the one before me - mr harrigan's phone

5 - closet of memories

❝ I'm leaving you for the moment, you for the moment. ❞

- west coast by lana del rey
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MATILDA'S POV

"You knock," I said, once we had arrived at the front entrance. We had been silent for the past 5 minutes, neither of us wanting to knock. Craig had given in, stepping up and knocking on the large wooden gates, stepping back down to stand beside me. The door opened, startling me to the point where I almost fell down the shallow stairs.

"Careful," I heard Craig mutter, supporting my back by holding my waist before I tumbled down.

"Sorry," I said, looking up at the door that revealed a frail maiden, her hair white from ageing, her eyes holding barely any light.

"What are you doing here, boy? And who's this?" She said to Craig, who was looking down at the ground, then at me. Edna's gaze directed to me, her eyes fixating on my facial features.

"Uh... hello, Edna," I managed to say.

"Matilda?" She said, her voice slightly cracked while her eyes drooped down, softening her gaze, "Is that you, dear?" I nodded, looking straight at the ground and biting my inner lip. There was silence, a thin array of shock and bitter sweetness filling the air, "Come in," The lady said after a while, giving the two of us room to enter. We followed Edna, going through the countless rooms with paintings still intact. Ever since I walked into the giant house, I would get flashbacks of my first time entering here, my small clueless body wandering around.

We were led to the kitchen, which I still vividly remembered. Edna was getting ready some tea while Craig and I sat down on the stools, looking at each other from time to time. I muttered a small 'thanks' when Edna pushed my tea cup towards me. I took a sip, Craig looking straight down at his cup.

"So, I see you two have met," Her voice was stiff, not very fond of us knowing each other. I looked away from the boy, and silently drank my tea as the lady started losing hope in talking about how we'd met, "Are you alright, Craig?" She said, now turning to Craig,"

"Yes," He said, lying straight through his teeth.

"He said he was going to leave you something, leave both of you something," I looked up at Edna, nodding in response. I wasn't much of a talker, especially since she was the one who had brought me out of this house in the first place, "Did he?" I nodded again.

"He did. He was very generous," Craig responded.

"Took care of me and Pete too," Edna said, bringing her own cup to her lips and drinking it.

"Yeah, he was a good man, wasn't he?" Craig said, my head popping into the conversation. Edna noticed this and gave me a look that could kill. She ultimately sighed, hesitant to tell him the truth.

"He was square-dealing, but you didn't wanna be on his bad side," She said, fiddling with the teacup.

"What do you mean?" He asked, Edna became agitated with the amount of questions he was asking, but went with it anyway.

"You remember Dusty Bilodeau?" She asked, my body stiffening at his name, "Bilodeau used to live over at Black Bear Trailer Park, nearby the King's,"

"Oh, I've seen it," He said, turning to look at me, "What about him?"

"He was the gardener afore Pete, but went eight months on the job when Mr. Harrigan caught him stealing and fired his butt," I exhaled in relief, giving her a look of appreciation. She returned it, making Craig furrow his brows in confusion, looking back and forth between us, "Dusty didn't apologise, just left. Thought that that was the end of it," She paused and shook her head, "It wasn't,"