Winter Scorn

Winter Scorn

1

It was the middle of another cold winter morning in the small town. The snow in the backstreet behind the shops covered the ground and the trashcans. The ice cold breeze that blew down the backstreet didn't stop Thetford and Coralett from standing in the cold just to spend a little time together. Twenty-one years old and madly in love, the cold was the last thing on their minds as they held each other and whispered to each other how they missed each other and how they wished that they could spend their every waking moment together. As it always is with young love, the two forgot about reality and their daily worries as they were together, but the moment came to an abrupt end when the backdoor of Coralett's family's takeout restaurant was opened from the inside and her Dad saw them together.

“How many times I gotta tell you to stay away from that boy!”

Hearing the anger in her Dad's voice, Coralett still didn't want to let go of Thetford. The two tried to ignore him with the hopes that they could spend just another minute together. That minute was cut short when her Mom also came out and told her to get back to work. When the backdoor of the diner opened, Thetford's parents joined in the argument. Their parents exchanged a few insults and mocked each other's business as they pulled the two lovebirds apart. Between all the voices arguing around them, Thetford and Coralett said I love you to each other before they began arguing with their parents. They knew their parents were business rivals and hated each other but they weren't going to let small-minded pettiness destroy what they knew in their hearts was meant to be.

After pulling him into the diner's kitchen, Thetford's parents argued with him, telling him that Coralett is the daughter of their business rivals. They'd had this argument countless number of times since the two started dating. As angry as his parents were at him, he made it clear to them that he was going to continue dating her whether they approved of it or not. He continued to prepare food for the customers and ignored the remarks his parents made about Coralett.

Next door at the takeout restaurant, Coralett also had a short argument with her parents. She left them angry and silent when she showed them the pretty ring on her finger Thetford had given her. It wasn't an engagement ring, just a little something he'd given her to make their relationship official. Seeing the ring sparked new worries in her parents' minds that the two might be making plans to get married.

At the diner, Thetford and his Mom were busy serving customers when Mr Kurasec entered and greeted everyone before he sat at the counter. Everyone knew the chubby 40-something man in his snazzy suit and cowboy boots. He was the richest man in town and liked to remind everyone of that. When Thetford's Dad handed him a menu, he began bragging about the large piece of land at the entrance to the town he'd bought. When asked what he was planning on doing with the land, he said that he hadn't decided yet what business he was going to build there, but that he had more than enough time during winter to decide because he was planning on waiting until spring or summer before doing something with that piece of land. Thetford heard what they were talking about as he served customers sitting at the counter, but he didn't take much notice of what they were saying. Like every other day, even as he worked, he kept thinking of Coralett, wishing their parents would bury the hatchet so that they could have a normal relationship.

After work, Thetford and Coralett met in the backstreet as they did every day and began walking home together. Walking down the snow covered sidewalk, talking about their day, they noticed the people who they walked past who were staring at them with shocked looks in their eyes. That was one of the curses of living in a small town. Everyone in town knew that their parents were business rivals and to see them walking hand in hand together was seen by other people as wrong. Most of the people in town shared the same small-minded small town mentality of: 'We have our own version of what's right, of what's normal, and what's unacceptable'. They ignored most of the dirty looks and gasps they got from some of the people they walked past. But when some of the people began telling them what they were doing was wrong, they were starting to get on Thetford and Coralett's last nerve. The owner of the butcher shop's son said, “Do your parents know what you two are doing? Their gonna be mad like hell. This is wrong.”

“What's wrong is that everyone thinks they got a say in what we do. What is this?! A town or a cult?!” Thetford replied angrily.

A sort distance further down the street, a woman crossed the street and was about to enter the small auto repair shop to hear if they were done fixing her car. She stopped when she saw the two walking together and stared at them. She began shaking her head as they were walking past her.

“You two don't belong together. What will your parents and the other people in the town think and say?”

Both of them were taught to respect their elders, but this lady's age didn't matter at that moment as both of them gave her a piece of their mind and told her to mind her own business.

2

Early the following morning, Thetford and Coralett met in the park as they did every morning. The bench was covered in snow, so they stood next to it and spoke of the events of the previous day while sharing hot coffee from a flask. They would've liked to enjoy breakfast together but they knew that their parents wouldn't allow it. As they were busy talking about how they wished that their parents, and the other people in the town, would stop trying to keep them apart, two cars stopped next to the park. Coralett's Dad and Mr Kurasec got out of their cars and approached the two. Her Dad wanted her to get into the car, but she refused. Mr Kurasec asked him if he was going to allow his daughter to disrespect him like that. Thetford stepped forward and told Mr Kurasec to mind his own business.

“Who the hell you think you talking to, boy? Do you know who I am?” Mr Kurasec said as he pointed his finger at his face and stepped forward.

Thetford stepped forward, looked him in the eye, and said, “Who you are, or rather who you think you are doesn't change that Coralett and I are together.”

“Have you no respect, boy?! I...”

“Respect?! Why don't you show some respect by butting out of our business?!”

Mr Kurasec pressed his finger against Thetford's chest and was about to threaten him when Thetford grabbed hold of his finger, and said, “Do that again and you'll lose this finger.”

He pushed Mr Kurasec's hand away and stood unmoved. Coralett put her arm around him and stood next to him.

Mr Kurasec stepped back, looked at Coralett's Dad and said, “You want your daughter to be dating a rude runt like this?”

“Rude?! Rude is people thinking they have a say in our relationship. Rude is people making our private lives public news. So don't you flap your lips about rude!” Coralett said.

Her Dad was shocked. They'd argued so many times about their relationship, but he'd never heard her speak like that to the man who acted as if he owned the town.

Mr Kurasec tried a few more times to criticize their relationship as he walked back to his car. Everything he said was met with a reply that left him silent in the middle of each sentence. As he drove away, Coralett's Dad stared at the two in shock. He tried one last time to say something to split them up, but what Coralett said next made him start to wonder if what he and everyone else was doing was wrong.

“Daddy, what would you do if you and Mom were still dating and everyone in town told you that you had to break up to make everyone else in town happy? I don't mean to be rude, Daddy, but the people in this town aren't the ones who make me want to get up early in the morning to come out into the freezing cold to enjoy coffee in the park. The people aren't the ones who make me happy and who love me. Thetford is. And if the people don't like that we're together, then fuck 'em. This town doesn't own any one of us.”

Later that morning, at the diner, Thetford's parents were arguing with him about what had happened in the park. Mr Kurasec had visited the diner earlier and said that Thetford had been rude to him. He had also told Thetford's Dad that he thought that Coralett was having a bad influence on him. His Mom told him she was disappointed in him and told him that she didn't raise him to be disrespectful.

Coralett's Mom was angry at her, but instead of arguing with her, she argued with her Dad. Coralett's Dad was starting to realize that what they and the other people in the town were doing was wrong. He didn't come straight out and say it, but he was starting to defend the forbidden relationship.

Throughout the morning, more gossip about the forbidden relationship spread through the town like wild fire. The argument that took place in the park only helped to fuel the gossip. At the diner and the takeout restaurant, people were more interested in the gossip that in what was the day's specials on the menu. Besides all the personal questions that were asked, the comments many people made were downright offensive. None of them would've liked it if everyone else was talking like that about their personal life. Thanks to all that the people were saying and asking, Thetford and Coralett's parents began to realize just how nosy the town's people truly were. This made them start to see their own flaws and made them realize that what they were doing to the young couple, and their grudge with each other over rivaling businesses was petty and childish.

Outside, in front of the diner, a group of three women and two men were gossiping about what had happened in the park. Mr Kurasec joined the group and added his opinion to the gossip. Mr Fink, one of the friendliest and most loved members of the community, was on his way to the diner when he heard what the group was talking about. He paused at the diner's door for a minute and listened to them gossiping. The friendly expression on his face slowly changed. His bottom lip quivered out of sheer anger as he listened to them talking about the young couple and the rivaling businesses.

“Now see here!” he said as he stepped away from the door and pointed at the group. “Is there no end to your selfishness?!” Everyone stared in shock at the angry gentleman, who, as far as they could remember, had never raised his voice like this.

Thetford, his parents, and a few of the customers stepped out of the diner to see what was going on. Coralett and her parents also stepped out onto the sidewalk to see what was going on.

Mr Kurasec stepped in front of Mr Fink and told him to leave the people alone. When he said that the people had the right to voice their opinions, Mr Fink – who'd never been a fan of his bossy attitude – told him straight to his face, “I heard the boy wasn't scared of you in the park this morning. Guess what, I ain't scared of you either.”

While he was giving Mr Kurasec a piece of his mind, more people came out of the diner and takeout restaurant to see what was going on. A few people who were walking past also stopped and listened to him. Coralett walked up behind Thetford and wrapped her arms around him. When her parents stepped closer, Mr Fink pointed at the young couple and asked the people, “Who are we, as a town, as a community to tell these two that they can't be together?”

Someone in the small crowd said something about the families' rivaling businesses, to which he replied, “And?! What of it?! If your son or daughter started seeing someone who hates the baseball team you support, and supports a team that you hate, does that make them public enemy number one? No it doesn't! In all the years that I've lived here, I've never ever seen the people of our town being more stupidly selfish than I do now.”

Mr Kurasec tried to chip in and silence Mr Fink, but two ladies silenced him and told him that Mr Fink had a point. As everyone was listing to Mr Fink, Coralett's parents stepped closer to Thetford's parents. When they looked at each other, they could see the shame in their eyes. As much as they hated to admit it, they knew that what he was saying was true. A couple of the people in the crowd disagreed with him, but most of them began realizing that what they were doing was wrong. After speaking his mind for a full fifteen minutes, Mr Fink went into the diner. Thetford and Coralett thanked him for helping them to take a stand against the people who wanted to ruin their relationship.

Later that day, as Thetford and Coralett were in the backstreet preparing to walk home together, their parents joined them. One could easily tell by the looks on their faces that the shame they were feeling for being against their relationship and for allowing their businesses to make them enemies left them somewhat embarrassed. They didn't know what to say to each other. Thetford and Coralett stood between them, looked at them, waited for more than a minute for someone to say something, and when they chose to remain silent, he said, “We hope that you guys can finally stop this stupid little war. We love you and know you'll find a way to move past this like the adults that you are.”

3

The following morning, while Thetford and Coralett were on their way to the park, they could tell by the looks in the eyes of the people who walked past them that some where happy they were together and others still believed that the relationship was forbidden. Their scornful silent stares made it obvious that they were against the two being together. When they reached the park and began enjoying their morning coffee together, four of the people who were walking by and spotted them together stopped and approached them to tell them that they thought what they were doing was wrong. Thetford and Coralett tried to be nice and polite by telling them that they were a couple and that nobody in their town had a say over their lives.

Just as the two finished their coffee and were preparing to leave the park, a young man walked right up to Thetford and punched him. Coralett tried to stop him, but before she could pull him away from Thetford, he got a taste of all the anger that had been building up inside of Thetford since everyone tried to interfere in his relationship with Coralett. Thetford punched him twice in the face, once in the stomach and kicked his feet out from under him. When Thetford heard him say, “You'll be better off with me Coralett!”, he wanted to grab him and pound his face to a pulp. The troublemaker got back up and slipped and fell twice on the snow-covered ground as he ran away. Coralett hugged Thetford. With her head pressed against his chest and his arms around her, she could hear how fast his heart was beating and could feel his hands shaking.

“What's wrong with these people? What do these people get from trying to split us up?”

She knew him so well that she could tell by the tone of his voice that he was both enraged and sad. With everything that was happening to them as a couple, she too could feel the rage and sadness in her heart and mind waging a war on each other.

During the entire day, the majority of the customers at the diner that Thetford spoke to either asked questions about his relationship with Coralett or commented on how the two of them made a cute couple. The ones who asked him questions were the ones who were still trying to convince him that they didn't belong together. At the takeout restaurant, Coralett went through the same thing, until her Dad heard a young man who asked her if she thought their relationship would last longer than a month. He politely told the young man that his daughter's relationship was none of his business, and that he and the rest of the town wouldn't like it if other people interfered in their private lives.

Shortly before closing time at the diner, Mr Fink and Mr Kurasec were among the last customers. Among the other topics that they spoke about, Mr Kurasec still asked a few questions in between about the couples relationship. Thetford and his parents made it clear to him that nothing anyone in the town said or did was going to change their minds. Coralett and her parents walked into the diner. Everyone stared in silence as Coralett walked up to Thetford, hugged him and kissed him. Her parents said something they thought they'd never say: they complimented Thetford's parents on how pretty the decorations in the diner were. Thetford's parents invited them to join them for the following hour to enjoy a meal with them at the diner. They other customers couldn't believe that the two couples who'd been business rivals for so long were going to enjoy a meal together. When they other customers left, Thetford, Coralett and their parents talked like old friends. When the topic of conversation changed from the young couple's relationship, their parents began talking about their businesses. They began giving each other advice on possible ways that they could improve their businesses. What Thetford said next left everyone, including Coralett, speechless: he suggested that the two businesses should merge. As great an idea as that was, the mere thought of it – after all the years of being rivals – was a little too much for them to process. He named a few reasons why it would benefit everyone, before Coralett's Dad politely interrupted him and asked him to put all his ideas in writing and share it with them after he'd thought everything through thoroughly. As they spoke, someone was standing in the shadows outside the window.

Later that night, Coralett was at Thetford's house. The two were sitting in the living room, talking about how they'd like to celebrate their relationship and the fact that they're parents weren't enemies anymore by having a big picnic in the park that coming spring. Thetford's Dad came out of the small storage room upstairs with a photo album in his hand. He wanted to show Coralett a few photos of Thetford when he was still a little rugrat. As he came down the stairs, there was a knock at the front door. It was Mr Fink. He apologized for coming over after dark, but said that he had something for Thetford and Coralett. He was carrying a big envelope. Just as they went into the living room, Thetford's Mom came out of the kitchen. Mr Fink greeted them all before he handed the envelope over to Thetford. He opened it and found what looked like a big home-made Valentine's Day card in it. There was a beautiful picture of two pink hearts and red roses on the cover. Inside of the card was the picture of two hands with their fingertips touching. Around the hands were what looked like animal claws trying to pull the hands apart. Both of them instantly knew what message he was giving them with his picture: that no matter what the people did or said, they should never let people tear them apart. As they were thanking him for the card and complementing his artistic skills, there was a knock at the door. It was Coralett's parents. Thetford's parents invited them inside. When they told Coralett that they came to take her home, she told them that she was going to spend the night there. There was a brief awkward silence in the room for a brief moment. Both of her parents felt the overwhelming urge to tell her she had to come home, yet they knew that she wasn't a little girl anymore, and that her relationship with Thetford meant that the two were going spend many more nights at each other's homes.

After Mr Fink left, everyone went to the kitchen where they enjoyed a cup of coffee together and spoke for more than two hours. Thetford and Coralett were happy to see their parents finally getting along. During their visit, it appeared as if their parents actually enjoyed each other's company. They even began exchanging ideas on how Thetford's idea of merging their businesses might actually work and attract more customers. Thetford and Coralett left the kitchen and went to the living room. They kissed and spoke about how happy they were that their parents weren't going to try and keep them apart anymore.

4

Shock and sadness spread throughout the town the following morning as word spread that a dead body had been found in a small field between houses close to Thetford's house. Mr Fink was dead. Many of the people who came to the diner that day couldn't stop themselves from crying. The thought that a well loved and respected member of their community had been murdered was unimaginable. Coralett came over to the diner during her break. In the kitchen, she was crying as he held her in his arms. When his Mom came into the kitchen, she couldn't help but to also shed a tear as she tried to comfort her. None of them could imagine why anyone would want to kill such a kind man.

During the day, many of the people in the town went to Mr Fink's house. His family were devastated by the senseless killing of the man who many considered to be a saint. Thetford and Coralett left work together for an hour to also go there and, like most of the people, they expressed their condolences and offered to help them with anything they needed.

Back at the diner, the rest of the day was unlike any Thetford had experienced before. No matter how many or how few customers where there at any given time during the day, everyone sat together, mourned Mr Fink's death and offered emotional support to one another. People who perhaps disliked each other in the past, buried their grudges and supported each other because all of them felt like they just lost the person who was like a father figure, a moral compass to everyone in the town.

At the end of the day, Thetford and Coralett were standing in the backstreet, holding each other. As they were busy comforting each other, they once quiet meeting place slowly became crowded. A few people who were walking by stopped, spoke to them about the murder and some began crying. Thetford and Coralett's parents joined them. As cold as it was outside, everyone seemed to forget the cold of the snow thanks to the warmth in their hearts. Everyone was more concerned with comforting each other than they were about the cold of the snow.

Mr Kurasec also joined the small crowd. He greeted a few of the people in the crowd before he spoke to Thetford and Coralett's parents.

“Tragic what happened to such a nice man,” he said. “He will always be remembered as the generous kind man that everybody loved.”

What Mr Kurasec said next was enough to leave everyone silent. He began talking business. He mentioned the large sum of money he was willing to pay to buy both Thetford and Coralett's parents' businesses. The shock on the people's faces and the ice cold chill of shock and disgust they all felt in their bodies was colder than the freezing breeze that blew through the backstreet.

Everyone was shocked speechless, but Thetford and Coralett's shock was no match for the anger and outrage they were feeling.

“Have you completely lost your mind?” Thetford asked.

“How can you be so cold? To come here and talk business when the people of the town are heartbroken?” Coralett added.

Mr Kurasec to talk his way out of the situation, but it was too late. He'd already revealed his true heartless nature and no sweet-talking lie was going to get him out of this. Everyone in the crowd expressed their disgust for his disrespect. Being the egotistical prick that he was, he tried to defend himself by saying that he wasn't going to be controlled by the emotions of the people and that 'Life goes on'.

As the crowd slowly drove him out of the backstreet towards his car, he began to panic. He began threatening them. When he pointed at Coralett while yelling out threats, something inside of Thetford snapped. It was as if Mr Kurasec had just stepped over an invisible line while unaware that there was an entire emotional minefield on the other side of that line. Thetford did what everyone in that crowd wanted to do: he punched him in the face. Mr Kurasec tried to fight back but he was no match for the crowd. They beat him up. He swung his fists around like a mad man, screaming more threats before he got into his car. He pulled a plastic bag out from under the passenger seat, pulled a bloody knife and hammer out of it, got out of the car and tried to attack the crowd. Before he could hurt anyone, Thetford, his Dad and Coralett's Dad managed to grab him by the arms, pulled the weapons out of his hands and punched him. It was Thetford's fist that made him drop down on his knees. Seeing the bloody weapons, everyone suspected that he was the one who'd murdered Mr Fink.

After he'd been arrested and confronted with the evidence, Mr Kurasec confessed to killing Mr Fink. It turned out that he wanted to buy Thetford and Coralett's parents' businesses and build another restaurant on the piece of land that he'd bought so that he could start a franchise.

Less than a month later, Thetford and Coralett's parents merged their businesses. Everyone in town supported them and everyone expressed how happy they were that Thetford and Coralett were together.