The Strange New Place We Live

For the time being, it seemed as if Twinbrook was offering them a renewed chance to be a close, loving family once again. It was certainly not the ideal, romantic getaway that Meredith probably deserved, nor was the house as large and grandeur as Jebidiah wanted to provide for his children, but... It could be worse. At this point, they were willing to take anything they could get -- even if that meant that Jebidiah was working for a small wage to solve the small town's mysteries for them.

But one thing he did not particularly enjoy was the hours.



"Is there any way to convince these people to not call first thing in the morning?!" Meredith grumbled as they climbed out of bed, after the fifth phone call that morning. "Don't they realize that not everyone wakes up at 5-freakin-AM?"

He missed the night-owl hours of scheming in the old river warehouse, and being able to sleep in until the late afternoon without any complaints from his wife. The early mornings, he felt, were plenty enough punishment for him. But, if he wanted to prove anything to Meredith, he had to keep it up... and the need for Twinbrook's new PI was suddenly evident. It made Jebidiah wonder what had happened to the last one... Probably annoyance at hearing his own ringtone so often.


Jebidiah lamented about what he missed the most, but he tried to take a somewhat positive view; perhaps, with his knowledge of the criminal mind, he'd be able to help Twinbrook out more than they knew. He was, after all, a Master of Thievery -- there was nothing better to catch a criminal than a criminal himself... Right?


But Meredith was not all too pleased with that sort of talk at the breakfast table. She quickly changed the subject, asking Travis about if he was excited to be starting his new school. "Everyone will be so amazed at how strong you are, sweetie," she commented with a pointed finger at her son's biceps. "I bet they'll be begging you to join their sports teams once they see you play."

"I'll be fine, ma. It's just weird is all."



As Meredith finished getting Travis ready for his first day, Jebidiah changed into his gear and hopped into their only vehicle: the mommy-mobile Meredith insisted they get. It was certainly practical, but not... perfect. Well. It was humiliating for a man who was used to giving his family everything, and driving whatever type of car he wanted. "Can't wait until we can afford another car," he grumbled as he cruised across the bridge leading into the less desirable parts of town.

He was venturing there to talk to the source of their morning phone calls: it was some man named Juan Darer, absolutely frantic about what he described as some vagrant acts of vandalism.



When Jebidiah first arrived, he was taken aback -- the man's whole house was burnt down! Finally something untrivial. But, after some careful questioning, Jebidiah discovered that the house remains had been like that for some time. Juan was worried about something else entirely -- someone had been kicking over his trash can! Oh dear Plumbbob!

Jebidiah sighed. Hooray, another petty crime. But, giving assurances to Juan he'd find the culprit, he took some samples of footprints, and was on his way. He wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible... Juan was a rather funny looking fellow, smelled like burnt toast, and was living out of his shed. It was not exactly the place Jeb wanted to be caught hanging around.



Juan had given him both the name of his trash can attacker -- or rather, who he thought he saw -- and the address where he lived. It seemed rather odd that Juan would know this, but as Jebidiah became more acquainted with the town, it became obvious why: everyone knew everything about everyone else, and what they didn't know, they were very determined to find out.

"No wonder this place is practically off the map," Jeb found himself thinking. "Everyone here's on the brink of insanity."

Well, he found what he needed to find -- the evidence. Looks like Buddy Bailey was ashamed of what he'd done, and had thrown out the sneakers that had left footprints all over the Darer's yard. Juan may be a dirty, crazy old man, but he was a right crazy old man.


At least Buddy was willing to admit his wrong-doing. After shown the evidence, he quickly caved. "Yeah, I did it. The old man deserved it, but it still wasn't right. I'll pay for a new trash can if he won't press charges."

Jebidiah wanted to laugh, but if he wanted to be taken seriously as an investigator, he had to at least attempt to keep a straight face.



He ended up running into Juan on the way back to his house to share the good news. When Juan heard, he smiled. "Fantastic! Glad to hear that justice as been served."

He paid Jebidiah up, and at that point, Jeb could hardly contain himself -- his payment was more than it would've cost to replace the kicked-in-can. This guy was obviously a luntatic. So far, the people in this town seemed pretty daft, but at least it meant more profit for him!



But, now it meant it was back to work trying to catch the dirty between other town residents. And whatever these two Twinbrookians are doing, Jebidiah was sure it wasn't good.

It's a grind, but... It's a job. And, being an anonymous tip to the police department and a self-employer, it meant his name wasn't going down anywhere to track. At least there was that small positive reality to this relatively tedious job.

... But those fingers of his were still itching to pick some pockets.

---

As Jebidiah found himself making a few spare Simoleans here and there, Meredith got herself to work trying to help out with their new lack of wealth. She'd done plenty of painting and photography as a hobby, but now it was time to put those talents to the test, and try to see how the people of Twinbrook liked her artwork.



It certainly was nice to get back to something she enjoyed, as well. Over the last few weeks, she'd been so absorbed in Jebidiah's mishaps, the children, the move -- and what prompted it -- that there had been no time for herself. It was a refreshing change, and the first hints that things were getting back to normal.



On her way home from the consignment store, where she was attempting to sell some of her latest works, she decided to drop off to the park to try and meet some of her new neighbors. Wei Keane and Justin Kayes seemed pretty pleasant -- if rather dorky -- and even shy Meredith found herself struck up in a conversation...



... one that seemed to go in interesting directions once she found out that Wei was just as neurotic as she was.



Wei was doing his best to keep things friendly, though, once he noticed that ring on Meredith's finger. But, since they both liked conspiracy theories, he felt it was appropriate to point out some gossip about poor old man Juan Darer.

"Did you know that Juan Darer burnt down his house on purpose? Trying to get insurance money or something. I hear he's still living on the property, in his shed... I'd almost feel sorry for the guy, if I didn't know he was attempting fraud."



Well, Meredith wasn't sure what to believe, but at least not everyone in town was as insane as the people Jebidiah was telling her about. In fact... As she settled down on a swing and looked out over the vast water of Twinbrook's lake, she realized that it may not be as bad here as she had first thought. It wasn't the prettiest place... But it had potential to become home, if she let it.



"Hey, you one of the new people just movin' in on Savannah Lane?"

Meredith stopped swinging to turn her eyes to the source of the question. "Oh, yeah... Just a few days ago. I'm Meredith. Meredith Kane."

"Oh yeah?" For a moment, the long intense look that he gave her sent chills up her spine. But, after an eerily long silence, the corner of his mouth turned up into a strange smirk of a smile. "Well, m'name's Marc Brandt."

He continued to look at her. Meredith, being thoroughly creeped out, suddenly turned her eyes to his arms, and asked the first thing that came to her mind. "So, uh, uh... where'd you get those tattoos?"

After a brief conversation with Marc, Meredith decided to cut it short and head home. But, after reaching the sidewalk, she decided something else.

It was time for a change.



We all make decisions in our lives that we regret, but sometimes it's best to just push forward and try to make the best with what's left...



... and often, a drastic change from what we're used to is a step in the right direction, even if it doesn't seem like it at first ...



... and even just a little push out the door to try and make new friends can help us along the path of renewal ...



... and we can't forget that even old friends can be just as good, and should never be forgotten ...



... but sometimes, no matter how hard we run from the mistakes that we've made, the attempts to keep it a secret will always find a way to come back to haunt us.

---

Notes: As the lovely Chrysame noticed, I updated the banner. I meant to do that and this post simultaneously, but I forgot I was going to the movies tonight. Oops. Anyways, I hope it turned out okay!

Also, on this post and all posts onwards I am adding another completely useless yet entertaining addition to each picture: scroll-over texts. Short and sweet, to take the edge off the angst.

Edit: For some reason, the scroll-overs aren't working. Working on fixing that right now. :)

Edit Again: Discovered what I did wrong, rollover text should now work as intended. Phew! 

Enjoy!