“That there is Miss Zelma Green’s mausoleum,” said Simon, taking his cap off and holding it to his chest. “She sure was rich to be able to afford something like this.”
“It’s amazing,” said Ethan, as he gazed into one of the clover-shaped windows. “Oh, man, there’s even a stain-glass window on the other side. This is the fanciest tombstone I’ve ever seen in my life. It looks really old, though, and she just died.
“It is old. She had it built sometime after the turn-of-the-century. She’s entombed inside there along with her son and fourth husband, George. I believe he was her fourth; it’s hard to keep up with it all. Anyway, they died several years ago.”
“She told me about her son dying. Sounds kind of crazy, but she actually had a birthday party for him the other day, says she does it every year. She also told me about her fourth husband. He was her favorite husband, from the way she talked. I guess that’s why he’s the one in the tomb. Where are her other husbands buried? So she was married four times?”
“Five times, actually,” said Simon. “The last one just up and disappeared one day. That’s his stone over there, though it’s marking an empty grave.”
Ethan walked over to the stone Simon was referring to and read the name on it:
Horace Granville Drane
Simon walked up behind him and said, “He went by his middle name, Granville, hated his first name, so they say, had something to do with not liking the grandfather he was named after. Everybody called him Granville except Miss Green. She called him Horace out of spite, I think.” He chuckled at this.
Ethan stared speechless at the tombstone. How could Miss Green have ever married such a monster, the man she believed had beaten her friend Mittie and thrown her down the stairs? He had a lot of questions to ask Miss Satterfield, oh yes.
Then an even more incredible realization hit him: Horace Drane’s body is down in that cellar. It was his scream that Miss Green and Miss Satterfield had heard on the night the dark angel had visited. The hair stood up on the back of his neck as he tried to imagine what incredible events had occurred on that ill-fated night. How had it all transpired? He wanted to hop on his bike and go back to see Miss Satterfield immediately and plead with her to finish the story. But he thought better of it, thought it best to let her tell it in her own time, otherwise she may tell him to get lost. But how was he supposed to sleep tonight, wondering if there was a body down in that dark cellar?
“Are you okay?” Ethan heard Simon ask from some other world.
“Oh, sorry, I was just thinking about something.”
Simon laughed and said, “Thought I’d lost you for a moment.”
Ethan was kind of glad that he didn’t find Cynthia as he sat on the park bench next to the big fountain. He would have been distracted trying to process the new information he’d just learned, and Cynthia might of thought he was acting a little weird. He eventually concluded to try and not think about it again until he could talk to Miss Satterfield tomorrow.
To get his mind off of it, he decided to go see what Daniel was up to, hopefully not working. Seeing how Daniel had saved his life the other day, he figured they’d be friends for life now. He’d be on the lookout for ways to save Daniel’s life, return the favor, like maybe pull him out of a burning car if he ever got in a wreck, or something like that.
Chapter 20
As he rode his bike up the long driveway, Ethan was excited to see Daniel sitting on the concrete porch steps, but became apprehensive as he rolled closer. Something was definitely wrong. Daniel was sitting with his arms crossed over his knees and his head down resting on his arms. There were cardboard boxes and two suitcases beside him. Had something happened to his mom?
“Hey, Daniel, how’s it going? Everything alright?” He leaned his bike against the porch. Daniel didn’t respond. “What’s going on, Man? You going somewhere?”
Keeping his head down, Daniel said, “You might as well go on back home and forget I ever existed. I’m just dirt, anyway.”
“Don’t say that, Man. We’re best friends now. You can tell me if something’s the matter. I’ve got your back.”
“Yeah, it would have been great to have a friend like you, but just go home, forget you ever knew me. I don’t exist anymore. My parents can just push me around and make me go wherever they feel like, don’t matter what I think about it. Bye, it was nice knowing you.”
“What are you talking about?” asked Ethan becoming very afraid, almost panicked, knowing what was happening, but hoping to hear differently.
“Don’t you get it, Bud? Do I have to spell it out to you? Our friendship’s toast, toast and jelly. Mom’s throwing me out. She had another one of her crazy parties last night, and I got mad and started breaking things, about tore the house apart, I got so mad. She started slapping the fire out of me. I got even madder and started breaking her whiskey bottles. I made everybody get out. She was really pissed off then.
“I was feeling pretty good about what I’d done until this morning, figuring I’d put an end to her wild parties. But this morning she wakes me up and tells me to pack up my stuff. She’d called my dad and told him to come get me. So it looks like the jokes on me. She fixed me up real good. I don’t even want to talk to my dad, let alone live with him. And I for sure don’t want to live with that floozy he ran off with. I’ve got nothing good to say to her, not ever. Now I’m just sitting here waiting for them to come get me, to ruin my life. Dad already ruined Mom’s life, might as well destroy mine too.
Ethan sat down beside Daniel. “They can’t do this,” he said. “I know you’re just a kid, but we kids have got rights too. Shouldn’t you be the one to decide where you want to live?”
“Yeah, tell Mom that.”
“I will,” said Ethan, with a spark of hope. “I’ll go talk to her and tell her what a great son she’s got and about how you saved my life. I bet I can talk her into letting you stay. And you can promise not to tear up the house again.”
“Maybe that would have helped,” said Daniel, but I’ll be long down the road before she gets back home from cleaning. My dad’s supposed to be here any time now.”
“We can figure something out,” said Ethan, feeling desperate. “I can talk to your dad when he gets here, talk him into leaving you here, tell him what a bad kid you are for tearing up the house. He wouldn’t want to take a troublemaker like you home, for sure.”
“That won’t work either. Mom’s already told him about it. He’s coming anyway.”
“There has to be something we can do.”
“It’s over,” said Daniel. “Just ride your bike away and forget you ever knew me. There’s no use in us ever having met.”
“But…”
“Just leave,” said Daniel holding his head down and starting to cry. “Get out of here. Go find you another best friend. I don’t matter anymore.”
Tears started to roll down Ethan face as he retrieved his bike and started down the driveway. Before entering the roadway he stopped and looked back at Daniel. Daniel looked up at him at the same time. Ethan dropped his bike and ran back to the porch where Daniel was sitting.
“What ya doin’, Man?” said Daniel, wiping the tears off his face.
“I couldn’t leave like this. I just want to say something before I leave.”
“What’s that?”
“I just want to say that I won’t forget you, like you asked me to. If I live to be one hundred years old, I’ll still remember you. Our friendship matters, and it’s something I’ll keep, no matter what.”
Daniel stood up, jumped off the porch and said, “That’s the best thing anyone has ever said to me. It’s the same for me. I won’t forget you either, not ever.”
“Well, that’s what I wanted you to know before I left,” Ethan said, starting to walk away.
“Give me a quick guy hug before you leave,” said Daniel. The two boys hugged and patted each other on the back.
Retrieving his bike, Ethan peddled slowly back to t
he square. He sat down on the bench by the big fountain, staring at the brick walkway until out of the corner of his eye, he saw a shadow approaching. “You look like you’ve lost your best friend,” said Cynthia.
“That statement would be hilarious if it wasn’t so true,” replied Ethan, not looking up.
“Oh, I’m sorry. What happened?”
“Just found out my friend Daniel is moving away. We just got to being best friends, and now he’s moving away.”
Cynthia sat down beside him and said, “Really sorry to hear about that.”
Ethan looked over at Cynthia, into her eyes, and said, “You know, you’re the only person I want to see right now. I’m glad you’re here.”
“Wow, how’d I rate that?”
“I don’t know. It’s just that seeing you makes me feel happy. I think if my mom or any other adult had come by, I wouldn’t have felt like talking, nothing personal against her. I guess people want to be around people their own age sometimes.”
“I know what you mean,” said Cynthia. “I was worried about you. Somebody said you’d run away. And it’s sad that Miss Green died. She was so nice to me, and I know you really liked her too.”
“Yeah, it’s been a rough week for me, but Daniel helped me get through it. Now he’s being taken away, taken away like my dad, taken away like Miss Green. I try to deal with things, but it’s getting hard. I hope you don’t leave me too.”
“I don’t have any plans on going anywhere. My dad’s happy living here in Rocky Creek, thank goodness. He wouldn’t drive so far as Bowling Green or Nashville if it weren’t for my stepmom.”
“Have you ever lost anyone?” asked Ethan, distractedly.
“Well, my grandmother, like I told you about. Oh, and my cat ran away when I was eight, and I cried for days. We put up fliers around town but he never came back. My parents got divorced around the same time; that was pretty depressing too, but at least they’re both still around.”
Ethan stood up and sat on his bike. “I better head home,” he said. “I don’t feel like doing too much today.”
“Hope I didn’t say the wrong thing,” said Cynthia. “I really am sorry that your friend is moving.”
“No, you’re fine. I’m really glad you came by, but I just need some time to think about everything.”
“Okay, well, look me up if you want someone to talk to again, wish I’d been more help today.”
“If you want to,” said Ethan, “maybe we can go back to that cave again soon, like later this week when I’m in a better mood.”
“That’d be great. I’d love too.”
He rode home and lay down on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He tried reading but couldn’t concentrate on the words. Soon his mom came home and made supper. He didn’t say a lot while they were eating, mostly picking at his food. Sandy questioned what was wrong with him, but he told her it was nothing, that everything was fine. He wondered when she would be taken away from him like the others.
While undressing for bed that night and putting on his favorite pair of sleeping shorts, he spotted the last pair of shoes his dad had given him, the red converse sneakers. He laid the shoes on top of his bed, slipped under his covers beside them, and cried himself to sleep.
The next morning he awoke feeling discouraged but not quite as hopeless as he did when he’d crawled into bed. He got dressed and checked on his bee boxes. There was nothing to check, really, just empty boxes waiting to become hives. He still found them fascinating to look at. Someday they would be filled with bees and honey. He could probably sell the honey and make a little extra cash. He’d need it now that he no longer had a job.
Speaking of, he thought, what about the envelope? He’d forgotten about that. Returning to his bedroom, he retrieved the envelope from the back pocket of the jeans he’d worn the previous day. His head spun when he opened the sealed envelope and looked inside. It was stuffed with hundred dollar bills, twenty of them, in fact. He thought immediately of returning the envelope to Miss Satterfield, as it had to be a mistake. She had surely grabbed the wrong one. But then he saw the note that accompanied the cash, reading as follows:
Ethan, there is no mistake. The money inside this envelope is yours. You have done a good job and have been a wonderful friend. I know you will use the money wisely because that’s what wise people do. Good luck in all your endeavors. In your lifetime you will face a million doorways, a million paths to choose from that will make all the difference, and I sincerely hope you will step wisely. I feel confident you will because, again, that’s what wise people do. Though the rest of the world will surely forget I ever existed, I pray that you will remember me always, that I have somehow made at least a small difference in your life. You certainly made a difference in my life, adding youth and sunshine to my final days.
Your friend in Heaven,
Zelma Green
Ethan sat stunned and amazed. Even more shocking than the money to him was the fact that the words on the letter said almost the same things she had told him that night at Flintridge. But hadn’t that been just a dream? He contemplated on this for a moment, truly touched by her words, but then it hit him: he was rich—wow, how did that happen? Wasn’t he the Bad-Luck Kid?
“I’ve got to tell Daniel about this,” he said aloud to himself, feeling immediately sad again, as it hit him that Daniel had moved away. Oh, wait, Cynthia, he thought, his spirits lifting a bit. Cynthia won’t believe this.
He considered running to town and finding her, maybe going to her house, but then he thought better of it. He didn’t want to look overly enthusiastic. He decided to play it cool and act like it wasn’t a big deal. Cynthia was used to being around money, so two thousand dollars probably wouldn’t be all that impressive to her. He didn’t want to come off looking like some poor idiot who’d just won the final showcase on The Price is Right. He’d just get some new clothes and start looking decent for once. That’d be the best thing to do. With that kind of money he could stay looking cool all the way through the eighth grade and most of high school. Of course he’d save some of the money for college. Even though Miss Green was dead, he still didn’t want her to think he was wasting the money she’d given him. She had called him wise, after all.
Oh, If only Daniel hadn’t moved away, everything would be perfect, well at least pretty good. He’d have a best friend, maybe a girlfriend, and a load of money. He did have two of the three, maybe, so he’d have to make do with that.
“Are you pulling my leg?” said Sandy that afternoon as she was putting away groceries. “You’ve got to be joking. Let me see it.”
“No, it’s for real,” said Ethan, pulling the envelope of money out his back pocket and handing it to her.
Sandy thumbed through the bills and pulled out the note and read it. “That’s really a nice note,” she said. “You should be proud of it. I know I’m certainly proud of you for doing such a great job. You earned this money.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
“It’s still hard to believe she gave you so much money. It’s kind of creepy too, almost like she knew she was going to die.”
“Knowing her, she probably did know she was going to die,” said Ethan. “I don’t know what to think about it all. I’ve never been rich before.”
“Well, you’re rich now, at least a lot better off than you were. You’ve got to be smart with your money, though. You can’t blow it on a bunch of junk that won’t be worth a hill of beans in a few years. It’d be great if you put some in the bank to draw interest for college, at least a thousand of it.”
“You should know me better than to think I’d blow it all. Miss Green had confidence in me to use it right.”
“Yeah, I know. You are one smart kid. Did I ever tell you that?”
“I think so.”
“It’s true. You’re smart and getting handsomer every day, taller too. Just don’t grow up too fast on me.”
“Don’t say that,” said Ethan. “I’m kind of looking forward to growin
g up and getting bigger.”
Sandy sat down at the dining table and said, “Ethan, sit down for a minute, if you don’t mind. I’ve got something I want to ask you.”
Ethan sat down across from her, feeling a wave of apprehension come over him.
“I’m going to leave this all up to you,” she said, “but Mike wants to talk to you.” Ethan said nothing, only looked down at the table. “I know you heard us arguing the other night, and a thousand times I’m sorry you heard that, but Mike is really a very nice guy. He’d like to have some sort of a relationship with you. He knows he’ll never replace Keith, but he’d at least like to get to know you better. You actually have a lot in common. Mike has an auto shop and collects old cars. I know how you like old cars.”
Still looking down at the table, a tear rolling slowly down his cheek, Ethan said, “That’s what Dad wanted, you know, to have a shop and work on cars. He never was happy clocking in and out for someone else. It don’t seem fair that he didn’t get to.”
“I know, Honey, it’s not fair. You don’t know how much I wish I could bring him back and make it fair, for him—for you, but I can’t. We’ll just have to do the best we can with what he have now.”
“I know what you’re saying,” said Ethan. “I’m trying to not dwell on things. It’s just so hard sometimes. One minutes I’m doing good, and the next minute it’s like he died yesterday.”
“So do you think you could give Mike a chance, maybe talk to him man to man?”
“Maybe, just as long as he remembers that my real dad’s name was Keith Brook, and it’ll always be that way. If we get along okay, though, maybe I might someday consider thinking of Mike as a stepdad or something. I’ll just have to see how it goes.”
Sandy stood up, walked around the table, and kissed Ethan on the cheek.
A Million Doorways Page 21