Time to Go
by Philip J. Lees
“Hey Ma. Gramma’s on!”
Gloria tipped the popcorn into a Tupperware bowl, slammed it onto the tray, where three open soda cans were waiting, and carried the lot into the front room. The theme tune announced the end of the commercial break and there was her mother, framed in a window in the top right corner of the big screen on the wall, while the show’s presenter stood smiling on the left, his hands crossed in front of his sequined suit, waiting for the music to finish. In the bottom right panel the camera panned across a studio audience that was going wild with cued applause.
Her mother looked good, Gloria thought. Mavis Kingdom’s silver hair was nicely brushed and her face was made up so she looked almost healthy. They’d tidied up the sheets and blanket and tucked them around her small frame. The camera angle focused on Mavis’s head and upper body, although the drips and tubes were clearly visible—that was in the contract. They’d disconnected the ventilator for the duration of the broadcast, but a nurse stood by with an oxygen mask. On the other side sat Gloria’s father, Max, with one hand in his lap and the other clasping Mavis’s right. He was trying to smile but he wasn’t making much of a job of it. Mavis herself wore a vacant expression. A pity. They’d all been hoping she’d be in a lucid phase for the show—it often seemed to help the contestants if the audience could see they understood what was going on.
Gloria handed the tray to Jojo and settled herself into her armchair, leaning back and pulling the lever on the side to bring her feet up. The phone was ready on the table beside her and Jojo put one of the sodas next to it, while Petey, three years younger but even more of a handful, was already squirming across the sofa and fooling around with the popcorn.
“Quiet!” Gloria said, more from habit than hope.
Jay Stewart, the presenter, raised his hands and the applause dwindled.
“Welcome back,” he said. “And let’s have a big welcome for Mavis.”
Applause surged again for five seconds, then was quelled by another gesture.
“And tonight we’re going to find out if, for Mavis, it’s … ‘Time to Go!’”
The audience chorused the last phrase with enthusiasm.
Jay was a professional. He turned to look up to his left, as if he could really see Mavis in her hospital bed.
“Doctor Carmichael, are you there?”
The camera in the upper right window shifted and refocused on a stern-faced man in a white coat. Dr. Carmichael was usually quite jovial. Must be nerves, Gloria thought. In the background of the shot the nurse had taken the opportunity to apply the oxygen mask and was squeezing what looked like a large blue balloon in a regular rhythm.
“Yes, Jay,” Carmichael said. “Nice to see you again.”
“Seems like no time, doesn’t it?” Stewart countered. “Now Bob—you don’t mind if I call you Bob?”
The doctor shook his head and shrugged as if a bug had dropped down his back.
“Well, Bob,” Stewart hurried on, “will you please tell us and the viewers at home about Mavis’s condition?”
“Yes, Jay.” Carmichael had a notepad in his left hand and he glanced down at it through half-moon glasses. “Mrs. Kingdom suffers from myotonic dystrophy.”
“Could you explain that for us laymen, Bob?”
The doctor had clearly been about to do just that, even without Stewart’s interruption. He swallowed and scowled before resuming his lecture.
“Myotonic dystrophy is a form of muscular dystrophy. That means the patient’s muscles gradually lose their strength and waste away. In myotonic dystrophy the muscles sometimes tense up and don’t relax.”
“So they can take hold of something and not let go.” Jay beamed with pleasure at this piece of knowledge. He must have been primed, Gloria thought.
Jojo yelped.
“Ma! Petey bit me.” Jojo punched his brother in the ribs and Petey wailed.
“Shut up, both of you!”
“Why don’t they get on with it?” Jojo whined. “This is boring.”
“It’s important,” Gloria said. On the screen Carmichael was droning on, checking things off his list.
“… systems affected. Mrs. Kingdom has trouble breathing for herself. Her heart rhythm is erratic and needs to be monitored. She no longer has control over her bladder and she can’t always focus her eyes.”
“But mentally she’s OK. Is that right doctor?” Jay Stewart cocked his head like a dog waiting to hear the word ‘fetch.'
“Oh, yes,” Carmichael said, with fake heartiness. Gloria’s heart sank. Nobody was going to believe that.
Jay Stewart was obviously hoping for more conviction.
“You mean she’s alert. She knows what’s going on around her?” he wheedled.
The doctor took a deep breath.
“Most of the time,” he said. His eyes flickered to one side. Behind him the blurred figure in the oxygen mask remained motionless.
“That’s it,” Gloria exclaimed. “She’s history. You bastard!” As if the doctor could hear her. But if the viewers thought Mavis was a vegetable, were they going to phone in with donations? No way!
“I’m glad to hear it,” Jay said. “Hi Mavis.”
He waved his hand and, miracle of miracles, Mavis’s hand in the background lifted up from the bed and moved from side to side.
“Saints be praised,” Gloria said.
“It musta been Gramps what done it,” Jojo said. At least he was paying attention now, but Gloria wished he’d take the trouble to speak properly.
“So doctor, before we take another break, I’d like you to tell us how much it costs to keep Mavis with us.”
Carmichael read from his pad again. “A little under five thousand dollars per week.”
“Gee, that’s a lot, Bob. And Mavis doesn’t have insurance, right?”
“She did have, but her cover ran out.” Carmichael swallowed like a man whose throat was dry.
“How sad.” For a moment, Jay Stewart really did look sad and the studio audience was silent.
He’s damn good, Gloria thought, hating herself for it. Stewart held the pause for another second, then became bright and businesslike again.
“Right then. Any viewers at home who would like to make a donation can call the number at the bottom of the screen.” Jay paused, as the phone number appeared, flashed three times, and then began to scroll across the screen, right to left. A donation total of zero dollars followed it.
“In the meantime,” Jay continued, “let’s see if Mavis and her family can win at least another five thousand dollars this evening.” He raised his hands high. “Because if not, it’ll be her … ”
“Time to go!” the studio audience bellowed. The music started up and the channel cut for commercials.
§
“What happened to the other man?” Gloria asked. She’d turned down the sound while the ads for health foods, health plans, alternative medicines and law firms filled the TV screen.
“The fat Japanese guy? He didn’t win enough.” Jojo said.
“He was Chinese,” Petey complained.
“I didn’t like him, anyway,” Jojo said. “I’m glad they pulled his plug.”
“Don’t say things like that,” Gloria said, though secretly she was hoping that coming right after a loser would give her mother an extra edge with the audience and presenter.
Jay Stewart’s smiling face filled the screen again and Gloria turned the sound back up. As usual, the first question was a simple one, worth only ten dollars, and designed to help the contestants relax and get used to the conditions. In fact, Max sailed through the first four questions, making a show of consulting with Mavis each time before answering. The nurse took away the oxygen mask every time Mavis was in close-up and put it back when the camera focus shifted elsewhere. She’d obviously had a lot of practice, Gloria thought. By the next advertising break Mavis had won five hundred dollars and Max hadn’t yet had to ask for help, either from the studio audience or by calling Gloria at home. The donation total moving across the bottom of the screen had moved off zero but was still less than a hundred.
“Now it gets harder,” Gloria said, pressing the mute button. The first question after the break would be worth a thousand dollars, but the difficulty level would be much higher. She straightened the phone on the table. Jojo’s sixth grade teacher had given him special permission to bring home an encyclopedia and an atlas from the school library, and they were there on the floor, ready. The encyclopedia had a lot of pictures in it. Gloria hoped it would be good enough.
The program came back on, and before the questions started they ran the “Happy Memories” feature, as they always did at this point. A big screen in the TV studio showed a series of video clips. There were Max and Mavis at their wedding, the occasional flickering showing it was from the time before digital recording. There was baby Gloria, a better image this time. Then Gloria again, about Jojo’s age, playing in the yard with school friends, all dressed up in party clothes, while her parents watched proudly. Then some posed still shots from their fortieth wedding anniversary, just a few years back. A sentimental melody played in the background and for a few moments Gloria was lost in the past.
She thought back to the time before her mother started to get sick. Back then, she remembered, there used to be panhandlers on the streets claiming they needed money for medical care for themselves or their relatives. Neither Mavis nor Max would ever stoop to begging of course, but appearing on this show was quite different, wasn’t it?
When the time came for Jay Stewart to ask the next question Gloria pressed her hands to her mouth.
“Tell me, Max and Mavis, for one thousand dollars,” he paused for effect and the background music rose in a crescendo, “What is the capital of Malaysia?”
Max would get this easily, Gloria knew. When they spoke on the phone last night he told her he’d spent the last hour memorizing world capital cities. Maybe it was true, then, that after a loser Jay Stewart would make the questions easier for the next contestant. Or maybe they were just lucky.
Max stuttered a little over the answer and he pronounced the first part wrongly, like ‘cooler’, but he got it out finally.
“Thaaaaat’s right!” Jay Stewart declared. The audience applauded thunderously. “Mavis and Max, you now have one thousand five hundred dollars.”
The total donations were now up to a hundred and forty. So no help there.
Two more questions, Gloria thought. The first for another one thousand five hundred, the second for two thousand, and her mother would be fine for another week. There was also the chance that … but no. They’d all discussed that and decided to play it safe.
The drumbeat of the background music had increased in tempo again and Jay Stewart was building up to the next question, holding the envelope high in the air as he pulled the card out.
“And now, Mavis and Max you can double your money. For one thousand five hundred dollars, can you tell me … which famous singer and songwriter was born in Lubbock, Texas?”
Oh my lord, Gloria thought, but Jay Stewart hadn’t finished.
“For one thousand five hundred dollars, was it: A, Ray Charles, B, Buddy Holly, C, Carole King, or D, Bruce Springsteen?”
Well, that was better, but the camera had zoomed in on Max and Gloria could see he was looking worried. He was pinching his right earlobe and his forehead was creased. She knew three of the names, but who was Carole King? B.B. King’s daughter? She was pretty sure Springsteen was an easterner.
“Get the book,” she snapped at Jojo.
“Aw Mom.” But he saw her expression. He picked up the encyclopedia and started leafing through it, stopping to look at the pictures.
On the screen Max was speaking.
“I’d like to ask the studio audience, Jay.”
“Right, Max. But remember, you can only do this once.”
Max nodded. The votes were already coming in as the members of the audience pressed buttons according to what they thought the answer was. A and B were getting most of the votes, with A slightly ahead. Then as the tally neared completion there was a surge of votes for B, which ended up with a small but clear majority.
“Look it up. Look it up,” Gloria told Jojo. “Buddy Holly. Find him in the book.”
“Now Max,” Jay Stewart said. “The audience votes for answer B, Buddy Holly. Will you accept that answer, or will you choose one of the others?”
Max scratched his head. Gloria looked down and saw that Jojo was searching under the Bs.
“Give me that.” She snatched it from him.
“I’ll go for Buddy Holly, Jay.”
“You’re sure about that, Max?”
Max clasped Mavis’s hand tightly. Gloria was still thumbing through the encyclopedia looking for the H section. Then she remembered about indexes and turned to the back.
“Quite sure, Jay,” Max said. He was calm now. Gloria was impressed.
“So, your answer to the question is Buddy Holly. Is that right?”
“That’s right, Jay.”
Jay’s expression turned sad.
“Well, Max,” then the big smile burst out again, “I’m pleased to say that’s aaaabsoluuutely right!”
Max, in close-up again, slumped with the release of tension. On his left Mavis lay impassive. The audience roared.
“We’ll be right back,” Jay Stewart said, “after this.”
§
Another break. Gloria raced to the bathroom and returned as the cue music was fading. The background drumbeat was faint, but even faster and more intense. The phone-in pledges were up to four hundred and ninety dollars. Not enough to make any difference. Sometimes the viewers took pity on a contestant and made last minute donations that relieved the need to answer the final, most difficult question. Not this time, though. Dr. Carmichael had seen to that, Gloria raged to herself.
Jay Stewart wasted no time, but pulled the last question out of the envelope and held it against the front of his jacket.
“Are you ready Max, Mavis?”
Max nodded. Mavis’s head moved too, but it may have just been a response to the nurse taking the oxygen mask away.
“Nervous?” Jay persisted.
“A little,” Max admitted.
“I have here,” Jay said, “your final question. And it’s worth … two … thousand … dollars!”
The audience cheered on cue.
“Right then.” Jay raised his hand and waited for quiet. After a second there was just the faint drumming, like the heartbeat of a terrified animal.
“Which river,” Jay began, spacing his words out, “forms the western border of the state of Kentucky?”
Gloria couldn’t believe it. Was it a trick? It was too easy. She knew the answer almost without thinking. She dropped the leg rest and pushed herself forward in her chair. She could see her father having a similar reaction, doing a reality check. Max even glanced towards Mavis but found no help there.
“The Potomac,” Jojo said. He was looking through the encyclopedia again.
For a second Gloria thought that was Max’s answer and felt her heart stop. But her father made no mistake.
“The Mississippi,” he stated loud and clear. The studio audience erupted and Jay Stewart had to shout to be heard over them.
“Thaaaat’s right!”
The noise abated but the applause still hadn’t died away.
“Mavis and Max,” Jay Stewart said. “Now you have a choice to make. You’ve won five thousand dollars, which as we heard from Dr. Carmichael is enough for one week. So what will you do. Will you take your money now. Then you can come back next week and try again. Or …”
“Take the money,” Gloria breathed. That was what they had decided last night. Who knew what might happen in a week. Sometimes popular contestants found sponsors and didn’t have to go back and compete again. It happened.
“Or you can go for the jackpot. Answer one more question, and if you get it right you’ll win an extra fifteen thousand dollars. That’s enough to keep Mavis with us for a whole month. What do you say, Max?”
“Take the money,” Gloria said, louder this time, as if her father could hear her.
But Max was hesitating, scratching his head.
“But if you can’t answer the question, or if you get it wrong,” Jay’s voice dropped half an octave, became very serious, “you’ll lose everything that you’ve won so far. It’ll mean that it’s Mavis’s … time to go. You do understand that?”
Max nodded and swallowed. Gloria could see his Adam’s apple move up and down.
“No, no,” Gloria shouted. “Don’t do it. We agreed.”
“I’ll go for the jackpot, Jay.” Max looked as if he might cry. He raised his left hand to rub his cheek and Mavis’s arm came up with it. She must have caught him in one of her unbreakable grips.
“Good for you, Max. You’re a trooper.” The music started to play the jackpot theme. Gloria had only heard it a couple of times before. Had either of those contestants won? She couldn’t remember.
Jay Stewart raised his hand high in the air.
“Can we have the fifteen thousand dollar question, please?”
A pretty brunette dressed in a gold outfit that was as scanty as the channel allowed minced over to Jay and handed him a large gold envelope. He took his time about opening it. The drumbeat had taken on a new, syncopated rhythm: doom doom da da da doom, doom doom da da da doom.
“You fool,” Gloria cried. “You dumb idiot.” There were tears in her eyes and she blinked them back.
Jay Stewart had the large, ornate card in his hand. The drums became quieter and the audience was cued into silence.
“How many times bigger than the Earth,” Jay began, “is the planet Uranus?”
Gloria screwed up her face and her hands tightened into fists.
“Is it A, two?” Jay continued, “B, four, C, six, or D, eight times bigger?”
Max seemed to have gone into shock.
“Gimme that book,” Gloria said. “Jojo, get on the Internet.”
“I’m afraid there’s a time limit for this question, Max, and I have to be strict.”
Jojo had climbed onto the stool by the computer terminal.
“Uranus,” Gloria called to him.
“I’m a what?”
On the TV Max said something, too quietly for Gloria to hear.
“What’s that, Max?”
“I’d like to phone my family.” Just as she’d expected. Just as she’d feared.
“You can certainly do that, Max. You’ve used up your audience question, but you can still phone your family. I must remind you though, that you only have two minutes left.”
The phone bleeped at Gloria’s elbow and made her jump. Still searching through the encyclopedia’s index she picked the phone up and plugged it into her ear.
“Hello.” She could hear her own voice coming back to her from the TV like an echo.
“Hello, is this Gloria Taylor?” Jay Stewart’s voice on the TV and in her ear.
“That’s me.”
“You are the daughter of Max and Mavis Kingdom. Their only child in fact. Is that right?”
“That’s right.” There were fewer entries under U than under the other letters, but still too many. Gloria scanned the list: Uganda, Ulster, United Nations, University, Uranium. That was it! No. Uranus. She started looking for the page number.
“Did you hear the question, Gloria?”
“Yes.”
“And do you have an answer.”
“Wait a minute.”
“I’m afraid that one minute is all the time you have left.”
Indeed, Gloria could see that on the TV screen a stopwatch had appeared in the top left corner and was counting down the seconds. She found the page and read furiously. Nothing. A lot of other information, but nothing about the size of the planet relative to Earth. At the end of the entry was a cross reference: see SOLAR SYSTEM. She searched back through the volume, almost ripping the pages out in her haste.
“I’m going to have to hurry you, Gloria.”
There it was. A table showing information about all the planets: distance from the sun, orbital period (whatever that was), relative mass, diameter. Which did she want. According to this Uranus weighed more than fourteen time as much as Earth. That couldn’t be it. She scanned down the numbers, did some rough arithmetic. Oh if only she’d paid more attention in school.
Gloria twisted the phone back from her jaw and muffled the mouthpiece with her thumb.
“Jojo. What’s twenty-nine thousand divided by eight thousand?” Those weren’t the exact numbers in the table, but they were close enough. Maybe.
Jojo shrugged, his back to her.
The studio audience had started counting down with the clock.
“Ten … nine …”
“Last chance, Gloria,” Jay Stewart said. “Is the answer two, four, six, or eight?”
Gloria made up her mind, took a deep breath.
“Four,” she said. “The answer is four.”
The countdown had paused.
“Do you accept that answer, Max?”
Max nodded, his face expressionless.
“Max, you must answer, please.”
“Yes,” Max said. Now he seemed almost as detached as Mavis. “I accept.”
Even the drums were quiet now. The stopwatch disappeared from the screen. The audience was silent. The whole world seemed to have stopped. Jay Stewart stared down at the stage.
Then his head jerked up again and there was the smile. His hands went up and out in a gesture of triumph.
“That is the correct answer, for the jackpot. Mavis Kingdom’s family have won her a whole month of life support!”
The audience went wild. The music started up again, even faster. Gloria was so relieved she felt an almost uncontrollable urge to cry, or to jump up and down, or to run out into the street. Anything. The anniversary picture of Max and Mavis filled the TV screen. The credits started to roll.
So her mother was taken care of for another month. After that they would see. And one day, maybe, Gloria herself would be up there on the TV screen and it would be Jojo and Petey watching at home, waiting for the phone call. Just last week Dr. Carmichael had warned her that myotonic dystrophy ran in families.
“You boys git upstairs and do your homework,” Gloria said, fighting back the tears. “It’s time you got yourselves a proper education.”
- End -
© Copyright Philip J. Lees 2006