One Good Deed
By: Colette Calapristi Casey
© 2014
Susan Miller moved slowly through the room of overstuffed boxes, trinkets and furniture wondering where to begin first. She walked over to the sliding glass doors and opened the drapes, letting the afternoon soon warm the room. The glass door was cloudy at best, the result of years of smoking from its resident. She sighed.
The lock on the slider was stuck from lack of use, but once pried open, the ocean air rushed in. Why he never opened the drapes baffled her when a beachside view of the Boardwalk and the Atlantic lay in waiting.
Susan closed the screen door and breathed a sigh of relief. The looming work before her seemed to become more manageable as the scent of the ocean wafted through the condo.
She was thankful she came so early. It would be a long process and she wanted to get a start on it.
Susan had gone through four piles of ‘stuff’ that included trinkets from the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. Her mother had already gone through the most recent items per the will and through these items into piles for Susan.
The trash pile was growing while the ‘give-a-way’ pile not so much. She was meticulously going through a notebook of loose papers when her cell phone startled her back into reality.
She looked at the number and rolled her eyes. “Hello Marlene. What do you want?”
“Well that’s a hell of a way to greet your mother. I was just calling to check in.”
Susan knew the call was more than just checking in. Her mother never called just to say hi.
“Okay, how are you. What do you want?”
Marlene sighed on the other end. “Fine. Be that way. You always were a little bitch.”
“There’s the mom I know and love. For the last time, what do you want?”
“I know you’re at the condo today and wanted to make sure you understood the rules of the will. Anything you find dated 1980 or later is mine. I get the new stuff. Got it?”
“Yes ma’am and you are welcome to it.”
“So have you found anything? I know he purchased some coins in the last 10 years. I found most of them, but any others are mine. He never bought that stuff before then.”
Susan started to rub her neck and head. She was getting a headache.
“Got it.”
There was a long silence before Marlene spoke up.
“Ok. We’ll that’s all I wanted to say. Let me know when you’re done so we can get that condo on the market. The sooner we sell it, the sooner you get half. Per the will of course.”
“Yeah. Got it. If you’re done I have a bunch of piles of junk to go through that someone just threw into a big mess.”
“Well, okay, I know you’re busy. Call me when you’re done.”
Susan clicked the end call and slipped her phone back into her bra.
The day dragged on until Susan had sorted through all the piles in the living room, kitchen and bedroom. The only area left was the washer and dryer area.
The air had grown cool and the Boardwalk tourists had just started picking up speed. Susan grabbed a soda from the fridge and went out to the deck for a break.
She always loved the boardwalk, especially at night. She looked down towards the amusements that were all illuminated, spinning and twirling. People just walked up and down “the boards” stopping in small shops, picking up an order of greasy boardwalk fries and teens getting their flirt on.
Susan smiled. She loved her weekends and summers with her grandfather. Her mother was always too ‘busy’ to spend time her, so she was always pawned off on her grandfather. But she didn’t mind. Grandpa would take her for a walk on the boards, buy her ice cream and even took her with him on a few jobs. He was the top “fix it” guy in town. The only reason he was able to afford the condo was because when the market dumped, he picked it up for a song. Because he was handy he remodeled it and updated it to be one of the nicest on the block. He had done that a lot, bought and flipped property.
Her smile faded. Most of the assets from his modest estate went to her Mother, and she guessed it should.
Susan took the last gulp of her pop and tossed it in the recycle can she had set up.
“Ok. Last room. Laundry.”
Susan opened the first cabinet and found what was expected: laundry soap, bleach, and the usual suspects. She had brought in another big black trash bag and started tossing. This job would go quickly. Tomorrow would be easy, moving trash to the dumpster, donating other items and taking the one small sentimental box she had collected, home.
Susan had gone through the final cabinet and had cleared everything and reached for the last item. By all appearances it looked like the manual for the washer and dryer. It was in plastic and set on the side of the cabinet. As usual, Susan made sure to check everything.
Everything started out as expected. They were indeed manuals. She took each one out and fanned the pages. The first one, the dryer. Now the second. When she fanned the pages she discovered two pieces of paper stuffed into the manual.
Curious, she pulled them out and began to read. “Deed of Ownership” she read out loud. “The Henson Complex, 400-500 Ocean Avenue.” Susan read the words again. Her heart started to race.
“Are you kidding me Grandpa?”
She looked over the deed again and searched for a date. There it was: 1979.
Susan shook her head. If what she was reading was correct, Grandpa had owned entire block of the Jersey Shore Boardwalk.
Susan barely slept that night. She tossed and turned worrying about getting up early. She had to get to the City to validate the deed and the date,which that would exclude it from her mother. Her mind reeled that her Grandfather had been this rich but never let on.
With each toss and turn, the darkness began to fold into the sunrise and the day would shortly follow. The morning dragged on with Susan watching the clock every minute until 8:45 a.m. when she could head out to City Hall.
“So, is it real?” Susan blurted to the man behind the desk. She was comfortable with him. He would often join her and Grandpa for ice cream on the boards.
He laughed. “Oh yeah, yeah, this is real Susie. You know, your Granddad was really loved around here. Everyone knew him and he knew everyone.”
“I know that. But seriously, is this real? I mean, this means he owns a whole block of the boardwalk! How could he afford something like this? I mean, if he owned this, he was a frickin’ millionaire right?”
The man smiled. “Yes. Yes, he was a millionaire and now, so are you.”
Susan’s eyes widened. “Wha…whaattt?”
“Yes, Susan, I know all about this deed. He must have been hoping you’d find it. All the revenue from this property has been put into a trust. For you. Because it is dated 1979, it falls within his Will for you to receive. You’re mother can’t touch it.”
My heart raced as I thought of my Grandfather. Of how he would pay the medical bills of friends who couldn’t afford it, of how he would check in on older tenants of the buildings he serviced and fix any problems they had for free.
Then I thought of myself with all that money. One thing I know for sure is that it is ‘found’ money and it had to go to help others. That’s what I decided to do. I knew with the trust, there was plenty for me to live on and then some. Starting today I could now officially help so many people. The children at the Community Center where I volunteered, the hairdresser, who’s husband left her with a small baby, and all the other people that gave me an opportunity to be a better person.
No one ever said life would go as planned. For in the moments of the surprise one see’s the bigger “Plan.”
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