folklore; conrad fisher

28: packing it up

The house was completely cleaned out. Every wall was bare, the bookcases were emptied, and not a single piece of furniture remained inside of the house. We all walked around, slowly, dumbfounded. Cole was the most confused of all of us, and I was glad he was smart enough not to ask any questions just then.

Jeremiah ran upstairs, checking all of the rooms. When we saw the look on his face as he returned, we'd known it had all been cleared as well.

"Everything's gone." He said, confirming the thoughts in our heads.

I could barely make eye contact with any of them. Everybody looked devastated. Even Taylor was moved by the situation. It was surreal and terrifying to see the house this way. It looked like a dead body. Every essence of Susannah had been stripped from this place.

Aunt Julia came rushing in, holding a large, black trash bag.

"What the fuck, Julia?" Conrad yelled.

"I'm sorry," She said, stuttering as she spoke, "This must be such a shock. I- I spoke to your father this afternoon, and he and I decided that it would be best not to drag this out any longer than necessary."

Conrad fought back, "I don't give a shit what the two of you decided on. You had no right to touch anything in this house, those were her things."

His voice grew louder and shakier, and Steven went up to him to get him to calm down, but Conrad stopped him. Aunt Julia explained that everything had been put into storage, stressing that she made sure the people working were careful with each item.

"I'm just doing what I have to do to sell the house."

"Bullshit, you could've said something," Conrad said, "You could've warned us! All you wanna do is fight our mom, constantly."

"Okay, enough!" Julia shouted, "You're not the only one that's hurting here. And I'm not the one you should be angry with. Your mother could've warned you that this was going to happen."

She threw a can into her trash bag, "She just wanted to make me the bad guy, as usual."

"I'm so sorry that she was too busy dying to make your life a little easier," Conrad shot back, "You know, it sucks that our grandfather loved her more than you, but I'm not surprised."

He stormed away, and I wanted so badly to go after him, but I couldn't do it with Cole there. Besides, I needed the time to give him a long, drawn out explanation of all of the family drama going on.

The rest of the group went outside after a bit to find Conrad. I pulled Cole to the side, where we could speak in the now-empty living room. I told him that these were the sons of Susannah, and that their Aunt was selling their Summer house in the midst of their grief. When he asked what we planned to do about it as a group, I sighed, and told him none of us were sure anymore.

When he was finally up to speed, I brought him outside. We were lucky enough to have just missed another screaming match between Conrad and Jeremiah. It seemed only a day or so could pass before they were at each other's necks again. Growing up, the two were never competitive with one another. They were very loving brothers to each other. It was sad to see how things changed over time, though I knew the majority of it had to do with Susannah's death.

Jeremiah convinced the group not to give up. After all, the house wasn't sold yet. However, there was still the current problem of finding out where to sleep. After a bit of disagreement, one member came up with a solution.

"I know a place where we can crash for the night." Jeremiah said.

Before I knew it, we were on our way to the country club. The last time I'd been here it was for the deb ball, which was one of the best and worst days of my life––depending on which parts I choose to remember. Cam Cameron got us inside by using the key code his mom used, as she was the manager of the club's restaurant. He made us promise not to make a mess, and we all swore not to. Everybody thanked him profusely as we headed inside.