The Death Bed

  “Do you want me to go ahead and pick up Grandpa?” Julia asked after getting her father’s attention.

  “I don’t think he’s going to be able to come this year,” Peter answered. He leaned over to get charcoal out of the bag, turning his back to his daughter.

  “Why not?”

  “I don’t think he’ll be able to get out of bed. You know he hasn’t walked in quite some time. Besides, I’m sure they’re going to fix a good Thanksgiving meal down at the nursing home for him, and we can go visit in the evening.”

  “But if he could come you would want him to, right?”

  “Of course I would. I just don’t think he’ll be able to.”

  “I’m going to go ahead and drive down and see if he feels up to it then,” Julia said, and ducked back into the backdoor of the house, which she had left open, before her father could reply.

  “Where’s Julia going?” Hannah asked when Peter walked into the kitchen.

  “To get my father.”

  “I thought your father wasn’t going to be coming over this year.”

  “So did I.”

  “Well there’s hardly enough room at the table as it is with Luke and Debra and all the food.”

  I know,” Peter responded. “We’re going to have to add a leaf to the table.

  “Which means it’s going to have to be completely reset,” Hannah moaned, as if the inconvenience had ruined the entire day.

  “I’ll have Thomas do it. Hey Thomas come here,” Peter called down the hall.

  * * *

  When Julia walked into Grace Assisted Living Center she was glad to see Susan working behind the counter.

  “You’re working on Thanksgiving?” she asked.

  “It pays time and a half and it’s only half a day. I get off in about twenty minutes.”

  “And then you’re still going to be able to eat Thanksgiving dinner with your family,” Julia said, relieved for her acquaintance.

  “Not exactly. My family lives on the east coast.”

  “So what are you doing for Thanksgiving.”

  Susan hesitated as if she had to think about how to answer the question tactfully.

  “I don’t really have any plans for the day. I am going out to a coffee shop with a friend in the evening so we can eat pecan pie. It wouldn’t be thanksgiving without pecan pie.”

  “Mom’s got ours in the oven now,” Julia blurted out.

  “Are you coming to pick up Abraham?” Susan asked, changing the subject.

  “Yeah, I better go see if he’s up to it,” Julia said and left the counter.

  When she got to Abraham’s room the door was slightly ajar, so she walked in without knocking. Abraham’s head was turned so that he was facing the wall and he seemed to be sleeping.

  “Grandpa?” Julia spoke softly. He didn’t respond.

  “Grandpa?” she said again a little louder.”

  “What’re you doin’ here?” the old man said turning to face Julia.

  “I was just stopping by to see if you felt up to coming to the house for Thanksgiving.”

  “I appreciate you comin’ by all the time ta visit, but it’s not normal fer a girl your age ta be spendin’ so much time with her old invalid grandfather,” Abraham said.

  “Well, maybe it should be.”

  “I figured you’d completely forgotten ‘bout me.”

  “Of course not. Dad said he’d love to have you if you felt up to it,” Julia said innocently.

  “He didn’t figure I’d feel up ta it did he,” Abraham asked.

  “No, I don’t think he did.”

  “Well I’ll take any excuse ta get out a’ this place,” Abraham answered and began the slow process of sitting up and freeing himself from the wires that the doctors had connected to every part of his body. Julia helped him to his feet and out the door. As the two of them made their way down the hallway, she noticed that he was walking much better than he had before, but still struggled staying on his feet.

  “Why don’t you sit down here,” she suggested to him when they got to the lobby. Abraham didn’t object and took a seat in one of the chairs that lined the side of the wall.

  “You’re getting off work now in just a little while right?” Julia asked Susan who was sitting at the counter with her head resting in the palm of her right hand.

  “Seventeen more minutes.”

  “Do you mind if I use the phone to make a quick call?” Julia asked innocently.

  “Of course you can,” Susan said, and moved the phone over so that Julia could dial. “Who’re you calling?” she asked, before Julia put the phone to her ear.

  Julia didn’t answer but held up her index finger to indicate that she was distracted.

  “Hello,” she said.

  “Julia?” It was Thomas’s voice on the other end of the phone. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing’s wrong I was just calling to tell Mom and Dad that a friend of mine’s going to be joining us for dinner.”

  “Dad’s out back smoking the Turkey. You want me to go get him?”

  “No, don’t bother him. Just set out two extra plates.”

  “Is Grandpa coming too?”

  “Yeah he says he’s up to it.”

  “Alright, I’ll let them know,” Thomas said. He obviously didn’t relish his role of messenger.

  “We’ll be there soon,” Julia said and hung up the phone.

  “We can just wait here in the lobby until you get off,” Julia said to Susan as she pushed the phone back toward the receptionist.

  “I couldn’t intrude like that,” Susan began.

  “It’s already taken care of, and there’s more than enough food. The leftovers are going to go bad in the refrigerator in a week.”

  “But imposing on your family,” Susan began.

  “They’ll love to have you. Besides, they’re already setting you a place at the table. And for everything you do here for our family one meal really isn’t enough.”

  Abraham had been watching as the events transpired, and was so pleased with his granddaughter’s brash shrewdness, and Susie’s dumbfounded expression, that he let out a low chuckle that mingled with his coughing, but came out distinctly enough that Julia recognized it as laughter.

  “Okay,” Susan conceded. “Thanks. Thanks a lot.”

  * * *

  “I’m going to be a magician when I grow up!” Lewis told his mother.

  “I don’t think you really want to be a magician,” Hannah said.

  “Yes I do. I want to be a magician like Uncle Luke. He says that’d be a great job because you get to make people happy all the time.”

  Luke was packing the props used in his magic tricks into his little black briefcase; Hannah shot him a dirty look.

  “Your Uncle Luke isn’t a magician,” Hannah objected.

  “Yes he is.”

  “Maybe he’s a magician but that’s not his job. It’s something he does on the side.”

  “Well I want to be a magician for my job,” Lewis stated emphatically.

  “So you’re going to be a magician huh?” Peter asked as he walked into the kitchen. “You know what I wanted to be when I was little?”

  “A telecommunications person,” Lewis answered.

  “Nope.”

  “Then what did you want to be?”

  “A clown.”

  Lewis giggled.

  “You couldn’t be a clown, dad. They have big goofy hair and bright clothes and are always acting goofy.”

  “I could put on a wig and buy new clothes,” Peter countered.

  “But you’re not silly.”

  “I’d have to pretend to be silly then.”

  “Clowns don’t pretend to be silly. They just are,” Lewis said.

  “You’re right son; I guess that’s why I became a telecommunications person. But I only wanted to be a clown for a year or so, and then I wanted to be a pirate, and after that I wanted to be a policeman. So if you still want to be a magician when you
grow up that’s fine with us.” Peter nudged his wife and she nodded her head having been coerced into agreement.

  “Hey Dad,” Thomas called. “I just got off the phone with Julia and she said that one of her friends is going to come over and that we should set another place on the table.” Thomas disappeared into the dining room carrying a plate and some silverware. Peter and Hannah looked at each other helplessly. There was no point in objecting or questioning since the matter seemed to have been settled without them.

  “Lewis will have changed his mind by next week,” Peter whispered into Hannah’s ear, hoping to set her mind at ease.

  “I know. I just don’t think we should be encouraging him like that.”

  “It’s good for the boy to have dreams while he’s young and can still think of life so simply. Trust me. He’ll outgrow all that boyish dreaming sooner than you would like.”

  Hannah didn’t respond. Peter assumed that she was thinking about the fact that they had overlooked discussing the details around the custody of Lewis when they separated. Peter could tell that she was on edge but neither of them acknowledged the situation, and the festive mood was preserved until the smoke detector went off. Hannah got a stool so she could take the battery out, while Debra covered her ears. Peter ducked out of the kitchen and busied himself with preparations.

  “What was that?” Luke hollered from the living room.

  “The vegetables. We’re frying them, and the smoke set off the detector. Nothing to worry about,” Hannah yelled in response.

  * * *

  Julia drove down the interstate with Abraham sitting next to her in the passenger seat and Susan behind him. She couldn’t help shuddering when she passed a stretch of road that recent events had made far too familiar. She remembered the knife that had slid beneath her car seat, and she reasoned that the serrated blade was still directly beneath her, but she didn’t see it. If she didn’t see it, she couldn’t know for sure that it was there. Maybe someone had snuck into her car and taken it out. The thought was completely irrational, but Julia held to the belief that the knife was gone, and she resolved never to look under the car seat again. And, because of everything else that she’d been through recently, she felt that she had the right to overlook her faulty logic.

  “What’s the matter?” Susan asked from the back seat.

  “What’s the matter with what?” Julia responded.

  “You just shuddered.”

  “It’s nothing. I was just shivering because it’s a little chilly.” Julia reached forward to turn up the car’s heater, but it was already turned up all the way.

  “You’ve got that heater on full blast; it’s like a furnace in here. There aint no way you were shiverin’,” Abraham said boldly.

  Looking in the rearview mirror Julia could see that Susan was amused at the old man’s tenacity towards her.

  “So what’s the real reason?” Abraham continued.

  “I’ve had a bad experience in that spot by the road,” Julia said shortly.

  “Like what?” Abraham asked.

  “I don’t really want to talk about it right now.”

  “I can respect that.”

  * * *

  When Julia got back to the house, the bulk of the preparation was over, and the chaos had calmed down into polite civility while the family waited on the last of the food to finish cooking. The turkey was being smoked out back, pies were in the oven and Uncle Luke was entertaining the family with stories about his skiing misadventures. Julia helped Abraham into the living room and he sat down on the couch next to Hannah, who scooted over to make room for him even though it pushed her closer to her brother-in-law.

  “Who’s your friend?” Peter asked, looking at Susan who stood sheepishly in the entryway.

  “Everyone, I want you to meet Susan,” Julia said.

  Susan stepped forward and said hello.

  “Sit down, sit down,” Thomas insisted, getting up from the rocking chair.

  “Thanks,” Susan said taking the seat. Julia sat next to her father across the room, and Thomas came back into the room carrying a chair for himself, which he set down next to Susan.

  “So what do you do for a living?” Hannah asked when everyone had settled into their seats, not giving Luke the opportunity to resume his story.

  “I’m a receptionist,” Susan said politely.

  “That’s interesting. Where do you work?” Thomas asked. She couldn’t be more than a few years older than him.

  “Actually I work at Grace Assisted Living Center,” she said, turning to face Thomas who was sitting up straight in his chair instead of slouching down like he usually did.

  “I knew I’d seen you before,” Hannah stated, and Peter echoed the sentiment. The family seemed pleased to find that she knew Abraham, and then the conversation turned back to Luke’s skiing accident last March. When the phone rang Hannah was quick to get up and answer it.

  “How long have you guys been married now?” Luke asked, stopping his story so that Hannah wouldn’t miss any details.

  “A little over 25 years now,” Peter answered.

  “25 years and four kids later and she’s still a catch. You’re really lucky, you know that.”

  “Thanks,” Peter said sheepishly.

  Susan fidgeted in her chair and shook her head a bit so that her blonde hair fell down and partially covered her face.

  “Your anniversary’s coming up in February right?” Luke continued.

  “That’s right,” Peter said.

  Hannah walked into the room carrying the cordless phone.

  “It’s David,” she said handing the phone to Peter who got up and walked to the back corner of the living room.

  “That’s my older brother,” Thomas explained to Susan. “He’s in the military.”

  “That’s great son,” Peter said from across the room. He looked out at the living room and announced, “David’s going to get promoted.” A pleased murmur ran through the living room before Luke seized the floor.

  “So what’s new Dad?” he said to Abraham enunciating his words.

  “I got one of those fancy new hearing aids so I can understand what’s bein’ said ‘round me,” Abraham answered.

  “That’s great,” Luke said with the same deliberate enunciation as before. “Anything else?”

  “No. That’s ‘bout it.”

  “That’s nice,” Luke answered.

  Peter finished talking to David and asked Thomas if he wanted to talk to his brother. Thomas got up and took the receiver.

  “So you work at Grace?” Peter asked Susan as he sat back down next to Julia.

  “Yes,” Susan answered. The rocking chair squeaked as she shifted her weight in it.

  “I thought you looked familiar when you came in,” Peter said. “I must have seen you once or twice at the receptionist’s desk when I came to visit.”

  “That must be it,” Susan said then added, “Luke right? How did that skiing story end up?”

  Hannah pressed her lips tight and exhaled a little louder than she had intended. Luke continued with the story of his exploit.

  “Julia, you’re up,” Thomas said stepping back into the circle of people. He took his seat next to Susan. “So what do you think,” he asked her motioning around the living room.

  “It’s really nice. You’re family has good taste,” she said politely.

  “Yeah, I kind of miss this house sometimes,” Thomas said.

  “You don’t live here?” Susan asked.

  “No, I’m in college. I’m studying Philosophy,” Thomas said proudly.

  “Not exactly as practical as engineering or business,” Susan said sarcastically.

  “It might not be practical for earning more money, but I picked it because I want to understand how the world really works, not just natural and economic laws, but how the universe really operates and what people are really like.”

  “What do you want to do with your degree?” Susan asked.

 
“I’m not exactly sure yet, but I’m going to work to make the world a better place. I’ve got to understand it before I can try to make it better.”

  It was the first time in quite a while that Thomas had recited the worn out diatribe he’d developed in high school. Enough time had elapsed and enough had changed that those once familiar words sounded foreign to him as they came out of his mouth.

  “That sounds very ambitious.”

  Julia stepped back into the living room, holding the telephone in one hand. “Where’s Lewis?” she asked. Nobody seemed to have noticed that Lewis wasn’t present.

  “I think he’s in his room,” Thomas suggested, and Julia disappeared down the hallway. When she got back to the living room Peter got up to check the Turkey. A moment later his voice came from the opened back door, “The turkey’s ready. Let’s eat.”

  Abraham had almost fallen asleep on the couch, but with Thomas’s help he too made his way into the dining room and sat down at the head of the table.

  “Relax,” Julia said to Susan as she sat down next to her. “Everybody loves you; you don’t need to be so on edge.”

  “It’s not that,” Susan said. “I think that, well, no, I’m fine. I can be a little nervous around new people sometimes, that’s all.”

  “Well make yourself at home and loosen up a little,” Julia insisted.

  The table was set with what was left of the china that Peter and Hannah had received at their wedding. Despite 25 years and four children they still had enough unbroken plates for everyone. The tablecloth was spread out across the old table, but with two extra leaves added in, the square cloth wasn’t large enough to cover it, and the old unfinished wood peaked out from the table’s rounded edges.

  Hannah tried to ignore her table’s shortcomings, and ducked out of the room while everyone else settled into their seats and began passing dishes back and forth. She found Lewis in his bedroom talking on the phone.

  “Tell him I want to talk to him again when you’re done,” she said to her youngest son.

  “Mom wants to say something,” Lewis said into the phone and then handed it to his mother.

  “Go on into the dining room because dinner’s ready,” Hannah told him. She waited for Lewis to leave before raising the phone to her ear.

  Peter brought the turkey into the dining room and set it down in the center of the table next to the candleholders and the construction paper turkey centerpiece that Lewis had made the year before as a school project. Plates filled up with mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, creamed corn, and yams, and when Hannah emerged from the hallway the conversation turned to David. Everyone who had talked to him recounted their part of the conversation and those who hadn’t listened patiently. Little by little the family pieced together what the missing son’s life had been like over the past several months.