The Speakeasy

Me and mom took on the daunting task of going through my great, great grandmother's stuff. She had recently passed and because it was so sudden she didn't leave a will. We honestly thought she was going to outlive us all, she was a very sturdy and heathy woman despite being over 100. Me and mom had to go through her stuff because our family didn't want to pitch in unless there was money involved. She wasn't a very rich woman but spoiled us with love and affection.

She had lived through so many huge events of the century that I was curious at what we would find. She was barely a toddler when World War I broke out, she lived through the Prohibition, Great Depression, World War II and so many more that it's hard to believe she lived through all of that.

"How much stuff do you think we're going to find?" I asked my mom, carrying a box up from the basement.

"I don't know, Gran lived through a lot so probably more than a lot," Mom said as she pulled out what looked like journals from a trunk, "Let me tell you what though, these journals could probably tell us more."

I plopped down on the couch next to mom and sat the box I had down on the floor. I picked up one of the little black journals and dusted it off to read the writing on the front. It said 1928 on the cover. I was curious so I opened it. As soon as I opened it dust had popped out of the notebook that I coughed. The notebook was full of Gran's beautiful slender handwriting, from beginning to end. As I started flipping through the pages I noticed that some of the pages had speakeasy written up top.

"What do we know about Gran's life?" I asked my mom as I read.

"From my understanding she was basically a stay at home wife and raised 6 kids while Gramps was a mechanic of sorts." Mom said as she dusted off some more journals.

"Because she's writing about a speakeasy in this journal from 1928." I said, flipping through the pages.

"Speakeasy?" Mom said, looking at me weird, "As in secret underground places where you can drink alcohol and not get busted?"

"Yeah," I said as I read more. "According to this Gramps was a mechanic but helped smuggle in liquor in his shop disguised as motor oil. I'm going to assume he was paid plenty for his services."

"I bet." Mom said, putting the box aside and scooting closer to me, "What else does it say?"

"Apparently the speakeasy was under a hotel here in Chicago and it was ran by Al Capone." I read, " 'Mr. Capone had multiple speakeasys back in New York but he had one here in Chicago that nobody knew about. My George made good money every night as he was able to take home a lot of his tips as he worked as a bartender.' "

"Well, if that's the case that money is long gone." Mom said, sinking back into the couch, "They probably lost that money after Prohibition was lifted."

" 'George told me to take a majority of his tips and save them just in case he ever got caught and the family and I needed money. So I hid the money in a black metal box and put it underneath the floorboard so that if the feds ever came, they would never find it.' " I read straight out of the diary.

"Wait, Grams has a stash of money hidden somewhere?" My mom asked.

"It just says under a floor board but nothing specific," I said, flipping through the pages to see if I could find more information, "Where did Gramps and Grams live in 1928?"

Mom had that confused look on her face then it looked like lighting struck her, "They lived here in the house. She was pregnant with your great-aunt Clara at the time and she and Gramps bought this house."

My grandmother was the youngest out of six and was born in 1939. My mother was the youngest of seven and born in 1970. A lot of people have come and gone through this house. If there really was money hidden in the house someone would have found it by now. Like seriously we have such a big family someone would have found it by now. Then I got to thinking.

"Didn't Gramps build a bar in the lounge after Prohibition ended?" I asked my mom, remembering Grams telling me that story as a kid.

"Yeah, but he tore it apart after your great uncle Charlie got out of rehab." Mom said, then she looked at me weird, "Why do you ask?"

"Well, it was just a thought. Grams was a sentimental person. I just figured she would put it someplace safe and who would think to pull up the floorboard in a bar?" I asked.

I got up and walked over to where the bar used to be in the lounge. All of the floor boards were completely uniform so there was no way to tell which one possibly had the money in it. Then I remembered an episode of Criminal Minds and started knocking on the floorboards one by one. Then one was louder than the rest. I looked at my mom and she looked at me. Mom went into the living room and came back with a flathead screwdriver. She handed it to me and I started finding a spot where I could possibly pry it open.

I finally found a spot and gently started to pry it open. I took my time with it and then finally the floorboard pops open and dust comes flying out. I move the floorboard out of the way and I'm looking at a dusty metal box. I pick it up out of the space and set it on the floor. I dust it off as best I can. I look to see if there's a lock and there is a combination lock. Now we're screwed.

"Well we better start coming up with dates or else we'll never get this thing open." I said, leaning back against the wall.

For the rest of the day Mom and I tried different dates on the lock but no luck. We tried birthdays, the date Grams and Gramps moved into this house, everything. But nothing was working. I was on my phone reading about the Prohibition when something came to me.

"What about the day prohibition started?" I said, going to grab the box.

I grabbed the box from the lounge and went back into the living room. I set it down on the coffee table and put in the day prohibition started. No luck. Then I tried the day Prohibition ended. I pulled on the lock and it opened. My heart started racing as I took off the lock and opened the box. Inside the box there was something wrapped in what looked like burlap. Tied with twine. I untied the twine and the thing was so old I couldn't even straighten it out. The burlap was stiff too and it was a little difficult to unwrap. But as soon as I unwrapped it I saw bundles of bills just stacked on top of each other. There was a letter with the money. I picked it up and opened it very carefully. It was from Grams.

" 'To whoever finds this," I started to read, "'There was a time in this country's history when financial security wasn't a thing and we all had to do things to get by. My husband was a bartender during the Prohibition in a speakeasy run by Al Capone. His job as a mechanic didn't make much and we were expecting our first child. We needed money so we could provide for the baby. I saved some of the money in case my George got in trouble and couldn't provide for us anymore. But luckily he never did and we ended up getting by in the end. I just hope whoever finds this money puts it to good use and finds $20,000 to be blessed.' "

I folded the letter back in half and looked at the money that I was looking at. There was no way in hell I could use the money but I know that some of this money would be worth something. I just couldn't believe that this was here the whole time and we have a piece of history just sitting in the living room right now.

Thanks Grams.