Death Lilly

Chapter 5

We drive through what I consider to be a wealthy neighborhood. There are two story houses on large parcels of land. Even for suburbia, this was over the top. It's a shock to see Stewart pull into a long driveway. I had always pictured him as a 'living in a shack' type of person. Instead, I am greeted with the view of one, particularly large house. Not only that but it was one of the biggest houses I'd seen. A huge two-story, log cabin and stone styled house, the kind I had only ever seen in magazines. There's a large porch at the front with a huge red front door. On top of the high-pitched roof is a slightly slanted chimney. I'm stunned that I didn't even think to ask if he lived with someone. The house was certainly big enough for two or more people. I was still in shock, after all the years I had spent thinking that Stewart had been poor, clearly, he wasn't as poor as he had let us believe. In the drive, there's an old, cherry red convertible.

"Whose car is that?"

"I promised you a car and that's it." He says with a sheepish tone. I stare at the car, wondering why he had never said anything about it.

"It looks kind of old." I try to not convey the disappointment. I truly was grateful, it just didn't match up to the type of car I had in mind.

"It belonged to your mother." He replies as if that statement means nothing. Was that why Grandmamma and I hadn't been here? No one really spoke of my mother and now here I was, staring at the car she used to own. It felt surreal. Carefully I popped one of the pills the doctor gave me for anxiety.

"My mother?"

"Yeah, a long, long, time ago."

"She used to drive that?"

"Yep and in time, so will you."

Uncle Stewart slams the truck door shut making me jump. "You should know I haven't had a chance to fix it, so don't get too excited."

"That's cool," I reply, the drugs are starting to work, I can tell because my head feels kind of fuzzy again.

"She needs work, Lilly. That baby hasn't been driven in over eighteen years. The battery needs to be replaced and it needs a service. We'll be lucky if she'll run after that, but I reckon that old girl will need a new gearbox too." He warns as though I am begging for him to let me take it for a spin.

"Cool," the car is like a magnet, pulling me in. Only now can I see the potential. I ran my hand over it gorgeous curves. Its red paint warm to the touch. Two large seats in the front, with a bench seat in the back, are leather. There is a tiny angel dangling from the rear-view mirror. I could picture myself in it, top-down, hair blowing in the wind. Clearly, my mother had great taste as this car screamed elegance.

"It will take a while before you will be driving it, Lilly, or have you forgotten everything I just said." He repeats, sounding annoyed while handing my bag to me.

"I know, I know, battery and service. That can't be that hard, I mean change of oil and she'd be good to go, right?"

"Yeah. Sure. That's all it's gonna take." He scoffs as we head up the porch stairs.

We step through the front door, which is bigger than first thought. Stewart motions for me to come inside as I wait in awe at the entranceway. Dark polished wooden floors stand out against the pale blue colored walls. I wander into the lounge room that sits to the left of the entranceway. Right in front of the oversized flat screen is a fake, leather recliner that doesn't fit with the other furniture. It does look comfy though. I move through the other living areas downstairs. Five different rooms in total. Inside is femininely decorated with girly paintings of ocean landscapes and off-white lace curtains.

The kitchen is the room closest to the stairs. Its cupboards are painted in a mint color as is the old style fridge. From the kitchen, there are two doors that open to another porch. There is nothing there, other than pots with long-dead plants in them. It would have once been a nice place to eat. I could imagine it in summer, the flowers in full bloom, and a gentle breeze carrying the smell throughout the house. It would have been lovely.