Between the Lanterns(15)
“Dear Lord, it’s mine, too,” he replied.
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Two months went by, and the two young people saw each other every single day. August switched his shift at the factory to match her schedule at the diner, so he could walk Samantha to work. Most days she brought home food from the diner, and they took turns eating at his place or hers. August’s little apartment was becoming nicer and nicer the more he worked on it, and so he started to spend some time fixing her place up a bit, too.
They would lie on the couch or bed together for hours, telling each other every moment of their lives as far back as they could remember. They found that their lives were similar in many ways, but diverged in several as well.
August had two distant, and unloving parents and so got his love and caring from his granny as a child. Samantha’s parents died when she was very young, and she didn’t really remember them.
“What happened to them, Sam?” August asked when she revealed this painful truth.
“Well, I was too young to remember anything, but my foster parents told me it was cancer. I doubted, even back then, that they both died from cancer. So when I got a little older, I went in search of public records about them,” Samantha explained. “After a lot of searching, I found them. They were both from the area of Old China; you know where Shanghai City is over in the Asian States. They apparently came to Alabama looking for jobs. The records said they were both farmers, and I read that this area was still holding onto some good farming back then. Anyway, sweets, it turns out that my father had died of cancer, but my mother… well, she committed suicide soon afterward. She jumped into Lake Eufaula with enhanced gravity rings on her ankles. The extra pull kept her down on the bottom so she couldn’t come up.”
“Oh no, Sam,” August said, placing his hand on her own. “I’m so sorry.”
“Oh, sweets, it’s alright. I never knew either of them or, well, I don’t remember them anyways,” she replied with a tender smile. “My foster parents, Steve and Jessica, were decent enough people. They had a lovely home, and I never went without anything that I needed. They just weren’t the most loving parents, you know? It’s not their fault, either. Just a product of the times, I guess. The day I turned 18, they asked me to leave, as they would no longer receive any benefits from the government for keeping me. They let me keep my clothes and personal items. They even helped me to find the job at the diner and a place to live. So, all in all, they weren’t completely bad. There was some good deep down in them.”
“Sam, they asked to leave because they weren’t gettin’ paid anymore? That’s just plain vile and wretched behavior,” August said, disgusted. “Didn’t they love you?”
“I guess they did in their own way. The way anyone today really cares about someone else: on the surface only,” Samantha told him. “But I loved them. I cared for them and still do. I appreciate everything they did for me, even kicking me out. Because if they hadn’t I would have never met Cheryl. The woman who taught me to cook, care, and live. She had that same spark as John, August. I wish you could have met her. She and John were very similar. I wish they could have stayed together, forever.”
“Me, too, Sam. But nothing lasts forever, as they used to say,” he replied.
A few days after that, Samantha was working in the diner as usual. Lunch rush had just finished, which was all of four people total, and she was tidying up. A tall and lean man walked into the diner and looked about, as if lost.
“Good afternoon, sir. Can I help you? Would you like to sit down and have something to eat? Today’s special is lip-smacking good: chicken and dumplings with egg custard pie for dessert. Sweet tea included, too,” Samantha said with her customary good nature and friendly smile.
“No thank you, miss. I had a Nutricator smoothie on the way over,” the man replied.
Samantha rolled her eyes at the well-dressed gentleman and told him, “That ain’t food, sweets. Come on, have something real for a change, won’t you?”
“No, I must decline,” he said flatly. “Though, I wonder if you could lend me some assistance. I’m looking for Samantha Vann. Is she around, by chance?”
“Well, sweets, that’s me,” she answered, shocked at hearing her name out of a stranger’s mouth. “Samantha Vann at your service. What’s this all about, sir?”
The nice-looking man reached into his inner jacket pocket and pulled out an envelope, explaining, “This concerns the Last Will and Testament of John Hill.” The man looked around at the diner, empty of patrons, and asked, “Would now be an appropriate time to discuss this with you?”
Samantha was taken even more aback, and a little lost for words. She told the man, “Well… I guess so. John’s will? I thought he was more broker than the rest of us?”
The man in the suit sat down and motioned for Samantha to do the same and join him. “First, let me introduce myself,” he said, offering his hand to Samantha,. “My name is Lee Parr. I’m a lawyer for the state, and this whole business is rather odd and unusual. You see, you are correct. John Hill had no Credit to his name. He had very few possessions, too, only some clothes, a few cleaning items, and a bag of toiletries. That’s just about it, you understand. However, as he lay in the clinic, mere minutes after arriving, he requested my services based on the recommendations of Dr. Granger. He and I play golf together once a week, you see.”