Sagehen Mesa - Season 2 - Episode 13 - The Arrival of Ben Culpepper's Family
Hi, my name's Dara Culpepper. My dad moved us out here to Sagehen Mesa for two reasons: one is to look out for my grandpa, (Dad's dad), and the other is to take a job as an art appraiser.
Dad's track record for holding a job isn't that great. As a result, Dad mostly has just worked for himself. He has started up a number of businesses, all of which eventually failed. Mom said if he was going to uproot the family and move from Riverview, (and hopefully get a healthy inheritance from his estranged father), he would need to get a "real" job working for someone other than himself. I think a steady paycheck is the only thing that might save their marriage.
Mom insisted that he take a job working for someone else because she was tired of trying to make ends meet on what she could bring in by selling her "artistic creations" as she calls them. Not that she has found much of a market for her sculptures anyway.
My sister Ronda will probably adjust to the move better than I will. She loves being outside, and Dad has built a tree house for her. There's also a fishing pond out behind the house. That's probably the only good thing about moving here.
The cheap, manufactured home is the nicest place we have lived for quite a while. Dad poured what money he and mom had into buying this land and this house. As always, I'm stuck sharing a room with Ronda.
We had just got unpacked, and I was minding my own business, . . .
. . . frightening my sister as she worried about all the money Dad spent on this venture. . .
. . . when this snooty old red-headed woman showed up asking for our parents. Apparently Dad had called her before the move saying he was interested in some family counseling and some mental health support for Mom, who has always struggle with mental instability.
Dad gushed over her so much it was sickening! He even kissed her hand! He can be so cringy.
Mom wasn't nearly as welcoming of our guest as Dad was. Once she learned the reason the woman stopped by, she was furious!
"I don't know what my husband told you about me, but I am perfectly sane! I am an artist! We're supposed to be eccentric. As for the state of out marriage, that is none of your business. I never agreed to any of this!"
"Yeah," I said, "We could use the money we would be paying her and buy a nice computer system instead."
"What makes you think you need a new computer?"
"My old laptop is on it's last legs. I want to get something that will play my video games without it constantly crashing," I explained as the mac n cheese slid out of my bowl and onto the floor.
"You should clean that up immediately, young lady," the red-headed witch commanded. "I know where you can get some household cleaners if you don't have any."
"Don't you tell me what to do!" I shouted.
"You are NOT my mother, and if we want to leave garbage all over the house, that's our business, not yours!"
(Of course this may have been more effective if I hadn't already scooped up most of the mac n cheese before starting my tirade. I admit, this woman is a bit intimidating.)
I tried to smooth things over by talking about the fishing pond, but it was clear she was tired of my act. She gave Dad her card and told him to get in touch if he ever needed to talk because it was clear to her that this family needed some serious psychological help.
As soon as she left, Dad laid into Mom about how inappropriate her behavior was to Dr. Ellen. Which only made Mom more angry.
She told him that if was very humiliating to be confronted about her personality disorder by a complete stranger without any warning what-so-ever. She wondered what possessed him to blindside her like that.
Dad said she was like a ballgame on a rainy day, and he was concerned for her mental health.
"I have my condition under control," she retorted. "It's not for you to decide what's best for me. Once the stress of the move is past us, and I can get back to my sculpting, everything will be fine."
"I'm going to look into this art appraising job first thing in the morning. With any luck, we'll have some steady income in no time.
Mom was so happy to hear this and went to hug him, but he was not in the mood.
Mom keeps coming into our room in the middle of the night making a big deal about Ronda's My Little Pony. Honestly, Mom. If you love it so much, why don't you marry it. Maybe we need to move it to her room so we can get some sleep! We've got school tomorrow.
The next morning Mom made pancakes, and we all discussed our plans. Ronda and I were going to school, then I planned on checking out the library and maybe using their computers since mine is crap.
Dad set off early to look into this job he's interested in. He was strangely closed-lipped about the job. He said he had to sign a contract that prohibited him from discussing his work with anyone - even family.
Mom went to check out the Art Barn and see if she could use their sculpting equipment.
She explained that she was new to town and made her living painting and sculpting. Perhaps she could sell some of her work on commission there.
The woman who ran the Art Barn, Leona is her name, was glad to see more customers interested in art. She and Mom became instant friends, and Leona even invited Mom over to her house for pie.
Mom decided to start with painting, and save up some of the money she made for sculpting supplies.
Ronda seems okay with school. She met a kid, and they went over to the store after school and bought some candy while she told him all about our move.
He told her all about the town. Including the town gossip. We haven't had a chance to meet Grandpa yet. It seems he's never home, but according to this Lopez kid, Grandpa is seen all over town in compromising situations with women, young and old.
It's said he broke up one old woman's marriage, and now seems to be chasing after the preacher's wife. They were seen together at a bar called the Pit Stop, and she was wearing nothing but a bikini and 🎝a raspberry beret - the kind you find in a second hand store. A raspberry beret, and if it was warm she wouldn't wear much more. 🎜Actually, I don't think it was raspberry in color, but you get the picture.
The preacher's wife swears the whole scene was perfectly innocent. She had just come from the hot springs and didn't have time to change, and she was starving. This nice old man she'd seen at church offered to buy her lunch. At least that's the story she told the old woman.
Dad was very concerned when Ronda told him about Grandpa's reputation over dinner that night. He's afraid Grandpa will bypass us in the will and leave all his money and possessions to one or more of the "fancy women."
I haven't had much luck making friends yet. I told this kid I'd met in one of my classes that most science is a bunch of garbage and that computer technology is where it's at. But apparently he's rather passionate about science. Who knew?
It kind of surprised me, because his parents own the Art Barn, so I guess I assumed he'd be interested in art.
The next day after school I saw this sketchy woman skulking around the fishing pond. Dad says he wants the people in town to feel free to fish there any time, so not to hassle anyone. They were used to fishing there, and he didn't want to take that away from them.
So I asked her if she was there to fish. She said her name was Gloria Stroud, and she was there to see my dad about a job she had for him to do. Apparently they are co-workers of some kind. She looked awfully suspect to me. Who wears a heavy coat like that in weather like this? She's probably a junkie or something.
I told her Dad wasn't home, so unless she intended to fish, she'd best be on her way and make arrangements to meet up with him at a scheduled time. She became agitated.
I told her I didn't believe she was there to see Dad, or she would have made an appointment and not just showed up and started skulking around our house. She's just spouting garbage, and for all I know, she's here to case the joint. (Not that we have much worth stealing.) The woman left in a huff.
This town will definitely take some getting used to.
Overlord's note: I wasn't sure what direction I was going to take this family, but they pretty much decided it for me. Paul (the father) immediately wanted to join the criminal career; Dr. Ellen showed up out of the blue, Holli (the mother) drew the randomized traits of Unstable, Avant Garde, and Savvy Sculptor; little Ronda loves the outdoors, is frugal, and family oriented, and Dara is mean-spirited, socially awkward, an angler, and a computer whiz. I didn't start any of the conflicts- they developed on their own. I was surprised to see that the kids have a good relationship with all family members but the parents didn't like each other very much.
Comments
Post a Comment