“You’re just showing off right now. Don’t think that I’ll tolerate it much longer either. So what? She’s dead. It’s not like you had all that much to do with her.” Clayton told Eita that was something that he truly regretted too. “Whatever. But you’ll regret this, Clayton. I promise you that. Once the other women get here, you’ll wish you’d not come with me at all.”
When she moved away, Mars didn’t bother commenting on the conversation. He had enough going on right now with having to deal with things that were going to be taken care of after calling hours. He needed to gather his cousins up and have the reading of the will. It was going to be hard on all of them to hear the last will and testament of his mom.
“Mars? I’d like to have a word with you if I may.” Mars told Clayton that today wasn’t a good day. “I’m well aware of that. But I would like to tell you how profoundly sorry I am. About everything. For as much as my wife and the others hurt you, I wasn’t aware of it. I knew that they were upset with how things were going with you and your mom, but I never knew the extent of what they were doing, or did to my sister.”
“Are you gathering up information, Clayton?” He told Mars that he deserved that. “You have no idea how much I think you and the others deserve. My mom is dead, and you all are acting like it’s nothing, no big deal for me to have lost the only person in the world who cared about me.”
He saw Abby coming, and when she took his hand into hers, he held it tightly, like a lifeline. Clayton started crying, telling him that he was sorry, but Mars didn’t want him to say he was sorry. He wanted him to do something about what was going on right now.
“I’m not sure that you will believe me. Nor do I think that you have any good reason to believe me when I tell you that I’m looking into things. I never knew about Holly being taken and raped. I swear to you, all we were told was that she’d been in Europe, but had been sent home because a lover had beaten her up. But that it wasn’t that big of a deal. After we were told about you coming along, I assumed that what I was being told was the truth about her.” Mars wanted to hit his uncle. Abby held his hand tighter, he supposed so that he wouldn’t. “I was so wrong. About everything I know. Not just that, but even knowing the little that I do now, I think there is more to this than you might know about.”
“Like what?” Abby asked him a second time when Clayton didn’t answer her. “Look here, buster. I’m in love with this man, and if you keep fucking around, we’re going to have to have a second funeral before this one is even completed. What else do you know?”
“Eita orchestrated Holly being taken. And raped.”
Mars fell back. Hitting the chairs behind him, he could feel them splinter under his weight, his body hurting from something stabbing him. It could have been the pain of it all, the information that he’d just been told. Not that it mattered, Mars supposed. Eita had had his mother hurt.
When he was helped up, Mars refused to get any help from Clayton. His cousins were there for him then, not just pulling him up from the broken chairs but also making sure that he wasn’t harmed that bad. Mars never took his eyes off his uncle as he stood there, tears streaming down his cheeks as he watched them.
Abby moved Clayton away when it looked as if he might say more. He didn’t think that he wanted anything else said to him right now. Mars was so grateful for Abby that he sat down near where he’d broken the chairs, his legs no longer strong enough to support him. Mars looked around at the people that had arrived in the last few minutes.
The women were dressed in their uniforms, what Booker had called them last night. The Flaming Bitches was what Shawn had dubbed them, and it suited them perfectly. Watching them even now, he could see that they moved as a unit when moving. As they headed toward the flowers that were spread about the rooms, he watched as Lance and an officer told them to leave them alone. That until further notice, everything having to do with this funeral was off limits to them.
He saw his uncles, the other four of them, enter the chapel where he was as if they were there on a mission. Mars watched as they looked around, their mouths slightly opened as they took in what had no doubt been understated to them.
There were over two hundred arrangements in the three rooms today, more than double what had been there when he’d sat down and talked with Abby the other day. Mars did wonder what the uncles had been told to bring them here today, as he’d been told yesterday that they were much too busy to waste their time coming here for him.
When the uncles started in his direction, he stood up. Abby was suddenly there with him, and she and North stood stiffly beside him. Whatever they were going to say to him, or do to him, was preempted when their wives, as a group again, came to cut them off.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Mars watched as the women stood in front of their husbands and demanded to know why they had come here when they were told not to. Wesley, Wats’s father, looked at his wife before he pushed her out of the way. That was, he supposed, the only reason that he got to him before any of the others, including Clayton again.
“Are you all right, son?” Mars looked for Wats when Wesley asked him that, and saw that he wasn’t there. “I’m asking about you, Mars. That’s what Clayton said that you like to be called. Are you all right? Do you need us to do anything for you? We’re late at it, but we’re here for you if you need us.”
“I’ve been doing just fine on my own, thanks. Why are you here?” Wesley asked him what he’d heard. “Honestly? That you didn’t care that my mom had been killed. That you had more important things to do other than hang out in a piss poor funeral home with a nephew that you both don’t care about, and don’t want anything to do with. So again, why are you here?”
“Clayton called us in. Not just for you, though now that you mention it, you don’t look as if you need any of us to help you out. But we’ve only just found out about Holly.” Not understanding what he meant, Abby told Wesley that Holly had been around long enough for them to have realized that they had a sister. “That’s...I’m sorry. I meant that we only just found out about why our sister had you. You have no idea…. There isn’t any way that any of us can make up for what has been done to you, son. But we’re going to try. As of right now.”
Wats stood next to him, as did the other cousins. “Dad, what do you think you can do? Are you going to tell him that you didn’t have any idea what sort of life that Aunt Holly had? I tried to tell you, several times, that she didn’t do anything like we’d been told. You told me that you believed it because it had come from my mother. Whom, you might want to know, is nothing to me as of last night. Like the others, we won’t be going home to the place where you live ever again. It’s not worth the trouble.”
“I’ve heard.” The others came to stand between him and his aunts. Josiah hugged him tightly when he was able to get close enough. The others did as well. “We’re not going to be able to say how sorry we are to your mom. For as much as I wish I could, I’m going to be making life up to you ten times as much. You’ve had it bad. I believe all of the boys have. Clayton and the rest of us are going to be talking soon, and we’d like for you and our sons to be there when we do.”
“The reading of the will is today. Not that you were mentioned it in, but we’re meeting after this at the attorney’s office.” Mars looked at Brandon when he spoke. “Holly was a better parent to me, to all of us, than you and Mother ever were. I would very much like it if—”
“Don’t. Please don’t shove us away. It’s no less than we all deserve, but please, give us a chance. Please hear us out.” Mars asked Aiden, Brandon’s father, why they should do anything that they wanted. “I don’t have a reason that you’d believe. But I swear to you that we’re going to take care of a few things as soon as today. But we’d really like to talk to you about it as well. It’s not going to be pretty.”
After the cousins agreed that they’d think about it, the fathers moved
away. Everyone was showing up now, he could see, and didn’t want others to know what was going on. They might before the end of the day, but for now, he just wanted to talk to people that had known his mom and be with Abby.
“Are you rested up, big boy?” Mars looked at Abby and smiled. “Good. I am as well. I guess all this has made me more exhausted than I wanted you. If you don’t mind, and really I don’t care, but I’ve made arrangements for us to stay here tonight. I’ve been staying upstairs in the apartment off and on for years. I’d like to have you all to myself tonight.”
“I’d like that as well.”
Kissing her on the mouth, he mingled around with the people. Everyone seemed to have a story about his mom, and he enjoyed each and every one of them. He also noticed that the uncles were talking to people as well, while their wives sat in a room that had arrangements in it and a few chairs. They were plotting, he thought. And he wondered how much of their plotting would hurt the others.
“Don’t worry about them, Mars. There is nothing you can do about them now. Just talk to the others, and then we’ll move on. All right?” He nodded at Abby before kissing her again. “You keep that up, and there won’t be any reading of the will done today. I’m going to jump your bones right now.”
Mars was still laughing when Lance told him that he had a phone call. Going into the little office to take it, he was surprised that Oliver was standing there. Telling him he was sorry that he’d not called him back, Mars was sure that he was there to fire him. And at this point, he couldn’t care less what he did.
“I’m sorry about the ruse, Mars. I am. But if you have a few minutes, I’d like to speak to you tomorrow, after the service. I’m asking you to meet with me then because Chris is on his way here too. I need to speak to you before he does.” Mars told him that he could do that. “Good. And I’m sure you know not to believe a word that comes out of his mouth, correct?”
“I’m beginning to think that about everyone, sir.”
Obviously confused, Oliver didn’t ask. But he did hang around for the calling hours. Mars didn’t know what he could tell him that he’d not already figured out, but he just wanted everyone to let him grieve for a little while without some other drama.
Chapter 7
Shawn didn’t want anything that Aunt Holly had left him. What he really wanted was for her to be here again. But since that wasn’t going to happen, he sat quietly in the large conference room with the rest of them. Abby was there as well, even though they’d been told she’d not been mentioned. But telling the attorney that she stayed or they left had gotten her there for the reading. They needed her as much as Mars did.
The attorney, Butch Sandow, had had to step out for a moment. When he returned just now, he looked flustered and out of sorts. Picking up what Shawn thought was the will, he laid it down again to look at them all.
“I must apologize for the interruption just now. There was some sort of misunderstanding that I needed to take care of. Your mothers, the rest of your mothers, have shown up demanding that they be here with you while the will is read. I’m not sure their reasons for it, but I had to call the police to have them escorted out.” Abby laughed but tried hard to stop it. Before Mr. Sandow could speak again, she burst out laughing again. “I don’t understand the humor, but I’m betting that it’s a good story. They were very determined to know what sort of estate Miss Wilkerson could have had. I didn’t tell them, of course, but they thought that I could make better use of my time than to tell you that you might have gotten an ashtray from your aunt.”
“Aunt Holly didn’t smoke.” The man smiled at him. “I’m sure that after today our mothers will have plenty to say. We’ve taken a vow of silence toward them. They might be our birth mothers, but Aunt Holly was the mom that we all ran to when we needed something. She was the best there was.”
“She spoke highly of all of you. So much so that I feel as if I know who each of you are.” He named them, getting not only their names right but also the order that they’d been born in. “And Abby, believe it or not, she spoke of you often too. She said that you were a much stronger woman than anyone would have believed. That you might not believe it just yet.”
“I’m getting there.” Shawn watched the exchange of looks between her and Mars. He’d bet that sometime soon that Mars would be married to Abby, and they’d be announcing that they were having a child. He envied them both. “I have all these men here to make me feel good about myself. And I get to knock them around a little while I’m at it.”
“She does it well too.” Shawn kissed Abby on the cheek as he continued. “Aunt Holly not only brought us all together, but she kept us together by being one of the kindest women that I’ve ever had the pleasure of being related to. I know that me saying this is on the minds of all of us here—she has left a huge hole in not just our hearts, but our lives as well.”
Everyone agreed with him, and Mr. Sandow told them that he’d miss her a great deal as well. When he picked up the file, Shawn noticed that his hands were shaking. He hadn’t realized that his aunt was capable of making an impact on even an attorney’s heart, though it shouldn’t have surprised him in the least.
“‘I would like to say, first of all….’ I’m sorry. I’m reading from the letter that she wants read to you boys—she calls you that—so that you understand her reasoning for what she’s done for each of you. Any questions before I go on?” No one said anything, so he began again.
“‘I would like to say first of all that I truly love you all. You have all been like sons to me, and I will never forget all your kindness and love that you gave me. The necklace that you gave me for Mother’s Day is going to stay with me into eternity so that I might show it off to all the people that I see. I love you guys so very much.’”
“I’ve already taken care that the funeral director knows that.” Mars looked around to them all. “I nearly lost it, I’ll have to tell you. The medics had taken it off of her at the accident and had left it behind. I took a walk out there the next afternoon and found it. Just there on the side of the road. It was the best thing that I could have found out there where she’d been.”
“Very good.” Mr. Sandow continued reading the letter to them all. “‘I have, in my own way, left you each something that I hope that you’re going to use for someone special in your life. These items were given to me by my grandmother when I turned twelve. They have not ever been a part of the Wilkerson estate of my father.’”
Mr. Sandow handed each of them a small box. Shawn opened his and nearly burst into tears. It was the ring that she’d forever worn on a necklace around her neck. It was with the necklace that they had given her. He looked at the others and saw that they too had rings that they’d all seen her wear at some point or another.
“I’ve made sure that these rings were never mentioned in any of the wills that have been read, nor are they mentioned in the inventory that belongs to the house. They’ve been cleaned and tightened so that the diamonds in them are secure.” He cleared his throat before going on. “Miss Holly brought these to me only a week before she passed on. I was to make sure that they were insured as well as cleaned up for her. I never got to return them.”
It took them all a few minutes to come to terms with what he was saying. It hurt Shawn more when he realized that she really was gone. Yes, he knew that she had died and that Aunt Holly would be buried tomorrow. But having something that she treasured in his hand, it hurt him deep within his heart.
“‘I would wish that each of you know that there are marriages and families that are so much better than the one that you’ve been born to. I want you each to find yourself someone to love and to love you back. Cherish her as you have me, and you will be the luckiest men on earth. I only hope and wish for the best for you, and that you, someday, make me a great aunt and grandma so that you can tell them all about the fun that we had together.’” Mr. Sandow put down the
letter. “I have made copies of this letter for each of you should you want it. She did truly love you gentlemen more than I think anyone loves their own flesh and blood. And Mars, your mother was one of a kind. The most generous and loving person that a son could ask for in the way of a mom.”
“I know that. I’ve always known that she was one of a kind. But I do thank you for saying it.” Mr. Sandow nodded. “Is there anything else? I mean, I don’t want to take up your whole afternoon, sir.”
“Yes. The will.” He pulled it out, and Shawn saw the envelopes there with each of their names on them. “I’m to give these to you and to tell you that you’re to spend this money for something special. Not to use it for paying off something. Nor are you to put it in the bank for a rainy day. Miss Holly said that rainy days are for suckers and that she knew that each of you were never that. Also, please don’t open the envelope in my presence. If there is cash in there, which I’m assuming there is, I don’t want to have to tell the government about it so that you’re taxed for it.” He stood up. “I’m going to step outside and get myself a glass of water. Is there anything that I can bring back for you?”
They all declined, and Mr. Sandow left them. Mars simply put his envelope in his pocket and knelt down on one knee in front of Abby. No one moved or said anything as he pulled out the ring that he’d been given as well, and took Abby’s hand into his.
“I know that we’ve not known each other for very long. I also know that you could very well hurt me for doing this right now. But we’re here with family, our family, and I couldn’t think of a better place to ask you to be my wife than right here, right now.” Abby looked at them and back at Mars as he spoke again. “I love you, Abby. I think I have from the moment that I saw you coming down the stairs at the funeral home with dirty laundry in your hands, and your grubby T-shirt half in and half out of your shorts. Will you, please, marry me?”
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