My grandmother passed away six years ago. Dad was her only child and he’d passed away years before her, so all of the assets were set to be split between myself and my three siblings. The plan was to sell most of the physical property and split the cash evenly, which we were all in agreement of- except for the lake house.
Tony really wanted to sell it and add the proceeds to the pot. He was the youngest and had the fewest memories of spending summers there with grandma. Roy flat out refused, and I- well, I was on the fence. On the one hand I had great memories of spending summers with Grandma, learning the family history and traditions. On the other-
It would have been nice to be rid of it.
It was Tony’s idea to go out there together. I think he thought that if we saw the shape it was in now it would be easier to let go of.
I only agreed to go because Roy did. Roy was going through a nasty divorce at the time and I felt I had to be there to support him. I was concerned he wasn’t thinking clearly- he hated the lake house more than any of us.
Tony was right about it being in rough shape. The siding was rotting away and the roof had more patches than a pirate convention. Several of the windows had been boarded up.
“We’d be better off knocking down the house and selling the land.” I got out of my car in time to catch the tail end of what Tony had been saying to Roy. They were standing next to the fountain in the front yard. There’d been an angel on the top that sprayed water out of a trumpet when we were children.
It was gone now.
“No.” Roy shook his head firmly and turned to look at me. His eyes were bleak. He’d just found out a few months ago that his wife was cheating on him and his two sons probably weren’t his. He’d lobbied for custody anyway, but his soon-to-be-ex was fighting him tooth and nail. She wanted to move in with the affair partner and raise the kids with him.
I knew Roy hadn’t been the best husband to my ex-sister in law- he was a workaholic, and if I’m honest with myself, probably several other kinds of ‘holic. It was still awful watching his life fall apart, helpless to do anything but stand with him and make sure he was eating.
I don’t think he was. He’d definitely lost a few dozen pounds.
Tony, on the other hand, was his youthful reflection. Exactly how Roy’d looked fifteen years ago- except Roy’s eyes had always been a little dark, a little distant.
“Angela, talk some sense into him! Look at this place! It’s going to fall down any day.” Tony tossed a hand at the dilapidated porch- the roof was sagging and the paint peeling. A rat ran across it as I watched.
“It does look pretty bad, Roy.” I hesitated, “Maybe if the house came down-”
“No.” Roy shook his head and smiled. I didn’t like it. It looked hollow and didn’t reach his eyes, “I’ll take it. You two can split the rest of the inheritance. Cheryl will just take it all anyway.”
Tony and I were shocked into silence. Neither of us knew what to say. For entirely different reasons, I imagine.
“Roy, no.” I whispered.
“Are you sure?” Tony asked, spreading his hands, “At least keep enough to fix the place up.”
“No. Just like this. But I want you two to do me a favor.” I knew where this was going and began to shake my head. No, Roy. No! I knew things were bad but they weren’t that bad! He still had me! He had Tony! We could work on everything else-
“What?” Tony asked. We’d never told him. We’d opted to spare him- he was just a baby, he wasn’t even alive when dad died. Mom hadn’t realized she was pregnant until three months later.
“You know I’d do anything for you two.” Roy said evenly. He wasn’t smiling anymore- he was staring me down. My eyes started to well up, but I nodded.
“Yeah, man- same.” Tony looked more confused than ever. I started to shake.
“Angela?” Roy prodded, deadly serious now.
I could only nod.
“Good. It’s time to let him out.” He walked toward the dock. I looked around for something, anything to delay the inevitable. I should have known this was coming. I should have refused to come- but then it would just be Tony, and Roy probably would have gone ahead without me.
At least I could be there for him. For both of them.
As Tony and Roy reached the end of the pier I trailed behind them, listening to the rickety boards creak and trying to ignore the stink of the lake. Roy’d already fished out the line. It was slimy and coated with scum. They battled to get a grip on it and between the two of them they were able to start reeling it in.
When it got to be too heavy for just the two of them I joined them. Even with my help it was almost too heavy. Roy never could have done it on his own. I should have taken Tony and left, but-
He would have found another way. I could tell. It was the set of his jaw and the glint in his eye. Maybe if Tony hadn’t suggested we all come out- but no. It was too late for any of that. I couldn’t blame Tony. I couldn’t blame myself, or even Roy.
Honestly it felt like we were all cogs in a machine that had been started long before any of us were even born.
The top edge broke the surface first. Thick, goopy strands of algae hung off of it like matted hair. Water sloughed in every direction. The stench was unbearable. I almost lost my grip. Tony staggered beside me, but Roy kept pulling at a manic pace.
More and more of the pitted, rusted locker emerged. He was hauling mostly by himself at that point, the feverish gleam in his eye getting brighter by the second. I dropped the rope and backed away. Tony helped him haul it the last few inches up onto the dock.
I turned around. I didn’t want to- couldn’t- watch a second time. What I’d accidentally seen as a child had given me nightmares for the rest of my life and it had been a two second glance stolen from the upstairs window.
The locker banged against the wood, too heavy to ring. Not that it would have. It wasn’t made of metal.
I looked at the sky and reached for Tony’s hand, trying to pull him around with me.
“Don’t look, Tony.” I whispered.
I could hear Roy fussing with the latch. It was fighting him. Probably because it was mostly scab at that point. Long since healed over, like a piercing gone unattended.
“I love you both very much.” I knew he’d done it when I heard the lid clunk open. My knees were weak. I squeezed Tony’s hand as much for my sake as his. My palms were sweaty and my heart was racing so fast I was sure it would quit.
Tony screamed.
Something slapped against the deck. It sounded wet. The smell of copper got worse. Then it tore past me- an infant sized little man, naked except for the blood- toward the old house. It laughed as it ran, cackling madly.
Looked just like dad- except for the teeth.
The box clattered and squealed. I closed my eyes and pulled Tony’s unresisting form to me, waiting until I heard the lid clunk shut and the latch fall into place before I turned around.
“We have to put it back now.” I informed Tony, releasing his arm and crossing the few steps I’d taken away. I set my shoulder to it and put my back into pushing it toward the water.
“What the hell? Angela, no! Roy’s in there-” He protested. I heard him backing away from me as I struggled and knew then that I had to do it myself, pushing for all I was worth- until my back cried and my shoulders burned and every muscle in my body felt like it was tearing.
“We have to.” I grunted through my teeth. The edge of the box left the deck, teetering on the edge of oblivion. I gave it everything I had and at last, gravity took it. I moved quickly to the side, chest heaving, coated in sweat and ooze and watched the line spiral away into the murky water.
When I turned around Tony was staring at me with wide, round eyes. I know what he must have thought. I looked down at my hands, stained green and red with the ‘rust’ and the algae, and looked back at him after a long minute.
“Get out your phone.” I ordered when I had the breath to do so. When he didn’t move I stepped toward him, grabbing his arm and giving him a little shake.
“Get out your phone and make yourself a note. We have to be back here in exactly two hundred and eighty days, Tony. If we do this wrong Roy dies. Do you understand me? Grandma couldn’t do it with Grandpa and Mom and Roy miscounted with dad.” I looked at the old lake house, where presumably one half of my father and grandfather still lurked- living in the walls, watching us from the ceiling while we slept.
The rest of them-? Still in the box with Roy. No longer screaming, at least. It had taken dad years to stop screaming. You could hear it from the house on quiet nights.
I squeezed Tony’s arm and tried not to notice the mark it left on his sweater sleeve.
“Come on. Let’s get cleaned up and go welcome dad home.” I went toward the steps feeling like each foot weighed a thousand pounds.
“We’re going to have to make sure they’re fed now. Roy used to take care of that.” And grandma before him, “One of us is going to have to come back every month and leave them a couple of cans of cat food.”
Tony hadn’t uttered a word. He was staring like he’d never seen me before. Like he wasn’t actually seeing me at all. I worried about that, but there was nothing I could do. What was done was done. We were in the thick of it now.
Again, I realized I would be on my own with this. Tony just didn’t have it in him. This was what we got for hiding it from him, I thought. Too late to change that now. Too late to take any of it back.
“Remember, Tony. Exactly two hundred and eighty days. For Roy. We can’t mess this up.” In the back of my mind I was already planning what to do if Tony didn’t show. I’d have to rent a boat with a winch. It was easier these days. Maybe I’d just buy one with the inheritance.
I walked Tony to his car instead, feeling the eyes of the house upon me the whole time.
This time it would be different, I swore to myself. This time it would work. This time we were doing it in the middle of the day. There would be no tipping over to midnight, no missed day.
In exactly two hundred and eighty days we’d pull up a brand new, happy and healthy Roy with his whole life ahead of him- and leave whatever was left in the box.