Estate

Chapter 1- Arrival

Quitting my job was one of the things I never thought I would be able to do. I loved working at the spiritual store. My co-workers were totally accepting of who I was as a gay man. Two of the girls had done my makeup for drag, and they listened as I spoke of how I wished the gay community was. They also taught me how to accept others as they were when I rarely looked down on someone else. 

I had said my goodbyes. They understood why I was leaving. It was my opportunity to make something great of my life. I had all summer off of school, and the only thing I had to worry about was if I would be coming back home to my family rich or poor. 

Dr. Gann was a big supporter of encouraging kids to go to college. He was a great doctor that many of us in the county trusted. He donated to LGBTQ+ causes, sometimes had the time to walk for women's and P.O.C.'s rights. As a teenager, he had been arrested for joining in on a protest for one of the wars. He truly was a great man. 

Now that he had passed, he had no wife or children to pass his belongings to. Being an only child, he had no family to claim his fortune, mansion, and power. Three months ago, we were all sad to hear the news of his fatal heart attack. We were also excited to be invited to stay in his home. The last one standing claimed it all. 

For me, this meant I could stop being guilted into continuing at college. I hated school, I had never been quite good at testing and writing essays. I had taken my first year of Liberal Arts just to appease my family, and my second year was coming up soon. I was already struggling financially, and I didn't want to do it anymore. 

I packed my things, hiding my two wigs, a few dresses, and my makeup bag at the bottom of my suitcase in the false bottom. My excitement was overwhelming my thoughts. I almost forgot my toiletries and swim trunks. 

My dorm room was almost empty. I felt memories tugging at my mind, but I refused to let my sentiments overwhelm my opportunity. My roommate was my closest friend, and he refused to take part in my adventure. We both had made a plan that when I got rich, he would get the second biggest room in the mansion and first pick at our exotic pet. 

I threw my bag into my trunk, and drove back to my home. The trailer was nicely done up to look less like we were poor, and every time I saw it, I felt a pang of envy for those with an actual house. I longed for a floor where my light footsteps wouldn't echo. I wanted more than that simple floor plan that shut us into one giant box. I wanted a home that was evenly heated and cooled. 

I drifted into my own world on the ride. My sisters both talked about how exciting it was and how easily they could dispose of everyone else, but I could only think of how beautiful it was inside. No one had been inside in so long. I wondered if the foyer would be painted to look like a world of water. Would the floors be slick and marbled? Would there be a smell of books? Would there be pillars that I could lean against dramatically for a photoshoot? 

The whole yard was blocked by trees. I couldn't see the driveway until I stood in front of the gates with a few others around the same age as me. We were all different. Some jocks, some sloppy, some girls dolled up to their best for the occasion. I had chosen a nice pair of black pants and a red button shirt with a black tie. 

I recognized one face from my college. She was a Goddess come to earth. Her face was slender with beautiful cheekbones and skin the perfect color of creamed coffee. She had done some kind of rainbow eyeshadow and put her braids into a giant bun. She had wrapped a patchy silk scarf around her head. Her tall, thin body gave off a vibe of pure model. Her warm smile and laugh made it easy to fall in love. Even I wanted to propose to her, and I was a gay man. 

I stood awkwardly to the side, waiting in the uncomfortable heat for something to happen. No one noticed me, and I didn't really want them to. I wanted to sit and smell the trees in the air. There was a sweet smell coming on the breeze that could have been any number of flowers, but I drank in the air, trying to familiarize the smell.