Part 2: The Envelope
Marla burst through my front door. She saw Abby in the jacket. She saw the ring box in my hand. The envelope.
She stopped.
Her face went white.
I said, quietly, Mom left this for me.
Marla didn’t say anything.
I said, Abby, sweetheart, go to your room for a minute.
Abby looked at her aunt. Then at me. She went.
I held up the note. I said, Marla promised to give these to you after I’m gone.
Marla said, I was going to give it to you. I forgot.
I said, For two years?
Marla’s voice got sharp. She said, You don’t understand. Mom always liked you better.
She said, She gave you the good dishes. She came to your house every Sunday. She sat with Abby.
She said, I was the one who drove her to the doctor. I was the one who handled her bills. And she leaves you five thousand dollars and her ring?
I said, So you kept it.
She said, I put it in Kayla’s jacket pocket. In the closet. I was going to decide what to do.
She said, Then Kayla outgrew it. And I forgot it was in there.
She said, I didn’t remember until last night. I couldn’t sleep.
I said, You sold my daughter a jacket. For my last eighty dollars. With my mother’s ring in the pocket.
Marla said, I didn’t know it was still there!
I held out the eighty dollars she’d left on my counter. The money she brought to buy back the jacket.
I said, Take your money. I’m keeping the jacket.
Marla said, That ring is worth eight thousand dollars. Half of it should be mine. I took care of her.
Then she said, If you keep it, I’ll tell everyone you stole it from Mom’s house.
What happened next changed everything… FULL STORY on the next page.
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