An Inheritance

Chapter 24

Odilia continued after everyone was settled.  “I thought it would be nice that, while we eat, we each take a turn and share a story about our dear friend Alma.  Her granddaughter, Lauren, was never able to meet her and I think it would be interesting for her to hear who she really was through the people who knew her so well.”

Odilia waited for the murmuring to settle down as they all indicated that that would be a great idea.

“She’s already heard from both Sarah and me, so who else would like to share something?  We all know each other, but there are so many here for Lauren to get acquainted with, so please start with your name.”

A petite pretty woman indicated she’d be first.  “My name is Annie Washburn.  This is really my husband Jerry’s story, and I knew Alma primarily through him.  But he had to work late tonight, so I thought I’d do the honors for him.”

Lauren stared at her.  Of course, she was the wife of her grandmother’s mechanic.  She was dressed very conservatively now but if Lauren looked hard enough, she could just make out a bit of her neck tattoo.

“For those that know Jerry, you can recall how wild and unsociable he was in his teens.  By the time he was fourteen he had already had some scrapes with the law and was following in the footsteps of his father and two older brothers, all who had spent time in prison. 

“Anyway, one night when Jerry was about sixteen, he and some buddies had been drinking and decided to steal a car and go joy-riding.  They were young, stupid and none of them really had much to lose.  Robby, one of Jerry’s friends, lived down the road here and said that Grandmere Labeaux was pretty old and it would be a cinch to grab her car.” 

There were several low chuckles and head shakes.  Lauren knew what they were thinking even without any special abilities; yep, those kids were really stupid all right. 

“Jerry told me later that it was as though Grand-mere Labeaux knew they were coming.  The three of them walked down that long drive and in their condition probably weren’t very quiet.  They saw Alma’s car parked at the end of the clearing and they thought they were home free.  A blast came out of no where and rock salt hit the targets, all three of them.  Jerry’s friends high-tailed it back down the drive, but every time Jerry tried to move, another blast came out of Alma’s shotgun, hitting the road in front of him.  He thought he was going to die, and by an old lady at that.”

A few appreciative laughs came from the group.

“Grandmere Labeaux came down from the porch where she had been sitting, taking aim at Jerry the whole time.  She asked him what his hurry was, hadn’t he come to wash her car?  What was he to say?  Watching that shotgun made him very agreeable.  So she marched him to that old shack she used to have that contained all of her cleaning supplies and there by the light of the full moon, and Alma’s shotgun, Jerry washed and waxed that car until you could see each and every star shine off of it.”