Spider's Choices

Part II

Spider Webster trudged into the house, worn out from a day of boot camp at the police academy.  Upstairs, in the privacy of his room, he tossed his duffle bag into the corner and flopped down on his unmade bed.  Placing one arm over his eyes, his entire body sagged into the soft mattress.

“Hey, Spider.”  Tad, Spider’s little brother, spoke from outside the room.  “I need someone to pitch with me and you’re it.”

“Beat it,” responded Spider without moving.

“Come on.  I waited all day for you to get home.  Why can’t you help me for once?”

Spider sat up abruptly and swung his legs over the side of his bed.  “Because I always help you and I’m tired of it.”

“Oh, come on, Spider.  Just 15 minutes, okay?”  Tad had eased into the room and was now standing next to Spider’s bed

“No.  I had a long day at the academy and I just want to take a nap.”  Spider laid back down and closed his eyes.

“Aren’t you done with that stupid academy yet?”  Tad’s whining irritated Spider.

“Almost.  Just another month or so and then I’ll be graduating.”

“Great. So, let’s just play ball for a little bit.”

“NO!”  Spider stood up and shoved Tad out of the room, closing the door firmly behind him. “And don’t bother coming back,” he yelled through the door.

“I hate you!” replied Tad.  “You’re a lousy brother.”

Spider grabbed a dirty t-shirt that was lying on top of his covers and tossed it into a growing pile of laundry in another corner.  The sun shining through his window lit his dusty desk and dresser. His mother had placed a pile of freshly folded laundry on his desk chair, the only bare surface in the room.  Ignoring the clutter that surrounded him, Spider flopped back down on his bed and listened to Tad’s angry stomping down the stairs.  He rolled onto his stomach and pulled a pillow over his head and closed his eyes. Immediately, his favorite dream came to mind, the one in which he graduates from the police academy, his proud parents sitting in the front row of the auditorium and clapping wildly when his name is called.  As he accepts his certification, Spider is informed that several elite police departments are interested in hiring him. Spider, his dark blue uniform crisply ironed and his shoes and holster polished,  eagerly accepts one of the offers and is  finally able to start out in his career. “One more month, just one more month,” he whispered as he drifted off to sleep.  

A short time later, Spider’s mother, Maura, gently shook him awake.  “Spider, time for dinner.”

Spider yawned and stretched.  “Okay.  I’ll be right down.”  After washing up in the small bathroom he shared with Tad, Spider went downstairs and into the kitchen where his parents were having a deep discussion about what they should do for their wedding anniversary.  

“Going to a show would be so much fun,” said Maura as she flipped several pancakes off the griddle and onto a nearby platter.

“I was thinking it might be fun to go grab a bite to eat and then go bowling,” suggested Jeff Webster, Spider’s father.

“Bowling!  We can do that any old day.”  Maura frowned at her husband.

“But what if we get a group together.  That would be fun.”

“Jeff, it’s our anniversary.  Why would we spend it with a group of people.  This is our special day”

“You know what you should do?” Tad piped up from where he sat at the table.

“What?” asked Jeff.

“Flip a coin.  The guys always do that when they can’t decide who should lead off in the batting order.”

Spider slid into his chair and rolled his eyes.  

“What?” demanded Tad.  “What’d I do now, oh brother who thinks he’s so perfect?”

“Does everything in your life revolve around baseball?  It gets a bit boring, you know.”  Spider kicked Tad under the table.

“Ouch!  Mom, Spider kicked me.”

“Boys!” said Jeff sternly.  “This is the family dinner table and I expect you both to behave yourselves.”

Tad sulked and slunk down in his chair while Spider looked at his plaid placemat, a guilty expression on his face.  “Sorry.”  He took a long drink from his glass of milk then sat back and looked around the familiar room, with its homemade gingham curtains and cabinets his mother had painted and stenciled. Even though the room was small, Spider always viewed it was the heart of the house.  A feeling of contentment washed over him as he inhaled the smell of the link sausages that were already fried up and waiting in the warm oven.

“Here we are.”  Maura placed the pancakes and sausages, plus a big bowl of fruit,  on the table.  “Breakfast for dinner!”

“Neat!” cried Tad as he speared several pancakes and dropped them on his plate.  A hefty drizzle of syrup followed.  “Yum.”  Tad chewed his dinner enthusiastically.

“Tad, dear, please close your mouth,” said Maura.

“Oh, yeah.  Sorry, Mom.”

The rest of the dinner was pleasant, with Spider telling his parents about his day and Tad explaining how he had improved his batting average.  Maura and Jeff had managed to come to a compromise regarding their anniversary celebration which pleased everybody.  Knowing that his parents had planned to go out Friday evening, Spider had already made sure that he’d be available to monitor Tad, a job he hated but would do it as a special gift for the occasion.

“When you boys do nice things it just makes my heart sing,” gushed Maura.  “It’s the best gift I could ever get.”

Both Spider and Tad smiled at their mother.  However, Spider was sure that his agreement to watch his brother far outweighed anything Tad could ever do.

**************

Spider laid on his bed, feeling more exhausted than he had ever felt in his entire life and desperately wished he could just go to sleep and not wake up.  Below him, he could  hear the murmur of voices in the living room.   “Twenty four hours ago, they were here, they were on this earth and everything was fine,” he thought for the hundredth time that day.  “What’s going to happen now?”

He stared at the sloping ceiling above and blinked back the tears that he didn’t even know were present.  Just last night, the police had come to his door and told him his parents had been involved in an accident.  As Spider was pulling on a jacket, the officer put his hand on his shoulder, a moment Spider knew he would remember for the rest of his life.

“There’s no hurry, son,” said the officer gently.

“You mean they're okay, they’ll be home soon?”

The officer shook his head.  “I’m sorry.  The paramedics tried everything.  They just couldn’t save them.  But they didn’t suffer.”

Spider couldn’t recall what happened next. At some point, Tad joined them and when he learned what had happened, began to wail.  Spider felt like he was going to go crazy with all the wild emotions and grief that filled him.  He remembered a neighbor coming over and trying to soothe Tad.  Somebody, whether  it was the police officer or the neighbor, had called Spider’s Aunt Lois and Uncle Earl and they had rushed over.  Once there was another adult to handle things, Spider stole away to his room, where he lay in the dark and cried.  When he awoke the next morning, his head hurt and a new reality was beginning to descend.

A week after the their parents’ funeral, Spider and Tad sat in the living room.  Their aunt and uncle had already started to sort through and pack up the house. Gone were the familiar photographs and nicknacks that had meant so much to his mother. Instead, boxes were pushed up against the wall, their contents neatly stowed.  Spider hated those boxes. He wanted to hold onto every single picture, every little craft project his mother had created, and every book his father had read.  He couldn’t understand how the objects that had meant so much to his parents were now considered cast-offs.  The house felt dark and dreary, heavy with grief and uncertainty, and empty without the two personalities that had given the home so much life.

“Are we both going to live with Aunt Lois and Uncle Earl?” asked Tad, his eyes fearful.

Spider shook his head.

“What do you mean?” Spider could hear the panic in his little brother’s voice.

“It means I’m going to room with some guys from the academy and finish up there.  Then I’m going to try to get on to a police department somewhere.”

“What about me?”

“You’ll be all right.”  Spider suddenly wished he was he was having a mundane conversation about baseball instead of the what they were discussing.

“Don’t leave me,” begged Tad.

“It’s only for a month or so,” answered Spider.

“I’ll do anything, Spider, just please don’t leave me.”  Tad clutched Spider’s arm as tears rolled down his cheeks.  “I mean it.  I’ll give up baseball.  I’ll do whatever you tell me to do.  Just don't leave me.”

Spider closed his eyes tightly and took a deep, steadying breath.  “I’ve got to finish the academy so I can get a job and take care of us.  Trust me, Tad.  When I’m through, I’ll come back for you.”

“Promise?”

Spider nodded.  

It wasn’t an ideal solution, but it was all he could come up with.  Although his parents had saved some money, it wasn’t enough to support them both.  His Aunt and Uncle had graciously offered to keep Tad, but admitted they couldn’t do it indefinitely; their health simply wouldn’t allow it.  After working through the legal hurdles regarding his parents’ estate, Spider had enough money to sustain him and some to give to his Aunt and Uncle for Tad’s care.  Once the house sold, Spider planned to put that money away for Tad’s college.

“Will you call me everyday?” asked Tad.

Spider nodded.  “We’ll talk every night and you can tell me all about school and your baseball practice.  I’ll even make sure to come to your games.”

“Really?” Tad sniffled as he looked into his big brother’s face.

Spider nodded.  He put his arm around Tad’s shoulders.  “It’s just you and me.  We’ll get through this but first I need to finish school.  Do you understand that?”

Tad looked down at the worn carpet.  “I guess so. But who will make sure I get to school and take me to practice and wash my clothes?”

“Aunt Lois and Uncle Earl will do all that for you.  Just make sure you tell them your schedule, okay?”

“But what if I need a permission slip signed?  Who’s going to do that?”

Spider sighed.  “They can do that too, at least for now.”

“Okay.”    

The two sat and looked around the living room.  The drizzling weather seemed to mimic the despair Spider felt.  Realizing they needed to leave, Spider pulled Tad up.  As the two passed through the front door, their eyes fell on the wooden ‘W’ their mother had stained  years earlier.  She was so proud of her first craft project that she had insisted they all sign and date the back of it.  Spider took the letter off the door and tucked it under his arm.  Then they left, each taking one final look before closing the door behind them.

Word count - 1915

Author’s notes:  a big “thank you” to my daughter Katie/Katia and my sister Judith for their editing and continuity advice.  And a “tip of the hat” to Jixwrimo 2018 and its push to get me to write this tale. Graphics from pixabay.com.