Hasteful Holiday

Luke

“What do you mean, you ran away from home?”

“Sorry I never told you before. I just had to get it off my chest.”

“But, why? Who are they? At least I can call them to help.”

“No. They won’t.” he rasped, and then Jacob’s arms went limp. 

His friend, Luke, cried in despair. He looked around their apartment, frantically, looking for something to save his friend. But all he could see were pictures of them together, hands over one another. They had been best friends. Now they weren’t. 

Luke was furious. Jacob’s family had never been supportive of him and his dreams in teaching. They resented him, so he had run away, and Jacob had never heard from them again. Now Jacob had poisoned himself because he couldn’t handle it anymore.

Luke’s whole life for the past 3 years had been with Jacob. They were more than just friends. They were practically brothers. They even looked somewhat alike. Jacob had his whole life ahead of him. There were so many reasons why Jacob shouldn’t have died. 

Luke wanted revenge. 

Ryan

“Ryan, would you mind setting the table? I’m taking the turkey out of the oven.”

“Sure, mom.” Ryan sighed. Even though he was 22 years old, his mom still expected him to set the table. She was getting old and was probably going to pass soon. She never let the servants do the work, saying that it degraded her very responsibility as a mom. He just didn’t understand her sometimes. He shook his head and set the table, and headed to his room. 

The aroma of the turkey filled the house, which brought tears to Ryan’s eyes. He wished his older brother was still with them. The large Victorian house always felt so empty without Jacob, even though the last time he had seen his brother was 7 years ago, which was plenty of time to forget about him. 

He brushed that thought aside again. Jacob had run away because he had wanted to. It was his fault. No use in recalling him now. Still, he stuck his hand under his mattress and gingerly pulled out a picture of him and Jacob. He stroked the picture, trying to recall old memories. 

But just because his brother had left home didn’t mean that Ryan didn’t keep tabs on him. 

Luke

A few hundred miles away, Luke was scheming. He had no idea what to do, or how to avenge Jacob’s death. So for the first time, he looked through Jacob’s possessions to see if there was anything he could do. He came across a picture of Jacob’s house, with an address scribbled across the back. It was a large Victorian house, extremely large and likely worth millions. And it was a large inheritance. And then Luke had an idea.

Ryan

Ding dong.

When the bell rang, Ryan was startled. They weren’t expecting anybody. Nevertheless, he opened the door, and dropped the plate he was holding. It was Jacob.

Luke

Luke’s eyes darted around the house, and he zeroed in on Ryan. “Hi Ryan. I’ve missed you.” and then he held out his arms for a quick embrace. Ryan squeezed him, and Ryan whispered, “I knew you’d come back.” Luke felt a slash of guilt. Jacob never mentioned going back to his home. At least the disguise had worked. Spending those few hundred dollars at the salon had been worth it.

Ryan

Ryan was so happy. His brother was home! It felt like he was complete. 

But he knew that he’d be the only one happy that his brother was home. Their parents would not welcome Jacob with the same warm welcome as he had.

Mom! Dad! Look who’s here!

His mother and father walked to the foyer, confused on who would be visiting. When they saw Jacob, they turned around and walked away. The y whispered to each other, and called over their shoulders, “Let him come in if he wants to. We will not be welcoming him. Ryan turned to Jacob. “I’m so sorry.”

Jacob held up his hand and went inside. 

Luke

Luke had been expecting that type of welcome from Jacob's parents as he walked in. His plan was it was simple; all he had to do was just poison Jacob’ s mother's and father's food. Then he had to demand the inheritance. He knew that Ryan would give in-he was too softhearted.

So he ignored Ryan, who had been pestering him and brushed him off saying that he wanted to see the house where he had spent his childhood memories.

Luke knew that he’d be caught if Ryan tried to recall old memories of them both together as children. Ryan would definitely know that none of Jacob's memories were shared with Luke. Most importantly, Luke needed to find a way to sneak some poison into the food. The bottle weighed heavy in his coat pocket.

Ryan had left him alone for now, and Luke was glad. He could not talk to Ryan in fear of being caught. 

After some time, Ryan called for Luke. “Luke, come on down for dinner!”

Luke was upset he hadn't found the right time to sneak the poison into the food. There had always been somebody near the food, weather that had been a servant, Jacob's mom, his dad, or Ryan. So he tried one last time, and sneaked into the kitchen. It was a large room with gleaming countertops and lights, with the turkey sitting at the middle of the island, ready to be served. He opened the poison bottle and hesitated. He felt kind of guilty doing this to Jacob's parents, but he had to serve Justice. So he opened up the lethal poison bottle and poured it into a turkey.

A few minutes later he sat at the table with all the food. Ryan sat the closest to him while Jacob's parents did their best to stay away from him. They weren't ready to talk to him yet. Luke didn't want to talk either as he was too afraid of being caught. He needed a little more time.

Turkey was served on their plates. Luke glanced at Ryan's plate, where he had taken a large serving of turkey, most likely full of poison. Luke hesitated and thought about it for another 10 seconds, and then knocked Ryan's plate off the table. It landed in a clash on the floor.

Ryan

Ryna didn’t understand why Jacob had done that. It obviously looked like it had been done on purpose. Did Jacob have some grudge? But before he could ask why his brother had done that, Jacob started talking.

Luke

Luke wanted to give one final touch before Jacob’s parents’ last breaths.”Mom, dad, do you ever think about where I am, or what I'm doing, or do you even care about me?” His parents looked at him, halting the piece of turkey that was about to touch their lips.

“No” said his father gravely. But even as he said that his eyes were filled with tears. Choking back his tears, he said, “Son we've always cared about you. We had a small disagreement. We visited you so many times but you never opened up to us. We love you, and will always will.”

Luke was surprised about what had just happened, and was becoming perplexed. Was it Jacob’s fault all these days or his parents’ fault?

He wanted to get his facts straight.

“Mom…” He looked up in horror as Jacob’s dad set down his fork and started chewing his turkey. Luke reached out for his father’s thoat, trying to force the food out. But it was too late; his dad had swallowed. 

Jacob’s father started coughing, along with his wife. 

They held their throats, clawing at them. 

“Ryan, help!”

Ryan frantically rushed to call the hospital, and Luke frantically tried to do something. What had been going on in his head while he had planned this? He held their heads, just like he had for Jacob earlier. 

He then felt Jacob’s father’s hands around his wrist. And then, with his last breath, he rasped, “I love you, son.” and then went limp, along with his wife.

Jacob bent his head as the tears started streaming down his face, just as if he had lost his own parents. It had all been in haste.