by M.D. James
Chapter 9
The next day, at work, my mother received a call from Ms. Barker. My Grandfather had a heart attack during a business meeting. “Oh Jimmy. What will we do?” she cried. I finally got her to start calling me Jimmy at work, mainly because Julia called me Jimmy all day. “We need to get to the hospital.”
“Do you need me to call Mr. Bryant?” I asked. I didn’t like Grandfather, but I felt bad for my mother and wanted to do all I could to help. She informed me that Mr. Bryant was already on his way.
We got to the hospital, and no one would tell us anything about the medical status of Grandfather. Funny enough, we were in the Muse Wing of the hospital. My mother spent a lot of time on the phone with my father, who seemed to be comforting her. I noticed as she was talking to him, she seemed less scared and nervous. Maybe the doctors had already told him about Grandfather’s condition.
After getting off the phone, she held my hand and asked me to pray with her. I did. “You know,” she said, “I do love him….in spite of all he’s done.” I wondered what she was referring to. What did he do to her?
Before I could get her to elaborate, Grandfather’s doctor, Dr. Martinez, greeted us. He was a tall, Hispanic man who wore extremely thick glasses. “Your father is awake and responsive, Mrs. Picard-Muse. But, the next few hours are very important,” he explained. “His heart is weak, and he likely will need a transplant.”
My mother started sobbing again. “Is there anything we can do?” she asked Dr. Martinez.
“Right now, we just have to wait. You can see him, one at a time, but it’s important that you do not cause him any stress,” we were warned.
She went in to see him while I waited in the waiting area. Zack got dropped off by one of his friends, and sat next to me while we waited for mother to come back. “What happened?” he asked. I told him that I didn’t know anything except that he probably would need a transplant.
“Even with him being so short, I was sure Grandfather would outlive us all. It seems like the mean ones always do,” Zack informed me.
Maybe Zack was right. The next day, Grandfather was released, and went straight to work. I think Dr. Martinez still wanted him to have a transplant, but Grandfather was hearing none of it.
Work resumed as normal. Soon I would be going back to school. On my last day at the hotel, a tall man in an expensive, black suit approached the front desk looking for Grandfather. We often got salesmen in the hotel asking for the owner, but this man looked different…more official.
Grandfather was in a meeting, so I asked the man if he wanted to leave a message or schedule a meeting. “No. I just brought him some papers,” the man said. “Can you see that he gets them? Just tell him to call me later today once he looks them over.” I took the envelope from the man, and went to put it in Grandfather’s office.
I saw Julia coming towards me, and she smiled. Her smile distracted me and I bumped into the table in the lobby. The envelope fell open and a folder slid partially out. As I was putting it back, I saw the words STATE Vs. NELSON. “Are you okay?” Julia asked.
“Yeah,” I stammered, “Just clumsy I guess.” I rushed to Grandfather’s office, and opened the folder inside of the envelope. It was a file about my Mom’s trial. Grandfather was to be a witness. I looked through the papers quickly to find out where my Mom was. I located the name of the prison she was in, and typed it into my iPod so I wouldn’t forget. I made sure to put the papers back exactly as I found them, and after returning to the front desk, I asked Julia if she would let my Grandfather know there were some papers on his desk. I figured if she gave him the message, he might not know I had possession of them. I was certain that had Grandfather known that I was anywhere near the papers, I would have been beaten.
Since the hotel had wifi, I made my way to the bathroom, and once inside a stall I looked up the prison on my iPod. I saved the address, and decided I’d pass a letter to Chris and Mark tomorrow at school to mail for me.
I can’t believe after close to a year, I’m finally going to get to hear from my Mom again. I was so happy, but so nervous all at the same time.
After dinner, I closed myself up in my room, and wrote a long letter to Mom:
Mom,
How are you? I’ve missed you so much. I know you probably think I’ve forgotten about you, but I haven’t. I’ve been forbidden to write you or even talk about you. Father said he sent my letters to you, but I found out Grandfather had them and never mailed them.
I know you couldn’t have kidnapped me, though I wouldn’t blame you if you had. This family is a bit crazy. I have a brother, Zack. He is my best friend now, and has helped me a lot. He tries to protect me, but there are some things he cannot protect me from.
I am doing well in school. I was on the honor roll last year. Tomorrow is the first day of school this year, and I’m going to have my friends, Chris and Mark, mail this out to you. I stole a stamp from the hotel I work at (Grandfather’s hotel), so I could mail this without anyone knowing. I probably won’t even tell Zack. He’s trustworthy, but Grandfather has eyes everywhere.
When you write me back, address the letter to Chris and he will give it to me. His parents work late, so he can check the mail without them knowing.
How is Sarah? Do you hear from her or get to see her? We fought a lot, but I miss her like hell. Please give her my address if you do see her.
I found out that your trial is happening soon. I hope we can get this all straightened out so you can go back home, and we can be one, big happy family again.
I love you and miss you lots. Please write back as soon as you’re able. I can’t wait to hear from you. I worry about you and Sarah so much.
Love,
Jimmy
I was so nervous. I had so many questions on my mind.
Would Grandfather find out?
Would Mom write me back?
How is she? How is Sarah?
Would I ever see them again?
I folded up the letter and sealed it in an envelope. I’d address it the next day at school so no one would find it and know what it was. I went to sleep feeling like a kid on Christmas Eve. I imagined how great it would be when I finally got to see Mom and Sarah again.
I woke up bright and early for the first day of school. I had a little kick in my step, not because I was excited about school but because I would finally get my letter mailed to my Mom. Zack teased me about being so happy to start my sophomore year. I wanted to tell him the truth, but I wasn’t sure there weren’t cameras or microphones located in the house, to spy on everyone and everything.
When we got to school, I stopped by Chris’ locker and told him I needed to talk to him in private. He seemed confused, and Zack seemed hurt, but left us alone.
“I need you to do me a favor,” I told Chris.
“Sure….anything,” he offered.
We didn’t discuss the situation a lot, but he knew of my Mom and that I was trying to reach her. “I found out where my Mom is, and wrote her a letter,” I told him. “I can’t mail it from work or home, because Grandfather will hijack it. I need you to mail it for me. I told her to write me back at your address, so can you check your mail each day and be on the lookout for her reply? It will be coming from a prison.”
“Sure, Jimmy. Our mailman blabs, so if she does write back, I probably can’t keep it a secret for long, but I’ll be able to get you her first reply at least.” He gave me a quick bro type hug and we met back with the group.
After getting the letter to Chris, I had to make it through school, and the next several days.
