Episode #1: The call

Apr,15 2026

My sister broke contact with me because I didn't agree about who she married.

I feel pretty stupid about it, but that ship has sailed.

What else was I supposed to do? I am a good 7 years older than she is; Dad was a drunken asshole who left us when she was born, and Mom has been in a constant state of depression ever since.

So, I basically raised her since she was about 5. I made her lunches, and later, I took her shopping.

When I left home, I brought her with me. It made sense. She certainly had a better life with Sydney and me.

But then, she met Ron, one of the worst bums in town.

It's probably my fault; I failed as a surrogate father, but still. I couldn't let her date that lower who dropped out of school and who spent his days in raggy clothes carving every wooden surface he could find.

He spent more time in juvie than with Daphne. Well, until a social worker got him a grant from the city to carve the city logo in the city benches, provided he followed exactly their specifications.

It was a brilliant move: he was going to carve anyway, so why not just give him pocket change to carve something useful and save money from his destruction.

But then, they arrested his mother for fraud. I think everyone understood? He was famously acting out. They all thought it was because he was from a single mom, but I was too, and I got a great job.

Still a minor by 3 months, he was reassigned to his aunt, all the way down in Florida, until he would become, well, an adult.

I was so thrilled to be rid of him! Daphne would perhaps find someone better. But she was a month older than he was, and on his 18th birthday, she used her babysitting money to buy a Greyhound ticket and flee West Virginia to reunite with him.

She didn't even leave me a number to contact her, and we aren't exactly online to stay in touch.

Oh, she calls me. Once per year, on my birthday. The call lasts about 20 seconds, and it's from a confidential number.

"Ron and I want to wish you a happy birthday"

I thank her. She asks me if I am good; I lie and tell her that I am, and she basically hangs up.

I blame myself. I showed her that Mom was unable to be there for us and showed her how to break contact with her. When I was unable to be there for her, she broke contact with me.

Sydney didn't want a courthouse wedding, so we began saving up. With my job and no longer a third mouth to feed, it was easy.

Soon enough, we would be married and have our own kids. But then, the mine closed.

We got a severance package, which, in the grand scheme of things, was a joke.

It was to help us get a new job, but which one? We were all laid off at the same time. We all competed for the same jobs, and, well, this being a mining town, there weren't enough.

Even some non-mine people also lost their jobs. Like Sydney, who was an orderly at the long-term care facility that was in part financed by the mine.

We didn't know that. It was part of a settlement decades ago for workers suffering from black lung but since then, it has become part of the healthcare of the city.

Even the rent on the lot for our double-wide became a problem.

More handy than my former colleagues, I got some income from helping people fix their homes they were trying to sell to flee the town.

No one was moving in, so it was a lost cause, but they thought that by improving their homes, they had a chance.

They didn't. The town was dying, but these little jobs kept us from being evicted.

The population in town halved in months, which allowed Sydney to get a new job as a waitress.

With most of the salary in tips, and with low restaurant activity, that too was low paying. The best news, however, is that she could get some unsold food home, and that made a huge difference.

We knew it wasn't sustainable long term, but the goal was just to survive long enough for the town to...

Do what exactly? What was the plan? How would it recover? I didn't know. But there were more intelligent people than me at the town hall, and they were working day and night to save the town.

I know, because they would often talk to us in the street to get ideas and to reassure us.

Me? Not reassured one bit. If they have to ask us for ideas, doesn't that mean they are clueless?

My birthday was coming up, and I was dreading having to lie to Daphne that everything was good.

The call from Florida came a week early. It wasn't Daphne. It wasn't Ron either.

It was Tim Davenport, attorney at law.

"Mister Kyle Franklin, older brother to Daphne Quentin?"

So, she had married Ron Quentin, the loser...

I sighed.

"Yes, what is this about?"

"I am sorry to inform you of the passing of your sister and her husband last week."

"What? They are dead?"

"Sorry for your loss"

"How?"

"It was all over the news here. A criminal invaded Mr. Quentin's gallery to rob it, and he killed three people, including Mr. Quentin and his wife"

I sat down.

"Oh my God"

I hadn't seen Daphne in 10 years. I was always hoping that one day, we would reconnect, that on her yearly call on my birthday, I would find the way to apologize for how I judged Ron, but now, I would never get the chance"

"I am sorry for your loss, again."

"So why are you calling me?"

"Well, they didn't leave a will, and you are the closest living and free relative to them."

"Right, I think Ron's mother is still in prison?"

"She was. She dies of Covid"

"Oh"

"And your mother was declared inapt"

"Yeah, dementia"

"So that leaves you as the closest adult relative and only potential personal representative of their estate. I can help you with that petition"

"Wait, really?"

"Yes."

"Can I know if they have assets?"

"We did an early inventory, and yes. They have significant money, a house to their name, and the gallery has some inventory. You would need to come to Florida to claim it, but yeah."

I smiled. This was my ticket out!

"Good."

"Enough for sizable trust funds, that's for sure"

"Trust funds?"

"For your nephew and your niece"

I stood there. I have a nephew and a niece?"

"Wait, where are the kids right now?"

"Oh, neighbors of your sister and her husband were selected for emergency custody by child protection services, but the care is covered by the estate. So the sooner you come, the sooner you can take over the decision process"

"Sure. Text me your address so we know where to go. We'll come via Greyhound"

"Oh, perfect. I can pick you up at the terminal"

"Thank you, Mr. Franklin"

"My pleasure. I am sorry we had to meet under such difficulte circumtances"

I hung up, stunned.

So, I was an uncle? Wow. Sidney and I were waiting for the right time to have kids, and my sister had 2?

I went to see Sidney at work. The restaurant was empty, and she was bored. I briefed her.

At first, she was sad for me, but then, excited at the new opportunity.

"Florida has a lot more jobs. That's what we needed," she says.

"Yeah, but, it means leaving everything behind?"

She laughs. "Leave what behind? And we'll take care of these little angels. I can be an orderly again or a waitress, and you'll get a new job. "

I nodded.

We got some suitcases from Goodwill and the flea market. It's not like people would travel...

We grabbed our things, warned our landlord about our situations, and got our two tickets.

We had to switch buses a few times; we missed all the transfers and had to wait on the side of the road for a tire to be changed, and it was a nightmare.

But after texting Kyle Franklin that we were about to arrive, we found him with a piece of paper with my name on it at the terminal.

We shook hands; he was wearing a rather pricey business suit, and I worried about the cost of his interventions.

He helped us with our suitcases without complaining and drove us in his nice car to his office.

I had a ton of papers to sign. Most of which just let me petition the court to officially place me in charge of my sister and her husband's affairs. Until then, I only had temporary authority.

They originally had a 6-digit bank account, but I couldn't touch most of it. The state mandated that it be placed for their kids, and we would need to use the money mainly for their benefits.

We would be guardians, not parents. I did see an invoice from the attorney for all of his work, including picking us up. No one is truly selfless in this reality.

But there was no mortgage, so we could live in their house with their kids, almost rent-free. Like me, they still had to rent the ground, but it was going to be paid from the bank account.

To my surprise, I also got their car, parked in the law office parking lot. I could use it to help with the estate and the kids until the court would decide what to actually do with it.

It was a nice enough Korean car, a Hyundai Elantra, bought used and cash, but with decent mileage. I did have to cross the street to an insurance broker to insure the car first, but that was easy enough.

It was certainly better than the used car I bought when I lost my job and then was forced to sell to survive a few more months.

And like that, I was in my late brother-in-law's car, with my beautiful fiancee sitting where my sister probably sat, on the way to meet my nephew and my niece at the Echo Cave Naturist Resort, whatever that was.

We still couldn't move in with them until the court would approve it, but we could rent a place nearby, but first, let's meet the little rascals.