“Hello Father.”

As I said those two words, my voice trembled with fear. I had only seen my father once, on a picture of his wedding day. That picture portrayed a completely different man from the one who was in front of her right now. In the picture, you could see my father looking at my mother with pure love. My mother had a radiant smile on her face and you could see that it passed on to my father who had the silliest and the loveliest smile. Clearly, those were different times because the man standing in front of me did not portray love, he portrayed hate.

“Do not call me father.” The harsh tone made me flinch. How could a father speak this way to his child?

“Yes. I-I apologize.” I look down embarrassed. I didn’t mean to stutter but with his overwhelming presence, there was nothing I could do.

Uncle Louis approaches us and begins speaking with father. “Phil, I didn’t know you were coming.”

“You think I won’t come for my own mother’s funeral?” You could see that Uncle Louis was regretting approaching us. Boy was I glad that it wasn’t me on the receiving end of that glare. Uncle Louis notices me staring and glares at me, making me lower my head.

“Of course, cousin, of course you would come. I meant no offense, really. I’ll let you mourn dear Nana in peace now.” Uncle Louis seemed to realize that my father was not in the mood for small talk and played it safe by leaving.

“You.” I flinch again at the harsh tone and look up at father. “Leave.” I didn’t know what to do. Does he mean leave the funeral or leave his presence? I choose the latter and go towards the entrance and sit on the bench. It’s quiet here since everybody’s inside.

I didn’t expect my first meeting with my father to go this way. I didn’t expect a warm welcome, but I also didn’t expect him to have so much hate even after all these years. I look to my right and see the poster with Nana’s photograph. I wish Nana was still here. She would make everything feel better with a smile.

“Ms. Astarelli.” A voice calls out to me and makes my head perk up, and I see Mr. Richardson. For the past week, he’d been visiting Nana. They would always talk in her office, so I could never make out what they were saying. When they would come out, Nana would pat my head and smile painfully. I never asked her what they talked about, afraid of upsetting her.

“Hello Mr. Richardson. It’s nice to see you.”

He smiles sadly. “I’m sure you would prefer to see me in better circumstances, my dear.” I look down. He’s right. I wouldn’t mind seeing him every day back home, talking with Nana in her office, as long as she were still alive.

“I’m sorry.” He pats my head and waves his hand in a dismissive way as to let me know that it’s okay.

“I’m the one who’s sorry, my dear. If I could, I would try to make this painful day a little less painful. However, I must abide by what your grandmother left me to do.”

I look up at him, confused. “What grandma left you to do? What is it?”

“You’ll know soon enough.” He gives me a sad look and heads inside, leaving me confused in the hallway.

What did he mean by that? I clench the hem of my dress and bite my lip. I want to go inside and ask him what he meant, but I’m also afraid of angering my father. I keep pacing back and forth but I have to get my answers.

I enter the room and I look for Mr. Richardson but I don’t see him anywhere.

“Excuse me ladies and gentlemen.” I hear his voice coming from the front of the room. I can also see my father, so I stay in the back close to the wall trying not to catch his attention. “I apologize for intruding in such a painful moment, but my name is Mr. Richardson and I was Mrs. Astarellis’ lawyer.”

Lawyer? Nana never said she had a lawyer. Then again, he always had a suitcase with him whenever he came to visit.

“In the past week, I’ve been working with Mrs. Astarelli on her will.”

Oh this is not going to go well.