The Skeletons We Keep

“They found him on the doorstep of the church, you know.”

My grandmother’s statement was so calm and matter-of-fact that I paused with a mouthful of wine, glass still touching my lips. I swallowed the liquid in a painful gulp and my voice was raspy when I said, "No way.”

She nodded, pink tinged white hair a halo around her head as she took a pull from a wineglass she had snagged from the hand of one of my cousins as he walked past. Lionel looked for a moment like he might protest but I shot him a look that I felt said Hey, I’m getting some juicy stuff here, but that he clearly interpreted as Get the hell out of here, judging by his wide eyes and the speed in which he moved over to a clump of some young men about his age. The cousins spanned a wide range of ages and I had to remember that Lionel and his contemporaries had not had the years of learning to read each other like those of us at the other end of the age scale.

“Abandoned, you know. More common then. There was a depression on.”

I ignored the slight slur in her voice and scooted my chair closer. “But he always told such great stories about his family, going back so far.”

Gran chuckled with her nose in her glass. “All made up,” she said, waving one hand as if to wipe away all that manufactured history.

Naturally, this was the time that my mother came to shuffle Gran away. She plucked the glass from her mother’s hand, handing it to me with a dirty look. Gran looked back, fluttering her fingers at me and mouthed Later in an exaggerated way.

I shifted in my chair as Mom drew Nana away to go greet some more distant relatives or church members or something. Another cousin, Clarabelle caught my eye. She moved across the room quickly and slipped into Nana’s vacated seat. “What was that all about?” She stopped to tuck my arm into hers as she had when we were children. “I’ve never seen Nana quite so… emotive.”

I waggled my empty glass at her. “A little truth serum goes a long way with her. Mom doesn’t seem too happy about it though.”

“Bea, I love my auntie, but your mom has gone full Terminator here.” She toed her shoes off, letting them fall onto the worn carpet of the lodge where Gramps had been a member. “I suppose we should go easy on them, though.”

I tipped my head to the side in acknowledgment, watching my mother put Gran through her paces with several people I didn’t recognize. The pastor sidled up on the other side, hooking his arm through Gran’s. She swung her head back at Clarabelle and I, rolling her eyes.

“I think Gran is going through a bit of a late life crisis.”

Clara laughed humorlessly. “Well, I’d say so. She just lost her husband of nearly 70 years.”

I drained the glass Mom had handed me and said, “They found Gramps on the church doorstep. Like, when he was a baby.”

“What?” I thumped Clara on the back as she appeared to be choking on the pig in a blanket she had just shoved whole into her mouth. She was my favorite cousin for a reason.

I nodded. “That’s what she told me. If we could just get her away from all of her helicopter children….” I gestured at my mother, my aunts and my uncles, all of whom hand at least one eye glued to Gran.

Clara reached out and grabbed the sleeve of her brother, Claude, as he walked by. “I need a big favor. Can you make sure Dad is distracted? I’m going to snag a bottle of Sauvignon from the table and I’d rather not get a lecture.”

Claude rolled his eyes. “You would think that being in your thirties would mature you, but….” He waved a hand vague in the direction of the drinks table as he moved toward their parents. “Have at it.”

“Get Gran away and meet me at my car.” With a wink, Clara wound her way deftly through the crowd.

I stood and squared my shoulders, making my way over to Gran. I wiggled my way in between her and the pastor, replacing his arm with my own. “So sorry to bother,” I simpered, “but some of Gran’s cousins from out of state have arrived and are dying to see her!” The look my mother shot me said she saw right through my ruse, but there were so many people coming in from so many far-flung locations she wouldn’t call me out on it.

I steered Gran towards the exit. She reached out and snatched a tray of deviled eggs off of a table as we made our way past.

Outside the air was crisp and refreshing. Gran took a deep breath that puffed in clouds as she breathed out.

I pointed across the lot, where Clara flashed her headlights, somewhat frantically. We wove our way through cars until I could throw open the side of Clara’s minivan. While I scrabbled into the back, Gran made her way to the front, climbing into the passenger side like a queen. Clara passed us each a red plastic cup and tipped some wine into them.

“So, Gran, what’s the dish? And why do our parents keep treating you like a child?” she asked.

Gran rolled her eyes theatrically. “They mean well, I’m sure, but for some reason they think all this has made me feeble minded. I’m sad, not stupid, but they can’t seem to tell the difference.”

“Go on about Gramps,” I said.

“You have to understand that your grandfather was a proud man.” She tipped her already empty cup to her eye, before waving it at Clara who poured her more wine. “Didn’t like to talk about it, felt it was a shameful thing to do, abandon their child. Sure, it was extraordinary times, but even when things got lean, we never considered throwing away any of our children. Maybe Charlie.” She winked at Clara, Charlie’s daughter.

The van door slid open, blinding us with the dome light. “I thought you’d stolen Gran.” One of the younger cousins, Parker elbowed his way past me, followed by his twin sister, Penny. I had to spit out a hank of Penny’s long hair as it brushed across my face.

Clara held up the bottle of wine to them as I slammed the door closed. “Nah, we’re good,” said Penny, sliding two flasks from her purse and handing one to her brother.

Shaking my head, I muttered “Kids these days.”

Sputtering into her cup Gran said, “Isn’t that my line?”

There was a sharp rap on Clara’s window, causing her to jump. Peering out, I saw my older cousin Evelyn with my younger sister Laura and Lionel in tow. I rolled the door open. “You might as well come in.”

“I brought offerings.” She held up a bottle of whiskey that was about three-quarters full and some paper cups. She crawled into the back row next to the twins while Laura took the seat next to me and Lionel squeezed in the floor between our seats. He pulled a small plastic car from underneath himself and tossed it at Clara. She wasn’t paying attention and it hit her in the face, knocking her glasses askew.

“AS I was saying,” Gran nearly shouted over our chatter. “He didn’t talk about it.”

“Wait, what? Who didn’t talk about what?” Parker piped up from the back.

“Gramps. Shh,” I hissed through clenched teeth.

Laura gave me a look that was half horrified, half impressed. “Is Gran drunk?”

“And it’s the best I’ve felt in years. Evie, pour me some of that whiskey.” We passed her one of the small paper cups full. She took a sip, closing her eyes in pleasure. She reached for the tray of eggs on the dashboard, taking a delicate bite and set it back on the platter. There was another knock on Clara’s window. “For heaven’s sake!”

This time it was Claude. As there was no more room inside, he leaned into the open window. The cool air coming in from the outside felt fantastic in the humid warmth of the van.

“Looks like that’s all of you. Now can I finish?” We all nodded, meekly, murmuring our assent. “For those of your that missed it, since this is apparently the time to dig some of the skeletons out of the closet, Gramps was found as an infant on the doorstep of the church. The church that we just buried him from. He was ashamed of it, so he only talked about it with me. Your parents don’t even know.”

“Did he ever look for his birth parents?” Lionel asked beside me.

Gran shook her head. “No, don’t think he was much interested in knowing who they were.”

“Is that it?” I asked when she didn’t seem to be going on.

She nodded, tipping the last drops of the whiskey into her mouth.

I sighed heavily and heard several of my cousins do the same.

“But you should hear about the time he robbed a bank!”

All eyes snapped back to her as we waited for her to tell this new bit of news. Her dramatic pause seemed to go on for a long time. After a moment she gave a spasmodic snore, her head falling back against the head rest.

Clara reached across the console to pull the seatbelt across Gran, clicking it into place. “Can you go grab her purse, Claude? I’ll drive her home.”

Disappointed, we spilled out of the van in the chilly evening air. “Should we go receive the inevitable lectures from our parents?” I asked, hooking my arms with Lionel and Evelyn. We marched back to the church, shoes crunching on the gravel.