Chapter 2 - What Diane Knew Before She Died
Vanessa left furious.
She didn't slam the door.
She wanted something from us.
People rarely slam doors they expect to reopen.
After she left, I turned to Harold.
“What aren't you telling me?”
He sighed.
“A lot.”
“Start.”
Three weeks before Diane died, she called him.
Not about cancer.
Not about the will.
About Darnell.
She had discovered withdrawals from an account we'd created years earlier for emergencies.
Not huge.
At first.
$4,000.
Then $7,500.
Then $12,000.
Darnell had access because Diane added him after my minor stroke two years earlier.
She thought if both of us became incapacitated, our son should be able to pay bills.
Instead, he'd been taking money.
“How much?”
“Forty-three thousand dollars.”
I felt sick.
“For what?”
“Based on what Diane found, travel, credit cards, and part of a vehicle down payment.”
Europe.
The designer handbag.
The life we had admired in photographs.
Some of it had been financed by us.
“Did she confront him?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Six days before she died.”
I gripped the table.
“What happened?”
Harold handed me printed messages.
Diane:
Darnell, we need to discuss the emergency account.
Darnell:
I'll put it back.
Diane:
That isn't the point.
Darnell:
Mom, stop making everything a crisis.
That sentence.
Almost the same one he used when I told him she was dead.
Harold continued.
Diane demanded repayment.
Darnell said she and I had more money than we needed.
Then:
Eventually it's mine anyway.
I read that line three times.
Eventually it's mine anyway.
My son had spent his inheritance before either parent died.
Diane's final message:
No, sweetheart. That is where you are mistaken.
Three days later, she changed the will.
I cried.
Not because of the money.
Because Diane had died knowing what our son had become.
“Why didn't she tell me?”
“She wanted your last days together to be about her.”
Of course.
That was Diane.
Even dying, she was organizing everyone else's pain.
Then Harold handed me something else.
A letter.
For me.
I opened it.
Ray,
If you're reading this, you are angry because I didn't tell you everything.
I laughed through tears.
She knew me.
Be angry later. First, listen.
I could hear her voice.
Darnell is not evil. He is entitled. There is a difference, and it matters. Evil is harder to change. Entitlement sometimes breaks when reality finally refuses to cooperate.
I kept reading.
Do not give him money because you are lonely.
That hurt.
Do not let grief make you purchase visits from our son. If he comes home, let him come because he wants you.
I covered my face.
Harold waited.
Eventually I finished.
And Ray, please eat something besides canned soup. Beverly knows what is in our freezer. Ask her.
Even dead, Diane was managing dinner.
I laughed.
Then cried harder.
The next morning, Darnell called.
“Dad.”
His voice was suddenly warm.
Too warm.
Vanessa had told him something.
But how much?
“Where are you?”
“Paris.”
Of course.
“How's Europe?”
A pause.
“Fine.”
Then:
“Vanessa said there was some estate paperwork.”
There it was.
“What paperwork?”
“She wasn't clear.”
Interesting.
Maybe she'd obeyed the contamination clause.
Or maybe she was testing how little she could reveal.
Darnell continued.
“Do I need to come home?”
I looked at Diane's mug.
“That depends.”
“On what?”
“Do you want to?”
Silence.
“Dad, obviously I want to be there for you.”
“Then why weren't you at the funeral?”
“That isn't fair.”
“I didn't ask whether it was fair.”
He sighed.
Same sigh.
Same son.
“Mom wouldn't have wanted me to waste thousands of dollars.”
I closed my eyes.
“No.”
“What?”
“Your mother wanted you at her funeral.”
Silence.
“How do you know?”
“Because she told me.”
That ended the argument.
Darnell whispered:
“I didn't know.”
“You didn't ask.”
He said he'd call later.
He didn't.
Three days passed.
Then Harold contacted me.
Darnell had submitted his written answer.
I drove to the office.
Harold placed it in front of me.
Diane's question:
If you believed I had left you nothing, would you still come home to take care of your father?
Darnell's answer:
Yes. My father is more important than any inheritance.
Beautiful.
Exactly correct.
There was only one problem.
Darnell was still in Europe.
And the deadline for the in-person meeting was approaching.
May you like
Words were cheap.
Diane had known that too.
