Welcome To My Life: Chapter Six - The Lawyer's A Cometh
Disclaimer: I own everything except my family. They own themselves.
Rating: Bad Language
It's been a week since Mike's release and during that time we had thrown him a huge coming home party. We also manage to get back home a half an hour before Chris got home from work. He was a little pissed off, but like Winky said, he'll get over it. Things were going great and I had put the past behind me. Including what the freaky janitor had said by the roadside rest stop. Well wished I had paid more attention to the man. He knew what he was talking about. Around noon today I got a call from a lawyer's office in town. The receptionist was calling to make an appointment with me on behalf of her employer. Mr. Stefano was a private new lawyer in town.
Apparently he just moved her from D.C. to get away from all the traffic. I was to meet with Mr. Stefano at the Wharf in downtown Staunton to discuss a will. What I want to know is who died and left me in their will. My mom was still alive, and as far as I know all my relatives were dead. That is if you don't include the siblings and half cousins. I made the appointment for three o'clock the next day. He wanted to meet with me today, but told her that I wouldn't be able to make it. The truth was I wasn't going to go by myself, not without Chris anyway.
Staunton was still a small town regardless of all the construction going on to improve it. Downtown Staunton was the heart of the city. It was small but the buildings are old and dated back to the Civil War. They were even renovating the old Stonewall Jackson Hotel that sits a block down from the courthouse. Staunton is also the birthplace of one of our great presidents, Woodrow Wilson. They have turned his home into a modern day museum in honor of him. The City is also the home of our first woman's college. Mary Baldwin was founded in 1842 and is situated on a 54 acre campus. Today it's been switched over to a coed institution.
As soon as I hung up the phone with the receptionist, I grabbed my purse and headed out the door. If anyone knew what was going on it would be my mom. At least I hope so anyway. I was halfway across the parking lot when I remembered to leave Chris a note. It was just in case he got home from work before I got back. I wrote the note and placed it where I knew he'd find it. I taped it to the TV and left again. My car was a silver 98 Mitsubishi Galant. For a 98 it was a nice car and I loved it to death. Hopping into the driver's side, I started the engine and backed out of my parking space. I headed out of the apartment complex turning left onto US-11/Lee Hwy. I drove through one stop light and turned right at another one onto VA-275 S. It was all back roads, so it only took me ten minutes to get to Churchville Ave.
Churchville Ave takes you in two directions. If you go left, it takes you into Staunton and if you take the right, it takes you into Churchville. I took the right and headed into yet another small town. The only thing that Churchville has is a post office, elementary school, grocery store, bank, doctor's office, pharmacy, car wash, small car shop, two churches, houses and farms. They also have a couple of food joints and a video store, that's about it for Churchville.
I turned left onto Buffalo Gap Hwy and went another three miles. My mom lives on Wayburn Street, which is in a small housing community. The houses also set way back in the boondocks. It also wasn't far from the Washington National Forest and some great exploration. Just make sure you don't do it during deer season without an orange vest; people in these parts shot at anything that moves. My mom's house is one of three that sits directly on the dead end of Wayburn Street. I pulled into the driveway, according to the clock on the dashboard, at a quarter �till two. My mom's house sat on a half acre lot and let me tell you it's a big yard come time to mow it. The house was one story painted in what I like to call a barf yellow with green shutters.
Her yard was the home of pine and walnut trees along with a satellite dish and birdbaths. She even had a flower garden, which was protected by the garden animals. In the back yard my stepfather's tool shed stood. It's so old it's about ready to fall down on it's own. The building is also the house of Bear, my brother's dog. Bear, was a chow, rot Waller, Labrador mix.
My mom must have seen me come in, cause she already had the door open and waiting for me. Once onto the porch, I bend down and kissed her on the cheek.
"Hey mom," I said.
"Hey Punkin. What are you up to?" she asked.
"Nothing much, thought I�d come out and see you for awhile," I stated.
She looked at me funny, made a humph sound, then asked, "Where's Chris?"
"He's at work," I replied
My mom turned and walked toward the kitchen with me on her heels. She was 4"11, stout with dark skin, brown hair and eyes. Mom looked tired and you could tell by the way she was trying to get her breath, that she wasn't feeling good. Mom had cancer and the medicine she was taking for it made her sick. The living room was small with not much walking space. It was crowded by the large entertainment center and furniture. Along the walls were pictures of all us kids and grandkids. From the living room you go straight into the kitchen/dinning room.
If you turned left and go down a small hall, you'll find three bedrooms and the bathroom. On your right and straight back is the pantry and laundry room, plus the back door that takes you onto the back porch and into the back yard. Boppy, my mom's 14-year old Pomeranian lived on the back porch. He pees all over the place, so mom can't keep him in the house. Besides Mom, Winky, Mike, and Steph, there are four cats and two other dogs that live in the house. Spirit is a white cat, who likes to head butt you for attention. Kitty Cat is a black and white cat with the nickname Satan.
Tubby is a Persian tabby, who spends most of his time hiding, while Tigger was as my mom call's him a sissy cat. Tinkerbell is my sister's 6-month old Pomeranian/collie mixed puppy. She's mouthy is the only way to describe her. Rusty is a small border collie mixed with something else. He spends most of his days lying around until you bring out food. Both Stephanie and Mike were at work, while Winky was in her bedroom stuck to her computer. Mom and I were the only two left in the house and I wasn't for sure if I should tell her about the phone call or not. She went over to the sink and began running water to wash the dishes.
"Mom you want me to do that?" I asked.
"No I got it," she answered.
"Are you sure?" I replied.
"Yes I'm sure," she said.
I left it alone and went to say hi to Winky. Knocking on the back bedroom, while turning the knob I opened the door and said, "Hi Winky."
She didn't bother to look up, just threw her hand up in greeting. Winky has decorated her room with what interest her. Like on the door she's got pictures and drawings and guys she likes. For the most part they were either Orlando Bloom or Spike. Spike is one of the vampires from Buffy The Vampire Slayer. She thinks they are both hotties. To describe my sister's personality would be like describing her room. The walls are all done in bright neon orange, while the ceiling was done in a powder blue.
The floor was brown tile. Her bed was done in that same color orange as the walls, while the rest of the furniture was the same color as the floors. She had fairy's everywhere, with ducks hanging from the ceiling and more posters of Orlando Bloom lined the walls. Winky had the smallest bedroom, so there was no room to move around in.
The furniture was up against each other. Winky's nose was stuck to the computer screen, cause like me, she can't see things far away only up close. Mom is always on her about not wearing her glasses. I had to smile really cause it was funny how she had her nose scrunched up while she read. There was a silence to the place, but it didn�t last very long due to my sister's sudden burst of laughter.
I raised an eyebrow and asked, "Did you find something funny?"
Through her laughter, she tried to tell me what was so funny, but gave up when it wasn't coming out right. Winky threw up her arms and said, "Ah hell, it's just something so stupid that it was funny."
I snickered and pushed passed a yapping Tinkerbell to sit on the edge of the bed. I tried to find the words to tell her, what I wanted to tell mom, but couldn't get them to come out. So I opted for a normal conversation.
"Hey Winky," I said.
"Hey What?" she replied.
"Did mom say anything about someone in our family recently passing away?" I asked.
Her head shot up from the computer and turned towards me with a raised eyebrow. Good got her attention.
"What the hell are you babbling about?" she asked.
I sighed and told her about the unusual phone call I received from the lawyer's office. Her eyes got twice as big and she croaked, "Your shitten me."
I shook my head and replied, "Nope, God's honest truth."
"Shit, mom's going to have a cow about this," she commented.
"Yeah I know, but the thing is, should I tell her or not. If I keep it from her and she finds out. She's liable not to talk to me ever again. If I do tell her, she's going to hit the roof," I said.
Winky chewed on her lip while thinking to her-self then asked, "How long are you plan on staying?"
I shrugged my shoulders and answered, "Not sure. Why?"
"Maybe you should wait till Steph and Mike get home and talk to them. They might know what would be the best way to handle mom in this situation," she said.
I sighed again and stated, "You got a point."