Jacob had a point about one thing: Arnold and I were both still in good health. I'd always been mindful about staying fit, so having a second child really wasn't out of the question.
We'd actually considered it ten years ago. Back then, we'd sat Jacob down and seriously asked for his opinion. He was only ten at the time, and he'd said he didn't want a little sister or brother. So we'd scrapped the plan.
We just never expected that six months of college would be enough to turn him into a completely different person.
I picked up my phone. The screen was flooded with messages from Jacob:
"Mom, I know I was wrong. I really don't have any money left. My girlfriend and I can barely afford to eat."
"My girlfriend's family is really messed up. They favor her brother over her and won't give her a cent. I had no choice but to ask you and Dad for money."
"I'm sorry for the way I talked to you and Dad when I asked for money. I got too heated. I'm sorry, Mom."
Reading those last few lines, my heart softened instantly.
I showed the messages to Arnold. "See? Jacob knows he was wrong."
The words had barely left my mouth when a friend request popped up on my screen. The note read: Hi, ma'am. I'm Jacob's girlfriend. I accepted it immediately.
Remembering what Jacob had said about the girl's family situation, I felt a pang of sympathy. I'd escaped that kind of household myself, the kind where daughters were treated as less than sons. It wasn't until I met Arnold that my life finally started turning around.
I was just about to ask the girl if she needed any help when her messages started rolling in, one after another:
"Ma'am, you and your husband are still so young. Why did you quit your jobs and stop working? My parents live out in the country and they still raise chickens and ducks just to help support my brother!"
"You two are perfectly capable of earning money. You should be working hard and saving up a marriage fund for Jacob. How can you justify going on vacations? Spending $20,000 in one trip? That's Jacob's money! What do you two old folks even need to spend money on? $500 a month for living expenses is more than enough. You should be picking up extra work in your spare time. Jacob already promised me: my family wants a $750,000 bride price, plus a house in Manhattan for my brother."
Reading those words was like a bolt of lightning striking my brain.
Now I finally understood why my once sweet, obedient son had turned into this.
I was shaking with rage. Arnold took the phone from my trembling hands, and the moment he read the messages, his face went dark as a thundercloud. He blocked the girl without a word, then fired off a message to Jacob:
"Jacob James, I'm telling you right now: you break up with that girl immediately. If you stay with her, don't blame me when I cut off every last cent of your allowance!"
Jacob called back within seconds.
"Why should I? Candice Henson didn't say anything wrong! Your money is my money anyway! I'll do whatever I want with it! You used to give me everything I asked for. Why is it suddenly a problem when I ask for a little cash?"
"Enough, Jacob! You've gone way too far these past few days! I'm freezing your card right now so you learn who's in charge. You break up with that girl, or don't come crying to me when I take my belt to your hide!"
After hanging up, Arnold was still seething. He blocked Jacob on every platform and app he could find.
I sat there, replaying the last eighteen years of raising Jacob in my head. We'd given him a comfortable life. Maybe not extravagant, but solidly middle-class. When he wanted guitar lessons, we paid for them. When he wanted music classes, we supported him without question. We'd never let him suffer a single hardship. So why? How had we raised such an ungrateful wretch?
Over the next few days, our trip was all but ruined. With everything that ungrateful boy had put us through, neither Arnold nor I had much heart left for sightseeing.
