Previous installment: The Wheel: Part 5, What Comes Next?
Start at the beginning: The Wheel: Part 1, Jack Colby
Where we left off: Jack realized that no one knew about the accident yet. He called his friend Steve and his in-laws to deliver the news. Afterward, he struggles to explain to Justin where his mom and sister are.
Voiceover narration: Andrew Thomas
Art: Jenelle Thomas https://alovelygiraffe.com
The Game of Life
Later that morning, a Funeral Director from Reynolds-Jonkhoff Funeral Home called and let Jack know they had taken possession of the bodies. As of yet, they weren’t sure when he could come to see them, but they were ready to start making arrangements as soon as he was. Jack asked for at least another day. It would be much better, he said, if they could wait until his in-laws had arrived so he could focus on it without the distraction of his son. To his relief, the Director left it at this, no pressure.
Steve checked in again on his lunch break to see how Jack was doing. Jack reiterated that dinner would be helpful and requested a pizza.
“Pizza? I can get something better than that.” Steve said.
“No, just keep it easy. Justin will love it.”
“Ok, you got it. Should I come right after work, or when do you want me?”
Jack thought for a moment. The empty house was draining his spirit. “Just come right after,” he said, then quickly added, “If that works for you, of course?” He was doing his best not to sound desperate.
“One hundred percent. I’ll be there between four thirty and five.”
Jack had wandered into the dining area while on the phone, partially because he paced while talking and because he didn’t want to bother Justin, who was watching TV. As he ended the call, the heat streaming through the porch door made him realize it was probably time to shut up the house and turn the AC back on. He shut the door and turned around to find Justin sitting at the dinner table, playing with a Lego man. Jack frowned and listened to the sounds coming from the TV in the other room.
“You still watching TV?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
“Ok,” Jack said with a smile. “I’ll be right there.” He ruffled Justin’s hair, and as Justin slid off his chair and headed to the living room, Jack walked halfway down the hallway to the thermostat. He turned the AC back on and turned to find Justin looking at him from the end of the hall.
“What are you doing?” Justin asked.
“Just turning the air conditioning back on. It’s getting a little warm in here.”
They headed back to the couch together.
Steve must have been evaluating his mental state when he had called because not long after, people from work started to text offering condolences and assistance. Jack was thankful that they were only text messages; he wasn’t ready to talk to anyone else.
The only one who did call was his boss, Ryan. “I mean it; we’ve got everything covered. Don’t even waste any time thinking about it.”
“Yeah, ok. I don’t mind a text if—”
“No, not happening. Oh, and I’ll talk to HR. Make sure you get double the bereavement time.”
This, Jack had no problem agreeing to. He thanked Ryan profusely and ushered Justin back to the living room when the call ended.
Thad called around one to let Jack know they couldn’t stand the thought of him and Justin alone and grieving. The bags were almost packed, he said, and they would be in town by nine that night. Marcia would look for hotels during the drive from Akron, Ohio, and hope that the festival goers had left something for them. Jack said they could stay at the house, but Thad shut that down quickly.
“The last thing you need is us in your hair twenty-four-seven,” Thad said.
Jack had to agree with him. As much as he was looking forward to their arrival, he knew he needed his space as well. He told them to travel safely and left them to it.
Steve showed up at the appointed time with a pizza balanced in one hand and a twelve-pack of beer in the other. Jack realized Steve was the first familiar face he had seen since the accident the night before, and the look of cautious concern on his face when Jack opened the door wrecked him. After a long, tearful hug, Steve knelt and hugged Justin.
“Hey, chief, how are you doing?” He asked.
Justin said that he was okay and didn’t offer much more.
Steve smiled at him sadly and squeezed his shoulder. “You hungry?”
Justin nodded, so Steve fetched three paper plates, loaded them up, cracked two beers, and said, “How about we eat on the porch? It’s nice out.”
Jack agreed to the idea. In truth, he would have agreed to anything; he was just happy to have someone else calling the shots.
“What have you been filling your time with?” Steve asked as they stepped onto the porch.
“Hanging with Justin. Lowkey. A bunch of phone calls, it feels like.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Well, not that many, I guess. Sheila’s parents, the funeral home, Arnold’s Amusements—”
“Arnold’s?” Steve asked, mildly surprised.
“Yeah, wanted to offer their condolences.”
Steve looked back at him for a minute, pizza in hand. “Probably trying to head off a lawsuit.”
Jack let out a mirthless laugh. “God, I didn’t even think of that.”
“You going to sue?”
“I have no idea. Accidents happen, I guess.”
Steve quickly chewed and struggled to swallow a still-too-large bite of pizza. “I’d agree with you if the thing fell apart on the bottom and your girls were nursing nothing more than a few bruises and wounded pride right now.”
Jack set his plate down. Suddenly, he didn’t like the look of the marinara sauce. “Yeah, I guess I better add that to the list.”
Steve reached out and laid a hand on Jack’s shoulder. “I’m sorry. Let me know how I can help. I can look for lawyers or something.”
Steve ended up staying for a couple of hours, insistent that his wife, Karen, wasn’t expecting him home until Jack kicked him out. They worked their way through a handful of beers, and the conversation oscillated wildly between recalling funny memories of either Shiela or Megan and depressing questions such as what Jack was going to do with his daughter’s toys. They tried to keep some of the more morbid topics vague because no matter what they were doing, Justin wouldn’t leave the vicinity. This was starting to grate on Jack, but Steve saw it as an opportunity and jumped on it.
“Justin, bubby.” He said this as if he were Harry Ellis addressing Hans Gruber. “You wanna play a game or somethin’?”
“Okay,” Justin agreed.
“Whaddya got? Whaddya know?”
Jack smirked. Steve had the smooth-talking salesman schtick down.
“I don’t know,” was Justin’s reply.
“Bubby. Come on,” Steve said in mock exasperation.
“How about UNO?” Jack offered.
“Yeah!” Justin yelled.
The two men laughed, and Jack got up to find the cards. As he rounded the corner into the hall, he listened to Steve asking Justin what a seven-year-old does with all his free time. Jack opened up a closet on his right, which held the vacuum, extra toilet paper, and other necessary household items. One shelf was dedicated to games, and right in the middle was The Game of Life. It was an old version from his childhood, its box yellowing around the edges and held together by tape in a few places. Moisture hit his eyes almost immediately, but he did his best to keep it there and not let it spill down his face. Life had been Megan’s favorite game for months. He wasn’t sure she had even understood the rules; her only goal when they played was to get married and have kids—she wasn’t happy until her car was driving around full of blue and pink pegs. He didn’t want to make a tearful scene in front of Steve and Justin, so he stood there and let it happen. Quietly.
After a minute or two, Steve’s snarky salesman voice came around the corner.
“Jack, bubby! Didja fall in?”
Justin started laughing his small boy laugh almost immediately, and Steve joined him. Jack’s face contorted into a monstrous amalgamation of conflicting lines pressing against each other; small joy pushing to break through the overwhelming despair. He took a deep breath, wiped his tears away, grabbed the box of UNO cards, and threw the cards on the table as he stepped into the room.
Steve looked up, a wave of concern washing over him, and made to speak. Jack cut him off with a gesture across his throat before he could.
“Shuffle it and deal. I’ll be back in a minute,” Jack said
He turned into the hallway again and made for the kid’s bathroom—he was still avoiding his own while he could—and splashed cold water onto his face. When he returned a moment later, Steve was helping Justin organize his cards by color. He looked up at Jack.
“You good?”
Jack nodded and picked up his cards as he sat down. They played a few hands, two of which Justin won, and then it was time for Steve to head home. Jack thanked him profusely on the way to the door.
“Jack, it’s nothing. Whatever you need, man. I can’t imagine what I would be like if I had to deal with this.”
“Well, thanks, really,” Jack said
“You bet. Oh, and Christine is organizing a meal train at work, by the way. Almost forgot to tell you.”
“Oh gosh, you guys don’t have to do that.” Jack dropped his head and shook it ruefully.
“Jack,” Steve said with surprising force.
Jack looked up and saw that his friend was on the edge of tears himself, but his face was stern.
“Your wife and daughter died last night,” Steve began, “tragically. You have a son who, it seems to me, needs damn near one hundred percent of your attention right now. The last thing you need to spend any time on is what the fuck you are going to eat for dinner, okay? I know you have family coming to town. Shoot me their number and we’ll loop them in if that makes it easier, but please, we’ve got you.”
Jack exhaled, defeated. “Thanks, Steve. Tell everybody at work the same.”
“Will do,” Steve said, and after one last hug, Jack and Justin were alone again.
Marcia called an hour later. They had gotten stuck in construction and wouldn’t make it to town until closer to eleven. They had wanted to stop by the house first, but they said, and Jack agreed, that they should head straight to the hotel they were lucky to have secured.
As they brushed their teeth, Jack told Justin that Grandma and Grandpa would be coming over in the morning, which was the first he had heard of it, and they headed to bed with at least something to look forward to.
I love all your wife’s prints!
Still really enjoying this story. It’s so depressing and real 😭 you do such a great job of capturing real life
I’m glad Jack has a good friend 🥺