Travenna State University

Chapter 10: Death

I got a text from my mom at 3:45 am, telling me to call her as soon as possible, it was an emergency. I didn't think it was serious at all so I called her at 3:50 to see what was wrong.
"Jacob honey." She answered in low, sad tone. "Yes mom?" I said, starting to get really concerned.
My mom was always joyful and I never heard her speak in such a sad tone.
"Jacob baby, I need you to sit down." I told her was. The phone got quiet for at least 20 seconds and I could hear my mom crying.
"Mom? Are you ok? Is it Dad?" I kept asking.
She kept crying and I began to get worried even more. "Mom, is dad ok?! I yelled at her. "Mom! Calm down!"
"Your father is dead Jacob..."
My mouth dropped and body began to shiver. The tears fell from my face like a waterfall. I felt sick to my stomach. I mumbled to myself, "This can't be real." I was hoping my mom was pulling my leg.
"Jacob, he died this morning from a heart attack. The ambulance just left baby." My mom said, still crying.
I cried like a child. I couldn't believe what was happening to me. I felt as if this was my fault. I haven't spoken to my father since the heated argument, the day I told him I pledged Rho. I knew my father hated me and was disappointed in me. I just wish I could tell him, "I'm sorry." I just wish this wasn't true. My mom and I stayed on the phone for hours. She told me that it will be alright and that she will call me back later on today with information on funeral arrangements in Atlanta. I didn't want to be at school right now.
 
I needed to go home and be with my family. I started to pack my bags to leave. I texted all my LBs to tell them the bad news. I even sent out a mass email to all my professors informing them that I won't be in attendance this or next week because of the death in my family. My mom sent me a text at 8:30 am telling me that my uncle Jeffery will be picking Zaveon and me up today. I wasn't cool with him riding with me back home, but I knew how important he was to my father
.
I sat in my dorm room all day waiting for uncle Jeffery to come. I walked outside of my dorm with my two bags to see Zaveon out front, waiting for uncle Jeffery as well. He walked over by me and hugged me. I was still mad at him. I even blamed him for my father hating me. If it wasn't for him telling my dad that I was pledging Rho Psi Psi. My father would at least died not hating and being disappointed in me. Zaveon indeed seemed sad and worried for me and he constantly kept asking me questions. It was just "yes" and "no" with me. To be honest, I didn't even want to talk to this dude right now. The more he talked, the angrier I became.
My uncle Jeffery texted me and Zaveon to inform us that he was coming through campus gates. Uncle Jeffery and my father were brothers. They weren't that close because my father and uncle Jeffery really didn't have much in common. My father was a hard core frat boy with the Alpha male persona. He was computer engineer and was always getting his hands dirty versus my uncle, Jeffery, who was over the top. Uncle Jeffery went to Yale and graduated in the top 3 of his class with a 4.0 GPA.
Uncle Jeffery was a very short, brown skinned man with wavy hair. He cared more about private jets and trips to Rome, Italy more than having a relationship with his own brother. Uncle Jeffery lived in Paris and only came down to the states once every 2 to 3 years. I haven't seen him since my sophomore year in high school. In many ways, I found him to be very selfish, but I understood why he couldn't be around. Uncle Jeffery was an editor for Male Vogue, giving him a busy schedule throughout the year.
It's just sad that he had to come home for bad news like this. Uncle Jeffery's new BMW 5 series pulled right up beside us.
"Hey! Hey! Hey y'all!" He said, pulling off his gold and black Ray Bans.

He got out the car hugging both Zaveon and me. "I missed y'all." He said smiling. Of course uncle Jeffery would come on campus with a V-neck, blue jeans and Louis Vuitton shoes on. As usual, he had a white woman with blonde hair dressed like a streetwalker in the passenger seat. It wouldn't surprise me if she was indeed a street walker. Uncle Jeffery just couldn't help himself when it came to the ladies. He would always bring a new one home every time he came to visit.
I can even remember when he came to visit the family for Christmas one time, bringing home a chick named "Cherry." She wasn't from the states and she had a British accent and she was extremely pretty.
"Hello, Jacob and Zaveon, I'm Beth. Your uncle has told me so much about you all." She said smiling.
Zaveon and I both replied with a simple "hello."
The ride to Atlanta was even longer with my uncle and his new "Becky" in the car. I had my headphones on while checking social media. Zaveon stayed to himself texting. The faster we got there, the faster this funeral and everything would be done with and the faster I could return to school and forget everything that ever happened. It took us a good 4 to 5 hours to get home. Uncle Jeffery and his side piece stayed in the house with my mom and sister, Alice. Zaveon even stayed in the house with us because his parent were in Berlin, stuck in the bad weather. They couldn't return home yet.
Zaveon stayed in my room. My mom treated him as if he was her own. I knew she could tell that we weren't as close as we used to be. For two straight days, we didn't even speak. I was just waiting til Saturday to bury my father and head back to school. My mom always knew when something was up so later on that evening she decided to have a family meeting aka dinner.
My mom, sister, Zaveon, uncle Jeffery, his girlfriend Beth and I sat at the table to eat the wonderful meal my mom prepared. The funeral was tomorrow and my mom always had a way of resolving family issues before major events. My mom went around the table asking each of us a question. I kept my answers short, "yes" or "no." I really wasn't in the mood for the drama. Zaveon acted as if he wasn't being fake and not responding to my text messages. I still blame him for everything in terms of my father saying that he hated me. I sat at the table listening to this dude tell lie after lie. Tonight proved that our friendship was truly over. I walked away from the table and went to my room.