A pause stretched across the phone line.
“I know things were tense back then,” she continued. “Your mother and I had a complicated relationship. And Michael… well, I know you cared for him.”
“Cared?” I said quietly. “I adore him. He was everything to me.”
Another silence followed.
“I just want today to go smoothly,” she replied.
At the office, she greeted the lawyer warmly as if they were old friends. She kissed my cheek, leaving the smell of rose hand cream behind.
Her blonde hair was neatly pinned in a bun, pearls resting against her pink blouse.
During the reading of the will, she dabbed her eyes with a tissue whenever someone glanced her way.
When the lawyer finished, he asked if anyone had questions.
I stood.
“I’d like to say something.”
For illustrative purposes only
The room fell silent.
I looked directly at my aunt.
“You didn’t lose a sister when my mother died,” I said. “You lost control.”
Someone at the far end of the table let out a stunned laugh.
“Sammie… what did you do?”
The lawyer cleared his throat.
“For the record, Michael preserved correspondence related to an attempted custody action.”
Leave a Comment