39

39

The book had been in his father’s family for generations. There seemed to be nothing special about it; roughly the size of a pocket Bible. With only a few glimpses of the pages while growing up in the Rural Midwest, he had surmised that they were blank.

His father had always kept it closely guarded and was extremely vague about its contents. There had been dreams as a kid where he got his hands on the book; but when he opened it up, he awoke in a sweating fit.

As he held the little book in his hands for the first time, he felt angry and confused. Father seemed to care more about this damned book than he did his own son.

There were no letters or markings on the cover, other than the general wear and tear of an old tattered book. He had not opened it yet and did not plan to do so anytime soon.

His knuckles were white from gripping the book so hard as he sat and thought back on his fathers last words to him.

“Please Joshua, you must find him.”

Not “I love you son”, or “Look after your mother for me.”

He said this as he handed Josh the book.

“What the fuck do you mean?” breathed Josh as his vision started to blur from the tears.

Not tears of mourning or sorrow, but of the rage that was building up inside of him. Rage towards the doctors that could not save his father. Rage towards his father for not being there for him and his mother. Rage towards this damned book that somehow seemed to occupy all of his father’s time.

“You ok, son?” The words startled Josh, and he nearly let the book fall from his hands.

The voice belonged to one Lt. Troy Monroe, the officer that picked him up from his shift at the local deli and brought him to the hospital.

It wasn’t his first ride in the back of Monroe’s squad car; he has frequented the Rockford city jail cell 2-3 times a year since his 18th birthday. Most of the offences were minor drug charges with the occasional destruction of public/personal property. Nothing that his father couldn’t get him out of with a simple phone call. At least he was good for something Josh thought as he collected his wits and looked up at Monroe.

“I need to get back to work” said Josh as he stood and turned towards the elevator door.

“You NEED to stay here with your MOM! You may not care that your pops just died, but she sure as hell does!” shouted Monroe as he reached and grabbed Josh’s arm.

“She couldn’t care less” said Josh as he pulled away. “and neither could I.”

The next few days were a blur of visiting family members, funeral preparations, and a substantial amount of alcohol. Josh’s mother was handling most of the details. She was always good at things like that. Of course, there was always the occasional small task that she would pass off to Josh in order to keep him busy.

Today was no different. She had given him a list of items to pick up from the store for later that night. They were hosting dinner for his father’s sister and her family while they are in town for the funeral. It seemed a little odd since they never got along well with his aunt, but the circumstances must have called for a brief truce.

As Josh turned out of the parking lot of the store, his phone rang.

“Hello” said Josh.

“Hey Hun, can you meet me at Dak-Fields Attorney’s office? It’s time to read your father’s will.” His mother’s voice sounded distant. She must be using speaker phone while driving.

“Does it have to be today?” said Josh.

“Yes” said his mother with a little force to her tone.

Then she hung up.

He knew this was coming sooner or later. It was just that he preferred later, or never.

The office was on the corner of 3rd and Braums. Josh knew this because it’s where he occasionally had to take care of some of the more serious legal matters from his run ins with the law.

Hopefully this won’t take too long. He thought as he pulled into a parking spot.

He glanced around and saw that his mother's car was already here. Making his way to the office’s front door, Josh found himself shaking with anticipation.

Josh knew that his father's work was deemed important. He also knew his father’s compensation for the work he did was greater than he let on. There were hints of his family’s wealth as he was growing up, but they didn’t flaunt it like you see with famous people on television.

“Ah, there you are lad” came a voice from the hallway.

“Your mother and aunt are in my office. I will be with you all shortly.”

The man speaking to him was Jeremy Fields. Everyone at the firm was always friendly and polite towards Josh. More than likely because his father was a paying client. But Jeremy was different. He was hard on Josh when the occasion called for it. Especially when it came to keeping his record clean.

His mother and Aunt Lacy sat in silence when he walked through the door. The sisters in law looked like they were about to go for each other’s throat. They knew a large sum of money was on the line and neither had the slightest idea where it was going.

Jeremy came through the door with a single sheet of paper in his hands and sat down behind his desk.

“This shouldn’t take long Amy” He said addressing Josh’s mother.

“I know this is probably this last place you want to be at the moment.”

“Thank you, Jeremy.” said Amy with a sad smile.

Jeremy looked over at the other woman in the room.

“I will start with you Mrs. Coarsy. The lump sum of $500,000 will be left in your name to do with as you please. When you leave, please see Joan at the front desk to arrange for a bank transfer.”

“Is there anything else in the will? Any personal items, maybe a book?” asked Lacy a little flustered.

At the mention of a book, Josh startled and looked up at his aunt. Their eyes met and he knew the question was targeted at him.

“No, Mrs. Coarsy. If you would, please leave us. The rest of the will specifies privacy to Joshua and Amy only.”

After a pause, she stood up and walked out.

“Now, Amy.” Said Jeremy, sounding a little more relieved. “Your husband has left you a lump sum of $1,500,000 to do with as you please.”

Josh looked towards his mom and she seemed unphased by the amount.

If she is getting a million and a half, how much did he leave me? Thought Josh.

“Thank you, Jeremy” said his mother as she stood and turned toward the door.

“I’ll see you at home, sweetie” she said to Josh.

Confused on why she didn’t stay for his part, he looked back at Jeremy.

“Does she have to leave for this?”

“No” said Jeremy with a shake of his head. “She requested that only you should hear the last part.”

“It’s a little confusing, so please pay attention.” Said Jeremy, holding up the sheet of paper.

“You will receive $20,000 per year for the next 10 years.”

This made sense to Josh; his father always made him work for his money and this seemed no different.

“So, it’s enough to survive on. But I’ll still need to work to live comfortably.” Said Josh.

“That’s exactly right Josh. Your father knew that if he had left you with a large amount such as your mother’s, you would never work for a living and grow lazy.” Said Jeremy.

Josh knew this to be true and shrugged it off. But something was wrong. There had to be more to the will.

“There is one other thing we need to discuss Josh.” Said Jeremy in a more serious tone. “This part is a quite strange. Of course, your father always did business in odd ways.”

Josh sat up to listen.

“A trust fund of an unspecified amount has been left in your care. However, you do not have access to the funds themselves. It states that you are the caretaker of this fund and it can only be transferred to the recipient with your permission.”

This doesn’t make sense thought Josh. “Who is the recipient?” he asked with a puzzled look on his face.

“That’s the strange part. All is says is that Joshua will know who it is.” Replied Jeremy.

“I don’t know what the hell he’s talking about!” spouted Josh. “He never mentioned anything like this to me.”

Josh was pacing around the room now with his hands in his pockets. This habit comes when he’s stressed out about something.

It’s got to have something to do with that damned book. He thought.

“This is the only information I can give you at the moment.” Said Jeremy.

“So there’s more?!” yelled Josh, stopping and glaring.

“Yes, but only for this unknown recipient. Do you know who it is?”

Josh just stood there and shook his head.

The book. He thought.

Three weeks later, Josh was standing in front of an Elementary school two states away in South Carolina. He took part of the first year’s $20,000 left to him by his father and bought a car with good gas mileage. The drive there wasn’t terrible. It was finding this specific location that was the hard part.

The same afternoon that Josh left the attorney’s office for his father’s will reading, he finally investigated the little book left to him. The pages were blank, which he halfway expected, but there was note left by his father.

The note read

– “Joshua, please know that this isn’t how I wanted you to find out. But there are things that you need to know. You have a half-brother that lives somewhere in S. Carolina. I’m sorry I don’t have much information other than his first name is Charlie, he’s about 11 years old, and his adopted parents last name is Atkins. The trust fund is set up with his first name, and our last name. You must find him and take this book to him. He’s the only one that can read it now, but you must guide him. A lot depends on this Joshua. More than you could imagine.” – David Brewer

Josh was struck hard by this news. I have a little brother? Why didn’t he tell me?

After a heated discussion with his mother about a hidden brother, he tracked down the Atkins family with the help of the family attorney, Jeremy. The hunt led to a small town near the coast in South Carolina.

This was the fourth school that he’d been to while on his search. He was kicked out of the last one by the principle. I guess they don’t like strangers walking around looking for children they don’t know.

Just as he rounded a corner, a janitor bumped into him, knocking the little book out of his hand. They both said their apologies and Josh reached for the book.

At the same time, a little hand reached out and snatched it.

“What does the 39 on the cover mean?” asked the little girl as she stood there holding the book.

“Excuse me?” Josh said as he held his hand out for the book.

Instead of giving it to him, she opened it up. And her eyes started darting back and forth.

She can read it! Thought Josh immediately.

“Do you see words?” Josh blurted out with excitement.

“Well duh” replied the girl.

“My name is Josh, what’s your name?” asked Josh in a sweet tone.

“I’m Charlie! Nice to meet you!”