Give Me Grace

Chapter 6

Part One

Not even a week after Mr. Bates’s funeral, my parents were already trying to sell his things to make a quick buck. They were mad because Mr. Bates’s lawyer, Mr. Stevens told us that all of Mr. Bates’s money and property were passed to an anonymous person.

Mr. Stevens told us that once he finds the new owner, he will let us know what the owner wants to do with the property. Until then, we were allowed to stay in the house as per Mr. Bates’s instructions.

According to Mr. Stevens, Mr. Bates instructed that until the new owner is found and told about the property, the current family living there can remain with living expenses covered. Once the new owner is informed of their inheritance, then it will be up to them to decide what they want to do.

I knew Mr. Stevens, and he used to come to the farm to hang out with Mr. Bates often. Even when Mr. Bates and I would go on our pizza dates, sometimes Mr. Stevens would be there. He insisted I call him by his first name, Joseph or Joe. But, I could never bring myself to. Mr. Bates said that it’s respectful to call people by Mr., Miss., or Mrs., and their last name unless otherwise told.

Although Mr. Stevens told me it was okay to call him by his first name, I didn’t. But eventually, I started calling him Uncle Joe. Just like how I started calling Mr. Bates, Grandpa; I think that started when I was ten. He enjoyed being called grandpa, but I was the only one to call him that.

After hearing the news that there was going to be a random new owner, immediately my parents started selling off everything. First, all the crops that were harvested were sold at the farmer’s market for cheap. Once they were gone, my parents stopped taking care of the crops.

In about a month, they sold all the farm animals. With the money they made, they spent it lavishly and selfishly.

After a couple more months, Mr. Stevens told us that the new owner agreed to allow us to live on the property as long as we took care of it like my grandpa wanted us to. For a second, I thought that my parents would be grateful and at least take care of the crops and farmers market, but they didn’t. 

Without having to worry about living expenses, they blew the money until it was all gone. My mom was more disciplined than my dad, and somehow, they made it last longer than I expected.

I was the only one trying to keep the farm from looking like a mess, but it was hard by myself. As much as I wanted to ensure grandpa’s hard work wasn’t forgotten, I couldn’t keep it up. Eventually, I stopped taking care of it as well.

The grass grew, the old barn withered, and I fell into a depression. While my family was spending money that wasn’t theirs and selling things that didn’t belong to them, I was drowning in an ocean of tears and heartbreak.

I was only fifteen, I didn’t have any friends, and I wasn’t close to my siblings. My dad still had resentment towards me, as I did for him. And with my mom being influenced by him, I couldn’t go to her either. I was alone, and I wanted nothing more than to wither away and die like the crops.

I felt like a zombie going through the motions but not actually living. I watched as the grass browned and the land wasted away, showing me what I was truly feeling. At school, students started to notice my somber demeanor.

The rumors started going around saying that Mr. Bates’s ghost was haunting the farm and killing all the crops. They said that it was the reason I was so gloomy. Although they were lies, I didn’t have the energy to correct them.

During the second semester of that school year, there was a new student, Emily. She was a bubbly and happy girl and instantly popular. I shared a few classes with her, and she was the first person to ever stick up for me. Not that I was bullied or picked on, but when she asked about me, other students didn’t have many nice things to say about me.

Since I was never actually friends with any of these students and didn’t talk to anyone outside of group projects, no one knew anything about me besides what my brother told them. But the new girl told them that they couldn’t say mean things about someone they never hung out with. So she became my first friend. 

She invited me over to her house, and at first, I was hesitant about going. I knew if I just went without asking, my parents wouldn’t even notice, but if I did ask, they would say no. It was a strange dynamic, and Mr. Bates warned me about blindly trusting people. He told me it was a mistake to trust my parents blindly, but after meeting me and my siblings, he felt obligated to make sure we were safe.

Emily understood why I was hesitant to come to her house, so instead, she asked to hang out in a public setting, where I was more comfortable. After a few weeks of hanging out, she convinced me to try out for the track team with her. Neither one of us had participated in any type of sport before, but track seemed the most straightforward.

Since the town wasn’t that large, we made the team and began practicing every day. We both did hurdles and spent a lot of time together. The more I practiced, the less I took care of the farm. I started dating, which took even more attention away from the farm. Eventually, I had neglected the farm altogether.

***

“So it’s been this bad since you left?” Miles was finishing with the walls while I finished cleaning the windows. We had made great progress and only had one room left, the master bedroom. Then we can work on the kitchen, dining room, and living room.

“Yes, and people thought the place was haunted even before my family left, but with that thought, people were scared to come near here; even my old boyfriend refused to come over,” I laughed, thinking back on how silly people were.

“You must have had a bad taste in men if he was scared to come over.” 

“Honestly, I did, I tried so hard to listen to my grandpa’s advice about dating and falling in love.”

“How did that work out for you?” Miles asked as he followed me into the master bedroom.

“I think he would have liked you; out of everything he taught me, you are the type of man he would have wanted me to be with.”

“Really? I’m honored, but I’m sure the other guys weren’t that bad. Were they?”

“Grandpa taught me to have morals and standards, but without him around, I found myself following in my mom’s footsteps.”

***