Man Up - Page 149/268

Jacob stood in the foyer as he watched the tow truck repossessing his Hummer. Ordinarily he would have put up a fight, but what was the use. He was more than a year behind on its payments. With the medication that the doctor had prescribed for his Alzheimer he didn't trust himself behind the wheel therefore the vehicle had set more in his driveway than actually being driven. He walked back to the living room after watching them towing his truck away. He looked at the house and it was disheveled to say the least. He needed a housekeeper, but he could no longer afford the cleaning lady not even for one day a week. He picked up the phone and was about to dial, but suddenly he couldn't remember who he was about to call. He placed the phone down and then went into the kitchen. Dirty dishes were everywhere and the trash was overflowing from the garbage can onto the floor. He trampled through the mess as if he hadn't noticed it and went straight to the refrigerator. He opened it and stood looking inside of it as if he were deciding what to eat.

"Louise… Louise…" He began calling for his wife.

"Louise are you upstairs?" He asked when she failed to answer him. He couldn't understand why she wasn't answering back.

"Why haven't you gone grocery shopping? Why is the refrigerator empty?" He asked as he left the refrigerator's door opened and headed upstairs to their bedroom.

"Louise don't you hear me calling you?" Again he asked as he entered the room. Louise was not in the bedroom. Where could that woman be he wondered as he went to Markus' room.

"Markus… Markus have you seen your mom?" He asked and again he was surprised to see that Markus was not there either. Panicking he ran to his daughter's room.

"Dinah… Dinah…" He called out and was terrified when he realized that none of his family was at home. What happened to his family?

"Where is everybody?" He mumbled to himself as he made his way back downstairs.

Once downstairs he went back to the foyer and to the closet that held their coats and jackets. He grabbed a lightweight jacket however he forgot that he was only wearing his house slippers. He left in a hurry forgetting to close and lock the door in his haste. Once outside he began walking down the block looking for his family.

"Louise… Louise… Louise…" He called out as he made his way down the street looking this way and that. As he was walking he saw some people approaching him from the opposite direction.