My Obsession

Dorothy I tossed the rose into the grave, my mother being lowered by the attendants as I watched the splash of red land on top of the coffin. No one had come, which didn’t surprise me. All of my mom’s family had died off a few years back, and my dad had been out of the picture since I was two. Not even my mom’s neighbor of fifteen years had come, but then again the old biddy had always caused trouble for us. “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.” The priest closed his bible, finishing his service. “… Are you going to be alright, Dorothy?” “Yes, father Micheal; I will be.” I nodded at him, the priest turning and heading to his car; his duty done. My mom had been struggling with cancer for a few years now, the toll on her body finally catching up with her. Father Micheal was kind enough to come and do her service, although neither of us had been going to church for some time now. “I’m going to miss you mom.” I whispered to the coffin, turning and heading off as the staff of the cemetery waited for me to go, trying to be respectful, yet still wanting to finish their job quickly. As I hopped into my run-down car, I saw them start to shovel in the dirt, more than likely wanting to finished before four. I went straight to my mom’s house, wanting nothing more than to crawl into a bed and just rest. These last three days had been a different kind of hell setting everything up to bury her, having never done anything like this before. I planned on staying the rest of the week in the house too; planning on selling it off. I would have kept it, but we had ran every credit card we had together to the max, paying doctors and prescriptions left and right. Now with the funeral, it was another several thousand down the hole. No one tells you how expensive it is to bury the dead. It was a forty minute drive. And when I got there I just went to the couch and crashed, not feeling like going up the stairs. The rooms were basically bare up there anyways, having sold off most of the furniture these last months to pay even more doctors. At least it wouldn’t take me long to clear anything out, making me scoff a little as I dosed off. ***** My cellphone chimed with my alarm, waking me as fresh sunlight streamed through the curtains in the living room. I stretched out my arms as I sat up, feeling stiff from the odd angle I had slept in, my back cracking as I did. I checked my phone and saw a missed call from my boss, Veronica. “Hey, Dot… I hate to do this, but I’ve been over all of your records for leave for this year and… well… you’ve already used everything up. So you being gone for this week is considered a no call-no show and we have terminated your position working with us. I’m sorry sugar, better luck next time.” The clock of the message was deafening in the still house, making me hand my head and moan. “f*****g hell…” that job paid decent money too. Now I was really screwed. No job, no income, and debt up to my eyeballs. I picked up my wallet from off the floor and flipped it open, taking out the card for the real estate agent who had contacted me a few months ago about the development company who wanted to buy the house. It rang a few times before someone finally picked up. “Green Acres Realty, Jill speaking, how may I help you?” “Ah, yes.. Jill. This is Dorothy Davis from a few months back.. I was wondering if your buyers were still motivated?” “Oh! Miss Davis! Yes, yes they still are. They just wanted me to call you again today and off ten thousand more if you’re open to selling.” I gulped, looking around the living room that I had grown up in, had Christmas with mom, had my first kiss, all of the memories that I was about to lose. I took a gulp and sighed. I knew there was no way around this. It was either sell or pay off every debt until I was in my nineties. “Yah; I’ll take the offer.” “That’s great news! When can we get your signature on things?” “Let me wrap up a few things here, then what is the soonest you can have everything drawn up?” I wanted to pack up a least a few of the scant belongings that were left, all the memories that I could scavenge from the home. “Will tomorrow morning at eight be good? That will give me plenty of time to notify the buyer today.” Jill sounded thrilled, probably because of the commission I was sure she was going to get. “That’s fine. I’ll see you there.” I hung up in defeat, my shoulders slouching as I sighed in defeat. The sale would get rid of a considerable chunk of debt, but I’d still have to work hard to pay back the rest. Maybe I could live comfortably if I got two jobs instead of one. I thought jokingly to myself. “Alright, Dot… let’s get motivated.” I gave myself a pep talk, going to the door and picking up a few boxes and the packing tape I had bought yesterday. I would call Goodwill to come and get the rest of the furniture later and then sleep in the car tonight before heading back tomorrow to the city. I would be stiff, sure; but there was no time to waste now. I went to my mother’s bedroom first and shook my head at the nearly empty room. She hadn’t used it in a couple of years really; all of her time being spent in hospitals. It was just the small full bed and mattress left, one empty dresser, and then a couple scant belongings on the closet. I decided to start there first, knowing that the only things left were mostly mom’s little ‘treasures’ as she called them. It was mostly nick-nacks and bobbles from growing up really. I pulled out the items and sighed, glad at least that they were in boxes already. I took them down to my car and put them in the back, heading back upstairs. There was a few dresses and pants hanging, so I went to pull them out, something getting stuck in the mess. “Come on, just give!” I tugged hard, not wanting to have to drop all of the clothing on my arms. Finally it gave, something coming loose in the closet. “Just great… Well, at least they’ll be bulldozing and won’t care about a little damage.” I mumbled as I put the clothing down on the bed. Going forward, I noticed that a small panel had been knocked loose in the closet, a section of the wall exposed and showing a small hiding place. “What in the world?” There was a shoebox made of wood, stickers and writing all over the outside in a variety of colors, and a thick string of twine tied around it to keep it shut.