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Richard
Richardcouldn’thelpbutthink of the irony of it. It was the day of reading his father’s will, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.
It had been rainy for the entire week that he’d been sick and all through that day when he finally passed. It even rained on the day of the funeral, which made the whole thing even more miserable. Richard was standing there with his umbrella, water droplets falling from the edges and getting all over his already muddied shoes, watching the undertakers lower the casket with his father in it into the ground. Richard always hated funerals. They were terrible rituals that were only meant for the living. And whatever his father thought about them when he was living, he could certainly care less about it all now. Richard always thought that when his time came and they asked him how he wanted to be laid to rest, he’d tell them to cremate him and throw his remains out of a window, because it wouldn’t matter to him anyway.
So, it rained all through that first week. During the memorial and the wake, and the special program they held for him at his favorite country club. Every morning Richard got up and for once the weather matched his mood. Cold, gray, and kind of soggy. It wasn’t until the day that he was due downtown at the courthouse to listen to the reading of his will that he woke up with the sun in his eyes. Richard didn’t believe in signs or messages from the afterlife, but he couldn’t ignore the complete irony of today being the one day that the sun should come out and shine down on him.
It was on Richard’s mind as he got out of the car, his stepmother getting out behind him. They stepped out into the bright sunlight, Rebecca glancing up at the sky as she put on her oversized sunglasses.
“What a beautiful day,” she said with a small smile. “I really thought it was going to rain forever.”
Richard said nothing to that. He barely talked to Rebecca anyway. No reason to start now.
Inside the courthouse, the family lawyer Mitchell Stanley (or Stanley Mitchell. Richard wasn’t ever really sure.) was standing outside one of the mediation rooms. Both Richard and Rebecca saw him at the same time, but only Rebecca behaved as though she were seeing an old friend. She waved brightly at him, walking up quickly, her high heels clicking across the linoleum.
Richard rolled his eyes. He couldn’t stand his father’s wife. She was at least forty years his junior and she dressed like she was in her twenties. All short dresses that barely covered her ass and nine-inch stripper heels. Whatever she was wearing, she usually made sure that her big fake breasts were out and stuffed up to her chin.
After all these years, Richard could get over how she looked. It was her attitude that kept him far away from her whenever possible. Rebecca was that terrible combination of vapid and mean that passed for whatever society women were. Just being around her made Richard sick to his stomach. The sooner this reading was over with, the better.
They were ushered into the room, which was little more than a table with chairs in them, and a flat-screen television on one of the walls. “Thank you both for coming,” the lawyer said. “Being Mr. Hollis’ only living family members, it’s good of you two to come. He really hoped that you would come together for this reading.”
“Can we get on with this, please?” asked Richard. “I have meetings this afternoon.”
The lawyer nodded stiffly. “Right to the point. All right, then.” He turned, the remote control in his hand, and pressed a button, turning on a video. Richard’s father came up on the screen. He looked the way he did right before he got sick. Elderly, but still with a youthful spark in his eyes. Richard noticed that he was wearing the gold watch that his mother had given him on the last anniversary before he died. Before Richard could stop himself, he smiled upon seeing his face. This was how he preferred to remember him.
His father smiled and said, “To my dearests Rebecca and Richard. I know the two of you have lives that you want to get back to…so I’ll make this as brief as I can. Richard, you’re my only child and my namesake. And for that reason, it’s only fitting that you should inherit my estate and all my company holdings.”
Richard saw Rebecca’s face drop out of the corner of his eye, but he didn’t say anything.Good.
“That’s right,” his father said with a slight chuckle. “You get it all, son.”
“This is outrageous…” started Rebecca, but the lawyer shushed her. My father wasn’t done talking.
“But don’t think I’m just handing this over to you. My estate and all that it entails comes with a price. I hope by the time you see this, it will be a small price.”
I crossed my arms. Father always liked to do things to ‘teach me a lesson’. It just figured that he had to get one last lick in.
“I know how hard it’s been for you since the divorce,” he said. “Sometimes the best-laid plans of life don’t go the way we’d like them to. I know that better than just about anyone, I think. After I lost your mother, I was ready to throw in the towel on love. I was content to just leave that sort of thing to younger men.”
You should have listened to your instincts, Richard thought. He didn’t dare say it allowed though.
“But then, I found my Rebecca. The love of my life. She has brought so much joy to my last days on earth. I could have never imagined that I would find love again. I want you to know that joy. By the time you see this, maybe you’ll already have figured this out. But if not, well, I know you well enough to know that you need the right motivation to find out what’s important to your life.”
Richard’s stomach tightened. What was this? Was his father really lecturing him about his love life from the grave?
“I still hold out the hope that you find the right woman for you,” his father went on. “I can tell you from experience, that the right woman can turn everything around for you and make all the money in the world meaningless in the grand scheme of things. That being said, the stipulation is simple. Nuptials or the pending thereof must be established before you can inherit anything.”
He was still talking, but everything kind of faded away. What did he mean by that,nuptials? He had to get married??
“If you’re not married at the time of this reading,” he went on, “and there are no plans in place for marriage, then Rebecca will be in charge of the estate and all my holdings until you are. Should you become engaged, then you will remain in your current position until the day of your wedding.” He paused, a little bit of sadness in his eyes. “I know how harsh this sounds, son, but my hope is that you’ll find love the way I have and live the rest of your days with the joy that I hope my last days will be.”
The lawyer turned the television off and Rebecca clapped her hands together and squealed loudly. “Well,” she said brightly. “I guess that’s that. So, how do we do this? Is the money debited directly into my accounts or…?”
The lawyer looked from her to Richard and said, “Well…Mrs. Hollis, that’s going to depend on your stepson’s status.”
“He’s not married,” she laughed. “He’s not even engaged!”
“Actually,” Richard said, “I just got engaged last night.”
