He moved to Frederick, who had been the mastermind behind him getting this summer job. “Frederick, thank you for seeing something in me that even I didn’t know I had. Thanks, man.” Frederick slapped his back, a gesture that was now familiar and that Rudy had come to expect and love.
Then there was Jacob. Rudy loved them all, but the way he felt about Jacob was the way Dorothy felt about the Scarecrow when she said good-bye and said, “I think I’ll miss you most.” Rudy suspected this school idea had been his. He hugged Jacob and whispered in his ear, “I love you, Jacob. Thank you.”
Flustered and glassy-eyed and unable to reply, Jacob just patted Rudy’s cheek affectionately, finally sputtering out, “You’re a good boy, Rudy. Now go home and rest up. Mazel tov.”
That was all Rudy needed.
As Rudy and his mother walked down the driveway, Rudy reflected that Jacob had been right. For the first time in his life things had all worked out for the best. And Jacob had said it: he was something special. And for the first time, he believed it.
Chapter 17
It was the weekend before school was starting and Rudy, like clockwork, was out working in their paradise early, wanting to savor the last remaining hours with Jacob, Frederick, and Yoshito. Everything was ready for him to start his new school, and he was excited about it, but how he had come to love the long days of summer, with his fingers in the dirt, weeding out the persistent weeds, and planting new growth. He had enjoyed watering the flowers and the vegetables, watching them grow, certain that he heard the whisperings of the plants, just as Yoshito said he would if he opened his mind to it.
This morning Jacob had gone to the nursery on his own while Rudy prepared a patch of ground and dug a big hole for what Jacob had called “something special.”
After cultivating the ground, Rudy went over to help Yoshito move some stones into place, and then assisted Frederick with fixing some sprinklers. The men often told Rudy that he could major in landscaping; he had good ideas for design and had come to love the feel of the earth on his skin. Rudy would nod but knew he never wanted to make a job out of this. This was fun; this was special and would always be tied to this patch of land and these three men.
Those chores now done, the three of them sat at the bench under the tree drinking their favorite refreshment. Hearing Jacob’s car in the front drive, Rudy went out to greet him and saw Jacob struggling to pull something from the back seat.
“Let me help Jacob.” Rudy rushed over as the others followed.
“Yes, I think I may need my young Goliath to lift this out. It is too much for an old man like me. Yoshito, the plants at the nursery say hello,” he quipped straight-faced.
“What have you got there, Jacob?” Frederick inquired.
Recognizing it, Yoshito said, “Ah, yes, a rosemary plant. It is very big and beautiful. Run your fingers along its leaves and smell, Rudy.”
“It smells so good,” Rudy said as he breathed in the herbal residue left on his fingers.
Rudy pulled out the large container and carried it to the spot he had cleared.
“It’s a pretty plant, Jacob, but what makes it so special?” Rudy asked, remembering the old man’s earlier comment.
“The greatest playwright of them all once wrote something about rosemary and what it stands for. Do my educated friends remember?” Jacob asked his longtime neighbors.
“Remember, you’re speaking to a literature teacher. In the great words of Mr. William Shakespeare, he said, ‘There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance; pray, love, remember,’” said Frederick.
“That is correct, my educated friend! This rosemary plant is for remembering. I want to plant it with all of you, as a reminder of this summer—a summer of remembering thanks to our young friend here. I thank you, Rudy, for bringing back my family to me, especially Blanca, who I can now remember without fear, without pain, and without sadness. Now I can remember her laugh and smile and her beauty—thanks to you.”
“Yes, it is good to open the wound and let the air circulate around it, otherwise it festers,” Yoshito added.
“Gentlemen, I think we would all agree this was a great summer,” Frederick chimed in.
“Well, let’s get it in the ground!” Rudy said, and then proceeded to pull the plant from its container and check the tightly packed roots for dampness. It was totally dry. Then he lowered the plant into the ground and lovingly filled the hole with water before adding a mixture of soil, peat moss, and mulch. As they watered the top soil, the needled branches glistened in the sun as the spray hit them and held onto each drop.
Yoshito shared that the plant said it liked its new home, thanked Rudy for the water, and was happy to be there. What was more remarkable was that no one thought it was an odd thing to say or doubted that what he said was true.
“We will have to cook something and use the rosemary for seasoning,” Frederick said.
Rudy nodded but was thinking about the stories he’d heard and all that had transpired this summer in this place. As he stood in the sun, that hot September Saturday, he knew he would never forget Frederick’s father, Yoshito’s brother, or Jacob’s twin, Blanca. And woven throughout would be his memories of Yoshito creating rivers with raindrops out of pebbles, Jacob’s rough and callused hands, Frederick’s singing as he worked with his long dead ancestors in the garden, Yoshito’s conversations with his plants, Jacob’s humor and anguish, his own mother’s smile, and fresh pie on a warm summer evening with every person he loved under the great tree. Yes, it was unlikely that he would ever forget one detail of that summer.
Four years later
Chapter 18
It was a weekend at the beginning of spring. Rudy was helping Jacob plant new flowers and refresh the garden after the winter rains had saturated the soil and brought back life from its dormant state. Along with Yoshito, Rudy now claimed he too could hear the plants and flowers rejoicing. Jacob would just smile and tease, “You’ve been drinking too much of Yoshito’s herbal tea. You don’t see Frederick or me having conversations with our plants, do you?”
For long hours they would work side by side, sometimes in conversation, sometimes in hours of comfortable silence. Other times they would work as they heard Frederick’s rich voice sing out from somewhere in the garden.
“Have you thought anymore about what you want to do with your life? College is just around the corner,” Jacob questioned that afternoon.
“You know, I am going to start out at East LA College and try to get the core requirements done before working on any major work. Hopefully I can save enough money with my job at the restaurant and perhaps get some grant money so that I can finish my last two years and any graduate work at a university,” Rudy responded as he continued to plant yarrow and rosemary in the beds near the lavender.
“That’s a good plan; college takes a lot of money. Have you decided if you want to teach history or literature?” Jacob questioned him further.
“Some days I feel one way, other days I feel the other. I like them both.”
“Well, you know how Frederick feels. He wants you to follow in his footsteps. Either way, we’ll all be proud. You’ll figure it out. There’s still time for that,” Jacob replied as he stood up and started reaching out for a chair, a lightness in his head and a twinge of pain in his chest.
“I’m tired today. I think I am coming down with something,” he continued.
“Go ahead and lay down, Jacob. I can finish up here. After all these years, I think I make a credible gardener.” Rudy smiled at the old man. “Here, let me help you,” Rudy said as he looked at his old friend, who seemed to be drained of color.
“I’m fine—don’t worry about me. You just finish up that bed and then go home and study like a good boy,” Jacob smiled and waved even as he was walking toward the back door.
Rudy smiled. Even after all
these years, and now that he was eighteen and almost out of high school, Jacob still called him a “good boy.” Yes, they had had some mighty good times over the past several years; these men had become grandfathers to him. How he loved them.
Rudy’s attention was suddenly diverted toward Jacob’s kitchen. He heard a crash. Within seconds, Rudy was up on his feet, rushing into the kitchen only to find Jacob collapsed on the floor. Rudy ran to him, checked his breathing, and tried to rouse him with no luck. He ran to the back door and yelled in the loudest voice he had, “Fred-er-ick! Yo-shi-to! Help me!” Then he ran into the living room to the phone and dialed 9-1-1. He heard the back door slam, and Frederick say, “Oh my God, what happened?” Yoshito following right behind him, took one look and ran to the bedroom and pulled a blanket off Jacob’s bed. He came back and covered him while Frederick went to the bathroom and into the medicine cabinet to look for aspirin.
Rudy was talking to the dispatcher, “Yes, he is breathing, but barely. His color is not so good. He said he wasn’t feeling well just minutes before. Yes, yes, we just covered him.”
Frederick heard the sirens and went to the front door to meet the paramedics. “I just placed an aspirin under his tongue in case it’s his heart,” Frederick told one of the attendants.
Rudy hung up the phone to be by Jacob. The men were working on him, so Rudy yelled, “Jacob, do you hear me? Come on, Jacob, come on! I need you. Don’t leave me now. I love you!” Rudy cried. Frederick put his arm around him, and Rudy allowed himself to be comforted as if he were a child.
The paramedics hoisted Jacob onto a gurney and wheeled him out to the ambulance with the three others following.
“We’re taking him to the hospital. Looks like he had a heart attack. Good thing you gave him that aspirin so quickly.”
“I want to go with him,” Rudy said.
“Are you related?” the ambulance driver asked?
“Yes, he is family,” Yoshito stepped up answering the question before Rudy could. Rudy looked at him with gratitude.
“Okay, get in.” Rudy jumped in and sat next to Jacob, and taking his hand, he began talking to him even while the attendant watched various monitors and radioed into the hospital.
“We’ll meet you at the hospital,” Frederick yelled to him as they closed the back door to the ambulance.
“Not now, not yet, Jacob. Not yet,” Rudy pleaded into Jacob’s ear.
Chapter 19
Jacob was home but spent most of his time in a chair in the garden watching the others work the soil. He was still too weak to be getting down on the ground. He found that he tired easily, taking many much-needed naps during the day.
Rudy was there as much as possible when he wasn’t at school or working at the restaurant. How he wanted to be with Jacob and the others, but he had to earn money for school. But as soon as he could, he always found his way to the garden, even if it was to sit and study with Jacob dozing in the chair next to him. Summer would be here soon, and there would be more time to spend with him.
On this particular day in May, Jacob waited for Frederick and Yoshito to go home. Jacob had a few things he wanted to share with Rudy while he could. He knew his days were coming to an end.
As they talked about school and earning enough money for a university education, Jacob finished the conversation by saying, “Don’t worry about it today. Things have a way of working out.”
“You always say that,” Rudy laughed.
“Yes, but I am always right, aren’t I?” Jacob countered, and Rudy acquiesced.
“Rudy, you know it’s as if you are my own grandson, and I am so proud of you. You know, I call you a good boy, but I know that you are now a fine young man. No matter what life throws at you, you must stay that way. Promise me, okay?”
“Sure, Jacob. But what’s going on?”
“I know I do not have much more time here with you. It’s time we had a man to man talk.”
“Jacob, don’t say that. You survived the heart attack. You’re going to be fine; you just need to rest,” Rudy pleaded. Jacob put up his hand to silence him.
“Rudy, I could not love you more than I do. Because of you, my life changed for the better in so many ways. For the last four years, I haven’t had the nightmares I lived with all my life. I can remember my family without my heart breaking. But I am old and the day will come soon that I will join them, and while I will be sorry to leave you and Frederick and Yoshito and this paradise, I suspect there is an even more beautiful paradise waiting for me with my family. Unfortunately for me, I have to die to get there.” Jacob smiled, trying to make light of what he was saying.
“And you, my friend will have some heartbreak to endure. You have come to love three very old men, and the truth is, we will all be gone long before you are just beginning your life, your career, before you have children of your own.”
“Don’t say that, Jacob.” Rudy’s eyes were glassy. He didn’t want to hear it, but he knew it was true.
“You have been a Goliath. And now you must fight the sadness and bitterness that may come when we are gone. You have heard our stories, Rudy, and you know what we had to overcome. I pray your trials are not as great. But you must move forward and live a full and productive life—and know that three old men thought you were something special.”
They sat quietly for a moment then Jacob cleared his throat.
“You know, being a teacher is a fine aspiration. Winston Churchill once said, ‘We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.’ As a teacher, you will have a tremendous life, and knowing you, you will give and give and give. That’s good.”
After a minute, Jacob in an effort to lighten things said, “See, Yoshito is not the only one who can quote things.” Together they laughed, and Rudy walked over and embraced Jacob.
“I love you, Jacob.
“I love you, too, Rudy. You’re a good boy,” and once again Jacob patted his cheek.
Chapter 20
It was a warm October day. Jacob would have liked it. After the funeral, back in the garden, where they had gathered along with his mother, Frederick handed him an envelope.
“Here, Rudy, Jacob left this for you.”
Surprised, Rudy walked farther into the garden to the compass where it all began and read the letter alone. It read:
My dearest Rudy,
If you are reading this, I have gone home to be with my Father in heaven. I will miss you and the others, but I hope you can be happy for me that after so many decades I am reunited with my family and am free from the shackles that bind us in our earthly life.
I want you to remember our talk in the garden many months ago and know that I will be watching as you progress through life. Remember that many wonderful things await you, and that sometimes it comes in the form of a summer job with three old men that you want nothing to do with.
Frederick and Yoshito and my attorney already know that I am leaving my house to your mother and you. I can’t think of anyone else I would rather see in that house and in that garden than the two of you. Your mother has worked hard all her life, and perhaps now with the sale of her house, she will have some money in the bank and not have to worry about a mortgage.
Further, I have left some money to Frederick and Yoshito for the upkeep of the garden. They are old men too, and perhaps they can help another Rudy on his journey.
They are aware that the bulk of my money, I leave to you. You would not think that an old man living in East LA in a rundown neighborhood would have money. But the neighborhood wasn’t always that way, and I stayed because of my brothers, for that is what I consider Frederick and Yoshito. I was a successful accountant, invested well, and I think there is enough money to pay for a few years of university education. I want you to have it. The attorneys have it set up in a trust and can help you navigate the legalities. I
trust them, and they will do right by you.
I’ve told you before, but will say it again this final time: I am so proud of you and love you so much. As we part, I will speak the words my father said to me on the last day of his life: “You are a good boy and will be a good man. God is good. Remember that.”
Know that I am nearby watching, and one day far in the future, we will meet again in the real Paradise.
All my love, Jacob
As Rudy wept, he folded the letter and laid it against his heart. When he finally tried to put it in his pocket, he felt the now familiar leather bag with the compass that Yoshito had given him. He thought about how he would always find his way back to this place that would now be his home, thanks to Jacob. He also realized that each one of these men had been a compass for him throughout the past four years. Now, one was gone. Rudy wept again, and when he dried his eyes with the calloused hands that were now a badge of honor, he went to find the others. What he saw brought a bittersweet smile to his lips. There, gathered around the rosemary plant, were the people he cared about most. There was his mother, anxiously watching him approach, waiting to comfort him, her red and swollen eyes full of love; then Yoshito, bent over the rosemary plant, listening intently to its whispered conversation; and Frederick, singing out in a joyful voice along with other choral voices that Rudy now heard. In that moment, he heard Jacob’s voice telling him not to worry, that things have a way of working out, and he knew it to be true.
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