A Home From Nothing

Chapter 10

Pulling the drawer out as far as it would go, I move the folders out of the way and see a lock on the back wall. Furrowing my brow, I get Jenna’s attention.

“Hey, uuhh, I think I found something. Wanna get Prince Adam back down here? And probably maintenance, too.” She looks at me like I have 3 heads. “It’s the unofficial name of the Beast. But there seems to be a lock on the back of this drawer. As per orders, I might have found something. See, common courtesy isn’t that hard.”

Jenna is back on her phone but this time she calls him rather than text, or email, I’m not too sure which. While she’s doing that, I look around the other drawers to see if I can find the key. He must have kept it on him at all times because I don’t see anything. I’ve just finished looking by the time an older man in a grey button up and slacks comes in with a screwdriver in one hand and what looks like pliers in the other.

“Alright Jenna, where is it?” The man asks like he’s been waiting for this moment his whole life, Jenna points to me and the desk.

“Jim! Thank you for coming.” Jenna greets warmly. “This is Ophelia, Troy’s daughter. Ophelia, this is our most seasoned and trusted repair man. He’s gonna get into that drawer.” Jim has salt and pepper hair, emphasis on the salt, thick glasses, wrinkles around his eyes and lips that flow into his jaw giving him what we call, turkey neck.

“Mind if I take a look, young lady?” He asks, pointing the pliers at the desk and with a gentle tone, as if trying not to scare me.

“Oohh yeah, let me get out of the way. I tried looking for a key but didn’t find anything. Do you think you can pop it open with just that?” I ask, gesturing to his hands and the tools they’re holding.

“I can open anything you can think of with a flat head screwdriver and a good pair of pliers.” He wink at me conspiratorially and kneels down to the drawer. Just as he gets to work on the lock the commotion from the other room stops and seconds later Brant is again standing in the doorway. This time much less angry and more… hopeful? I don’t take too much time to think about it.

“Aahh, my old friend. You look much more human this time. I appreciate that.” I muse, glancing at him quickly before going back to watching the maintenance man work. He didn’t look too amused.

After a few minutes, it’s clear this will not be an easy task so as the man continues to break the lock, I dig around more of the room. There is a cabinet to the right of the desk so I start going through it one door at a time. Brant sits on the sofa right inside the door and does whatever on his phone and Jenna stays close to the man with the tools.

There isn’t much else in the room. It seems like my father kept it pretty clean and organized in here. Aside from the 3 photos on the wall there was one more on his desk, a few certificates on the wall with his name on them and his diploma for his bachelors in accounting. I took all those documents down and threw them right into the trash, along with the box I brought.

“I guess I had no reason to come here anyway. Jenna, as far as the frames go, feel free to give them to the next occupant of this office, otherwise the photos can go in the trash along with everything else. I don’t see anything in here worth taking. Aside from what might be in that locked corner.” Just as the last word leaves my mouth, there’s a loud metal groan and a pop as Jim breaks into the door.

Brant stands up and puts his phone away before coming over and looking into the drawer.

“Jim, let me see what’s in there, please?” Brant asks the man, and Jim steps to the side with a big smile.

I’m standing behind Brant so I move to the side a bit to see what he pulls out of there. It’s a composition notebook. Four of them actually. Trepidation sinks into my skin when he reaches back in and pulls out a gun, holding it by the barrel, he sets it gently on the desk and looks at Jenna.

“Can you call the police and ask them to come back out? I think they’ll want to see this.” Jenna shakes her head and steps just outside the door. Brant looks back at me, “Did you know anything about this? That he owned a gun?”

“No, I haven’t even seen them in four years. I honestly couldn’t tell you anything about them anymore.”

Brant gives me a look like he can’t decide if I’m telling the truth or not. I guess it doesn’t really matter, it’s not like he knew anything either, even though it was happening under his nose with his money. Rude ass.

“That will be all Jim, thank you.” He says without even looking at him. He had sat down in the chair and opened one of the notebooks, a blank look on his face as he read the contents.

“Man, I always miss all the fun. It was nice meeting you Ophelia.” Jim holds his hand out in my direction.

I shake his hand and correct him. “Call me Lia, it was a pleasure meeting you too. Thank you for your help” and with that he salutes and walks away