Sweet Treat

I haven’t stepped foot in my family’s manor since I was a teenager, I realize as my cabbie passes through the manor’s tall, heavy, gates. The path up to the manor is long, I forgot, although it’s long it’s beautiful, so I don’t mind it. The path is surrounded by vibrant American elm trees. As the cabbie drives closer and closer to the manor, memories of my childhood start rushing back. I remember when my little brother and I used to play hide and go seek, it was especially fun because we had so much space to hide. But then I remember the last time my little brother and I played hide and seek, I was 12 and he was 5. It was blizzarding that day, but we didn’t care. 

“Five, four, three, two, one! Ready or not here I come! This is gonna be so easy,” I say. He always hides in the same place, I skip down the path of the manor and stop at my little brother’s favorite tree, I don’t know why he likes this one so much because there are dozens of others just like it. I look behind the tree, “Boo!” I yell. I don’t hear his whiny voice respond, I look behind the tree, and no one’s there. I guess he’s finally learning how to play the game, I walk down the rest of the path of the manor and look for him but there’s no sign of him. I start to get worried, so I run back towards the house, maybe he’s hiding inside. “Woah slow down sweety,” Miss Brown one of our maids says. My nose is cold and my hands are numb but I still look around the house to find my little brother. He’s not in the house either. “Miss Brown!” I said tugging at her shirt, “I can’t find Jay! We were playing hide and seek so I looked for him at his favorite tree because he always hides there but I can’t find him!” I yell. My eyes well up with tears, and I can’t see anything. Miss Brown consoles me, puts on her jacket, and tucks her long red strands of hair underneath her winter hat. She takes my hand and the both of us look for Jay, we still can’t find him but then on our way back to the house we see something sticking out in the snow. It’s Jay’s hand we run over, and dig him out of the snow, his cheeks and nose are red, and his hands are blue. We run back to the house and the next thing I know mother is scolding me. She sends me to my bedroom, I ball my eyes out, and downstairs I hear my parents arguing, they weren’t even arguing about me, it was about Jay. 

As soon as I walk into the manor, someone takes my coat and, I’m offered chardonnay, “Good Evening,” I say. “Elizabeth darling! Come, come, you have to try Margaret’s cookies there to die for!” mother calls out. She seems happier than usual, nice in fact, I walk towards her and she hugs me tightly. She passes me one of Margaret’s cookies, hmm, they’re delicious. “Hmmm, oh wow, Mrs. Jackson, these are so delicious, you’ll have to send me the recipe,” I say to Mrs. Jackson as I hug her. I haven’t seen Mrs. Jackson since I was a teenager she looks good, her long, bouncy curls frame her face, her skin is smooth and glowy like warm honey. I have to ask her for her skincare routine. I try everyone’s cookies, there all pretty good, but have yet to top Mrs. Jackson’s. “Omg, look at my little brother, you look so handsome in your little suit, “ I say ruffling Jay’s hair. He makes a confused face and looks around and says, “Are you talking to me? You can’t be talking to me, you must have another brother because I ain’t little.” “Shut up,” I say and pull him into a hug. “Do you know what’s going on because it isn’t normal for mother to throw cookie exchange parties, she doesn’t even go to other people’s cookie exchange parties, she always has an excuse,” Jay asks me. “No idea, she seems happier and nicer than usual, don’t you think?” I ask him back. “Yea, it’s so strange, she must be plotting something,” Jay replies. I start laughing, and say struggling to hold it together, “Plot what exactly?” “I don’t know man but this whole party is suspicious,” he says with a concerned face. I try to reassure him that everything will be fine, and then leave him to go eat more cookies. 

A half-hour or so has passed and all the guests have arrived at the cookie exchange party, I hear the light clink of a glass. “Good evening everyone, I’d like your attention just for a few minutes,” mother announces atop the stairs. Everyone turns the attention towards her, she clears her throat and adjusts her dress, “I invited you all here this evening to make an announcement, my husband Jerome and I have been happily married for over 25 years, or at least I thought. There’s something about Jerome and I’s marriage that you all know, well when my sweet Elizabeth was 6 years old going on 7, her dad and some of his friends decided to go on a week-long fishing trip together. When he came back, little Lizzie was so excited to see her father, later that day I got a phone call from someone, it was Margaret, she was so distraught. I calmed her down, and then asked her what was the matter? She told me she was pregnant, but she didn’t want to get rid of the baby,” I look at Jay and he looks just as confused as me. Then I look at father and he looks uncomfortable, sweat trickles down his face, his face is twitching. Mother continues, “Now when Margaret had fallen pregnant she was still in college, and she didn’t want a baby to mess up her plans. So, I told her to take a year off from school, and you can stay here until you give birth to the baby, and when you have the baby I’ll raise it as my own.” I hear everyone whispering and gasping, I look over at Jay, and the story starts to make sense. “When Margaret gave birth, she gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, she named him Jayden or Jay for short,” mother says, everyone looks at Jay, and begin whispering and murmuring. “Now you may be wondering what does this have to do with my darling husband Jerome, well you know I didn’t have any intentions of throwing this cookie exchange party. I don’t particularly like parties, but last week I got a call from Margaret and she sounded like she needed to tell me something. Well she told me the father of Jay, Jerome, honestly I’m not even mad at Margaret, I respect her for telling me. Also, I knew Jerome was cheating on me, with multiple women but I didn’t want to say anything because I needed a perfect plan to get him back. Well as you all know Margaret is remarkable at baking, so we came up with the idea to put shit in Jerome’s cookies,” mother says. Everyone gasps, mother walks down the staircase and says, “Oh and as all you know already Jerome works for my father’s company, and honestly the only reason he has his job us because of me, he has no actual skills.” Mother walks towards father and tosses papers at him and says, “You’re fired, oh and I’m divorcing your ass, your stuff is all packed up in the master bedroom, and there’s a cab waiting for you outside.” A horn honks outside, and mother walks towards the front door and puts on her coat, and some shades. “Lizzie, Jay, Margaret, you coming,” she calls out. We all rush to her, “Everyone else, you can see yourselves out,” she says. 

We all sit in a limousine together, Jay stares at Margaret. Poor thing, I can’t believe father could do that to mother. “Jay, Lizzie, you’re all probably wondering where we’re going well, I’m going away for a while to live a little, the limo is driving to the airport, and then will take each of you back home. I don’t know what’s going to happen but  I want to see the world, it’s long overdue, maybe I’ll fall in love with a young handsome man in another country, who knows? I just want you kids to know that I’m sorry, I’m sorry for the way I treated you all when you were kids, and letting you both have to hear all those arguments your father and I had. I was in a bad place, but that’s no excuse, and I just hope that you two will forgive me, “ Mother finally says. Jay starts crying uncontrollably and hugs mother, I start crying too and hug her too, I beckon Mrs. Jackson to join in the hug. For the rest of the ride to the airport, we hold each other. 

At the airport, we hug mother again, and I say, “Mother I forgive you, we still have to heal our relationship when you come back, I love you so much.” We hug again and just like that she’s off.