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Michigan Weather and Women: Part 4
Michigan Weather and Women: Part 4
Finding real love, at last.
Based on a post by CleverGenericName, in 4 parts. Listen to the
Podcast at Connected.
Driving home the next day felt like waking up from some kind
of dream until I pulled into our driveway and Munchkin came running out to
greet me. As I was getting out to reassure him that he hadn't been abandoned,
the reality of my life settled right back in. I went inside, and Lane and Mary
grunted their hellos without looking up.
Ah, home.
I texted Erin that I made it back safely, and she replied
almost immediately saying what a great night she had, and how much she missed
me already. It was going to be a long three weeks until she rotated back to the
hospital in Petoskey. Luckily, life was as busy as always, and time flew by.
For the first time since I was a child, I could honestly say that I was happy.
My happiness lasted until the day before Erin was scheduled
to return.
I got my first inkling that something might be wrong when I
called to see if Wilma wanted me to pick up any groceries for her from town.
She didn't answer, which was strange, and the call went to voicemail. Even if
she was napping, she was a very light sleeper and would normally answer by the
third ring. I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach, so I went straight to
Wilma's to make sure she was alright.
Everything seemed fine when I pulled into the yard, but
there was no answer when I knocked on her door. I tried again, but there was
nothing but an eerie silence. Fearing the worst, I grabbed the spare key from
its hiding place and went inside. I called Wilma's name and, hearing no reply,
went quickly through the house trying to find her. When I got to her bedroom, I
could hear a low moaning sound from the attached washroom. I ran in and found
Wilma collapsed by the bathtub. She had slipped and hit her head, injuring her
hip and arm in the process. She didn't have her phone with her when she fell
and had been unable to move, so who knows how long she had been lying there.
I called 911 for an ambulance and then called Erin and
suggested that she meet us at the hospital. It took forever for the paramedics
to arrive, and longer still to get Wilma loaded into the ambulance. By the time
I got to the hospital, she was already being triaged by their emergency team.
I took a few minutes while I waited for an update on Wilma's
condition to call the rest of the family and give them the news. Alison came
directly to the hospital after class, and Sharon brought Mary and Lane as soon
as they got home from school. Erin arrived a few hours later and broke down
when she saw me. Finally, just after nine, the doctors gave Erin an update.
Wilma was in rough shape; she was badly dehydrated and had a moderate
concussion, a fractured wrist, and a bone bruise on her hip. It would take her
weeks to recover in the hospital. The good news was that she would make a
recovery, given enough time and support.
Erin and Mary decided to stay with Wilma in the hospital
while Sharon dropped Alison at her dorm and drove Lane back to the house. By
midnight, Mary had nodded off in a chair in the corner of Wilma's room, while I
waited outside with Erin.
"You should go home, Davis. There's nothing else you
can do tonight. Thank God, you found her; I am not sure what I would have done
if you hadn't. I already lost Grampy; I am not ready to lose Gran as well. They
are all I have."
I wrapped her in my arms and pulled her close.
"You have me, now, too. And the girls. And you know
Lane would do anything for you, you just need to ask. I was serious about what
I said in Grand Rapids, Erin. I love you."
Erin pulled me closer but didn't reply.
The following week was a rollercoaster of emotions. Wilma
was improving far quicker than the doctors had anticipated, but she would still
be in rehab for at least another two weeks. It was impossible to hide Wilma's
accident from the rest of the family, and they descended on the hospital like
vultures; or, more accurately, their lawyers descended on the hospital while,
for the most part, they stayed far away where it was warm. The one exception
was Erin's stepfather, who flew in the next day.
"For Christ's sake, Erin. Haven't you done enough harm
as it is? Do you want your Gran to die alone on the floor of that dingy old
shack of hers? It's time for her to move into a care facility that can look
after her. Be reasonable!"
When he failed to persuade Erin to act on his behalf, his
attorneys requested an emergency court order, alleging that Wilma lacked the
capacity to make her own medical decisions, that Erin was not acting in her
best interests, and that one of Wilma's children should be appointed as her
legal guardian. Wilma was furious when she learned of his actions, but there
was little she could do to stop him until she was discharged from the hospital.
Both sides knew that her doctor's recommendation would hold a lot of weight
with the judge, and it was not good news for Wilma when it came.
"If Mrs. Anderson is to return home, she will require
around-the-clock care and company. If such care can't be arranged, then I
recommend that she be placed in a long-term assisted-living facility that can
treat any lingering effects from her fall, and from her late-stage
cancer."
Erin took the news like a physical blow, and she staggered
backward to a chair. We didn't have the resources for 24-hour nursing, and it
would be impossible to arrange it with such short notice even if we did.
"I'm sorry, Davis. I need to be alone for a while to
think."
She left without looking back or saying goodbye to Wilma, and
I just let her go. I wanted to ease her pain, but I knew that there was nothing
I could do. She had lost, and her family had won. I was despondent as I made my
way towards the exit, so much so that I nearly ran into Alison who was
finishing up her shift at the hospital.
"You look terrible, Brother, what happened? Is Wilma
alright?"
I explained to her about the doctor's recommendation and
Erin's reaction.
"No one has had the heart to tell Wilma, yet. She's
recovered from the fall, but this news is going to kill her."
Alison looked at me for a minute, before her mouth quirked
upwards in a smile.
"I'll do it."
"What do you mean?
"I'll do it. I'll look after Wilma. I am wrapping up my
clinical practicum tomorrow, and I was planning on working this summer. I will
look after Wilma instead. Mary can move in with us as well, and I can teach her
what she needs to know to care for her when I'm not there. Once her school year
is done in June, she and I can spell each other off, and I can still pick up
some shifts here and there."
It was an amazing offer, but I couldn't let her do it.
"Alison, I can't ask you to give up your job for the
summer. You need that money for your living expenses at school."
"You're not asking; I'm offering. And since you've paid
for my tuition so far, I am debt-free and can take out a loan to cover my last
term."
"I didn't cover the tuition, it was your;"
"Davis. Really? Our mother, who never met a five-dollar
bill she couldn't snort or inject, left me a college fund? Please. I am not an
idiot. I love you, Big Brother, and I love what you have done for me and the
others, but it's my time to step up now as well. Let me do this."
I felt a heaviness lift from my chest as I hugged Alison and
lifted her off her feet.
I tried to reach Erin to let her know about Alison's offer,
but I drove to her apartment, and she wasn't there, and she must have turned
her phone off. I figured she must have gone to Wilma's, so I headed that way. I
pulled in just as the sun was setting and found her SUV parked in the laneway,
crosshatched by the lengthening shadows of the trees.
I parked and saw a lone figure at the end of the dock, still
wearing her scrubs. I could see whitecaps on the waves as they smashed into the
dock, and I knew she must be freezing, so I grabbed my jacket out of the back
of the truck and went to join her. The footing was treacherous, with patches of
ice hidden by the gloom and spray, but I made my way carefully to Erin and
wrapped my jacket around her shoulders. She closed her eyes and leaned back
against me.
"Am I doing the right thing, Davis? Gran could have
died. She would have died if not for you. Can we risk that happening again? Am
I just holding on to the past?"
When she was finished, Erin lapsed into silence.
"You are doing what Wilma asked you to do. I know your
stepfather says that she isn't mentally competent, but I tell you, if she's not
mentally competent then none of us are."
"But it doesn't make a difference anymore. You heard
what the doctor said, and I can't go against her recommendation."
"You don't have to, Erin. Alison has offered to move in
with Wilma to look after her, and she will teach Mary to look after her as
well. Between the two of them, Wilma can stay in the house until the fall, at
least, and then we can see."
Erin turned towards me in her excitement but lost her
footing on the slippery dock and fell backward into the water, pulling me with
her. Now, in the summer, that kind of accident might be cause for some laughter
and an embarrassing story around the dinner table. In late April, however,
spending any time in the frigid waters of Lake Michigan could rapidly prove
fatal.
The shock from the cold when Erin hit the water caused her
to gasp involuntarily, and she took in a mouthful. I had a half-second longer
to prepare myself and managed to keep my mouth closed as I submerged, but I
could immediately feel the cold in my extremities. The ladder that would
normally have been at the end of the dock had been taken out for the winter, so
we had no choice but to make for shore.
Time compressed as I struggled to pull us through the water
while Erin coughed and vomited. Finally, we dragged ourselves onto the shore,
wet and shivering. I felt clumsy and weak from the cold, and my clothes felt
like they weighed a hundred pounds, but I wrapped my arm around Erin's waist,
and we started stumbling toward the house. By the time we got there, we were
both shivering uncontrollably and my hands were numb from the cold.
I knew we needed to get warm, but it was like my brain was
in a fog and I couldn't get my limbs to move the way they were supposed to. So,
I did the first thing that came to mind, and started feeding paper and kindling
into the fireplace, while Erin went to the linen closet and grabbed a stack of
towels. She stripped off her wet scrubs while I got the fire started, and then
she helped me get undressed as well.
When I felt a little feeling return to my fingers, I fed a
larger log onto the fire and then went and got a large comforter which I
wrapped around us as we shivered in front of the fire. Eventually, our
shivering subsided as our bodies warmed up, and Erin laid her head back against
my chest.
"I'm not ready for her to go. I'm not ready to be all
alone again."
"You're not alone anymore; not unless you want to be. I
love you, Erin."
I felt her relax back against me.
"I love you too, Davis, and I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"For pulling you into the lake like a dumbass; fuck,
that was cold."
Chapter 6.
Wilma's family insisted on taking their emergency petition
to court, over Wilma's continued objections, but once the judge learned that
Alison, a trained nurse, was going to be staying with her, their decision was
an easy one. And let me tell you, Wilma's mind was still sharp as ever, and she
made it clear both to her doctors and, eventually, to her family and the judge,
that she wanted to go home. Erin's stepfather was beside himself with anger
after they lost the hearing.
"Why do you insist on delaying the inevitable like
this? Wilma is dying. We know it, she knows it, the doctors know it. You're the
only one who won't accept it. She would get better care in a facility with real
nurses here in town, rather than relying on a student, a little girl, and
whatever time you can give her at home. The next time she has a crisis maybe we
won't get so lucky, and it will be on your head."
Outwardly, Erin looked as smooth and unbothered as glass as
her stepfather screamed at her, but her hand was squeezing mine so hard that I
thought she might break a bone. Luckily, before I could say anything to make
matters worse, Wilma intervened.
"What is it that makes you so damn sure that you know
what's best for everyone else? You're right, I'm dying. There is nothing that
anyone can do about that. If I happen to fall again and speed the process along,
so be it. But don't you dare pretend that you care one iota about my health or
happiness, or your stepdaughter's happiness for that matter. The only thing you
care about is getting your wife's inheritance faster. Is your business doing so
badly that you can't wait until I die?
It seemed like she had scored a direct hit, as his face
turned solid red as he started to stammer out a response, but she dismissed him
before he could even begin.
"Now go away and leave us in peace. You will be back here
for my funeral soon enough, and no one wants you hovering around, hoping to
speed it up."
A week later, Wilma was released from the hospital, and we
brought her back home. Alison moved in right away, along with Munchkin, and
Mary soon followed. On most days, James would come by to pick Mary up for
school and then drop her back afterward. Alison stayed with Wilma during the
day, and Mary covered most of the evenings. Erin came by to help whenever she
could, and I did my best to keep them stocked with supplies.
It wasn't perfect, but it worked and, more importantly, it
made Wilma happy. She didn't talk much about her cancer, but it was clear that
it was getting worse. Mary noticed that she was eating less and resting more
and that she had begun to take her pain pills in the morning as well as in the
evening before she went to bed. Wilma was still adamant that she wanted to stay
in her home, however, and continued to teach Mary all she could about art and
life.
In early June, I had stopped by to visit Wilma and the girls
late in the afternoon and I was still there when James dropped Mary off from
school. He escorted her into the house but then stood awkwardly in the
entranceway rather than leaving.
"Mr. Crawford, could we talk for a minute, if you have
the time?"
I shook my head in amusement. No matter how many times I
told him to just call me Davis, Mr. Crawford, I remained.
"Sure, I was just finishing up with Wilma," I
replied as I gave Wilma a gentle hug. She felt more like a bird at that point
than a person, just skin hanging on fragile bones held together by her
indomitable will. James looked worried as we went outside.
"This may not be any of my business, but yesterday,
when I got home from school, Calum and my dad were on a conference call with
some officials from the county and Wilma's son and one of her granddaughters,
the lawyer. I didn't mean to eavesdrop or anything, but they were on speaker,
and it was loud enough that I could hear them in the kitchen.
"They were saying that when Wilma dies, her estate is
being divided up equally amongst all of the children and grandchildren, but
there is a part of the will that states that the land by the lake can't be sold
or developed. From the sounds of it, however, once Wilma is gone, the county is
going to seize that land, using eminent domain, to create a public boat launch,
since Wilma's dock is the only four-season dock for at least ten miles in
either direction. They will fix it up and then sell the rest of the land to the
McDougals for development.
"So, Wilma's family will get their money when the
county forces the sale, and the McDougals will get their land. The only person
left who might make a fuss would be Erin, but they figure she will fall in line
once she sees the big fat check from the county."
Listening to James' story made my blood boil. I hated the
kinds of rich pricks who used their money and their purchased politicians to
run roughshod over the rest of us. I just wasn't sure if there was anything
that we could do to stop them. I thanked James for the heads up and went to
speak with Wilma once he left. I expected Wilma to be as filled with rage at
her family's treachery as I was, but she seemed remarkably calm about the whole
thing.
"Thank you for sharing this with me and thank James for
his candor. He must have been deeply conflicted between his loyalty to his
family, and his desire to do the right thing. Now, as to what we are going to
do about this, we are going to do nothing. I don't want you to mention this to
Erin or Mary, it will just worry them and make them upset. And you have more
important things to do than to rage against a bunch of duplicitous assholes.
Leave this one with me.
"Now, why don't you go outside, take that shirt off,
and start chopping some wood or something equally manly? Erin will be here
soon, and you know how she likes to see you when you have worked up a
sweat."
I didn't know exactly what Wilma had planned, but for the
next few days, she spent a lot of time on the phone. Towards the end of June, a
very well-dressed older man in a tailored suit was leaving her house just as I
was pulling in. It was clear that he had been there before since Munchkin
ignored him and came over to give me an enthusiastic greeting instead. The man
gave me a friendly smile as he put his briefcase in his top-of-the-line Lexus
SUV before walking over to introduce himself.
"Brantford Sage," he said holding out his hand.
"You must be Mr. Crawford. Wilma has told me a lot about you. With
everything she said, I was kind of expecting you to be seven feet tall and
wearing a cape."
I laughed at the image.
"It's nice that she thinks so highly of me, but she
gives me too much credit. And please call me Davis."
"Well, Davis, and please call me Brantford, I have
known Wilma for more years than you have been alive, and I have never heard her
talk about anyone the way that she talks about you, except for Phillip, of
course. And we all know how she felt about Phillip."
I knew that it was none of my business why Mr. Sage was
visiting Wilma, but my desire to protect her overrode any hesitation on my part
about speaking out.
"I am sorry if it's rude of me to ask, Mr. Sage, but
what is your business here with Wilma? As you may know, her own family, along
with a local family of some prominence, have been waging a campaign to get
Wilma to sell this land. You are not here on their behalf, are you?"
"I can assure you, Davis, that I am only here as a
favor to Wilma. I normally split my time between our offices in Detroit, New
York, and London, but when Wilma calls, I make it a priority to answer. I am
sorry that I can't say more about my business here, attorney-client privilege,
but you can ask her yourself if you would like."
"It's all good. Wilma is still sharp as a tack, and
even if she has lost a step or two, she is still twice as smart and four times
as wise as I will ever be."
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Michigan Weather and Women: Part 4
Finding real love, at last.
Based on a post by CleverGenericName, in 4 parts. Listen to the
Podcast at Connected.
Driving home the next day felt like waking up from some kind
of dream until I pulled into our driveway and Munchkin came running out to
greet me. As I was getting out to reassure him that he hadn't been abandoned,
the reality of my life settled right back in. I went inside, and Lane and Mary
grunted their hellos without looking up.
Ah, home.
I texted Erin that I made it back safely, and she replied
almost immediately saying what a great night she had, and how much she missed
me already. It was going to be a long three weeks until she rotated back to the
hospital in Petoskey. Luckily, life was as busy as always, and time flew by.
For the first time since I was a child, I could honestly say that I was happy.
My happiness lasted until the day before Erin was scheduled
to return.
I got my first inkling that something might be wrong when I
called to see if Wilma wanted me to pick up any groceries for her from town.
She didn't answer, which was strange, and the call went to voicemail. Even if
she was napping, she was a very light sleeper and would normally answer by the
third ring. I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach, so I went straight to
Wilma's to make sure she was alright.
Everything seemed fine when I pulled into the yard, but
there was no answer when I knocked on her door. I tried again, but there was
nothing but an eerie silence. Fearing the worst, I grabbed the spare key from
its hiding place and went inside. I called Wilma's name and, hearing no reply,
went quickly through the house trying to find her. When I got to her bedroom, I
could hear a low moaning sound from the attached washroom. I ran in and found
Wilma collapsed by the bathtub. She had slipped and hit her head, injuring her
hip and arm in the process. She didn't have her phone with her when she fell
and had been unable to move, so who knows how long she had been lying there.
I called 911 for an ambulance and then called Erin and
suggested that she meet us at the hospital. It took forever for the paramedics
to arrive, and longer still to get Wilma loaded into the ambulance. By the time
I got to the hospital, she was already being triaged by their emergency team.
I took a few minutes while I waited for an update on Wilma's
condition to call the rest of the family and give them the news. Alison came
directly to the hospital after class, and Sharon brought Mary and Lane as soon
as they got home from school. Erin arrived a few hours later and broke down
when she saw me. Finally, just after nine, the doctors gave Erin an update.
Wilma was in rough shape; she was badly dehydrated and had a moderate
concussion, a fractured wrist, and a bone bruise on her hip. It would take her
weeks to recover in the hospital. The good news was that she would make a
recovery, given enough time and support.
Erin and Mary decided to stay with Wilma in the hospital
while Sharon dropped Alison at her dorm and drove Lane back to the house. By
midnight, Mary had nodded off in a chair in the corner of Wilma's room, while I
waited outside with Erin.
"You should go home, Davis. There's nothing else you
can do tonight. Thank God, you found her; I am not sure what I would have done
if you hadn't. I already lost Grampy; I am not ready to lose Gran as well. They
are all I have."
I wrapped her in my arms and pulled her close.
"You have me, now, too. And the girls. And you know
Lane would do anything for you, you just need to ask. I was serious about what
I said in Grand Rapids, Erin. I love you."
Erin pulled me closer but didn't reply.
The following week was a rollercoaster of emotions. Wilma
was improving far quicker than the doctors had anticipated, but she would still
be in rehab for at least another two weeks. It was impossible to hide Wilma's
accident from the rest of the family, and they descended on the hospital like
vultures; or, more accurately, their lawyers descended on the hospital while,
for the most part, they stayed far away where it was warm. The one exception
was Erin's stepfather, who flew in the next day.
"For Christ's sake, Erin. Haven't you done enough harm
as it is? Do you want your Gran to die alone on the floor of that dingy old
shack of hers? It's time for her to move into a care facility that can look
after her. Be reasonable!"
When he failed to persuade Erin to act on his behalf, his
attorneys requested an emergency court order, alleging that Wilma lacked the
capacity to make her own medical decisions, that Erin was not acting in her
best interests, and that one of Wilma's children should be appointed as her
legal guardian. Wilma was furious when she learned of his actions, but there
was little she could do to stop him until she was discharged from the hospital.
Both sides knew that her doctor's recommendation would hold a lot of weight
with the judge, and it was not good news for Wilma when it came.
"If Mrs. Anderson is to return home, she will require
around-the-clock care and company. If such care can't be arranged, then I
recommend that she be placed in a long-term assisted-living facility that can
treat any lingering effects from her fall, and from her late-stage
cancer."
Erin took the news like a physical blow, and she staggered
backward to a chair. We didn't have the resources for 24-hour nursing, and it
would be impossible to arrange it with such short notice even if we did.
"I'm sorry, Davis. I need to be alone for a while to
think."
She left without looking back or saying goodbye to Wilma, and
I just let her go. I wanted to ease her pain, but I knew that there was nothing
I could do. She had lost, and her family had won. I was despondent as I made my
way towards the exit, so much so that I nearly ran into Alison who was
finishing up her shift at the hospital.
"You look terrible, Brother, what happened? Is Wilma
alright?"
I explained to her about the doctor's recommendation and
Erin's reaction.
"No one has had the heart to tell Wilma, yet. She's
recovered from the fall, but this news is going to kill her."
Alison looked at me for a minute, before her mouth quirked
upwards in a smile.
"I'll do it."
"What do you mean?
"I'll do it. I'll look after Wilma. I am wrapping up my
clinical practicum tomorrow, and I was planning on working this summer. I will
look after Wilma instead. Mary can move in with us as well, and I can teach her
what she needs to know to care for her when I'm not there. Once her school year
is done in June, she and I can spell each other off, and I can still pick up
some shifts here and there."
It was an amazing offer, but I couldn't let her do it.
"Alison, I can't ask you to give up your job for the
summer. You need that money for your living expenses at school."
"You're not asking; I'm offering. And since you've paid
for my tuition so far, I am debt-free and can take out a loan to cover my last
term."
"I didn't cover the tuition, it was your;"
"Davis. Really? Our mother, who never met a five-dollar
bill she couldn't snort or inject, left me a college fund? Please. I am not an
idiot. I love you, Big Brother, and I love what you have done for me and the
others, but it's my time to step up now as well. Let me do this."
I felt a heaviness lift from my chest as I hugged Alison and
lifted her off her feet.
I tried to reach Erin to let her know about Alison's offer,
but I drove to her apartment, and she wasn't there, and she must have turned
her phone off. I figured she must have gone to Wilma's, so I headed that way. I
pulled in just as the sun was setting and found her SUV parked in the laneway,
crosshatched by the lengthening shadows of the trees.
I parked and saw a lone figure at the end of the dock, still
wearing her scrubs. I could see whitecaps on the waves as they smashed into the
dock, and I knew she must be freezing, so I grabbed my jacket out of the back
of the truck and went to join her. The footing was treacherous, with patches of
ice hidden by the gloom and spray, but I made my way carefully to Erin and
wrapped my jacket around her shoulders. She closed her eyes and leaned back
against me.
"Am I doing the right thing, Davis? Gran could have
died. She would have died if not for you. Can we risk that happening again? Am
I just holding on to the past?"
When she was finished, Erin lapsed into silence.
"You are doing what Wilma asked you to do. I know your
stepfather says that she isn't mentally competent, but I tell you, if she's not
mentally competent then none of us are."
"But it doesn't make a difference anymore. You heard
what the doctor said, and I can't go against her recommendation."
"You don't have to, Erin. Alison has offered to move in
with Wilma to look after her, and she will teach Mary to look after her as
well. Between the two of them, Wilma can stay in the house until the fall, at
least, and then we can see."
Erin turned towards me in her excitement but lost her
footing on the slippery dock and fell backward into the water, pulling me with
her. Now, in the summer, that kind of accident might be cause for some laughter
and an embarrassing story around the dinner table. In late April, however,
spending any time in the frigid waters of Lake Michigan could rapidly prove
fatal.
The shock from the cold when Erin hit the water caused her
to gasp involuntarily, and she took in a mouthful. I had a half-second longer
to prepare myself and managed to keep my mouth closed as I submerged, but I
could immediately feel the cold in my extremities. The ladder that would
normally have been at the end of the dock had been taken out for the winter, so
we had no choice but to make for shore.
Time compressed as I struggled to pull us through the water
while Erin coughed and vomited. Finally, we dragged ourselves onto the shore,
wet and shivering. I felt clumsy and weak from the cold, and my clothes felt
like they weighed a hundred pounds, but I wrapped my arm around Erin's waist,
and we started stumbling toward the house. By the time we got there, we were
both shivering uncontrollably and my hands were numb from the cold.
I knew we needed to get warm, but it was like my brain was
in a fog and I couldn't get my limbs to move the way they were supposed to. So,
I did the first thing that came to mind, and started feeding paper and kindling
into the fireplace, while Erin went to the linen closet and grabbed a stack of
towels. She stripped off her wet scrubs while I got the fire started, and then
she helped me get undressed as well.
When I felt a little feeling return to my fingers, I fed a
larger log onto the fire and then went and got a large comforter which I
wrapped around us as we shivered in front of the fire. Eventually, our
shivering subsided as our bodies warmed up, and Erin laid her head back against
my chest.
"I'm not ready for her to go. I'm not ready to be all
alone again."
"You're not alone anymore; not unless you want to be. I
love you, Erin."
I felt her relax back against me.
"I love you too, Davis, and I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"For pulling you into the lake like a dumbass; fuck,
that was cold."
Chapter 6.
Wilma's family insisted on taking their emergency petition
to court, over Wilma's continued objections, but once the judge learned that
Alison, a trained nurse, was going to be staying with her, their decision was
an easy one. And let me tell you, Wilma's mind was still sharp as ever, and she
made it clear both to her doctors and, eventually, to her family and the judge,
that she wanted to go home. Erin's stepfather was beside himself with anger
after they lost the hearing.
"Why do you insist on delaying the inevitable like
this? Wilma is dying. We know it, she knows it, the doctors know it. You're the
only one who won't accept it. She would get better care in a facility with real
nurses here in town, rather than relying on a student, a little girl, and
whatever time you can give her at home. The next time she has a crisis maybe we
won't get so lucky, and it will be on your head."
Outwardly, Erin looked as smooth and unbothered as glass as
her stepfather screamed at her, but her hand was squeezing mine so hard that I
thought she might break a bone. Luckily, before I could say anything to make
matters worse, Wilma intervened.
"What is it that makes you so damn sure that you know
what's best for everyone else? You're right, I'm dying. There is nothing that
anyone can do about that. If I happen to fall again and speed the process along,
so be it. But don't you dare pretend that you care one iota about my health or
happiness, or your stepdaughter's happiness for that matter. The only thing you
care about is getting your wife's inheritance faster. Is your business doing so
badly that you can't wait until I die?
It seemed like she had scored a direct hit, as his face
turned solid red as he started to stammer out a response, but she dismissed him
before he could even begin.
"Now go away and leave us in peace. You will be back here
for my funeral soon enough, and no one wants you hovering around, hoping to
speed it up."
A week later, Wilma was released from the hospital, and we
brought her back home. Alison moved in right away, along with Munchkin, and
Mary soon followed. On most days, James would come by to pick Mary up for
school and then drop her back afterward. Alison stayed with Wilma during the
day, and Mary covered most of the evenings. Erin came by to help whenever she
could, and I did my best to keep them stocked with supplies.
It wasn't perfect, but it worked and, more importantly, it
made Wilma happy. She didn't talk much about her cancer, but it was clear that
it was getting worse. Mary noticed that she was eating less and resting more
and that she had begun to take her pain pills in the morning as well as in the
evening before she went to bed. Wilma was still adamant that she wanted to stay
in her home, however, and continued to teach Mary all she could about art and
life.
In early June, I had stopped by to visit Wilma and the girls
late in the afternoon and I was still there when James dropped Mary off from
school. He escorted her into the house but then stood awkwardly in the
entranceway rather than leaving.
"Mr. Crawford, could we talk for a minute, if you have
the time?"
I shook my head in amusement. No matter how many times I
told him to just call me Davis, Mr. Crawford, I remained.
"Sure, I was just finishing up with Wilma," I
replied as I gave Wilma a gentle hug. She felt more like a bird at that point
than a person, just skin hanging on fragile bones held together by her
indomitable will. James looked worried as we went outside.
"This may not be any of my business, but yesterday,
when I got home from school, Calum and my dad were on a conference call with
some officials from the county and Wilma's son and one of her granddaughters,
the lawyer. I didn't mean to eavesdrop or anything, but they were on speaker,
and it was loud enough that I could hear them in the kitchen.
"They were saying that when Wilma dies, her estate is
being divided up equally amongst all of the children and grandchildren, but
there is a part of the will that states that the land by the lake can't be sold
or developed. From the sounds of it, however, once Wilma is gone, the county is
going to seize that land, using eminent domain, to create a public boat launch,
since Wilma's dock is the only four-season dock for at least ten miles in
either direction. They will fix it up and then sell the rest of the land to the
McDougals for development.
"So, Wilma's family will get their money when the
county forces the sale, and the McDougals will get their land. The only person
left who might make a fuss would be Erin, but they figure she will fall in line
once she sees the big fat check from the county."
Listening to James' story made my blood boil. I hated the
kinds of rich pricks who used their money and their purchased politicians to
run roughshod over the rest of us. I just wasn't sure if there was anything
that we could do to stop them. I thanked James for the heads up and went to
speak with Wilma once he left. I expected Wilma to be as filled with rage at
her family's treachery as I was, but she seemed remarkably calm about the whole
thing.
"Thank you for sharing this with me and thank James for
his candor. He must have been deeply conflicted between his loyalty to his
family, and his desire to do the right thing. Now, as to what we are going to
do about this, we are going to do nothing. I don't want you to mention this to
Erin or Mary, it will just worry them and make them upset. And you have more
important things to do than to rage against a bunch of duplicitous assholes.
Leave this one with me.
"Now, why don't you go outside, take that shirt off,
and start chopping some wood or something equally manly? Erin will be here
soon, and you know how she likes to see you when you have worked up a
sweat."
I didn't know exactly what Wilma had planned, but for the
next few days, she spent a lot of time on the phone. Towards the end of June, a
very well-dressed older man in a tailored suit was leaving her house just as I
was pulling in. It was clear that he had been there before since Munchkin
ignored him and came over to give me an enthusiastic greeting instead. The man
gave me a friendly smile as he put his briefcase in his top-of-the-line Lexus
SUV before walking over to introduce himself.
"Brantford Sage," he said holding out his hand.
"You must be Mr. Crawford. Wilma has told me a lot about you. With
everything she said, I was kind of expecting you to be seven feet tall and
wearing a cape."
I laughed at the image.
"It's nice that she thinks so highly of me, but she
gives me too much credit. And please call me Davis."
"Well, Davis, and please call me Brantford, I have
known Wilma for more years than you have been alive, and I have never heard her
talk about anyone the way that she talks about you, except for Phillip, of
course. And we all know how she felt about Phillip."
I knew that it was none of my business why Mr. Sage was
visiting Wilma, but my desire to protect her overrode any hesitation on my part
about speaking out.
"I am sorry if it's rude of me to ask, Mr. Sage, but
what is your business here with Wilma? As you may know, her own family, along
with a local family of some prominence, have been waging a campaign to get
Wilma to sell this land. You are not here on their behalf, are you?"
"I can assure you, Davis, that I am only here as a
favor to Wilma. I normally split my time between our offices in Detroit, New
York, and London, but when Wilma calls, I make it a priority to answer. I am
sorry that I can't say more about my business here, attorney-client privilege,
but you can ask her yourself if you would like."
"It's all good. Wilma is still sharp as a tack, and
even if she has lost a step or two, she is still twice as smart and four times
as wise as I will ever be."
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