The Long Road Home

By Jamie Nicole White

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Chapter Six

 

Jake sat on the sofa with a bottle of Jack Daniels clutched in his hand. His blood shot eyes roamed around his apartment, staring at the blank walls with a heavy heart. The piles of boxes remained untouched, empty and scattered along the sea foam colored carpet. He didn’t have the energy to start packing up his life here, only to go home to Bakersfield and the uncertainty of what lie there.

Jake took another swig of liquor and closed his eyes. His mind kept replaying the events that had led to this pit of dismay that he now found himself in. He didn’t know how to deal with it, so he had spent the last two months going through the motions like a robot. He went to work and came home, only to find fortitude in a bottle of liquor.

He replayed the conversation in his mind. Each time, it seemed a little less real. It was like he had dreamed it had happened. But he knew that he had to accept the reality of everything. Still, that didn’t prevent him from mentally going over it again.

Jake had sat on the sofa and listened while his father spoke to him and his mother about his diagnosis. He had felt unemotional as he had watched his mother sob and his father attempt to console her. Nothing had seemed real.

Jake didn’t know which emotion to run with. He was angry and sad all at once. His father was dying and Jake felt completely helpless and alone. He had no one to turn to. His parents couldn’t provide him solace when they were trying to deal with everything themselves. He definitely couldn’t depend on Dana being there for him. She didn’t know the first thing about loss and grief. He was completely alone in his accepting that in six months or less, his father would be gone.

Jake had made the decision to pack up and move home. He needed to spend what time he could with his father. Luckily, he had been able to make an agreement with the firm to work from Bakersfield and commute to Houston when necessary. He knew that he was making the right decision. Still, it was hard to give up his life in Houston. He had grown accustomed to his independence.

Downing the rest of the bottle of Jack Daniels, Jake tossed it aside and stood up. He stretched his long lean legs and angrily walked over and picked up an empty box. Striding to his room, he began to clean off the dresser. As he did so, he noticed a picture lying carelessly to the side. He picked the frame up and stared at the photo inside. There was the three of them, smiling and happy. Jake was probably fifteen years old in the picture. His mother and father were staring at each other with so much love in their eyes it made Jake want to weep. He was a grown man and all he wanted to do was lie down on the bed, curl into a ball, and bawl like a baby.

In a fit of rage, Jake flung the picture across the room. He heard the glass of the picture frame shatter and he crumbled to the floor. Jake covered his face with his hands and sobbed. Every time he closed his eyes, he pictured his father full of life and happy. Even as a grown man, he thought of Walter Tucker as invincible. Jake didn’t think anything could knock his father down from the pedestal he had proudly put him on.

Jake closed his eyes and thought back to all the times he had spent with his father. Moments flashed through his mind like an old movie reel. Learning to ride his bike, going fishing for the first time, working on that old rusted out truck… all while his father was by his side. Simple memories like Sunday morning breakfast or the talks that they had shared that appeared insignificant at the time seemed to hold all the importance of the world. So many recollections revolved around his father.

The worst thing was thinking about how his mother was going to cope. Elizabeth Tucker had lived with one man over half of her life. She had planned to grow old with that man. But now, she was forced to watch him die a premature death right before her eyes. Watching him fade was going to be hard enough. What would happen to her once the man she had loved for so long was gone for good? Would she be able to live without him? Would she be able to last one day without the companionship of the one person she had become so accustomed to having around? Jake just didn’t know how well his mother would be able to handle saying good-bye.

He rubbed the stray tears away with his palms and ran a hand through his disheveled brown hair. Jake had to be strong. He had to make his peace with what was going to happen and be tough for his mother’s sake. She would need him. And Jake would be there for her no matter what.

He realized that he would also have to be strong for his father. The man knew he was dying and Jake was sure that he wanted to live out the rest of his life with the people that loved him, sans mourning for the man who still had a lot of life to live in the short time that was allotted him.

Jake straightened his broad shoulders and inhaled deeply. He made two vows to himself then and there. First, he would make the time that his father had nothing less than perfect. Jake would rejoice in the moments they had left to share and begin mourning only when his father had passed on. Secondly, he would be there for his mother as long as she needed him. He would take care of her and make sure that she was mentally and emotionally strong enough before he left her side. Jake would be her wall of strength and her shoulder to cry on. No matter how long it took, he would not bail on the two people that provided him with the best possible life now and when growing up.

Feeling like the weight of the world had been lifted off of his shoulders, Jake pulled himself off of the floor with the intent to commence packing when he heard the faint ring of his phone. He bolted to the den and picked up the receiver quickly.

“Jake,” his mother’s panicked voice came over the line.

“What’s wrong,” was his instant reaction.

“You need to get here as fast as you can.”

“What happened?”

“Your father was rushed to County Hospital. It doesn’t look so good,” she wailed.

“I’ll be there as quick as I can.” With that, he hung up the phone, grabbed his keys, and made a mad dash for the door.

••••


New York

Hayden sat in the middle of her living room, a sea of invitation samples and color swatches all around her. The wedding was over a year away yet Evangeline had her making plans like it was only a couple of months. There was so much to do. Caterers and cakes, invitations and registration, locations for the wedding and reception, seating charts, bridesmaids and groomsmen, dresses and gowns… it was all running through her head in such a chaotic fashion she was sure she’d never make it another year. Maybe she should move the date up. That would solve a permanent headache for the next fourteen months.

This was not what she had had planned for her wedding. She had always wanted something simple. Her ideal wedding would have been on an isolated beach somewhere, just her, the man she was going to spend the rest of her life with, and the minister. It looked like all of her dreams of simplicity would be replaced with nightmares of grandeur.

Hayden watched Miranda step over her mess and sit on the sofa with a sandwich in one hand and a bottle of water in the other. She had made permanent residence on that couch and Hayden didn’t have the heart to give her the boot. It was actually kind of nice to have someone around.

Staring at her friend, she realized that it was time to choose her maid of honor. Miranda obviously noticed her staring because her sandwich came to a halt in midair and she met Hayden’s eyes.

“What?” Miranda asked suspiciously.

“Have I told how much I’ve enjoyed having you around?”

“Uh oh.”

“No. No, uh oh. I’m glad you’re here.”

“You are?” she asked in the same suspicious voice.

“Yes. Maybe you would like to stay here indefinitely?”

“I hadn’t thought much about it.”

“Well, that makes two things you haven’t really thought about.”

“What do you mean?”

“You haven’t thought about looking for another place to live either,” she teased.

“That’s not true,” Miranda protested. “I haven’t found a place I can afford yet.”

“Are you trying to say I don’t pay you enough for your services?” Hayden could see her friend getting irritated which only encouraged the gentle teasing.

“I didn’t say that…”

“I’m just kidding. I really wouldn’t mind having you stay here.”

“Why? So I can keep getting a crick in my neck every morning from that damn second hand sofa?”

“Would you like me to buy a new sofa with a pull out bed?”

Miranda gave her a sly look as she set the sandwich and the water down on the table and leaned down to lay her hand on Hayden’s forehead. Her friend was as stingy with her money like a man without barely a dime to his name. “Are you feeling okay? You might be running a temperature.”

Hayden slapped her hand away and laughed. “I’m fine. The truth is, I was thinking about going house hunting with Brian in a couple of weeks. I thought maybe you would like to take over my apartment.”

“I can’t afford your apartment.”

“What if I subleased to you? I’d make up the difference each month.”

“I would never accept that offer. You nor anyone else is keeping me up,” she replied emphatically.

“Okay. Then I better start paying you more.”

“Hayden, what has gotten into you?” she asked as she leaned back against the sofa and retrieved her sandwich and bottle of water.

“I just… I have enjoyed your company. I wouldn’t mind it if you stayed here for a while.”

“I can’t stay here. Brian already thinks that I’m using you.”

“Why do you think that?”

“He said as much,” she replied matter-of-factly.

“When?”

“The other day. He came to see you and I was here alone. He said in so many words that I should be careful who I take advantage of and that he had his eye on me.”

“I’m sorry about that. I’ll have a word with him.”

“Don’t you dare! It’s not worth it. Besides, I know I can’t impose on you much longer. I just haven’t put much effort into finding another place. I hate looking for an apartment in Manhattan.” She noticed the gleam in Hayden’s eyes and quickly added, “But I don’t want any charity from you. You have saved my ass enough over the years.”

“Stay as long as you want. I don’t mind. And I will even buy that new sofa for you if you want me to.”

Miranda laughed. “This couch works just fine.”

“So, you’ll stay?”

“For a while.”

“Good. And since you’re here, maybe you could help me out with all of this,” she said as she waved her hand over the sea of samples and swatches. “I do need a maid of honor, you know.”

Miranda’s face broke out in a vibrant smile. “Really?” she squealed.

“I can’t think of anyone better qualified for the job,” Hayden teased.

Miranda set her water and her sandwich aside and bolted to Hayden’s side to
embrace her in a violent hug. “Nothing would make me happier.”

Hayden heard the phone ring in the back ground and smiled as she leaned back and stared into her friend’s teary eyes. “Good. You can start by getting that.”

Miranda released Hayden and placed her hand to her forehead in a salute before standing up and racing towards the phone. Two seconds later, she returned with the phone, holding it out to Hayden. “It’s for you,” she simply said.

Hayden gave her a sly look before taking the phone. “Hello,” she sang cheerfully.

“Hayden,” the teary voice of Elizabeth Tucker came across the line.

“Elizabeth, what’s wrong?”
 

Continued