Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW (05/02/19)
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TITLE: So What | Previous Challenge Entry
By Jack Taylor
05/07/19 -
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Her brother had the irritating response of “you shall reap what you so.”
The favorite in the family was obvious to almost every guest who gathered around the family table after services for Sunday lunches. Tilly served and cleaned up and accepted the compliments of everyone with proper humility. It was the Lambert way to have everything just right.
The change in Tilly’s personality was sudden and surprising to everyone who knew her. She had always been the model student, wearing prim and proper attire, turning in every assignment on time and achieving excellence in her grades. She spoke respectfully to her teachers, her parents and especially to her pastor.
It was soon after her fifteenth birthday when Tilly’s “so what’s” boomeranged into her picture-perfect postcard family.
It began one Sunday when she complained that her usual headaches were worse than normal. She asked her mother to let her miss church “just this once.”
Assuming that her daughter’s cycle had struck at an inconvenient moment, mom advocated for her daughter and promised to read the scriptures and pray while the men went to church.
Lloyd stopped by to remind Tilly that her perfect attendance record would be lost and that he alone would collect all the Sunday School rewards.
“So what,” Tilly responded.
“You shall reap what you so,” Lloyd said.
And then it happened. Tilly swore.
Lloyd’s eyes exploded in shock – especially when his perfect sister slammed the door in his face.
The headaches became frequent, along with bouts of sickness and drowsiness that resulted in absences from school. Tilly no longer served Sunday dinner to their guests and often skipped the meal entirely.
For a while, as Tilly turned sixteen, teachers ignored the shocking change in Tilly’s clothing styles. They passed off her flirtation as a coming of age adjustment. The increasing conflicts and temper tantrums at home resulted in cancelled Sunday lunches and her parents worked hard to understand who was to blame for corrupting their daughter.
Lloyd knew who it was that was keeping Tilly from acting in ‘the Lambert way’. He knew the names. He knew where the group went to smoke and party. He stopped by Tilly’s locker and warned her that people were starting to talk about her behind her back.
“So what.”
“You shall reap what you so.”
And then the Lambert family’s reputation was blown to smithereens. A doctor confirmed Tilly was pregnant.
The youth pastor stopped by for a visit and Tilly refused to see him. The church was ablaze with rumour on the ‘inadequate parenting’ practiced in the home of such a delinquent. Tilly’s dad stepped down from his position on the board and tried to ignore the shaking heads and looks of pity each week. He stopped going to prayer meeting so that he could go to counseling with Tilly’s mother. Guilt and shame covered the family like a thick grey quilt as people began to isolate and ignore them.
Tilly’s behavior was often fueled by emotional volcanoes resulting in smashing and trashing and more profanity. She even spoke of getting an abortion so she could get back together with the child’s father. None of this was the Lambert way.
The world tilted again when a new family doctor took Tilly on as her patient. She listened to the ranting of the mother to be and set up a variety of tests. The whole family was called in to a meeting. Dad and Mom Lambert expected to be blamed for something. Lloyd brought along his tablet so he could check out the latest You Tube Videos on the Mars expedition. “Probably damaged the baby with how she’s messing up,” he muttered.
When the family was settled the doctor spoke. “Tilly has a malignant brain tumor. She may have two months to live and I think we need to take the baby before that.”
Not even Tilly could say “so what.”
Baby Sammy was delivered by C-section at 34 weeks - Three weeks before Tilly died. The Lamberts adopted the child as their own and Lloyd never again repeated his favorite phrase. The whole church repented of the shame they reaped after judging only from outward appearances.
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