The Greedy Heart

Christmas Day

Thankfully, Frankie and I were on school winter break when things went south for our little family. I had just set our breakfast down on the kitchen table and was about to go into the living room to wake up Frankie, when my phone started buzzing.

I grab my phone off the counter and say, “Hello?”

“Hello, is this Jessica Park?” the man on the other line asks.

“Yes, this is she,” I confirm a feeling of forbidding overcoming my soul, I take a gulp and wait for whatever the man was about to say.

“This is Detective Fritz; I’m investigating your parents’ accident.” He tells me, which I thought was weird because didn’t they die in a car accident?

“Hello Detective. I’m getting confused here, why is a detective investigating my parents’ accident? I thought they died because of a car crash?” I ask him, my wheels turning in my head, trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

“That is correct. We have confirmed their identities. However, there is new evidence that says elsewise, would you be available this afternoon to come in to answer a few questions?” he asks me.

I hesitate a moment as I try to digest what the Detective just said. My parents’ death wasn’t an accident?

“Sure, what time do you want me to come in? Is it alright if I bring Frankie? I don’t have anyone to watch him.” I ask him.

“How about 2:00 p.m.? Will that work for you? And yes, you can bring Frankie with you. Is this your cell phone? If so, I can just text you the address and directions on where to park.”

“Yes, this is my cell phone. Please text me everything and we’ll see you at 2:00 p.m.” I tell him, hanging up.

I walk towards the living room to see Frankie sitting up and looking at me questioningly.

“Who was that?” he asked.

I contemplate telling him, thinking that he was still a child and shouldn’t be burdened with things like this.

Seeing my hesitation, he gets up from the sofa and walks over to me. He grabs my hand and sits me down. “Sis, look, whatever it is, I can handle it. Mom and dad prepared us for the worst. Please it’s only us now.” He tells me. I look at him and wonder when did my 9-year-old brother grow up, I sigh and gather him in my arms.

“Yeah, your right. It’s just us now and you’re the only one that I’m going to be able to talk to about these things. More than anything I want to share everything with you, but there are some things that I will have to keep to myself, at least for now. Okay?” I tell him and I feel him nod.

“That was the detective on the phone, and he wants to talk to me about mom and dad’s accident.” I say quietly.

“Detective?” he asks questioningly. The boy was just too smart, I told mom and dad that his favorite shows of forensic files and 48 hours was just too much for a kid his age.

“Yeah, my thoughts exactly. So, I made an appointment to meet with him this afternoon, okay? He said that you can come with too. Not that I ever plan on leaving you alone ever, but I don’t have anyone to watch you.”

“Hey, I’m a big boy now. I can watch myself!” He stubbornly says. I nod, and ask him to try to avoid what he just said, “Are you hungry? I made us some breakfast.”

“Sure, lets eat. Whatcha make?” he asks walking into the kitchen and sitting on the dining room table.

“Just some eggs, sausage and some French toast.” I tell him, “Do you want anything else?”

“Nah, sis. This is perfect. Thank you.” Making a plate for himself, he reaches over to make another plate.

“Hey, I got it. You go ahead and eat.” I tell him. He looks at me straight in the eye and says, “No, sis. I gotta make sure you eat too. You made this for us, not just for me and I’m not planning on eating alone either.” I tear up a bit, thinking, this boy!

“Okay, fine. What do you want to drink?” I ask him, walking to the fridge, while he makes me a plate.

“Just some milk, please.” He tells me. I grab the milk and pour some in to two glasses and bring it over to the table and sit down next to him.

We both eat silently and finish up; he grabs my empty dishes and takes his to the sink and begins washing them. Wow! I’ve never seen him just go and take everything in stride like that. He always used to just whine and act like the world revolved around him whenever it was time to do chores.

“Thanks Frankie.” I say sipping on my somewhat warm coffee now. When he was done, he walks over to me and sits down again. “So, what do we do now Jessie?”

“I’m not sure Frankie, this is all so sudden. I know Dad had prepared us for the worst not too long ago, but I really didn’t think anything was going to happen. And now that it has my brain is just frozen.” I tell him mindlessly sipping on my coffee, feeling so old suddenly.

“Well, lets see what this detective wants or whatever and figure things out after that?” he says. I swear, I feel like our roles were reversed for a minute. My eyes wander back into the living room and at our massive Christmas tree, where our gifts were waiting to be opened.

I nod to him and tell him in a sad voice, “Merry Christmas Frankie.” He looks at me with sad eyes, “Merry Christmas Jessie.” He then shoots up from his chair and pulls me up from mine and pulls me towards the living room. “Come on Jessie, let’s open some presents to cheer us up!” This little smurf! I think to my self with a small smile, knowing he was just trying to make me feel better.

We head to the tree and rummage around the gifts, “Okay, I’ll open just one Frankie, I really don’t want to open more than that, just hand me the smallest one. You can open all of yours if you want too, but I don’t think I’m strong enough right now.” I tell him.

“Okay, here. I’ll open just one too.” He says handing me a small box, and he grabs a medium size one. We take our gifts to the sofa, and I tell him to open his first. He opens it slowly saving the pretty wrapping paper as if savoring the moment and inside is a pair of the latest shoes that he had been wanting since they came out.

“Oh wow! They remembered!” he exclaims, slipping them on and seeing if they fit. They fit perfectly, I hear him sigh and he slips them back into the shoe box gingerly. I can tell he’s trying not to cry. He looks back at me and asks, “What’d you get sis?”

I almost forgot the small box in my hands, “Oh, I don’t know.”

“Come on sis! I opened mine, now you gotta open yours! Please.” He says pressuring me. I know he’s just trying to lighten the mood.

“Okay Okay, hang on, a second.” I sigh, beginning to slowly unwrap the precious paper that one of my parents had wrapped for me, I sniffle a bit trying not to cry. Peeling the paper away there was a small white box, I open the box and inside was some cotton pieces that I peel away. Underneath the top layer, I gasped outloud.

“What?! What is it?” Frankie asks rushing to my side.

I stay quiet, as I gingerly pull out the most beautiful necklace I had ever seen! It was a long white gold chain necklace with a heart shaped pendant with inlaid diamonds, it was exquisite! It sparkled against the light, coming in from the windows, rainbows of light flickering all around us. The pendant felt heavy to me, as it was a thick pendant with diamonds all around it. It was just breathtaking!

“Oh wow! That’s so pretty!” I hear Frankie say. I was just speechless! It was truly something to see! I knew our family was well off, but this looked priceless! Goodness!

“Jessie, you have to put it on!” Frankie said.

The chain was long and thick enough that I could easily slip the chain over my head without unclasping the lock. After I slipped it over my head and onto my neck, the pendant fit perfectly on the center of my chest where I could easily lift the pendant up to see it whenever I wanted too. Also, I could conceal it easily under my shirt easily too.

“I can’t believe mom and dad got this for me, its so pretty!” I say loudly and look down at the necklace just mesmerized.

“Hey, Jess, there’s something else in the box!” Frankie said loudly, snapping me out of my thoughts, handing me the box.