The Secret Letters by Abby Bardi Read Free Book Online Page B

said to Pam. She had to agree.

VI
    Ralph Sawyer had an office near the courthouse on the hill above Main Street where law firms clustered like ants at a picnic. It was always weird seeing him because he was so familiar from his commercials. Everyone in greater Baltimore knew the jingle about the attorney from Glen Burnie.
    â€œAgain, my deepest sympathy. She was quite a girl,” Ralph said as he greeted us. He was a big bear of a guy with hands that looked like they could scoop a fish out of a brook. It was funny how he called my mother a girl like they were still in high school. I wondered if my mom had ever slept with him. My guess, based on the dopey look on his face when he talked about her, was yes. He had drawn up her will for free, another pretty good indicator, when she first got sick, and seemed to be some kind of executor. It didn’t matter to me, although Pam had been kind of annoyed about it. “She makes me go to law school, then acts like I’m only a bartender,” she said at the time. I didn’t care who was in charge of what as long as I didn’t have to do anything.
    I had run up the hill from the Wild Hare and was still panting. Hector squawked when I asked him to cover for me, but when I told him I was seeing Ralph Sawyer about some important legal business, he shut right up. Pam had obviously been cleaning. Her hair was in a ponytail and it looked like she hadn’t washed it in weeks, and a blob of dust clung to her sleeve. Ralph led us into a back room where Norma and Ricky were waiting for us at a long table.
    â€œLate again,” Norma snapped. Pam and I waved a cheery hello as if she had just said something nice. Ralph motioned for us to sit and parked himself on a red leather throne. He looked around. “Is Timothy coming?”
    â€œHe couldn’t make it,” Pam said. “I have his proxy.” Tim had told her to keep aneye on Norma to keep her from fucking everything up or cheating the rest of us, but she didn’t quote him.
    Ralph looked disappointed, though if he knew Tim, he wouldn’t have been. “Now, I’m sure you’ve had time to review the copies I sent you.”
    â€œCopies?” Pam said.
    â€œDidn’t you receive yours?”
    She looked confused and guilty, and I immediately figured out what the deal was: she hadn’t been home in a week and hadn’t checked her mail, but she didn’t want Norma to know she’d been living at our mother’s house. It was the kind of thing Norma would mind, since she minded everything. “I must have overlooked it.” Pink spots began to show up on her cheeks.
    â€œI got mine,” Ricky said, holding up his photocopy, like he’d ever even glanced at it.
    â€œJulia?” That was my real name.
    â€œI, uh—” I had gotten some kind of fat envelope from Ralph in the last week, but hadn’t bothered to open it. “I left mine at home.”
    â€œWell, let’s proceed. The estate is pretty straightforward: the life insurance policy, the house, and the car. The proceeds will be split five ways. And the will stipulates that the attorney—myself—is to receive a three-percent honorarium.” Ralph gave a little cough. Being an ambulance chaser, he worked on a percentage basis, Pam had told me.
    â€œI see,” I said. At least Norma wasn’t in charge, like she had always been because she was the oldest. Her idea of leadership when we were kids was to order us around, then tell on us when we stepped out of line. Frank had always laughed about this and called her the Colonel. I thought about Frank, who always found a way to make things funny and jolly. His goofy laugh, a combination of a snort and a giggle, rang inmy ears, and a stab went through me like it always did when I missed someone who was no longer around. Even after all these years, it was so easy to forget that they were gone. Once upon a time we had all sat around