The Inheritance

Daniel had not expected the room to be so heavily decorated with mahogany walls and regal furniture. The empty chair behind the desk had been cushioned with a deep maroon padding and complemented with golden armrests while the books that surrounded the room had been thick, old, and dusty. The young man had not known what to wear during such a formal meeting and so he wound up in the black suit ensemble that he had worn to his Grandfather’s funeral ten months ago. The outfit had seemed fitting the morning prior when considering the purpose of the appointment, began to wonder if it isn’t morbid.

“Ah! You’re early!” A dry voice came from the back end of the room, alerting Daniel to a well-dressed elderly man shuffling into the office with a leather-bound folder held tightly to his chest.

Daniel looked down at his watch and realized he had been early which then led him to wonder why he had been rushing all morning as though he had been late.

“Please, have a seat.” The lawyer said as he gestured to the office chair facing his desk as the old man took a seat of his own. “As soon as your cousin arrives, we can begin.”

“My cousin will be here?” Daniel asked with a dull surprise. But, before the lawyer could answer, the sound of footsteps answered his question.

“Daniel?” Donald asks with suppressed disappointment. “Good to see ya bud! I didn’t know you’d be here,” he said as he patted his cousin on his back while entering the room wearing a white shirt under overalls, taking a seat before the lawyer’s desk. Daniel, at a loss for words, took a seat to the left of his cousin.

The two young men sat in silence, neither one of them sure what this appointment was about. Donald tapped on the armrest of his chair and looked out of the window, much like he did during most of his grade school years. Daniel, on the other hand, couldn’t help but stare at the lawyer’s face, finding that his skin drooped a considerable amount and gave the impression that it might fall off at any given moment.

The lawyer flipped through his notes as quickly as he could- which wasn’t quick at all- and then inhaled dryly. “I would like to begin by extending my condolences, however late they may be. Your Grandfather was a good man and will be missed dearly.”

“I know,” Donald states.

“Thank you,” Daniel responds simultaneously.

The lawyer adjusted his bifocals to help him read the notes below. “Your Grandfather had written a will before his passing, as you may already know. While most of his assets have already been distributed accordingly, your Grandfather left specific instructions to handle this affair lastly.”

“Why would he do that?” Donald asks. The lawyer looks up with no more than his eyes before continuing.

“Your Grandfather has left one of you $20,000,” He stated abruptly, as though he were to continue but simply did not.

“Alright, but to who?” Donald spoke up again, growing irritated. Even Daniel leaned forward with anticipation.

“To only one of you,” The lawyer answered uneasily.

“So, who gets the $20,000?” Donald leaned forward; eyebrows furrowed.

“The will doesn’t specify,” The lawyer explained. “You two must decide in mutual agreement.”

The two cousins sit back in their chairs, absolutely dumbfounded. Their Grandfather had never been a wealthy man-not outwardly, at least- and nobody else had received much from the will. Daniel’s mother had received a small lump sum of cash, the amount of which had been kept private, and Donald’s father had received their Grandfather’s bookstore (rightfully so after operating it for the last five years). Daniel was aware that some of his Grandfather’s personal belongings had been distributed to a few old friends, but as far as anyone was concerned, he didn’t have much to give.

“Well obviously I should get it.” Donald stated matter-of-factly. “I need the money more; it’s what Grandpa would have done.” This was true, the first part, at least. Donald was officially unemployed, though he would take on odd jobs around the town as they became available.

“Well sure, but I was pretty close with Grandpa and I haven’t gotten anything else in the will from him.” Daniel stated. This was also true; both parts. “Grandpa and I spent a lot of time together and I have nothing to remember him by. If this is it, then I want it and I think I deserve it.”

“Hey, I spent plenty of time with Grandpa, too,” Donald defended.

“I mean, yeah, but he was always helping you. Fixing up your car or your house. Watching your kids, or just doing something for you in general.”

“Yeah, so?”

“Yeah? So, it wasn’t quality time, you were just using him.”

“How would you know?”

“Cause half the time I was there! While Grandpa was working under the hood of your car, I was there handing him a wrench while you were having a beer!”

“I was watching my kids, Daniel, taking care of his great-grandkids. You want me to be ashamed of that?”

“Well, no, but—”

“Then you’re just makin’ up excuses to keep me from getting the money. For my kids and all.”

Daniel took a deep sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. Donald sat back and looked at the lawyer with his tongue against his inner cheek.

“Who do you think it should go to?” Donald asked the lawyer.

“I fully intend on playing no part in this discussion, thank you very much.”

The two young men sat in silence while the lawyer looked out of the window, eager to begin his boating trip once this dreadful meeting came to a close.

“Look. I’m gunna be honest here and just say that Daniel has a degree with a nice office job and he doesn’t need the money. Kinda bull that this is even a debate.”

Daniel sat up with a spark of fury in his stomach. “You know what? For as much money as Grandpa ‘borrowed’ you, you’ve probably already taken $20,000 from him. And you want more?”

“Yeah, I borrowed it, dummy. Borrowing it means you’re gunna give it back.”

“I know what borrowing means, Donald. Did you give it back? Did you give any of it back?”

“I was planning on it.”

“He. Was. Planning on it.” Daniel says to the lawyer whose attention is suddenly being pulled back into the conversation before him.

“Well, I was! Just cause the old man croaked before I could get around to it doesn’t mean it should be counted against me. Besides, you’re the one thinking you’re entitled money just cause you spent time with Grandpa. You were doing this all along just to get some cash out of him? That’s cold, Daniel. Real cold.”

“What are you talking about?” Was all Daniel had left to say, finding himself otherwise at a loss for words. “You think I was just doing this for the money? Really? You think I spent my afternoons hiking and helping him in his garden just because I thought there was some cash prize waiting for me at the end? You think I helped him serve food at the soup kitchen and set up the homeless shelter cause I thought there’d be a reward? I loved that man, Donald.”

“Hey! I did, too!”

“Yeah? Well, where were you when Grandma died? With my dad out of the picture and yours busy running the book shop, we were all he had in this dusty old town and where were you?”

“That’s not fair, Daniel. I went to the funeral. I paid my respects.”

“EVERYONE was at the funeral, Donald! That’s the bare minimum! Then they go on with their lives, but you know who couldn’t do that? You know who didn’t go outside for a week because the person he had spent seventy years with was suddenly gone? And do you know who took care of him and helped him back onto his feet so he could enjoy the few years he had left?”

Donald knew the answers were all rhetorical but he crossed his arms and made a show of his refusal to answer anyways.

“I was there for him, and I don’t know why, but he didn’t leave me anything else. This is it; this is all I have left to remember him by. Please, Donald.”

Donald pointed his nose in the air. “You know what? If we don’t both get the cash, neither of us do.”

The spark of anger within Daniel suddenly turned into a flaming rage. “Are you KIDDING ME?” He lunged out of his seat while yelling incoherently and pounced on Donald, sending his seat back to the ground.

“Boys!” The lawyer stood up with shock and watched the fight ensue, helpless to stop it. Donald moved his arms over his face to defend himself from Daniel’s lackluster hits. His swings grew weaker and weaker as tears filled his eyes and he fell to the side and off his cousin.

“This isn’t what Grandpa would have wanted.” Daniel spoke with a cracked voice. “I don’t know what he expected from something like this, but this certainly wasn’t it.” Ashamed, he got to his feet and brushed dust and dirt off of his suit and looked down at Donald. Donald, the man who will never amount to anything more than the guy who’s barely getting by. Donald, the guy who goes to the bar every night to pretend strangers are close friends. Donald, the guy who’s going to find a way to blow $20,000 on beer and cigarettes one way or another. “You can have the money,” Daniel conceded with a deep sigh. “It’s yours.”

“So, it’s agreed upon then?” The lawyer clarified as the three men reclaim their seats. “Donald shall inherit the $20,000?”

“You got that right.” Donald said before Daniel could take it back, wholly unaware that his cousin wouldn’t do such a thing. “The money’s mine. We both agree to it just like the will wants.”

The lawyer looked at Daniel to give him one last chance to change his mind. “Well, that settles it. I will have the check drawn up for you, Mr. Donald Heatherson. Now that this affair is in order, you may leave.” The two young men began to stand. “Not you, Daniel, I have one more thing to discuss with you.”

Feeling alienated, Donald continued to leave while Daniel sank back into the chair. As the door closed shut, the lawyer opens a desk drawer and pulled out a small, leather bound, black notebook and placed it on the desk before Daniel.

“Your Grandfather wanted you to have this.” The lawyer explained.

Confused, Daniel takes the notebook and runs his fingers along the cover. “What is it?”

“Open it; find out.”

Daniel opened the small notebook and immediately recognized his Grandfather’s handwriting. He had never known his Grandfather to write, and yet here were pages and pages worth of stories. Curious, he flipped through the book, noticing dates heading various entries and stopped on a date he recognized well – his own birthday. As he read the entry, he realized this must have been a journal of sorts. Hundreds of stories recounting his days over the years, many of them with Daniel. As he reads on in silence, memories long forgotten flooded his mind and tears pooled in his eyes. Daniel could not say why his Grandfather had put him through such misery in that last moment and he would go the rest of his life not understanding what it was all for. In this moment, though, he didn’t care. He felt as though he had gotten a piece of his Grandfather back and that’s all he would ever need.