And Then, It Happened

How could this be happening!?

I just can't believe this. My world was just spinning out of control. I couldn't believe it. Here I stand at 17 being told that the only parent I have ever known is gone! The officer at the door was talking and I know I should be listening, but everything was all garbled up. He had a kind face that looked so sad. He was an older man with lots of wrinkles around his eyes and little creases around his lips giving away the years that he had spent smoking. I knew he was trying to say whatever he was saying as kindly and gently as possible, but I couldn't even hear him. My brain was racing, where will I go, who will take care of me, can I do this alone. I was going to be 18 in like three weeks!! Before the officer could even finish I remember just saying thank you and closing the door. He stood there for a bit, on the other side of our glass front door staring at me. He was probably wondering the same thing I was, am I going to be okay. I stepped away from the door and everything went dark.

As I started coming to, I recognized one thing, a voice. It was Crystal. Crystal Starlight was my dad's best friend. They probably would have been a thing if she didn't like ladies too. She was an amazing person whom I loved very very much and now she was the only "family" I had left. I opened my eyes to see her rush to me with tear filled eyes and a hug. She was so distraught. Like I said I believe her and my dad were soulmates with the same love. She had been his best friend for 30 some years. She was in her late fifties, but honestly didn't look a day over 35. She had long, beautifully curly, brunette hair that seemed dolly fake. She was 5' something with legs for days and a smile that could light up a room. That and she always seemed to smell like cake or cookies even though there was never anything like anywhere near her! As I wrapped my arms around her she assured me everything would be just fine. We were going to get through this together.

In the next few weeks we needed to move me out of our little apartment that dad and I had and move me into Crystal's Palace as she called it. She was a bit quirky, but I really liked her version of it. As I walked inside there was a beautiful foyer with a staircase that wrapped the right wall to the second floor. The banister was old wood and had an old smell. I could try and sound all sophisticated and say it was oak, but I don't know, it was wood and smelled old. Her place was so cool. Across the hall from the stairs there was an old sitting room. I never understood that. Here is a room with amazing furniture, no television, some plants and some of the coolest tables you will ever see, and a big ass fireplace that you can stand in, but you do nothing in here but chat. The kitchen was just a door down on the left and it was amazing! It was completely new. When I say modern, I mean Gordon Ramsey approved. There was a glass faced fridge and it was full of fresh fruits and veggies. Next to that was a stainless steel fridge for meats and dairy. This lady was the coolest. Her pantry was the size of a walk-in closet and had just about anything you could imagine, spices, treats, salad toppings, you get it. There was a bathroom that was to die for at the end of the hall. It had a weird toilet, seat on the bottom, tank up on the wall, and a pull cord on the right side to flush.

Upstairs were the bedrooms. There were three of them, one for me, one for Crystal, and the other was her ritual room. Remember, I told you she had her quirks. My room was really big and had a half bath attached to it, just like Crystal's room did. We had had lots of talks since Dad died and I was doing a little better with it. His car was totaled and he didn't have much to his name that we could really keep. There were a few boxes in my room of his things and everything else pretty much had to be sold to pay for his funeral and other things. My birthday was a couple of days away and Crystal kept telling me that I needed to see the brighter side of things and that it all meant something for my future. Sometimes words with good intentions just sound dumb to me.

I was struggling with school, my friends didn't get me lately, they didn't understand, and Crystal and I were barely talking. I was going through the pictures I had of my Dad and was just really sad and missing him. I wanted to bring him back. I wanted to smell his terrible Polo cologne and have him call me kiddo like he always did. He was just a man, I know, but I missed him like crazy. He was supposed to go first, I know, but he wasn't supposed to be ripped away from me. Going through his boxes, I realized I kept some silly things. His favorite hat and his favorite glass mug, his favorite coffee cup(I don't even like coffee). One thing I had to have was his small black notebook, a little black book if you will. The man carried it everywhere and scribbled in it all the time. He never shared what was in it with me, but told me "Someday it will all make sense kiddo." I just enjoyed seeing his handwriting. I had checks and notes to my teachers, but this was different. I had never been able to see this. As I turned through the pages, I saw nothing but letters and what looked like dates. This book was odd from line one, it read:

MR 05/08/2017

Those were Dad's initials and the day that he died. That's all I saw was two letters and a date. There were pages just like that. So many that the book was almost full. The last date in the book was 10/15/2098. This was just strange. Nothing made sense with all of this, but I had faith in my Dad's words that it would all make sense.

My dad died on May 8th, 2017, it was a Monday. My birthday is June 1st, I figured that was an important date. It was my 18th birthday after all, but that wasn't in Dad's book. Seriously, you can predict the day you die but can't write down my birthday!? The next date in the book was:

KH 06/06/2017

I don't know what this means, but it will all make sense apparently.

Crystal showed up on my birthday carrying balloons and flowers! She was so excited. She came in laughing that I was an adult now and I needed to get a job and move out! She then started to cry and say that she was just kidding and that she didn't want me to leave. That turned into both of us crying about how we missed Dad and that he would have done something like got me tickets to a Yankees game. Dad loved baseball, I just watched and cheered and loved his love of the game. We went out to dinner and had a great time! 18 seemed like it was going to take forever to get to and now I'm here and it only seemed like yesterday I was 8. It was a long emotional day, and at the end of it I climbed into bed and thought about Dad and his book. I only had 5 days to wait and see what the next date meant, or if it meant anything at all. I was debating telling Crystal about the book, but every time the thought crossed my mind, I worried she would take it, and then that connection to my Dad would be lost and gone forever. 5 days.

June 6th came and went and nothing spectacular happened. I don't know what I was expecting but the next date in the book was:

RW 08/17/2017

That one was a long wait, but again nothing happened. I don't know what I was waiting for any more.

LS 09/04/2017

AY 10/28/2017

PD 11/27/2017

SS 12/19/2017

MC 01/22/2018

CH 02/09/2018

WM 04/14/2018 and then

RM 05/08/2018.

All the dates came and went and there was nothing. Nothing until RM 05/08/2018. One year from when my Dad died. Dad had a funeral service, but wanted to be cremated. I had an urn that I had stared at, yelled at, even cursed at. since the day of his funeral. Why would his anniversary be here with different initials? I was lost. I woke up and went to work that day. I threw my backpack on like usual, put on my headphones and went to work. I did the same process and came home after my shift. Nothing crazy, nothing exciting. Then when I got home things got interesting. I had showered to get the smell of fry grease off of me and came down to make something to eat. Crystal had gone off to a gathering with her sisters, at least that what her note said. I was in the middle of the most amazing sandwich I had ever made when there was a knock at the door. Panic set in. Not again, not Crystal. I can't do this again. Ugh! get it together girl and go answer the door. I opened the door to see a very beautiful woman in a red blazer and matching pencil skirt and a killer smile saying her name was Rachael Matthews. RM, 05/08/2018. She asked if she could speak with Sarah Ross. I told that was me and to come in, finally a reason for a sitting room! She sat down and explained that she was an attorney for a group of people known as the All See-ers. I had never heard of this group, she then began asking me a bunch of questions and asked me about a few people specifically. Kim Hathaway, Robert Watson, Laura Sinkerton, Allen Young, Peter Down, Samantha Singleterri, Matthew Charles, Charli Howard and William Match. I had no clue what was going on. Crystal walked in laughing loudly as Rachael and I were talking. She came and sat with us after I told her who Rachael was. Rachael continued that these people had passed away and then listed dates. I was so lost about what was going on that I interrupted her and asked why any of this was my business and what it had to do with me. She proceeded to tell me that all of them had my name listed in their wills. They had been trying to find me and had a bit of a hard time. She apologized that it took a year and then handed me a check for $20,000. She explained that this was the total sum of what I had been willed from the list of 9 people. She asked if I had any further questions. I didn't even know what to say. She handed me a card and some paperwork. I had to sign that I had received my payment and she told me to call with any additional questions.

That's it, where is my Dad's little black book!!??