Grandma's Gone

Lisa sniffled as she unlocked the doors to what was once her grandma’s luxury penthouse apartment. She wrapped her cardigan tighter around her self, blew her nose on a tissue, and walked into the living room.

There were already boxes filled to the brim everywhere. Maps and photographs of far off places that once covered the walls were now organized and stacked neatly in a row on the couch. Travel pamphlets and itinerary’s still covered the counter tops. In the mist of it all, her older sister Brenda was quickly throwing things away.

"I should’ve known you’d be here already. The funeral was just this morning. Honestly, I’m surprised you didn’t leave halfway through," said Lisa.

Brenda simply rolled her eyes and kept cleaning.

"Stop being such a baby. No use waiting around. You knew we had to do this, now lets just get it done. You should’ve been here hours ago. I’ve only finished the kitchen so far," said Brenda as she tossed Lisa an empty trash bag.

Lisa slapped it away and slumped into an arm chair stacked with old Life and National Geographic magazines.

"This couldn’t wait for... I don’t know a few days? The rest of us are grieving. I was consoling her friends. They’re basically the only family we have left now. You could’ve stayed a little longer."

Exasperated, Brenda put down her trash bag and opened a new empty box. She ripped the magazines from under Lisa's butt and started stacking them inside in a frenzy before picking up her own bag again.

"I haven’t seen those ladies in years. Besides your better at sitting around and wallowing than me. I figured you had it covered," she snapped.

"What's that suppose to mean!?"

"Nothing. Just help me so we can hurry up and sell this place and move on. I have to get back to work soon. Time waits for no man and neither does the law."

She went to slide all the papers covering the coffee table into her bag when Lisa kicked it out of the way and hit her upside the head with a cushion. She flew backwards onto the couch crushing the photos and maps while spilling the contents of her trash bag.

"You idiot these are glass picture frames! You could've seriously hurt me and you just ruined everything! I swear you never think! If you're not going to help then the least you could do is not undo everything I've already done. Typical lazy, reckless, Lisa!" She shouted trying to make sure nothing else went sliding. She looked up to find Lisa standing furious above her.

"I am not selling this place!" she screamed back. "All you ever think about is money and making partner. Those ladies are Grandma’s friends and they miss you! They helped raise us after mom died. You're the one that stopped reaching out! Not the other way around! Now she’s gone and they’re all we have left. You should learn to show a little more respect."

Brenda stood up and pushed her little sister back, hard. Lisa slipped on the papers she sent everywhere and fell to the floor.

"And you should learn to show a little more gratitude! You wanna know why I’m always worried about money? Why I was never around to hang out with you, grandma, and her friends? I bet you didn't know she almost lost this place huh? No, of course you didn’t. Well I’m done protecting your naive ungrateful little ass," said Brenda while walking toward her sister.

"I was the one always helping grandma with money while you waste your life away working in a coffee shop and making art that nobody wants. You and those ladies let her live like this. I took care of everything else, funded trips, paid for this place. But you couldn’t even keep this place clean and take care of her enough to notice she was slipping? She did whatever she wanted and everyone applauded her for it. Right up until she walked out the door and got on her Moped without a helmet on," she said pointing angrily at the helmet still left on the shelves by the door.

She walked over and snatched it up turning to shove it in her sisters face.

"I told you she needed to stop riding that thing ages ago! Was that even the first time she forgot and rode without a helmet?"

Lisa was sobbing on the ground. She shoved the helmet out of her face and took a big gulp of air.

"You know how she was," she said shakily. "You said it yourself, she did whatever she wanted. If she didn’t listen to you about the Moped, why would she listen to me? I tried to keep this place clean but the minute I moved something, she’d need it. 'I know my way around my own mess and don’t you go messing it up,' she'd say. Then I moved in with Luis. I had no idea it had gotten this bad!"

"You should’ve been less worried about your stupid boyfriend and come over and checked!"

"I tried! She kept making excuses. She was out Mopeding with her friends, said she would come to me, or meet me somewhere for dinner. I doubt they knew either. Any time anyone tried to come over she’d want to meet someplace else or was off on one of those adventures you apparently paid for! She was hardly ever here!"

"You couldn’t come check?"

"Why would I come if she wasn’t here? I have a life too and just because you paid for everything doesn’t mean you get away with not coming to see her either!"

Lisa pulled the rug from under Brenda’s feet causing her to fall on top of her. They wrestled back and forth. Kicking, shoving and hitting each other, while screaming about who’s fault it was. Making a bigger mess and sending everything into further disarray.

"Enough!" said Brenda chocking on a sob. "It doesn’t matter whose fault it is. We can’t do anything to fix it but this is something that has to get done. This is something I- we can fix," she said gestured around the apartment. "I’m not touchy-feely like you. I can’t just sit with people and make them feel better. I don’t know how to do that. There is no real solution there. All I know how to do is work. Instead of wallowing in our misery we can use this as our plan of action to move forward."

Lisa put her hand on her sister shoulder but Brenda pulled away. She grasped both of her shoulders and turned Brenda back towards her.

"Sometimes the solution is just to be there, to just sit and listen. You're communicating by showing them that you really see and hear them. People don’t always need a plan of action or life advice. Sometimes all you can do is say I'm sorry, that sucks."

"And sometimes the solution is having an all out brawl with your little sister as fully grown women in their twenties," said Brenda.

They both laughed and Lisa helped her big sister up. Brenda pulled her into a long embrace.

"I’m sorry I attacked you and I’m sorry you went through all that financial pressure alone," said Lisa.

"I’m sorry I blamed you and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about it. Honestly, I put a lot of that pressure on myself. I told her everything was just a misunderstanding and that I would take care of it. Then I just kept putting money in her account and put her bills on automatic withdraw. Whenever she asked if she had enough money to go on a trip, I’d say yes and arranged everything for her. Really I blamed myself, not you. I should’ve spoken to both of you sooner and learned to put my foot down with her. She just took such good care of us. She raised mom and then had to raise us right after. I didn’t want her to miss out on all the things she always wanted to do but never could, you know?"

"Yeah, I know. And you did just that. She was happy. I mean she was in an old lady Moped gang for goodness sake."

Shaking their heads they both laughed again.

"Tell you what. How about instead of selling this place we rent it out?" Lisa asked. "That way we don’t have to part with it entirely. I’ll take care of everything so you can take a much needed break from the financial worries. When we’ve saved enough we’ll go on our own adventure."

"Just as long as we take the old girls with us," Brenda said.

Lisa picked up Brenda’s trash bag and smiled at her.

"Well then what are you waiting around for lazy? Let’s get to work!"