Little Bird

The sun shone brightly through the white-paned window. Elinore could see the sheen of dew on a spider web situated outside on the bottom-left pane. Her daughter and two granddaughters were driving to visit. Personally, she felt she should be with them all the time. Unfortunately, her daughter Dawn, had been bullied into putting her into a nursing home. Elinore was not 80 yet, but she had suffered two strokes that rendered her left side weak. Certainly, Dawn could have cared for her had it not been for Chris. The son-in-law emerged from the underworld to drive a wedge between Dawn and herself in her golden years. He had put in Dawn's head that there was no way she could care for an old woman. She had too much to do with business, house, and children's activities. Tending to an aging mother would wear her out and replace the good memories she had of her mother when she was in vibrant health. So now, instead of her beautiful late 1800s historical family home, Elinore was residing at the Golden Years Assisted Living. The nurses and caretakers were nice and did their job, but it would never be her home. That house had been passed down to the eldest daughter for four generations. Mary Brown had that house built with money that she inherited from her father. Silas Brown had no sons to pass his fortune to and when he recognized the business mind of his daughter Mary, he left it all in her capable hands. Mary eventually married and only had daughters as well. So the tradition stood all the way to Elinore. Chris had wanted the house signed over to him. Saying he could take care of it for Elinore. She knew better. Chris was in the construction business and flipped houses. He knew he could redesign the house and make a bundle. He had Dawn so convinced that he would do the best for her, that she had tried to convince her mother to sign the house over to Chris. He had begun a remodel of the kitchen when Elinore was in the hospital after the first stroke and without her permission. Elinore had agreed to an update on plumbing and electrical wiring to ensure safety, but not a complete evisceration of her kitchen. When Elinore saw the kitchen, she flew into a rage and had to go back to the hospital for chest pains. Chris hadn't tried anymore remodels, but he kept going on about knocking out walls for an open concept. Shortly before her second stroke, Elinore had taken a trip to her lawyer and had her will changed. The house would not be left to her daughter as generations of mothers had done before her. The house was going to be left to the granddaughters. There were three girls and she had the paperwork written that, besides general maintenance, that no work was to be done on the house until all three children reached the age of majority and the caretaker of the house would be a cousin who resided out of state. Elinore never informed Dawn of the change of will. She wanted Chris to know she had the last laugh. Cousin Saul knew of the situation and would demand that they move out of what would legally be his house for effectively the next fifteen years. He was willing to tend to the financial aspects, since Elinore was also leaving all investments and stocks to him as well. He had done quite well for himself as a financial broker and handled most of Elinore's money matters to begin with. All money would be split between the three girls and, unlike times in the past, all three girls would share ownership of the family home. Elinore struggled with the decision nightly, until her second stroke. Chris went to the hospital with Dawn and the children to see her. He told her the faster she died the quicker Dawn could sign the deed over to him and he could make a bundle with the remodel he had planned because of the market and the desirability of the neighborhood. He was upset when he found out that Dawn wasn't able to get power of attorney because Saul had been given that already. Dawn thought he was devastated with her that her mother didn't trust her to assist in decisions on her behalf. He always fooled Dawn from the beginning. Sadly, Dawn didn't want to sell her childhood home. She married Chris because she had thought him charming and caring for a single mom with three kids. Chris had been a great role model in the beginning, but now he barely did anything as a family. He told her they were her kids and he just gave her money to tend to her mistakes. Dawn did not want to divorce him because she hadn't worked in five years outside of his business. He kept a close eye on her and what she did. He didn't ask if he could move in, just informed her that when they married they were going to reside in the house. He always seemed to convince Dawn with his ideas because of Elinore's age. How would Elinore be able to keep up a five-bedroom house? How would Elinore be able to live there without constant care? That's how it all began. Elinore watched the sunrise, thinking of not only growing up in the big house on Main Street, but raising her children there. Her memories were always more vivid in the morning. As if she could be transported back to a simpler time, that really wasn't at all simple. A time where cars had more curves, cigarettes weren't bad for you, wearing red nail polish was frowned upon because it meant you were open for business, and finding a husband was supposed to be the most important task a young woman of 17 should start considering. Elinore laughed because she was more interested in spending time with her best friend. The one she wasn't supposed to have. The friend her daddy had threatened to find and lynch in the field. Mabelle was from Barbados. Elinore thought her beautiful and loved to sneak off and spend time with her and her family. Mabelle's family had a gift. Her mama was a priestess in their religion. Mabelle's daddy would get upset about the white girl watching them, nervous about what she would tell other white people. Mabelle's mama would always soothe him, saying Elinore wasn't like the other ones. She could see Elinore's soul. After Elinore's daddy threatened to kill Mabelle, she met her one last time to tell her she could not risk her friend's life. That she loved her too much to see her gone from this world. Mabelle's family moved soon after. Elinore only had three years with Mabelle, but she cherished them and the things she learned. In later years, after her parents had died, Elinore tried to find her friend. Her husband had died in a factory accident and with a small daughter to take care of, the only person she thought of was Mabelle. She wanted a friend to write to. The women in town never seemed to hold much interest to Elinore. They were rude and arrogant from the social status their husband's money gave them. She pushed through without her friend from all those years ago. Elinore had giant planters made to affix to her veranda steps. For the design on them, she had instructed that chicken feet symbols be made around the top. She wanted that protection for her home, herself, and daughter. Inside she planted achillea flowers for protection as well. Elinore wondered how her flowers were doing. She used to be vigilant about making sure her gardening stayed healthy. Her health in the past few years prevented that. Turning from the window because of hearing a noise, she saw it was only Leroy Jones. He had been pestering her about having dinner and watching game shows together. He thought she was lonely like him. She had a full movie in her mind that she could play anytime of the things she had seen in her life. She had the pleasure of knowing that her final revenge on Chris would be played out and she could imagine how his dumb face would look when he learned that she had strayed from tradition and he couldn't get his hands on the house. She opened her mouth to tell Leroy that she wasn't going to watch Wheel of Fortune with him tonight either, when she realized no words, only sounds were coming out. She felt the familiar numbness on her left side and the slow slide to the ground. Striking the side of her head on the ottoman she enjoyed sitting on made her eyes water and close tightly. She opened to see Leroy shuffling out quickly as she recognized the small tennis shoes rushing into the room of her youngest granddaughter before everything went dark.