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0:00My mother found out I was rich from a
0:01woman in her Bible study who works at a
0:03title company.
0:05The first thing she asked me on the
0:06phone was whether my little sister's new
0:08house had a guest room.
0:11The second thing she asked was which
0:12house.
0:13When I told her, the line went so still
0:16I could hear her refrigerator humming.
0:18Two weeks before that call, I had sat at
0:21her dinner table and asked her for $800.
0:25My name is Lindsey Wasniak. I'm 31. I'm
0:29a veterinary technician outside
0:31Columbus, Ohio, which means I spend most
0:33of my days holding frightened dogs still
0:36so they can get the shots that keep them
0:38alive.
0:39I'm very good at staying calm while
0:41something tries to bite me. Remember
0:43that because you're going to need it. If
0:46you've ever had a family laugh at you
0:48for asking for help, subscribe to Nexo
0:50stories and let me tell you about my
0:53Uncle Clint.
0:55My dad died 17 years ago on a Tuesday in
0:58March. Heart attack, 46 years old, in
1:02the driveway of 14 Sycamore Lane with a
1:0540-lb bag of road salt still in his
1:07arms.
1:08I was 14. My brother Dwayne was 17. My
1:12sister Jenna was 10.
1:15Within a year, Mom sold the house.
1:18She sat the three of us down at the
1:20kitchen table, the one dad built out of
1:23barn wood,
1:24and explained it in a voice so tired it
1:27sounded like gravel.
1:29"We can't keep it," she said.
1:32"Your father's brother has more money
1:33than God and he won't lift a finger.
1:37That's who Clint Wasniak is. He let us
1:39drown." She said that sentence so many
1:42times over the years that it stopped
1:44sounding like a sentence. It turned into
1:46furniture, something you walk around
1:49without seeing. He let us drown.
1:51We moved into a rented townhouse with
1:54thin walls and a parking lot instead of
1:56a yard. Dwayne got to finish his senior
1:58year at the private Catholic school
2:00across town because as Mom put it, it
2:04would be cruel to pull him out now.
2:06Then Dwayne went to Ohio University and
2:09Mom paid his tuition and when he turned
2:1221 there was a black pickup truck
2:14waiting in the parking lot with a bow on
2:16the hood.
2:18That same summer I turned 18. I had been
2:20accepted into a nursing program and I
2:23brought the letter to the kitchen table
2:25like a cat bringing in a bird.
2:27Mom read it, folded it in half, and slid
2:30it back to me.
2:32"There's nothing, Lindsey.
2:34Your brother's school took every cent.
2:36If your uncle wanted to fix this, he
2:39could do it with one check, but he'd
2:41rather sit on his money." So, I went to
2:44community college. I worked the front
2:46desk at an animal hospital in the
2:48mornings and stocked shelves at a
2:50grocery store at night and I wore
2:52Dwayne's old winter coat for three more
2:55winters because it was free.
2:57The left cuff was frayed and I used to
3:00chew on the loose threads on the bus
3:01without noticing.
3:03I still catch myself reaching for that
3:05cuff when I'm nervous and that coat has
3:07been gone for 10 years. I didn't become
3:10a nurse.
3:11I became a vet tech
3:14and I love it, honestly.
3:17Animals don't pretend. Jenna was the one
3:19who took the move hardest. She was 10.
3:23On the last day at Sycamore, she sat
3:25inside the pantry and wouldn't come out
3:27because the inside of the pantry door
3:29frame had our height marks on it in
3:31Dad's handwriting and she'd figured out
3:34the new people would probably paint over
3:36them.
3:37I sat on the floor outside the pantry
3:39with her for an hour.
3:41I didn't have anything wise to say. I
3:43was 14.
3:45I just stayed.
3:46I've been staying ever since.
3:48That's sort of my job in this family.
3:51Here's what you need to know about Uncle
3:53Clint.
3:54Nobody in my family visited him.
3:57Not once in 13 years.
4:00Then I did.
4:02When I was 27, I helped Mom clear out a
4:04storage unit before she moved into her
4:06condo.
4:08And in a box of Dad's things, I found
4:10his old address book. Under C, in his
4:13blocky handwriting, was Clint with a
4:16rural route outside Marietta, down in
4:18the hill country by the Ohio River.
4:21I sat on an upside-down bucket in that
4:24storage unit for a long time.
4:26Then I put the address book in my purse.
4:29What was I expecting? I asked myself
4:32that the whole 3-hour drive. A mean old
4:35man with a shotgun? A mansion behind a
4:37gate? What I found was a white farmhouse
4:40with peeling paint, a wood stovepipe
4:43puffing smoke, and an 80-year-old man
4:46splitting kindling on the porch in a
4:48flannel shirt with both elbows worn
4:50through.
4:52He looked up when my car door shut. He
4:54studied me for a long time.
4:57"You've got your daddy's ears," he said
4:59finally. "Lord, come in before you let
5:02the heat out."
5:04That was it.
5:06No speech.
5:08He made instant coffee, put a can of
5:10peaches on the table with two forks, and
5:13asked me what I did for a living.
5:16When I said vet tech, he nodded like
5:18that was the best answer anyone had ever
5:21given him.
5:22I went back the next month
5:24and the month after that. For 4 years,
5:27one Saturday a month, I drove down to
5:30Marietta and Clint taught me to play
5:31cribbage. And we argued about the
5:34Browns. And he told me stories about my
5:36dad as a little boy,
5:3818 years younger than him, following him
5:41around the barn like a duckling. He
5:43never talked about money. He drove a
5:45Buick older than my sister. I genuinely
5:48thought he was getting by on social
5:50security and stubbornness.
5:52Sometimes he'd ask about the family.
5:55I told him the truth because lying to
5:57Clint felt like lying in church.
5:59I told him about the townhouse, the
6:01nursing program, Dwayne's truck.
6:05He'd go quiet and tap his peg against
6:07the cribbage board.
6:08Once he said,
6:10"Your mother and I don't see things the
6:12same way. Maybe someday you ask her
6:15about me
6:16when you're ready to hear the answer."
6:19I didn't ask what that meant. I think I
6:21was scared of it. Another time, when I
6:24told him Dwayne had borrowed $2,000 from
6:27me for his business and then forgotten
6:29it existed, Clint laughed his dry little
6:32laugh.
6:34"Money tells you the truth about people,
6:36kiddo," he said.
6:37"Small money tells it faster." He died
6:40this past July in his chair by the
6:42window with the radio on. A neighbor
6:44found him. I got the call at work and I
6:46finished cleaning a cat's teeth before I
6:49let myself go out to my car and fall
6:51apart.
6:52The cat didn't deserve to suffer for my
6:54grief.
6:56I called Mom that night.
6:58"Clint died." She paused for maybe 1
7:01second.
7:03"Well, I'm sorry for you, I suppose,
7:05since you'd gotten so attached." So, she
7:08knew.
7:10I'd never told her I visited.
7:12Somebody must have mentioned it or maybe
7:15she'd seen the mileage on my car. My
7:17mother notices everything that could be
7:19useful to her. "The funeral's Saturday
7:21in Marietta. I was hoping you'd come."
7:23"I'm not driving 3 hours to cry over a
7:26man who let us drown." I called Dwayne
7:28next. He let the line hiss for a second
7:31before he snorted. "Did he leave
7:33anything? Like is there a coin
7:35collection or what?" "I don't know,
7:37Dwayne. He just died." "Okay, okay, just
7:40asking."
7:41Jenna came. She took the day off from
7:44the daycare where she works, drove down
7:46with me, and held my hand through the
7:48whole service at a little Methodist
7:50church with a dozen neighbors, the woman
7:53who ran the diner, and a man in a gray
7:55suit and a bow tie who introduced
7:57himself afterward as Felix, Clint's
8:00attorney. Felix called me 3 weeks later
8:03and asked me to come to his office above
8:05a hardware store in downtown Marietta.
8:07He had a folder on his desk and he
8:09waited until I sat down.
8:12"Your uncle left you everything,
8:13Lindsey," he said. "The land, the
8:16mineral rights, the royalty accounts,
8:18the investments.
8:20Once it's all valued, you're looking at
8:22roughly $42 million." dollars.
8:25I laughed. I actually laughed out loud
8:27because I thought it was a mistake or a
8:30very strange joke. Felix didn't laugh.
8:33He explained it slowly.
8:35"Back in the '70s, Clint had bought 600
8:38acres of steep, rocky hill land nobody
8:41wanted for almost nothing. 40 years
8:44later, the gas companies came through
8:46eastern Ohio with their drilling rigs,
8:48and suddenly those useless hills were
8:50sitting on top of something everyone
8:52wanted very badly."
8:54"Clint signed leases. The royalty checks
8:56came every month. He put almost all of
8:59it into bonds and index funds and never
9:01touched it.
9:03He lived on about 30,000 a year," Felix
9:05said. "He told me once that he was
9:08saving it for somebody who came.
9:10Somebody who came."
9:12Then Felix lifted a cardboard box onto
9:15the desk. It was sealed with packing
9:17tape and across the top, in Clint's
9:20shaky capital letters, it said, "For
9:23Lindsey, when she needs it."
9:26"He was specific," Felix said. "He said
9:29you'd know when."
9:31I carried that box to my car. My hands
9:34were shaking so badly I couldn't get the
9:36key into the ignition, and I sat in the
9:39parking lot behind the hardware store
9:41for 20 minutes with the box on the
9:43passenger seat like a passenger.
9:46I didn't open it.
9:47Why not? I asked myself that the whole
9:50drive home, and the honest answer was
9:53that as long as the box was sealed,
9:55there was still something of Clint I
9:57hadn't heard yet. Opening it would make
9:59him finished.
10:00So it went on the top shelf of my hall
10:03closet next to my winter boots.
10:06For a week, I didn't tell anyone except
10:09Jenna's goldfish, who I was feeding
10:11while she and Lamar were at a teacher's
10:12conference. I kept picturing telling
10:15Mom. I could see it perfectly. Her face
10:18would light up. She would hug me. She'd
10:21call me her smart girl. And then within
10:24an hour, there would be a list.
10:27The condo needs a new roof. Dwayne's
10:29business needs a loan. Your cousin's
10:31wedding needs a sponsor. And I would
10:33never ever know what she actually
10:36thought of me.
10:38Small money tells it faster. I told
10:40myself it would be one test, one simple
10:43ask, the kind any family handles without
10:46blinking.
10:47If they passed, I'd tell them everything
10:50that same night, and we'd all cry and
10:52order pizza.
10:54The first Sunday in September, I drove
10:57to Mom's condo for family dinner. Dwayne
10:59was already there with his wife Tracy,
11:02who has perfect nails and a laugh like a
11:04car alarm.
11:05Jenna and Lamar came in right after me.
11:08Lamar teaches high school chemistry.
11:11He's 6'4", and he always brings a
11:14dessert he made himself, even though
11:16nobody ever asks him to. Mom had made
11:19pot roast. Before anyone could pick up a
11:22fork, Dwayne propped his tablet against
11:24the gravy boat. "Okay, big news.
11:27Sycamore's on the market."
11:30Jenna's fork stopped halfway to her
11:32plate.
11:33Our Sycamore?
11:3514 Sycamore Lane.
11:37Listed at 460.
11:40The lady who bought it from Mom is
11:42moving to Arizona to be near her
11:44daughter.
11:45We're offering 440.
11:48He swiped to a drawing.
11:50Here's the play. We knock the house
11:51down, split the lot, put up two new
11:54builds, sell each one for 650.
11:57Wozniak Home Renovations biggest project
12:00ever.
12:01We? I asked. Mom smoothed her napkin.
12:05I'm going in with your brother. I signed
12:07on the condo Friday. Cash buyer, no
12:10contingencies, closing the end of the
12:12month. It makes our offer strong.
12:15You sold your home, I said, before you
12:18have the other house. It's called
12:20confidence, Lindsey. Jenna was staring
12:22at the screen. You'd knock it down?
12:25Dad built that porch. Mom, the pantry
12:28door. Our marks. Jenna, honey, it's a
12:31teardown with a nice yard. Lamar and I
12:34could rent it from you. We'd take care
12:36of it. We'd pay whatever the mortgage
12:38is.
12:39Dwayne laughed out loud. Rent it? Jen,
12:43you work at a daycare. He teaches 10th
12:45graders how not to set their eyebrows on
12:47fire.
12:48You can't afford the property tax on
12:50that thing. Lamar put his hand over
12:53Jenna's on the table and said nothing.
12:55I liked him a lot right then.
12:58Sentiment doesn't pay the bills,
12:59sweetheart, Mom said. Your father would
13:02understand. My father wouldn't have
13:04understood. My father carved his
13:07initials under the porch railing. I
13:09waited until Mom was carving the second
13:11plate of roast. Then I said it the way
13:14I'd practiced it in the car.
13:16I need to ask something.
13:18The clinic cut my hours this month. I'm
13:21800 short on rent. I'd pay it back by
13:24November.
13:25Mom didn't look up from the knife. Ask
13:28your brother.
13:30Dwayne leaned back in his chair, put
13:32both hands behind his head, and laughed.
13:35Maybe get a better job, Lyns. I've been
13:37telling you for 10 years, animals don't
13:40tip.
13:41Tracy snorted into her wine.
13:44Mom smiled a little, the way you smile
13:46at a puppy that keeps running into a
13:48glass door.
13:49I could have ended the whole dinner with
13:51one sentence right there.
13:53I could feel the sentence sitting in my
13:55mouth like a hard candy.
13:57I didn't say it. Not because I was
14:00scared, because I wanted to see the
14:02whole thing, start to finish. When you
14:05only see half a test, you only learn
14:07half the answer.
14:09At your age, I had three kids and a
14:11mortgage, Mom added.
14:13I remember, Mom. I lived in the house.
14:17I could hire you to sweep job sites,
14:19Dwayne offered. 14 an hour, cash.
14:23That's generous. Let me think about it,
14:25right after you learn to spell
14:27demolition without spell check on your
14:29invoices.
14:31Lamar coughed very hard into his napkin.
14:34Dwayne's ears went red. Mom pointed her
14:37carving fork at me.
14:39Don't be ugly at my table just because
14:41you're struggling.
14:42I'm not being ugly. I asked for help,
14:45and I got two answers. That's all I
14:47needed. Can you pass the carrots? She
14:50passed the carrots. I ate my dinner. I
14:53even had a slice of Lamar's pear tart,
14:55which was excellent. And the whole time
14:58under the table, I was rubbing my thumb
15:00against the side of my finger, the way I
15:02used to chew that frayed coat cuff.
15:05Out in the parking lot, Jenna caught my
15:07elbow. Lindsay, wait. Let me figure
15:10something out, okay? Don't panic about
15:12the rent. Jen, it's fine. I'll handle
15:15it. Don't do that. Don't say it's fine
15:17with that face.
15:19At 7:00 in next morning, someone knocked
15:21on my apartment door.
15:23I opened it in my scrubs with a
15:25toothbrush in my mouth, and there was my
15:27little sister holding a white garment
15:29bag over her arm like she was delivering
15:32a body.
15:33"Don't be mad," she said, and squeezed
15:35past me toward the kitchen before I
15:37could ask why.
15:39She laid the bag across my table and
15:41unzipped it a few inches.
15:44Ivory lace, long sleeves. I knew that
15:47dress.
15:48She bought it in March with 2 years of
15:51savings.
15:52$2,100.
15:55And she'd cried in the fitting room and
15:57sent me 11 photos.
16:00"There's a consignment shop in
16:01Clintonville," she said, very fast, like
16:05if she slowed down she'd lose her nerve.
16:08The woman looked at the pictures and
16:10said she'd give me 900 today because
16:14it's this season's. That's your 800 plus
16:17gas money.
16:18I'll find another dress.
16:20Lots of people get married in
16:22sundresses. It's very in right now.
16:25Lamar won't care.
16:26He says he'd marry me in a trash bag.
16:30Jenna, I'm not asking. I already
16:32decided.
16:34Jenna, put it down.
16:36She was already zipping it back up.
16:39I put both my hands flat on top of the
16:41bag and held it to the table.
16:44She tugged once.
16:46I didn't let go. It's a dress, Lindsey.
16:48You're my sister. And that was it. That
16:51was the test, finished.
16:53The person in my family with the least
16:55money was the only one who passed, and
16:57she didn't even know she was taking it.
17:00My throat closed up. I'm not a crier,
17:03mostly. I cry about old dogs, but I
17:06stood in my kitchen holding my sister's
17:08wedding dress against the table, and I
17:10couldn't talk for a second, and Jenna's
17:12face went from stubborn to frightened.
17:14"Hey, hey, what's wrong? Are you sick?
17:17Is it worse than rent?
17:18I don't need the money, Jen.
17:21What?
17:22I didn't need it last night, either.
17:24I have the money. I have a lot of money.
17:27I let go of the bag and sat down. Uncle
17:30Clint left me everything. She laughed, a
17:33little bark of a laugh. Uncle Clint, the
17:36miser.
17:37He wasn't a miser, Lindsey. He lived in
17:40a farmhouse with a wood stove.
17:42He lived in a farmhouse with a wood
17:44stove and 42 million dollars.
17:48She sat down hard across from me. She
17:51looked at the dress. She looked at me.
17:53Then she covered her mouth with both
17:55hands and a laugh came out of her that
17:57broke halfway into a sob. And I made
18:00coffee because I didn't know what else
18:02to do with my hands. You tested them,
18:04she said finally.
18:06Last night. That was a test. Yes, and
18:10they failed spectacularly. And I She
18:13looked at the garment bag and covered
18:15her mouth.
18:16You were going to sell your wedding
18:17dress to cover my rent. So now you're
18:20going to let me do something and you're
18:21not allowed to argue.
18:23I'm absolutely allowed to argue.
18:26Okay, then answer one question first.
18:29If you could have anything
18:31not a thing you'd be embarrassed to ask
18:33for, the real thing. She shook her head.
18:36Don't do that. Just answer. She was
18:37quiet for a long time.
18:40She turned her coffee mug in circles on
18:42the table. I don't want them to knock it
18:44down, she whispered. I don't want dad's
18:47porch in a dumpster.
18:49I don't want somebody to run a bulldozer
18:51through the pantry.
18:52That's all. That's stupid. That's a
18:55stupid thing to want. It's not stupid.
18:58Mom's offer is in. Dwayne said they're
19:00putting it in today.
19:02Mom's offer is 20,000 under asking. From
19:05a man who thinks it's a teardown. She
19:07stared at me.
19:09Lindsey.
19:10No, Lindsey.
19:12Yes, mom will lose her mind. She'll
19:14never forgive me." I thought about that
19:16for a second. Was I about to blow up my
19:18family?
19:19I asked myself that honestly, sitting
19:21there.
19:22And the answer I gave myself was that I
19:24wasn't blowing up anything.
19:27I was just declining to hand my brother
19:29a sledgehammer.
19:30"Mom has had 17 years to forgive
19:32people," I said. "She can take a number.
19:36Let me worry about Mom."
19:38"Why would it be in my name?" "You
19:39bought it."
19:41"Because you're the one who sat in the
19:43pantry." She didn't have an answer for
19:45that. She just reached across the table
19:48and squeezed my wrist hard enough to
19:49leave marks.
19:51I called Felix from my kitchen with
19:52Jenna listening on speaker.
19:55"I need to buy a house," I said, "in
19:57Columbus. There's another offer on it, a
20:00low one."
20:01"How fast?" "Faster than my brother."
20:04Felix made a small, satisfied noise,
20:07like a man who'd been waiting 4 years
20:09for something interesting to happen.
20:11"Cash."
20:12"Full price plus some. No inspection.
20:16Close in 10 days.
20:18My office acts for the buyer, so the
20:21seller sees my name, not yours."
20:24"What number?"
20:25I looked at Jenna. "510."
20:28Jenna whispered.
20:29"Lindsey, that's $50,000 more than"
20:34"I know what it is."
20:36Then I hung up, went to work, and held a
20:38German Shepherd for a nail trim.
20:41The dog didn't care about any of it. The
20:43seller accepted on Tuesday afternoon.
20:46Felix told me she'd read the offer twice
20:49and asked him only one question, which
20:51was whether the buyer planned to tear
20:53the house down. He'd said no. The buyer
20:56planned to live in it. She signed within
20:58the hour. On Wednesday morning, the
21:00family group text lit up while I was in
21:03the middle of drawing blood from a very
21:05offended beagle.
21:06Mom wrote,
21:08Lost Sycamore. Some cash buyer, probably
21:11a hedge fund, this country.
21:14Then Dwayne, realtor says they came in
21:17at 5:10, no inspection. Who does that?
21:20Psychos.
21:22Then Mom again, and I've already signed
21:25on the condo, 30 days, Lord help me.
21:28Jenna sent a single sad face emoji,
21:31which for the record is the most
21:33dishonest thing my sister has ever done.
21:36I didn't respond. I put my phone in my
21:38locker and finished my shift. That night
21:41Dwayne called. Not to me. He called his
21:45realtor, and his realtor called the
21:47listing agent, and the listing agent
21:49said the buyer was represented by an
21:51attorney's office in Marietta. Dwayne
21:53repeated this to Mom, and Mom repeated
21:56it to Jenna, and Jenna repeated it to
21:58me, almost choking.
22:00Marietta, Jenna said.
22:03He said Marietta, Lindsey.
22:06And Mom just said, "Huh.
22:08Weird." And changed the subject to
22:10whether Tracy was gaining weight.
22:13They're not going to connect it.
22:15How are they not going to connect it?
22:17Because in their heads, I'm the one who
22:19can't pay rent.
22:21Mom called me on Thursday.
22:23"I need you to come help me pack the
22:24condo this weekend," she said, as if we
22:27had last spoken about the weather.
22:29"Since your hours are cut, you'll have
22:31time."
22:33I'm busy this weekend.
22:35"Doing what?"
22:37Working on getting a better job.
22:40There was a little pause, the kind where
22:42my mother decides whether she's been
22:44insulted. "Well, you don't have to be
22:46smart about it. I'm under a lot of
22:48stress, Lindsey. I sold my home for this
22:51deal. Your brother already paid an
22:53architect $6,000 for the lot split
22:56plans. Now I have to find somewhere to
22:58live in 3 weeks, and you can't spare a
23:01Saturday. Where are you going to live?
23:04Dwayne says I can stay in their basement
23:06until we find another property. Tracy's
23:08thrilled, I'm sure.
23:10I almost felt sorry for her.
23:13Almost.
23:14Then I remembered her not looking up
23:16from the roast.
23:18Good luck with the packing, Mom.
23:20That's all you have to say?
23:23That's all I have time to say. I have a
23:25patient.
23:27I did not have a patient.
23:29I was sitting in my car in the clinic
23:30parking lot eating a granola bar.
23:33But somewhere a dog needed me. I'm sure
23:35of it. We closed 10 days after the
23:38seller signed, on a Friday morning at a
23:40title office in Worthington with gray
23:43carpet and a bowl of butterscotch
23:45candies on the table.
23:47Jenna signed her name 41 times. I
23:49counted. Lamar sat beside her in his one
23:52good blazer, holding her coffee and
23:55looking as if he might pass out. Felix
23:57had driven up from Marietta and wore a
23:59bow tie with little pheasants on it.
24:01The notary was a woman in her late 50s
24:04with a stack of rubber bands around one
24:06wrist.
24:07She stamped the deed, glanced at the
24:09name, and looked up.
24:11Wozniak.
24:12Any relation to Hattie Wozniak? She's in
24:15my Wednesday Bible study.
24:17Jenna went pale. She's my mom.
24:20Oh, how wonderful. She must be so proud.
24:23I watched that woman's face and thought,
24:26well, the clock just started. And I told
24:29myself I wasn't going to hide from it.
24:32We hadn't done anything wrong. Let it
24:35come. She'll have a lot to say about it,
24:37I said. And the notary smiled at me like
24:40I'd said something sweet.
24:42After closing, we drove straight to
24:45Sycamore. The keys were waiting on the
24:47kitchen counter, taped to an index card
24:50in the seller's shaky print, "Take good
24:52care of her."
24:54The furnace makes a the in January.
24:56Ignore it. Jenna stood on the porch for
24:59a long time without going inside. She
25:02ran her hand along the railing until she
25:04found the spot underneath, near the
25:06corner post, where you can feel two
25:09letters carved into the wood. She didn't
25:11have to look. Neither did I.
25:14Dad carved them the summer he built it
25:17when I was six
25:18and he let me hold the pocketknife while
25:21he blew the sawdust out.
25:23It's still here, Jenna said.
25:26It's still here.
25:28Inside the walls were a different color
25:31and the carpet was gone, replaced by
25:33wood floors.
25:35But the house still had that same shape,
25:37the way the light comes in sideways
25:39through the kitchen window at 4:00 in
25:41the afternoon, the stair that creaks
25:43third from the top.
25:46Jenna went straight to the pantry. I let
25:48her go alone first. Some things you have
25:51to walk into by yourself.
25:53Then I heard her make a sound I hadn't
25:56heard since she was 10.
25:58I went in.
25:59The inside of the door frame had been
26:01painted white like the rest of the
26:02kitchen,
26:03everywhere except for a narrow strip
26:06about 2 in wide, from the floor to about
26:095 ft up.
26:10That strip was the old color and on it,
26:14in faded pencil, were our marks.
26:17Dwayne, 12. Lynn's, 8. Jenna, 5. And on
26:22and on up the frame, the lines creeping
26:26higher until the last ones. Lynn's, 13.
26:30Jenna, 9 and 1/2.
26:32In Dad's handwriting.
26:35The seller had painted around them.
26:38For 16 years, a stranger had painted
26:41around our marks. Jenna sat down on the
26:43pantry floor exactly where she'd sat 16
26:46years earlier.
26:48I sat down outside the pantry door
26:50exactly where I'd sat.
26:52Lamar quietly went out to the porch and
26:55let us have it. "I didn't think I'd ever
26:57see them again." she said.
26:59"I know."
27:01"Do you think he knows?"
27:04I didn't know if she meant Dad or Clint.
27:06I decided it didn't matter.
27:09"Yeah, Jen."
27:11"I think he knows." Felix left that
27:13afternoon.
27:15Before he got in his car, he shook my
27:16hand and nodded toward my hall closet as
27:19if he could see it from 40 miles away.
27:22"Have you opened the box yet?" "Not
27:24yet." "I suspect you'll want to soon."
27:27he said. "Call me when you do." Two
27:29weeks to the day after I asked my mother
27:32for $800, I was folding laundry on my
27:35couch when she called. It was Sunday
27:37afternoon, right after church. Her voice
27:40was bright and fizzy, like a shaken
27:42soda.
27:43"Why didn't anyone tell me Lamar's
27:45family had money?"
27:47I set down the towel I was folding. "Hi,
27:49Mom."
27:50"Don't hi, Mom me."
27:52"Linda from Bible study came up to me
27:54after the service and said she notarized
27:56a deed for Jenna on Friday.
27:58A cash purchase. She said, 'Hattie, you
28:01must be over the moon.' And I stood
28:03there smiling like a fool because my own
28:06daughter didn't tell me she bought a
28:07house.
28:09Jenna's not answering, of course. So,
28:12you tell me, where is it? How many
28:15bedrooms?"
28:16"Four bedrooms." I said. "One and a half
28:19baths. A porch that wraps around the
28:21front. Four bedrooms." she breathed out.
28:25"Oh, that's perfect. You know my condo
28:27closes in 9 days. Dwayne's basement has
28:30a water heater that sounds like a train.
28:33If Jenna has a guest room, there's no
28:35reason for me to Lamar's family didn't
28:37buy it, Mom." "Then who did?" "I did."
28:41She laughed, a real laugh, warm, almost
28:44fond.
28:45The laugh you'd give a child who says
28:47going to be an astronaut.
28:49With what, Lindsay? You couldn't cover
28:51your rent.
28:52I could always cover my rent.
28:54The laugh trailed off. What does that
28:56mean?
28:58It means I asked you for $800 to find
29:01out what you'd say.
29:03And you told me you lied to your own
29:05mother?
29:06I asked my own mother for help. The lie
29:08was hers.
29:10She said,
29:11"Ask your brother."
29:13There was a long pause.
29:15I could hear her breathing.
29:18I could hear the clock in her kitchen
29:19that dad bought at a yard sale. Then her
29:21voice came back, thin and careful, like
29:24she was walking across ice.
29:27"Which house, Lindsay?"
29:2914 Sycamore Lane. And that's when the
29:32line went so still I could hear her
29:34refrigerator humming. 10 seconds, 15 I
29:38counted. I didn't fill the silence for
29:40her.
29:41I'd spent my whole life filling silences
29:43for this woman.
29:44>> That's not funny.
29:46>> It's not supposed to be funny.
29:48It's supposed to be true.
29:49>> You bought my house? You bought it out
29:52from under me and your brother.
29:54>> It stopped being your house 16 years ago
29:56when you sold it. And it was never going
29:59to be your house this time. It was going
30:01to be a dumpster and two new builds.
30:03Where did you get $500,000?
30:06I looked at the hall closet,
30:09at the box on the shelf, still sealed.
30:12From the man you told us let us drown.
30:15Then I hung up.
30:17I dropped the phone onto the couch
30:18cushion and kept folding laundry,
30:21matching socks one pair at a time until
30:24my hands stopped shaking.
30:26And if you think my mother took that
30:28quietly, you haven't met my mother.
30:31Hit subscribe to Nexo stories right now
30:34because what she did in the next 48
30:36hours is the reason I finally opened
30:39that box. Within an hour I had 11 missed
30:42calls.
30:43Six from Mom, four from Dwayne, and one
30:47from Tracy, which was strange because
30:50Tracy had called me exactly zero times
30:53in eight years of marriage to my
30:54brother.
30:56Dwayne's voicemail was a masterpiece.
31:00Lynn's, "Call me back. I don't know what
31:03kind of game you're playing, but if
31:04you're fronting for somebody, some
31:06investor, you need to tell me right now
31:09because there are legal issues here,
31:10okay? Call me back." Fronting for
31:13somebody? My brother would honestly
31:15sooner believe I was laundering money
31:17for a cartel than believe a dying man
31:20liked me best. He didn't wait for me to
31:22call back. By that night, he'd found the
31:25probate filing in Washington County
31:27because Clint's will was public record.
31:30And he dropped a screenshot into the
31:32family group text with no message at
31:34all.
31:35Just the screenshot.
31:37The line he'd circled in red said the
31:39sole beneficiary was Lindsey Wozniack.
31:43Then Mom wrote, "So it's true. You went
31:46down there and worked on a sick, lonely
31:48old man for four years while your family
31:51struggled."
31:52"I'm sick. I'm physically sick."
31:55Then Dwayne,
31:57"Undue influence. Look it up. We're
31:59talking to a lawyer tomorrow." Jenna
32:01wrote, "Mom, that's not fair and you
32:04know it." Mom wrote back, "Don't you
32:06dare. You were in on it, both of you.
32:09Sneaking around behind my back like
32:11criminals." By Monday morning, Mom had
32:14posted on Facebook.
32:15She didn't use my name. She didn't need
32:18to. When an elderly man is isolated and
32:20manipulated by a relative who barely
32:22knew him, while the family he abandoned
32:25is left with nothing, what do you call
32:27that?
32:28I call it evil.
32:30Pray for my family.
32:32She got 84 comments. My mother's
32:35cousins, women from church, a man I'm
32:38fairly sure sold her a car once.
32:41My phone buzzed all day with numbers I
32:43hadn't seen in years.
32:45An aunt by marriage asked me, very
32:47gently, if I'd considered that God might
32:50want me to share.
32:52A cousin I'd met twice told me she'd
32:55always known I was the sneaky one.
32:58I didn't reply to any of them.
33:00Not because I was hiding,
33:02because I was deciding.
33:05On Tuesday, Dwayne showed up at the
33:07clinic. He came through the lobby in his
33:09navy company polo, the one with Wozniak
33:12Home Renovations stitched on the chest,
33:15and stood at the front desk loud enough
33:17that the waiting room went quiet.
33:19A woman holding a cat carrier scooted
33:22her chair away from him.
33:23Lindsay.
33:25Out here. Now, I came out from the back
33:27in my scrubs, peeling off my gloves.
33:31I'm working, Dwayne.
33:33You conned an old man. You know that,
33:35right? You found out he had money, and
33:38you went down there with your little
33:39casseroles. I didn't know he had money.
33:42I found out the same week you did. I
33:44just found out from his lawyer instead
33:46of from Google. That's family money.
33:49That was dad's family's money.
33:52Dad never had a dime of it. Clint bought
33:54that land when Dad was in grade school.
33:57The gas came 30 years later. "Undue
33:59influence," he said, stabbing his finger
34:02at me.
34:03We've got a lawyer.
34:05You'll be in court for 5 years. You'll
34:07spend half of it on attorneys.
34:10Then I'll be in court for 5 years with
34:12$42 million, Dwayne.
34:14And you'll be in court with an
34:16architect's bill for a lot split on a
34:18house you don't own.
34:20His jaw dropped open. In the corner of
34:22the lobby, a Great Dane named Moose, who
34:25weighs about 150 lb and is a very good
34:28boy,
34:29stood up and stared at my brother and
34:31made a low noise like distant thunder.
34:35My clinic manager stepped out from
34:36behind the desk. Sir, I'm going to ask
34:40you to leave.
34:41This is a family matter. Then take it
34:43home. This is a hospital. He left. He
34:46did it slowly so it wouldn't look like
34:48leaving, but he left.
34:51Moose lay back down and his owner gave
34:53me a thumbs up.
34:55Here's what I couldn't stop thinking
34:57about the whole drive home.
34:59Something Mom had written.
35:02The family he abandoned.
35:04Clint had said, "Maybe someday you ask
35:07her about me when you're ready to hear
35:09the answer."
35:11Was I ready?
35:13I asked myself that at every red light.
35:15And at the last one, I finally answered
35:18myself honestly.
35:20No.
35:22But I was out of time to be not ready.
35:25That night I took the box down from the
35:27hall closet.
35:29I set it on my kitchen table,
35:31slit the brittle tape with a steak
35:33knife, and folded the flaps back.
35:36I read every single page.
35:38Some of them twice. By the time I put
35:41the last one down, my legs had gone numb
35:44from sitting on the tile. My tea had a
35:46skin on it, and the window over the sink
35:49was turning gray.
35:51I'd been chewing the side of my thumb so
35:53long it was bleeding a little.
35:55I didn't cry.
35:57I thought I would. Instead, I felt very
35:59cold and very clear.
36:02The way you feel when you finally hear
36:04the diagnosis you'd been dreading. At
36:06least now there's a name for it. At 6:00
36:08in the morning I called Jenna. "Are you
36:10okay?
36:11You sound weird." "I'm okay. I need you
36:13to trust me for one more week. Can you
36:15do that?" "Lindsay, what's in the box?"
36:19"One more week, Jen." She was quiet.
36:22Then, "Okay. One more week."
36:26At 8:00 I called Felix. "You opened it,"
36:28he said before I said a word. "Did you
36:31know what was in it?"
36:33"I knew some of it. He made me promise
36:35never to tell you. He said it had to be
36:37your choice to look. Is it enough if
36:40they file?"
36:41Felix let out a long breath.
36:44"If your mother contests that will,
36:45Lindsay, every page in that box becomes
36:48evidence in open court. I'd want to see
36:50the look on her lawyer's face when he
36:52reads them.
36:53But I suspect you'd rather she heard it
36:55from you."
36:56Before the next part, just so you know,
36:59we drop three different stories on
37:00Spotify every day. Stories you won't
37:03hear on YouTube. On Wednesday, Mom sent
37:06her terms. She typed them in the group
37:08chat like a ransom note, and I'm fairly
37:11sure Dwayne wrote half of them. "We are
37:13willing to settle this as a family
37:15without lawyers in front of people who
37:18love us. First, the inheritance gets
37:20divided equally between all three of my
37:23children. Second, the Sycamore is deeded
37:26to me as the home I made for this
37:28family. If you refuse, we file on
37:31Monday. Your choice, Lindsay."
37:34Jenna called me 30 seconds later. "Are
37:36you seeing this?" "I'm seeing it."
37:39"In front of people who love us?"
37:41"Who does she mean?"
37:43"She means an audience."
37:45"Lindsay, please don't give her the
37:46house."
37:47"Jen, I'm not giving anyone your house."
37:51I typed one reply into the group chat.
37:55"Fine. Sunday at 2:00. 14 Sycamore Lane.
37:58Bring whoever you want."
38:00Mom sent back a single heart.
38:03Dwayne sent "Smart girl."
38:06I could practically hear him high-fiving
38:07himself through the phone.
38:10Jenna was horrified.
38:11"At my house? You invited her to my
38:14house?"
38:15"Where else?"
38:16"She wants to talk about who it belongs
38:18to."
38:19"Let her talk about it standing in it."
38:21Lamar, who'd been listening on speaker,
38:24said, "I'll make coffee, a big pot, and
38:27I'll borrow folding chairs from school."
38:30That's Lamar. The world could be ending,
38:32and he'd show up with chairs.
38:35On Friday night, my phone rang, and it
38:37was Tracy.
38:38I almost didn't answer.
38:40"Don't hang up," she said.
38:43Her voice was different without the wine
38:45laugh, smaller.
38:47"I just want you to know what's coming
38:48Sunday. Okay. Hattie's bringing her two
38:51cousins from Zanesville and the pastor's
38:53wife from her church,
38:55and Linda, the notary.
38:57She wants witnesses.
38:59Dwayne had his lawyer type up a paper
39:01for you to sign.
39:02Equal shares, house to Hattie, and you
39:05agree not to talk about any of it on
39:07social media."
39:09"Why are you telling me this, Tracy?"
39:11There was a long pause. "Because she's
39:13moving into my basement on Tuesday, and
39:15because Dwayne lost $6,000 on those
39:18plans, and he's never once said that was
39:21his fault, and because when you asked
39:23for that $800, I laughed." She cleared
39:26her throat. "I didn't laugh because it
39:28was funny. I laughed because that's what
39:31you do in that family. You laugh when
39:33Hattie laughs. I've been doing it for 8
39:35years, and I'm tired."
39:38I had no answer ready for that.
39:41"Thank you for calling."
39:43"Don't thank me yet.
39:44Just be ready."
39:46"I'm ready."
39:48And I was.
39:50Because I'd learned something from my
39:51mother, after all.
39:53You don't walk into a room without
39:54knowing exactly what's in your hands.
39:57Sunday came, gray and windy. Lamar set
40:00up 12 folding chairs in the living room
40:02at Sycamore, with the coffee pot on a
40:05card table, and a plate of his lemon
40:07bars that nobody would end up touching.
40:11Felix drove up from Marietta and sat
40:13quietly in the corner in a plain blue
40:16tie, no pheasants.
40:19Jenna kept smoothing the same couch
40:21cushion over and over. The box sat on
40:24the coffee table, closed.
40:26At 2:00 exactly, Mom walked through the
40:29front door without knocking. Behind her
40:31came Dwayne with a manila folder, then
40:34Tracy, then two older women in matching
40:37church sweaters who I vaguely remembered
40:39from a 4th of July in the '90s,
40:42then the pastor's wife holding her purse
40:44with both hands, and finally Linda the
40:47notary who looked like she had just
40:49figured out what she'd walked into and
40:51was deeply regretting it. Mom stopped in
40:53the hallway and put her hand on the
40:55banister.
40:56She looked up the staircase and for 1
40:58second her face was something I almost
41:00recognized, then it was gone.
41:03"They painted," she said. "I picked that
41:05wallpaper."
41:07"The seller's records say it came down
41:09in 2012," I said.
41:11"Sit down, Mom. There's coffee."
41:14She didn't sit. She stood in the center
41:16of the room, right where our Christmas
41:18tree used to go, and waited until
41:21everyone else was seated. Then she
41:24began. "I want to thank you all for
41:25coming.
41:26This isn't easy for me."
41:29She pressed a tissue to her nose, which
41:30was completely dry. "17 years ago, I
41:34stood in this very house, a widow with
41:36three children, and my husband's
41:38brother, a man with more money than all
41:41of us put together, shook my hand at the
41:43funeral and drove away. He never helped,
41:46not once. Not a card, not a phone call,
41:50not $1.
41:51I sold this house because I had to. I
41:54worked and I sacrificed, and I raised
41:57these three alone." The cousins nodded.
42:00The pastor's wife made a sympathetic
42:02little noise,
42:03and then Mom went on.
42:05"My middle child found that bitter,
42:07lonely old man, and she went down there
42:10month after month behind my back, And
42:13now he's left her a fortune, and she
42:15bought my home out from under me.
42:17I'm not asking for anything
42:19unreasonable.
42:20I'm asking her to share what should have
42:22been ours all along. I'm asking her to
42:25do the Christian thing.
42:27"Families share their blessings." The
42:30pastor's wife said softly.
42:32Dwayne stood up and opened the folder.
42:36"We've drafted something simple.
42:38Equal three-way split. The house to Mom.
42:42Lindsay keeps her share.
42:44And we all move on.
42:45Nobody has to go to court."
42:48He held a pen out to me.
42:50"Sign it, Lins, and this is over today."
42:55I didn't take the pen.
42:57"Mom," I said, "when did Uncle Clint
43:00abandon us?" She blinked. "I just told
43:03you. The day of the funeral." "He never
43:05sent anything? Not once? Not one
43:08dollar?" "I wouldn't remember, Lindsay."
43:12"Okay," I said.
43:15"Then I'd like everyone to help me with
43:16something.
43:18Because I think you're going to want to
43:19remember." I opened the box. On top was
43:23a thick stack of canceled checks
43:26held together by rubber bands, one
43:28bundle per year.
43:31The bank used to mail them back. And
43:33Clint kept every single one. I took the
43:36first check off the first bundle and
43:39held it up so the cousins in the back
43:40could see. This is dated April. The
43:43month after Dad died. $1,500.
43:48Made out to Hattie Wozniak. The memo
43:51line says, "For the kids.
43:53School and shoes and whatever they
43:56need." And on the back,
43:58here's the endorsement. That's your
44:01signature, Mom.
44:02I'd know it anywhere. You signed every
44:05one of my report cards with it. Nobody
44:07moved. "There are 96 of these," I said,
44:11"one every month for 8 years until the
44:13month Jenna turned 18."
44:16"96 * $1,500.
44:19That's $144,000.
44:22Every single one is endorsed by you and
44:24deposited." "Those were," Mom started,
44:27"he owed"
44:28"I'm not done."
44:30I pulled out one more check. This one
44:32was alone in a plastic sleeve.
44:35"$40,000
44:37made out to you. Dated the month I
44:39turned 18. The memo line says, 'Lindsay,
44:43college.'"
44:44I set it down on the coffee table right
44:46in front of her.
44:48I brought my acceptance letter to the
44:49kitchen table in the townhouse. "Mom,
44:52you folded it in half. You said there's
44:55nothing. You said if my uncle wanted to
44:57fix it, he could fix it with one check."
45:00My voice wobbled once, right there, and
45:02I let it.
45:04I wasn't going to pretend it didn't
45:05hurt. I'd worn that coat for three
45:08winters.
45:09"He did fix it with one check. You
45:11cashed it." Dwayne was staring at the
45:14check.
45:15"That summer," he said slowly,
45:18"my truck"
45:19"You paid cash for my truck that
45:21summer."
45:22Mom turned toward him.
45:24"Dwayne, honey,
45:25you told me it was Dad's life
45:27insurance."
45:28"Some of it was." "There wasn't any life
45:31insurance," I said.
45:33"Dad let it lapse when the plant cut his
45:35overtime.
45:36You told me that yourself the night of
45:38the funeral.
45:39You were crying about it in the laundry
45:41room. I was 14. I remember everything."
45:45Tracy turned in her chair and looked at
45:47her husband.
45:48"You told me your uncle never gave your
45:50family a dime. You told me that at our
45:52wedding. You made a toast about
45:54self-made men."
45:56Dwayne didn't answer her.
45:57He'd sat back down, the pen still in his
46:00hand.
46:01"Those checks don't prove anything," Mom
46:03said, and her voice had gone high and
46:06fast.
46:07He was guilty.
46:08He knew he hadn't been there for his
46:10brother.
46:11"That money was conscience money, and I
46:14was the parent, and I decided how to
46:16spend it.
46:17That's what parents do."
46:19"Then why did he stop coming around?" I
46:21asked. "Why did none of us see him for
46:2413 years?" "Because he didn't want to
46:27see you." I reached into the box one
46:29more time.
46:31Under the checks was a single sheet of
46:33blue stationery, folded in thirds, with
46:36flowers printed in the corner.
46:38I knew that stationery.
46:41It used to live in the drawer by the
46:42phone. "I'm going to read this out
46:44loud," I said. "It's in your
46:46handwriting, Mom.
46:48It's dated 2 weeks after the funeral."
46:51"Lindsey, don't you dare."
46:54I read it.
46:56Clint,
46:57the children have made it clear they
46:59don't want you in their lives.
47:01They blame you,
47:03and frankly, so do I.
47:05Please don't call,
47:07don't write, and don't come to the
47:09house.
47:10It only upsets them. If you want to do
47:12right by your brother, send what you can
47:15to me,
47:16and I will make sure it's used properly.
47:19Hattie. The pastor's wife set her purse
47:21down on the floor very slowly,
47:24as if it had become heavy.
47:26"We never said that," Jenna said.
47:29Her voice cracked in the middle.
47:32"Mom, I was 10.
47:34I never said that.
47:35I didn't know him." "There's one more
47:37page," I said. "This one's his." It was
47:40a yellow sheet from a legal pad, in
47:42Clint's shaky capital letters.
47:45I'd read it maybe 40 times since Tuesday
47:48night.
47:49I still had to stop halfway. "Kiddo, I
47:51believed her for 2 years.
47:54Then I drove up to Columbus and sat
47:56outside that school and watched your
47:59brother get out of a car
48:01and I figured I'd been had. I kept
48:03sending the checks anyway because the
48:05money was for you three, not for her.
48:08And I told myself some of it had to be
48:10reaching you.
48:12I should have fought her. I was a coward
48:14about it. I'm sorry.
48:17When you showed up on my porch with
48:18Danny's ears, I figured the good Lord
48:21had dealt me a second hand.
48:24I played it the best I could. Love,
48:26Clint. I folded it and put it back in
48:28the box. So, that's the bitter old man,
48:31I said. That's who you've been praying
48:33about on Facebook.
48:36The cousin on the left stood up first.
48:38She picked up her coat from the back of
48:40her chair and didn't look at my mother.
48:44The other one followed.
48:46Linda the notary stared at her lap.
48:49Mom glanced from the empty chairs to the
48:52pastor's wife and for once her little
48:54laugh hung in the air with nobody
48:56joining it.
48:58I was a widow, she said.
49:01I had three children.
49:03I did what I had to do. You had a check
49:05every month you told us didn't exist. I
49:09raised you.
49:10Clint paid for the shoes, Mom. You just
49:12bought them.
49:14Dwayne set the folder down on the coffee
49:16table next to the $40,000 check.
49:20He didn't say anything. He just set it
49:22down and left it there.
49:25Felix spoke for the first time quietly
49:27from his corner. Mrs. Wozniak, for what
49:31it's worth, if you file a contest on
49:33Monday, every page in that box becomes a
49:36court exhibit and the estate will ask a
49:38judge where $184,000
49:41meant for three minor children actually
49:44went.
49:45I'd think very carefully before Monday.
49:47Mom's mouth opened and closed. Nothing
49:50came out.
49:51I stood up. I was taller than her. I'd
49:54been taller than her since I was 15, but
49:57somehow I'd never noticed it before that
49:59moment.
50:01"This is Jenna's house," I said. "You're
50:03standing in her living room, Mom, and
50:05I'd like you to leave it."
50:07Jenna stood up next to me. Her hands
50:10were shaking, but her voice wasn't.
50:13"Please go, Mom." Mom picked up her
50:15purse. She walked to the front door and
50:17she stopped there with her hand on the
50:19knob and turned back. Her face had gone
50:22a strange gray color under her makeup.
50:25"Where am I supposed to live? My condo
50:28closes Tuesday."
50:30I thought about that for a second.
50:32I really did.
50:35"That was your choice, Mom.
50:37You sold your own home so you could
50:39knock down ours."
50:42She left.
50:43Dwayne followed her without a word.
50:46Tracy stood in the doorway for a moment,
50:49looked back at me, and gave me one small
50:51nod before she went. When the last car
50:54pulled away, Jenna sat down on the
50:56stairs, third from the top, the one that
50:59creaks, and laughed and cried at the
51:02same time.
51:04Lamar brought her a lemon bar.
51:06Felix poured himself a coffee and said,
51:09mostly to the ceiling, "Well, Clint, I
51:11hope you were watching that."
51:14Mom's condo closed on Tuesday, right on
51:16schedule. She moved into Dwayne and
51:18Tracy's basement with nine boxes and a
51:21recliner onto a pullout couch next to a
51:24water heater that Tracy says really does
51:26sound like a freight train every time it
51:28kicks on.
51:30The rest of her things went into a
51:32storage unit off the highway. Monday
51:34came and went. No contest was filed.
51:38Dwayne's lawyer withdrew the same week
51:40after Felix sent him copies of three
51:43checks and the letter on blue
51:44stationery.
51:46I'm told the lawyer's only comment was
51:48that he wished he'd been shown the box
51:50first.
51:52The Facebook post disappeared by
51:53Wednesday.
51:55It didn't matter.
51:56The cousins from Zanesville had already
51:58told everyone, and I mean everyone.
52:02Women from Mom's church stopped calling
52:04her. By Thanksgiving, she'd stopped
52:06going to Bible study because Linda was
52:08there, and Linda had seen her face that
52:11afternoon.
52:12Dwayne ate the $6,000 for the
52:15architect's plans. He tried to sell them
52:17to another developer for a different
52:19lot, and found out that's not how
52:21architecture works.
52:23His spring was slow. Tracy spent a
52:25weekend at her sister's in Cincinnati in
52:27October, then another in November.
52:30She texted me once that winter, a photo
52:33of a frozen lake with one line,
52:36"Just breathing for once."
52:38I hope she keeps breathing.
52:40Dwayne texted me only once, months
52:43later, late on a Tuesday night.
52:46"Did he ever say anything about me?"
52:49I looked at that message for a long
52:50time.
52:52I could have left it unanswered. I could
52:54have sent something cruel.
52:55Instead, I told him the truth,
52:58because Clint would have.
53:00"He asked once if you were still good
53:02with your hands."
53:03I said, "Yes." He said, "Good. A man
53:06should be able to build something."
53:08Dwayne didn't reply.
53:11I don't know what he did with that. It's
53:13his to carry.
53:14As for me,
53:16I kept my job.
53:18I know. People always ask me that, but I
53:21love the animals. I love my team, and it
53:24turns out nobody can tell you to get a
53:26better job when you already have the one
53:28you want. I moved into a little
53:30two-bedroom house with a yard for my
53:32next rescue dog. It's not a mansion.
53:35Clint would have approved.
53:38In January, I set up a scholarship at
53:40the community college where I spent
53:42three winters in my brother's coat.
53:45It's for students who work at least 20
53:47hours a week while they study.
53:50It's called the Clint Wozniak
53:52Scholarship and every single recipient
53:55gets a handwritten note from me
53:57explaining exactly who he was.
54:00The second week of January, my phone
54:02rang and it was my mother. She had never
54:05called me from Dwayne's house before.
54:07Her voice was very small and very
54:09polite.
54:11Lindsay,
54:12I'm 3 months behind on the storage unit
54:15with all my furniture in it and they'll
54:17auction it.
54:19It's $800.
54:21I wouldn't ask, but I don't have anyone
54:23else. I closed my eyes.
54:27I could smell the pot roast.
54:30I could see her not looking up from the
54:32knife. Ask your brother, I said, and I
54:35hung up. In May, my sister got married
54:37in the backyard at 14 Sycamore Lane
54:40under a white tent with folding chairs
54:42from Lamar's school and a fiddle player
54:45from Marietta who used to play at
54:46Clint's Diner.
54:48Felix came in a bow tie with tiny lemons
54:51on it.
54:52Tracy came alone and danced with Lamar's
54:55grandmother for an hour.
54:57Mom didn't come. Jenna had mailed her an
55:00invitation in March with a note saying
55:02the door was open if she was ready to
55:05tell the truth to the people she'd lied
55:07to.
55:09Mom never answered.
55:11That was her choice, too.
55:13Jenna walked down the porch steps that
55:15dad built past the railing with his
55:17initials carved under it in ivory lace
55:20with long sleeves. $2,100
55:24of a daycare worker's savings.
55:27The dress she'd tried to sell to cover
55:30my rent.
55:31I was her maid of honor.
55:34When she reached the bottom step, she
55:36caught my fingers in hers and whispered,
55:39"You stopped me."
55:41"You'd have done it for me."
55:43"I did do it for you. You just wouldn't
55:45let me finish." Before the reception,
55:48while everyone was finding their seats,
55:50Jenna pulled me and Lamar into the
55:52pantry. She'd brought a pencil.
55:55She stood against the door frame in her
55:56wedding dress, and Lamar laid a book on
55:59top of her head, and I drew the line.
56:02"Jenna, married." I wrote under it. And
56:05beside it, a little smaller, because
56:08Clint deserved a mark in this house,
56:09too, I wrote, "Paid for by Uncle C." If
56:13there's one thing I learned from all of
56:15it, it's this.
56:17If you want to know who loves you, don't
56:19show them what you have. Show them what
56:22you need, and watch who reaches for
56:24their wallet and who reaches for a joke.
56:27If you want tomorrow's stories before
56:29anyone else, follow Nexo stories on
56:32Spotify. We post three brand new ones
56:34there every day. Stories that never make
56:37it to this channel, and they play fine
56:39with your screen off. So, tell me in the
56:42comments, would you have kept the money
56:44a secret the way I did, or told your
56:46family on day one? Like this video and
56:49subscribe to Nexo stories, so you don't
56:52miss the next one.

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