Here to Stay: Day 14

Word Count: 84,012

Summary of Events:

James was struck by the realisation that he'd heard nothing more about the possibility of Bovine Tuberculosis in Mr. Baron's herd, although a check of them from a distance suggested that they were doing worse than they'd been nearly two months before. Jake got up at 23:30 Friday night to make sure Keanu did as he was dared, and was delighted when Keanu was frightened by the still-living Mr. Hilmarsson, although Mr. Hilmarsson somehow found Jake when he'd thought he was well-hidden in the bush. James had been called by Mr. Baron when Keanu returned home and fetched Jake from Mr. Hilmarsson's before chastising Jake for his insensitivity the following morning and ordering him to apologise to Mr. Hilmarsson by the end of the day.

Excerpt of the Day:

“What happened last night?” Mom asked, startling James slightly. “And what have you said to Jacob about it?”

“As far as I understand, Jacob and Keanu Baron went ghost hunting on Arv’s property and were shot at,” James replied. “And I’m certain that Jacob was fully aware of just what day yesterday was when the enterprise was arranged. He has absolutely no empathy for people who have suffered some of the cruellest things life could hand out.”
“How is Jacob supposed to show empathy when he’s never experienced it?” Mom asked.

James felt affronted, attacked even. “Just when has Jacob ever needed empathy shown to him? He’s too busy making trouble to be suffering.”

Mom shook her head like she was disappointed in him. “From what I recall of the Canada Day barbecue Keanu was harassing Jacob, and he reported Keanu’s having harassed him before, and it’s even possible that Jacob’s been harassed since.”

“And I’m supposed to show empathy when I don’t even know what’s going on?” James demanded.

“Do you ask?” Mom asked. “Maybe that’s why you don’t know what’s going on. Nor, in addition, have you conducted yourself in a way as to suggest to Jacob that you’re available for him to talk to. You don’t listen to him like you listen to Nathaniel, nor do you treat him like you treat Nathaniel. You’re so heavy-handed with Jacob.”

“Comparing the two of them is like comparing a horse to a cow!” James spat. “They’re completely different people.”

“Notwithstanding their divergent personalities, they are both your children,” Mom returned firmly. “Thus you should, at the very least, love them the same, including disciplining them with love, just as you were disciplined by your own father.”

“Dad was better at stuff like that because he wasn’t having to be a mother to his children as well as a father,” James retorted.

Mom sighed, looking and sounding frustrated as she raised her hands up toward her face, but didn’t touch it before looking up at James. “Why can’t you consider anything Samuel did as something to do to and with your own sons despite the fact that you are a widower and he wasn’t? Why?”

James opened his mouth to retort, but Mom wasn’t finished.

“Why can’t you see Jacob not as Bethany’s killer, but as the last fruit of her love for you?” Mom asked.

Mom couldn’t have caused more pain if she’d stabbed him with a white-hot sword.

“I see him that way all too clearly!” he snapped. “And that is a key reason why I am so frustrated with him!”

There looked to be a bit of alarm on Mom’s face, but firmness returned in moments.

“Fruit needs to be cultivated carefully James,” she said, looking him in the eye. “Otherwise it could change from being something beneficial to something harmful. From something that can comfort and heal, to something that only causes more pain and suffering.”

Without giving him a chance to respond, Mom turned and left the room.