by Hattie Lou
“What the hell, man?” He asks, sounding like I just caught him at a bad time.
“I need to talk to you,” I say, pacing the porch.
“Can it wait? It’s late and I got an early appearance to make tomorrow morning.”
“No, I’m at my mom’s house.”
“Wow. That’s surprising to hear.” He says, still half asleep.
“There is this woman here. She is saying my mom has dementia and she is her caretaker. Her and supposedly her daughter live here with her.” I whisper into the phone not wanting Olivia to overhear.
“What?” He sounds more awake now. “Since when was Katherine sick? You never told me.”
“That’s because as far as I knew she was fine. I don’t know who the hell this woman is or what she is after, but I don’t want her here.” I say, rubbing my forehead trying to make sense of this.
“Did you talk to your mom? What does she have to say?”
I take a deep breath. “No, she is already sleeping. I’m going to talk to her first thing in the morning.”
“You need to talk to a lawyer or something about seeing who this so-called caretaker is. Some women would do anything for money. Give Jerry a call. He will know what to do.”
Matthew is right about Jerry. He’s a well-known attorney that has known me for quite some time. He got me out of a DUI a year ago after I ended up crashing my car into the side of an expensive condo. I shouldn’t have gone to that after party once we wrapped up the movie. I had too much to drink and wanted to relax. It was a dumb decision. With the right people, I got everyone to settle without the media finding out about my arrest. No leaks were made. To everyone else, I’m a little angel with a perfect record.
Chapter Three
Olivia
It has been years and now he finally shows his face. I can’t believe Katherine’s son is really here. It’s weird how sweet she is and how rude he is. My back still hurts from him slamming me into the refrigerator. I’m pretty sure it’s bruised. He had no right to do that! I have been living in the house with her for the past few years and yet he hasn’t stepped foot inside this house for years. I wanted to yell at him and call him every name there was, but I kept reminding myself that Katherine was asleep down the hall. I didn’t want to wake her or Savannah.
Luke doesn’t look at all what I was picturing. I have seen his high school photos. Katherine has one of them hanging up in the living room. His hair used to be light brown and now it’s dark. It’s a bit longer. He showed here wearing an expensive suit and Rolex watch which made him look like he was worth a fortune
I pour her a glass of orange juice while waiting for her toast to get done. “I was wondering what you feel like doing today. The weatherman on the news said it is supposed to be warm out.”
She takes a sip. “Could we go to the bookstore?” She asks.
“Yeah, mom, can we go to the bookstore?” Savannah asks getting excited. She has gotten attached to Katherine over the years. She even calls her grandmother. Katherine told her to. It’s nice to know that someone else is here for Savannah.
I smile. “Sure,” I say, putting her hair up in a ponytail.
It seems that lately, Katherine likes to go to the bookstore and look for mystery novels. They are her favorite. I first suggested that we go there when her doctor told me to help keep her brain active. A few chapters into the book and she’s addicted. She likes to tell me all about the book which is good because it means she remembers the parts that she is reading.
Luke comes walking into the kitchen as we are finishing breakfast. “Hey, mom.”
Savannah turns around and watches him as she is finishing her cereal.
Katherine turns her head to me. “What time does the bookstore open? I want to get there early in case someone gets their hands on the book that I want.”
I look down at my watch. “Two hours.”
Luke pulls a seat out next to her. “Mom.” He reaches for her hand but she pulls away.
“Honey, I think you are confused. I’m not your mother.”
Hearing her say that to her son breaks my heart. I can’t imagine how hard that is for Luke to hear.
“She’s not going to know who you are,” Savannah says to Luke. I explained this morning to her that Luke is Katherine’s son and he will be staying here. Savannah knows she isn’t well but doesn’t understand what’s wrong with her. I tried to explain what was happening to her the best that I could, but she still doesn’t understand the situation.
He gets up and walks out of the room. I follow a short distance behind him. “I’m sorry that she doesn’t know who you are, but you can’t take this personal. Her mind….”
He gets in my face. “I don’t know what you did to her, but I will find out and if you drugged her or harmed her in any way, I will make you pay!” He says showing teeth.
“Are you threatening me?” I ask, shocked by how mean he is being to me when I am just helping his mom. I have never done harm to her.
“You are damn right I am and when the truth comes out, I will be the one who is laughing as you are being driven away in a police car in handcuffs, you con artist. I’m sure they will take your daughter off of you.”
He can call me a con artist. I don’t care what he thinks about me, but he better not bring my daughter into this situation. “Go ahead, do all your research, but just so you know, I expect a full apology from you.” I take a step closer to him and point my finger into his solid chest. “Call me whatever you want, but don’t you ever bring my daughter into this. I will not tolerate anyone talking about Savannah.”
Luke
“Sir, do you have an appointment?” The woman behind the desk asked me while batting her fake eyelashes at me. I normally like it when a woman wants to flirt with me, but not today. I’m in no fucking mood to make small conversations with especially with flirty women. I’m Luke Stewart. I don’t need an appointment to see anyone. I don’t bother waiting to see if she can get a hold of Frank Macks.
According to what I found last night when I was sitting in my room, I found the old chest treasure where Mom always kept the important information. There was a paper that was drawn up where it stated that Olivia was her Power of Attorney.
I’m here to meet the asshole who witnessed this all go down. I step into his office where he is on the phone. He looks up at me and can see that I’m pissed. He tells the person on the other end that he will call them back shortly.
I take a seat in front of his desk. “I’m Luke Stewart,” I tell him.
He folds his hands onto the desk. “Yeah, Olivia warned me that you would probably be stopping by today.”
Enough with the chit chat. It’s time to get down to business. “I want to see all the papers from my mom including the original copy that states Olivia is her guardian. I need you to fax them over to my lawyer.” I demand.
He gets up and opens the file cabinet. “She signed them when she first got diagnosed with dementia. If you are questioning if your mother was sane when she signed them then I can assure you that she was.” He hands me a stack of papers. “We had her speak to a doctor before she signed them. As it says in those papers, he stated that she clearly knew what she was doing and still went through with it.”
My eyes go back and forth reading the words carefully.
“I, Katherine Stewart, declare Olivia Patterson as my Power of Attorney.”
How could she do this to me? I am her son! This woman isn’t even related to her for god sakes! Are these papers even legal? Maybe Olivia is a better con artist than I thought. She could have paid this man to make these fake documents. Hell, she might be sleeping with him. They could be working together to get all of her money.
“Fax them to my lawyer right away,” I tell him before walking out of his office. Fuck this! I need a drink.
My phone rings less than an hour later as I’m sitting at the bar. “Talk to me, Jerry,” I say, hoping he has good news so I can kick Olivia out of my mom’s home to
night.
He lets out a sigh.
Huh, oh. This can’t be good.
“Luke, I went over the documents numerous times. I even called the doctor who saw her before she signed those papers. It’s all legit. Katherine knew what she was doing. From the people that I spoke to, they all said the same thing about your mom and this woman, Olivia is always with your mom. She takes good care of her from what I hear. I’m sorry I wish I had some better news for you, but I don’t. All I can say is that you should try and work this out with her. Get on the same page. Maybe you can talk her into signing the rights over to you. If the two of you can’t agree on anything…”
I hit end call without saying a word. Olivia has people where she wants them. She puts on this act where she is pretending she loves my mom, but I’m not buying it. I got to get to work and start doing some digging. Everyone has their own secrets. I got to find hers.
Chapter Four
Luke
The house is empty this morning as Olivia left with Mom to take her somewhere. For someone who is claiming that my mom is sick, she sure takes her out a lot.
My phone rings as I’m making myself something to eat. It’s Stu, my agent.
“Hello?” I answer, knowing that I should have told him that I’m taking a little time off. With everything going on with Mom, I haven’t had much time to stop and think.
“What’s going on? I have been trying to get a hold of you. You haven’t been answering my calls. I got directors wanting you to audition for their films.”
I lean my back against the counter and rub my head with my hand. I’m not going to tell him about Mom. The fewer people that know, the better.
“I have been meaning to give you a call, but life gets hectic sometimes. I’m taking some time off. It’s time for a break.”
“A break?” He says with a huff. Stu is a great agent. I owe him a lot for my career. He has gotten me in a lot of movies. I would be lost if it weren’t for him. He doesn’t believe in taking a break. He has mentioned that you only take breaks when your career is failing. Mine isn’t. I have been working my ass off these last few years, but I need a fucking breather.
“It won’t be long,” I tell him.
“How long exactly?” He asks, not hiding that he is annoyed with my sudden decision.
I stare out the window into the backyard. “I’m not sure. Maybe a month. I’m burned out.”
He lets out a deep sigh. “I will continue to put out a good word about you to the directors, but once you are done with your mini vacation, you better get back here.” He says hanging up the phone before I even have the chance to respond to him.
I walk around the living room. I stop in front of the mantle where there are several awards that Dad won. I pick up his most cherished one, his Oscar. There is dust on top of the award. If Olivia wants to continue living here, then she better start keeping this house spotless or I will find a way to get her fired and replaced. I’m sure there are a lot of people who would love to work for my mom.
The backdoor slides open and Olivia appears in a short distance behind Mom. Olivia struggles carrying the grocery bags into the house. They look heavy. I guess I could offer to help her, but I don’t. She’s the caretaker after all. She’s getting paid for this, not me. I lean my body against the chair and watch her.
“Damn it!” She says when a can of corn falls out of the bag and onto her foot. She looks up and notices me sitting there, watching her. “Well, thanks for the help.” She muttered under her breath.
Mom leaves the room to go into the living room leaving me and Olivia alone. “If you want to continue working here, then you need to learn how to clean better,” I tell her.
“Excuse me?”
“My dad’s Oscar has dust on it. I don’t know if you don’t understand how precious that award is, but there shouldn’t be any dust on it. I suggest you wipe it down.”
She stares at me before letting out a huff. “Let me explain this to you. I work for your mom. You can’t fire me unless I do something wrong which I haven’t. As for the dust being there, tomorrow is Tuesday which is the day I dust the living room. You wouldn’t know that since you haven’t been here in quite some time.” She says, grinning.
After dinner, while Mom and Savannah decided to stay at the table to do a puzzle together, I noticed that Olivia went into the living room with a rag and a can of pledge. It’s about time she listened to me and get rid of the dust.
I stand in the doorway as she pledges down the mantle. Someone has to make sure this woman is doing her job right. Mom is in no condition to keep an eye out since she is best friends with her, apparently. She takes her time, not realizing that I’m standing here watching her.
She picks up the picture frame and puts it down onto the end table before dusting the mantle down carefully. I wait for her to finish wiping everything down before taking a step forward to where she is standing.
I take my finger and inspect the mantle myself. Towards the end, she missed a spot. “You missed this,” I tell her, holding up my finger for her to see the dust she left behind.
“Look, I don’t know what your problem is. I did my job. I wiped it down the best I could. I guess I missed a spot, sue me!” She says, angry.
“You aren’t doing your job right.”
“I’m a full-time caretaker, not a maid.” She says, tossing the dust rag in my face as she storms out of the room like a child.
Olivia
I wake up and notice the temperature in the room is colder than usual. I like to keep the air conditioner off at night. Katherine doesn’t sleep well when it’s on. The noise wakes her up. She has complained to me numerous times, so I decided it’s best to keep it off during the night.
I walk into the living room to see that someone turned the ac on. I roll my eyes back knowing Luke turned the damn thing on. I walk quietly to his room and knock lightly on his door.
“What?” He says when he opens it to see me.
“Did you turn the air conditioner on?” I ask even though I know that he did. Savannah doesn’t know how to turn it on by herself and Katherine hates having it on.
“Yeah, it’s stuffy tonight.”
“Well, I shut it off,” I inform him.
“Why?” He stares at me and I can tell he is getting mad at me for doing it.
“The noise bothers Katherine. It keeps her up at night. She needs to sleep.”
“It’s hot and I want it on.”
“You have a ceiling fan in your room. Use that!”
“The air conditioner is colder.”
I cross my arms as I continue to stand in front of his door. “So, you would rather keep your mom up all night than to let her sleep just because you want to keep the ac on for yourself? Sounds a bit selfish to me.”
“You think you’re so fucking cute, don’t you?” He says taking a step closer to me as he steps into the hallway. “I’m going to figure some way to get rid of you. I already have lawyers looking into the situation as we speak. It’s just a matter of time before you’re gone.” He says before taking a step back to close the door on my face.
Chapter Five
Luke
I open Mom’s door and see that she isn’t in her bed. I walk around the house looking for her as my heart is pounding in my chest. What if she walked out of the house in the middle of the night without us knowing? She can be anywhere by now!
“She’s missing!” I shout as I open Olivia’s bedroom door. “Get your lazy ass up and help me find my mom now!” I shout while she rolls over in her bed. I walk into the hallway and double check her room. Nope. Still not there.
I march back into Olivia’s room expecting her to be dressed and running out the house to help me, but she’s still lying in bed with the pillow now over her head like she’s trying to go back to sleep. How can she be so calm at a time like this? Someone could have kidnapped her! “What the fuck?” I yell as I rip the blanket off of her.
She gets pissed at me and tosses
her pillow at me thinking it could hurt me. She puts her hand up politely trying to stop me from talking. “She isn’t missing. It’s Sunday.” She says giving me a full attitude.
I place my hands on my hips trying to figure out what does Sunday have to do with any of this. “And?”
She lets out a loud groan before getting up and heading out of the room to go to the kitchen. “She’s with Ben, Harry and Savannah.” She says, walking past me like I’m supposed to know who the fuck Ben and Harry are.
“You say you care about my mom and yet you let her go out with two strangers all alone with your daughter? Who knows what they are capable of?”
“I know you are an actor but are you always this dramatic?” She asks, rolling her eyes back at me as she starts the coffee machine. “I would never put her life in harm's way. You haven’t been around in years. Your mom has friends that you have never met. Harry is one of them.” She answers, looking at me like she’s about to snap my neck.
“Have you looked into this guy? What do you really know about him?”
She lightly laughs. “Listen, Luke.” She says, annoyed. “You don’t get to come here after all these years of not visiting or calling and act like you know what’s best for her. I have been there during her good days and really bad days. I have seen her at her worse. As her caretaker, I know who I can trust her with. Harry and Ben are nice. I trust them which is why my daughter is with them.”
“Where are they?”
“Every Sunday she likes to go to church. Ben and I rotate every week and this week is his turn while I am supposed to be sleeping on my only day off. I can’t sleep thanks to you.”
Mom goes to church. Since when? Growing up my parents never talked about the Bible or their beliefs. I can’t recall having any pictures hanging on the walls of our houses of religious stuff.
“Who are they?” I ask in a slow manner so she will understand my question.
“Ben is Harry’s caretaker. Harry is a real charm. He likes your mom. After church, he likes to take her out for lunch with Ben following them, of course. She loves his company. He is a sweet talker.”