“Maggie.” Now the smile died. She had obviously expected - or hoped - for a different answer. “The third room ... Don’t know yet. Maybe you and Maggie can think of someone.”
She thought about that for a while, but seemed to quickly catch on and understand what this was for. She made a few notes on her phone, and then we drove to Home Depot. While she got the different paints and wallpapers she had thought up, I went through the different isles with my phone in hand, getting all the tools and parts that I needed to finish the renovation.
She seemed less motivated to help since she learned that she would live here with Maggie instead of whomever she had hoped for. That impression got confirmed a few hours later.
I had spent about two hours installing all the fixtures in the bathroom, followed by another hour of sanding and priming the drywalls in the living room, before I checked in with Ava. She had decided to paint her room in a very faint mint green, which I found horrible, but I didn’t have to live in it. For the first few minutes, she simply ignored my presence as I went about reinstalling the covers for the power outlets where she had finished painting.
“You don’t want us to live with you anymore?” she suddenly asked with a level voice, not turning around to look at me.
“That’s not it.”
“Then what is it?” Now she did turn around. She looked sad and was clutching the side of her shirt, showing me how this was bothering her quite a bit.
I stayed seated on the ground where I had sat down to reinstall the power outlets, and beckoned Ava to sit in front of me. She quickly followed my suggestion and then waited for me to start talking.
“Promise to keep this a secret.” I said.
“I promise.” There was absolutely no hesitation on her part, but her face also didn’t show the slightest hint of her not taking this seriously.
“How much do you know about ... how we solved the problem with Logan’s bookie?” I asked carefully.
“How we solved it?” She mocked. “As far as I know, you went to Austin in some cloak-and-dagger operation, stole the money from their partners, and then pinned it on the bookie.”
I nodded.
“Do you know what happened to the money?”
“I never asked.” she said matter of fact. “But I assume some of it is in your bedroom.”
That surprised me.
“How...”
“Oh, please, Tim. When you came back from the hospital, Mom and I were practically glued to your side since you couldn’t even tie your shoes by yourself. We’ve never seen you use an ATM, but you still paid for most of our shopping with cash. You also paid Mom in cash when she acted as your nurse, and you give us our allowances in cash. Even just now at Home Depot you pulled a wad of cash out of your pocket. And you always go into your bedroom when you need some more.”
“Does Mom know too?” I asked after I recovered from the surprise.
“No idea.” she shrugged. “But I think she’s had too much else to worry about, to also think about where your money comes from. We see you working enough anyway. I just never knew you could buy entire houses in cash.”
“You can ... but we didn’t.” I grinned, and she perked up after hearing me say “we” again. “If you spend too much at once, the government comes knocking to check where it came from. I gave John the cash to buy this condo and a house closer to his, but he used funds from his new business to pay.”
“You also bought a house?”
“The grandparents are gonna ‘rent’ the house.” I nodded again while making air quotes. “The idea is to let you and Maggie ‘rent’ this condo, since this is so close to the HCC campus. Then John banks a few hundred bucks of the cash every month as your rent payments. After you and Maggie finish college, we could collect actual rent payments from the next tenants.”
“You’re giving Gramma and Grampa a house? After...?” Her voice trailed off, but I knew what she meant.
“Maybe it’ll help.” I shrugged. “I’m thinking about buying a winemaking set for Granny and a craft beer homebrewing set for Grandpa. Maybe they’ll take it up as a new hobby and stay around, instead of fucking off on another year-long cruise.”
She sat there staring at me, visibly stunned by my revelation. Then her eyes dropped to the floor while she seemed to be thinking it over. I don’t know what kind of conclusion she reached but, after about a minute, she suddenly looked at me with admiration in her eyes, which was somewhat lessened by the sad smile on her lips.
“Why don’t you tell them?” she finally asked quietly. “If they knew that you’re the one making all of this possible, and not Uncle John, I’m sure they would do anything to get back into your good graces.”
“Yeah, great, cause that’s what I always wanted.” I said with disgust. “Grandparents who only give a shit about me when they find out that I have money. Let them think it’s John who’s making this all possible. It’s better that way. As soon as any of the others find out about the money, there’s no way I’ll trust anything they say or do anymore. That’s why I really want you to not tell anyone about this.”
