Malynda McCarrick

“You’re prickly as a porcupine, girlie. What’s the matter with you today?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m fine.” Angelina did not want to have this conversation with her grandfather, Salvatore, right now. She wasn’t even sure she would ever want to have the conversation.
“Come on, Angel. You can talk to your old grandpa. I’ve been able to read you since you were a little baby in diapers and right now I’d say you have something mucking up those diapers. Spill it. What’s wrong?”
“I found something you left in the yard today. One of your treasures, no doubt left over from your illustrious career as ‘The Janitor.’” She knew he hated it when she brought up that old nickname, that was why she did it. The scowl on his handsome face was her reward, her jab had hit its mark.
“I thought we agreed to never talk about my past. What’d you have to go and bring that up for? Didn’t I provide a good life for you? You’ve lived the life of a princess from the money I brought home.”
“A princess with no real friends, who always had to watch her back and worry each day if it would be her last? Yeah, Pops, you gave me a good life.” Feeling a little guilty for her jabs, Angelina let him off the hook. “Love you, Pops, but you know how I feel about it. Now, let’s change the subject.”
“We haven’t finished this one yet. What are you talking about…what did you find in the yard?”
“Let’s not talk about it.”
“No, girl. You know you can’t start something and not finish it. I taught you that much. Tell me. What did you find in the yard? I’ve lived here since I was a baby so it’s hard telling what’s out there.”
“I was digging a hole to plant a lilac bush. You know how much I love lilacs, I’ve always wanted one outside the kitchen window so I can smell them through the open window when they bloom in the spring.”
“And?”
“And…I ran across a friend of yours, buried right under the kitchen window. Can you tell me who that would be?” Her grandfather doubled over in laughter, she obviously wasn’t in on the joke. “Pops? Would you care to share the joke with me?”
“Oh, Angel. I’m sorry. I can’t help it!” With his hand clutching his stomach, he tried to control his laughter. “I just always wondered when this subject would come up. It’s been over ten years. I can’t believe we’ve never talked about it before now.”
“So we’re talking about it now. Tell me, Pops, do I want to plant a lilac bush there? Can I ignore that there’s a dead human body buried in my back yard? How do you expect me to ignore that?”
“Do you remember that day when you got a call telling you the warehouse had blown up downtown? Fifteen years ago? Do you remember?”
“Yeah, the worst day of my life? How could I forget? They told me you died in that fire. The mob put a hit on you.”
“I didn’t die in that fire.”
“Uh…what?”
“Ever heard of witness protection?”
“Like in the movies? People disappear, get new identities?”
“I became Bob Jones. Rolled over on the mob boss, put him away for life,”
It was a lot to handle. Angelina dropped into the nearest chair, staring at the floor in disbelief. Everything she’d believed in the last fifteen years was a lie. She lost five years with her beloved grandfather. On the plus side, he ended up being a hero…if rolling over on one of the biggest crime bosses in history and putting him away for life could be considered being a hero.
“Wait a minute, what about the body out back?”
“That’s me, Angel. I had to let you think I’d died in that fire for your own safety. You inherited the house and enough money to take care of you for life. That was the deal I cut.”
“So, that would be why your ghost didn’t come to be with me until several years AFTER I thought you’d died? Do I have that part right?”
“Yes, Angel. I lived through the warehouse fire, the trial, the witness protection program and then disappeared.”
“So how did you die?”
“That’s the funny part…I know you always wanted a lilac bush outside the kitchen window so I came back right after the trial. You were out of town and I came here with a lovely bush, I was going to plant it to surprise you then I planned to reconnect with you, tell you where I’d gone – against the wishes of my legal team, of course. While I was digging the hole, one of my enemies snuck up on me and shot me dead. He threw me in the hole and that’s where I’ve been ever since.” Through his laughter he didn’t see the look of horror on Angelina’s face. “That’s funny, don’t you think?”