Chapter Four

“This is the Silberhaus Family, right?” the Executor asked, scanning the room. Surrounding him were my brothers and I. Michael seemed to have not age a bit but he was growing a tad bit of facial hair. Tyler seemed a bit shaggy when it came to outfit and especially hair-style. Just by looking at the middle of his overalls where there was wording: “Dmitri’s Tire Shop ARKANSAS”, I could tell he probably swapped jobs because of higher pay opportunities. He became nothing more than an auto mechanic. John just wore casual attire along with a little tag on his striped shirt, showing that he was working at an animation studio. You already know what happened with Christopher Robin but what about Nathan? Well, Nathan wasn’t in the room with us. It wasn’t surprising that he’d be late but in all honesty, no one has seen him for possibly 7 years. Once he graduated high school, all I remember him saying before he packed up and rode off in his convertible was “Fuck you guys, see you in hell.” I would be lying if I said it wasn’t true that he said that. There wasn’t much else that I could say about him except that he seemed to be a total bad influence ever since the cold war began and for the duration of it. As mentioned before, he’s with the United States Army and has probably been serving in Vietnam or watching over the Berlin Wall for a whi–

“What up, fuckers?!” was the last thing I heard as the door slammed open and there Nathan was in his uniform but something to be completely off from what I used to see. He had facial hair, a buzzcut and what shocked all of us was the other man that he had brought into the room. We were generally confused on what he was doing or why he brought someone we didn’t know into the room but it wasn’t anything that of concern…

Well until Michael approached Nathan with father’s stare and when that stare was showcased, me along with my other brothers backed up. Michael eyed the man that stood next to Nathan and then back to Nathan. We saw something was about to happen along with the thoughts about if Michael was going to beat up Nathan. “Who… is this?” Michael asked, pointing at the man.

“Would it matter much to you to let me have happiness?” Nathan retorted.

“With what is going on in the world, I’m worried you’ll end up like them!”

“...one of them?” Nathan paused before giving a deep inhale and exhale. It is once that was completed did the tension in the air begin to shift into something more terrifying. I felt warm inside and as it continued to increase when Nathan’s mouth opened once more, words coming out of insult and disrespect: “Mom and Dad said we were allowed to be different before they passed! The moment I become ONE OF THEM, that’s an issue?!”

 “It’s because of what’s going on in the world today, Nate,” John interrupted, “of course, we accept you but we also want to try and protect you–”

“Protect me? So you really want me to not be with the person I love?” Nathan screamed.

“Not when the person is the same gender as you!” Michael snapped, causing the room to go silent. We watched as Nathan’s lover hung his head down to shame. Nathan walked over him, pulling him into a soft warm embrace before he walked out of the room. I placed my hand on my heart as the argument seemed to ring a bit in my head. Christopher walked over, sitting next to me on the couch before whispering, “You’ll be okay.”

When he said that, I knew it wasn’t going to be okay when Nathan came back in; tension once more increasing before he sat down next to me. The face of anger was seen as I tried to avert my eyes away. The Executor just still sat there, waiting for the arguments to cease. He walked over to the safe, taking hold of the papers before placing it on the table. It was basically the will that he was holding so we know if one of us is going to take all the assets or if we have to separate cash assets or whatever random possessions Father left us. 

“To my dearest children,” the executor began reading, “if you are reading this, I’m dead or I have been for a long while. If I was for the long while, I bet all have you grown up to be such wonderful bright stars–”

“Unlikely,” John coughed, looking at Nathan and me.

“...as it reads,” the executor continued, “now you probably have knowns, my wife Clara has left some very valuable possessions in the midst of her final breath. For Nancy, if she recalls, your mother wore such a beautiful necklace that was said to be made only of thread and held one jewel. As of your mother’s will, the assets were given to me but for that specific necklace, she asked me when the time was right to give it to you.” The Executor then took out an envelope, opening it up before raising up the beautiful necklace. He continued to read, “I know your mother gave you a necklace on your 5th birthday but this one is very special. It was what she wore the day I proposed to her and the day I got married to her.”

I stood up from my seat, holding out my hands for the necklace. Looking at the necklace, there were many questions boiling in my head but I just knew it was probably another one of those cheap five dollar necklaces mom bought back in the day. In any case, I didn’t want to lose it in case there was an actual valued price on it so I just put it on. I could bet Teresa would definitely want it but just in case, I just sulked back into my seat. Nathan rolled his eyes after taking one glance at my necklace.

The Executor continued to read, “ –and now for the asset distribution. To the original estate where most of you, my darling children, lived before me and Clara had passed on… I leave it to Michael with no taxes under his name.”

“Of course it’s Michael,” Tyler snarked.

“He’s older and more responsible,” John groaned.

“He can have it, honestly,” Christopher sighed.

“I don’t have to deal with him now,” Nathan snapped.

I had no words to what I heard but I just stayed silent so it wouldn’t cause some controversy. The Executor just looked at me but all I had to respond was me shaking my head no. He shrugged before he continued. “For the cash assets, I’ve decided to split the assets between all of you. Each will receive approximately $990,000 in check formatting. I suspect you will each use this money wisely.” What ended up happening was that we all looked at Nathan because knowing him, he was possibly going to cash out and spend on useless stuff.

“Maybe I should hold onto Nathan’s check,” I suggested as the Executor gave me both checks. The look on Nathan’s face was a reminder of his little childish personality.

I just held in my laughter before the Executor finished the will off, “ – for personal belongings, I only have a journal and pictures of me and Clara. Books of Psychology too, for any of my children who would like to take it for their own personal benefit. With that, I leave you to continue your lives. Make me proud.” The Executor put the paper down and took out the box full of stuff. The boys took the pictures and other random items, all except the journal and the book of psychology. Welp, when life gives you lemons…

We all then left the room before we just sat around the lobby just thinking about what we were going to do next in our lives. There was nothing more but silence for a while before I looked through father’s journal. It seemed to be just mostly notes for the Psychology Class he took with Dr. Randolph Drosselmeyer.

“Heh, Nancy and her random psychological nonsense,” Nathan laughed, back handing me on the head. I groaned before my knee angled up to his private area, causing him to put the face of pain on. He landed on the floor, holding his crotch area. The only thing I heard left from my brothers we headed off to the Vegas Strip was laughter. Even John took out his camera, taking a picture of poor Nathan and hiding it in his pocket.