Bassy's Future and some Noah stuff

Bassy is going to film school in Bridgeport. I'm not sure how I feel about that.
I saw him open up the acceptance letter like a kid opening up a present on Christmas morning, and he ran through the house screaming.
I have a feeling, though, that he's gonna be a damn fine actor.
I'm not entirely sure what prompted him to pursue this path, but he seems dead set on it. Thing about us Plumbs is, when we set our minds to do something, it's hard to get any of us to steer away from it. And, more often than not, if we do something we tend to become good at it.

I'm not sure how much sense it makes that he's going to become an actor. He didn't give any indication that this was the path he was going to pursue, other than his role in the school play as Romeo in Romeo and Juliet.
There's some other stuff, too, concerning my dear youngest brother. Remember the photographer I hired to take pics of the family? I still believe, despite Bassy's protestations to the contrary, that he did sleep with her. Now I'm hearing rumors that could back up my suspicions. Ms. Ward is now telling people that she's pregnant -- and that Bassy is the father. C'mon, Bassy isn't ready to be a dad. Seriously. Bassy's barely ready to be an adult. Kid still has his patterned underoos.
So, I've asked Ms. Ward to take a DNA test. I need proof. When you're as famous a family as we are, any gold digger will come out of the woodwork and say she's carrying our seed.
On that front, I've discovered there are 25 original musical compositions at City Hall registered under the name of Noah Henry Plumb, who, by the way, is the current conductor of the Sunset Valley Orchestra. They're not remixes of Dad's songs, they're Noah's original ones. I haven't heard these songs, but I've heard his style described as a mix of classical and electronica. Whatever that means. I'm also told that there are even more compositions he hasn't officially published. Sounds a lot like Dad, who only officially published a fraction of the songs he actually wrote. Dad's written about 300 songs and City Hall only has records of about 50 of them.

Oh and guess who registered Noah's songs? In typical Plumb fashion, not Noah. The copyright papers were signed by my sister-in-law, Sadie Alvi Plumb.

Me and Noah

Noah was walking up the hallway while I was in the kitchen. This is all the time with us, we’re always on the defensive with each other in a constant war of attrition. "Are you happy now?” he began. “You've successfully torn apart this family."

I decided I had enough. "You, Noah, lecturing me about family values. Boy, that's rich. Because, as far as I've gathered, Neil has never really had a 'family.'"
"And just what do you mean by that?"
"Can't you see how badly neglected he is? And the reason why he's acting out the way he is? You and Sadie are too damn busy to take any notice of that kid."
"You've got some nerve, Savannah. Look at you, gallivanting all over the world. Some fine example you're providing for your kids -- should you have any."
"Noah, I'm not going there."
"That's right, run away from the truth the way you've always done."
"No, I'm not running away from anything. I just don't want to deal with all this bickering, it's the last thing Neil needs to see right now."
"What do you care about what Neil needs?"

"Obviously a whole hell of a lot more than you do. I mean, he's happier here and it's beginning to show, so I don't want to hear it. Do you know he has not broken curfew once since he's been here? Not once. Not only that, but he goes to school, he comes home, he does his homework, and Bassy's just thrilled to bits that he's here. All the poor kid wants is for someone to show him that they give a damn.”

Noah rose his arms up in the air. There was a moment of silence before he spoke again "You know, you're right, Vanna, I -- I just want to thank you for taking him in like this. I -- I realize now that Sadie and I weren't really -- you know, cut out -- for this."

"Cut out for what?"

"Being -- being parents. And it's reflected on Neil. We've never -- never really -- been there for him, you know?"

"No need to thank me. It's Bassy you need to thank. And dad. They're the ones you need to talk to."

All About Neil

Don't think that I've abandoned you guys, but we've been pretty busy around here. For starters, Neil moved in.

Neil Patric Miraj Plumb, of course, is my nephew, the son of my brother Noah and his wife, Sadie. His mother is of Pakistani origin, and I probably know more about her heritage than she does. Her grandfather, Iqbal Alvi, immigrated from Pakistan after the Great War. What I found interesting was that he came from Pakistan just before my grandfather, Nigel Plumb, left England and arrived in Sunset Valley. What I also found interesting, from looking at the archives in the library, is that Iqbal Alvi and Nigel Plumb were neighbors on the other side of town, even though they never met!

I wasn't quite sure how Neil would take living with us Anglo-Saxon bluebloods, given his mixed heritage. He has the Pakistani blood on his mother's side, and on his father's side there's Italian, French, English, Irish, Welsh, and no telling what else. He's a true mutt.

Anyway, before I went into this digression, we've discovered that Neil is an odd fellow. Really, he is. He opted to run all the way to the military quarters on the other side of town instead of taking one of the four vehicles on the property. Why? He wanted to take handiness classes there. Apparently he's an adept with tools. Dad said Noah was like that, too, and he wondered where they got it from because it certainly did not come from him, lol.

We also think Neil has his mom's OCD trait because he checks the stoves about four times a day, he makes all the beds at least twice, he brushes his teeth until they bleed, and he scrubs the dishes at least twice even though the maid comes in and puts them in the dishwasher.

I overheard Neil and Bassy going over algebra very late at night -- and of course, given that they're teenage boys, they go over a lot of, well, other, things too. "Hey, how you like the house?" I heard Bassy ask.

"It's all right, I guess," Neil heaved a sigh. "Why can't I figure this stuff out?"

Intervention

Last evening, I came face to face with my wild, out of control teenage nephew, who, by the way, is even worse off than Noah let on.

Neil had changed into his workout clothes. "I'm going to exercise," he told me.

"No," I told him, "you are going to stand right here and listen to me until I tell you to move. Do you understand?"

He smacked his lips and protested as much as he could, but in the end he did what I said.

"Neil, I got a look at your report card. You're failing! I guess you are failing, if you don't even go to school."

"What are you talking about?"

"Neil, you know DAMNED well what I'm talking about! How are you gonna pass your classes if you blow 'em off?"

"Bassy told ya, didn't he? I knew it!"

"Bassy didn't HAVE to tell me. You forget, I went to that school. You forget, I still have contacts over there. So both you and Bassy can try to lie to me, but you won't get away with it."

"Who you think you are? You ain't my mama."

"You're right, Neil. I'm not your mother. But you can be DAMNED sure I'm not going to let you slide into the depths."

Neil is so bad off that my dad (who, by the way, is worried sick about him) is considering desperate, desperate action. He's considering taking temporary custody of him and straightening him out while he has him. I'm not sure dad is thinking clearly, and I'm not sure he's the one to straighten Neil out. He needs a strict military-style boot camp type thing.

So I put his ass thru a mini boot camp of my own. Since he was getting ready to work out anyway, I worked his ass out till he dropped.

A Cry for Help

"Vanna, can I talk to you for a sec?"

Bassy knocked on my bedroom door. I was working on my latest travel notes when he came in. "It -- it's about Neil."

Neil, of course, is Noah's son -- and our nephew. In Bassy's case, Neil is actually four simdays OLDER than he is.

"Vanna, I'm worried about Neil."

This came as a bit of a mild surprise.

"You know when you guys were in Egypt I was staying at his place next door. Anyway, Neil was drinking, playing video games and skipping school to do both."

"He's drinking?"

"I'd say he's an alcoholic. "

Just as Bassy said that, dad came in. "Did you mention Neil?" he asked.

"Um, yeah, dad, we were just talking about him."

"Come here, kids, I've got an idea." Apparently dad had been watching this situation for some time, and in his understated manner, was just waiting for the right time to act. "On Saturday morning, the three of us are going to go over there..."

Visiting Noah

I decided to pay a visit to Noah the next morning, which was a Saturday. It was the same day Bassy and dad had gone over to the stadium for a soccer game.

"Neil, did you take out the trash?"
"No, why?"
"Didn't I tell you to take out the trash?"
"I told you I wasn't doing it, mom. Besides, isn't that the maid's job?"

"Neil, it's time for you to start pulling your weight around here. You don't go to school. All you do is lay around playing video games. I'm sick of it."
"Well it's what I want to do."
"It's got to stop, Neil!"

"This is all the time," Noah bitterly complained.

I had never seen him like this. He looked like he hadn't slept in days.

"He -- he's totally out of control. I'm worried sick about him."

"What's going on?"

"Well, besides the arguments?" He managed a chuckle. "He's skipping school to stay home and play video games. He's drinking. He's a whiny little spoiled brat. I have no idea how it got this bad."

"What are you going to do?"

"Savannah -- he needs a reality check, and you're probably the only person who can give it to him. Maybe -- maybe -- if you could take him to Egypt or something -- he'll see that not everyone lives like he does."

I laughed. "Noah, he wouldn't last one day in Egypt. You know it, I know it, and he knows it."

"Just think about it, Savannah."

Neil

The next afternoon my nephew Neil (son of Noah and Sadie) came off the school bus with Sebastian. I have to say, the boy is quite an interesting little character. He's inherited his mom's neurotic trait and his dad's good trait, which ought to be intriguing in his own right.

"Hey, last one to the house is a rotten egg," Neil called playfully. And though Neil is the couch potato, it was Bassy who was struggling to keep up. Not to mention, even though Bassy is Neil's uncle, Neil is actually 4 simdays older than he is. That's one measure of how crazy this family is.

Finally I saw them both walk to the house.

Before going off to my part-time job at the cemetery, I overheard Bassy and Neil talking about this movie that's playing at the multiplex. Boys will be boys, I guess.

Including, well, older boys. When I got back from the cemetery, dad had joined them downstairs. Neil seemed to instantly recognize he was in his grandfather's presence for the first time in his life. "I knew grandpa was famous," I heard him later tell Bassy, "but, man, he's grandpa, ya know?"

So there they were sitting on the couch, Neil, Bassy, and dad, Bassy asking dad if he changed the batteries on the smoke detector and Neil kinda sitting there soaking everything in. It was weird having Neil there, honestly, a stark reminder that time marches on.

My Brother's Keeper Part 5

After I'd finished playing, apparently dad couldn't get enough of music. He parked himself in front of the stereo.

Noah and Sadie managed to find the formal dining room by themselves. Sadie chose the stu surprise while Noah ran for the chocolate chip cookies. Man, dad taught him well, huh?
I didn't hear everything they were saying, but it seemed every other word was "Savannah."

"Please, Sadie, I really don't feel like talking about this now," Noah said with a smile. "Let's just enjoy our wedding night."

I ran out of there as fast as I could, even before the rest of the guests started leaving. I went back home, changed my clothes, and decided to clear my head with a jog around the neighborhood.

I would brace myself for the morning papers.

My Brother's Keeper Part 4

While Noah was on the phone with Bridgette, I saw everyone was standing around and the party was pretty much dead. So I got out my guitar and started playing.

I'd played in public before, but not in this situation, so naturally I was a tad nervous. But as I was playing I got more and more comfortable.

Most of the party guests -- including the bride and eventually the groom -- gathered around me. There was this one creepy old guy who was watching me like a hawk. I suppose it's true what my dad always says about music -- it's the ultimate ice breaker.

Speaking of dad, he and Esther were yukking it up in a corner. I don't know if they were actually watching or not -- maybe they were, maybe they weren't.

Out of the corner of my eye I spotted Noah. I couldn't even read the expression on his face. He's not like dad, where what you see is what you get. Dad is an open book, you pretty much know what to expect. With him, there's a little more mystery.

My Brother's Keeper Part 3

The wedding had begun in earnest. Noah and Sadie recited their vows.

Some guy in the front row (I think it might have been one of Noah's friends) started throwing rice pellets around, right as Noah was slipping the ring on Sadie's finger.

And that was it. They were married. And their union was sealed with a kiss. Seriously, could a wedding be any MORE anticlimactic? I mean, you knew the script before it was even performed.

Poor Sebastian. I'm not sure he actually understood what was happening. He looked like he wanted to be somewhere else. I can't say I blame him.

Dad, of course, was beaming in the front row (although in that shot he looks like he's constipated). He had gotten together with his old pal, Esther Hick, who had been Sadie's boss at work before she retired.

Mr. and Mrs. Noah Plumb took their first dance as husband and wife under the setting sun. Gosh, that came out like the first sentence of a hokey romance novel, blechhhh! But, all jokes aside, their relationship really is out of a romance novel. They started dating in high school and have, to my knowledge, been with no one else but each other ever since.

A couple more faces in the crowd: My sister Cylene (mom's daughter, one of the twins) with my nephew, Neil (son of Noah & Sadie). Neil looked pretty sharp in his white tux. Cylene actually knew Noah in high school, before their parents hooked up.

Interrupting this picture of marital bliss was Noah's cell phone. Who the heck would call him -- during his wedding no less?

Oh yes, I know who. It was Bridgette.

Seems Ms. Landgraab was feeling a little slighted because Noah didn't drop her an invite to the big dance. Actually, to my knowledge, Sadie was compiling the guest list, and knowing how she is, I'm certainly not sure she would have invited her, anyway, for obvious reasons.

As near as I could tell, Bridgette dropped her congratulations on the happy occasion and started rambling about other things. Noah tried his best to get rid of her, and finally she hung up after almost an hour. I could tell Sadie was more than a little ticked about this turn of events.

My Brother's Keeper Part 2

I have to admit, Noah looked sharp in his tuxedo right before the wedding. If he was actually nervous, he didn't show it -- at least not as obviously as Sadie did.

Dad showed up a few minutes later. I have to say, he looked sharp in his double-breasted suit.

Mom and Sebastian showed up still later. Typical of mom, she pretty much stayed out of the way of the proceedings. She says even though she loves Noah and my dad, she wanted to let them have their day. "There is no 'how-to manual' on how a stepparent is supposed to act at a wedding," she said.

I changed into my outfit on the spot. I actually wasn't sure what I was going to wear, but I surely wasn't going to wear the foufy bridesmaid's dress Sadie wanted me to, that was OUT. If you haven't noticed, I've NEVER been one for 'girly' frills.

I heard Noah and Sadie practicing their vows behind me. I know both of them are major perfectionists and want everything to go right, and they must have gone through the same 'I Love You Forevers' at least a dozen times. Seriously, guys, how many times do you have to say it?

Then I looked over at them. "Are you ready, honey?" Noah asked.

"I -- I think so," Sadie replied, "as ready as I'll ever be at this point.

"Let's do this."