Page 14 of Jake

“Father, he’s been injured, and you’re acting like your suit is more important than someone’s health.” His father pointed out how much the suit had cost. “I’m sure that you don’t mean that your suit is more important than my friend. As for the talk, I really don’t give a shit, not anymore. I’m divorcing Carol and there is nothing in this world that you can do to convince me otherwise.”

“What is wrong with you today, Jake? This show of temper is not at all the way I would like to see you behaving. You should be ashamed of yourself, talking to me like that. Carol needs you.” Jake wasn’t surprised by the change of subject, or that he was going to be the bad guy in this now that he’d questioned his father. He looked at Forrest as he got him to the couch, and laughed when he winked at him. “Jake, I should like a word with you, in private. You’ve got some explaining to do about this thing that you’re trying to do to Carol.”

“Trying to do to Carol? I haven’t any idea what you mean.” He let out a long breath, then thought fuck it. His father wasn’t ever going to treat him any differently whether he was divorced or not. “Are you speaking of the divorce? That’s a done deal, Father. She had several abortions, did you know that? None of them were mine, but she had to get rid of the children so that there’d be no evidence of what she was doing. And one day a few weeks ago, I came home to an empty house. Not just that she was gone, but she took every piece of furniture, every picture off the wall, and even the food in the cabinets. Do you know why? Because I cut off her spending.”

“A woman needs a hobby. You shouldn’t have done that. Give her what she wants and perhaps you can get on with your lives together. I suggest that you reinstate her cards, or whatever you need to do, and let her come home.” He looked around the room, sparse to say the least, but Jake liked that they were his things. “This furniture in here? Is it someone’s castoffs? Have you no sense of taste? At least when your wife was here, you had a nice place to come visit.”

“How the hell would you know? You never once came here in all the time we’ve been married.” His mother started sobbing. “Now what?”

“Oh Jake, you’ve embarrassed me so much with this. Did you know that the woman who does my hair said that you had a servant tell Carol to get off your porch? The neighbors are more than likely thinking that we’ve raised you wrong. How could you do this to me?” Jake said nothing but looked at Forrest. At the slight shake of his head, Jake knew that this would be a terrible time to bring him up and just why he was there. “Jake, we want you to stop this nonsense right now. You and her, you might not have been suited, and we did tell you that, but you can’t do this to me. To your family. You have to listen to your father and make this right. We’re looking bad with what you’ve done.”

His father was nodding then, as if his mother had it all worked out. “That’s right. I will make a few calls, have this entire thing stopped as of this moment. There is no reason for you to make it public that you’ve made a terrible choice. And once this is completed, things back the way they should be, you’ll do just what is expected of you and life will go on.” Jake looked at the doorway when his father did. Grandma stood there with her back stiff. “Mother, you’re to stay out of this. This is no concern of yours. I don’t want to have to listen to your side of this right now.”

“It’s none of yours either, Jacob. Nor is it any of yours, Trina.” Grandma came into the room as she had thousands of times before, and sat on the couch next to Forrest. “I’m so glad to see that they released you, dear. How is your poor head? Did you fill out a police report?”

It was all it took to get his mother going again. “Police? Oh no, you can’t have the police here as well. Whatever will the people that live next to you think? Oh Jake, this is getting worse and worse all the time. Just call Carol up and tell her you’ve had a change of heart. And send this young man on his way; you don’t need any more scandal right now. The police will need to make a report, and there will be filings and such. Oh my, this is terrible, just terrible for us.”

“I don’t want any scandal either, but it appears that I’m going to get it. I’m perfectly content right now with the way things are. Carol is not coming back. I’m not going to give her any more access to my money, and I most certainly will not allow her to continue to ruin my life.” He looked around the room much as his father had. “I love this room. And the other furniture that I went and picked out on my own is more suited to me than anything that Carol had here. If you don’t care for it, then that’s fine. I didn’t invite you here, and don’t expect to in the future.”

“You need us here. We’re going to keep together on this as a family so that nothing else tarnishes our name. You’ve nearly ruined it with this stupidity already. Jake, you just aren’t smart enough to—”

Jake had had enough and stood up. “It’s time you left.” Jake watched his father’s face, the moment he realized what he’d said to him. “I don’t want nor did I ask for your counsel on my life. Get out of here. And don’t come back. This is my home, my life, and my mistakes. And as of this moment, I’m taking control of it again and doing things my way. Not yours. Not Carol’s, and certainly not the way the neighbors think I should. If they even had an opinion one way or the other.”

“We have things to discuss over this. You are not getting a divorce, Jake. I’ve told you that. It’s a tarnish on our good name. Damn it, you cannot mean to kick us out.” Jake said that was exactly what he was doing, and that he’d not asked them for help in the first place. “I will not tolerate you treating me this way. I am your father.”

“So you are. And that sobbing mess is my mother. But really, other than DNA, we have nothing in common. I’d very much like it if you were to go. And even if you don’t want to go, I can find someone to kick your asses out if it comes to that.” His mother started wailing at the top of her lungs. “Enough.”

His voice had been strong and loud. So much so that his mother stopped wailing and stared at him with fat tears rolling down her cheeks, and his father looked as if he’d hit him in the back of the head. It was invigorating as well as empowering. Then he looked over at his grandma.

She started clapping her hands. Forrest laughed. It might have been comical, what with his parents standing there looking at him as if they hadn’t a clue who he was. Jake felt.... Well, he felt like he could take on the world and come out the winner.

His father seemed to have shaken off his stupor and looked ready to do battle again. “You’ll regret this. As soon as your business starts to suffer, you’ll regret this. See if I’m not right.” Jake said nothing, knowing that on a level that his father didn’t know yet, he might well fail. “I’m not going to step in this time and help you out.”

“When did you ever, Father? When was it you might have dirtied your hands for me?” His father said he didn’t care for his tone. “Well, I don’t care for the way you’re treating me either. As I have said to you, several times now, I’d very much like for you to leave.”

His father turned to Grandma. “This is all your doing. You never did have a bit of sense of decorum when it came to being a Winslow.” Grandma stood up and looked at her only son. “Just look at you. Standing there as if none of it bothers you. What would your husband say to all this?”

“My husband? You mean your father? And just to clarify things, I was a Winslow long before you were. So was your father. And my James would be right proud, I think.” His father said thank you. “Not of you, dolt, but Jake. It’s about time he stood up to you. I don’t know if you’re aware of this or not, but you’re a bully. Plain and simple, you’re a mean bully. And I think it’s about time that Jake did leave the tramp. Carol is nothing more than a money grubbing bitch that should have been put in her place about the time you should have been. How something as cold and heartless as you came from us is beyond me. The only redeeming thing is that I have Jake to console my old soul.”

“Mother, you’ll not talk to me this way either. I’m a man of worth, not some sniveling boy you can talk into doing whatever you want.” She asked him if he meant Jake. “Yes. You’ve been talking in his ear since he was old enough to walk. I should have put a stop to it then. But I thought…well, I had hoped that you’d not be around as much.”

“You mean you thought I’d die and leave you to your life?” Jake’s father nodded, then looked at Jake. Grandma laughed, long and hard. That brought his attention back to his mother. “I have news for you, Jacob, I’m going to be around a lot longer than you can imagine. I’ve been having fun with a certain vampire, who assures me that should I want, he can make me live forever. And you know what? I might just do it. Just to torment you.”

His father and mother left after that. No more words were spoken, not if you didn’t count his mother lamenting about how she wouldn’t be able to show her face again. How her country club would cancel their membership. Even going so far as to say that they might have to move to another city, or even state, to get the stain of this off them.

His father just glared at him and his grandma. Jake might have thought it was funny, but he hated stress and it was making his belly turn in all sorts of directions, none of them good. And as soon as the door was closed on their visit, Jake ran to his bathroom to be sick.

~~~

“He’s never done that before.” Forrest looked over at Jenna when she spoke. “Not once has he ever stood up to anyone, and especially not his own parents. I think you might be good for him. It certainly made me feel wonderful to see him do that. He’s needed it for a long while now.”

“I’m pretty sure right about now, he’s thinking I’m the worst thing that has ever happened to him.” Jenna laughed and said she doubted that. “I do believe that his dad is worse than mine. My dad was very vocal about how he was going to disown me once I came out, but his dad, I’m betting when or if Jake ever tells him about us, he’s going to come here with a shotgun.”

“Oh no, not Jacob. He’d never get his own hands dirty when it came down to it. He’d hire someone to off you.” Forrest was so shocked that it took him several minutes to realize that she was kidding. Or at least he hoped so. “Besides, he’d be too worried about how that might tarnish his good name to have someone in his family killed. The repercussions would be hard to get over. You know, Forrest, I never realized until this very moment that I raised an asshole.”

Forrest laughed, he just couldn’t help himself. Jenna was a rare treat in this world and he loved her very much. He asked her about the vampire and if she was going to live forever.

“Not that I’m aware of. But I should make you aware of something that we’ve done for you. Quincey, he works for me, has for a number of years. Anyway, he has spoken to Thomas regarding you.” He asked her what she meant. “Thomas has been warned, you might say. Quincey told him to back off from what he’s been doing. Not that I think he will. It’s been my experience that fools and idiots never change their colors, don’t you think? Anyway, did you know that you aren’t the first person that Thomas has done this too? Nor, do I think, you will be the last. But the bartender at the place where you met Thomas, he’s been told either straighten up or die. Simple as that.”

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