Family Inheritance (20 page)

“Yeah.” A long silence followed as Alice lowered her head and studied the tablecloth.
Speaking softly, she answered, “I'd like to be a teacher.”

Helene stared at her. “A teacher?”

“Yeah. Do you think I'm too dumb?”

“No, you're not dumb. But why in the world do you want to be a teacher?”

“So I could help others learn.”

“That takes college you know.” Helene watched her sister.
Maybe I do think she's
too dumb.
She just couldn't imagine Alice being a teacher.

“I know it takes college. That's why I can't do it.”

“I hate it when people quit before they even start,” Helene said. “Why can't you
do it?”

“You have to be smart, and it takes money.” Alice shifted in the booth. The two sisters
sat quietly for a few moments.

“You'll get smarter as you go through college.” Helene took Alice's hand. “As for
the money, you can get scholarships and grants. A lot of people do.”

“Do you really think I could do it?” Alice asked.

“I know so.”

“But I don't know how to start. I'm too old to still be asking my big sister to fix
it for me.” Alice said in frustration.

“Well, guess what?” Helene smiled. “I don't have the answers, but we'll figure it
out.”

Alice thought for a moment before looking at Helene and saying, “Helene?”

“Yes?” Helene responded.

“It's kinda nice having sisters help you figure things out.” Alice smiled as she
wrapped her fingers around Helene's.

“Yes, Alice, it is.”

Chapter 24

Northern Minnesota

“Hello, Bill.” Helene leaned her head against the headboard of the bed in her hotel
room as she spoke into the phone.

“Helene! What a surprise. What's wrong?”

“Nothing.” She toyed with the ends of her hair.

“But you're calling in the middle of the day. When my secretary said it was you,
I got scared. Is something wrong?”

“No. I just want you to wire me some money.” Her voice wavered a bit as she tugged
harder on her hair.

“Did you run short?” he said anxiously. “Use your credit cards. I'll pay them off
when the bills come in.”

“No, I need a lot of money.” She sat up on the bed and dangled her feet off the edge.

After a few moments, Bill said, “How much money?”

“Twenty thousand dollars.” A gulp formed in her throat as her foot drew nervous circles
in the air.

“Please, Helene, think this over,” Bill said frantically. “Don't just leave without
giving me a chance. I know I don't deserve it.”

Helene's foot stopped dangling, and she paused for a moment, not sure she was hearing
what was being said. “Leaving? Who's leaving?”

“You.”

“No, I'm not.”

“Oh,” Bill said quietly.

Taking a deep breath, Helene softly asked, “Did that scare you?”

“What?”

“The thought of me leaving?” Helene was perfectly still without the slightest movement.

Silence.

“Bill?” Her foot started moving again.

“Yes,” he said, but she barely heard him.

“Yes, what?” she asked as she tugged her hair once more.

“Yes,” he whispered, “it scared me.”

“Why?”

“Why do you think?”

“Tell me.” Helene gazed out the window of her hotel room.

“Because I love you, and because there isn't anything I wouldn't do for you.” His
voice was so soft Helene strained to hear.

“You don't say that often.”

“I know,” Bill said. “There are many things I've left unsaid that you have deserved
to hear.”

“Why?”

“I don't know. But I know I've made a lot of mistakes, and you have every reason
to leave me,” he paused, “but I hope you don't. I'm changing, Helene.”

Helene didn't know how to respond. This was a side of Bill that she had seldom experienced.

“Why do you want twenty thousand dollars?” Bill changed the subject.

“Do you have to know why?” The circles she was tracing on the bed became larger.

“No,” he answered.

“You'd just wire me twenty thousand dollars without knowing why? How come?”

“Because I trust you. And because half of everything I have is yours.”

Helene gently placed her lips against the phone. “Do you really feel that way?”

“Yes.”

“I love you, Bill,” Helene whispered.

“I love you too.”

The silence that flowed between them was like a soft blanket of snow warmly covering
the landscape. Neither of them wanted to tread on the virgin ground. Finally, Helene
spoke, “I need the money to move my mother into a nursing home and to help my sister
and her family move.”

“Okay.” Bill responded. “Where do I wire it?”

She gave him instructions and then asked again, “You really don't mind?”

“No, honey, I really don't.”

Silence.

“You called me ‘honey,'” she stated, bewildered. “I like that.”

“I'm glad,” he stated. “I'll take care of this right away.”

“Thanks, Bill.” She hugged her knees with one arm.

“You're welcome.”

Suddenly, Helene needed to get off the phone because of all of the feelings that
were surging through her. The two of them had not interacted like this since the
beginning of their marriage. Over the years, they had grown apart and had lapsed
into politeness without much intimacy, but today the intimacy felt natural. Yet,
she didn't know how to handle it and needed to get some distance between the two
of them, so she quickly said, “Bye, Bill,” and hung up the phone.

Helene just sat there as she thought about Bill, their marriage, and her feelings
toward him. From the way her heart had skipped a beat when he called her “honey,”
she knew that she still loved him and wanted a strong, loving marriage. She still
wasn't sure if that was possible and if she could forgive him for his infidelity,
but she did know that she wanted to try.

Chapter 25

Northern Minnesota

“We could move her out of Minnesota,” Suzanne murmured as she lounged on the sofa
in Helene's room.

“To where?” Helene sat at the table, absentmindedly twirling a tea bag in the cup
of hot water in front of her.

“To Texas or Georgia. Just close to one of us.” Suzanne propped her feet up on the
coffee table.

“Mom wouldn't like that,” Alice said from the small kitchenette. “This was her life.
She wouldn't wanna die someplace strange.”

“She's not dying. The doctor says she could be in a coma for a long time.” Suzanne
stretched her arms over her head, trying to ease some of the tension from her body.

“I know, Suzanne, but she's gonna die sometime. I think she'd want to die in Minnesota.”
Alice grabbed a juice drink from the mini refrigerator.

“But nobody's going to be up here,” Suzanne protested.

“We can come and visit,” Helene offered.

“Visit what? Her still body lying in the bed? Do you really think you'll do that?”
Suzanne stared at Helene for a few moments, then stood and started pacing the room.

“I don't have to move to Minneapolis,” Alice suggested.

“Are you willing to give up your life again, Alice?” Helene took a sip of her tea.

Alice squirmed. “No.”

“Then what do we do?” Suzanne stopped pacing and stared out the window.

Helene firmly placed her cup on the table. “Find the best place we can for Mom for
as long as she may live, even if she's in a coma. And I think Alice is right—Mom
wouldn't want to leave Minnesota. Strange as it may seem, I think she'd want to be
close to Daddy and buried next to him when she dies.”

“I don't understand that, Helene,” Suzanne said.

“Neither do I, Suzanne,” Helene admitted, “but I believe it's how Mom would feel.”

“Okay,” Suzanne gave in. “So we look for a good nursing home or critical care home
or whatever it's called. Then I guess we go on with our lives.” She plopped back
down on the sofa and stared at the ceiling. “Does that sound heartless?”

“No. It's reality,” Helene replied.

“We're making sure Mom is comfortable,” Alice agreed. “There isn't anything else
we can do.”

“Speaking of that, what are your plans, Suzanne?” Helene asked.

“I'm entering a treatment clinic.”

“What?” Helene asked, wide-eyed.

Suzanne's head flopped back against the sofa. “A clinic for my alcoholism. I've taken
a leave of absence. I talked with the doctor at the hospital, and he didn't pull
any punches.” She took a deep breath. “He said I'd better take a good look at my
drinking. After asking a lot of questions, he asked me if I was an alcoholic. I said
yes.” She sighed again. “I think it's pretty evident. So, he recommended a good treatment
program, and I asked him to help me make arrangements. I go there in two weeks.”

“Two weeks!” Alice and Helene exclaimed in unison.

“Why so soon?” Helene asked.

“I don't want to back out.” Suzanne paused a moment. “Besides, I don't have anything
to go back to, so I'll spend two weeks taking a road trip through Minnesota to get
my head together before I check in to treatment. We've uncovered a lot of ‘stuff
' for me, so I want some time to just think about it.”

“What about your apartment, clothes, and all those things?” Alice asked as she pulled
out a chair and sat at the table.

“I called my secretary,” Suzanne stated. “She's quite a woman and a very good friend.
She'll be handling a lot of it for me.”

“When did you get the leave from work?” Helene inquired.

“Today.”

“Will they hold your job?” Helene asked.

“I don't know.” Suzanne closed her eyes. “And I honestly don't care. I've got to
get my life in order.” She smiled sadly at her sisters. “I don't want to be a drunk
floozie and a lonely businesswoman forever.”

“I'm proud of you.” Helene smiled. “When did you decide to do all this?”

“That day—in my bedroom on the farm. I knew I had to face my problems. I knew I couldn't
run from them or blame my pain on somebody else forever. That was when I ran. I know
Daddy isn't causing my pain now—I am. When I was in my old bedroom, the pain got
strong enough to pierce my hard shell. I knew it was time for a change. I just didn't
know how to change. I'm still not certain of everything I need to do, but I'm taking
one step at a time.”

Abruptly switching the subject, Suzanne turned to Alice, “Are you all set? Are you
still determined to move to Minneapolis? And you're okay with us having Mom moved
to a facility close to where you'll be living?”

Alice sipped her juice. “Yeah. I think that's best. I can keep you both posted on
how she's doing.” Her fingers traced circles on her juice glass. “And, I don't want
the kids to hurt no more. This way we can get away from Jake, the kids can find new
friends, and maybe we can have a new start.”

Alice's voice began to fill with excitement. “I'm going to find a job. There's got
to be something I can do. And then I'll start at a two-year college in September.
I don't know if I can do this and support the three of us as well, but I'm certainly
going to try.”

Suddenly, sadness washed over Alice. “I called my friend Thelma today. She says I'm
dreaming. She says I'll never pull this off and that I was stupid to piss Jake off.”

“You are dreaming.” Helene walked over to Alice. “But that's how we make our lives
better. First, we dream how we want them to be, then we take steps to make our dreams
come true.”

The room grew quiet as the sisters sat together.

“I guess next week we all go back to our lives,” Alice said. “They just won't be
the same lives. So much has changed so fast. It's like a whirlwind has puffed me
up, spun me around, and dropped me off at another spot. I'm the same me, but everything
around me is different.”

“You're not the same you.” Suzanne smiled. “You're different. We're all different.”

“But how can we be? It's only been a little over a month.” Alice asked.

“I guess when life's whirlwinds pick you up and spin you around, you've got to change
or give up and die, and we're not the kind to give up and die,” Helene said.

“What about you, Helene? Will you keep trying?” Alice asked. “Or will you go back
to what you had?”

“I can't go back to that,” Helene admitted. “You two have shamed me into doing something
about my marriage. My problems seem small compared to the ones you're both tackling,
and neither of you will give me a moment's peace if I quit.”

“You're right,” Suzanne said.

“And we're gonna keep checking up on you.” Alice playfully pointed her finger at
Helene.

“And I'll be checking up on you too. You're no longer going to be rid of me.” Helene
placed her arm around Alice's shoulder.

“Good.” Alice leaned her head against Helene.

“I don't think we'll ever be the same after these last weeks,” Helene said.

“And who would have thought it would be for the better?” Alice's grin covered her
entire face.

Suzanne laughed. “We came face-to-face with our past, held it in a death grip, and
came out winners.” She paused. “We did come out winners, didn't we?”

The three sisters sat in silence. Only the future could answer that question.

Chapter 26

Anoka, Minnesota

“Well, Suzanne,” the doctor said, “our tests don't show any medical problems that
we need to deal with. So, let's deal with the addiction.”