Bobbie Vanders, famous singer with albums and concerts all over the world lived through her fame, somehow got tired of the scenery and decided to take a break and head home accompanied by her composer Hapwood Graves, a cocaine addict. He was also a poet aside from composing songs for Bobbie and a Harvard dropout. They could have been lovers but Bobbie refused to have sex with him and so far they have a platonic relationship and would travel together when she is doing concerts. The mystery of her family unravels as they stayed at her seaside family home. Family is made up of older sister Julie who does nothing but laze in the sun on the roof of the
house and naked to get a tan, father Pieter Vanderhorst, a Dutch emigrant who walks with a cane and old but still has a healthy sexual appetite, and
mother Grace who is the epitome of a good wife and mother. Together they lived with an Indian househelp Rebecca who cooks for them and her son Tom. It was a closely knit neighbourhood they lived in and they relied on each other for help and their lives are intertwined. Vanderhorst was a succesful man and a good provider for the family and the household help including Sam Lees, the handyman who also lived with them.They called him the
Patroon. His wife turns a blind eye on his philandering. Rebecca is actually his mistress and Tom is actually his bastard son and Tom never knew it. Their neighbour and doctor Ben Todd is Julie's boyfriend and he has an adopted daughter who is a tease who wears provocative clothes. She swims most times and Tom would usually swim with her and sometimes she would teasingly touch him and he is hopelessly in love with her. Sam Lees spies on her now and then at night with his binoculars. One interesting fact is when Julie and Bobbie were young, they had an incest lesbian relationship with each other. Their father became concerned with their closeness because they seem to be always holding hands and so he sent them to different schools. Bobbie has become a succesful singer while Julie just stayed at home not knowing what to do with her life and grew obese idling around and dating Ben. After Bobbie learned of her relationship with Ben she became jealous and violent towards her. She then decided to steal Ben from her and for a woman as strong willed as her she is capable of such a selfish act. She is more like their father in temperament and could have been the son that the patroon had longed for and Julie was more like her mother Grace. Rebecca and the patroon sensed the hopeless love of Tom for Susan Todd which is not helping his school grades and decided to send him away so he could forget her. So far Bobbie was succesful in seducing Ben and he became more intrigued by her to the despair of Julie. Soon the tragedy slowly begins to unfold when Susan fell in love with Hapwood. She seduced him too and they have regular tryst in a secluded place in a cemetery. Sam discovered their hideaway. One day when her father was away, she persuaded Hapwood to do it at her house in her bedroom. Sam saw them dancing around naked with his binoculars and told Tom to have a look at his binoculars too. Tom became very angry and jealous and grabbed his Indian axe. On his way down and passing the kitchen his mother saw him with the axe and she stood still too frightened to do anything. He strode down to Todd's house and into Susan's bedroom and there they lay naked on her bed. First he chopped Hapwood then Susan. Now everybody in the Vanderhorst house are screaming in panic and terror. Rebecca and the patroon went to Todd's house and they found the chopped bodies. They saw Tom dive into the stormy surf and he never heard them call out his name even when the patroon called him son. After the funeral when a little bit calm was restored, the patroon gazed out into the sea. Bobbie sat down in front of him an knowingly told him that Tom was his son. And the patroon told her it does not in anyway diminish the love he has for her, Julie atheir mother. Somehow Vanderhorst's life became a blur and he did not seem to care anymore. One day when his end was about to come he intentionally did not reach for his heart medication and he lay slumped on his chair as he had a heart attack. Grace found him in such condition after rummaging over Hapwoods belongings to be sent to his relations. She found the poem that Hapwood has promised to write for her while they were walking on the beach. After the second funeral, Rebecca has gone back to her folks. Bobbie decided then to resume her singing career and look for a new composer. Ben Todd came to travel with her even if she insisted that he would just get bored with just being a companion and opening doors for her like Hapwood did. He loved her after all.
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