We greet them and sit as close to one another as humanly possible without sharing a chair. Henry sits near the executors as if to say he’s on their side and already knows what the will might say.
I say a silent prayer in my head, an old standard from Catholic school I can conjure up by heart. I’m not exactly religious, but it’s my duty to protect Kat. We’re now all each other has, and I’m desperate for an easy way out of this situation.
Donahue is the name of the bald lawyer in glasses who appears to be in charge, and he reads through technicalities and how he will be guiding the estate through the probate process. The three of us are the only beneficiaries in the will he informs us, and Mr.Shaw updated it twice—after the death of his late wife and after the passing of his housekeeper, Peggy Clifton.
Kat takes my hand and squeezes until her knuckles are white. Her eyes brighten, and she looks at me at the mention of my mother. Mr. Shaw was planning ahead, and maybe he did love me after all.
“The entirety of Wainscott Hollow, the physical property, beach front, as well as all structures and vehicles on the estate will be put into the name of Mr. Henry Shaw. Financial funds, liquid assets, and investments will be put into the name of Mr. Henry Shaw. A financial trust to the sum of one million dollars will be held in the name of Miss Katelyn Shaw, frozen until she reaches the age of twenty-five. A provision totaling five hundred thousand dollars in liquid assets will be left to Mr. Heath Clifton, accessible within the week. Legal guardianship of Miss Shaw will fall to her older brother Henry Shaw until she’s of age…”
I watch as a wicked smile overtakes Henry’s face. Kat goes pale, and her pulse surges through our clenched hands. A tiny gasp escapes her, and she parts her lips, but she puts on a brave face, knowing as well as I do that Henry thrives off of his ability to scare us.
Kat is seventeen. That means a full year of living under Henry’s rule until she can leave. Realistically speaking, if Kat cannot access her trust until the age of twenty-five, then she’s trapped here for longer. Thank God Shaw left me enough to care for both Kat and myself. We won’t be rich, we won’t be living in a place like Wainscott Hollow, but we can be comfortable.
Five hundred thousand dollars is more than anyone in my family could have left me. It’s tremendously generous and almost makes me weep with gratitude. With this money, I’ll be able tofinish out my senior year at Fairmont, maybe even get into a good school and afford a college education—a gift that wasn’t in the cards on my mother’s salary—not without a full scholarship or a lifetime of student loan debt in front of me.
When we finish the meeting, Henry is smug and gloats like he’s come out on the winning team, which I guess, as far as what he values, he has. Money, power, greed, control—Henry’s got everything he ever wanted. Without the moral intervention and checks and balances put in place by Mr. Shaw, Henry can rule his dominion as the heartless villain he aspires to be.
“Katelyn, now that I’m in charge, I’d like to talk to you about your dress,” Henry tells Kat between bites of pizza and slugs of beer. The way he eats is grotesque.
We’ve ordered pizza and are eating in the kitchen. Without Mr. Shaw around, it feels ridiculous to eat in the formal dining room.
Kat pauses with her slice halfway to her mouth, then returns the piece to the plate without taking a bite.
“Your weight has gotten out of control, and I think by not saying anything, Dad was enabling you. You need a trainer and a diet that addresses the issue. We can try to turn this around before it’s too late.”
Kat nods solemnly, and I’m so shocked, I can barely speak. Kat is perfect the way she is. I love her healthy body that she lives in so freely.
“Your tits are huge and indecent, and they need to be covered up. And your ass has gotten so fat, people stare at it like a bad car accident. Not a good look for a Shaw,” Henry guffaws.
“Henry, for Christ’s sake! What gives you the right?” I admonish him.
Henry looks down his long nose at me and anger flashes in his eyes. “I am her guardian, Heath. I’m trying to do what’s right for her. Who the fuck are you? Some interloper who’s mooched off our family for years and ridden his mother’s death like some kind of gravy train ages past due. Katelyn is a Shaw, and she needs to advertise that. Her body has gotten out of hand. It’s indecent, and I need to reel her back in. Shaw’s aren’t sloppy and fat, they’re lean and neat. Your over-nurturing her got her here in the first place. Telling her she looks beautiful even when she’s stuffing her face. Calling her graceful and free while she clomps around this place like a fat pig!”
Kat chokes on a sob and covers her face.
“Kat is beautiful,” I say in defense. I could kill Henry for speaking to her this way. Kat has insecurities and at times suffers socially for her shyness. This asshole only wants to break her down to make her more dependent on him. “No one asked you, Henry. Kat, don’t listen to anything he says.”
“She’s practically bursting out of her clothes. It’s obscene. I can’t have her leaving a stain on the family reputation,” he says, guzzling more beer.
I can’t take it. I grab his lapel and twist it, yanking him to me so hard and fast that his feet aren’t touching the floor. “Listen here, you tiny dick pathetic incel,” I spit in his face. “She just lost her father, and because she’s not a fucking psychopath like some people, she’s in mourning over the loss of someone she loved dearly!”
Henry whimpers and breathes his beer fumes in my face. He swivels, trying to escape my grip with only his toes touching the kitchen tiles.
“Kat IS beautiful, just the way she was made. Don’t even look at her body, let alone talk about it. It’s none of your fucking business, and if I catch you insulting her again, I’ll fucking castrate you. You got that?” I threaten him.
“Don’t you realize, Heath, son of our servant, that now that dear old Dad’s dead, I can kick you the fuck out of Wainscott Hollow on the slightest whim? I’m the man of the house and you’re nothing. A peon. A slug. A charity case ruse that’s been going on too long. If I want you gone tonight, it can be done!”
“Stop it! Stop it!” Kat screams. She stands between us, her shoulders shaking with sobs as she tries to stop us from flinging hate at one another. “Henry, Heath is our brother. That’s what Dad wanted and we have to honor that. Heath, Henry’s probably right. I could stand to lose some weight, and I’ll start trying to take better care of myself,” she says, trying to convince us with her voice that she’s strong enough to handle the death, the onslaught of criticism, and the bleak road ahead.
“I’m gonna head to bed. I don’t want you two fighting. Can you put it to rest for me? For Dad?” she pleads with us.
Henry slams more beer. I look into Kat’s eyes and nod, move to her side, and wrap her in a hug.
That night, I walk out to the dunes alone. Perhaps it’s my way of saying goodbye to Mr. Shaw, a man who was more of a father to me than my own. I watch the fireflies light up the boardwalk path that cuts down to our beach. I can smell the salt in the air and a hint of wood smoke which makes the scent decidedlyMontauk. I watch the waves roll in and crash upon the shore by the light of the moon and wonder what my life would have looked like had Mom and I stayed in the Bronx.
But a life without Kat is one I don’t want to know. I wish I could shelter her from Henry, who’s clearly mentally ill. The man needs to get his head examined and take some meds, or at least go to therapy. He’s out of control with madness, like an old beast trapped in an ancient castle. He seems to have lost any social clout when he graduated high school. and his drinking keeps escalating. He’s a runaway train, an accident waiting to happen.
Wind-whipped and refreshingly calmed, I make my way back to Wainscott Hollow. When I enter the back door by the kitchen, I hear Kat sobbing upstairs as her quarters are at the back of the manor. I figure she’s still beside herself with grief until I hear Henry’s bitter yell, and I run up the stairs like a racehorse just out of the gate.
