This is the second part in a series, so if you have not already done so, you might want to read Part I before continuing.
The first thing Stacie noticed about the house as she pulled up was how neglected it looked. The paint was peeling and the screen door was hanging from one hinge. When her grandparents were alive, they had made sure to fix things around the house almost as soon as they broke, and they had applied a fresh coat of paint to the exterior on a regular basis. After they died, Stacie and her sister had stopped coming out to visit, relying instead on Aunt Sabrina to come to them for the major holidays and life events. As she surveyed the dilapidated house now, Stacie thought she should have come out here once in a while.
The scenery did not improve as she approached the house. Once she got close enough to peek in the windows, she realized the place looked even worse on the inside. Bookshelves were crammed with books, magazines, and various knickknacks. Boxes were piled on the floor. It really was a good thing Aunt Sabrina had been outside when she had fallen and hit her head. The chances of her falling inside seemed exponentially more likely, and if she had, who knows how long it would have been before anyone found her.
Stacie carefully opened the screen door so she could knock on the solid wood door behind it. “Who is it?” came her aunt’s voice from inside.
“It’s Stacie.”
“Who?”
“Your niece.”
“What are you doing here? It’s not Christmas.”
Stacie opened her mouth to explain, then decided she wasn’t going to shout this whole conversation through a door, so she opened it and let herself in. “I’m here to look after you for a few days, remember?”
“I don’t need anyone to look after me.”
“You have a concussion.”
“I went to the hospital. They fixed me up. I’m fine.”
“Aunt Sabrina, you don’t just ‘fix up’ a concussion. Your brain needs time to heal itself, and while it does, I’m going to be here to help out around the house.”
“I feel fine.”
“Yeah, that’s what makes concussions so dangerous. You feel fine until you don’t, and by that time, it’s too late.”
“I’m serious. There was no need for you to come all the way out here.”
“Well, I did. So, I’m just going to go put my things away, and then we can talk about all the things that don’t need to get done around here.”
Stacie started to head towards her mom’s old room, where she had always stayed when she came to visit as a kid, but Aunt Sabrina got up from her place at the kitchen table and hurried to block her path. “You can’t stay in there. It’s not ready. I didn’t know you were coming. You have to tell me when you’re coming!”
“I’m sorry. I thought Sam told you,” Stacie said, throwing her sister under the bus. The truth was she had completely forgotten to call, but it was also true that she thought Sam had told Sabrina that Stacie was coming, since she had been the one to volunteer Stacie’s aid in the first place.
“Well, she didn’t. I’m not ready.”
“OK, no worries. I can change the sheets if you need me to.”
“It’s not the sheets it’s …”
“It’s what?”
“I didn’t know you were coming!” Aunt Sabrina didn’t wait for a response as she turned around and headed towards the guest bedroom.
Stacie stood in the middle of the kitchen, unsure what to do next. As she looked around her, it dawned on her what the problem must be. The mess and clutter that lay all over the house must have taken over the bedroom as well and Aunt Sabrina didn’t want her to see it. Well, it was a little late to hide that from her now.
To be continued…