Darla’s favorite newspaper lay disheveled on her lap, the edges crumpled where her hands had gripped too tight. On the front page were photos of Pamela in yet another scandal. She and Jenkins sat in silence at the breakfast table. He leaned forward, resting his chin on his clasped fists. Without blinking, he stared for several minutes at the crumpled newspaper.
Darla had reached her breaking point. In the few short weeks since Pamela had moved in, she had trashed the pool house by throwing a housewarming party for all her friends, she was photographed out drinking with a married actor, and she burned several holes into Darla’s favorite couch with her cigarettes. And now there was the most recent scandal: photos of her exiting a car in a short dress without underwear.
“I still don’t understand why you had her move in. You couldn’t mentor her from a distance?” Jenkins relaxed his posture as he took a sip of his coffee. A half-eaten croissant laid on his plate in front of him, and he mindlessly picked away at the edges, creating crumbs.
“I thought that maybe if she was away from her parents’ influence she would straighten up, act more appropriately.” Darla shrugged and placed her own coffee mug back on the table, then picked up the newspaper once more.
“It’s common knowledge that she is the poster child for the Hollywood nightlife. She has been the face of more scandals in the last few weeks than in the last few years. She isn’t getting better.” Jenkins furrowed his brows and peeled a large flake and tore it into smaller pieces.
“Would you please stop messing with your food? Those crumbs are going to be hard to clean up.” Darla lovingly scolded him, as he brushed the crumbs together in his hand.
“Sorry, this is just a lot for me to process. I leave for college to get a fresh start away from her wild ways only for her to move into our home and start smearing our name in the mud.” He finished brushing all the crumbs onto his plate and pushed it out of reach.
Darla steepled her fingers together and rested them against her mouth. “I have an idea on how to handle her.”
Jenkins, I have cancer, and I plan to switch with Pamela,Darla thought as she took a deep breath.
“Are you going to ask her to move out and put some distance between us?” He raised his eyebrows. A hint of a smile played on his lips.
“No, there is something I’ve been meaning to tell you, and I’m afraid I’m running out of time.” Darla watched as Jenkins’s face contorted into concern, and he leaned forward in anticipation.
“I have cancer.” Darla’s heart pounded in her chest. The words she had desperately wanted to say the past few months were finally out. “The doctors say I only have a few more good months before my health takes a drastic turn for the worst.”
“What are you saying? I don’t understand. Is there nothing the doctors can do?” Jenkins stood, and the chair legs scraped against the tile floor from the momentum. His voice grew louder as the questions kept coming. “How long have you known?”
“I found out in April. I wanted to tell you sooner, but we have been so focused on getting you ready for college.” Her voice dropped low at the end of her statement.
“College.” Jenkins huffed. “You knew if you told me, I would have stayed here with you.” Jenkins stiffened his posture, his shoulders scrunched towards his neck and his fists balled up next to his legs. His breathing came faster as he processed the news. “It would have prevented me from starting, putting me a year behind and possibly being dragged through the tabloids with Pamela.” His back relaxed as he considered all the information.
Darla hung her head low, ready for his wrath. She knew she deserved any angry outburst he would hurl at her. He crossed over and knelt down beside her, wrapped his long arms around her, and laid his head against her shoulder.
“Oh, Mom, you’ve been carrying this burden alone. How are you feeling?” He looked up into Darla’s eyes. The bright blue swirled with compassion and concern as he gazed at her.
“I’ve felt better.” She let a small chuckle out. “There’s something else I wanted to talk to you about, a few things actually.” She gently pushed him away and motioned for him to sit back in his seat.
“First things first, I drafted my will, and everything I own will go to you when I pass.” Jenkins’s eyes filled with tears, and he dropped his face into his hand, his fingers digging into his sockets to stop the tears from flowing. “Jenkins, look at me, it’s going to be okay.”
Jenkins released his clenched eyelids, and let the tears flow freely.
“How is this going to be okay? You tell me you’re dying, leaving everything to me, and that I have to say goodbye to you in a few months. How am I supposed to be okay?” Sobs tore through his words as his chest heaved with ragged breathing.
“There is something else I need to tell you.” Darla leaned forward, grabbing a napkin and handing it to him across the table. He took it and wiped his tear-soaked face. She waited for him to calm down before continuing. His breathing finally evened out and he sat still, looking at her expectantly.
Darla took a deep breath. “I have a gift where I can switch with people.”
Jenkins stared at her for a few moments. He gave a soft chuckle, and soon he was laughing uncontrollably with fresh tears streaking down his face. He allowed the laughter to continue until he finally composed himself.
“You’re joking with me right now.” Jenkins stood and leaned his hands on the back of his chair, boring his eyes into Darla’s. “Explain.”
Darla took a deep breath. “I don’t know how to explain it except when I feel the desire to switch places with someone, there is a kind of tether that looks like a fuzzy hand extending from me. As soon as the tether is within reach, and I make the decision, it happens in an instant.”
Darla started tearing up the napkin in front of her, a nervous habit she picked up over the last few months, the result of the anxiety of keeping the diagnosis from Jenkins.
Jenkins remained silent as Darla continued. “I don’t know where the gift came from. I considered looking into if there is a history of others with this ability.” She lowered her head. “But then, I chickened out, afraid that someone would find out.”
The napkin pieces piled on her lap as she continued to tear at them.How do I tell him that part of me was afraid of drawingattention to myself and losing the gift?She glanced up at him, his expression unreadable.Oh, Jenkins, what are you thinking?
“Prove it.” He stood back upright and crossed his arms across his chest.
