Love Friday (The Last Letter)

Welcome my friends on Steemit. @liliana.duarte has said that Friday should be Love Friday. I was going to write horror but okay, we will make Friday the Day of Love. I hope you are overjoyed and inspired to love. I know you will like this story.

Image source: etsy.com -parchment letter
Written for Steemit: Copyright © 2017 Jeff Kubitz - Love Friday (The LAst Letter) - et al. All Rights Reserved. https://steemit.com/steemit/@jeff-kubitz

It was about one pm and Tom was back at work in the grocery store after lunch. His job was to stock the shelves and the other sales areas of the grocery store. He also unloaded the trucks as well that came to the grocery store to deliver the food and goods.

His job was full time and took about ten hours each day, six days a week. He just finished unloading a truck with six pallets of refrigerated food when the manager Sal walked up to him on the dock at the back of the store.

"I just received a phone call from a woman who said she was named Theresa Jones and that she was your aunt. Is she your aunt?" Sal asked Tom.

Tom thought well of his aunt but had never received a phone call from her at work in the ten years he worked at this grocery store. And so he said to Sal, "Yes, I have an aunt whose name is Theresa Jones, what did she want?"

"She said that you needed to call her immediately at this number. It is about your mother." Sal replied and then he handed Tom a slip of paper with his aunt's name and a phone number on it.

"Is there some sort of problem or emergency?" Tom asked.

"I think I sensed that there was but she did not say, why don't you call her and find out." Sal said and then turned and walked back to his office.

Tom had an office with a phone in the back of the store. Well it was a high desk with a phone, a scheduling board on the wall in front of the desk which was about three feet wide. It was only about ten steps to the desk and he sat down and reached for the phone. He dialed the number, a number he did not recognize. "Hello," Tom replied to the person who answered and identified himself. He said was trying to reach Theresa Jones who told him to call this number. Whoever answered the phone did not identify who it was and there was a pause and he heard Aunt Theresa.

"Hi Aunt Theresa, this is Tom, you left a message at my work to call you?"

"Yes, Tom, I am glad you called back. I am afraid there is some very bad news about your mother." She said. Tom and his mother had an estranged relationship. He never really understood why their relationship had grown cold but they had not talked for about five years. He no longer thought of his mother that much. Maybe this would be a chance to repair their relationship. He asked,

"Is there something wrong Aunt Theresa?"

"It is worse than that, prepare yourself Tom." Aunt Theresa said. Aunt Theresa was his mother's younger sister. He thought her age was forty-eight and his mother was a couple of years older, maybe fifty-one he thought that both women were quite beautiful, especially considering their ages. He would describe them as very healthy and even vibrant.

"I am sitting down Aunt Theresa, what has happened?" Tom asked.

"You mother had a freak accident Tom, she went up onto the bathing area of the roof and slipped off. She is still alive but at the moment she is unconscious and they do not know if she will make it." Aunt Theresa said through what Tom knew to be tears.

"How could she have fallen off the roof, there is a railing," Tom asked in disbelief. That roof had been used for years, decades. It was like a patio on the top of the house about twenty feet square.

"Somehow she slipped on a spilled drink, hit the railing, it broke, and she fell. I was downstairs with my boyfriend and I heard her scream. I saw her fall in front of the window." Tom heard a siren.

"Are you at home?"

"Yes, but the ambulance is pulling away and I am going to follow it with Jim to the hospital. We are leaving right now."

"What hospital is it?"

"They said she would be taken to Sacred Heart." Aunt Theresa answered with a halting voice.

"I don't know where that is at, I'll find out. It will take me a while to make it there. Could you call me if there are any changes in her condition?" Tom asked.

"Yes, if anything happens, I will let you know. This is Jim's phone number and he is driving."

"I will give you my cell phone number." Tom made sure she had some paper and told his number to Aunt Theresa.

"I will call you at your number when I found out her condition." Aunt Theresa said.

"Okay, I will let you know when I am on my way." Tom said. Aunt Theresa hung up. Tom hung up the phone and went over to Sal's office. Sal was at his desk.

"Hey Sal, "Tom addressed his boss.

"Did you make the call?" Sal asked concerned.

"Yes, I did my mother fell off of our roof and she is seriously injured. I will need some time off Sal." Tom said.

"Is she going to be all right?" Sal asked.

"They don't know. It was a very serious fall about three stories and maybe a little higher. It is a long way to fall." Tom's voice trailed off and he thought to himself, if Aunt Theresa was at the kitchen window the fall was onto the back patio.

"Okay," Sal answered and looked at his computer. "You were supposed to take your vacation in two weeks but I suppose you can take it now, if you would like?"

"That would be the thing to do." Tom agreed. His mother's house was about two hundred miles north.

Sal typed a few things into the computer and then hit a button. The printer spit out some forms and Sal said, "Okay just sign here. You have two weeks paid vacation."

"What about what I just unloaded?" Tom asked.

"I'll get it. You can leave now. I have you clocked out at the end of today anyways so two weeks from tomorrow, unless you notify me that you might need some more time." Sal said in all seriousness.

"Thanks Sal, I guess I'll just leave and then go home and pack." Tom said.

"Yeah, you do that buddy and if you drive, drive safe. Make it back okay?" Sal said and held out his hand for a shake.

"Yeah, I'll drive safe, she lives in Northridge. I'll be there before dark." Tom said.

"Drive safe, Tom, this is a big shock, think safe." Sal was again seriously urging Tom. Sal stood up and put his hand on Tom's shoulder, "Okay?"

"Yeah, I'll drive safe." Tom said.

"Good, " Sal said, "Are you recovered enough to leave yet?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Alright I'll see you in a couple of weeks then buddy. Drive safe." Sal said one more time.

"Yeah, safe. I'll see you in a couple of weeks." Tom said as he turned to go. Sal went back behind his desk and was on the phone with the intercom, "Joyce, come to my office." Tom heard over the intercom as he walked to his desk.

Tom gathered his things, which wasn't much, and headed out the back door, the door next to the roll up doors on the loading dock. He walked down the railed ramp and turned left around the back of the store. He had a Jeep that was two years old and in great condition even though he took it up into the mountains regularly.

He threw in his gear and jumped behind the wheel and started up the Jeep. He called Carol, a girlfriend who was supposed to go with him on his vacation in two weeks. He reached her voice mail, "Carol this is Tom, I have to cancel our vacation, my mother is hurt and I am leaving to go up to her house in Northridge as soon as I get home and pack. Please call me. I am sorry about this. It is an emergency." Tom hung up and put the automatic into drive. He needed reverse. He wiped his eyes. He looked carefully. He backed up into the lane of the empty parking lot and was off to home, then to Sacred Heart in Northridge.

Time flew. He would have thought he would have arrived at 5 pm or 5:30 at the latest but it was seven when he pulled in front of Sacred Heart Hospital and parked his car.

He felt tired even though he stopped to pick up a cup of coffee from a convenience store before he arrived at the hospital. He parked and locked the Jeep on exiting. His cell phone rang. He answered it.

"Hello Tom," A female voice said weeping. He knew it was Aunt Theresa who sobbed. "Hello Tom, my name is Jim, I am Theresa's boyfriend."

"Hi Jim, This is Tom and I just pulled up to Sacred Heart and just left my Jeep, what's wrong?" Tom asked.

"Your Aunt cannot talk, we are in room 432. If you wish to see you mother, you had better hurry up here fast. She is about to pass away." Jim said.

"Got it," Tom was in great shape and he started to run to the hospital doors. In less than a minute he was inside and then in an elevator to the fourth floor. The elevator door opened on the fourth floor and a sign told him room 432 was to the left. He ran but it was only four doors down and he entered the room.

A middle aged man held the shoulders of a sobbing Aunt Theresa as she looked down at her sister at the side of the bed, Mom.

A doctor who was a woman stood on the opposite side of the bed and watched a machine that beeped. Tom walked up to the bed and looked into his mother's eyes. "Mom?"

"I'm sorry." His mother replied so weakly. The machine made a continuous beep.

"Mom?" Tom asked as he reached his mother side.. Aunt Theresa began to wail and turned toward Jim. Tom watched as the machine showed three straight lines and he saw any life that was in his mother drain away.

He tried to hold her hand but it was in a cast. The doctor tried to revive his mother and they were told to leave or at least stand back from the bed. In five minutes, the doctor gave up. She said,

"I am sorry. She is dead." The doctor began to pull the bed sheet up over Tom's mother's face.

"What killed her?" Tom asked and he started to cry.

"She broke her back from the fall. She received too many injuries." The doctor said. "I will say that there is no need for an autopsy because she regained consciousness for a few minutes and said she slipped and fell through the railing."

"She was coming down to eat lunch." Jim told Tom, "We were downstairs waiting..." Jim's voice trailed off over the cries of Aunt Theresa.

"What do we need to do?" Tom asked the doctor.

"She will be sent to the morgue. You need to go down to the first floor to administration and they will help you." The doctor said. "Again, I am sorry."

Tom looked at Jim and Aunt Theresa looked up at Tom and nodded. They turned to leave the room and Tom led the way. Out in the hall his cell phone rang and he knew it was Carol by the time of the call. "Hello Carol."

"Hey Tom, what has happened?" Carol asked.

"My Mother just died a moment ago, Carol. We are on our way to the administration section of the hospital." Tom answered.

"Oh did you need me to come down there to be with you?" Carol asked.

"Yes, if you can do that I would appreciate it." Tom said. They talked as they walked and Tom told Carol the directions to get to Northridge and the house.

Soon they were with a hospital administrator and seated before the desk. Tom really did not have to do anything. He paid the insurance deposit of $500.00 and that was it. His mother was a professional executive secretary. Aunt Theresa had the information for the insurance and called the mortuary as his mother already paid for a burial plan. They started to rise to leave the administration office and Jim said,

"Theresa and I never ate lunch and it is past nine pm. I need to go to a restaurant and eat."

"I am not hungry but I will go with you." Aunt Theresa said.

"Yes, I don't know whether I will eat or not but I am hungry and sick at the same time." Tom said there were some tears in his eyes.

"Can you drive?" Jim asked Tom as they walked out of the hospital.

"Yes, I will follow you." Tom answered.

"That is our car over there, the silver Lincoln." Jim pointed so Tom could see where he was parked.

"I am next to you." Tom observed. Jim nodded as they walked and no one remarked on the chance of it. Aunt Theresa still sniffled, still cried. Jim held her.

"We will head to the Denny's by the freeway exit to the house then." Jim said just before they reached the cars.

"I know where that is at." Tom answered as Jim helped Aunt Theresa into the car. Soon they were at Denny's.

Once they were seated, everyone decided to order. Tom was tired and a few minutes after the meal was served Carol showed up at the Denny's. Tom had guided her by cell phone to the restaurant and ordered for her as well.

Tom hugged Carol and not much was said other than, "My mother fell off the roof patio onto the back patio and it killed her."

During the meal, during the awkward silence, Jim said to Theresa, "Dear, I know this is absolutely the wrong moment to say this but after what I saw today, I feel that I have a lot less time to waste and play around than I thought."

"What are you saying?" Aunt Theresa asked Jim. Jim put his arm around her,

"I will formally propose, correctly, like it is supposed to be done, but I want you to marry me." Jim said to Theresa.

"We have dated for over two years." Theresa said and looked at Jim, "I could use a little joy and certainty in my life. This is fine with me. I accept Jim." Aunt Theresa started to cry again but she smiled while she cried.

"Theresa, I will still propose in the proper manner as it should be done after the funeral." Jim reiterated.

"If that is what you want to do I will not say no to you, Jim."

"Do you want to live in my house or yours?" Jim asked.

"I like my house but for a while, your house," Aunt Theresa said.

"Understood," Jim said while he nodded. "Is everyone ready to go?"

"I should have said congratulations." Tom held forth his hand to shake Jim's across the table.

"Oh I understand. It's understandable, still in shock." Jim said shaking Tom's hand.

"Oh yes, congratulations." Carol said, stood up, then walked around the table to Aunt Theresa and hugged her.

There was some small talk as the bills were figured out and paid. They left the restaurant and were off to the house. Aunt Theresa would not stay at the house, at least not tonight but when they arrived. She said she needed to give something to Tom from her sister, his mother before she left for the night.

Jim waited in the car and left it running while Aunt Theresa followed Tom and Carol into the house. She wanted to grab a few things but told Tom to wait there at the foot of the stairs with Carol until she returned. It only took her a few minutes and she had a large shoulder bag as she walked down the stairs in one hand and an envelope in the other.

"You don't know about this yet Tom." Aunt Theresa said when she reached the bottom of the stairs. "This letter was written for you by your Mom for me to give you if she passed away. If you do not know, our brother died and so the house was or is ours. It is also yours now, yours and mine."

"No, I did not know that Aunt Theresa." Tom answered shocked. He owned this house?

"As the only living child of any of us, your mother added your name to the title. This house always passes to the heirs and can never be sold. It is in the title. If there are no heirs and one cannot be found it passes to the state." Aunt Theresa stated matter of fact. "So, you can use your old room or any room but mine, of course. This house is yours."

Tom began to cry.

"You need to read that letter tonight Tom and I will leave you alone to do it. You should not read it aloud to Carol or let her see it unless you are married and with that, I am headed over to Jim's." Aunt Theresa hugged Tom and then Carol. They hugged her back. "Read it now just after I leave, it is from your mother and Carol, I know this sounds rude but could you wait outside while Tom reads the letter in private?"

"I could do that." Carol responded and she followed Aunt Theresa out of the house. Aunt Theresa closed the door behind them. Tom heard her say thought the voice was muffled,

"Just sit there on the porch, Tom will come and get you in about ten or twenty minutes at the latest." Tom heard her heels click on the sidewalk as she walked away. He assumed that Carol sat as ordered.

Tom examined the envelope. On the front it said, Tom, in his mother's handwriting. The envelope was not sealed. He strolled to a recliner, sat down and turned on the reading lamp.

He opened the flap of the letter sized envelope which was made of very thick expensive parchment. Inside there was a single piece of 8 1/2 by 11 inch stationary of the same material folded in thirds so it would fit in the envelope. He pulled the parchment out of the envelope, unfolded the letter and proceeded to read.

Dear Tom,

This is mother. I am alive in this. That is I am talking to you from the spirit world on this piece of paper. I had one from my parents. Their parents had a letter too. This is a secret you must keep. Carol Ann Bentley wants to come in the house and you are not married. She wants to come in the house and she will see this letter. Get up and lock the door and then return here to read this letter. I know this seems impossible but please, you must do as I say this instant.

Love,

Mother

Tom set the letter and the envelope on the arm of the chair and did exactly as the letter said. He returned to the chair and picked the letter up to continue to read it but it was blank. He turned the paper over thinking he looked at the blank side but the whole parchment was blank. He turned the paper over to the first side and there was now writing. The letter said,

Dear Tom,

Aunt Theresa also has one of these letters from our parents. You must never touch her letter. At this time, you must go up to my room to the top drawer of my dresser. In the back right corner under a piece of cardboard is my letter. You must go up there, get the letter, and burn it. After it is destroyed, come back and read this letter.

Love,

Mother

Tom set the letter aside and did exactly as he was told. He retrieved his mother's letter from her parents from the dresser drawer. The envelope was addressed, "Trudy', his mother's name in what he thought he was certain was his grandmother's hand. The stove in the kitchen was gas and he used the flame of the burner to burn the letter. He expected something extraordinary to happen. But there was nothing extraordinary except for a few sparks. Which may have been the natural burning of the parchment; he noticed nothing out of the ordinary.

However, when he used the hand broom the sweep the ashes into the dustpan off the surface of the stove, nothing went into the dustpan. It was like the ash dissolved into nothing. He tripled checked this and there was nothing of the letter or any ash left. He put the dustpan and the broom back on the hanger next to the stove where it belonged. Tom returned to the recliner to finish reading the letter.

Again, the letter parchment was blank, at first, and then.

My darling son Tom,

I know you never understood this and I was forbidden to tell you what my letter said. I did what I did, even though I despised myself for doing it, because my letter told me that you would never meet and marry Carol if I did not.

Tom heard Carol turn the door lock. Before his eyes, the letter held new words.

Tell Carol, it will just be a few more minutes.

"Carol," Tom yelled, "I apologize but it is a family ceremony and it will only be a few more minutes."

"That's okay; I just wondered if you were alright, I smelled smoke."

"I'm better than okay, please just a few more minutes dear."

"That's the first time you called me dear. I like it and I will wait." Carol said and Tom continued to read.

Anytime you do not know what to do in life, read your letter. Before my mother, all the letters were kept from each family member but it became too complicated. The entire family is here, we are fine, and if they want to talk to you, even your father, Gran'mama or Papa they must go through me. Remember this. Your heirs will each receive a letter from you like this one, one day.

Now, there are no taxes due. Because we spirits know a little bit about the future, we are not God, we can help. There is several checking and savings account passbooks and the credentials necessary to access the money. Aunt Theresa will play a guardian role over all the funds until you are accustomed to the idea that you are wealthy.

It is true, you never needed to work but what is wrong with work? I worked and so did my brother, and Theresa.

Again, that is all you need to know except that Carol is perfect for you. There is no need to blurt out that you are suddenly rich. You are not that rich but the money our family holds keeps growing. We help for the preservation of our family.

One last thing, this house can never be sold. It is in our family forever, it is in the deed.

I know you never expected this, this letter I mean. I know you never heard of it. I hope this explains everything. If you ever need my help, open the letter.

The letter must be preserved and kept safe. It is the key the writing the letters for the next generation and the generations to come.

Love you,

Put the letter someplace safe, even in my drawer and be nice to Carol. She loves you.

Mother

Tom felt so much better. So many questions in his life were answered in the letter his mother wrote. He put the letter back together, ran upstairs, put the letter in his mother's drawer, and then ran downstairs. He opened the door and Carol sat on the step.

"Carol thanks for waiting. I apologize for the delay."

"Tom, I think my bottom has fallen asleep."

"Here, let me help you up Carol and thank you so much for being here to help me at a time like this. You are so kind and considerate."

"Oh, grab me Tom I cannot feel my legs yet."

Tom picked Carol up and carried her across what would soon be their threshold

"Oh, that feels nice, you are such a strong gentleman to help me like this. I could get used to it."

"Carol, I hope you do."

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