Hidden Magnolias

I've always had a deep love for all-white Victorian houses in the country. It was something about them that was strangely inviting and screamed "Queen's Palace." The bright white paint that bled onto the streets made it mandatory for everyone to blow the horn, greeting anyone sitting on the porch. This porch was expansive with a bench swing, various seating areas, plants, and the number one spot parallel to the small staircase was the Queen's Throne. Now you may wonder, who is this Queen that I speak of whom thrives in this stunning home? This place of residency belonged to the beautiful Queen Clarice.

Queen Clarice; a woman of many things that symbolized beauty, strength, courage, independence, and God-fearing. People of this mysterious town recognized her to be royalty because of how she carried herself as a woman. She had a unique fashion and acquired nothing but the finer things. Everyone was well aware and had high respect for her and her manor. To some, she was very intimidating; however, if you took out the time to get to know her, you would see that she also obtained a great sense of humor. There wasn't one person that did not know who she was and appreciated her presence in the town.

The Queen had two heirs, one being Prince Wayne and Prince Roger. Prince Wayne, our father, an honorable, courageous soldier, had fallen into battle in 2011. He was very much like his mother in so many ways and left a significant mark on those he encountered. His departure from earth was mind-blowing and took a toll on my sister and me. Prince Roger, however, was the bad seed of the family. He was very manipulative, jealous-hearted, and had a gruesome appetite for money and power. Prince Wayne and Prince Roger were both acknowledged as the Queen's sons, but they differed in so many ways.

It was remarkable to know that I come from a family of royalty. As a child, I always remembered visiting my grandmother in her royal castle. My sister, Sabrina, and I would love to spend time there. We would watch Disney movies, play board games, draw, eat delicious food that she cooked, and the best part is play "Mother May I" on our grandmother's alluring porch. The porch alone held so many sacred memories and was an essential place for all of us. It held magic and was so abundant in size; it resembled a performance stage. Did I mention that she was also a musician?

Music has been a huge part of our family legacy since the beginning of our bloodline. There was not one person in our family that was not musically inclined, but the Queen always ceased to amaze me when I would hear her sing or play the piano. If you were family or important enough to enter into this elegant haven, you would notice immediately after passing through the grand entrance, in the foyer, was a wooden organ. Once you made it past the foyer, there was an introduction to a delightful aroma that came from the incents she always had burning. It is safe to assume that there was beautiful décor to complement her heartwarming spirit in addition to the variety of great smells.

In the year 2019, the family received devastating news; the Queen had fallen very ill with stage 4 cancer. Fortunately, she had two granddaughters that were ready and willing to help nurse her back to health, or at least be with her during her time of transitioning. The Queen's oldest son, Roger, was extremely adamant about my sister, and I got her entire house cleaned up and reorganized. In the beginning, we were ecstatic about the task, however, we knew that we were still responsible for taking care of our grandmother's medical needs and personal needs. Trying to balance these strenuous tasks was almost impossible to do in 24 hours with only two people to do the work. There were, of course, outsiders, really intruders, that came in as well, but they did nothing but increase her stress levels and steal her artifacts. The thieves were right under our noses, yet we were being accused of not doing our job on top of not getting the house cleaned promptly.

In this process, Roger had little to no regard for his mother's health status and more on us maintaining the house's sorting. Sabrina and I began to wonder why he was so consumed in us cleaning up and not on tending to his mother like we had all agreed initially on. So of course, we began to analyze and assess the situation to figure out his true intentions. While cleaning up and going through our grandmother's things, I happened to come across a little black book. This mysterious black book held many different Bible scriptures, with the explanation on each page. At the end of the book was a drawing of a magnolia flower. underneath it read the quote, "What is important must always be placed at the foundation of eternal life." Foundation was underlined, and there was a six-digit code at the end.

"Sabrina, come look at this!" I exclaimed as I walked over to meet her on the opposite side of the bedroom. It was something about that quote that really jumped out at me, but at that moment I didn't pay it any mind. So after reading through the pages of this mysterious black book, my sister handed it back to me, and I placed it inside of my back pocket.

On August 27, 2019, our grandmother, Queen Clarice, lost her battle with cancer. It was a sorrowful day in the town as the news began to spread, in addition to the family doing all we can to stay strong. The following weekend, we held her home-going service. Before the service, my sister and I held a crowning ceremony to honor her as the Queen she always was.

The Queen's service was absolutely beautiful. We were all dressed in all white to honor her, as well as demonstrate her profound love for God. My sister sang an all-time favorite hymn of hers called "Who Holds Tomorrow" by Kelly Price. It was heartbreaking for me to see my grandmother lying in that casket and not displaying her dark humor like usual. It hurt to accept that I no longer had any more time to share with her or memories to create. The worst part was knowing that we no longer had a reason to visit the Queen's Castle and share good laughter. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I looked at her from a distance, then I looked down at the black book I had found in her belongings. It was very special to me because it unapologetically showed her love for God's word and how much she cared about getting right within.

After the service, Roger invited us to come back to the house to gather any other belongings prior to him conducting the sale. Walking into her home was definitely not the same at all. It felt very cool and not inviting because our grandmother's warm spirit was no longer present. I scoped the house to see what all was taken out and the house was not quite empty but held the absence of our dear Queen. I then noticed that there were many different photos of magnolias hidden on the walls behind clothes, plants, and all other house décors. She sure had a thing for those magnolias. As I was about to turn around to exit the first bedroom, Roger met me at the door.

"If you and Sabrina want to stay here one last night, you're more than welcome. We are about to leave to go to the hotel." I thought to myself that he is only doing this out of guilt, but I'll take the offer.

"Yeah, that would be great Uncle, thanks." Our grandmother would want us to be cordial, so instead of calling him out to be the evil seed that he was, I took an opportunity to spend one last night in the Queen's Palace.

It felt foreign to be in her home without her. Sabrina and I were in the front bedroom like old times. I just could not shake that feeling about the black book that I found. Suddenly, I felt the urge to pick up the book and read through it again. As I skimmed through it and went to the back page, I finally realized exactly what she meant by that quote.

"Sabrina!" I yelled.

"Girl! What is it?" Sabrina was startled by me screaming her name, but I had to share what I learned.

"The quote, the quote! She said, "What is important must be always placed at the foundation of eternal life." The porch is important to us and underneath the porch is the foundation! This six-digit code might be a safe combination."

"Oh my goodness, you might be right," Sabrina said.

"We have to go under there, Sabrina. Come on I'm going to grab a flashlight."

"Ummm, no, I am not going under there." Sabrina pouted.

"Okay, you don't have to, I am shorter, so I'll go under there. There is an opening from when that raccoon got underneath there, so I'll crawl in that space." She looked at me with deep concern, but her curiosity made her join me in my deranged plan.

We quickly darted out the door, down the stairs, and approached the opening. I turned on the flashlight and began to crawl into the space.

"Do you see anything, Monet?" Sabrina yelled from outside.

"Not yet!" As I kept crawling deeper into the hole, I came across a white sheet. The sheet was filthy and had dead bugs from being underground. When I removed the sheet, it then revealed a black and silver safe. I proceeded to punch in the six-digit code that I had memorized from reading it numerous amount of times. Once I entered the code, it made a clicking noise, assuming that the safe was now unlocked. As I slowly gestured to open the door to the safe, it clicked again, and then there is revealed half a million dollars in cash, wrapped in pink and white ribbon with magnolia flowers.