“Daddy, I wanted you and Mom to meet your granddaughter. This is Sydney.”
Syd felt her mama try to get her to come out from behind her, and she almost did when she saw the nice-looking older lady standing behind the mean old man, but he raised his voice and she stayed put behind her mama where she felt safe.
“You can get back in your car and get off my property. You made your choice and now you have to live with it.”
“Can’t we talk about it? Mom?”
Syd saw that her mama was crying and she started to cry too, but she didn’t know why. All she knew was her mama was upset and Syd was afraid.
“Leave now or I’ll throw you off my property myself.”
Her daddy finally spoke as they turned to leave. “It didn’t have to be this way, Mr. and Mrs. Adams. We just wanted you to meet your granddaughter.”
The next thing Sydney knew, she was being strapped back into her booster seat. She looked at the front door where she saw the old lady crying and hugging herself. Sydney didn’t understand why they had to leave or why that old man was so mean. After her mama stopped crying, she asked, “Mama, why didn’t they want us there? Don’t they love us?”
Syd’s mama turned around in her seat and reached back to hold her hand.
“Baby girl, I promise it had nothing to do with you. You’re the best daughter and granddaughter anyone could hope for. My daddy just doesn’t like people who have different colored skin than he does. It’s how he was raised by his parents and he never learned any better. He believes white people should be with white people and black people should be with black people.”
“But you’re white and Daddy is black. Does that mean you shouldn’t be together?”
“No, baby. Not everybody believes that. Your daddy and I love each other so much that the color of our skin doesn’t even matter to us.”
“Well, it doesn’t matter to me either, Mama.”
Syd shook her head to clear the memories and focused again on her call.
“Mr. Kramer, may I get your number and call you later?”
“Certainly.”
Syd jotted down the attorney’s number and promised to call. She had to clear her mind and gather her thoughts before she called her parents. She had no idea what was going on, yet she had every intention of finding out. As she headed to the kitchen to make her coffee, she wondered if her mama knew that her mother had died.
Chapter Two
Syd called her parents as her stomach flipped over. Her parents worked in education—her mother as a teacher and her father as a principal. She knew they would be home since it was Sunday. Her mother answered the phone the same way every time Syd called.
“Hey, favorite daughter of mine.”
“Mama, I’m your only daughter. In fact, I’m your only child.”
“That you are,” Jillian Carter replied. “How are you doing, honey? How’s work going?”
“Work is good, but I have something else I want to talk to you about.”
“Sounds serious. What is it?”
“Have you received a call from an attorney named William Kramer?”
“No, who is he?”
“Apparently, he’s the attorney for your mother. I’m sorry to tell you this, Mama, but she passed away recently. He informed me that she left me her property in Iowa.”
“Oh.”
There was silence on the line, and Syd wished she had been able to tell her mama the sad news face-to-face. This wasn’t something that should have been discussed over the phone. If she had been thinking clearly, she would have showered and gone to her parents’ house to tell her in person. She wanted nothing more than to hug her and comfort her. Her parents were the most important people in her life, and she never wanted to do or say anything that would upset them. “I’m so sorry, Mama. I know you never talk about her and that you were estranged from your parents, but then again, I think I remember going to see them when I was a child. Did that actually happen?”
“Yes, and my father didn’t allow us to stay. That was the last time I saw them.”
“What happened between you and your parents? I vaguely remember you explaining to me when I was a child that your father didn’t like people with different colored skin. Is that correct? When I tried to ask you about it when I was older, you said you didn’t want to talk about it and that it didn’t matter anymore.”
“Yes. I grew up in a small town in Iowa, and when I went away to college, I met your father. I didn’t know my parents were racists when I brought him home to meet them. Granted, there weren’t any black people living in our town, but I never heard my parents say anything bad about anyone. The moment they opened the door and saw Isaiah standing there, they said some pretty awful things and told him to get off their property and never come back.”
Syd gasped when her mother talked about her own parents’ racism. What would they have thought of their biracial granddaughter? She began to cry when she heard her mother sniffle. She tried to remember what her grandparents looked like so she could picture them as she silently cursed their names for hurting her mama.
“I told them I loved Isaiah and that we were engaged to be married. My father told me that if I left with him, to not bother coming back. They would prefer to see me miserable than to be happily married to a black man. I left my family and home behind that day to be with your father.”
Syd’s head pounded to the beat of her heart. What an impossible decision her mother had to make. She wondered if it was rational to feel so much anger toward people she’d met only once. “Mama, do you ever regret leaving with Daddy?”
“No.” There was no hesitation in her answer. “I’ve been happily married to your father for almost forty years, and we have the best daughter we could have ever hoped for. My only regret is that my parents were bigots. They missed out on having you as their granddaughter because they couldn’t see past the color of Isaiah’s skin.”
Syd nodded even though her mother couldn’t see her. She wiped away the remnants of her tears, and she was suddenly so tired she considered going back to bed and pulling the covers over her head. “Oh, Mama. I’m sorry you had to go through that.”
“I am too, sweetheart. I was so disappointed in them, for behaving so coldly to your daddy and not loving me enough to overlook the color of your father’s skin. If they had just given him a chance, gotten to know him, they wouldn’t have been able to hate him. Your daddy is the best man I have ever known, and I’m proud to be his wife and your mama.”
“I don’t know what to do, Mama. After what you told me, I really don’t want to have anything to do with her or her property. How did she know about me anyway? Or where I lived?”
“I’m not sure, baby, but I’m sure her attorney can tell you.”
Syd didn’t know what else to say, and when she looked at the clock, she noticed it was getting late. “I better call him back. I’m not sure how long he’ll be in his office on a Sunday. I’ll call you after I talk to him. I love you, and Daddy.”
“We love you too, baby girl.”
Syd’s mind reeled as she replayed in her mind what her mama had told her. Syd felt sorry for her for having to decide between her family and the man she loved. She didn’t know if she could make a choice like that. She also knew that her parents loved her and would never give her an ultimatum to choose love or her parents. Of course, she’d never met anyone she’d been crazy about enough to bring them home to meet her parents. She’d always been focused, whether it’d been in school or work. While in college, she concentrated solely on her academics when she got her bachelor’s degree then her MBA. Syd fooled around a little while she was in school, but she didn’t allow herself to get caught up in anyone.
When she was hired by her company straight out of college, she was fixated on her work and climbing the corporate ladder. She’d always worked around eighty hours a week, which didn’t leave her much time for a relationship. Now, she put all her time and attention into the children wh
o needed her, so having a relationship was low on her list of priorities. She respected the few women she would occasionally sleep with, but falling for any of them? No. At this point in her life, she didn’t know if she would even recognize the feeling of falling in love.
Syd called back the attorney and asked the question that had been nagging her since she talked to her mama. “Could you please tell me how you found me? According to my mother, she was estranged from her family. And I assume my grandfather is no longer living since she left me her property.”
“Yes, he passed away many years ago. Mrs. Adams had hired a private investigator who gave her your information. That’s all she told me when she wrote her will.”
Her grandmother hired a private investigator? Why would she go through the trouble to find out about her yet not contact her? And if Virginia Adams was a racist like her mama indicated, why would she leave her property, or anything for that matter, to Syd? As angry as Syd was with her grandmother, she wished she was still alive to answer her questions. “So, what do I have to do?”
“I just need you to sign some papers, and you’ll receive the keys. What you do with the property afterward is up to you. I can overnight the papers to you if you’d like.”
“Mr. Kramer, I’m sorry, but would you mind if I called you back a little later? As you can imagine, this information has come as a complete shock to me and I need to collect my thoughts.” Syd’s mind felt like it was in a spin cycle and wasn’t slowing down enough for her to think clearly.
“Of course. I look forward to hearing from you.”
Syd made a small pot of coffee and poured herself a cup. She sat out on the balcony, sipping her morning drug, and gazing out to the deep blue water of Lake Michigan. She had a lot to think about before she called back Mr. Kramer. Did she want to accept her maternal grandmother’s property? If so, would she sell it or keep it? What would she do with property in Iowa of all places? She could take the money from the sale and put it down on her own youth center, one that would be geared more toward LGBTQ teens but all-inclusive. She had to see what property values were in Iowa. She couldn’t imagine they’d be very high, so her profit wouldn’t be all that much. She would also need to talk to Christina about taking some time off work to pack up the house and get it ready for sale.
She refilled her coffee cup and called Christina. Christina was very understanding about Syd needing to miss work for a couple of weeks, and she promised to tell the youngsters that she would be back to work soon. Syd then called her mama to tell her she’d be going to Iowa to get the property ready to sell. Just as Syd had guessed, her mama declined going to Iowa with her but she told Syd to call her with any questions or concerns regarding the property.
She then called her best friend and left a message on her voice mail. “Hey, Vanessa. I have to leave town tomorrow for a couple of weeks. Come over tonight, I’ll fix you dinner, and explain everything.” Her final call was to William Kramer, letting him know she’d be arriving the next afternoon, and she’d meet him at his office.
Vanessa texted her response saying that she’d be there, and she was intrigued.
Syd went to the store to pick up the ingredients to make a spinach-artichoke deep-dish pizza since Vanessa was a vegetarian and it would be easy to make. She was chopping the vegetables when there was a knock on the door. She greeted Vanessa with a heartfelt hug and they returned to the kitchen. Vanessa opened the bottle of wine she brought and poured them each a glass.
“So, you’re leaving town? What happened?”
Syd wanted to laugh since Vanessa probably knew it would take something big for Syd to take that much time off work, but the death of her presumably racist grandmother and the inheritance of her property was no laughing matter.
“You won’t believe the day I had. Let me just finish prepping the pizza and get it in the oven, and I’ll tell you the whole story.”
Once the pizza was baking, they took a seat on the couch, and Syd began her story. Vanessa sat there wide-eyed, taking in everything Syd told her about the call from her grandmother’s attorney to why she never had a relationship with them. Vanessa finished off her glass of wine and went to retrieve the bottle to refill their glasses. She kicked off her heels and sat with her legs curled under her, never taking her eyes off Syd as she continued with her story.
“Wow. That’s a hell of a day, Syd. So, you’re leaving for Iowa tomorrow, and what? Get the house ready to sell?”
Syd shrugged. “I guess. There’s a part of me who wants to try to figure out how my grandmother could disown her own daughter for falling in love with a black man. I can’t imagine what she must have thought of me. A biracial lesbian.” Syd laughed. “She probably would’ve had a field day with that one.” Syd looked at Vanessa. “The look on your face right now is the same one you used to wear when we were in school and the kids were making fun of the color of my skin.”
“Well, hell, it pissed me off that the black kids didn’t like you because your skin was too light and the white kids didn’t like you because your skin was too dark. They were so lame,” Vanessa said, sounding like she was back in junior high school. Vanessa always had Syd’s back, and Syd always had Vanessa’s.
“Do you want me to go with you? I could work remotely and be there for you, for moral support.”
“What about helping me pack up her house?”
Vanessa studied her nails and showed them to Syd. “I just got a manicure. I’m not doing anything to mess up this paint job.”
Syd laughed and playfully shoved Vanessa. “You’re such a girly-girl.” And she was. Vanessa was tall and slender, but not too thin, with wavy strawberry blond hair that fell to her mid back. Her eyes were so blue that they often reminded Syd of the lake during the middle of summer. Syd reached over and squeezed Vanessa’s hand. “I appreciate the offer, but I think I want to do this on my own. I’ll call you if I need you there.”
After dinner, they went to Syd’s bedroom so she could pack. She opened her closet doors and looked at the array of jeans and polo shirts. She supposed they would do to clean out the house. She threw some shorts and T-shirts into her suitcase, along with the jeans and polo shirts, and zipped it up. She’d pack up her toiletries in the morning, and if she forgot anything, she’d just have to get it in Iowa.
“I better get going so you can get to sleep. You have a long drive ahead of you.”
“Okay, let me wrap up the pizza for you to take home. In fact, let me give you everything in the fridge that will go bad while I’m gone.”
Syd packed up the fruits and vegetables, as well as dairy products, and put them in a canvas bag for Vanessa. They hugged each other again at the door.
“Don’t forget, I’ll come out there if you need me. All you have to do is ask.”
“I know, sweetie. Thank you. I’ll text you when I get there so you know I arrived safely.”
Syd cleaned the kitchen, turned off the lights, and took a bath before getting into bed. She was all packed and ready to go. All she needed to do was fall asleep. She had a feeling that that would be easier said than done.
Chapter Three
Syd woke early, and after placing her suitcase and some snacks in her black BMW sedan, she was on the interstate headed west. She made a couple of stops along the way for bathroom breaks and to stretch her legs, and after three hundred and fifty miles and almost six hours, she arrived in Charville, Iowa. She felt she had traveled back in time about sixty years to a sleepy little town. She certainly wasn’t in Chicago anymore. To be honest, she hadn’t traveled much in her life. She grew up in Chicago, went to college there, but other than a few family vacations to nearby destinations, she didn’t know much about any other place.
As she approached the courthouse in the center of town, she had to pull over and just admire the red brick building that resembled a smaller version of a castle. She marveled at the architecture of the building, but it was the clock tower that made her actually get out of her car. She walked the p
erimeter of the courthouse, unable to tear her eyes away from the clock for too long until she bumped into an older gentleman who was exiting the courthouse carrying a briefcase.
“Oh, excuse me.”
He looked up then back at Syd. “Beautiful, isn’t it? Can I help you find something?”
“I’m looking for a Mr. William Kramer’s office.”
“Oh, yes. Bill’s office is around the corner on Main Street. It’s right next to the candy store.” He pointed in the direction she needed to go.
“Is it safe to leave my car here?” She indicated her vehicle parked at the curb.
“Uh, yeah.” He chuckled as he walked away with a relaxed gait.
She grabbed her backpack out of the front seat and slung it over her shoulders. Syd began strolling down the sidewalk because wasn’t strolling something people did in the 1950s? That was what this felt like. People strolled past her and said hello. Who did that anymore? The sidewalks in Chicago were full of business people talking on their cell phones or texting, in a hurry to get to where they were going. Their eyes were down, not up looking at people. And the people certainly weren’t engaging with strangers. The people in this quaint little town looked like they weren’t in a hurry to get anywhere and were just enjoying their time in the sun.
She looked up to the street sign that actually read Main Street. She chuckled and shook her head. Where the hell was she? Mayberry? The suites in the two-story red brick building had red-and-white-striped awnings extended over the sidewalk, and sure enough, right past a quilt shop and before the candy shop was the Law Office of William Kramer. She knew that because it was written in gold lettering on the storefront window. The bell on the front door rang when she opened it, and she walked into an inviting waiting room. There were four comfortable looking wingback chairs, two on each side of the room divided by two end tables with older copies of Reader’s Digest sitting on top. There was a small oak desk that had the minimal necessities—a phone, a pen holder, and a desk calendar. There were old framed prints adorning the walls, including one she recognized as the courthouse she just left. She went to get a closer look and the date read 1893.
A Call Away Page 2