Time For A Story

Part Two...

“I think that my dog is sick,” Aunt Leanne told Jess.

“Why do you think so?” She asked. Jess loved animals, and knew that her Aunt had recently been forced to put down one of her two beloved dogs. Both of her dogs were elderly, so it wasn’t unexpected, but hearing now that Aunt Leanne’s only other fur kids might be sick, her concern was immediately raised.

“Well, I think she’s peeing in the house. She’s housebroken, and she’s never done this before, so I am going to take her to the vet today.”

Jess wished Leanne luck and waited to hear the vet’s verdict. When Leanne called her later, the vet could find nothing wrong. However, she kept finding wet spots in the hallway of the house. It wasn’t long until she realized, it wasn’t urine, it was water, and there was a burst pipe in the floor. Leanne had never had a leak in the house, and she called her niece.

“You have to call a plumber, Aunt Leanne,” Jess told her, and she did, right away. After the plumber stopped the leak, Leanne was informed that the leak had been ongoing, and there was damage to the floor of the main level, and in the basement. Not only that, there was black mold growing. Repairs were necessary.

This was a bit of a problem for Leanne. For some time, Leanne had collected things. Many things, and now those things were in the way of the repairs being done. Leanne’s collections had been started for the sake of her niece. Leanne had a great eye for things that had value, but had been given up by their prior owners. This was to be Jess’s inheritance, she had decided. Being nearly eighty, moving these things was an untenable task that she couldn’t see her way to. She knew that the mold had to be fixed, as it could damage her health, and also the collections that she had carefully procured over many years.

She called Jess again, and asked her, “What’s Joan’s phone number?”

Jess’s stomach clenched, but she gave her the number. When she hung up, a foreboding feeling surrounded her. Jess knew that things were likely about to become incredibly difficult. She prayed that what she knew of Aunt Joan was no longer the case, but all of her attempts to connect with her aunt, sharing interests, sending her Christmas card, and calling her semi-frequently, but none of these efforts were returned. When the time came to intercede in her own Mom’s life, Joan let her thoughts be known by telling Leanne that Judy should be abandoned at the worst state hospital possible.

Leanne had her own issues with Judy. Some years ago, Judy had moved into Leanne’s house, after borrowing tens of thousands of dollars from Leanne to make the interstate move. She brought all of her possessions, but within a month she decided that she didn’t want to live there, and left, taking nothing with her. Leanne was left with all of Judy’s possessions, and a large debt owed to her that would never be repaid. All that said, she still wanted her sister’s final years in this world to be as good as possible. When Joan said what she said, Leanne was appalled and hurt. She relayed this sentiment to Jess, and then did what she could to help

Leanne’s collection was the reason that she changed her mind about Jess and Judy coming to live with her. She didn’t want to part with any of her things, as well-intentioned the collections had started out as, they had taken over her house entirely. This embarrassed her, but not enough to be willing to part with any of the items she would have to, in order for them to be able to live there. She felt guilty about this, so she helped as much as she could financially for Judy’s care.

Leanne had to leave the house in order for the repairs to be done, and had taken up residence in a motel prior to calling Joan. For three days, the motel had cost her five hundred dollars.

Joan said she didn’t approve of this arrangement and insisted that Leanne come to stay in her home an hour away. Leanne was reluctant at first, but then agreed that perhaps the motel would prove to be very expensive for the amount of time that would be required. Joan insisted on meeting Leanne at her house, and took her to Joan’s home, marooning her there without a vehicle for three days.

Jess’s phoned dinged, letting her know about an arriving text. She was surprised to that it was from Joan, and it was just a picture at first. Soon after:

“Those are the stairs that lead to the basement. I finally got to see what's inside the garage full to the rafters”

As days passed, and Sunday arrived, the phone calls came one after another, all with Joan screaming about the situation at hand. If it wasn’t the condition of the house, it was the behavior of Leanne. She expected compliance, not arguing. She was “helping” after all. How dare she have the hubris to expect her own home be handled according to her wishes.

Jess needed to be there yesterday, Joan demanded. She just couldn’t understand why Jess hadn’t immediately boarded a plane, gotten a hotel room, rented a car, and have all the money necessary for a prolonged trip. Jess needed to be there NOW!!! She reread the text from Joan, and gazed at the picture:

“Those are the stairs that lead to the basement. I finally got to see what's inside the garage full to the rafters”

Jess sighed. She had assumed that the house was full, but the photograph was quite a bit more than she was prepared for. The house had been something that somewhat weighed on her. She knew that everything inside was meant for her, and that the house would be hers as well, but she also knew that dealing with the large amount of items was a daunting task that in her physical condition was insurmountable. Now it seemed that the time to deal with it had come, and Jess was recovering from major surgery she had had just a few weeks earlier.

However, she knew that she wasn’t alone in the matter. Her friends that she shared a home with had told her, under no uncertain terms, that they would help her sort through the house when the time came. Well, the time had come, it seemed, but Jess was neither in the physical nor financial position to fix the problem, despite Joan’s demands. It was time to go upstairs, and talk to her adopted family.

Before her story was finished, Rick, Amanda’s husband, was already researching hotels, cars, and flights. There was no hesitation, but even still, it would be a week before Jess and Amanda could get there. A trip of this nature took planning, and preparation.

As things were progressing in terms of planning, Jess couldn’t help but notice the change in Aunt Leanne. Her normally clear and happy voice seemed to be shrinking, and her strong personality seemed to have been stored away somewhere. Jess came to Amanda and Rick with her concerns.

“All we can do is get there,” Amanda told her.

“I know, but there is something wrong. I can tell,” Jess was twisted into knots with worry.

“We’ll handle it,” Amanda reassured her again. Jess smiled, but still felt pangs of fear. The day is Sunday, and they wouldn’t leave until Saturday. She had no idea how much would happen between now and then.

Monday arrived, and there was so much to be done. Jess spent the morning on the phone with various companies that could help with hauling things to wherever they were supposed to go in order to get the work done. Through her efforts, she happened to come across someone that was already working on the house by order of Joan. The owner of the company was Jerry.

Jerry’s company was contracted to clean out the house for the repairs to be done. Jess hung up the phone with the clear impression that Jerry’s company was to help sort things and haul away anything that Leanne no longer wanted, and to take the rest to storage. She felt pleased that Joan had found someone that was going to make the job much easier for her and Amanda when they arrived.

That day, plane tickets were booked, the hotel was reserved, and the rental car was selected. She and Amanda would be there on Saturday, and stay until the following Friday. Jess called Joan to update her, as she had demanded that Jess keep her apprised.

The phone call was eye-opening, as Joan ranted at her for forty-five minutes. Apparently, she had drawn a map to her home for Leanne to follow, but she had gotten lost. Joan was irate about this, and repeatedly reminded Jess of how much she was dealing with, and how much of a burden Leanne was being. She once again demanded that Jess be there immediately, seemingly unwilling to accept that last minute trips were not only difficult, but very expensive.

She also insisted that Leanne seemed to be losing it. She forgot things, she got lost, she was struggling in many areas of life. This was confusing to Jess, because she had never noticed this about Leanne in the many times she spoke to her weekly. Leanne was perfectly capable, paid all of her bills, still drove, did all of her errands, gardened, and kept up with the current world. The only place Jess thought she might be behind was in her understanding of world of the internet. That, she had no experience in.

Jess simply consoled her aunt, telling her that she and Amanda would be there soon, and that everything would be okay. All she could do between now and Saturday was to prepare mentally and to get everything set up to make it as easy as possible.

That evening, Jess texted Joan to let her know about their travel plans, but the response the next morning was surprising:

“Fuck off, I’m handling everything! I don’t need your help!!”

Jess was shocked by this sudden change. She knew that Joan had been temperamental in the past, but many years had gone by, Jess assumed that she would have mellowed in her older age. However, that did not seem to be the case at all. She didn’t know what to think about this change. It was early when she got this message, and she slowly trudged up the stairs to speak to Amanda, but she had to wait for Amanda to wake up.

“We aren’t going on the trip,” Jess fought back the tears.

“Umm, that’s not going to work. Everything is already booked and paid for. This isn’t something that we can get a refund from. We have to go. There isn’t a choice.” There was no hint of wavering in Amanda’s voice, but all the same, she didn’t know what was going on. Jess relayed all that had occurred. Amanda wasn’t moved. She saw nothing about these developments that would change the course of their actions.

“You need to speak to Leanne. See what she says. We aren’t going for Joan, we’re going for Leanne. She is the only one that can tell us not to come.”

Jess reluctantly agreed and went to do just that. Leanne answered the phone, but her voice was off. She sounded like she was trying to sound normal, but there was a definite undercurrent of stress in her voice. They were at the bank, she informed Jess. In the background Jess heard Joan’s voice:

“Just hang up!” She ordered, and the call cut short.

Jess felt a shot of panic go through her. Why were they at the bank? There was no reason for this. Jess rushed to speak to Amanda.

“There is something going on. I think that Joan is trying to take control of Leanne’s life. I think she is freezing me out for some reason. She doesn’t want Leanne talking to me, and her tone is like ice. I think she is going to try to remove me from Leanne’s life!” Jess had no idea what to do.

“All we can do is get there, and we are working on it as fast as we possibly can,” Amanda repeated. She was concerned, but she had no power to fix the situation as it stood. She understood Jess’s concern, but there wasn’t anything concrete to go on… yet.

That night, things changed.

Jess waited until she was certain that Joan was otherwise occupied, and she phoned Leanne. She answered and was clearly upset.

“She took a lot of money out of my account!” She told Jess.

“What?! What for??” Jess was alarmed at this development.

“She wouldn’t tell me! I don’t even know how much I have left.” Jess understood Leanne’s stress. She was talking about her retirement accounts and her ability to remain independent. As Leanne was telling her about what happened, and Jess kept repeating the mantra that they would be there soon, and they would do whatever they had to protect her, their conversation was interrupted with a hiss:

“There’s nothing for you to do here! Stop calling her!” And the line went dead.

Jess stared her phone screen in utter shock. Now what should she do? She was shaking with fear, panic, and frustration when she went to tell Amanda about what had transpired.

“It’s time to call someone,” was Amanda’s response. “A lawyer that specializes in these sorts of situations, or Adult Protective Services. At this point, she’s yelling at her, she’s cutting her off from her family, she’s abusing her. We have to get authorities involved.” Jess agreed, and she made the call. Afterward, she came back upstairs to see if Rick and Amanda had any more suggestions. They all agreed. Now, all that could be done, was wait until Saturday finally arrived.

Saturday finally did come, and Jess and Amanda had the trip from hell, including missing the first flight after being grounded to a halt in traffic from an accident on the freeway that they had decided to take over the preferred route that was also stopped… because of an accident.

They made it to the rental car agency moments before it closed and to the hotel hours after they were meant to check in. After finally making it to their room, and collapsing on the beds, Jess was fretting to herself about the coming day.

They decided they would spend Sunday driving the distance to Leanne’s house so they were familiar with the route, and picking up some essentials that they didn’t want to carry on a plane. The hard days would start on Monday, and it was a chance for them to regroup, and plan.

That night, the stress began to creep into Jess’s mind. She was so concerned about what the next day would bring, and she worried that Leanne actually didn’t want anything more to do with her, that the trip was a waste, and Joan had successfully ended her relationship with her favorite Aunt.

In a moment she decided, she was going to call Leanne. She had to know for sure that she still wanted her to be there to help, she needed to know that their relationship still stood strong. She flicked through her contacts, arriving at Leanne’s and pressed the call button with purpose.

It rang only once, and Leanne’s voice answered in hushed tones.

“Hello?” She whispered.

“Are you okay, Aunt Leanne?” Jess asked in almost a plea for her to tell her yes, she was fine, which she did, but it was mostly a lie. She was okay physically, but emotionally and mentally, the week had taken a tremendous toll on her soul.

“We’re here. We’re at the hotel room. We will be at your house in the morning.”

“What time?” Leanne asked. “We’ll be there around nine,” she informed Jess with a hint of hope.

“We’ll be there then,” Jess assured her. “Aunt Leanne, do you still want me in your life? Do you still want to talk to me, do you still want me in your life, or not?”

“Yes!” Leanne answered immediately. “Yes, I want you in my life, I want to talk to you, it’s her! She doesn’t want you here! Not me!”

“Okay, as long as you’re sure. We’ll see you tomorrow. I can’t wait. I love you.”

“I love you too, Jess. Goodnight.”

Jess hung up with a wave of relief washing over her, but it only lasted a moment. It was quickly replaced with anger.

“I can’t believe she’s doing this to her own sister!” She exclaimed. Amanda nodded, agreeing with her disbelief. It did seem unreal, but this was only the beginning. What would unfold in the coming days was nothing short of a nightmare…