Mark Judah: Chosen

Chapter 6 Wichita, KS

                                  LIFE

          "Often we react, before we know the full story. This is foolish."
                              -KezTown
          
         "Life is a long lesson in humility."
                      -James M. Barrie

                     338 HOURS BEFORE
                           APOCALYPSE

    Mark Judah

    Once we arrived at my daughter's home, I walked them to the door. After a couple of knocks, Rachel, their mother, opened it.
    "Hey, mom!" After giving me a hug, and kiss, they hugged their mom, then
disappeared into the house.
    "Make sure y'all shower and brush your
teeth!" I yelled after them.
    "Sir, yes, sir!" They yelled in unity, without looking back.
    "Welp... Nice seeing you, again. Gotta go." I said to their mother, while turning around to leave.
    But...
    "Wait. We need to talk."
    "Don't tell me your pregnant, again?" I
said sarcastically.
    "Mark!"
    "Sorry. How've you been?"
    "Okay... How about you?" She said
nervously.
   Which worried me.
    "I'm tired, but besides that, I'm fine. What is it we need to talk about?"
    This is usually where the arguing started. She looked as if she were building up the
courage to tell me something drastic.
    "We're moving..." She spat out.
    "Moving? Into a bigger home, or?"
    "Not just houses..." She looked away from me as she said this.
    The way the light hit her face from this
angle, really brought out how beautiful she was. Being five foot six, one hundred twenty-five pounds, with long black hair. She was a real Latin beauty.
    "What are you saying, Rachel?"
    "To Mexico! We're moving to Mexico with my mom. You can come with us if you..."
    "Whose we?" I said with irritation.
    "The girls, and I. Who else?" She said
annoyed. "I'd like you to come with..."
    "Wait a minute. I don't get a say in this?
That's a pretty drastic decision you're
making."
    "Well, it's made!" The feistiness of her
Latin heritage showing. "Will you come with us, or not?"
    "I... I don't... Do our daughters know about this?"
    "I haven't told them, yet."
    "They're not going to want to leave."
    "I know. But, they'll have to deal with it."
    "Marian! Esther!" I yelled into the house.
    They came running.
    "Yes, dad?"
    "Tell them what you just told me."
    Rachel looked at me with fire in her eyes. Then, turned to our daughters, and told them plainly.
    "We're moving to Mexico next month."
    "Mexico? No! Why?" They whined.
    I looked at Rachel with an I told you so
face.
    "We're not going to talk about this, right now. Go shower."
    "Dad!" Marian looked at me pleadingly,
tears in her eyes. "We don't want to go to
Mexico."
    "Go take showers like your mother said. I'll talk to her."
    With tears in their eyes, faces held
low, they trudged to their room. Once they
were out of ear shot, I looked at Rachel.
    "Why all of a sudden, Rachel?"
    Rachel started bawling.
    "My mother's been diagnosed with cancer! She refuses to come here!" She exclaimed. "I won't let her fight this alone." She said heaving.
    Wow. I felt like a moron.
    "I... didn't know... I'm... I apologize for how I reacted." I reached out to put my hand on her shoulder. She pulled away.
    "Don't touch me."
    I stepped closer and continued reaching
out for her.
    "Rachel, im sorry."
    My hand made contact with her shoulder. This time she didn't pull away. So, I pulled her in, and held her. Rachel laid her head on my chest, and just cried.
    "I can't lose my mom." She whispered,
grabbing ahold of me.

    Thirty minutes later, we were sitting on the living room couch talking.
    "How are you feeling?" I asked.
    "Better, now."
    "When exactly do you plan on leaving?"
    "About... Four weeks, maybe less."
    "Okay." I said, thinking.
    "Will you come with us?"
    "Um, I'll go with you on the initial trip, but I won't be staying."
    "Why not!" Rachel exclaimed.
    "You know why. Let's not argue. I've
something I want to discuss with you."
    "What is it?" She replied, letting it go.
    "You know you aren't taking my daughters unless we come to some type of agreement."
    "What kind of agreement?"
    "My terms are they get to spend the
weekdays with you in Mexico. And, the
weekends with either me, my mom, or
Christina here in The States. They've friends, and family here they'll want to see. I'll also stop by when I'm not working to check on y'all."
    Rachel sat thinking for a while. I was about to repeat what I'd just said, when she responded.
    "You'll come check on us? How often?"
    "I'll do my best to make it down there every week. Until your mom beats this."
    "You promise?"
    "I give you my word."
    She thought it over. Eventually
agreeing. After we'd finished talking, we went to go convince our daughters of the matter.
   It went better than I thought it would. Once they realized their grandmother was
sick, and could die, they understood the
seriousness of the decision. I was proud of my daughters for being understanding
    We continued talking about Mexico, and
it's culture. Also, how it will be a good
experience for them. We talked about things we wanted to do in Mexico. We were really enjoying ourselves. It'd been a long time since it's been this way among us as a family.