Spying a pair of tortoise shell glasses on the table, peeking out from under a TV guide, Ava retrieved them and handed them to him wordlessly.
‘Ah,’ he nodded in approval, unfolding them and sliding them onto his face before picking up the paper.
‘As it’s just the two of us,’ he began, ‘we’ll skip some of the formalities. They put me to sleep anyway…’ He scanned down the document and cleared his throat.
‘I, Serenity Cortez, formerly known as Caroline Annabeth Wallace, being of sound mind and body… yadda yadda yadda… and hereto do leave all my worldly possessions to my daughter and only child…’
‘But mom didn’t have any possessions,’ Ava replied mildly, ‘so isn’t this all a bit unnecessary?’
‘Ah wrong!’ He waggled a finger at her.
Placing his bong on the coffee table he stood and crossed the room to retrieve a dog-eared manila folder. Moving back to the couch he sat down and opened it.
‘Her estate is as follows… whoa…’ he blinked and sank back against the cushions, ‘head rush…’
‘Here, let me,’ she held out her hand as he passed her the folder.
Opening it, Ava scanned down the page, some jewelry, an old pocket watch and… her gaze stopped on the monetary figure below. She blinked, blinked again, then re-read the same line three times. When the figure didn’t change, she looked up at Baz with her mouth open.
‘Just because your mom didn’t live for money, didn’t mean she didn’t have any. She chose to live life the way she wanted. That…’ he pointed to the folder, ‘didn’t mean anything to her, she always said she wouldn’t be defined by dollar signs.’
Ava felt her stomach swoop and her head begin to pound at her temples. The shock was quickly replaced by a sharp painful jolt of anger.
‘It might not have meant anything to her,’ her eyes burned furiously, ‘but it would have meant something to me. With just a fraction of this I could have gone back to school, gone to college, instead of clawing my way from one day to the next, living in my truck, trying to scrape together enough money for food and gas. My life could have been so different, I could’ve been different.’
‘Your mom wanted the best for you,’ Baz shook his head, ‘she loved you more than anything. She wanted you to experience life, not get caught up in the chains of materialism.’
‘The chains of materialism?’ she whispered angrily, ‘is this some kind of joke? Is it materialism to want to have a home? A bed of my own? Not a sleeping roll on the floor of whatever shack we happened to be living in with twenty other people?’
‘Your mom did what she believed was best,’ he shook his head in regret, ‘no matter what I said to her. She made her choice for right or wrong.’
‘No matter what you said?’ Ava frowned suspiciously. ‘What do you mean?’
‘I agree with you,’ Baz sighed. ‘I always thought you should’ve had a home, some stability. It’s what your dad wanted.’
‘My dad?’ she replied in confusion, ‘but mom always said he was a free spirit and refused to be tied down.’
‘That’s the way she liked to remember him because it fit with what she wanted,’ Baz corrected her. ‘The truth is, your dad was from a huge family, at least he was, until they were all killed back in El Salvador right before he fled to the US. He wanted to build a family and a home here. I still remember the look on his face the first time he held you in his arms. He promised you a home, promised to keep you safe and happy, but he died before he could. Serenity took you and moved on. Don’t get me wrong I loved your mama, but that woman was always running.’
‘From what?’
‘She wouldn’t say,’ Baz shook his head. ‘What I do know was that she was an incredibly intelligent woman, she invested her money wisely over the years. When she found out she was dying she cashed it all in and had it placed into a bank account in your name.’
‘I don’t know what to say,’ Ava glanced down at the paper miserably, watching as the ridiculous number of zeros taunted her. ‘She didn’t even tell me she was sick. I never even got the chance to say goodbye.’
‘She didn’t want you to see her like that,’ Baz replied quietly. ‘In the end it happened so quickly… and well… cancer’s never a pretty way to go. She wanted to spare you that.’
Ava blew out a slow breath as she flipped through the paperwork. ‘I suppose at least I don’t have to worry about eating tomorrow,’ her eyes fixed on the bank statement in her name as a terrible weight settled on her chest.
‘Keep reading Ava,’ Baz settled back comfortably, lighting a joint, ‘the money’s not all your mom left you.’
Ava turned back to the folder and forced herself to keep reading.
‘The Lynch House, Midnight Island?’ She frowned, ‘a house? Mom owned a house?’
‘Kind of,’ he replied slowly.
‘What do you mean kind of?’
‘She inherited the house,’ he puffed out a ring of smoke, ‘it’s been in her family for generations. Your mom was born on the island, but she never lived in that house. Her family, the Wallaces, had another place which was sold after your grandmother passed.’
‘I’ve never heard of Midnight Island, mom never mentioned it.’
‘It’s a small island off the coast of Maine.’
‘So, let me get this straight. This house, the Lynch House, has been in my family for generations but they didn’t live in it?’
‘That’s right,’ Baz nodded, ‘been in the family as far as I know since the late 1800’s. I don’t know what happened, but it hasn’t been inhabited since then.’
‘That’s a bit weird isn’t it?’ Ava frowned.
‘Look the truth is, your mom didn’t want to leave you that house. She tried everything to get rid of it over the years. It’s been an albatross around her neck since your grandmother passed away.’
‘She didn’t want me to have the house?’
‘Nope,’ he shook his head.
‘But why?’ Ava replied in confusion.
‘I don’t know,’ he shrugged, ‘but I always got the feeling she was afraid of something. That’s why she would never go back to the island.’
‘If she hated that house so much, why not just sell it?’
‘She would have,’ he drew on his joint slowly, ‘but the fact is, the house has been on the market since the fifties. No one wants to buy it.’
‘No one?’ her brows rose in surprise. ‘I expect it’s probably a ruin by now.’
‘You’d be wrong about that too; I spoke with the realtor on the island when I was getting Serenity’s affairs in order. The house is not habitable but as far as I’m aware it’s still structurally sound… more or less…’
Ava rubbed her face tiredly, somewhere behind her eyes a vicious throbbing had begun.
‘I don’t know Baz, it’s a lot to take in.’
‘I know,’ he nodded sympathetically, ‘but there is one thing you should know.’