Marie had never welcomed any man Helena, Jacob's older sister dated. When at one time, Helena was truly in love and very serious to marry a man her age, Marie, the crazy mother slapped her in the face in front of her date and grounded her at age twenty three for an entire month. Why did Helena accept these humiliations? Within years, her mother's abuse had affected her so much and had made her personality so weak for being put down, that she never learned how to defend herself. Her brother, Jacob, then, was the favorite, and their father, Max, never had the guts to say anything to his wife or come to his children's defense. Helena was a weak and timid person, she had no self worth, since if one's mother constantly tell you that "I wish you were never born", or "you're a useless, stupid, ugly girl", and many other nasty things, Helena did not even know that she can get away, get a job. Poor girl was trying so hard to keep harmony at an inharmonious home. When Jacob left for college, which at the beginning Marie and Max were paying for it until he shortened his last name, He asked his sister to leave with him.
"I take care of you. You can get a job, we get a place together. May be you can finally get your high school diploma." Jacob meant what he had said to her sister at that time. He knew of the abuse that her sister was tolerating.
Helena did not leave with Jacob. She stayed and became corrupt. She realized the only way to survive her mother's psycho attitude was becoming crooked. Max did not think his wife was crazy. Nobody could tell him that. He always defended her no matter what the circumstances were. Helena began manipulating everyone in her own way. She never finished school, she had learned no skill to work and support herself. She finally became a toy in the hand of her crazed mother.
But one day at age twenty eight, she left home, but not without money. She had known about the small treasure her mother had. Marie had been hiding money for many years in a small Locked box. Helena had found out about it by accident. At that time, she was seeing this forty years old man, whom she had met a few months before. This man was also was a wicked man. He manipulated and encouraged Helena to run away from home with him. He knew about the treasure of Helena's mother. Helena had told him everything about her life and mother. This depraved man gave Helena what she wanted so much from her family, love, care, and understanding. But poor Helena had never learned to recognize these kind of damnable people since she was raised by a nefarious mother. She took the treasure box of her mother without knowing how much money was there since she could not find the key to the lock and left home from one debauchery to another. There was more than thirty thousand dollars in the box when they broke the lock. Of course the money was gone in less than a few months for drugs. The man was done with her. She could not go back home. She knew police was looking for her. A few times she thought about contacting Jacob who was in Dallas then, but she was afraid he might betray her, too. By then, she was so addicted to drugs that for getting them she ended up prostituting. However the tragedy happened six months later from the time she had left home, when Police found her dead in the street. She had beaten up very badly. The toxicology showed she was also high in cocaine. And the most depressing of all she was also pregnant. When the police called Max, their father about Helena, Marie did not even go to see her daughter for the last time. She kept complaining about her stolen money. They even did not call Jacob to tell him about his sister. Max, all alone, buried his daughter, and cried his heart out in the absence of Marie at her gravesite.
After the death of his mother, Jacob spoke vehemently to Diana about his life and his sister's life. Before then, he had never spoken about his sister to his wife, as if he was ashamed of her. There was this tormenting apparition in his words and eyes. In his discourse, he passed from reason into a raging frenzy. He told his wife of how intelligent his sister was if she had a chance. However the climax of all these mental battle came when his father passed only two years ago. He was still living in the family home in Levittown, Pennsylvania. He had refused to sell the house and move to Dallas to be close to Jacob and his family. Up to the end, he was faithful to Marie, his wife. He was buried next to her. In the four years period between the death of Marie and him, Diana and Jacob and their little girl visited him once a year at Christmas time.
His death, by all means, was a peaceful one. He was eighty one and had bladder cancer; but it was a fatal heart attack that took his life in his sleep. His vision always created a vivid image in Jacob's mind. The memory of his father and the strange love he had for his mother stayed with Jacob forever. Nevertheless, there was another part to this vivacious exuberance- anger, which he never spoke about it to Diana. He was bitter at his father's weakness for putting up and going along with his mother's maniacal bearing. Jacob blamed himself somewhat for his sister's unfortunate life
All these, now, he wanted to portray in this book, his seventh one. The reason he had such a hard time to put all these in words was the pain and the fear. He was afraid he was writing another autobiography.
~*
To Be Continued
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