Disclaimer: Harry Potter and Company belong to JK Rowling.
Characters: Damon, John and Marion, Seth Baldwin
Rating: PG
Summary:Set in 1942, Damon decides he wants a better life than living on a mountain.
Warnings: Mentions of home correction, exploring sexuality, and family tensions.
AN: Jerry was a derogatory name for the Germans in this time period. It was also common for many boys to leave home at the age of sixteen and join the service. The officials most of the time did not even bother to ask for a birth certificate before signing them up.
Mama Tried
Damon glared at his father. "I hate this town, I hate this mountain. I don't want to stay here and be nothing more than a farm boy or a coal miner. There's nothing here for me." He looked to the floor then back at his father. "I hate you too." He turned and slammed the bedroom door.
John stared at the closed door and shook his head. His boy was so headstrong and so young. The Marine in him longed to take the young man in hand, to beat some sense into his fool head. But he didn't, Damon needed to learn he was only a boy and his time would come, just not right now. He turned and looked at his wife standing in the doorway, the light bruise on her cheek marring her pretty features. He'd have to pay dearly for slapping her when her mouth got out of hand earlier but she'd shut up. "Don't start Marion. I don't have the patience for it."
Marion looked at her husband and sniffed loudly. That was her baby that had just slammed the door in his father's face. She looked at her husband and turned away. "He's my baby too John," she said softly and waited for him to come after her.
She went back down to the kitchen where she began to clean up the broken glass from the fight between father and son. John turned and shook his head as he watched Marion. A sound had him turning once more to Damon's door. He walked into their bedroom and moved the curtain out of the way. His son was climbing out of the second story window and down the drainpipes. He snorted as Damon dropped to the ground then looked up at the window as if he had known he was being watched. The boy glared at him and turned, running away from the house and across the yard, past the barn and into the woods.
John watched him go and finally closed his eyes as Damon disappeared in the cover of the woods. The boy had run rampant over the old hills all his life, so John wasn't too worried. He'd come back and then he'd deal with him.
"John!" Marion called shrilly as she caught sight of her son's backside as he ran behind the barn. "John, you have to go get him. What if he does something stupid?" She dropped the broom she had been using and ran out the back door after Damon.
"Marion!" John shouted at her and ran down the stairs. "Dammit woman, get back here, right now." He shouted after her from the front door. "You can't baby him all his life. He's sixteen years old now. Almost a man."
Marion stopped by the corner of the barn, raising her apron to her face to wipe away her tears. Slowly, she slid down to her knees and cried quietly. "He's my baby John, my baby," she murmured as she stared bleary eyed into the dark woods.
John looked out into the night and shook his head. "Come back into the house, Marion." He turned and left her outside, heading for the bedroom. It was going to be a long night.
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Damon ran through the woods, dodging trees and brush, tears of frustration and anger running down his face. He stopped in the clearing, panting as he looked around to get his bearings. Turning north he headed for the Baldwin farm. Seth would understand. His best friend always agreed with him. Continuing to wind his way through the trees he ventured out of the forest and carefully slid between the barbed wire fences. Walking around to the side of the house he kicked up some pebbles and tossed one at the lit window. "Seth," he hissed loudly.
Inside the bedroom, Seth set his history book to one side at the sound of something striking his window. Curious, he pushed the sash up and looked down into the darkness. "Damon, that you?" he called out softly.
Damon stepped forward and nodded. "Come down, Seth. I need to hole up in the barn for the night. Da and I fought again tonight." He rubbed his face lightly then looked up at his friend again. "Please."
"I'll be right there," Seth called as he shut his window and quickly left his bedroom. Both of his parents were already in bed, so he snuck down the stairs and out through the kitchen to get to his friend. Lighting the kerosene lantern he'd picked up on the back porch, he hurried to where Damon had been waiting. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I can take a punch pretty well and gave back good enough." Damon looked at his friend and shook his head. "Stupid old man wants me to stay in school. Get an education then come back and work on the farm. What the hell for? I could quit school and do that." He frowned and began walking towards the barn. "I don't want to stay here. You gonna stay around and take up with your old man?"
Seth watched his friend for a moment, not entirely sure of what to say. Damon had always been a dreamer, determined to get out of West Virginia if it killed him. He followed along to the barn and leaned against a grain bin as he watched Damon pace.
"Daddy's signing the deed over to me on the back half of the land when I get out of high school." Was all he said.
Damon snorted and shook his head. "Why, Seth? You want to break your back working this piece of dirt? Didn't we do enough of that on old man Johnson's farm this summer?"
"I'm going to ask Loreen to marry me," Seth said as he pushed away from the bin. "I have to have a place to raise my kids."
Damon groaned and threw his arms in the air. "Man, she done got to you. I can't believe it!" He paced for a few moments then stopped and looked at Seth. "Don't get me wrong, Loreen's a great girl. I'm happy for you really but why? You got your whole life ahead of you. You don't see me getting serious with Cathy, now do you?"
"I have to Damon," Seth said quietly as he looked up into the rafters. He had just found out the day before he was going to be a father and had talked to his folks and they'd agreed to help the young couple out.
Damon stared at him. "Oh... hey congratulations, Seth. Good luck." He sighed and looked to the ground digging his toe in the dirt. "Look, I'm sorry Seth. I just got to get away from here. I don't want to die working in a coal mine or something like that." He looked up at the stars. "I don't want to die on this mountain and not have seen anything else?"
"I always knew you'd leave, but you'll be back Damon. Your heart is here whether you admit to it or not. You are going to go out and meet some little skirt and bring her back here and we'll raise our kids together while we sit on the porch and sip shine," Seth said as he clapped his friend on the shoulder.
"You want to sleep in the house tonight?"
Damon snorted and shook his head. "No, I'd better get back before Mama finds out, I'm gone. She'll tan my hide and use it to make shoes for the winter."
He looked at his friend and sighed. "Damn man, kids already. Never happen to me. I'm not staying in one place long enough to get trapped by a girl." He chuckled and slapped Seth on the back as he walked with him toward the house.
Seth laughed as they walked in the darkness. "If Margaret has anything to say about it, she'll tie you up in the barn," he teased as they stopped at the base of the back porch steps. "Are you going to be alright Damon?"
Damon choked. "I will if I can stay two steps ahead of that Farnsworth girl." He shivered. "Her and her sisters give me the creepy crawlies." He held out a hand to his best friend. "Seth, man, I wish you all the luck in the world. I've done decided I'm leaving for the military tomorrow."
Seth grabbed Damon by the arm. "What? Are you nuts? There's a damned war going on," he hissed as he pulled his friend close. "Man, don't do anything like that yet. Don't let your old man push you into it." He was scared to death his friend would run off and get his fool ass killed in Europe. "You have to stay, you're my best man."
Damon made a face. "I'll be here, don't worry about it. I know there's a war on. They won't look twice at me and I can be gone before they even realize it." He slugged the other boy. "Da doesn't want me to go into the service. He wants to apprentice me to Mr. Roberts. He thinks I'd make a good carpenter, says I got skills. A monkey can hammer a nail into a plank of wood. I don't want that."
"Your old man is going to kill you if the Jerry's don't do it first," Seth said with a shake of his head. He hoped his friend would sleep on it and realize in the morning it was a stupid idea. "If you are going home, I'm going on up, I have to go see Loreen's folks in the morning."
Damon nodded. "Good luck, Seth. Loreen will make a good little wife for you." He patted Seth on the shoulder and back up. "Thanks. You're the only one that hasn't told me I'm stupid for wanting to leave this less than one horse town."
Seth shook his head. "Nah, if things were different, I'd be going with you," he said quietly and sighed. "We all have to do what's put in front of us, you know."
Damon nodded. "Go on to bed." He turned and walked away before looking back over his shoulder. "Hope she's worth it, man. I really do." He waved and sauntered back toward the thick dark woods, taking a deep breath to prepare himself for his father's wrath and his mother's tears.
Seth gave him a half wave and blew out the lantern before going back into the darkened house.
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In the living room, Marion sat on the edge of her chair and stared at the wall. She'd said nothing more after coming back into the house, just sat down and stared.
Damon crept up onto the porch and nodded at seeing the lanterns being out. Carefully, he slipped off his boots and opened the door. Tiptoeing across the threshold and slowly closing the door, he let go a sigh. He'd made it. He turned and stepped softly toward the stairs."
"Damon," Marion said softly as she heard the sound of her boy's feet on the hardwood floor. "Your daddy's already gone to bed. Come sit with me." She waited in the darkness for him.
Damon nearly jumped out of his skin and muffled the curse that almost slipped from his lips. He set his boots on the bottom stair and padded over to her. "Yes Ma'am," he said softly and sank down on the sofa beside her.
She took his hand in her small ones and ran her fingers over his work-roughened palms. "What am I going to do with you?" she asked softly, tears choking her voice.
Damon sighed and leaned his head back. "Mama..." He looked over at her and nearly cringed as he saw the tear tracks on her face. In for a penny, in for a pound. "You wanna take me behind the woodshed?" He grinned at her.
"Never did do any good with you," she sniffed as she laughed sadly. "I worry so much about you. I was just sure when you'd run off tonight, it was going to be the last time I saw my baby." Marion lifted his hand and kissed his fingers softly.
Damon rolled his eyes. "Mama, I'm sixteen. I'm not a baby anymore." He mumbled as he watched her, feeling more and more uncomfortable. What was it about mothers that let them guilt you into being sorry? What made you want to roll on the floor at their feet like a dog that had been beat too often until she forgave you and all was right in the world again?
He had no clue if it was because she was a girl or what, but it was damned disturbing.
"You'll always be my baby," Marion said softly as she took a deep breath. "I know you are leaving, Damon. I just want to know if it's because of the boys." She'd known for certain since the summer that her son liked both boys and girls and knew that was one of the things that caused the fights between Damon and John.
Damon sucked in a breath and lied to his mother. "I'm not leaving and what boys? Seth's getting married, Mama. Loreen's pregnant. I'm going to be here to be the best man."
Marion smiled in the darkness, it seemed to be easier to talk to her bull headed son in the dark. "I know you are going Damon, it came to me in a dream. You're going far, far away. I'm not talking about Seth, I'm talking about that hired hand over to the Jacobs' place," she said, mentioning the young man she'd seen her son kissing in the hay loft of their barn.
Damon bit his lip. His mother's dreams were oddly accurate and not to be dismissed as woman's superstition. Would he really be able to escape that easily? "I don't know what you are talking about, Mama."
"Don't try to pull the wool over my eyes Damon Nolan, I raised you and I know my boy. You're going to be like your Daddy," she sighed in resignation. "I saw you and that boy Damon."
Damon looked down at his jeans. "So?" He said sullenly "You gonna tell him, so he can try and beat it out of me?" He set his face in a hard line. "I am not like Da."
"Damon, he already knows. We've known since you were knee high to a grasshopper that you were different," she said gently. "He just worries so much that you are going to get hurt by some Muggle without a lick of sense."
Damon rolled his eyes. "I think I got enough smarts to avoid the Muggles, Mama. Besides, it's not like I'll ever actually end up with a boy. Da wouldn't allow it and I know you got your heart set on some grandkids. I suppose the next thing is to marry me off to some little ole gal. Tame the hell cat of a son." He looked at her. "Not Margaret, Mama. Please, just not Margaret."
Marion snorted. "That little hussy will never be in our family," she said with determination. "Damon... who you end up with isn't important as long as you are happy. And you know, wizards have babies too." She squeezed his hand. "The Marines aren't forgiving of people that love like you do, baby."
Damon nodded and grinned at his mother. "Thanks, Mama. I really don't want to get married just yet." He smirked and returned the squeeze. "Looks like I'll have to put one over on Uncle Sam then if I want to do things like I want."
Marion nodded silently as she worried about her boy. Damon had always had a streak of recklessness in him and she was afraid it would end him in the stockade if he wasn't careful.
"You'll be signing the papers in the morning, then?" she asked softly, not turning loose of his hand.
Damon shrugged. "Maybe. Don't know yet. Seth wants me to be his best man. I can't let him down." Although he knew if his Da had one thing to say to him at breakfast then he would be gone, best man or not.
"You should go on up to bed, it's late," Marion said softly as she stood, her legs and back protesting from the time she'd sat motionless in the dark. "Your daddy loves you Damon. You two are just too much alike."
Damon stood and bent down to kiss his mother's cheek, already taller than the small woman at just sixteen. He smiled at her. "Don't lie to me, Mama. Daddy's apple stem is a spoilt brat and you know it," he said softly. "I'll never be like him."
Marion only smiled as she stroked his still baby soft cheek. "Just like the young man that my daddy wanted to shoot on sight when he rode up on that green broke sorrel mare wanting to court me. You're going to be a fine man, Damon, just you mark my words."
"Ewww!" Damon made a face at his mother. "Don't give me nightmares, Mama. I got to feed the cows soon." He kissed her cheek again and headed for the stairs, picking up his boots before looking back at her. "I'll try, Mama."