A FALL IN THE CITY
Chapter 21: The Will, the Funerals and the Snow (Part 1)
Zaid, Sergio, Blake and I.
It was no longer a love triangle; it was a fucking square.
Although “love triangle” may not have been the most appropriate term in this case.
Aside from Zaid who had confessed his love for Blake to me, who actually was in love with each other in that group?
Well… Could I keep ignoring the voice in my head telling me to run for Blake?
Following Fran’s death, I was tempted many times to call or to text him. I realized that I had never replied to his text from the night of his break-up with Liv, a couple months prior.
Shame on me.
He told me that he was not into Zaid, that they were not together… Was it true?
For God’s sake, I knew that I had an impressive humongous dick but was not it obvious that Blake would have been happier with his football mate? Why on Earth would he prefer me other him?
Zaid was a damn Angel. He was beautiful, a freaking sport jock, he was sweet and generous while I was too old, too raunchy and, as this story has proven many times, selfish.
I had packed my stuff to leave the castle as I assumed that I was homeless after Fran’s death but Zaid had asked to see me there the day right after.
Already, Sergio had suggested that I should move in with him until the farm was ready.
I was not a big fan of the idea and I told him so.
If the (messy) rooftop sex with Blake had taught me one thing, it was that I was not feeling for Sergio the way I was feeling for Blakey.
We had been playing with the “
friends with benefits” idea for a while, but I did not want to entertain any false hope with Sergio, especially in a context where we would be living together.
It was way too committal when I knew that we had no future.
Do not get me wrong, the bartender was a great guy, but I had simply never caught feelings.
Besides, now that I had seen (and fucked) Blake again, everything and everyone else seemed bland in comparison.
Tommy, also known as “
BigTrunk69”, texted me so we could meet again, but I was plainly not interested.
When he learnt about Fran, he apologized for reaching to me for a meaningless fucking session in such a difficult time.
He did not have to apologize, and frankly, this had nothing to do with any lack of libido.
Maybe I should not admit this but losing Fran had had zero impact on my sex drive.
I was as horny as usual… Meaning, constantly.
The thing was, I was not craving Sergio, or Tommy, or even Zaid for that matter, there was a single man occupying my thoughts and making my monster cock rise.
Yes, the relapse was very real.
I had resisted for months, ignored my true feelings, done everything to forget Blakey, but one afternoon with him and I was back in square one.
Anyway, as planned, I met with Zaid in Fran’s living room the day following her death.
“How are you holding up, kid?” I hugged him.
“I’m fine. We all knew it would end like that. Right?”
Zaid did not seem fine but I left him some space.
“I suppose. Well, I’m ready to leave. It’s only a matter of a couple of weeks before I have the green light to live inside the farm again. I’ll get by in the meantime.”
“You don’t have to leave, Joe. Fran would have wanted you to stay for as long as you needed.”
“Yes, maybe, but she’s no longer here and I don’t intend to cohabitate with her ungrateful children. Not that they would want me there anyway.”
“Her sons are not coming, at least, not in here.”
“Why?”
Zaid made a weird face, like he was ashamed of something.
“They don’t get the castle.” He sighed. “They inherit from the rights on her music, which are valued at a lot, from a couple of residential homes she had in the countryside, from most of her money, but not from this place.”
“Who gets the castle, then?”
Zaid looked at the floor.
“Me.” He muttered.
“You?!”
“I know… This is crazy. I swear I’ve never asked for anything! I don’t understand what happened, what went through her mind, her lawyers called me last night and I saw them this morning. Fran had all the paperwork giving me the mansion made behind my back.”
I was surprised at first, but thinking about it, it made a lot of sense.
“I think she’s made a good decision.” I stated, genuinely. “You’ve been there through the toughest part of her life.”
“I didn’t help her to get through anything… I… Joe, her kids are going to hate me. I’m sure they’ll challenge it in front of a Court but Fran’s already dealt with everything. I can even be helped by her lawyers, she has pre-paid them, it’s all in the will.”
“Wow… 22 and you own the most beautiful mansion of Sacramento.”
He chuckled.
“Insane… I’ve not even told my parents yet.”
“Who have you told?”
“Well, you, right now and… Blake.”
Of course, he had told Blake, I thought, somehow bitter.
My jealousy was misplaced, I am aware.
“It’s gonna be quite the change from your dorm room!” I told him.
“God. I don’t think I’m even gonna move here. I… I just need to think about what I should do with this place.”
“Look, this is yours and I don’t want to overstep. You should still have the place for yourself, and invite Blake in if you want to.”
My stomach hurt at that suggestion but for once, I tried to take a page out of Zaid’s book and not be so selfish.
“Don’t be ridiculous, I’ve told you, Fran wanted you here and I intend to respect her wishes. Besides, as you said, it’s not like you’re gonna stay here for months.”
“I leave in 13 days.”
“See… Anyway, that was not the only reason why I wanted to see you.”
“What now?”
Zaid searched in a green bag that he had brought with him. He got a folder from it with a pile of paperwork.
I hated legal documents and whatnot. I had always had.
“Take that and read it, I’m not the only one mentioned in Fran’s will.” Zaid said.
I did not understand where he was going at, at first.
It was so surreal that I would be part of Fran’s will that my mind simply did not go there.
I started reading.
“I don’t understand shit, mate. I’m not a freaking lawyer. I don’t get this bullshit.”
“Just go to the table at the end. Last page.”
There was a list of names, about forty of them. I recognized Zaid, Sergio and Alfonzo’s names, and mine, right below.
Numbers were attached to them.
I read out loud.
“Joe Peterson – 100.000 U.S. dollars.”
“Seems like you’re richer too.” Zaid commented.
I let go of the paper like it could burn my hands.
“What the fuck is that?”
I had never been gifted anything aside for the old farm from my parents after their death, but I had certainly never been given that much money.
I had been friends with Fran for three months, top. What was she thinking?
“Easy with handling the paperwork, Joe. It is literally worth millions.”
Zaid picked up the piece of paper which had fallen on the floor to get it back neatly inside the folder.
“100 grands! That’s madness.”
“Man, I inherited a fucking castle, that’s the mad part.”
I laughed.
“Fran was a mad woman…”
“Don’t you say that, it’s exactly what her kids are going to pretend to annul the donations.”
“Should we worry about that?”
“Not according to Fran’s… well, to my lawyers. She has still left her children with a lot of money to keep them busy and happy, and she has drafted every line of her will with financial and legal advisors, having it confirmed by bailiffs and courts just a couple weeks ago. They have no case to refute the donations. She was very much sane.”
I sat in the sofa.
Or rather, I fell in it, stunned.
One hundred grands, falling in my pocket. I did not deserve it.
“Why do I feel bad about this?” I spoke.
“Now, you get where I’m at with this damn castle.”
Zaid looked at the high ceiling of the mansion which was now his.
“And how rich was she really? Good God!”
“Yeah, I knew that she was loaded but certainly not to this degree…”
We stayed silent for a little while, and then, he said something else which almost shook me just as much as the content of the will.
“Is there something going on between you and Blake?” He asked out of nowhere.
Shit.
He was direct.
What was I supposed to answer that?
I tried with the truth.
“Yes, there’s been something between us.”
“And now?”
“Now, I have no idea. I think Blake deserves someone his age and…”
Zaid cut me off.
“If I were you, I wouldn’t speak for Blake. Only him knows what he wants.”
I looked at Zaid’s brown almost black eyes.
“Yes… You’re right on that.”
Zaid sighed.
“I have to go; I have a lot of things to care of. I guess we’ll see each other at the funerals.”
“What should I do in the meantime, in here?” I asked.
He shrugged his shoulders.
“Just make sure that my house doesn’t break down. Tend the garden, I don’t know.”
I smiled at him.
“You’ve got this.”
He left and I started to think about all the things I could do with that $100.000 check.
“Thank you, Fran…” I talked in the air.
She did not reply.
*
I did not get to see neither Zaid nor Blake until we met again at the funerals.
They happened two days later and they were hundreds of people present, maybe closer to a thousand.
Fran’s old friends, her chauffeur, her cook, - Alfonzo had taken the hit of losing Fran very hard -, her musicians, the staff from the jazz club including Sergio, and many of the regular clients, her three children were there too, - I had very much diabolized them but they seemed genuinely affected and, in the end, I felt terribly for them, I know what it was like to lose a mother, - and among the crowd, many people Fran did not know personally, fans of Lova Lova, who sometimes had travelled many miles to say a last goodbye to the singer.
Her death had made it to the headlines of the Sacramento’s papers. She also had a few mentions in the national news. Her music was trending on Spotify.
I thought the funerals were beautiful and I knew that Zaid had played a large part in organizing them.
Another reason to praise him.
Blake and I greeted each other politely, but believe it or not, we refrained from fucking on a tomb stone.
As it turned out, we did have some limits after all!
Olivia was also present, somewhere in the crowd.
When Blake and I said goodbyes though, I could not help myself from sharing something a little more personal.
“Blake, I meant to text you but…”
“But what?”
He stared at me, jaded.
“Frankly, I just didn’t have the words. And I don’t mean only for the past few days. I tried to text you after the proposal to Liv, after the break-up, but I could not find the right way to talk to you.”
Blake’s face was very hard to read.
“I don’t think this is the place to talk about this shit.” He eventually said.
“Agreed. This is why I wanted to invite you over to the castle. Maybe for a dinner?”
“You want to fuck me again?” He asked abruptly.
I was surprised by his reaction.
“I mainly wanted to talk.” I almost stopped there but I did add a very telling. “But…”
Clearly, sex was never out of the question with Blake.
Blake chuckled and rolled his eyes playfully.
Phew, he did not seem like he was mad.
“I can come by the castle tomorrow night? You’re gonna leave town soon, right?”
“Right. But I’ll be there tomorrow. I’ll cook something.”
It was a date, or sort of.
[Chapter 21 continues below]