college grad and in law school, but whenever I saw them on holidays, I was still ‘little turd’.
“How’s the store going, Mom? Are you keeping up with orders?”
She produced one of her exasperated Mom huffs. “No, I’m not. Making the candy and packaging it and keeping up with the online stuff, of which, as you know, I’m not an expert, is going to put me in an early grave. That’s all. So, your mom is heading for the grave. But enough about my chaotic life. I did it to myself, so I can’t complain.”
“Except that’s what you’re doing.” Three years after I’d left for college, my dad had developed severe back problems, mostly due to the heavy lifting he’d done working in construction. He’d ended up having to quit work, and suddenly, my parents were struggling, financially. We’d never been flowing in money, but we’d had everything the neighbors had, a small pool, air conditioning, a must have in California, and enough extra for a yearly week long vacation at a nearby lake. But after putting all of us through college, my middle-aged parents had suddenly found themselves cutting huge corners and missing bill payments. My mom’s candy had always been famous in town. Neighbors paid her to make them some of her delicious treats for holiday gifts. The online store had been my idea.
“Mom, why don’t you hire someone to help?”
Another exasperated sound effect. “I tried that. Remember Eleanor, your friend from school?”
“We weren’t friends, Mom. She was totally weird. She chewed the erasers off all her pencils and spit the pieces on the classroom floor.”
“Oh—well, I thought you two were friends. I hired her younger sister, Nina, to help. I ran into Esther, her mom, at the grocery store, and she was lamenting about how smart and wonderful Nina was but that she couldn’t find a job. So, I decided to do the neighborly thing and hire her. Big mistake. There was a reason she couldn’t get a job. No common sense. And, on top of that, she was nibbling too many pieces of candy. She’d be assembling a box of six truffles and eat two in the process. All my profit was going down her gullet.” Mom’s phone beeped, letting her know she had a call coming through. “Now who could that be?” she asked herself unnecessarily. “Everyone only ever calls when I’m on the phone.”
I heard the shower shut off. I was going to have to drag myself in and get ready to continue my morning with a pretend smile plastered on my face as I listened to Jeremy’s annoying boss brag on about her new Mercedes and diamond watch. I wasn’t up for any of it.
“I should go anyhow, Mom.”
“Wait,” she said, “I have just a few more things to tell you.” The phone beeped again. “Let me just see who it is.”
Before I could tell her I’d call her later, she zipped away to answer the call waiting.
Jeremy poked his wet head out of the bathroom and scowled at me as I pointed at my phone with a shrug.
“We need to get going,” he reminded me and shut the door again.
I was just about to hang up and make the excuse later that I was cut off, but Mom came back on. I heard a distinct sniffle.
“Mom? Everything all right?” My heart sped up, and my mind went instantly to my brothers. “Are the boys O.K.?”
“Yes, yes, Kenna.” She sniffed again. “I didn’t mean to alarm you. Your brothers are fine.” Her voice was shaky. “I’ve just heard some terrible news, Kenny.” She paused. “Grady Stratton died in a car accident yesterday.”
I sat down hard on the desk chair as if someone had kicked my knees out from under me. My first thought was that it was impossible. I’d talked to him just three weeks ago for our usual first Monday of the month phone call. I’d spent the whole conversation whining about how I wasn’t sure about going into law anymore. “Holy shit.” My own sniffles followed right in tune with hers. So many memories and visions went through my head. Growing up, I’d had a lot of friends, but only one true best friend, and that had been Grady Stratton.
I swallowed hard to relieve the lump that had grown in my throat. “Where was he? What happened?”
“Apparently he was on his way here to Mayfair for a visit. I know you mentioned to me that he’d gotten a nice job at