Friday Night at the Fallins

Author: Rebecca
 
Email: oonagh1969@yahoo.com

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: Nick, Burton and Anne Fallin as well as Katie Shaw are
all characters from The Guardian as well as the name of a client
Davey Electric. Everyone and everything else is my own creation.

Author's note: This is first fan fiction. If you are an Anne (the
mother) fan, you may not want to read. She doesn't appear at her best
in my story. The last time I wrote any fiction was a creative
writing class in college. Any criticisms are welcome --especially
grammatical corrections and writing in an active voice -- they can
only improve my writing. I fear that my writing is too passive. I
also have a habit of switching verb tenses. I tried to correct all
of them but sometimes they escape my notice. I so enjoyed writing
this that I have a few other stories started and was wondering if
anyone would like to be a beta reader. If so, please e-mail me
offline. I hope everyone enjoys.


 
--+--
 

A late September evening, 1979


Nick heard the clinking of the glass the minute he walked into the
house and Nick's stomach began to tighten with dread. This
reaction, however, barely registered with Nick because his friend Mike was
staying the night and Nick was happy. Nick looked forward to this
evening all week. He had planned all their activities practically to
the minute once his mother suggested that he have a friend spend the
night. It was not often that Nick had friends come to Chez Fallin so
this was a special night.

Nick and Mike were entering the house because the streetlights had
just come on and no longer allowed to ride their bikes on this warm
late September Friday evening. They were hungry and Nick wanted to
ask his mother to order the pizza.

"Mom!" Nick yelled to the kitchen.

"Nick, I need to speak to you. Please come into the
kitchen," replied the voice. Nick hurried to the kitchen.

"Can we order the pizza for dinner?" asked Nick.

"I have a headache so you need keep it down. Your father just
called and said he's going to be late. Once again, I'm left alone
to take care of everything," said Anne. She could barely refrain from
keeping the bitterness out of her voice. Burton, her husband, was an
up-and-coming attorney with his own firm. He spent many, many hours
at work and tended to ignore the problems at home.

"We'll be quiet. We'll stay in my room so you won't
even know we're here. I promise, Mom. I'll take care of everything. I can order
the pizza if you can give me the money." Nick said watching his
mother take another sip of her almost empty drink. Once again, he heard the
clinking of the ice hit glass as she placed the glass on the table.
That familiar feeling of dread began to resurface.

"There's a twenty in my wallet. The number for Gino's is
on the counter. Thanks, sweetie. I'm so lucky to have you around
because your father never is. You're my little man," Anne smiled at
her blonde 9-year-old son. She rose from the kitchen table to pour
herself another drink at the counter.

"Do you want any pizza, Mom?" Nick asked while he watched
his mom make her drink. He hated the sound of ice hitting glass. He debated
asking if he should order enough for his father too but decided
against it. Probably best not to bring up dad's name tonight, he
thought.

"No, I don't think I should have any. Just order what you
want. If you need more money, you can get it from my purse," Anne replied
as she put more ice into glass. Clink. Clink. Clink.

"I'll ask what Mike wants and call from the den," Nick
said. He grabbed the menu from the counter and walked back to the living room
in the front of the house. He hoped Mike couldn't hear his
conversation with his mom.

"Hey, Mike, what do you want on your pizza? We're getting
some from Gino's."

"I like cheese and sausage," replied Mike.

"That's good. I'll call from my dad's den. My mom
isn't feeling well so we're going to have to stay in my room for the evening.
We can play "Star Wars" and we can play chess too, if that's
okay?"

"Yeah!" said Mike. Mike and Nick formed a fast friendship
that only kids can form. Mike lived a few blocks away and was the only boy and
the youngest in a family of six children. He was fascinated with the
quietness of Nick's house. His house was always buzzing with
excitement: his sisters fighting, his sisters' friends coming and
going, the doors slamming, his sisters' playing music at high
volumes. Mike couldn't even imagine any of that happening at
Nick's
house.

Nick walked into the den through the French doors that separated the
living room and den. The den was a small room and could barely
contain two floor-to-ceiling bookcases filled with law books and a
cherry-wood desk, a gift from Anne's parents. He loved this room
but barely entered it. It seemed so imposing to Nick but comforting at
the same time. It reminded Nick of his father. He loved the musty
smell of his dad's old law books. He loved looking at his
father's terse writing from the papers neatly left on the desk and wanted to
know why his father wrote those comments jotted in the margins. He
wanted to be included in this secret society and studied hard so he
will become a member. Sometimes, he would sneak in here and pretend
to scream into the phone and slam it down on the receiver, just as
he's seen his father do so many times. He was careful not to
disturb anything lest his father caught him in here, an off-limits room.

Nick picked up the phone and ordered the pizza. Next, he dialed his
father's office. Only in an emergency was Nick to call his
father at work but Nick knew that his father was needed at home tonight.

"Burton Fallin," said a gruff voice. Hearing his
father's voice and not his father's secretary voice caught Nick off- guard until 
he
remembered it was 6:30 on a Friday evening. Everyone had gone home
by now.

"Dad?"

"Nicholas. What is it?"

"What time are you coming home?"

"Not until late. Why are you calling?"

"Mom said she had a headache and…um…Mike's here.
He's spending the night." Even though Nick whispered this part, Burton could 
still
hear the distress in his son's voice.

"Mike? Callahan? Ed Callahan's boy?" Burton asked.

"That's right. Mike Callahan from school. I don't know
Mr. Callahan's first name," said Nick seriously.

Burton chuckled silently. His son's serious disposition never
failed to slightly amuse Burton. He remembered that Anne told him that one
of Nick's little friends was spending the night on Friday. She
said that Nick bubbled over with excitement and chatted on and on about he
had planned to do that evening. Both she and Burton were happy about
this. Nick was a good, smart kid but quiet. That fall, they enrolled
Nick at Pittsburgh Latin Day School in the fifth grade. Previously,
Nick had been attending the local public school where his teacher
wanted to move Nick up a grade. Anne fought this. Nick was small
for his age and -- with a November birthday-- already one of the
younger kids in his class. She didn't want Nick to be picked on
even more with the older children and he didn't seem to make friends
easily as it was. They decided to enroll him in this school with the
hopes that it would challenge Nick academically and socially. So far
it seemed to be a good fit.

Burton could feel the anger toward Anne rising in him. *Damn it,
Anne,* he thought, * you knew how important tonight was to Nick. Why
did you start drinking tonight?* Burton knew that Anne hadn't
had a drink for a couple of weeks. What set her off tonight?

"I need to finish up working on some documents tonight, son. Why
don't you watch the Pirates on TV tonight? One more win and
they're going to the World Series."

"I promised Mom we would be quiet and she doesn't like for me
to watch television. Besides, Mike said he'll teach me chess."
Nick replied. Burton is always amazed at how different Nick seems to be
compared to other boys. What 9-year-old boy wouldn't want to
watch their hometown team go the World Series? Heck, Burton wished he
could kick back and watch the game himself.

"Right," said Burton. "I need to go now, Nicholas.
I've a lot of work to do." He could sense Nick hesitating on the phone.

"Maybe if you came home, we could watch the game. Mom could go
to bed and she wouldn't have to stay up," said Nick wishfully.

Burton sighed. "Nick, I can't. This is for a major client
of mine. They're depending on me. Let me speak to your mom." Burton
could hear his voice rising because he was starting to lose his patience
with Nick but mostly he was upset with Anne.

"No…I mean she doesn't know I called you. She's in
the kitchen and she has a headache. Mike and I'll be good. I promise. `Bye,
Dad," Nick said hurriedly and hung up the phone.

Burton heard the click on the other line and hung up the phone. He
tried concentrating on the brief he was writing but found it hard to
do. The office was quiet and everyone had gone home. Burton
normally liked this part of the evening as there were no phones
ringing, no clients visiting and no meetings to attend. He could get
a lot of work done during this time of the day. Tonight, though, the
quiet was deafening. He wanted nothing more than to be at home and
watch the Pirates game with Nicholas and his friend. He
couldn't. Davey Electric had come to him to help set up a trust for a pension
for its workers. He had been working for six months to land Davey
Electric as a client. He just couldn't throw this chance away.

*Anne doesn't understand what it's like to be poor and I hope
that Nicholas will never know either*, Burton thought. He remembered what
it was like to grow up in the ironically-named town of Mt. Aire. He
remembered how a film of soot covered everything from the desks at
school to the dishes at home. One couldn't wipe it away fast
enough. He remembered the smell of Mt. Aire infiltrating everything,
including their clothes and hair. Day-old cigarette smoke smelled
like a clean breeze compared to that mill smell. In his memory, he
recalled not one bright, sunny day in Mt. Aire because the pollution
haze from the mill covered the sunshine just as the soot covered
everything around them. He could still picture his mother taking his
father's wages every Friday, counting out the money for the rent,
clothes and food and there was never enough to cover everything. He
came from that and never will return to those working-poor
conditions. Even though Burton realized that he had succeeded far
enough that he won't return, he still can't help feeling one
misstep, one client blackballing him, one disaster will bring everything
he had worked so hard to make happen crash down on him and he would
end right back in Mt. Aire. His immigrant parents barely were able
to provide the basics and could only offer hope—a hope for a
better future for their children. He wanted to give Nicholas something more
solid than hope. Working the long hours was Burton's way of
honoring his parents and providing for his family.

Burton worried, though, about Anne's drinking and taking pills.
He knew that she was gracious enough hostess and wouldn't do
anything to embarrass Nick in front of his friend tonight. But her drinking was
getting worse.

The past six years have brought a lot of sadness to Anne and him.
The two miscarriages and the hysterectomy --each taking a little
something from the both of them-- had been especially hard on Anne.
She wanted a household full of children. Her disappointment had been
palpable. It was during the last miscarriage when the doctor gave
her a prescription for Valium. She couldn't eat, couldn't
sleep, and couldn't function. Burton was unable to console her and she
started to shut out Burton. He began been spending more time at the office
because of her drinking and Valium habit and his time away caused her
to drink more. He wondered how they could stop this vicious merry-go-
round of a marriage they've created. The only way, he thought,
was if one of them got off. The question now is who's going to do it
first. The rumors about Anne and this guy Norm Henderson from the
Law Review have gone from a crescendo of whispers to screams. Burton
just didn't want to think about that.

Damn it, Nick. Burton could always compartmentalize his home life
and work. Rarely did home occupy his thoughts while he concentrated
on work. Nick's phone call tonight had interrupted his work. And
Burton knew that he wouldn't be able to get much work done for
this evening. The dread of dealing with Anne tonight was becoming too
much for him. He knew it was best if he got home. Maybe he could
do some work after Anne and the boys went to bed. He began to pack
up the papers and files and put them in the briefcase. He
contemplated calling home to let Anne know that he was on his way but
decided against it.

~*~

Nick knew he was losing the chess match to Mike. He was distracted.
He was trying to listen for the door bell so he could get the pizza
before the doorbell disturbed his mother. While waiting for the
pizza, he and Mike had munched on some cookies that Anne baked
earlier in the day. As a result, neither one of them were hungry for
the pizza now.

Nick heard a knock on his bedroom door. His stomach tightened. He
thought he and Mike were being quiet. He couldn't believe his
mother could hear them in the kitchen on the first floor. He hoped that his
mother's headache hadn't gotten any worse. As he got up from
his bedroom floor to answer the door he accidentally tripped on the chess
board causing the pieces to scatter and ending the game.

"Did anyone order any pizza?" Nick's dad was standing at
the door, holding the pizza.

"Dad! You came home from work early," Nick exclaimed. He was
surprised and happy to see his father standing there. He didn't
hear his father's car pull in the driveway.

Burton thought it looked like that Nick wanted to hug him.

"Yes, son. How was school?"

"Nick lost the spelling bee today. The first time all year he
lost. Katie Shaw beat him," Mike chimed in. Nick turned around to give
Mike a dirty look. Mike grinned. He didn't care; he knew that
Nick purposely tripped on the chess board. He wanted to get back at Nick
for that.

"What word took you down?" asked Burton.

"Mnemonic. I forgot the "m"," replied Nick.

"I'm sure you'll remember that word now. That'll be
your own mnemonic device," chuckled Burton. "You'll win next
week, I'm sure.' Burton knew that Nick would spend extra time studying
Spelling the following week. He was proud of his son and his
grades. Nick amazed him, too, because he and Anne never had to tell
Nick to do his homework. What an enigma his son is, Burton thought.
He didn't understand where Nick got the drive to study. Burton
only wanted to play and not do homework when he was Nick's age.

"Anyway, the pizza's here. You can eat it the family room
and watch the Pirates game, if you want. Just be careful eating the pizza.
And, don't worry about your mom. I'll take care of her this
evening," said Burton.

"Thanks, Dad." Nick smiled and relaxed. He knew that his
mom would be okay as long as his dad was around.
 
 
THE END