Kyle felt. He decked Pauly and severed his final tie with his old life in one swing. Tess and Kyle went to New Mexico State University together. Kyle majoring in physical education and Tess in business. This led to their marriage and both of them returning to Roswell. Kyle took a job as a coach in Roswell high and tried to reshape the characters of those who formally reminded him of himself. Kyle was a good coach and he was a good mentor. His Students made higher grades and were better behaved than any team in the history of Roswell high. Tess had found a job with a local bank and was an administrator within a few years.
Maria’s reverie was interrupted as a smiling, motherly face appeared. “Dahrling, you are now awake? Let’s see if I’ah can remove these ole straps. You had a bad night last night, dahrling. I will call the doctor as soon as I can.” With this, the motherly woman dressed as a nurse left. She had the drawl that was common in Roswell so close to little Texas, an area so different from the rest of New Mexico that natives throughout the state, sometimes, thought the boundaries had been misdrawn so long ago.
Maria’s mind drifted again. That summer. It was a picnic where they all were teasing and playing until they noticed that Max and Liz had disappeared. Maria was worried. She wanted to hunt for them immediately. It was her boyfriend, Michael, and friend, Alex, who convinced her that Max and Liz just wanted a little time alone. Maria was still a bit frantic until she saw them coming from over a hill returning from behind a line of trees. In the distance, she spied Max and Liz, a blanket over his arm and smiles on both of their faces. Maria could have kicked herself. She knew that Liz had always claimed to still be a virgin throughout high school. Maria and Michael in a time of passion had given into their feelings during their senior year. But Liz still waited and, surprisingly, Max was very tolerant. Now, Maria understood that their love had been consummated and in their eyes, they would be there for each other forever.
Maria and Michael had a stormy relationship. They fought and made love with equal passion. Maria could never understand her self enough to know what she wanted. At first, she enjoyed the sex. Michael was a boy who never had a family. To him, giving in to these emotions was more than just a roll in the grass. He soon found himself developing a passion to the person of Maria. Maria, though, was looking for so much more in her life. Maria since she was a little girl wanted to be a singer. She loved Michael, but did she want to sacrifice her dreams for him? Maria admitted she was very selfish. She wanted Michael’s person, his body and, also, her freedom. That, later, led to their stormy breakup. Maria followed her dream and Michael, alone as he was for the most of his life, concentrated on surviving.
Maria found her self discovered. She was whisked away to New York. She was stripped of her personality and most of her life. They took away all of her clothes and the ones they gave her in replacement were representative of a lot Maria detested. Maria had always lightened her hair. They bleached it and straightened it. Everything she wore showed cleavage and navel. Her comfortable shoes were now spike heels, which to her, always gave the impression of giving up and dumping her. Her beautiful acoustic guitar, given to her by Alex and Liz many years ago, was taken away. In its place, she had a plastic instrument with as much character as they were trying to leave Maria with. She didn’t even know why she was supposed to hold a guitar. The wires leading from it were fake and she had instructions not to touch it. They hired a band for the music. Maria was the visual trapping. Maria, whose alto voice was almost that of a torch singer, was forced to sing an octave too high so she could never summon the power she felt she should have as a singer. That was all right because they had amplifiers that could shape her tone and power. All they needed her for was as an object for the audience to concentrate upon. That, and the arranged affairs for the press media. Maria was almost threaten if she didn’t sleep with certain men and her agents always arranged for them to get caught in the act or as close as possible. The last straw was when she was before national television. In the middle of her song, amplified to the point that no speakers could give it real tone, her blouse just let go and, simultaneously, her skirt broke at its waist band. Maria was almost naked before the nation. Going back to her dressing room, embarrassed more than she had ever been, she heard her agent and a member of the press laughing. They had arranged for the fastenings of her clothes to break, hopefully, when she was in full song. It was all called an arranged costume mal-function, but Maria felt it was the final indignity.
Maria went back to her trailer found her old guitar in the closet and with only the clothes she had changed into after the show, she returned to Roswell. She was threatened with lawsuits, but she just ignored them and soon, she was back to her self in Roswell. It was not the same place as she had left. Her mother, who was renowned for her affairs, found a final one. She had married Kyle’s father, the sheriff. Oh my, now Maria and Kyle were stepsiblings. All of the other couples had left for college. Kyle was back along with his wife. Kyle working at the school and Tess at the bank. Maria fitted in nowhere. Tess got Maria a job as a receptionist with an insurance firm. It barely paid enough to cover her rent on a studio apartment. Her mother had no understanding of why her daughter would give up such a lucrative position as a nationally recognized singer. So what if she had to suffer a few indignities. They were paying her well. Her mother had no idea of how her daughter had felt used by the whole system.
It was a few months later when a tall, very strong young man entered the insurance office. His shoes were covered with cement and his skin was bronzed. He was carrying a hardhat in his hand. Maria looked up and smiled. She didn’t recognize him at all. It was his strong, blue-eyed stare that finally stirred her memory. When she did discover that it was Michael who stood before her, Maria was completely unsure of how she should act.
Maria had left Michael. She had broken his heart. She had left him to pursue the harlot life of stardom. She knew he must be aware of the many stories told about her. Some of them even, unfortunately, were true. Michael was not sure about what liberties he would be allowed. After all, Maria was nationally known and Michael was just a contractor. Michael had only passed his exam a few months ago. He was becoming very successful, but he was now before a figure, who he had seen as being served as almost royalty. Did anything of their old love still exist? Was he just someone she would as just as soon forget? Did that smooth body serve so many other talented studs that she wouldn’t want to be with the coarse man before her? Neither of them understood what to do. The clock solved the problem. The others in the office were preparing to leave, wondering at the two still in stasis looking into each other’s faces for recognition, acceptance and forgiveness. “Could we have dinner to talk over old times?” Michael asked.
Maria’s mind raced. She didn’t want Michael to know how low she had fallen. She smiled “Yes I think we could,” she answered. Michael held her coat and helped her through the door. These were niceties that she didn’t remember from the old days. He asked if he could take her home first. Maria shook her head. No, she would go just as she was.
Michael shrugged, “I have to shower and change, so let us stop by my place for a few minutes and, then, we can go.”
Maria was surprised at the house Michael called his. It was an older house, but Michael, as a contractor, had completely redone it. Inside, it was modern with tasteful décor. Michael left her in the living room as he hurried to showere and change. Maria looked around. She was glad she hadn’t allowed him to see her small studio apartment. It bespoke so much of the things she had lost. This was the man she had left to chase the fickle muse of music. The muse might not have been so fickle, but for those managing it, who were horrible.
A man in a lab coat came in with the motherly nurse. He looked at Maria’s poorly focused eyes. He performed several tests of her eye tracking ability and asked her questions. “Miss Deluca, you were always a celebrity in my house. My daughter had every record you ever made. Even though she is now in college, she listens to your music. We need to talk, but for now, you need rest.” He nodded to the nurse who put something in the tube leading into Maria’s wrist.
He spoke of her career like it was way in the past. What did that mean? What did it mean that they needed to talk? Who were the people she saw at the door when he entered and still there, when he left? Her blurred mind was like a computer system rebuilding itself.
Again, it tried to attack her memory. Michael had come back into the living room and he was dressed in slacks, a polo shirt and sport coat. He extended his hand and she was led back outside to his car. Surprisingly, it was a Jaguar. She was seated and surrounded in leather. They merged into the traffic. Soon, they were whisking through traffic to a quiet restaurant. Maria was beginning to wish she had been able to go home and change, but really, change into what? She barely had enough wardrobe to keep up with her work days, much less something nice to wear on a date. This was a date even though she kept saying it was just two old friends rekindling old memories. Michael had really grown up. He was starting a business on his own with help from his former employer and his friends.
Maria waited for the dreaded questions about the dress and the public scandals surrounding her life. They never came. Michael wanted to know how she was and how she was doing, now, back in Roswell. He did ask if she had seen lots of interesting places and how she was feeling about her music. Finally, Maria broke down. “They were horrible. The kept me almost in bondage. They told me what to say, what to wear and who to be seen with. The whole four years have been the worst in my life!”
She was crying and Michael moved his chair to where he could put his arm around her. “Do you want me to take you home?” he asked.
Maria shook her head. She couldn’t face that small apartment with the knowledge that it contained just remembrances of her failure in life.
“Do you want me to take you back to my place?” his voice controlled to keep any quiver down. She nodded yes, wondering what was being implied. Did he want to make love to her, the person who had broken his heart? Did he just want to fuck her and make her a trophy so he could brag to his workers about sleeping with the famous and, maybe, infamous singer? Maria was shaking as they returned to his house. She had done this for her career before. Maybe, she owed it to him to be whatever he wanted her to be for the night.
Michael took her into his house and led her into the bedroom. He kept looking into her eyes. When he had known her in high school, her eyes had sparkled with a mischievous gleam. Now, they seemed almost dead. When Michael had slept with Maria, it had been a ride of almost adventure. Now, it was almost automatic. Michael knew that she had suffered a hard life those four years. He yearned to bring back that sparkle, which he refused to believe had been lost. It was just hiding and he would search for it.
When Maria felt Michael inside her body, she hoped that the experience would drive out the demons that had taken up residence inside of her soul since she had left Roswell. Maria had almost forgotten how to make love. For so many years, any sex was purposeful to further her career. She accepted what she had to do. There were no endearments or love play. It was just for the exposure that her career would receive. Michael was hungry for her body and, more than that, he was hungry for her soul. Even after their climax, Michael kept up the caresses and kisses as he told her how much he had missed her. Oh why did she ever leave and chase the wings of dream and leave the heaven she could have had here? As the night proceeded, Maria became more involved in his ministrations. Soon, she was as passionate as he in her touches and clinging. Oh how long it had been since high school? She had felt this way before, long ago. When they both were finally exhausted, they lay back, Maria on his chest and he with his arm around her naked body. Usually, Maria had felt dirty after sex. Now the stickiness that was on her body felt like a vindication from the things she had suffered over the last four years.
Michael took her home and said nothing about her apartment. It, after all, was similar to the one he had lived in while in school. Things progressed and within a few weeks Michael and Maria were wed. The only unhappiness about the day was her oldest friends couldn’t attend. Max was tied into his medical school and Liz was working on her master’s program in biology. Isabel and Alex did hear about it, but they both were in graduate school and they didn’t have the ability to take off. Michael has made it clear he didn’t want to wait any longer.
Wait, she had a husband Michael. Where was Michael? “Michael, Michael,” she screamed. Nurses came running and they gave her something in the tubes running into her arm. She felt a warm sensation but she was still asking, “Where was Michael?”
Soon, a doctor entered the room and the nurse closed the door. “Mrs. Gueirn, your husband was killed in the accident.”
Husband, yes, that was it. She had the husband of her girlhood. He was the boy she had made love to while in high school. He was the man she had made love to when she came back to Roswell. Now, it was coming back to her. She and Michael had gone to a Roswell High ball game with their long time best friends, Doctor Evans and his wife, Liz. She remembered now. Max, Doctor Evans had been driving. He had pulled the mini van up to the walk where the three of them were waiting. Max had run around the van to open the door for Liz. Michael had opened the side door for Maria and she had slid across the bench seat. Then Michael had crawled in behind her. Then Max had driven them out of the school area. They were on the main street of Roswell. All she could remember was a car coming at them from the right. She heard it hitting the side where Michael was sitting and then she remembered nothing.
They had been married two years when her child was born. They named him Michael and called him Mikey. She had been a housewife then for two years. Michael was working hard and they lacked for nothing. His friends had helped him and he hadn’t forgotten them. There were now three companies who steered work to each other when they had more than they could do. All three companies prospered. Maria was even happier when Alex and his Isabel had returned. They both had their degrees. Alex was employed at a near by firm writing software for government contracts. Isabel was working in design and writing for a national magazine. Maria found the adult Isabel to be much preferable to the one she knew in school. Isabel, now a mother herself, was a help to Maria in many ways. She, along with Tess, now made up most of Maria’s women friends. The men all got together every so often and they had barbeques and softball games. Even Alex, who was always the geek, had learned a bit of skill at sports and he was now one of the men in the many activities. Maria needed help with her son, Mikey. He was a handful. With his father, he was perfectly behaved, but when Maria was caring for him, he was a trial.
Mikey, Mikey, what happened to Mikey? Maria started screaming again bringing in the phalanx of nurses to give her further medicine to calm her.
Soon, her doctor brought in a little boy of about seven. He tightly held the doctor’s hand. He stared at the “thing” before him. The thing was swaddled in bandages and where she showed, she was blue with bruises. Maria wanted to hug him, but she did not have enough strength in her arms to do so. He hid behind the doctor and a nurse came up and took him out. “Mikey is fine, Maria. What else do you remember?” the doctor quietly asked.
“I remember getting in the van at the ball game. We had gone with our friends, Doctor Evans and his wife. I remember the car hitting the van and I remember screams. I think they might have been my own. Oh gosh, what happened to Max and Liz?”
It had been over eight years since they had all graduated from college. Kyle and Tess were secure in their jobs. Alex and Isabel had found what they had always been looking for in each other. Maria and Michael were happy with a two-year-old boy. Isabel announced that she had a letter from Max that he and Liz were returning. Liz was taking time off from her graduate work because she was pregnant. Max had taken a position at the Roswell General Hospital. That was the most exciting news Maria had received since she returned to Roswell. They were returning because both of the Parkers, Liz’s parents, had fallen sick. Liz wanted to be near her parents and Max was lonesome for those he knew. What a celebration there was! The eight teens, now adults married with families, were all back together. Every dream Liz and Maria had shared about growing up and sharing family things was now coming to pass. It was a time of joy, almost. Liz’s parents passed away before seeing their granddaughter. Liz was very sad. The rest of the group surrounded her and supported her. Her baby was born and she named her Katherine. For a time, Liz was determined to be just a house wife. She wanted to enjoy Katherine. It was as if she was frightened that something would take her away from Katherine and no more would she have joy. She was right.
“Oh my gosh, what happened to Max and Liz?” Maria screamed.
The doctor came back with his ever-present patience, and said, “Maria your friend, Liz, was killed instantly in the crash that also killed your husband. Doctor Evans is in stable condition, but we are very worried about his depression.”
Maria wept. She wasn’t sure who she was weeping for. She finally decided she was weeping for an uncaring world. She was weeping for the fact that she was alive. She was weeping for a son and a little girl who had to grow up with outone of their parents. She screamed, “The whole fucking thing is messed up! Where do we go from here? Who did we offend to give us this curse?”
The doctor upped her medication. A priest came in and the first words out of his mouth were, “It is hard to understand the will of God.”
That was it. Even through her medication, Maria screamed. “What kind of God would do this to us? What kind of man would serve him?”
The priest was shaken, but the reaction was not unusual. He knew that Maria wasn’t striking out at him, but her grief was striking out at everything simply because it had to hit something or she would break apart her self. He quietly left, but just outside the door he said a tearful prayer for himself. “Oh, God, please let me have understanding, if you want me to bring comfort to others.”
It had been five days. They had delayed the funerals until it was felt that Max and Maria were strong enough to attend. Of course, the funerals had been closed caskets. Both Max and Maria had viewed the bodies each privately. Their doctors felt they both needed this to let go of any thought that this tragedy hadn’t happened. Michael was hurt so many places that the mortician had totally rebuilt his face from putty looking at a picture. Liz had so many internal injuries that her body seemed deformed. Both Max and, in her turn Maria, spent considerable time uncontrollably crying after this. No more could that little spark of hope remain within the far reaches of their minds.
Both Max and Maria were in wheel chairs. Someone wheeled the chairs close together. Max reached over and held Maria’s hand. He squeezed so tight that Maria felt pain. That was all right because his tight squeeze and her pain gave both the indication that they, at least, were still alive. The only trouble was neither wanted to live any longer. First, her mother the sheriff’s wife, and then, Isabel put their hands on her shoulder. It wasn’t until a little boy stood near his mother and asked. “Mother, are you going to leave and go to heaven after daddy?” Maria turned to him and dropping Max’s hand she held the child to her chest. A chest that was throbbing with pain both physical and also pain within her soul. No, Maria wasn’t to be allowed that luxury of following Michael into death. First she had to raise the only thing left of Michael, her son.
This had been the first time Max had seen Maria since the accident. They had asked him in the hospital if he wanted to be taken to see her, but he had just stared at the wall as was his usual action. When he saw her, he realized that two families had been ripped apart. The police had told him that he was not at fault. It had been his idea to take Michael and Maria with them on this outing. He had thought that since he and Michael had always been such friends and he knew of the friendship between his wife and Maria, the evening would be a joy to both. That word, that word he could never use again, his wife. No, Liz had been so much more that his wife. She was the part that completed his un-completed being. Liz had kept him in Medical school when he was convinced that he no longer wanted the stress of being a doctor. It was Liz who had remained steadfast through high school that they belonged together. It was Liz, who on the picnic, told him to bring a blanket. She was the one to give up her virginity and to fill his life with love. With out Liz, Max had nothing and now it was true, Max had nothing. He felt the small hand touch his face. He looked into they eyes of his daughter. Looking out of those eyes, he saw his Liz. No, she would never be his Liz, but it was up to Max to raise her to be someone else’s Liz and bring the love of her mother back into the world. No more than Maria, could Max give into his desires and follow his wife into death.
The priest mumbled something neither Max nor Maria could hear or did they want to hear. The only thing they knew was the most precious things in their lives had been taken. They had been left with remembrances of those folks and their responsibility was now to their children.
The people of the church had prepared a dinner for the mourners. Max and Maria both, after a few minutes, asked to return to the hospital.
They were soon released from the hospital. They both faced a lot of out patient therapy both physical and mental. Mikey was staying with Isabel. He couldn’t get along with his grandmother.
Katherine was staying with her grandmother, Diane Evans. She was an adorable girl, much like her mother. Max was worried because she triggered crying reactions within him every time he was with her. He was working through the therapy, but it wasn’t helping. His therapist wasn’t surprised. She had seen many cases like him. she had talked to Maria’s therapist and she saw the same things. Love so strong that when broken, it took more than just one of the lovers. It took half of the remaining person also.
They worked hardest with Max. They needed to convince him that Liz wasn’t in Katherine, but rather Katherine offered the best part of Liz. She was an individual unto her self and she deserved all of her father’s attention. Slowly Max was able to love Katherine again. He began to reorient his life. Now, he lived for Katherine alone. The rest of the world was empty. Max had already paid off his student loans. He had massed a considerable saving account in the last few years. He and Katherine settled down into a more or less stable relationship. He would be ready soon to go back to work, at least part time.
Not so with Maria. She had been concentrated in establishing control on Mikey. She had been trying to pickup the pieces of her life. Her mother had worlds of advice and it was driving Maria wild. Amy was determined that her daughter should remarry immediately. She told Maria to mourn and get over it. When Maria told her mother she would never get over it, Amy left mad yelling that Maria was being an impractical baby just like she had been when she was on tour, leaving such a wealthy position just because they asked her to do things she was uncomfortable with. Maria, finally, asked her mother to go home for a while. It was Jim, Kyle’s father and now Maria’s stepfather, who told his wife that she should just back off at least for a while.
Maria was called in by the bank. Her mortgage was long overdue. Michael had financed his renovations and easily covered the financial payments. Now, no money was coming in from the company. The foreman had tried to cover for Maria as long as he could. He just didn’t have the drive and know-how to do Michael’s job. Finally the company had to be broken apart to cover their depts. The bank was extending the mortgage as long as they could. They told Maria that the best thing would be to sell the house and move into a smaller place. They thought that they might be able to get a good price so Maria would have something after paying the debts. In addition Mikey was becoming impossible. He was given to fits of tantrums, fits of depression and fits of anger and uncontrollable rage. Maria found him almost abusive. She just wasn’t able to handle him any longer.
Maria sat at the table. It was covered with pill bottles. She was so medicated that she was frightened that she was surely facing addiction.
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