My Mother's house

12

I had stayed three days at that damn hotel.  I almost told Nath I would stay at his place just to lay in that pillow of a bed, but what had happened there was never too far from my mind.  He hadn't talked to me since.  He did however tell me that the furnace was in, and that since my Dad was leaving, we had a little less than a week to get everything done that I needed.
I told David to bring his friends over.  Now we were all standing in his room.  "The new furnace needs to be put in and Nath needs help."
"Who?" a boy asked.
Chuck pipped in.  "Uncle Joe."
I looked around the room and sighed.  I hoped this worked.  "None of you have to say yes except for David, but for those that do, we pay in beer."  I could see mouths starting to curl and continued.  "With all of you it should only take a few hours.  The old one needs to be taken apart and the new one needs to be hauled down and assembled.  The floors down stairs are still fresh so don't set anything down on it."
"Make it a keg delivered to Dan's barn and we have a deal."  Chuck spoke for all of them.  I knew this could mean disastrous trouble for me, but I really needed this done.  It would only be cheaper if they didn't get caught.  "Fine, but if you get caught not a word of my name."  I shook my finger at them and then felt content.  "You can get started now.  Payment in full when I have clean hot water coming out of my pipes."  I turned to leave, but a firm grip caught my wrist, pulling me back around.  "You're more than welcome to deliver the keg yourself, and your hot body to my bedroom."
I didn't have to say anything back before David elbowed Chuck hard in the ribs while all of his friend's laughed.  I wasn't sure if they were laughing at my blushing face or at their friend, holding his side.  I shook my head at him and walked to my bedroom, ready to order a keg and set up delivery.  Once I had that taken care of, I made a mental list of the things that still needed to be done, had to be done before Dad left.  The roof.  That one was huge.  A lot of time and maybe a lot of money.  I hadn't even asked about the barn either.  Windows, but that could be done a room at a time.  That was pretty much it.  The rest of it was minor stuff that I could do once I got better, like paint the outside of the house. 
The roof, that was the next big thing.  The task that had to be finished before Dad leaves.  I looked to my closet.  I might as well investigate.  I didn't know much, but I knew what rotten wood looked like.  I got up off my stomach from the bed and walked over to my closet.  I hadn't put anything in here yet, hadn't opened the door since the first time I was here.  It creaked open and I added that to the list, oil doors.  I pulled the string to the light and looked over the few clothes that still hung.  They were filled with dust and brittle.  I left them there and headed to the small door in the back.  I opened it and was met with small stairs jutting up to the right, then turned to make another right.  I held my phone out in front of me, flashlight app on.  The steps creaked worse than the door had but I continued on. 
The air was thick with dust and smelled stagnant.  I reached the attic right about where the closet would meet back with my room.  I pointed my phone around the room looking at the heaps of junk up here, mostly boxes. Some newer than others.  I shone the light towards the ceiling and couldn't find a light bulb.  The little light that shone through the single windows at each end were not enough to investigate with, only enough to not break your neck.  I walked the length of the house, looking at the beams and checking for water marks.  I was lucky there were only a few, and they were small.  I also checked the floors too.  Never could be too careful.  I was just about to leave when I heard something fall.  Shining the light in that direction, two green orbs glowed back at me, and then I heard Chester, yelling at me in raccoon. 
I waited for him to scurry away then went over to the box that was on the floor.  Some of the contents had spilled out and I knelt down to put the box upright again.  I looked at the open book on the ground, the open photo book, and sat on the floor with my knees bent so my legs wouldn't touch anything.  The photos were of me from when I was little.  Me at this very house with my Mom and Dad and David.  I flipped through them, and they started from me as a baby.  Tons of them, then less as I grew older, even fewer when I was four and then they were mostly of David by the time I was six.  Then they stopped all together.  I sat on that dirty floor and went through that book again, looking at every single picture, trying to find Nath or his sister in any of them.  There weren't any.  I put the book back, and picked up one from the box.  It was pictures of Mom and Dad when they were younger.  Still at this house.  They looked so happy.  A tear rolled down my face.  I missed Mom.  I missed when they were happy.  The book ended with wedding pictures. 
I put it back and grabbed another one.  It was small, and only held a picture per page.  Pictures I didn't want to see.