“Mama, Mama!” Mara-Joy stormed through the house with Alan-Michael in her arms. Her eyes darted from one room to the next, searching for her mother.
Alan-Michael weighed heavily in her arms and she desperately wanted to put him down, but not until her mother saw them.
“Ohh! Mama!” she screeched.
“What is it?” A terrified voice came from her mother who charged down the stairs toward Mara-Joy’s cries. Jobeth’s heart raced rapidly in her slender chest, every fear ran through her head. She couldn’t get over her trepidation of the past. After all these years she still felt her comfortable life could be ripped away from her at any moment. Even after fourteen years of fairly uneventful bliss, Jobeth had lost too much in her life at a very young age to ever feel totally secure.
Entering the doorway Jobeth came face to face with Mara-Joy. She stopped dead in her tracks, her body numb with horror. Mara-Joy stood clutching Jobeth’s only living son in her arms. Both were covered in blood. Her heart jumped and she thought she might faint. She ran to Mara-Joy and snatched Alan-Michael from the young girl’s trembling arms and examined him quickly, searching for broken bones and punctured flesh. Alan-Michael cried loudly, confused by his mother’s frantic behavior.
“What happened?” she asked Mara-Joy, trembling and hugging Alan-Michael close to her throbbing heart. After a thorough examination, she couldn’t find anything wrong with her boy. It must be internal. Maybe he was bleeding to death from the inside!
“Oh, it was awful!” Mara-Joy cried as she wiped her nose. She reached out and caressed Alan-Michael’s damp head. “Joanna was being so nasty.” She paused for dramatic effect and continued when Jobeth’s full attention was focused on her.
“Mama, that girl was saying horrible things about you. Saying you don’t love her. When I told her to stop her ridiculous talk, she turned on me and knocked baby Mikey onto the ground. Just look at his poor knees!” She pointed to Alan-Michael’s bloody knees. It was becoming all too apparent to Jobeth that this was the sum source of blood covering her two children.
“They are scraped raw.” Mara-Joy began to sob. “And she said such mean, horrible things about you Mama.” Mara-Joy continued as she followed her mother into the washroom. Jobeth, relieved to know that Alan-Michael’s injuries were superficial, began to clean his wounds.
Alan-Michael continued to cry, his cuts stinging painfully as his mother rinsed them with disinfectant.
“Now, now, my sweet. It’s over with,” Jobeth cooed to her son. She reached for a damp face cloth resting on the rim of the sink and began to clean Alan-Michael’s tear-streaked face.
“But to hurt poor baby Mikey!” Mara-Joy continued, lifting her swollen face to her mother. Her blue eyes were puffy from crying, causing her eyes to stand out even more brightly from her flushed face.
“It’s just so terrible to take her anger out on him. He is just a baby after all.” Mara-Joy patted Alan-Michael’s shoulder. He shivered and let out a slobbery sigh.
“It’s all right Mara-Joy; I’ll have a talk with Joanna when she comes home. Stop crying dear.” Jobeth got up from doctoring Alan-Michael’s knee. It seemed his wounds were a lot less serious than Mara-Joy believed. Jobeth looked at her forlorn daughter and walked out of the washroom, only to return shortly with a fresh dress for Mara-Joy.
“But Mama, it hurts me to hear her say that you don’t love her like the rest of us,” Mara-Joy whined, taking the clean outfit and walking into the hallway to dress. It was a narrow hall, but she wanted to be near enough to speak to her mother. The room she shared with Joanna was down the corridor and she would have to yell at the top of her lungs for Jobeth to hear her.
“Well, I don’t understand that girl. She knows that isn’t the truth.” Jobeth shook her head, helping Alan-Michael to change into clean clothes. Joanna was a constant thorn in her side. The girl seemed to always be at odds with everyone. Jobeth didn’t know what to do with her anymore.
“I will write a note for you and baby Michael. After you have finished dressing, the both of you can return to school.”
“All right Mama, but if this keeps up I don’t know what I will do.”
Mara-Joy zipped up her dress. She walked back into the washroom and looked into the mirror, frowning at her puffy eyes. She turned the cold tap on and splashed water onto her face.
Jobeth placed a comforting hand on Mara-Joy’s back.
“Don’t worry, Mara-Joy. It won’t happen again,” Jobeth said, smiling into the mirror. It hurt Jobeth to see Mara-Joy so upset.
Anger filled her. Joanna was starting to really push it. Her behavior was getting out of control. This jealousy towards her sister had to come to an end. She pulled free the hair trapped in Mara-Joy’s collar, letting the curls tumble down her shoulders.
“Now get to school. I will deal with your sister later.”
Mara-Joy smiled brightly into the mirror, her sapphire eyes sparkling.
“I love you, Mama.” She turned and wrapped her arms around Jobeth’s waist.
“Oh my darling, I love you too,” Jobeth sighed, hugging Mara-Joy back.
“Me too!” Alan-Michael interrupted, sitting on the toilet. He jumped off, his knees forgotten, and ran over to Jobeth, seizing her leg in a bear hug. Jobeth bent down and untangled the child from her leg, lifting him up into her arms.
“Yes, you too.” She planted a kiss on his warm cheek. “You too, my precious little boy.” Mara-Joy grinned, leaning over Jobeth’s shoulder to peck a kiss on his other cheek, causing the boy to burst into giggles.
Chapter 25 —