Our Sick Inheritance (editing)

Chapter 16 - Calling All Witches Tricks

Alicia knew he would be home late for dinner because of the report he had to type up on Jolene. Kyle was exhausted from the long day so his big light blue house with the white picket fence greeted him warmly as he pulled into the driveway. So peaceful, so happy, and so light in heart was the feeling he got when he arrived home before he even stepped through the door. Everything perfect in this world was behind these walls he called home.

Kyle walked in the front door and rushed off towards the cellar to surprise his wife with a bottle of wine. His nostrils grabbed wonderful smells of warm French rolls, salad with fresh cut vegetables, steak that was still sizzling, with a hint of mashed potatoes and gravy that drifted from the kitchen on the back side of the house. His stomach grumbled.

Popping into his office along the way Kyle dropped his files on his desk without stopping as he walked out into the hallway and followed it to the end. A staircase of steps made from beautifully carved pieces of wood supported by a metal frame led down to their cellar. He flicked a switch, but the lights didn't flash on which Kyle noticed only when he was already half way down the steps.

Kyle hated that their stairs were open down to the bottom. He always imagined someone grabbing his ankle from between one of the steps which would trip him into defenselessness. If that happened, he wouldn't be able to protect himself or his family. He had put a lot of people away during his career and kept hope that none of them was interested in ruining his life.

Although he hated the vulnerability, his wife had begged for them. It was an easy gift to give her since the wood of the steps had been salvaged from trees in the yard. With lots and care and polish he had replaced their old set of stairs for a more artistic natural look. Their beauty couldn't be denied, but Kyle wished he had talked her into insteps. Leaving the last one, he lightly stepped onto the concrete that felt as cold as standing in snow. Kyle let out a breath and what he sucked back in felt as if the biting chill reached all the way to his heart.

He flicked the switch on the wall at the bottom of the stairs as he was uncomfortable standing in a dark room, especially since he hadn't let Alicia know he was home yet. A light flipped on, but it wasn't the only light he wanted to work. The giant gorgeous wood carving on the back wall was the only thing in the room no longer hidden in darkness and shadow. Kyle could just make out the dark bottles of wine that filled the racks on both sides of it just barely touched by the light. The rest of the walls of ivory and dark brown were hardly visible. The fuse to the three other lights in the room must be blown, Kyle thought. The breaker box of course, was in the shed outside on the opposite side of the wall. He didn't have the time to run out and fix it at the moment.

Kyle looked at the wood slab of art under the light and took in the all too familiar details of the Japanese story of his friend Ko and his family carved into the wood. It was done by Ko's grandfather many years ago for his grandson, so he didn't forget his Japanese culture that his family was raised in and upheld before he moved to Washington. Ko moved with his parents when he was of junior high age and after graduation he became a police officer. Unfortunately, he was shot in the side of the neck during a bank robbery and died within seconds upon impact. It tore Kyle up for Ko had been like a brother to him for ten years.

Ko's grandfather, with whom Kyle had gotten to know when he visited Ko from Japan, was as fascinated with wine as Kyle was so even through a language barrier, they had gotten along well. He gave the wall carving to Kyle after the Ko's funeral. Kyle openly cried and hugged the old man as he felt so honored and grateful. Kyle still calls Ko's grandfather every couple of months to see how he was doing. It wouldn't surprise him if the old man outlived them all. Alicia always sends him cards on holidays, and often exchanges recipes with him and his wife. One day they had promised to visit Japan to which Kyle intends to uphold because although healthy, it was too difficult for the old man to travel to the states at his age anymore. Kyle thought the old man just didn't have the heart to visit since Ko was gone, even though his son's family still lived here.