Big G

Big G

A short story written by:

Denora M. Boone

Jillian Day sat in the middle of her small living room on her phone. To be only twenty-one, Jillian’s appearance looked of a woman who was tired of life instead of the normal college girl who was living her best life. There was nothing left in her to give as it was and the woman on the other end of the phone was driving the nail into her coffin. All she could do was look over at the small table that sat nearby which housed a picture of her mother, little brother Judah, and herself at the beach. It was one of the last pictures that they had had the pleasure of taking with Nairobi before she had succumbed to breast cancer two years ago. She quickly looked away before the tears that were threatening to fall could do so. She needed to be strong but at the moment she had no idea how to.

“Ma’am please! All I need is just a few more days to get the money. I can’t have my little brother out on the streets. He’s only eight. Please just give me a little more time,” Jillian’s voice cracked before she stopped talking. Had she continued, there was no doubt that she would have broken down.

“I’m sorry. I wish there was something that I could do, but you are behind almost six months on your home. If we don’t receive a payment in the next three days, we will have no choice but to start the foreclosure process,” the woman on the other end told Jillian.

“Isn’t there some grace period that you provide?”

“You’ve exceeded any grace period.”

Jillian sighed before she responded, “I understand.”

Jillian ended the call and walked over to the couch. She grabbed the picture and sat down with it in her hand. The tears that she fought to keep at bay ran down her face as she cried from the bottom of her soul.

“Mommy why did you have to leave us like this? I’m doing all I can, but it’s not enough. I can barely take care of myself, but I know Juju needs me.”

Jillian had cried all of the tears that she could cry just as she heard the jingle of keys in the front door. She quickly wiped her face and put the picture back in its place right as her little brother, Judah bounced into the house.

Happy, carefree and the spitting image of Jillian, Judah was the one who kept her going when she felt like giving up. But after the phone call she had just had, Jillian wasn’t sure if he would be enough to keep her going anymore.

Stuck in her thoughts, Jillian didn’t realize that Judah was staring at her. No matter how young he was, that little boy could read anyone based on their body language.

“Hey, Juju! How was school?” Jillian asked with a forced smile on her face.

“Why are you crying?” he asked ignoring her question.

Jillian cleared her throat and struggled again to fight back more tears.

“I’m fine Ju. It’s just my allergies that’s all. They have been giving me trouble all day.”

Judah slowly removed his backpack and sat it on the floor beside the couch never once taking his eyes off of his big sister. Jillian did her best to avoid his eyes but he was making it hard.

Jillian stood and walked towards the kitchen with Judah following close behind her.

“You hungry? I need to go grocery shopping, but I’m sure I can whip something up for you.”

“No.”

“Um, ok. Well do you have any homework?” Jillian asked with her back to him.

“It’s Friday. We don’t get homework on the weekends.”

Judah slowly moved closer to Jillian while trying to observe her. Jillian quickly turned around and was startled seeing him so close.

“You a ninja now? Sneaking up on me.” Jillian laughed uneasily but Judah remained stone faced.

“You know, when Mommy got sick you told me that your allergies were bothering you then too.”

Jillian took a good look at Judah and sighed. She grabbed his hand and walked with him back into the living room and sat on the couch. She didn’t know how to explain to him what was going on with his being so young but she did know that he wasn’t going to let up on her until she did.

“You got me. I was crying.”

“You miss mommy too?”

He looks over at the picture then back to Jillian.

“So much.”

“That’s why you were crying?”

“Yes and no.”

Judah looked confused by her statement letting her know that she needed to give him more.

“Since Mommy died, I’ve been trying my best to take care of you and the bills with the little money I had saved and working part-time.”

“You can have the money in my piggy bank. It’s a whole twenty dollars that I’ve been saving forever!”

The excited and proud look on Judah’s face made Jillian laugh genuinely.

“I can’t take your money, Ju. I’ll figure it out, but in the mean time we may have to move.”

“But I don’t want to move. This is our home.”

“I know, but I just don’t have the money to pay what I owe. I don’t have any other option right now.”

The two of them sat quietly in their own thoughts for a few seconds. Judah drops his head in defeat then quickly picks it back up.

“You do have an option!” Judah almost yelled excitedly.

Jillian looked at him confused not understanding what he meant. She had gone through every option that she thought she had. How could an eight-year-old possibly have the answer if she was an adult without one?

“What?”

“Pray.” Was his simple reply making Jillian shake her head sadly.

“It’s not that simple, Ju.”

“Why not? Mommy always did. She said that if you pray to God, He will hear you. Come on!”

Judah jumped down off of the couch and grabbed Jillian’s hand. He tugged on her until she finally stopped resisting and got down with him on the floor. Facing the couch, Judah smiled at her before the two of them intertwined their hands and bowed their heads. Jillian didn’t have the heart to tell him that she had been praying constantly and God still hadn’t heard her pleas.

“Close your eyes too,” Judah instructed. “Hey Big G!” Judah leaned over and whispered to Jillian with his eyes still closed. “We cool like that.”

Jillian couldn’t help the chuckle that slipped from her lips. The innocence of her little brother was beginning to lift some of the heaviness that she was feeling on her heart. Shaking her head, Jillian remained quiet as Judah continued his prayer.

“First please tell our Mommy we miss her. I really miss her cooking because Jilly be havin’ ya boy out here with a stomach ache sometimes.”

This time Jillian’s eyes popped opened as she glanced at him with a playful pout on her face.

“Don’t tell her I said that, though,” he whispered like she wasn’t sitting right there.

“You know I can hear you right?”

“Shhh! Not while I pray.”

Laughing to herself, Jillian closes her eyes again.

“Where was I? Oh, yeah! We need a blessing right now, Big G. I don’t want to move and my sister is taking really good care of me. Besides the cooking thing. But please help us. Thank you. Amen.”

“Amen.”

As soon as Judah was done, Jillian pulled him to her quickly and hugs him tight. She had to admit that at least for the moment she was feeling a little better and that gave her the push that she needed to try and figure out what they were going to do.

“I love you Juju.”

“I love you more Jilly. Now can you let me go? I can’t breathe.”

Jillian laughed as she held him just a little tighter before letting him go.

“Go put your stuff up while I go make you one of these struggle meals.”

She rolled her eyes playfully at Judah before he stood and grabbed his bookbag. Before going to his room, he stopped and remembered he had something from his teacher for Jillian. He pulled out a black book. It looked to be some sort of journal that he handed to her.

“What’s this?” she asked.

“My teacher told me to give it to you.”

“What did you do?”

Judah held his hands up in mock surrender with a serious expression on his face.

“Hey! I’ve been good this week, but ya’ boy struggled about a week ago. Whew!”

“Go to your room child.”

Judah ran out of the room, leaving Jillian still sitting on the floor. The black book was simple looking and had the word, affirmations, written on it in gold letters. Opening the book, she saw that it was a book full of positive affirmations. As she flipped through the pages an envelope fell into her lap. Ripping the envelope open another piece of paper fell to the floor. Instead of picking it up to see what it was, Jillian decided to read the letter addressed to her from Judah’s teacher.

“Ms. Robertson, let me start off by saying that Judah is not in trouble. At least not this week. Lol! I know it’s been a few months since the passing of your mother and you have our sincerest condolences. I don’t know if you are a believer or not, but I am. God laid it on my heart to get with a few of the other teachers and members of my church. I know that things can be rough and sometimes it’s hard to encourage ourselves while going through. That’s why I decided to give you a book full of positive and loving affirmations. Sometimes just speaking positivity over ourselves in the morning or throughout the day helps us to get through the darkness. Also, I know it may be a lot, but I’d like to give you this check for twenty thousand dollars. This should help ease the load for a while. Judah has told us all how hard you work and still make time for him. He loves and appreciates you so much. For you to be so young, you have stepped up to be exactly the woman that I know your mother raised you to be. Please, if there is anything else that you might need, don’t hesitate to reach out. We are here for you. God bless. Mrs. McDaniel,” Jillian read aloud.

She hurried and picked up the paper that had fallen and saw that it was indeed a cashier’s check in the amount of $20,000. To some that may have been chump change but to Jillian she had never seen that many zeros in her life.

As the tears fell, Jillian held on tight to the black book that had immediately changed her life and looked up to the ceiling with a smile on her face.

“Thank you, Big G,” she whispered.

THE END.

Sometimes it's the littlest warriors who have the strongest faith.