Chapter 11

 

“I’m sorry, Julia. Laura wasn’t able to make it tonight. One of her friends is in the hospital.”

Julia didn’t look happy about that at all, Savannah thought. She was on the zoom call with five people she knew nothing about. She did not want to deal with this. Not right now. Tomorrow her grammy was going to be laid to rest and to be honest, Savannah didn’t know if she wanted to do this at all.

But, Julia, who had become her advocate insisted it had to be done. “Besides,” Julia told her. “Do you want to be sitting around mourning your grammy or stay busy so you can deal with Friday? Because I am pretty sure Friday is not going to be easy.” The funeral was Friday, and it was supposed to rain.

She was learning Julia was a no-nonsense woman who was precise and a bit too outspoken. But, Savannah also came to realize in just a few short days that if she was in your corner, odds were you were in a good spot. Julia would fight for you with everything in her.
She had arranged this meeting and explained if her brothers gave her a hard time, she’d deal with them accordingly. Savannah didn’t understand what she meant. Was she going to force one of them to admit they were her father?

Right now, she was the center of attention at a zoom meeting with the people that were going to change her life or make it worse. She told Julia she wasn’t ready yet, but the woman insisted there would never be a time when she was ready. “It has to happen.”

When Julia didn’t answer him he turned to the others. Joe gave a wave to everyone. “Hello, kiddos. Sorry to announce Laura isn’t able to make it. Can we proceed without her?”

Julia jumped in then. “I guess we have to, although I kind of wanted her to hear this too since she is almost family.”

Joe didn’t say anything more. He stared into the screen like the others were doing. Joshua and Jonathan were sharing a screen, which showed how close they were. She always heard twins did everything together. So far that analogy seemed to be true.

Savannah noticed the other woman that had not been at the café the night she met all of them. It must be Joy, she thought and was right when Julia introduced her. “Savannah, this is Joy, my little sister. She wasn’t at the café the night you met all of us.”

It felt like everyone was staring into her soul. She wanted to cringe, or hide, or take the video off the laptop on her lap. Julia left it here for her to use, showing her how to hook it up to a hotspot so she’d be able to be in on the call.

She hadn’t been back in her grammy’s room, except to strip the bed of the linen. It had been too difficult and she slammed the door hard before throwing the sheets into a laundry basket. It would take a trip to the local laundromat and more dollars than she cared to spend to wash everything. Savannah thought maybe she’d throw it all away since she’d never be able to use those sheets herself, even if she was too poor to buy new ones.

Her train of thought had been so scattered all week, ever since grammy died. She felt as if she were walking in space without any oxygen, floating from place to place. At least her work had given her three days of paid bereavement to deal with all the arrangements.

The problem with so much time off was Grammy had everything done. Even the will, which was barely a will, but was a letter from her lawyer telling Savannah to come in and sign the deed to the house her grammy left her. There really wasn’t anything else. Grammy hadn’t driven a car in decades and everything in her house was left to Savannah. There was no other relative to claim any of her belongings.

“Savannah! Pay attention. We are going to get started.” She blinked and realized every single one of them were still watching her.

“I’m sorry.” She gave Julia an apologetic smile.

“No need, your pain is clearly written all over your face. Joe knows you lost your grandmother, but my other siblings do not. Savannah is here tonight because we have an issue and each one of you are involved.”

“How so? I stay to myself, Julia? Never bother any of you.” Joy spoke up quickly.

Julia let out a sigh loud enough everyone heard. “Joy, this is not about you. We know you don’t bother with the rest of the family unless you are called to. It’s okay, we love you anyway.”

Joy gave her sister a huge smile. “I love you too, Julia.”

Savannah wasn’t sure if either one of them were serious. It didn’t matter. It was none of her business. She didn’t even know what she was doing here.

Joe’s head disappeared for a moment, talking to someone in the room. His face came back into view as he leaned down and gave everyone a smile. “Guess who showed up after all. Here’s Laura.”
”Hey, everyone. I’m sorry I’m late.” She sat down close to Joe as they shared a screen. “I hope I did not interrupt.”

“Not at all. I’m relieved to see you here.” Julia actually had a smile on her face.

“Go ahead, Julia. I believe we are all anxious to hear what news you have for us.” Joe raised a brow.

Savannah wasn’t sure she wanted to see their reaction. She stared at Julia, refusing to look at the others.

Julia coughed. “Okay, siblings. You know I don’t beat around the bush so I am going to come out and say it. Twenty six years ago one of you three men slept with Savannah’s mother. Joyce Raines. Or, all of you. One of you is the father. Ah, I see the name rings a bell.”

Savannah kept her eyes on Julia who was scrutinizing her siblings. She was afraid to look at them, so she kept her eyes on Julia. She was staring hard at the screen.

“Wait! Something seems fishy here!” Jonathan, one of the twins, looked confused. “Weren’t we just talking about Joyce at the café the same day we met Savannah?”

Julia didn’t hesitate. “Yes. She did not say anything when you two started talking about how you dated a woman named Joyce. Even if you tried to deny it, there is no way to get out of it now.”

Joe spoke up. This time Savannah switched her eyes to his. They were kind eyes and she saw how relieved they looked. He nodded. “It all makes sense. However, it was not me. We went out on a few dates and that was the end of it. Laura here knows I don’t sleep with someone when I first meet them.”

“It’s true. Even now we are waiting until the wedding night. He is such a gentleman.”

“Thanks for that information I did not need to know.” Julia rolled her eyes.

Joe looked at his brothers. “Looks like one of you may be Savannah’s father.”

Savannah chanced a look at the twins. They both stared at each other. “Did you sleep with Joyce,” Jonathan asked.

Joshua nodded. “Yes. Did you?”

Jonathan nodded.

They both turned to Savannah at the same time and spoke the exact same words. “We’ll have to get a DNA test.”

Julia shuffled through a stack of papers. “I’m way ahead of you. This is not going to be easy. Identical twins, which you are, have identical DNA. Which means it’s literally impossible for the average person to be able to afford the kind of test you two will undergo. Luckily for you, your brother was busy building an empire while you both slept with the same woman and can afford the expensive testing required to determine exactly who is Savannah’s father.”

Joshua glared at his sister. “What makes you an expert?”

“When I found out, I researched, something neither one of you do. While you two were having a grand old time passing a woman back and forth, I was getting a good education right here!” Julia’s words were harsh.

“Maybe neither one is my father,” Savannah whispered. Her words caused the twins to look at her. She was ready to burst into tears. “It’s true. My mother was a horrible person back then. She coerced every single one of you to date her, thinking she’d find a rich man. Instead, she took the money and ran.”

A sob caught at her throat. The shame of being a product of someone’s greed was getting the best of her.

Julia pressed her lips together when Joshua looked concerned. “What do you mean she took the money? What money?”

“The money I gave her.”

Three men stared at their sister. Joy shook her head. “Of course you did. Protect the family and all that. Glad it wasn’t me they can hate now. I gotta go, everyone. I have a meeting to attend to. Love to all. Savannah, nice to meet you.” Joy didn’t wait to hear anyone say goodbye. They probably weren’t even paying attention. All eyes were on Julia.

Savannah wished she had Julia’s backbone. The woman pulled her shoulders back and stared right back at them. “I was protecting this family at any cost. Everyone was trying to get a piece of the pie if you remember. Back then, greed came in all directions. Joyce Raines walked into this office and told me she was pregnant. She did not disclose who the father was and I did not ask. I handed her a check and had her sign an agreement to never speak of it again. As far as I was concerned, it was over.”

Joe wasn’t pleased. “Julia? You never told any of us. We could’ve done this a long time ago. You were wrong not to mention it.”

“I was protecting this company.”

Savannah had to speak up. “It’s true. I found this photo with the name J Russel on the back. I knew that was my father and questioned my mother. She told me she did something very bad to the Russel family and made me promise to never mention it or something worse would happen to my grammy.”

“Let me see the photo,” Joe asked.

She held it up to the screen, then turned it over to show him the name on the back. When she pulled it away, everyone was quiet. Jonathan asked, “Why now? After all this time, why are we hearing about this?”

“I was not interested in who my father was. When Julia saw me at the café that night, she knew who I was. When you mentioned Joyce’s name, she put everything together.”

Joe, Jonathan and Joshua were all nodding. Joshua looked right at her and told her how sorry he was. “I don’t know if I’m your father, but I want to apologize for what Julia did. I barely remember your mom except I do remember we went out briefly. Then, she went out with Jonathan and I moved on. Or, maybe she went out with him first. It was a long time ago.”

“I barely remember,” Jonathan chimed in, “but I’m willing to take the test to know the truth.”

“Yeah, me too.”

She was too choked up to say a word. Savannah reached for a tissue, wiping her eyes. “I don’t want anything from either one of you. I’m not my mother. I’ve been doing just fine without anyone.”

“That’s a lie. Stop it right now, Savannah. You are living like a pauper.” Julia glared at her brothers. “What I did was to protect the Russel legacy. I’m not proud of it but I’m not sorry. I want to make it right for Savannah. She doesn’t deserve to be alone.”

“Alone like you, Julia?” Joshua glared at his sister. “You better make it right.”

“I deserved that,” she told Joe when Joshua’s screen went blank. “I imagine you are upset with me too, Joe. I’m still not sorry.”

Joe leaned back. “I understand. Truly, I do. You were young too, Julia. I probably put more on you than you deserved. But I think at the time this all happened, you were taking it more personally since you had a bad relationship with Devon.”

Julia’s jawline tightened. Savannah noticed. “Maybe. It was a long time ago.”

“That’s why I forgive you. I don’t know if Joshua and Jonathan will.”

“I don’t expect they will forgive me but they should thank me for not allowing a gold digger to ruin our family.”

Joe used a stern voice. “Julia, she was still Savannah’s mother.”

“You are right.” Julia turned to Savannah. “I’m sorry. I don’t think calling her that name does any good.”

Savannah nodded. She was too choked up to speak. “I have to go,” she told them, pushing the red button, making them all disappear from the screen. She went back out on the stoop, watching the cars go by, wiping the tears.

Savannah felt utterly alone. Even if she found out one of the Russel twins was her father, it did not matter. She was an adult and would find her own way. After she buried grammy tomorrow, she would worry about the next step of her life. She just wanted to get through tomorrow.

 

*****

 

It was time to head to the funeral home where grammy wanted her service. Savannah knew there would not be but a handful of people there, especially since most of her grammy’s friends had died long before grammy. She looked in the rectangular mirror above the sink and gave herself one last look.

Her eyes were still puffy, but it didn’t matter. Today was not a day for make-up, so she brushed some powder over her face, and a bit of lip gloss to keep the cold air from chapping her mouth. Savannah wore a pair of her black slacks, a matching black sweater and threw her coat over top. She wrapped a simple gray scarf that grammy had knitted years ago around her neck and the matching hat that went with it. Her black boots came on next and she didn’t care that they were not her Sunday best.

No one would care how she looked. Savannah certainly did not. After awhile, she got used to people staring at her used clothes and worn out boots. It still bothered her and that’s why she saved her good clothes for her clients. Today was special.

Savannah picked up her black shoulder bag and opened the front door to walk to the funeral home since it was a few blocks away. The burial was a little further across town but she figured she had time to come back and get her car.

A long limousine pulled up to the curb. She watched as Julia opened the door and walked up the sidewalk. “No sense going alone,” she told Savannah. I’m coming with you.”

“I can walk,” she told Julia.

“I don’t think you should. Your grammy deserves to go out in style. She’d want you to come see her in style.”

Savannah gave her a lopsided smile. “Seriously, Julia? You are using my grammy to guilt me into coming along with you?”

Julia smiled. “Yes. I believe I am. Come on, let me take you.”

She guessed it wouldn’t hurt to ride in a limo to grammy’s funeral. “Okay.”

The inside was huge. Julia didn’t make small talk. She gave the driver the address and sat back, leaving Savannah to herself. When they got to the funeral home, there were a few other cars there, but Savannah didn’t really pay attention. She took a deep breath. “I’m not sure I can do this.”

Julia got out of the limo first when the driver opened the door. “That’s why I am here, to make sure you do.”

Savannah did feel better having someone with her. It was hard to do everything by yourself. She gave Julia a nod and got out. “Thank you.”

Julia tilted her head. “For what?”

“Being here.”

Julia gave her a small nod and proceeded to go inside. “Come on. Let’s get the hard part over with.”

Savannah followed her inside until she came to the room with the open doors. There were chairs lined up in rows on both sides of the room. A few people sat close to the front. She didn’t recognize any faces but thought maybe it was other church members. Grammy had gone to church up until she wasn’t able to get out of bed.

“Walk straight towards her and give her the best send off you know how,” Julia whispered.

Savannah took a few steps through the doors and then began to walk slowly towards the coffin. She lifted her chin in the air, pushing her shoulders back like Julia had done. Her bottom lip quivered but she tried not to focus on that. She saw her grandmother’s beautiful head resting on a pillow and almost broke down.

It wasn’t her in that box. No. It was not her soul or anything she remembered about grammy. The soul was long gone. It was plain to see. A body lay there with no emotion, no life. Her skin, once beautifully wrinkled, appeared puffy almost pure white. Savannah reached for it anyway, needing to touch her and make sure she was truly gone.

She felt others standing beside her and looked up to find Joe, Laura, Jonathan, Joshua and Joy standing with Julia. They were all right behind her. The tears came then and she wiped them away before reaching down to give her grammy a final kiss goodbye. “I love you grammy. Forever.”

When she turned, Joe put his arm out and escorted her to a seat in the first row. Once she was seated, everyone took a seat around her, forming a wall of people. She no longer felt alone.

Everyone stayed with her until the end. There was enough room in the limo so they all packed in and went to the cemetery, standing in unison together, giving Savannah’s grandmother a wonderful, respectful send-off.

Savannah stepped up to the grave, laying a pink carnation on the coffin. It was time for starting over. “I’ll never forget you, grammy,” she whispered, blowing a kiss in the air. It felt like a whoosh of air went past her, causing Savannah to look up at the sky.

When she turned around the others were gone. They had given her space to say her final goodbye. She began to walk towards them and smiled. They were a motley crew. The driver stood at the driver’s side door, his long black coat and hat in place, wearing pure white gloves. The three brothers leaned against the long limo in their black suits wearing matching long overcoats and the exact same Fedora. Julia and Joy were standing side by side in long black coats, wearing matching hats and gloves. They wore identical black boots with three inch heels.

Laura stood beside Julia in a black dress and overcoat, wearing a black wool Rosette hat and gloves. Her style was impeccable and she fit right in with the Russel women, even though she wasn’t a wealthy woman.

“Thank you. All of you. Even though I may or may not be related, all of you showed up today. I’m overwhelmed.”

“Are you hungry?” Laura was always so practical.

Julia rolled her eyes. “Laura! I doubt she is hungry.”

Joe walked over to them. “I did reserve a private room for us at Pentaloops, which is about five miles from here. It would probably be a good idea to eat something, Savannah.”

“I guess you are right.”

“Well, then, let’s go eat.”

They all piled back in the limo. “This is a great idea, Julia. Today you used your head for something other than interfering in people’s lives.”

Savannah wasn’t sure if Jonathan was serious or just teasing Julia. She didn’t have the energy to ask. The one thing she saw when she looked at each person was a family bond that was hard to break. Even if they were angry at Julia for her role so long ago, they were all here, together.

Today.

She hoped and prayed her mother hadn’t lied about a Russel being her father. She couldn’t take another blow right now.

In the meantime, she wanted to celebrate her grammy’s life. “I’m hungry.”