Mr. and Mrs. Nord Part 2

Lately I've been helping Mr. Nord with his Spring Cleaning because the CPS is supposed to be coming back to check on the children. I've noticed that he would get nervous whenever there was a mention of them. I can understand why. The woman in particular looks terrifying. Every day you can feel the fear that the children would be taken away. Whenever Mr. Nords go to work, and I'm left with the children until he comes home, there is an odd eerie feeling in the house. A quiet, feeling, like the calm before the storm.

I've told him that you were coming back Steph. You don't know how glad he looked when he heard that. You would think it was the date of child's birth. He once said he feared losing you the most. Today, I asked him if he ever lost anyone close to him before, purely out of curiosity. Since we were worried about the news considering the CPS. But also, because of what Steph said about her aunt and uncle. To be honest the more Steph talks about them, the more untrustworthy they seem to be. Cheerful smiles, unnatural behavior. So I was wondering whether or not there was a connection.

As it turns out, there was.

It wasn't an easy topic to bring up, or talk about for that manner. It was obvious this was the part of Mr. and Mrs. Nord's love story that he did not want to share with anyone. Not even his own daughter. Or me for that matter.

We had just put the children to bed when I mentioned it to bed. He was at the computer on Netflix, taking a much needed break. But it didn't seem like he started watching any movies yet, so I talked to him.

Me: "Mr. Nord?"

He looked up from his list of things to watch, I saw some Doctor Who episodes in there.

Mr. Nord: "Yes? What is it Rebecca? Something troubling you?"

I gave a visible gulp. I was kind of nervous about this.

Me: "Well, actually, I'm a bit curious."

Curiously, he rose an eyebrow, staring at me intently. A nervous chill ran down my spine. I had thought I was truly intruding his personal space.

Mr. Nord: "About what?"

I had a moment's hesitation. But he just kept on pressing me on, even though it could've been hopeless.

Me: "Did you lose anybody close to you before?"

There was another pause, as Mr. Nord busied himself in the act of leaning back in his chair, huffing a puff of air at nothing, seemingly in thought. He then pulled up a chair for me, and requested that I sat down. I was strangely excited. I thought that this was it, I was about to discover some incredible secret. But at the same time that same nervousness lingered in my body. That worry for what might've came next. Now as I think back, it wasn't that heart wrenching, but it was shocking all the same.

Mr. Nord: "I'd have to say...my daughter."

At the very utterance of that last word he gave me a look so serious, I felt the need to never joke around him again. I was almost afraid to even smile. This was some serious matters. And I knew where this was going. I didn't want to tell him what you told me Steph. I really wanted to hear it from his own mouth, to get another side of the story somehow.

Me: "What happened?"

Mr. Nord: "I shouldn't tell you, you really do not need to know these things."

Me: "Please, sir, Steph's always asking about it whenever she calls me. She really wants to know her history, your history, Mrs. Nord's history. She wants some answers on why she can't find any pictures on her. She won't stop until she knows. And what better person to ask than you sir? Please, Mr. Nord! I won't share this information with anyone else! I won't even ask for anymore stories if you like! But please, just for one last time?"

A sigh escaped from his lips.

Mr. Nord: "No, don't worry about it. I'll tell you whatever you want to know. Your her most trusted friend, and as that trusted friend I suppose I should really trust you. That's what she would have wanted..."

Just don't share this information with anyone. Please, that's all I ask. I cannot risk another family feud.

Me: "Family feud, sir?"

Mr. Nord: "Nobody in our family gets along, on either side. Even within our own families. Our little group are the only people in this whole mess of genes that can actually stick out for each other. Everywhere else is just a big bucket full of lies and deception. You take one step into any of my wife's sister's houses, and what all you'll find is trouble. Her brothers-in-law aren't exactly a sight for sore eyes either. Big, nasty men who waste their life on beer and junk. None of them know a thing about life, and neither do their wives. Devilish women, they are, but you know what, Pamilia's not that bad. Sure, she may have her problems, fucked up as they are, but she's not horrible, when you compare her to....Shelly."

He said her name with such hatred such disgust, you'd think he actually wanted her dead. She might as well have been.

Mr. Nord: "She, along with her God forsaken mother, had done nothing but torture my wife, my partner, from the very beginning! You really want to know what happened?"

It took me a moment to realize that was directed towards me.

Me: "Y-yes."

Mr. Nord: "It was her mother's idea. Mary Jane Golden, supposedly a Catholic, but I call bullshit on that. See, you can tell when somebody has that devotion towards God. You can just tell. See, they have this sort of glow around them, something different, that sets them apart from other people. You can't necessarily see it, but you just know it's there. All I need to do is take one look at you in the eyes, and I'll be able to tell. But that's not just that, oh no, that's just your gut feeling right there. You can tell whether or not a person is what they say the are from the way the act. From the way the carry themselves. Anyone who has the audacity to screw over an innocent women like that, is not woman of God. And if they say otherwise, they are not only lying to you, but themselves."

It didn't take much to realize that Mr. Nord was a man who followed the good book. And he was real stern about it. Perhaps it was just that army training, but he was really passionate about the topic of God. I feared that I was going to be forced to listen to one of those religious lectures, even though I wasn't very religious myself, so I tried to change the subject.

Me: "What did she do?"

Mr. Nord: "Hmm, she lied, that's what she did. She lied to everyone, about my wife, about me. I am not the sort of man who let's people go on and talk shit behind my back, you've got to understand this. And this....this....woman told everyone that we were bad parents! We? Bad parents? A joke! It must've been a joke! I know I've made mistakes in my life, and boy did I make plenty of them. Most of them I couldn't even talk about in public without getting embarrassed. I'm not going to deny that! And yeah, so my wife may not have been the most sane person around, but living with a family like that, would you be?"

I had to admit, I couldn't argue with that logic.

"But come on! Turning the entire city of Buffalo against us? Every official, at our door, trying to take our newborn baby away from us? Before she was even a day old? One day!"

He held up a single finger as if to emphasize this.

"One day, she had her in her arms. For one day, I could see that beautiful face of my angel! And I had that stolen away from me! I didn't even get to see her after that! They hid her away, because supposedly we were too 'dangerous' for her. Next thing I know, around a week later, she gets whisked away to some small town in Maine, hours away from here? To some asshole I never really got along with as a kid?"

I jumped to the first conclusion that came to my mind. It did not matter whether he found it strange. I needed to know.

Me: "What was his name?"

Mr. Nord: "Timothy. My idiotic brother."

So it all fits. The entire thing was orchestrated to separate Mrs. Nord from her children. But the question is; Why? Mr. Nord continued to tell me about how Mrs. Nord spent countless ours at what was meant to be your crib, Steph. He told me how your mother would always pray, that God would somehow bring you back home. She visited church, shopped for countless baby clothes. It was almost to a point of obsession. It wasn't until he looked into finding a lawyer that things began to look up for the young couple. It was a Jewish lawyer, "The best kind", he insisted. He didn't even charge them, it was all just some random act of kindness that this man helped them regain custody of you.

Just think, if that lawyer didn't win his case (against the city of Buffalo), you'd still be with Uncle Tim.

From what I've read, that seems like it would be a scary thought.

Afterward, they celebrated by buying a rag doll. Mr. Nord desribed every detail, it had blue yarn for hair, and was dressed in a colonial outfit with floral designs. From the sound of it, they bought a rag doll. Then, they moved to Mrs. Nord's father's apartment, who separated himself from her mother. And you'll never guess where he lives.