The Investment Club

by Cooper, Doug

  ________________________________

  Testator

  We, Aaron Finley and Joshua Reynolds, the witnesses, sign our names to this instrument, being first duly sworn, and do hereby declare to the undersigned authority that the testator declares it to be his Last will and requested us to sign as witnesses thereof, and that he signs it willingly (or willingly directs another to sign for him), and that each of us, in the presence and hearing of the testator and of each other, hereby signs this will as witness to the testator’s signing, and that to the best of our knowledge the testator is 18 years of age or older, of sound mind, and under no constraint or under influence.

  Witness:

  ______________________________

  Residing: 1970 Alta Drive, Las Vegas, NV 89107

  Witness:

  ______________________________

  Residing: 119 Eleventh Street, Las Vegas, Nevada 89101

  Dow Jones Close: 18,038.23

  Chapter Fifty-Eight

  Date: Tuesday, December 30, 2014

  Dow Jones Open: 18,035.02

  Crystal awoke early and looked at the clock. 7:15. Hughie wasn’t scheduled to arrive until two in the afternoon. She hoped Bill would reconsider her objections about the will after sleeping on it. She pulled the covers up around her neck. The apartment was still and eerily quiet. Something was wrong. Bill was always up before her. She would hear the water running in the shower, the TV murmuring with Good Morning America, or just his lumbering gait as he moved from one room to the other. Even the mornings he went to help Les, she knew he had been up by the smell of the fresh coffee he had made and left warming for her. Today there was nothing.

  She rolled over and checked her phone on the nightstand for messages. Only one from Penny: Hughie’s plane left on time. I’ll pick him up and meet you guys at Bill’s. Make sure you’re there or let me know where you’ll be. She tossed the phone next to her on the bed and pulled the covers up over her head. The plan was so much easier when they had the element of surprise.

  Not sure what she was going to do to change Bill’s mind but feeling rested to take another run at him, she climbed out from underneath the covers and put on her bathrobe and slippers. Opening the door, she called out for Bill. No answer. Must’ve already gone to the Oasis, she thought. She shuffled down the hallway and into the bathroom. Brushing her teeth, she scanned the room nervously, recalling their conversation about the will. Her eyes fixated on a familiar item in the bottom of the trash. Dropping her toothbrush in the sink, she reached down and snatched the amber pill bottle. The label displayed the familiar name and prescription for Mildred Nickels. She rushed out of the bathroom toward Bill’s bedroom. The door was closed, which was strange because even after Crystal moved in, he still never slept in there and barely ever even went in, except to fetch something out of the closet. She squeezed the empty pill bottle in her hand. Maybe he was out on the terrace. She walked into the living room. The pillows and blankets he usually used to sleep on the couch were stacked in the same position as when she went to bed. She knew they hadn’t been used, because the fresh pillowcase from the laundry she had done was still draped across the pillow.

  She walked over to the terrace door and pulled back the vertical blinds. A pigeon stood on the railing, looking back at her. They studied each other for a moment, then the pigeon flew away. Crystal let go of the blinds. They swung back and forth, rattling into one other. Flashes of light shot through the dimly lit room. Turning back around, she noticed the urn with Darlene’s ashes missing from the mantel. Only an empty space remained where the urn had stood, a perfect rectangle outlined by the dust that had collected around its edges.

  She walked back to her room to retrieve her phone and call Les. Bill had to be with him. On the way, she stopped in the hallway and stared at the door to Bill’s room. She didn’t need to call Les. She knew where Bill was. Plodding to the door, she rested her hand on the handle before opening it. The air rushed from her lungs. She turned the handle and pushed the door open.

  Bill was there, reclined on the bed in a blue suit. The urn rested against the pillow on his left. He and Darlene were next to each other once again.

  Crystal didn’t enter the room. She knew he was gone, and that he had been for a while. She hadn’t been able to save him then. There was no use trying now.

  Her first call was to Les, then to Penny. They both came over right away. She didn’t tell them about the pill bottle; she couldn’t. It didn’t matter anyway. They all knew Bill had just given up. In that moment, though, no one had an idea what to do. They thought about calling the police or 911, but it wasn’t an emergency. Although Bill wasn’t religious, Les performed the last rites. Penny looped in Max, who tapped into his network of contacts to get a doctor to come over.

  When the doctor arrived, she was wearing a black doubleknit Adidas jacket and pants with white stripes down the arms and legs. Her brown hair was pulled into a ponytail with a thin white headband over the top of her head and circling around behind her ears to the back. She looked in her mid-thirties, but with her youthful attire and smooth skin and lean build, she could’ve passed for much younger. If it wasn’t for the doctor’s bag in her right hand, it would’ve been easy to mistake her for a coach or maybe even a player. She must’ve noticed everyone questioning her appearance because the first thing she said, tugging at the jacket, was, “Came right from the kids’ soccer game. We won. Have to be back there for the next game in an hour.” Les led her into Bill’s room. She opened her bag on the bed and immediately started to examine the body, checking Bill’s eyes, his temperature, for any signs of stress or marks on the body. She said, “Based on the body temp, he passed away about five hours ago. There doesn’t seem to be any sign of trauma. More tests would have to be done to see if it was a heart attack. Most likely it was cardiomyopathy, which is a type of progressive heart disease. Over time, the heart tissue becomes thickened and stiff, weakening its ability to pump blood. I’m assuming from the urn that he recently lost his wife?”

  Les said, “About a year ago. He had been doing fine, but the past month he became distant and frequently talked about death.”

  “It could’ve been building for a while,” the doctor said. “Carrying that grief or stress can trigger your nervous system to release chemicals similar to the fight-or-flight response and make it difficult for your heart to pump blood properly.”

  “But he seemed fine last night,” Penny said. “He was more emotional than usual, but he seemed happy and peaceful.”

  The doctor said, “That could be because he finally decided to let go and stop fighting. You see this in suicide patients, as well. Everyone is surprised by their death because they were so happy the day they died. But this is only because they finally decided to do it and weren’t carrying the burden of decision any longer.”

  “What do we do now, doc?” Max asked. “Can you handle this or do we need to call the police or an ambulance?”

  The doctor rose from the side of the bed, depositing the penlight she was using back into the medical bag. “To know the exact causes, we can run an angiogram to check the arteries and veins, but from what I can see I’m OK to say this was natural causes and complete the pronouncement of death.”

  “Well, I don’t think we should do anything until his son gets here this afternoon,” Penny said. “When he left New Jersey this morning, he thought his dad was alive. To arrive and hear from strangers that he had passed and was already at the funeral home would be too much.”

  Crystal became emotional. “So we’re just supposed to let him sit here and rot?” She waved a copy of the will. “Bill left very specific instructions for how he wanted things handled. I think we should follow his wishes.”

  Max took the will from her and began reading. “Well now I know why he wanted Amanda’s number.”

  Penny walked over to the nightstand and picked up a white envelope with Hughie scrawled in blue
ink across the front. “He also left a note for his son. I think we should wait.”

  “Medically speaking, there are no problems with waiting until this afternoon,” the doctor said. “Rigor mortis has already set in. There will be little change over the next several hours.”

  It was all too much for Crystal. She dropped to her knees, whimpering. “No, this can’t be happening. I can’t lose him, too.”

  Penny crouched next to her, rubbing her back. “You’re going to be OK. You’re not alone in this.”

  Les walked over and sat on the edge of the bed, taking hold of Bill’s hand. “I think we should wait, too. We all need to make peace with this. Bill and his son had a complicated past. Let’s allow his son an opportunity to read what Bill had to say in his presence and allow him to be part of executing Bill’s wishes.”

  “We really don’t have much choice but to wait.” Max looked up from the document. “I don’t mean to be cynical, but this already looks a bit fishy. If we rush him to the funeral home, it only looks worse. Think of it from his son’s perspective. He arrives to find his dad has passed. A young girl, who is living with him, is also the executor of the will and a major benefactor.”

  Crystal’s sobbing escalated. “You think I wanted this? I tried talking him out of it. I don’t want this stupid apartment. I don’t want any of this.”

  Penny pulled Crystal close, comforting her. “Come on. None of us wanted this. We all cared for him.”

  “That’s not what I mean,” Max said. “I’m just saying I think it’s in everybody’s best interest to wait.”

  So they waited. Four hours to be exact. During that time, Max finalized the pronouncement of death with the doctor; Les contacted the funeral home stipulated in the will for the cremation, the same one Bill had used for Darlene; and Penny consoled Crystal, who only felt worse as the day went on. She had never known her father. Bill was as close as she ever had. He was one of the only men in her life that had given to her and never expected anything in return. But the grief was also much deeper. Losing Bill stirred up the pain and sorrow she had only recently accepted with relation to her mother’s death. She wanted to run. To hide. To not feel.

  All four of them had planned to go to the airport together, but they weren’t comfortable leaving Bill’s body alone. No one could articulate why. Bill was right where he wanted to be—next to Darlene. But leaving him stretched out alone in the apartment just didn’t feel right. That was one thing they all agreed on. Penny felt she should go, since she was the one who had talked to Hughie. They decided Les should also go, because he had the most experience and compassion in dealing with these situations. Crystal wanted to remain with Bill, but that only left Max to stay with her, which made her feel very anxious. They got along now, but were still like fire and gasoline. She didn’t think that in her current emotional state she could handle Max’s dispassionate businesslike manner. Thankfully everyone seemed to know this, because they eventually decided Penny should call Hughie when he arrived and let him know Max and Les were coming to pick him up, and she would stay with Crystal.

  While Max and Les were on their way to the airport to pick up Hughie, Crystal showed Penny the will, pointing out the parts about what he left to her and how they were to dispose of the bodies. She said, “This is what he was talking about when he asked us for our help that night.”

  Penny read the will over several times while Crystal paced back and forth in front of her. Penny looked up from the document. “Did you know he was going to leave you so much?”

  “Not until we got home last night. I told him it was too much, that he had already done so much for me. He said it was already done and whatever I didn’t want could go to Hughie and his family. You have to believe me, I didn’t want this.”

  Penny patted the couch cushion next to her. “I do, sweetie. Come sit down.”

  “I can’t,” Crystal said, increasing the intensity of her pacing. “Hughie has no clue what he’s walking into. He got on the plane this morning thinking he was going to be dealing with one kind of stress and is going to be hit with something completely different.” Her mind started to match the speed of her feet on the carpet. “He doesn’t know any of us. What if he thinks I tricked Bill into doing this? Like I worked my way in and have been taking advantage of him.”

  Penny rose from the couch and walked to Crystal, blocking her path. She took hold of both Crystal’s hands and positioned her face so Crystal had no choice but to look at her. “Listen to me. You are not alone in this. That’s why Bill asked us both to help. We will get through this together.”

  In the remaining time they waited for Les and Max to arrive with Hughie, Penny convinced Crystal to sit down and together they reviewed the will, so they could agree on exactly how they would present it to Hughie. Much to their surprise, when he did arrive, his reaction was no reaction. He didn’t say anything. His face showed no emotion. They could tell Les had already told him what had happened to prepare him for what he was walking into, but they at least expected some kind of reaction.

  All standing together in the room around Bill’s body, Les said, “He left a letter for you.” Les walked over to the nightstand.

  Hughie shook his head, puffing air through his nose in disbelief. “Of course he did. That’s just like him. He gets to say what he wanted, and I don’t. I’m not surprised though. I knew when Mom died, there wasn’t much chance for us. She was always the link.”

  Les held the letter in his hand at his side. “It definitely seemed like she was everything to him, but I know he cared for you and was so proud of your achievements. He told me how he snuck into your graduations and the hospitals when his grandchildren were born, and followed your career. The link was never broken. He was always there. You just didn’t realize it. He was a good man. He helped us all here so much.”

  Hughie cut him off, showing his first sign of emotion. “That’s just it. My whole life, all I’ve heard is what a great man he is, how much he did for other people. But he could never show me. I always had to hear it from everyone else.” He turned away from the body, scanning the room, looking at familiar objects from his childhood in this new, strange environment. “I’m in my parent’s home, and I feel like I don’t belong.”

  No one said anything. Everybody felt as uncomfortable as Hughie clearly did, like they were the ones that didn’t belong. They just let him take it all in. He walked over to the wall covered with pictures. There Hughie was, with varying degrees of teeth and hair as he grew up, playing baseball with Bill as coach, with Bill at the Boy Scout Pinewood Derby, with both parents the night of a dance and a prom night, with Bill handing him the keys to a Jeep. Then the pictures suddenly changed. Bill was no longer in any of them. It was Hughie and Darlene at his college and law graduations, him and his wife and Darlene at his wedding, Darlene with him and his kids at their birthday parties. His whole life was on display in front of him.

  Still with his back to everyone, Hughie repeatedly wiped his eyes then turned around. His face was red and tight, the muscles in his jaw bulging. He let out a deep breath and walked toward the bed. “I don’t even care anymore. I’m just glad I can finally put it all to rest.”

  Max said, “According to the doctor, he went peacefully. He just lay down and never woke up.”

  Les extended the letter to Hughie. “He left this for you.”

  Hughie didn’t take the letter. He just stood at the side of the bed, staring over the body. He reached down and rubbed Bill’s gray, bristly flattop. “You know he had this same haircut as long as I can remember. Never changed it once.”

  Les nodded, still holding the letter for Hughie to take it. “We’ll give you some privacy to read this. Take all the time you need.”

  Hughie looked up from the body. “No, I want you to stay. He obviously thought a lot of you all. And let’s be honest, you all knew him a lot better than I ever did.” The emotion Hughie had
been fighting finally overtook him. He sat down on the edge of the bed, taking hold of Bill’s hand with one of his and covering his face with the other and sobbing.

  Penny walked over and sat next to him, rubbing his back. “You have to know how much he loved you and how proud he was.”

  This made Hughie cry that much harder. Everyone else just looked at each other, unsure what to do. No one wanted to be there, but they knew they couldn’t leave either. Two things bound them: the awkwardness and their love for Bill.

  Hughie looked up at Les. “Do you think you could read the letter? Quite honestly, I’m not sure I could get through it, and I really don’t want to be alone right now.”

  “Of course,” Les said. He peeled open the envelope and took out the two pieces of yellow stationery inside.

  Dear Hughie:

  I’m sorry I couldn’t wait until you got here to tell you all this stuff or I couldn’t bring myself to tell you sooner. I never had much growing up and was never as smart as you and your mother. All I ever had was listening to my gut. It wasn’t always right, but it won me your mother’s unwavering love and kept me alive on the job for over thirty years. I’ve always worried that if I stopped listening to it, I would lose my edge and something bad would happen to me, and I wouldn’t be there for your mother when she needed me. I could never take that chance. Unfortunately your relationship with me was a casualty in that process. I wish I could’ve been the father you wanted, but I decided long ago that I would be the father you needed. If your well-being meant I had to sacrifice our relationship, then I was willing to make that choice.