Snapshot (23 page)

He placed a hand on the wall just over her shoulder. He leaned in to capture her attention. “I know you won’t like this idea, but maybe you should call him, for help.”
 

Marti offered a weak smile. “That would be a nightmare. His world is barely any better.”
 

“How about…”

She stopped his words with a finger to his lips. “Adam, no. Peter and Libby are waiting, and I don’t really want them to come in and see the screwed-up mess in there.”

“You’re killing me,” he whispered and pulled her into an embrace. Her body was so small compared to the troubles she faced. “I feel so damn useless.” He kissed the top of her head and fought back tears.

“Trust me. I can handle anything.” She stepped back and held his face in her hands, as if not expecting to see him again for a long time. If ever. “I need you to say goodbye and go.”

“I can’t leave you. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this.” He toyed with her silky hair, missing how perfect their lives had been two short days ago.

“We still would have had to say goodbye in a couple days. It’s just a little sooner than we thought.”

“Marti!” her mother mumbled from somewhere in the apartment.

Dread shadowed Marti’s face. She pleaded with her eyes.

“I know. I’ll go, but come here a second.” He wrapped his arms around her beautiful, stubborn figure and inhaled her intoxicating scent. He tilted her head up and captured her mouth in a final desperate kiss. He tried to forge a snapshot of this moment in his mind.

“Marti?” The apartment door opened, and her mother appeared, eyes half-open. She stumbled against the doorframe. A loopy smile appeared on her parched lips. “Oops, looks like I’m interrupting.”
 

Adam wanted to steal Marti away that moment, but he didn’t.

“Please go,” Marti begged him. The pain in her voice convinced him.
 

“Okay, but I’ll be back. I don’t know when, but I will.” He pecked her quick on the mouth and stepped away. He took one final look and left her alone to fend for herself.

Once outside in the fresh air, Adam stared up at the twinkling night sky and cursed the heavens for doing this to Marti.

*
 
*
 
*

Marti reflected over how uncomfortable the funeral had been as her best friend, Kristi, drove her home. She balanced a foil-covered, tater-tot casserole on her lap, a gift from a lady in Grandma’s book club. Cookies would have been nicer.
 

She had somehow managed to get her mother to the funeral this morning, but despite Marti’s best efforts, she couldn’t keep the strung out woman from delivering an embarrassing eulogy.
 

Tami sobbed and blithered as she confessed her pain and regret for being such a disappointment. When it came to Marti’s mother, Marti’s heart held vast emptiness. The woman had never shown an ounce of interest or love toward her. Thankfully her mother disappeared immediately after the funeral, but that left Marti on her own to face the throngs of Grandma’s friends and coworkers who attended the luncheon in the church basement.

“Such a tragedy, such a loss, you poor dear,” they all said. All eyes looked upon her with pity and everyone had questions about what Marti would do next. Even Kristi wasn’t immune. At least Kristi had the guts to come right out and ask.
 

“What are you going to do?” She glanced at Marti as she drove, tapping her fingers on the steering wheel to the beat of the radio.

“Nothing has to change. I’ll keep living at Grandma’s.”

“But how will you pay for things?” Kristi’s forehead creased in concern.

“I know Grandma had life insurance, so that should cover the rent for a while.
 
I’ll get a job to cover the other stuff.” She didn’t understand how it worked, but it couldn’t be that hard to figure out.

Marti thought about how her drug addled mother emptied out Grandma’s checking account to fund her addiction. A wave of anger washed over her. She fought the urge to call the police, but knew it wouldn’t do much other than to get her mom arrested. Marti would never see that money again; it had been injected into her mother’s veins.

“Will they let you do that?” Kristi’s expression resembled the women’s faces at the church luncheon.

“I don’t know why not. As long as the bills get paid, it shouldn’t matter.” The tinfoil crinkled as Marti shifted in her seat.

“But you’re underage. There’s probably some law against you living by yourself. I mean, if there wasn’t, more kids would move away from home.”

“I’m not living with my mother! I don’t even know if she has a place. Last I heard, she lived in some crappy motel.”

“I wish you could move in with me.” Kristi chewed at her lip. “I could ask again.”

“No. Your dad’s been out of work for almost a year. I understand. Don’t worry. I’ve got it figured out.” And despite the nagging voice of doubt somewhere in the back of her mind, she’d keep believing it.

Kristi pulled into the apartment parking lot. Marti spotted Grandma’s car with the trunk popped open.

“Oh shit. No!” Marti slid the casserole onto the seat and jumped out before Kristi could fully stop the car. She rushed over and found Grandma’s flat screen TV, along with her DVD player and old stereo receiver in the trunk. Looking at the stolen items made Marti furious. Her shoulders tensed. What more had her mother taken?

Marti looked in the car window and spotted her laptop and two cameras on the backseat. Hot rage boiled through her. She clenched her jaw.

“What’s going on?” Kristi joined her. “Isn’t that your stuff?”

“I’m going to kill my mother.” Marti yanked open the door and grabbed her cameras, pulling the straps safely around her neck. This time her mother had gone too far. Her hands shook as she lifted out her laptop. She had spent nearly a year saving up for it, and it held practically every picture she’d ever taken.

Their toaster oven lay next to a clock radio. Then she spotted her grandmother’s jewelry box spilling onto the floor. Marti felt a stab to her heart. She used to open it as a kid and listen to the beautiful melody while playing with Grandma’s jewelry. Her mother was going farther than just stealing valuables; she was trying to steal Marti’s memories.

“Here, take this quick and lock it in your car.” She scooped the jewelry back in the box and handed it off to Kristi. Kristi’s eyes turned wide as Frisbees. “Now. Hurry!”
 

Kristi rushed off to hide the keepsakes. Marti knew the box mainly consisted of cheap costume jewelry, but some pieces were gifts to her grandmother from her grandfather. Plus, Grandma kept her wedding broach in that box and had told Marti she could wear it at her wedding some day too.

Marti carried her belongings back into the apartment, each step a painful reminder of the woman she lost, and the woman she despised. She opened the door. Her mother knelt in the hall closet, rifling through it’s contents. A strange man with bloodshot eyes exited Marti’s bedroom carrying her small TV. Her pink tote bag hung from his shoulder, her special camera lens and iPod inside. How dare they steal her stuff!

“What the hell are you doing?” she exploded.

The tall man with dark scraggly hair stopped in his tracks. Her mother jumped like a thief caught in the act, which she was!

“That’s my stuff! Put it back or I’m calling the police!” Marti confronted them, crossing her arms in front of her. Inside, she was shaken to her core, but if she didn’t stop them, no one would.

“Oh hi. I was looking for my dad’s old coin collection.” Her mother’s wild eyes turned back to the box and dumped it on the floor. Clearly she was high on something.

“Stop it! Don’t you have a shred of decency? Show some respect! Grandma’s only been gone a few days.” Marti dropped her laptop on the couch.

Her mother stood and brushed frizzy, neglected hair off her hollow face. “Oh Marti, relax. She’s gone and could care less what happens to her stuff. And it’s all mine now anyway.”

Marti narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean it’s all yours?”
 

“Mom had a will, and as her only child, I’m her sole beneficiary.” She curled her lip in spiteful disdain.

Marti fought the shock from her mother’s words. She always thought Grandma would take care of her. Why didn’t Grandma leave her belongings to Marti? It didn’t make sense. “That can’t be true. You’re lying.”

“Afraid not. It’s all in black and white. I found the will in Mom’s bottom dresser drawer. Signed and notarized. This place has to be cleaned out anyway, so I don’t know why you’ve got your undies in such a twist.”

The dirtbag in the hall tried to inch past with Marti’s stuff. She turned on him. “Put it down! Now!” She glared at the unwashed man. He lowered the pile to the floor and stepped away, focusing on the floor.

Kristi appeared at the door and gasped. Marti kept her eyes glued on her mother. “Kristi, go get the apartment manager. He lives in 4B. Tell him to come quick. And if he’s not home, call 911 and report a robbery.”

“And what the hell do you think the apartment manager or police are going to do? I’m not breaking the law,” her mother spit back.

“For one, I’ll have them search you for drugs.” Marti glared, but her bravado faded fast. If her mother’s words about the will rang true, well, she didn’t know what she’d do.

“Fine. I’ll give you two days. You can take the will to whoever the hell you want. It’s legal. And then I’m coming back for the rest.” She glared. “Come on, Mike. Let’s go cash in this load.”

The tension between them was so thick Marti could barely breathe. Marti wished she had the nerve to reach out and slap her, but she didn’t. Instead, her mother strolled by with a snide confidence that turned Marti’s stomach. The grotesque man followed, eyeing her laptop.

After they left, she watched out the window until her mother drove Grandma’s car away. Grandma taught Marti how to drive in that car. She was scheduled to take her drivers’ test in a couple weeks. She sighed in defeat.

Glancing around the disheveled apartment, she discovered every storage area turned upside down. She spotted Grandma’s expensive Lladro figurine broken on the floor. The emotions Marti worked so hard to control bubbled up. Why were all these horrible things happening? A sob broke free. Grandma was a sweet, wonderful woman. She didn’t deserve to die, and she didn’t deserve to have her beautiful things treated this way.

As Marti picked up the shattered pieces of Grandma’s life, Kristi returned with Gary, the apartment manager. Kristi searched the room with fear in her eyes.

“It’s okay, they’re gone. But she’s coming back in two days for the rest.”

 
Gary, a middle-aged man whose stomach hung over his belt, took one look and shook his head. “I was afraid something like this would happen.”

“What am I going to do?” she asked Gary, who was a trusted friend of Grandma’s.

“Actually, we need to talk about that,” he said, closing the desk drawers. Apparently he needed to create some sense of order in all this disarray.

“Hello.” Ruth, Grandma’s best friend, appeared at the door. She lived on the first floor at the end. She’d been so kind and helpful with organizing Grandma’s funeral arrangements.

“Hi Ruth, I’m glad you’re here.” Gary welcomed her in.
 

“Dear god, what has Tami done this time?” Ruth pinched her lips and blinked away her tears.

“She’s taking everything of value and selling it. She said it all belongs to her. She doesn’t want to keep anything,” Marti whined. “That can’t be true, can it? Grandma would never do that; she knew Mom could never be trusted.” She failed to keep the emotion out of her voice.

“Come sit down, dear. We need to talk.” Ruth sat on the couch and patted the cushion.

Marti wiped her nose with the back of her hand and sat at the other end. Gary leaned against the desk facing them. Kristi watched from the doorway.

Ruth sighed. The pain of Grandma’s death hit her hard, too. “Marti, your mother spoke the truth about your grandma’s will. The reason I know is because I’m the executor.” Ruth fished in her purse and pulled out a thick white envelope that read, “Last Will and Testament.”

“The last time Judy updated her will was after your mother came out of rehab. You were eleven. She always wanted to believe the best in her daughter, and thought Tami had finally beat her drug addiction. Unfortunately, she was wrong.” Ruth slid the papers out of the envelope and handed them to Marti.

“You were a minor then and still are today. Your grandmother never expected to die so young.” Ruth paused, took off her glasses, and wiped her eyes. “It’s so unfair. Your grandmother was an eternal optimist. She always thought Tami would turn her life around. Your grandmother always thought she’d be here for you. If she had any inkling of her impending death, I know she would have handled her legal matters differently.”

Marti’s mind swam in confusion.
 

“Even if she did leave her estate to you, there is very little left. Over the years, Judy spent all her savings and most of her retirement money on your mother’s treatments and legal troubles. Tami was her daughter, and she would have done anything if she thought it would fix her addiction problem.”