Chapter 1

   Rick Green was exhausted. He had come to his wits end. He was tired of the arguments, the insults, the derision and the put downs. He and Debbie had been married for 5 years, and in that time, he had not had a single comforting or supportive word from his mother-in-law. She thought of him as a pain in her backside, when she thought of him at all. Rick loved his wife and she loved him, much to the chagrin of Lois Blain, her mother. Lois had become a widow early on after she gave birth to Debbie. She felt that she had been cheated out of a life of luxury and privilege that her husband had not been around to give her. Afterall, he had come from a very prestigious family. So Lois took all of her frustrations out on Rick. But he had had enough.

   Debbie was equally frustrated at her mother as she witnessed the reprehensible treatment Lois heaped on Rick on a daily basis. She understood Rick's tolerance was wearing very thin to the point of explosion. She was in awe of him for being able to have lasted this long. Rick and Debbie had lived with her mother since their marriage. But she knew that it was because of his love for her that he had tolerated his mother-in-law for as long as he had. And it looked like today was the day it would all come to a head. 

   Rick had called Debbie to complain about her mom one more time before telling Lois off. He really did not want to fall out with Debbie over her mother, but enough was enough. And of course Debbie understood his feelings perfectly.  She herself had wanted to blow up at her mother on several occasions. But, in the interest of trying to keep the peace, she had restrained herself to no avail.

   Rick was a kind and affectionate husband. He had worked as a common labourer for the past few years just to bring in some income to the home. He had not gone to university as Debbie had, so was limited as to what jobs he qualified for. He had a high intellect, but due to circumstances, jobs were hard to come by. Even with his previleged background, his opportunies were still limited. Debbie was an account executive for her late father's firm, so of course she brought in a lot more money than Rick. She had been working at the same position since she had graduated university. Although she had gone to a local school in Fing City, it still had an excellent reputation as a business school. This was one of the sore points that irritated Lois. She felt Rick was taking advantage of Debbie and her money. She would never admit to the fact that she was doing just that herself. Lois never considered the fact that Debbie truly loved Rick. This was of no concern to Lois. She was of the school of thought that the husband should be the breadwinner in any family. The man should be responsible to provide for and care for the wife's immediate family, which of course included Lois. 

   What Lois  did not know about Rick, but that Debbie did, was that he came from a very old , rich and prestigious family in Tang. It was one of the closest cities near Fing City. As a young teenager, Rich had gotten into a lot of trouble. It was his rebellious stage. This had caused a rift between him and his Grandmother. She was a strict desciplinarian who believed that the young should not ever act out on their own, against their elders or especially her. She was, not to put too fine a point on it, a control freak and extreme narcissist. So she had Rick placed in a reform school in Fing City for a few years to curb his attitude. It didn't work. Rick ran away from the school when he was just 16 years old, at the first opportunity and had lived on his wits for a few years before meeting and falling for Debbie. Rick had not been seen or heard from by the Green family since that time. The Green family had been searching for him ever since to no avail. 

   Family matters had recently come up that required Rick to return to the family. They were desperate to locate him, but he was not willing to be found. The only member of the Green family that had any knowledge of his whereabouts was an old family retainer, who had agreed to kept Rick's secrets. Old Wilson was a mentor to Rick from early childhood, and thus would never betray him. By mutual agreement, he even kept Rick's location secret from Rick's own parents. Though Old Wilson did update Rick's father from time to time, on how his son was faring in life. Rick's parents went along with this arrangment to help keep Rick away from his domineering old Grandmother.

   Rick's father, Byron, understood Old Wilson's loyalty to his son, so he never pressed the old man for information. He was glad that Rick had someone on his side. Byron had just asked Old Wilson to protect his son as much as he could, and to never hesitate to speck up if Rick really needed something. And he knew that Old Wilson would keep him in the loop if anything major came up that he would need to be involved in. Old Wilson knew that Rick was working for one of Byron's construction companies, but also held this detail back. This helped to keep Rick hidden from the rest of the family, so that they could not use Rick to manipulate Rick's parents. Rick had always been a bone of contention between his Father and his Grandmother.

   So today was the day that Rick was bound and determined to have it out with his mother-in-law. Debbie had pleaded with her mother to lay off the insults and abuse that she heaped on Rick with astonishing regularity but to no avail. So Debbie finally decided to let Rick go ahead and speak to Lois about it all, for all the good it would do. After all, what choice did she really have?

   Even though Rick worked 10 hour days in construction, Lois still expected him to perform all of the household chores when he came home from work. She herself never lifted a finger around the house, since she considered herself above all of that. Her audacity knew no bounds. Besides, she felt that that was what Rick was for.

   As soon as Rick walked in the apartment that afternoon, Lois started in on him with a litany of percieved offenses. She ordered him to start cooking dinner, to get her laundry finished before he could sit down and eat himself, and to get the apartment vacuumed and the windows washed as she was expecting company the next day. 

   For all of Rick's anger at that moment, all he could say was "Do it yourself."

   Lois stood in shock as she tried to comprehend what Rick had just said. Surely she had heard wrong. Rick would not dare to talk back to her!

  She threw an angry look at Rick and shouted "Just who do you think you are? You are never to disobey my orders! I am the sole power in this house and don't you forget it. Now get to work!"

   Again, Rick replied "Do it yourself."

   At just that moment, Debbie walked through the door as Lois tried to slap Rick's face for talking back to her. Debbie stepped forward and grabbed Lois by the wrist to stop her from hitting Rick. Debbie yelled at her mother "STOP IT THIS INSTANT!" 

   She continued with "Mom, you will in future treat my husband with the respect he deserves. No more insults, abuse and uncalled for orders. We have to live together, and so we all must do our part. That most definitely includes you!"

   Lois was dumbfouned by Debbie's pronouncement. How dare she scold her mother in this way. Ungrateful child! She asked "Just what do you mean by that? Do you expect me to do minial chores and to cook for the two of you now? You forget that I am the head of this household, and I make the rules!"

   Debbie replied "From now on, if you want to be the head of this household, then you can go out and work for our money just as Rick and I do! We are not your slaves to do your bidding and to wait on you hand and foot. We work hard for our money, but all you do is sit at home day after day spending the money that WE make to better your own life and do nothing but bark orders. Rick and I have had enough! From now on, neither of us will be giving you any money from our salaries. And it wouldn't hurt you to help out around the house since you have so much spare time on your hands! If you want money, go out and earn it for yourself. You are only 44 years old, no where near old enough to be retired. Give me one good reason why you can't go out to find work."

   Lois was stunned at her daughter's change in attitude. Rick must have persuaded her to do this. She turned on him with a vicious face and screamed at him to get out! She said "Rick, you have turned my daughter against me! This is all your fault. I will beat you to death before I let you spend one more night under my roof! Get out now before I really lose my temper. I will make sure Debbie divorces you tomorrow! You have no place in this house anymore!"

    Debbie quitely said to Lois "He has done no such thing. I have watched you for years berate and degrade Rick, as well as bark orders at him like he was your personal servant. He has taken your abuse and has always done more than his share of the chores around the house, while you do absolutely nothing! But that behavior stops now. If he leaves, then I go with him! How will you survive then?"

   Their apartment was located on the third floor of a housing estate in the suburbs of Fing City. At one time, Sun Down Estates had been a fashionable neighborhood. But had since gone down hill. The walls were paper thin, so the neighbors could hear what was going on in the adjoining units. Lois was just now realizing that her friends in the building could hear everything being said. This really embarrassed her. So she tried to calm down. But she was in such a state of shock she could not find the words to reply to all that Debbie had just said. 

   Lois then turned on her heel and fled to her room and slammed the door. Rick looked at Debbie with a sense of awe. He never would have believed that she would talk to her mother this way on his behalf. He was truly touched and grateful.