The Lottery (5 page)
Authors: Alexandra O'Hurley
As she put his hand in hers and covered it with her other, she
whispered to him, “It’ll be okay. There is no money for this kind of surgery,
and I understand that. We will enjoy the time we have left. Believe me, I
somehow knew this was coming and prepared myself for it.”
He turned and looked at her as if she had grown a second head. “Okay?
This is definitely not okay, Bailey. We will find the money somewhere, believe
me. I don’t care what I have to do in order to get it, but I will move Heaven
and Earth to save you, and you know it.” One lone tear had escaped as he
finished speaking, and it slid down his cheek. He turned his head to hide it
from her, but it was too late.
Bailey slid her hand across his face and captured the tear with
her fingers. “Did you not hear her, Ethan? She said it may not even work. What’s
the point of moving Heaven and Earth when it still may not be enough? I can’t
ask you to do the kind of things you would need to do to get the money. You
think I don’t already know what you do now to help me? What you have spent most
of your life doing? I tried to turn a blind eye and ignore what I saw, but it
killed me inside to know what things you did for me.” She eased her other hand
to the side of his face and forced him to look her in the eyes. “I just want to
spend the end of my days with my best friend and brother. In comfort, in peace,
and in quiet.”
“I can’t just let that happen. If there is a chance you could be
beside me for just one more day, then it would have been worth it. I will not
just let you die. You are all I have left.”
“Grandmother and a few of the cousins are still around. You
aren’t completely alone.”
Most of the leftover family was wretched old women who couldn’t
care less about anything that happened to the pair. Even their grandmother had
demanded the money Ethan’s father had borrowed from her to be paid back from
the estate, as well as a contribution from Ethan for Bailey’s living expenses
as a child. They hadn’t even bothered going to her for help when Bailey got
sick, Ethan had refused to early on. But at this point, he wouldn’t be too
proud to beg. Not if it meant his sister’s life.
“They may technically be family, but you know as well as I do
they are all a bunch of conniving scavengers who only cared whether their names
were in the will. You are the only bright spot in my life. The only thing that
makes me get up every day and keep working to get us through this mess. Bailey,
you have to fight, and you have to let me do what’s necessary. I can’t watch
the last of our family wither away.”
Ethan watched as a spark seemed to glimmer in his sister’s eyes,
as if a bit of her fire had returned. She smiled at him, and then a tear coursed
down her face.
“Okay, big brother, let’s fight.”
They turned to a smiling Dr. Reding and asked what they needed to
do.
“Your mother and I worked together at
She was one of my interns when she first got out of medical school. One of the
sharpest I had ever seen and had the privilege to teach and mentor. I respected
her immensely, mostly because of her passion and her determination. Which is
why I am glad you choose to fight. I couldn’t imagine a child of
challenge, because
she
sure never
did.” Dr. Reding looked down at her desktop, adjusting her blotter, taking her
time to consider her words carefully.
“This surgery is not going to be cheap. After the surgery, you
are looking at several months of organ therapy to replace the lost brain
tissue. And then, of course, you would have to relearn any lost motor
coordination, so that would be more therapy. There are options for assistance
through the state. And I am sure I can pull some strings at the hospital,
considering all your mother did for the place, and possibly some of the fees
could be waived. But either way, I doubt it will all be covered. Photon surgery
is inexpensive, but this type of surgery would actually require us to open her
up. You have a lot of work ahead of you, Ethan. You need to consider your
options.” Dr. Reding looked down again, as if she were embarrassed to proceed. “I
know many women who would pay a great deal for a handsome young man like
yourself. If you need my help in finding a patron, let me know. If I was only
twenty years younger, I’d snag you up myself, but I am past my prime and full
well know it. The occasional reminder that I’m not dead yet is fine, but for
the long term, you need a woman closer to your own age.”
Embarrassed by the bluntness of the conversation, Ethan shifted. “I’m
sure I can find the path I need to take to make this happen, so let’s not worry
over that now.”
Chapter Four
“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthdaaaay,
dear Karlynnn……” Karlyn looked around the tableful of sisters, her brother,
assorted cousins and aunts, the fake smile plastered to her face. Muscles she
forgot she had in her chin and cheeks screamed in pain, but she knew she had to
continue the façade if she wanted to attempt to be in her mother’s good graces
for once. No matter how many times she told herself she didn’t care what her
mother thought of her, ultimately, she desired her mother’s love and respect.
Why do I even bother to
try? Nothing I have ever done has made the woman happy, nor has it ever made
anyone in this family happy. Except Dad.
Karlyn turned her eyes to her
mother. It didn’t surprise her any that
glaring at her and not singing. Tonight’s dinner was a ruse, just like the
times before, where Lydia attempted to look like the perfect mother, trying to
reach out to her wayward daughter in front of the entire Bowman family. Deep
down Karlyn had known it was another of her mother’s feeble attempts to bring
her back into the family fold, but denial was a powerful thing.
As everyone finished the song and began to sit down, an awkward
silence filled the room as all eyes turned toward Karlyn. She was seated in
front of an inferno that was supposed to be her birthday cake, and everyone was
expecting her to make her wish and blow out her candles, gushing her thanks to
all invited there, just like they were expecting her to denounce her artistic
nature and bow to her mother’s feet, begging for a company job.
But all Karlyn could see was the hate chiseled in
her furrowed brows and downturned mouth. In the darkened room, no one else
noticed but her. Tears sprang to the corners of her eyes, but she refused to
let her mother get to her this way.
Finally, after a few more moments, she made her wish. Yearning that
her father was still there, Karlyn blew the candles out with all of her might. Cheers
arose when she was able to extinguish the twenty-eight candles in one mighty
puff, and the lights popped back on.
Presents were next, and her paternal grandmother handed her a
large beautifully wrapped box. Uncovering it, she was amazed to find a large
bound sketchbook. Running her hand over the worn cover, she savored the feel
and smell of the leather. Turning to the front page, she was surprised to see a
beautiful sketch graced the page. Wonder filled her, wondering who had done
these sketches. She turned to the next, followed by another.
“It was your father’s. He, too, was quite the artist when he was
younger. I found this about a year after he passed and had almost forgotten all
the drawings he did in his youth. It must be where you get all that talent
from.” Karlyn smiled up at her grandmother. Pulling the sketchbook to her chest,
feeling her father’s presence with her at that moment, she reached up and
hugged the woman. With her grandmother’s gift, her wish had been granted. “Thank
you. I’m so very happy you came tonight, and this is the best present you could
have ever given me.”
The older woman’s eyes lit up, and she hugged Karlyn even harder.
Pulling back slightly, she eyed her granddaughter before asking, “Maybe I can
come visit you in that fancy loft of yours that your brother told me about and
see what kind of artist you have become? I’ve missed so much over the years,
and I think it’s time you and I caught up.”
“Stop supporting her lunacy, Miriam. I wish now I hadn’t even
invited you. I should have known you would have been like Michael and made her
think this line of work was satisfactory for any young woman. It was fine for
her to be creative in her youth, but she’s twenty eight years old now and she
needs to learn that it is time for her to grow up and take responsibility.”
“What, Mother, so I can be like you?”
a responsible adult, doing what I was meant to do in this life and support this
family.”
tonight would be the opportunity to lay down the olive branch, that you would
have finally come to your senses after being on your own and living in poverty
for these last few years. You had the whole world in front of you, yet you
threw it all away. To be a starving artist. It’s absolutely pathetic.”
Karlyn was appalled that her mother would attack her now, on her
birthday, in front of the entire family. Normally she would have waited until
everyone was gone and attacked her in private.
she was the polished mother of the year in public – even if that public was
family members. She wished she had declined her offer of a party; she should
have known this would happen.
Looking around the room, she saw furrowed brows and tightened
mouths on her sisters and aunts faces. They all agreed with her mother. They
saw her as an utter disappointment. Rage burned like an ignited fire and suddenly
filled her.
“Why is it pathetic mother? Because I, for one, followed my
dreams and did what I wanted instead of following your dreams and becoming a
cog in the corporate machine? I refuse to be a robot, surviving in this world
instead of living in it.”
Karlyn’s chest she asked her, “Living? You expect me to believe that residing
in that hell hole and scrimping pennies to eat moldy cheese is living? I have
invited you here to offer you for the last time a position in the company. For
you to live up to your heritage. This was your great-grandmother’s company. Are
you finally ready to do your duty?”
“Duty? When you do your duty as a mother, I will consider doing
my duty as a daughter. Until then, mother dear, you can kiss my ass. I don’t
want to become the bitch you have always been.” With that, Karlyn jumped up
from the chair, and strode from her open mouthed mother. It felt wonderful to
finally tell her mother exactly what she thought of her, even though a little
part of her screamed at speaking to her that way. But after years of verbal
abuse and abandonment, Lydia Bowman deserved no less than what she got.
The familiar wink, the one that looked so much like her father’s,
almost made the tears inside demand to come out, but she took control and burst
out the front door into the cool evening.
****
Ethan walked up the large stone staircase that led to his
grandmother’s front door. The perfectly manicured landscaping made the front of
the home look surreal. He still could not believe he was here, about to beg,
but Bailey’s life stood in the balance, and he had already proved to himself he
would do just about anything to save her. Facing this woman was just another
length in how low he really would go.
Knocking on the door, he felt the knot forming in his belly. He
did not want to be here right now. The door creaked open and he noted a white
faced young maid. “How may I help you, sir?”
“I’m Ethan Spears. I’m here to see my grandmother.”
“Grandmother?” The woman looked bewildered. “Is she expecting you,
sir?”
“I didn’t know I needed to make an appointment to see my own
grandmother.”
“Hold on one second, I will check to see if she’s taking
visitors.” The wide, white door closed in his face, making him feel like the
outcast he knew he was, and for a moment, he considered turning and walking
away. As he contemplated turning his back from the entrance, the door swung
open again. “She will see you now. Please follow me, sir.”
As he walked down the hall that led from the foyer, he recalled
why he had hated this house so much. The pristine décor and sanitized aura
always made him feel like he was in a museum versus an actual home. The only
reason he was somewhat familiar with the rooms were from his occasional visits
to Bailey before she had turned of age. If it had not been for those, today
would have been the first time he had stepped foot inside this house. There
never was any warmth here, and he knew he would find none today.
He was in for a battle. Steeling himself as he walked along the
Aubisson carpet, he rounded the corner and followed the maid into the morning
room his grandmother used as an office.
Evangeline Spears was seated at the large mahogany desk that
stood before a wall of windows showing her manicured lawns behind her. Looking
down at her work, she showed no indication that she noted his presence, and the
maid scampered away without announcing him. He stood there for several minutes
with the older woman ignoring him, seemingly entranced in whatever it was she
was working on.
“It’s so good to see you, Grandmother.” His patience lost, he
tried very hard to be gracious and warm to this woman who had given him neither
while he grew.