Diana , startled by the unexpected light in the kitchen, rubbed her eyes. .
It was him, next to the refrigerator eating a breakfast of cold left-over pizza and swilling her apple juice. A lock of light brown hair hung over his bloodshot eyes, his stomach rumbled, his jeans and T-shirt were wrinkled and filthy ..
“Don´t take another sip!” she bellowed.. “That´s MY apple juice!”
“´morning Queenie.” he said smiling broadly and speaking in his infuriating slow drawl. “ I´d forgotten how sweet you could be before your coffee.” Jacob Melnick grinned broadly at his sister.
She reached for the carton. Then, realizing that he had been drinking directly from it , slammed it down onto the counter in front of him.
Quickly measuring coffee and water, she started the coffee maker. “ You were supposed to be released next week,” she mumbled disgustedly . Do the parents know that you´re here?”
“No, I wouldn´t want to wake them up so early, now, would I?” he answered with pleasant tones. “They didn´t take away my house key, Sis. So even though none of you was there to pick me up yesterday, I knew that they expected me to come home.”
Diana felt a warning chill run through her body.. He was smiling, but slyly, through tightly pressed lips. In lightening speed, he covered himself with a sturdy cheerfulness. She knew that disguise. That particular stance revealed how devoid he was of any real feelings for anybody or anything.
Their eyes locked. There was no compassion; but, there was a flicker of sibling detest.
Pouring herself a mug of coffee, she began collecting her things: an umbrella, car keys, her handbag, and a pretty light blue Tiffany bag.
“A present for me?” he laughed.
“Sorry, too feminine! It´s a boudoir clock, a birthday present for my secretary.”
With her back to him, speaking briskly, she asked “Okay then….. Any plans?”
“Why should I plan when my smart banker sister and my smart parents always think for me?”
“Right. Well, you could always apply to drive those trucks filled with dynamite across the Rockies?”
“Bye bye Jacob. Right!?! Is´at your idea, or Dad´s? ”
“Damn you! Haven´t you made them suffer enough? You´re twenty-eight years old!” she muttered. “ I gotta catch the 8.05 Express into Town
As she left the house, she heard the water running in the parents´ bathroom. What a surprise awaited them. How did he get home? What would they do?
The roads were empty. As she drove, her mind was on her brother. Everyone is someone´s child, she mused. But as far back as anybody knew, there was no one like Jake in their family. Not in the Melnick family or Grandma Selfridge´s clan. And from Mama´s side: she´d personally traced the Fosters and the Ryans. There was nobody like Jacob there either. Grandma Ryan always worried about ¨genetics¨; but she meant CANCER.
Jacob was three years older than Diana. Mama insisted he was a sweet child until baby sister arrived; then, he became a sandbox monster. Snatching everybody´s toys, he stuffed them into his bucket. When bedlam broke out, he defiantly threw sand in kids´ eyes. Mama stopped going to the Park.
By the time he got to Kindergarten, he was an accomplished thief. No one was spared…not family, friend, nor teacher.
Only recently Mama had told Diana about his kindergarten escapades.
“Mrs. Melnick, we have a problem,” the principal of Fielding Elementary School had pronounced. His teacher´s purse had been rifled for the third time. Jacob was placed in counselling.
Their grandparents still lamented their losses. Grandpa Melnick´s precious medals disappeared one by one. He took to wearing his most precious three. Grandma Foster´s coin collection, which she had inherited from her father, was decimated before Jacob was ten.
Still, the parents never lost hope Diana remembered hearing Papa brag to Mama “He´s exceptionally well-coordinated,” But, whatever game Jacob played, his team had to win. She remembered Papa´s lectures about sportsmanship and fair play
Then, a letter came from the Community social worker.
“Dear Mr. Melnick and Jacob,
We regret to inform you that Mr. Peter Engler is threatening to sue you and the Town of Rockaway for his son´s broken leg received in last week´s game. Witnesses claim they saw Jacob deliberately cause Jimmy´s accident. As this is not the first complaint, we must insist that Jacob resign from the ten year olds´ team.
Regretfully, Scott Hayward, ME Social Worker
But, it was the motor boat racing that sent Jacob to Court the first time. He was only thirteen. Every Sunday teen-agers raced on a nearby lake. Papa bought him a racing boat. “He needs competitive sports,”
Soon a series of bad accidents occurred, always hurting the winning drivers. Then one Sunday four boats crashed on a faulty ramp. One boy was killed. There was no proof that Jacob had tampered with the ramp. But, he was the only suspect. The Judge placed him on Parole, and banned him from all Community Sports. Mama had been adamant, “Jacob would not have done that!”
Diana shuddered recalling his next trial. She was twelve and had accompanied her parents to Juvenile Court. The judge deliberated the fate of the fifteen year old car thief. The result: “Two years locked away in a Juvenile facility.”
He was back in regular prison three years later, convicted of robbing private homes .
Now he´d finished another five year stint. Their parents insisted that poor Jacob could not defend himself.
As she started down the hill towards the train station, her brakes suddenly failed. With the car gaining horrific speed, Diana had no choice but to steer straight for a big shade tree.
“Mama,” Jacob consoled soothingly, “look…there among her things is the blue Tiffany bag. It´s a present for her secretary. Diana would want you to give it to the girl.”
“How thoughtful you are, dear Jake,” Weeping, Mama hugged her son.
Ahead down in the valley lay the train station.
Short stories Spain by the U3A Marbella Writers Group