Inheritance

Chapter 13

"Thank you." I grabbed a few of the items that he had already taken out from the trunk and made my way towards the front door. Before I could knock, the door swung open.

"Well, well, well. I don't believe who it is. They said you were coming, but I needed to see it for myself." The man before me pushed back his curly locks, revealing a smirking face. Instantly, I recognized who he was.

"Christopher, how are you?" Surely, after all these years, he wouldn't still feel the need to bully me. 

I couldn't help but hope that none of my other foster siblings were also here. 

"I'm great, I must say you look a lot different from the little girl I remember. Time sure did you well." He returned, eyeing me up and down. I coughed awkwardly, waiting for him to move from the doorway so that I could enter inside the house.

"Um, is Mrs. Franks home?" I said, hinting at the obvious reason for my return.

"Yes m'am. She's staying in the guest room downstairs."

"Can you please take me to her?" I asked politely, not wanting to wait any longer to see her condition.

"Don't you want to settle in first?" He returned, chewing on a toothpick propped in the corner of his mouth.

"I'm fine, I'll settle in after." I concluded, becoming a bit annoyed at his seemingly reluctant attitude to take me to her. As I approached the door, he finally stepped aside to let me in. 

"Follow me." I nodded and followed him through a hallway that led to a room across from the kitchen. The door was slightly patched open and I could hear voices murmuring inside.

"Hello ladies, looks like Raya's here." Christopher knocked on the door, then pushed it all the way open. It had been so long since I'd been referred to by that name. I almost wanted to correct him and tell him that I preferred Sasha now. But, I figured it wasn't worth the trouble. 

Inside the room, I could see two women crouched over the bed, as they spoke to an old woman. The beautiful lady who had once fostered me now appeared weathered and emaciated. She was tucked underneath bundles of blankets to keep her small frame warm. A nasal cannula that was hooked to an oxygen tank supplied her with assisted ventilation through her two pale nostrils.

"Oh Sarah, look it's Raya." Anne Marie shot me a cold glance that told me she wasn't quite as ready as Christopher had been to play nice, even though it had been well over a decade since we last spoke.

"Hello Raya, how are you?" Sarah stood from the bed and offered me a genuine smile. 

"I'm fine. You?" I said cautiously, feeling weary about her overly-pleasant demeanor.

"I'm as good as can be, given the circumstances." She gestured towards Mrs. Franks who had her eyes closed.

"How about I wake her up for you? Mrs. Franks, Raya is here to see you." Sarah lightly brushed against the fragile woman's arms, who slowly fluttered her eyes open. Sarah motioned for me to come closer. As I moved towards the bed, I could sense the glares coming from Anne Marie.

"Funny how you had all these years to visit and you show up now when she's on her death bed." Anne Marie spat at me.

"Anne, stop! Please leave if you can't be nice. Chris, can you please escort her out of the room?" Once Christopher led her out of the tense space, I turned back towards Sarah, whose fiery red hair perfectly sculpted her face. It had grown quite long, since the last time I'd seen her.

"She's right, you know." I lamented, as I began to think of all the years I could have visited. But, didn't because of him.

"No, she's not dear." My eyes shot up in recognition of that feathery voice. Shifting my attention back to the bed, I could see that Mrs. Franks' eyes were wide open and she was currently staring at me.

"Mrs. Franks, I-I don't even know what to say. Except that I've really missed you and I'm sorry I didn't come see you sooner." I rushed out the words I thought most appropriate in this context, just as I felt my throat closing up.

"Come here, sweetheart. Sarah, can you give us a moment please." Sarah briefly smiled, then nodded her head and left the room.

"When did this happen?" I asked, as I sat on an empty space by the head of her bed.

"Truth be told, I've had COPD for a while. Even though I quit smoking almost thirty years ago, I knew it would come back to bite me in the ass." She chuckled, placing a cold hand on my arm.

"I want you to know that I'm happy, Sasha. I think I'm ready to go now. I get to see my Tom again and for that I'm grateful." She smiled at me, but I couldn't truly return the gesture. I hadn't known that Mr. Franks had passed away and I felt even worse for not being there for her during that difficult time.

"Do you hate me?" I asked, soundly much like a child.

"Oh honey, I could never hate you. You had your reasons for doing what you did. I brought you here because I didn't want you to hate yourself. I also didn't want you to have any regrets about me. Or, about Austin."

"Will he be coming?" At the sound of his name, I began to panic.

"I'm not sure, he was pretty busy with work when we last spoke. But, he visits me every year. That sweet boy." She coughed before placing a gentle hand over her chest.

"What happened to him after I left?" I asked, hoping that he had achieved everything he had wanted in life and more. Even if it wasn't with me.

"Honestly honey, he went into a dark depression. That silly, shy boy you once knew is gone. See, Austin grew up in a very abusive household. His father used to beat his mother, until one day the beatings just weren't enough. He shot her and she died. Austin witnessed it all. When you met him, he was in need of a friend he could trust and who he believed would never leave him like his mother did. He was so broken when you left and I was so scared that he would never be the same again. But, somehow, after years of therapy, he learned to cope with all of his suppressed feelings. And, of course his anger."

My heart nearly broke, as I thought about the fragile boy and all the trauma he'd been internalizing all this time. Even more so, I wondered why he never told me any of this.

"Do you think he'll ever be able to forgive me?" I clenched my knuckles in my lap, as I lowly whispered the question. 

I felt guilty that I didn't know Austin had gone through all that as a child. I wished he trusted me enough to tell me. I just hope my absence hadn't added to his trauma.

"I suppose that's something you'll have to ask him yourself one day. For now, let's catch up. I've missed you so much. Tell me what you've been up to, my dear."

"I've missed you too, Mrs. Franks..." 

That day, we talked for hours. I told her everything, starting from the very moment my uncle and I left her house for New York. She told me that Mr. Franks died peacefully in his sleep a year ago, and she was happy that his death had been easy, since he had worked hard his entire life. 

By the time morning came, I had fallen asleep in a chair next to Mrs. Franks' bed. A knock came from beyond the door, before it opened slowly to reveal a grinning Sarah.

"Good morning Raya, I didn't know you slept in here. Breakfast is ready, so I was just going to check on Mrs. Franks." I nodded, as she walked towards the bed.

"Mrs. Franks, you ready to get up?" Sarah tapped lightly on Mrs. Frank's shoulder, but she remained motionless. Growing agitated, Sarah tapped her a little harder than before, but Mrs. Frank's eyes remained adamantly shut. I stood up, making my way towards Sarah, as her voice began to rise.

"Mrs. Franks! Mrs. Franks! Wake up, you can't go now! You said you had a few more days!" Sarah screamed out, just as Christopher and Anne Marie ran into the room. 

It didn't take us long to realize what had happened. Mrs. Franks' had followed her husband, and passed away in her sleep. The room filled with Sarah's loud screams, while tears flowed relentlessly from my eyes. That day, I cried more than I ever had in my entire life.