Family In Focus....The Gordons

Continued......

A visit to the Gordon house from the police brought news about Alan, his body had been found at the foot of a quarry. The Gordon family struggled to come to terms that Alan was dead, apparently killed by Terry.
Dan and Ruth called round to see Debbie, to see how they were coping with Alan's death. While Dan told Kirsty and Stuart that they should all pull together to help Debbie, Ruth offered to help her with the funeral arrangements.

There was more trauma for Luke when Dan made him sit at the table to eat his food, while he listened to Dan blaming him for them being stuck in Liverpool and not being able to live abroad. As the tension became too much for Luke he knocked his plate of food on the floor. Dan then insisted Luke eat the food on the floor like a dog, but he refused so Dan made him stand outside in the rain. After a while he let Luke back in, but when Ruth returned, and noticed how wet Luke was she demanded to know why.
Another argument ensued with Ruth accusing Dan of being too strict, particularly when he admitted to giving him the occasional slap for being naughty. He retorted that she was lucky to find someone who was willing to take on another mans child, and threatened to leave. Ruth feared that Dan may be abusing Luke but still begged him to stay as she was finding it very difficult to cope.

After Alan's funeral Ali, Stuart, Ruth, Dan, Sean and Ruth returned to the bungalow while Kirsty stayed with a friend. When Ruth and Dan were ready to leave Luke asked if he could stay and play with Stuart, but Dan insisted that he left with them. Stuart wasn't at all happy about this, and after they have gone told Debbie he thought Dan was much to hard on Luke. He was worried about his mum being upset after the funeral, but Dan told him to go to his room while he comforted Ruth. Later Dan told Luke he should stop wetting his bed otherwise he may not get any more sweets or be able to watch television. Ruth wasn't too impressed with Dan's method of persuasion, while Luke infuriated Dan further by knocking a bottle of milk over, which spilt onto his shoes.
When Ruth decided to visit Debbie and suggested taking Luke with her, Dan said that Luke was welcome to stay with him, as he has been better behaved lately. No sooner had Debbie left than Dan started shouting at Luke to tidy up, and frightened him so much that he cowered under the table.

Just at that moment Ali and Stuart knocked the door, hoping to take Luke out for a while. However they had heard Dan shouting at Luke and demanded to know what's going on. Dan told them Luke had been bad and refused to let them in to see him, he then told Luke to stand in a corner until Ruth returned. When Ruth returned and saw Luke standing in the corner, she accepted Dans version of events and sent Luke to his room. When she questioned him about why he was being naughty, Luke said Dan hit him. Ruth became annoyed and almost hit Luke herself, but then realised that Dan really was hurting her son. After confronting Dan about this, he didn't deny hitting him, but said he only did it to discipline him when he was naughty.
This was the final straw for Ruth and realising that she couldn't trust Dan to look after Luke told him to leave.
Dans tried to make Ruth change her mind, but she refused to listen to his excuses and was adamant she wanted him to go. Sean arrived in his van, and seeing Dan leave in a Taxi asked Ruth what had happened. She told him that she and Dan just were not getting on, and that it was Seans fault for causing trouble between them.

Later on the close Sean met Ruth who was on her way back from the shops, he commented that she looked exhausted, so Ruth explained that she was having to do all the work around the house, as Debbie was unable to cope since Alan died. Sean suggested that maybe she should ask the doctor to call round to check on Debbie, Ruth agreed it might help, and then invited Sean in for a coffee, but he declines and says he has a lot of work to do.
Debbie called a family conference at the Gordons, and handed Ruth, Kirsty, Ali and Stuart each an envelope containing£2,500. Debbie explained the money was left over from Alan's life insurance, and she thought it's only fair to share it out amongst the children. Ali was keen to spend his money on a car and Stuart wanted to buy himself a record deck which didn't impress Debbie one bit, but she was pleased when Kirsty said she wanted to use the money on tuition fees at university. Debbie then suggest to Ruth that she use her share for Luke and although she agreed, it seemed she has other ideas.

Since he and Ruth had split up Sean hadn't really been involved with anyone else, but when he called round to Jimmy's house to install a satellite system and saw Nikki, it was quite obvious that was a mutual attraction between them. Later he called round to see Nikki and ask her out, but before they have a chance to make proper arrangements, Ruth saw him and came over for a chat. After Sean left, Nikki felt uncomfortable when Debbie talked about him, and questioned her as to why he was at the bungalow. Nikki made the excuse that he was there about a satellite installation.

Jimmy enjoyed spending time with Luke in the Gordon's garden, but wasn't too pleased when Sean came to collect him, particularly when he discovered Sean was going out with Nikki. Puzzled by Jimmy's aggressive attitude towards him, Sean asked Nikki why Jimmy didn't seem to like him. Nikki had to think quickly, and so rather than tell Sean the truth, explained that Jimmy was just being protective towards her. Sean said he understood, believing that Jimmy regarded Nikki like a daughter.

Ali and Stuart had always believed that their parents had always been faithful to each other, but one day while checking through the emails on the computer, they made a shocking discovery. They saw an e-mail from a mate of Alan's which asked if he was still seeing a girl in Barnsley. Suspecting that Alan was having an affair they told Kirsty and Ruth of their discovery, and although at first they thought the affair was over a long time before he died, other emails confirmed he was still seeing this woman up until the time of his death. They were unsure about how Debbie would react if she were to find out about Alan's affair, and so decide to keep it to themselves and destroy the evidence.

However when a short while later they let slip about Alan's affair, the family were surprised that Debbie already knew all about it. Debbie believed that Alan had finished with this woman some years earlier, and so was shocked to discover he had still been seeing her up to the time of his death. Feeling disgusted and betrayed by Alan's behaviour, Debbie decided to dispose of his ashes by flushing them down the toilet. Later Stuart couldn't bring himself to use the toilet after realising that's where his dads ashes had been flushed away. He told Debbie that he would have to go round his mates and use his toilet. He soon got fed up with this arrangement, and so he and Ali took a toilet pan from a skip outside the school. They intended to change the pan for their own, but after carrying it all the way home,discovered Ruth had already replaced it with a new one.

Meanwhile Sean and Nikki take their relationship a step further after Nikki agreed to stay the night at Sean's house. However Luke was also spending the weekend with Sean, and that night Sean and Nikki were disturbed by Luke who wanted to join them in bed. Nikki wasn't too keen on the idea so Sean took him back to his own room, promising that he would soon settle Luke down in his own bed. It was not long though before Luke came back, but this time he said he had wet the bed and begged Sean not to hit him. Sean was shocked that Luke would think he would be punished this way, but when Luke explained that Dan used to hit him, Sean was furious.
He wanted to confront Dan straight away, and it was only after Nikki told him to wait, that Sean agreed to go round to see Ruth in the morning. He wanted to ask her where Dan was staying and Nikki hoped he will have calmed down by the time he saw her.

The next morning Sean was just as angry though, and insisted Nikki look after Luke while he went to see Ruth. Nikki didn't want to become involved, and asked Sean not to tell Ruth she was there, but Sean said it had nothing to do with Ruth who he was seeing.
Soon Ruth's peaceful morning was shattered by Sean banging on the door, and when he told her he knew about Dan abusing Luke, she tried to reason with him that it wasn't her fault. Sean refused to listen to her excuses, and despite Ruth pleading with him to bring Luke back, Sean insisted that he would stay with him in future.

Later Debbie called on Sean, and after explaining that Ruth threw Dan out as soon as she discovered he was abusing Luke, he agreed to take Luke back to Ruth in a couple of days. When Sean later dropped Nikki off on the close Ruth was furious and ran over to attack Nikki for taking Seans side against her. Nikki fought back and they ended up on the ground before being pulled apart by Sammy and Debbie. As Ruth was led away by Debbie, Sean told her that he will return Luke in a couple of days.

Since Alan died Debbie continued to have problems dealing with both Ali and Stuart, who would much rather spend the day lounging around the house, than finding work. One morning Debbie banged on Ali's bedroom door trying to get him out of bed, but he was far from happy, nursing a hangover from the night before.
Debbie was annoyed that he had left a mess downstairs, and been out spending money on booze while he still owed her for the repairs to Steve Murray's car.
Ali was fed up with Debbie keeping on at him, and so when his mate Tommo arrived and suggested they move in to a mates flat together, he thought it was the ideal solution to his problems. Debbie tried to make him realise that he wouldn't be able to manage on his own, but Ali was determined to move out the following day. Eventually Debbie reluctantly agreed to let him go, and told him she would cook a special meal before he left.

Later that morning, Ruth was on the phone to Sean, Kirsty was reading a magazine, while Stuart was upstairs in his room. Debbie was furious that not one of them was willing to help with the housework, and her mood didn't improve any when Stuart came downstairs, not to help, but to ask for money to buy some records.
Debbie refused and went outside to hang up the washing, Ruth told Stuart to make some tea, while she went outside to help with the washing. Debbie talked to Ruth about how things had changed since her family has grown up, she related how when they were younger, they would always assist when asked without arguing.
Debbie resented being a widow, and said she hated Alan for how he left her with nothing. Ruth suggested that she might meet someone else, but Debbie replied that she might be going through menopause, and that she was unlikely to find a man who would put up with her mood swings and night sweats.

Kirsty was keen to talk to Debbie as she had something important to tell her, but Ruth advised her to wait until she was in a better mood.
Although during most of that day Ruth and Debbie seemed to be getting along well discussing each others problems, by the end of the day Debbie began to irritate Ruth by criticising her choice of men, namely Dan and Sean. When she accused her of having bad judgment by chasing after Dan, Ruth responded by saying she should have left Alan when she found out about his affair. They ended up having a row, and afterwards Ruth told Debbie that she would be moving out too.

The next morning Debbie was annoyed when Stuart returned home after spending the night over at his mates. She was angry because he didn't let her know he was staying out, and he only succeeded in infuriating her further by asking for £30.00 to pay back money he borrowed for records. When she confronted him about the letter from his school about truancy, Stuart told Debbie he hated living there and would move in with Ali as soon as he was old enough.

There was more bad news for Debbie, when Kirsty finally got round to having a chat with her, and said she intends to leave home and go traveling. Kirsty then told Debbie she didn't want to eat the special meal that she was preparing for Ali, as she was now a vegetarian.
When Ruth added that she didn't want the meal either, Debbie flew into a rage, emptied the contents of the fridge on the floor, before storming off to go out in her car.

A while later Ali had returned home for his special meal, but there was still no sign of Debbie. Meanwhile she was driving her car in a very distressed state, and while looking at a family photo Debbie took her eyes off the road, causing her to crash the car. A passer by tried to open the car door to reach Debbie, but she was already dead.
After they heard the bad news about Debbie, each of the family blamed themselves for their mothers death. Ruth said they would have to stick together, and she would look after them all now.

On the last day before Stuart had to go back to school, Ruth agreed to hold a party for him, Ali and their friends. As the party got underway there was no sign of either of the Gordon brothers. Stuart was busy getting ready, but Ali was watching porn on the Internet, so when Ruth decided to look for them and saw what Ali was watching she was disgusted by his behaviour. She insisted that they both join their guests downstairs in the garden.
Stuart was quite pleased with himself, and boasted to Ali that he had invited Stella, a girl he liked to the party.

It was Stella's birthday and Stuart had bought her a CD, but she wasn't too impressed by his choice of music. When Ali saw Stuart chatting to Stella, he tried to muscle in and at first it seemed she preferred his company to Stuarts, but it was Stuart that ended up kissing her. Later he tried to coax her up to his bedroom, on the pretence of listening to the CD, but she wasn't keen on the idea.
When Stella's friend start's teasing her about not drinking and being a virgin, Stella retaliates by starting a water fight using the garden hose. Stuart seized the opportunity to take Stella upstairs to change her clothes, but he only got as far as the house before Ruth called him back to tidy up the mess.

Stella didn't realise that Ali was also upstairs until he walked in on her as she was undressing. At first she was embarrassed, but after explaining to Ali what happened, Stella put on some dry clothes.
They started talking about their respective families, and seemed to be getting on quite well. Before long they were kissing passionately on Ruth's bed, and when Stella suggested Ali use a condom, he couldn't believe his luck. Stella found some condoms amongst Ruths things in her room, so told Ali to use one of hers.

Later Stella has cause to regret going with Ali, when she overheard him telling his mate Tommo that he had won a bet, by beating Stuart to be the first one to have sex with a girl. Stuart was furious with Ali for going with Stella, and they ended up fighting.

When Stella's mother arrive to pick Stella up, s she noticed how upset she was, and questioned her about what went on at the party to make her so miserable. At first Stella insisted nothing was wrong, but when her mother persisted, Stella claimed that Ali had raped her.

Ruth was shocked when she heard the allegation, as she was quite certain that Stella is lying. After hearing Ali's version of what happened between them, Ruth was even more convinced he was telling the truth and vowed to stand by him. Kirsty wasn't quite sure who to believe, while Stuart reckoned Ali deserved to be punished anyway for stealing his girlfriend.

Later Ali was taken by the police for questioning, and not released until the next day. After hearing that the police had questioned the rest of the family about what they saw and heard, Ali realised he could be in serious trouble, unless Stella dropped the charges.
Later when Ali talked to Kirsty, he told her what happened at the police station, and explained that he would never force himself on a girl, after knowing what had happened to Kirsty during the siege.
After listening to Ali, Kirsty was determined to speak to Stella, and set off to find her at the school. When she met up with Stella, Kirsty related how she had been raped by Terry and how Ali had been in the house at the time. This made Stella feel guilty about lying, and she confessed to Kirsty that she wasn't raped after all. Eventually after a lot of persuasion by Kirsty, Stella agreed to withdraw the allegation against Ali.

Seans relationship with Nikki ended shortly after she realised he wanted her to prove her commitment by moving in with him, something Nikki wasn't prepared to do. Feeling rejected Sean got drunk and ended up sleeping with Sammy. When Nikki found out, she told Sean they were finished for good.

When Sean ended up in hospital after falling off a roof while trying to install a satellite dish. Ruth received a phone call from the hospital to inform her about Sean's accident. Ruth discovered he has broken his arm and wanted her to help him. At first Ruth was sympathetic until he told her how he got drunk after splitting up with Nikki, and spent the night with Sammy. Ruth was secretly pleased that he had finished with Nikki, but annoyed for putting his life at risk. At firsts she told him he would have to find someone else to look after him, but soon relented and agreed to let him stay with her.

Ruth enjoyed looking after Sean, but although grateful for her help and letting him stay at the house, Sean didn't seem interested in getting back with her, which was something she really wanted to happen. In an attempt to make him take more notice, Ruth kept up the pretence of having a boyfriend. She wasn't too pleased though when Sean offered to look after Luke, so she could have a night out with him.

When Ruth returned Sean questioned her about Pete, her boyfriend, as he wanted to make sure he wouldn't abuse Luke. They had a heart to heart and Sean told her that he had never loved Nikki as much as her, while Ruth responded by saying she realised she had made a mistake by leaving him for Dan. As she continued to apologise for splitting up, they ended up in a passionate embrace. The next morning Ruth was very happy thinking they are now back together, but was disappointed by Sean's reaction, who said they made a mistake by sleeping together.

Later that evening when Ruth returned from work, Sean asked more questions about Pete, and seemed pleased when she said he didn't really exist. He explained the reason he was reluctant to give their relationship another try, was that he didn't want to risk being be hurt again. Ruth was adamant that she would never hurt him again, and that all she wanted was for them to be a proper family. Sean said he felt the same way and decided to give Ruth another chance.

Later while Ruth and Sean were enjoying a quite afternoon looking through some estate agent brochures, they received a phone call from the police, Ali had been arrested for possessing drugs. Ali was unrepentant about being caught by the police, so Sean warned him that if he continued to flout the law, the police wouldn't be so lenient and he could end up in prison.

Stuart had noticed how stressed Ruth has been lately, and so offered to look after Luke so that Sean could take Ruth out somewhere for the day. However when he later discovered his birthday money is missing, Stuart confronted Ali, who admitted he took the money but promised to pay it back. Stuart was furious and stormed out, leaving Ali to look after Luke instead.

Ali fed up after being left on his own to look after Luke, invited his mate Tommo over. He was keen to try out some LSD tablets bought from Jack Michaelson, and although a little reluctant at first, Ali agreed to sample them. At first the effects were not too noticeable, but when they took more, both Ali and Tommo ended up hallucinating before collapsing on the sofa. Disaster struck when Luke found an LSD tablet, and swallowed it. Ruth and Sean were horrified when they returned home and found Luke laying unconscious on the floor, and had to call an ambulance.

Sean was in a furious mood after what happened to Luke. Ruth tried to calm him down and told Sean to forget about Jack. Sean replied he would rather kill Jack than forget him, and said that they would have trouble selling the house with the likes of Jack living on the close. Sean became even more annoyed as he watched through his window, at what seemed like a continuous stream of young teenagers collecting drugs from Michaelson.

There was an angry confrontation on the close when Sean accused Jack of being responsible for nearly killing Luke. Sean was further incensed when Jack showed no remorse, and boasted was not his fault if kids wanted to buy drugs, he only supplied them.

Jack Michaelson upset all the residents of the close, by dealing drugs from his house, so it was a great relief when one morning he was found hanging from an upstairs window.

With the threat of an incinerator being built nearby, Ruth and Sean, along with all the other residents decided to move away from Brookside close a few weeks after Jack's death.