Families logo

Choice

A soul remembered

By Jim CarneyPublished 3 years ago 10 min read
1
Choice
Photo by Helen Sepp on Unsplash

Choices

“Shhh! Be quiet!”

“I don't see anyth– Is he dead?” Matthew asked.

It's after midnight in Manito Park. Matthew and his friend Ely come here often late at night for something to do. As they approached their usual spot along the rock wall, there was a terrible smell.

A few minutes ago

Walking along the familiar path they'd walked a thousand times, they really wanted to find whatever smelled dead nearby. The stench was incredibly strong and Matthew felt like he was going to throw up.

As he approached, Ely said, “Look, there in the bush.”

Then Matthew saw it. A body. “I'm scared,” he said. “What do we do?” he asked as he tried to stay upwind of the smell.

Ely found a wallet in the coat pocket, but nothing else. Opening the wallet and shining his phone light on the inside, he saw a driver’s license. Samuel M Maxwell. The wallet had no money in it, only a torn old post-it note where cash would normally be inserted. Written on it was a phone number with the name Ricki.

Just as Ely stood up, Matthew whispered, “What's that?” pointing at the ground.

Ely flashed his phone in that direction and saw a black moleskin note book. He bent down and picked it up. Matthew was really wishing they hadn't come tonight.

“Should we call the cops?” Matthew asked in a loud whisper.

“Not yet. Let's go home and talk to Dad,” said Ely.

Back Home

Only a few blocks to Ely's house, the dark walk home was short. Upon arrival they went straight downstairs to his room and shut the door. Matthew was shaking.

Ely pulled the book out of his pocket. The last page had a strange inscription. It read: We won, Gracie! with a broken heart drawn next to the words. The cracked heart had been penciled over so many times it passed into the back cover. Below the drawing was written 2020 E Cove Rd. Look under the third step from the top.

Matthew and Ely knew they needed to tell his dad. They needed to call the police. Maybe if they had just waited someone else would find him. Ely kept the note paper to contact “Ricki” but had put the wallet back. The black book was on the ground, so technically it could've belonged to anyone, right?

“NO! I can't pretend it didn't happen,” Ely said. “Gotta go tell dad that we...” and he headed upstairs.

They found Ely’s dad working in the kitchen on his laptop. George was quite perceptive when it came to Ely and his friends. He remembered being sixteen. The boys were obviously shaken. He asked them why they were talking to him instead of sneaking out like they usually did.

“We found a dead body in the park!” Matthew blurted out.

Ely confirmed with a nod and added how badly it reeked.

George reached for his phone. “How long ago?” he asked.

They both agreed twenty minutes ago sounded about right.

As the boys gave the approximate location and how to get there, George relayed and gave all the necessary contact information. Within a few minutes the ordeal was basically over.

Back downstairs, they had been silent since they spoke with George.

Steps

Ely wanted to call “Ricki” and see what she might know about Sam. Tomorrow would be best for thinking about that. What if she asked how they got her number? Maybe pretending like the note didn't exist would be better.

Matthew was studying the book. Looking through it, he found nothing of interest but a cartoon that moved when you flipped the pages. Near the top right corner of every page was a small drawing of a stick figure father and a child running into his open arms. Well-worn and viewed hundreds, maybe thousands, of times. Matthew loved animation.

Ely took a picture of the last page. He decided tomorrow they would go to 2020 Cove Road. What's under the step? What did he mean we won? Who's Gracie? 2:45 AM. “Gonna be a long night” he said to Matthew who was now trying to draw his own cartoon stick figures. Sunrise 6:20 AM. Should be there 7:30ish.

Matthew and Ely were up by 6 AM. They could get across town in an hour on their bikes. The anxiety and fear of doing something they really shouldn't be doing was there. Whoever Gracie is, the book should have been left. Whoever Ricki is, maybe she knows Gracie.

“In eight-hundred feet the destination will be on your left,” said the GPS voice in Ely's earbuds. Nothing but weeds and an old fence made with rocks and concrete. Hidden from the road, an ancient driveway was barely visible from years of growth. The driveway took a sharp uphill climb and there it was: a farmhouse abandoned for years.

When they reached the house, Ely immediately started looking for the steps. Looking everywhere around the house, there were no steps leading to anything that he could find. Matthew was terrified to go inside. He hoped Ely would want to leave now.

“I'm going in!” Ely said.

Matthew told Ely he wanted to wait outside but changed his mind when Ely called him chicken.

Gracie

Ely turned the knob on the front door. It opened like it was waiting for them. As they stepped inside the overwhelming smell of musty mold, mildew and dust was almost too much. They pulled their shirts up to cover their nose and mouth.

The house looked lived-in but abandoned long ago. Pictures on the walls were covered in inches of dust. Ely was bothered. How can it be under the third step if there are no steps? They went out the back door only to find a couple of old sheds and some very tall weeds.

Then they saw it. Hidden by trees now 80 or 100 years old was an old silo. Plowing their way through brush taller than themselves, they found the door. Inside was a set of steps that circled all the way to the top. It was a long way up.

“We came this far!” Ely said to encourage his friend.

Matthew said nothing but he hated heights.

The steps were constructed of heavy metal and bars extending from the walls. When they finally got near the top, Ely stopped at the third step. He reached underneath it and felt something. He noticed the step had hinges. In fact, the last four steps had hinges and were utility or tool boxes. Lighting and service panels were next to the steps on the wall. Opening the step, neither boy could believe what he was seeing. For what seemed like hours they stood staring in disbelief.

They had no way to transport what they found from up here, so they took what they could carry and headed down. They found a tool bag in one of the sheds and took it back up. At the bottom of the box there was a card that read:

For you Gracie! I pray every day to see you again. I wish I could give this to you in person. I am so sorry I couldn't be there for you growing up. I love you so much. Dad

Ely wanted to know more. Matthew wanted to go home. Both of them were scared. The bag was heavy, and they would have to take turns riding home with it.

The Right Thing

Back at Ely's house, they brought the bag to his room, locked the door and dumped the bag’s contents on the bed. Twenty one-thousand-dollar bundles.

“That's like two hundred and one...umm”, said Matthew.

“Twenty-thousand dollars,” Ely corrected him flatly.

They decided to hide the bag of cash and just wait awhile. Try to figure it all out.

While reading the morning newspaper several days later, George asked Ely, “Did you see this?”

Ely read the brief obituary his father pointed to:

Samuel Maxwell. Born July 7, 1957. Died April 5, 2020. He is survived by his daughter, Grace Richelle Maxwell, whereabouts unknown.

“Apparently nobody knew him.” George said.

“Sounds like they can't find his daughter,” Ely replied. He left the room to call Matthew. They agreed it was time to call “Ricki”.

Ely met Matthew at his house. Matthew's parents were gone until the next day. Ely put in the number from the note in Sam's wallet.

“Hello?” a voice on the other end said.

“Is this Ricki?” Ely asked.

“Yes, who is this?” the voice replied.

Ely continued, “Do you know Samuel Maxwell?”

After what seemed like minutes of silence the voice on the other end asked, “Why? What is this about?”

“So you haven't heard then?” Ely said. “He passed away on April fifth.”

After another long pause, Ricki finally spoke. “He was my biological father. Now who are you and how did you get this number? I haven't spoken to him in over twenty years.”

Ely hesitated and then asked, “Do you know Gracie?”

“Who told you to ask me that?” Ricki said.

Ely asked if it would be possible for them to meet somewhere. He explained he had something to give her. “Let's meet by the water in Manito Park,” he suggested.

When Ely and Matthew arrived at the designated spot, they found Ricki alone by the pond. After a quick introduction, Matthew awkwardly handed Ricki the little black book. It fell open to the last page and she saw the broken heart. She recognized her father's writing. A tear rolled slowly down her cheek.

She remembered the fights when her mom screamed at him for buying beer and lottery tickets when there wasn't any food or money. She remembered the day she and her mom had left. Her mom had taken her away when she was nine saying Ricki was better off without him.

Years later, Ricki learned her mom had gotten him to give up his parental rights to her. She made sure he would never see her again.

“So where did you get this?” Ricki demanded.

“We found it,” Matthew replied.

Ely spoke up saying, “We have something else for you!”

He grabbed the bag, set it down in front of her and opened it to reveal the neat bundles of cash. Matthew pointed out the comments in the back of the black book. Ricki read the card they found with the money and began to cry.

“What does ‘we won Gracie’ mean?” Matthew asked quietly.

She was silent for a long time. When she finally spoke, her voice was barely audible. “My first name is Grace, not Ricki,” she replied. “Dad always called me his little lady bug Gracie.”

Ely and Matthew could hear the smile in her voice as she spoke but remained silent.

“And it means my mother was wrong,” she finished solemnly.

Ricki thanked them for coming. She said she was planning to visit the property. She had been avoiding it all these years. The property had been inherited when her mom passed away. Time to forgive and move on.

She reached into the bag and pulled out two of the bundles of cash. She handed them each one. They tried to refuse but she insisted, thanking them for all they'd done.

Blinking away tears, Ricki said,“You’ve helped restore my relationship with my dad. I only wish I had let him know where I was a long time ago.”

As Ely and Matthew walked away, Ricki began flipping the pages of the little black book. Watching the little stick figure cartoon, she saw herself running into his arms. She remembered her seventh birthday. She loved to draw and Dad had given her a book to learn to draw animations. She recalled how they'd worked for days on this one.

Tears streaming down her cheeks, she began to miss him deeply. At that a moment, something fluttered around her and then landed on the cover of the little black book. A beautiful, bright orange lady bug. She knew now that dad would always be close by.

parents
1

About the Creator

Jim Carney

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.