CALM

003.

003. 

GEORGE HEARST LIVED in what many would call in this town, a McMansion. He didn't mind though. The house was quite nice despite its small size and it was wonderfully furnished from top to bottom with his mother's acting money.

The small Hearst family-made up of his mother, Celeste, his older sister, Bess, and his mother's established playwright boyfriend, Clifford Boateng, or known amongst George and Bess, Biff-were categorized under "new money". People who hadn't collected their wealth until recently.

Just like the house, George didn't mind his status but what he did mind was what would happen to his family if anything of that night came to light. And he couldn't help but think of it every second of every day since that night. Despite his best efforts, it was quite obvious that something was on his mind.

Before his mother left for her weekly trek to New York for work, she cupped George's face in her warm hands and asked him what was wrong. He had brushed it off as stress with finals coming soon, but she knew that George was lying and gave him her emergency number in case he decided to truly spill. Of course, he would never use though.

Then he felt a sharp kick come from across the dinner table. "Georgie," hissed Bess. "Biff just asked you a question."

He looked up from his plate, "Huh?"

Biff laughed at George before he repeated his question. "How was the party?"

"Great," he answered, continuing to chew the inner part of his lip.

Biff was one of the few of her mother's boyfriends that tried to reach out to her children. He loaned his gorgeous house to George last weekend for him to throw a party. Not every parent like, but he had assumed he wanted to get in good with George since he had only really spoken a total of four words to Biff on a daily basis: hi, I'm good, and night.

It wasn't that he disliked him. It just was that he didn't care enough to get to know him. He knew that he was an apathetic person, the problem was Biff didn't know that.

"God, I remember those days. Care to give an aging man any advice?"

"Eat before you drink," he said. The hole in his inner lip began to deepen. The smell of iron overtaking the taste of the lamb.

Biff laughed; a hearty one. He shook the table and Bess clung to her plate a little tighter. "Always the wise, George. I heard one of the rooms were a bit messy."

He looked back up, his eyes wide. "Which one?"

"I think it might be one of the guest rooms closest to the pool."

"It'll be clean before tomorrow."

"Oh no, you don't have to worry about it, George. Cynthia said she would be back there on Monday to clean it."

"No," he said, his voice hastier than before. "It was my party let me clean it up."

Biff gave small smile before he popped a piece of lamb into his mouth. "Thank you, George. I truly appreciate your responsibility."

He nodded and looked back down to his dinner, but Biff wasn't quite done yet. "But I wanted to ask both you and Bess something." He lowered his voice even though the only three people in the room were him, George, and Bess. "I wanted to ask for your blessings to marry your mother."

George stopped chewing his inner lip. Bess looked up from her dinner.

"You want to what?" Bess asked.

"Ask your blessing. When-if-your mother says yes, I'll be apart of your everyday lives. I just want to know that I'm accepted into your family."

Bess looked at George then to Biff. "I don't really know what to say, Biff."

"Biff?"

"Sorry, Clifford." The conversation began to drown into background noise. He could feel the guilt gnaw at his stomach like a parasite, tearing down his body until he was feeble. The room was still littered with his blood. Maybe even a bit of George's.

He felt another kick from underneath the table. "Georgie," hissed Bess again.

"Huh?"

"What do say to Biff...Clifford I mean, marrying our mom?"

"Perfect."

"Perfect?" Bess hissed.

"Perfect?" smiled Biff.

George shrugged his shoulders at his older sister. "As long as Mom is happy."

She kicked him again and lowered her voice. "We're gonna talk about this later, Georgie."

"Okay." But George saw this as quite a great thing. If he did get caught for, which he knew he eventually would, his mother's fortune would stay intact. Biff and his millions of dollars stacked between his plays and his father's large company would keep the Hearst family afloat.

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Bess' full name was Elizabeth Lauren Hearst. George and Bess had both joked that "Elizabeth" was a regal woman who had overseen a large company. Her closet was only filled with workout clothes and pantsuits, and that no one dared to cross her for the power of a billionaire and a rich daddy could break bones and destroy homes.

As Bess talked to George in his bedroom, he could only hear Elizabeth Lauren Hearst speak to him.

"I can't believe you right now. Do you approve of Biff? Biff! The man that just casually loaned you his house for a party." She scoffed. "Real responsible, fucker."

George shrugged his shoulders. The thought of Biff's character in the back of his mind. "He makes Mom happy."

"So did Lewis," she countered. She ran her fingers through her blonde hair. George had always thought it had a close resemblance to straw, but when he had told his sister that she smacked him. "And Dev and Jario and Luis and fucking Big Danny."

"Come on now, Bess. Big Danny was a classic."

She tensed up. "Big Danny was a fat man who liked hanging around playgrounds too much."

George laughed again, "And Mom was happy with all those men for a short while. Let her live before all the botox makes her look like a recalled Barbie doll. There are bigger things to worry about right now."

"Like what?"

He hesitated for a second. Your brother being convicted of homicide. "World hunger."

She scoffed, "You could give a fuck less about that."

"Says who?"

"Says the way you've thrown our half of your meals this week."

He leaned further back into his bed. He didn't think anyone noticed. After that night, he couldn't stomach any food. "I've been feeling under the weather lately."

"Under the weather," she mimicked. "Georgie, are you aware of the world around you?"

"No, I'm blind. Did you not know that?"

"George," she snapped. "I'm being serious. I don't want Mom to marry Biff. Do you want Biff as a stepdad?"

He shrugged his shoulders. He felt like he had done that a lot today. "It's not like it'll matter. We don't even account our real father in our lives."

"Dad's there when he needs to be."

George looked up to Bess. "When he needs to be. What kind of father is that? Only when we need the child support check he shows up. Only when the court needs him to show up to custody case he shows up. He doesn't care nor do I, Bess." He looked back down to his untied laces. "Mom marries him for three years, we'll suck him dry, and then Mom will divorce him. Happy with that outcome?" he jeered.

"Jesus Christ, Georgie. What's wrong with you today?"

"Nothing," he hissed. He leaned his head against his bed. "You can leave now, Bess. I don't need to hear more from Miss Elizabeth anymore."

Elias made many good points, what he had said to him earlier was one of the truest things he had heard him say. New money is a fragile thing, Georgie. He needed Biff's family name to enter the family. He needed his family to be safe. It was the only thing right he could do for them in the upcoming months.