"Mom…" Jayden softly whined. Marla knew it was hurting him. He wanted to not forgive them, ignore and forget them like they had done him, but in the end he knew that his mom was right. If he did like they did, then he would be just like them and he had sworn that he would never have the swagger of his father. The only way to keep his promise to himself was to do the opposite of everything that his father did and that meant reaching out to those dirty ass bastards.
* * * * * * * * * *
"I'm sorry Dad, you understand right?" Markus quietly said into the phone as he impatiently looked at the clock on the opposite wall. It was almost 1 p.m. Reece-Ann was waiting for him at Millennium Park. He had been trying to get her attention for over a year. Finally he had gotten a break when they both showed up for the same Ethics class. Reece-Ann was an honor student and Markus had worked his butt off trying to impress her enough to get invited to her study group. Once he had become an official member, one thing led to another and the two of them got along well. After another two months of working up the courage to ask for the date, this was their first and he was not about to cancel it to go to the funeral of a woman who wasn't really his grandmother. Besides, he had hardly seen her or spent any time with her in the last five years.
"Sure no problem… Study hard son. I'll see you at the end of the semester." He quietly told his son reassuring him that it was okay not to come home for grandmother's Ginny's funeral.
Jacob was distraught as he sat in the first row pew at the church. All of his sisters and brothers and their spouses and children surrounded him. He felt awkward to say the least. He felt alone having none of his immediate family with him to share his grief and console him. Last night Louise had another setback and he rushed her to the hospital where she remained while being treated for dehydration and anemia. Therefore she wasn't able to come. He had called his children Markus and Dinah explaining that their grandmother Ginny had passed.
He figured that since they were still within the city limits; taking a couple of hours off from school wouldn't be a problem. It was less than a thirty minutes drive back home. However, their conversations had been identical; neither of them could find the time to take away from their studies. Jacob's heart was heavy. The one time that he needed his family, it felt like he had been deserted. He couldn't help but feeling sad, despondent and a little resentment at his children. After all he had always been there for them.