Jacob's Mother—Chapter 33
Wheel of Fortune
Jacob’s Mother is a serialized novel. Start with Chapter One.
Chapter 33: Wheel of Fortune
California—2012
Jacob and Hannah lifted his mother’s wheelchair over the steps leading up to their house. Julia had gotten weaker and weaker in Daisy Lane, especially after a couple of slips getting to the bathroom. Her body was frail. She could walk with assistance or a walker, but sometimes it was just faster to get around in the chair, and the steps leading up to the house proved challenging. Always the helper, little Addie tried to assist with the chair as well, and pinched her little fingers in the wheel as a result.
“Addie, let Mommy and Daddy do this, please,” Hannah said through her teeth as she hoisted the chair and her mother in law up and into the house. Once inside, she relaxed and smiled and offered Julia a cup of tea. Jacob admired his wife’s ability to make anyone feel welcome, even his crazy mother.
They sat in the living room, the adults drinking Earl Grey and Addie playing with blocks in the corner, chatting about things like the weather, pretending that Jacob and Hannah didn’t just get in a yelling match with the head nurse of Daisy Lane as to what was best for Julia, pretending that they didn’t just pack her bags and quickly wheel her out of the home to deal with the consequences later.
Julia held her teacup in both hands and took small sips. Jacob couldn’t help noticing that his mother’s eyes seemed brighter than normal, and she seemed to be trying to conceal a grin. Her sometimes wild, white hair was pulled back into a top knot on the crown of her head. She was still wearing her robe and slippers, and her feet bounced up and down, a nervous twitch she had had ever since Jacob could remember. She seemed fairly normal on the outside, but Jacob knew that her brain was filled with chaos. He could tell she hadn’t been taking her meds. She seemed like a tin toy that had been wound up, but not yet set down to scoot across the floor.
“So do I get to stay here? Stay in my house?” she asked, avoiding Jacob’s eyes and looking at Hannah.
Hannah took her empty tea cup and patted her shoulder. “Yes, Julia.”’
“For now at least,” Jacob interjected. “We will see how it goes, Mom. Ok?”
Hannah shot him a look, but he was not about to make any promises that may prove impossible to keep.
“I need Lil Debbie snack cakes,” Julia stated.
Jacob and Hannah exchanged looks.
“And my Bible.”
Hannah pulled the leather bound book out of her purse. “I have your Bible right here, Julia.” She handed it to her. “I will have to pick up the snack cakes at the store tomorrow.”
“They have to be Lil Debbie.”
“Ok.”
Julia looked at Jacob with narrow eyes. “Why am I here?”
Jacob sighed. His mother may be insane, but she wasn’t stupid. He knew that the way he felt about her was clear. She was a burden. She was another task on a long to do list. He had taken care of her longer than she had taken care of him. She had failed him, even if it wasn’t her fault. This failure stood between them like an invisible monster. It was something that Jacob could never forget, and it was something that Julia could never change. He didn’t know what to say.
Luckily, Hannah stepped in. “Julia,” she said. “We want to talk to you about Lil.”
Julia put her hands over her ears and rocked back and forth.
“Julia,” Hannah continued, whispering so Addie couldn’t hear. “Addie has still been talking to her. Who is she?”
“She is lost! She is lost!” Julia cried out, obviously agitated.
“Daddy?” Addie looked up from her blocks with a worried look.
Jacob went to her and scooped her up in his arms. “It’s ok, sugar pie. It’s ok.” He carried her over to Julia. “Mom, please help your granddaughter. What do you know about Lil?”
In a rare moment of clarity, Julia reached out and stroked her granddaughter’s rosy cheek. “She is lost,” she repeated. “The maiden turns a mother, and the mother turns a crone.”
Jacob’s mouth dropped open. “What did you say?”
Julia continued. “It is a never ending cycle. Wheels that turn. Cogs in a machine. A maiden turns a mother, and a mother turns a crone, then the crone chases the maiden ‘till the whole thing starts again.”
Jacob set Addie down, and she instantly wanted to be placed on her grandmother’s lap. Once there, she snuggled against Julia, and Julia stiffened with a look of surprise. Jacob watched her stiffly put an arm around Aideen and pat her back. Obviously, Julia didn’t know how to show love, but this awkward moment was filled with more love than she had ever shown him.
He pushed that thought from his mind, and grabbed his mother’s Bible. He flipped through it and pointed to one of the triskeles that were drawn in the margins of of the pages.
“Does this have anything to do with the maiden, the mother, and the crone?”
“That’s the Holy Trinity.”
He pointed to the symbol again. “Look Mom, cogs in a machine. Three wheels. A maiden turns a mother, and a mother turns a crone, then the crone chases the maiden, wanting to be young again.” He looked over to Hannah, filling with hope. “Mom, what does that mean? Tell us.”
Julia looked at the television set. “That’s the Holy Trinity,” she repeated, pursing her lips into a little line. “Luke Chapter 20, verse 36”
“What?”
Julia looked into the air at nothing and said, “For they cannot even die anymore, because they are like angels.”
Aideen shimmied out of her grandmother’s lap and went back to her blocks.
Julia asked Hannah, “What time is it?”
“Almost four.”
“Time for Wheel of Fortune.” She folded her hands in her lap.
Jacob slammed the Bible on the couch. “What about the maiden, mother, and crone? Mom, what do you mean? Help us!”
Baby Aideen looked up from her blocks, her chin started quivering. Hannah stood frozen in the middle of the living room. Only Julia’s feet moved, bouncing up and down in her chair. “I never miss Wheel of Fortune.”
Jacob threw his hands up in the air, stomped into his bedroom, and closed the door. He could hear soft whisperings coming from the living room and the familiar ringing sound of the game show as the wheel stopped on a prize. He sat on the edge bed, his elbows resting on his knees and his head in his hands. This was totally insane. How would his mother help them? She had never helped him with anything in his life. This would never work.
After a few moments, he had controlled his anger, and he could hear Addie happily calling out, “Wheel of Fortune!” from the other room. He took a deep breath and went back into the living room. It was unfair to leave Hannah alone with his mother right now.
The scene in the room wasn’t what he expected. Hannah and Julia were laughing, and Addie was lining up her alphabet blocks in a row, imitating the lighted letters on the game show. When the bell rang on the show, she would yell, “I won! I won!” It was the picture of a happy family, the only thing missing was him.
Hannah saw him, rose and put her arms around him from behind. She whispered in his ear, “We have to be patient with her.”
“Look, Gramma!” Addie pointed to three alphabet blocks lined up in a row. “I win!”
The alphabet blocks spelled out L-I-L. A chill spread through Jacob’s chest, and his fingers tingled. Hannah’s mouth dropped open. Then it set in a straight tight line. She looked at Jacob with wide eyes.
“Yes, darling.” Julia replied from the couch. “Lil is lost, but we will find her. We just have to wait until Wheel of Fortune is over.” She placed her hands in her lap and smiled to herself.
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Jacob’s Mother is an original publication by Laura Ellis. This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise—without prior written permission of the publisher, except as provided by United States of America copyright law and fair use.