Brian: The Son

By Sadie Beckenridge

Brian: the Son, is the third book to Morgan: The family. Brian is the voice of forgotten memories. He is the middle child who is ignored, blending into the background of the family. No one could fathom the abuse he suffered as the only male child of Morgan. As he grows older, he finds himself pulled into drugs and alcohol, knowing full well the dangers of these habits, having seen first-hand his own father’s destruction. Brian struggles with the reality of his own dark secrets dwelling within. Is he as bad as the lurking demons whispering lies in his ears? Has he become like the man he has hated most of his life? As he looks in the mirror, he questions who he is, why was he born, and how long he can carry the burdens of the unspoken truths?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: Dec 22, 2021
• ISBN: 9781665715836

Sadie Beckenridge

Sadie Beckenridge holds a Bachelor of Science in Family and Child Services and an Associate Degree in Human Development and Family Services. She has been working in an elementary school setting since 2015. Sadie currently resides in Central Pennsylvania. This is her third book.

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Copyright © 2021 Sadie Beckenridge.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by

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without the written permission of the author except in the case

of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents,

organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products

of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

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ISBN: 978-1-6657-1582-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6657-1583-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021924055

Archway Publishing rev. date:  12/09/2021

CONTENTS

List Of Characters:

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

About The Author

Dedicated to all the secret keepers and silent watchers

All my love and gratitude

to my family and friends

Brian was born in the late spring of the 1960s. He is the son of Morgan Mitchell and Adam McGardner. There are questions in life that one never really wants or knows how to answer. For Brian, that question is, Tell me about your family? Brian has a hard time answering this question having been raised in a non-traditional family. His family consists of a mother, two sisters, one set of grandparents, and five stepfathers. He has never known his birth father and what memories he has have been distorted by others’ tales. The family that one creates can often be the true family.

LIST OF CHARACTERS:

CHAPTER 1

B rian, born in May of 1968, is the second child of Morgan Mitchell and Adam McGardner. Kelly is his older sister by sixteen months, the first child conceived from their parents’ union. They both have red hair and blue eyes. It is very noticeable that these two children are siblings. They often are mistaken for twins.

When comparing them to their parents one might wonder where the red hair came from. Morgan has long black hair and eyes the color of emeralds. Adam has deep brown eyes and sandy blond hair the color of wheat. The only explanation for red hair is genetics. Brian’s grandmother Vicky Mitchell has red highlights in her dark-auburn hair and eyes the color of dark walnuts. His grandfather Harold Mitchell has dark brown hair and eyes the color of the deepest blue waters. His other grandparents the McGardners, originated from Ireland.

Brian came into this world unexpectedly. Morgan had no plans to have another child with her husband, Adam since their marriage was already on rocky ground. Adam, however, had other plans and made sure she would become pregnant by pricking holes into the condoms. The more children Morgan had, the greater the chances she would not leave him.

To provide for his growing family, Adam takes a long-haul truck driving job. He gets involved in drug trafficking and is prosecuted. He is sentenced to sixteen years in prison. Morgan tells her very young children, Your father has done some very bad things and is not going to be home for a really long time.

By this time the children have become accustomed to him being away from the home due to his job and do not question what they have been told. While incarcerated Adam is diagnosed with bipolar-paranoia-schizophrenia. After a few years pass, Morgan is granted a divorce from Adam and gains full custody of her children.

Not long after, Morgan marries a farmer named David. David is a tall, good-looking man with dark-auburn hair and hazel eyes. He is also an alcoholic and a heavy smoker. David becomes Kelly and Brian’s stepfather. After their marriage, Morgan agrees to move to Hamptonville. Hamptonville provides her with a new start after all the chaos and eases the pain the children suffer from losing their father. In Hamptonville, David works at a factory job, while Morgan stays home with the children. During the healing process, Morgan becomes pregnant. In the early spring of 1973, Amber is born. Amber has blond hair and emerald eyes. At the age of five, Brian is excited to become a big brother. From the moment she comes home from the hospital, he knows there is something special about his little sister.

One afternoon when their mother is upstairs with Amber, the silverware drawer in the kitchen begins to shake noisily. Brian notices this noise while he is downstairs playing with his fire truck. Frightened, he yells up to his mother. She gathers up Amber and runs downstairs to see what is causing all the commotion. The unoccupied rocking chair upstairs begins rocking back and forth. This is the first time Brian hears spirits and wonders if his sister has awoken something in the house. As Amber gets older, more incidents occur without explanation. The family tries to ignore them for three long years, hoping that someday the spirits will decide to leave on their own. The commotion in the house finally settles as David and Morgan’s marriage begins to unravel. With nowhere else to turn, Morgan takes her three children and moves back in with her parents.

CHAPTER 2

O nce everyone settles in, Harold begins his reign of terror. Harold now has even more leverage over his daughter since she has to rely on his generosity. He is pressuring her into doing him favors. While Morgan and the children live with Harold and Vicky there are rules to be followed. All doors are forbidden to be locked, no complaining or disobedience is acceptable. There are no free rides, everyone has to earn their keep living in the house. Brian is too young to understand the underlying meaning of his grandfather’s rules. He can feel the tension in his mother’s arms when she hugs him and the uncertainty in her voice when she tells him, I promise, we will not stay here much longer.

It will take over a year for Morgan to find a job, save money, and move to a place of her own. Harold can take advantage of his daughter’s situation by insisting on some form of payment, which is negotiable. She can provide him with sex or allow him to watch her having sex with her lovers in his house. Harold often leads Brian and Amber over to the bedroom door making them peek through the skeleton keyhole to observe their mother in sexual acts. At times he becomes a little too friendly