Chapter Twenty-Nine
Josh
Josh didn’t know what the hell he was running on these days. Despite working until three in the morning and enduring two hours of thinking about Carina as he tossed and turned in bed, he was surprisingly alert and ready for his nine o’clock class. He even had enough time before class to stop off at the financial aid office. He had received an email first thing this morning that he was to contact the office at his earliest convenience. Josh didn’t like the sound of that. How the hell was he going to be able to continue medical school if his aid was suddenly pulled? Josh was ushered into a small cube of an office and directed to take a seat. He looked across the desk and met the woman’s smile. Josh couldn’t put his finger on it, but for some reason she reminded him of his Lady Jane. He braced himself for what could only be bad news.
“Thank you for coming in, Mr. Graham.” The woman removed her glasses and set them on the desk. “Can I get you some coffee? Bottled water?” This wasn’t going to be pretty. It was obvious the woman in front of him was trying to soften the blow.
“No. But thank you.” He was growing impatient.
“Well, let’s get to the point of why this office contacted you.” She retrieved her glasses and set them on her nose. “Mr. Graham, it has come to our attention that you’re no longer in need of financial aid.”
Josh felt his heart drop. A million things went through his mind at once. Maybe he could take on a second job? Perhaps look for a roommate to share expenses? He had to think of something. His dream was not going to die, not here, not in this office.
“I’m sorry. Could you explain to me how that decision was made?” It took everything he had to remain calm and not take it out on the messenger.
“With pleasure.” She flashed a playful smile. “As of last Friday, your tuition for this year and the two beyond that have been paid in full.”
He instantly knew who the guilty party was. “Is that so?”
The woman sat back in her leather swivel chair and folded her hands in her lap. “Yes.” She chuckled and then said, “She warned me you would be less than thrilled.”
It wasn’t that he was ungrateful. For a brief moment he had come face-to-face with the cold reality that his dream may never materialize. And now because of his grandmother he would never be burdened with student loans. But he wasn’t one to accept handouts. He had wanted to make it on his own. That had always been the plan. His and Julia’s.
“My grandmother is a special lady.” Josh stood. “A special, mischievous lady who has given me no choice but to accept her generosity.”
Again the woman laughed. “If you don’t mind me saying, it was lovely to speak with her last Friday. You’re lucky to have her.”
Josh smiled and shook the woman’s hand. She had no idea just how lucky he was to have a Lady Jane in his life. “I wouldn’t have survived my childhood without her.” Josh wasn’t sure what had prompted him to say something so personal to a complete stranger.
The woman looked close to tears as she said, “Well…then, go and make her proud, Mr. Graham.”
***
Josh waited until after class to call Lady Jane. He found a park bench and placed the call.
“How much trouble am I in?” the little vixen asked as soon as she picked up.
Josh couldn’t help but smile. He pictured her sitting at the round table in her small kitchen and stirring her tea. “The bank called you, I take it?”
Josh’s smile faded and confusion set it. “The bank?”
“Oh dear.” She sighed. “Then it was the school?”
“Yes, the financial aid office contacted me this morning. Lady, why would the bank be calling me?”
“I’ve told you that you work too hard. I want you to quit that job of yours and put all your focus on your studies.”
“Lady, what did you do?”
“Well, there may be a little more in your bank account now.”
Josh raked his fingers through his hair. “It’s fortunate you’re an hour away.” He sighed. “How much is a ‘little more’?”
“Listen boy, I’m eighty years old. I can do whatever the hell I want with my money. You can’t take it with you, you know? You’ll just have to walk your little fanny to the nearest ATM to find out how much I deposited into your account over the weekend.”
“When…how…did you get your fingers on my account number, Lady?” He had intentionally withheld that information from her in the past for this exact reason. Then it dawned on him.
“You sleep like the dead.” She chuckled. “It’s your fault you left your wallet, which contained a blank check with your account number on it, on my kitchen counter.”
“You snoop.”
“I’ve been called much worse in my lifetime.”
“I’m certain that is the case.” Josh had always loved their banter. She was feisty and full of fire. And he adored her for it. “What am I going to do with you, Lady?”
She giggled. She knew she had won. Finally. For years they had battled over money. She would sneak gas money into his pocket, only to have it found and returned to her before he even left her house. She eventually stopped writing him checks because she realized he wasn’t cashing them. He had over fifty checks from her sitting in his safe at home. It had never crossed his mind to cash them out.
“Well, I guess now is as good a time as any to tell you. Since you’re already on the warpath and all.”
“Tell me what?” Apparently, the old girl had one more trick up her sleeve.
“Your twenty-seventh birthday is next month.”
Josh didn’t like where she was going. “Yes. I’m aware. One year closer to death. What is so important about this non-milestone birthday?”
Lady Jane sighed. “I wish we were having this conversation in person.”
“Spill it, Lady.”
“As you wish.” She cleared her throat. “That is the day your trust fund becomes available to you.” Her tone was serious, no longer playful and snarky.
“Lady, you know there’s no trust fund. Not anymore. My parents cut me off. The second Julia and I left that night, we were…”
“I established a trust fund for you years ago to ensure that you would never have to rely on your parents financially. I never wanted them to hold the purse strings, dangle their money in front of you to coerce you to give up your dream and work for your father. Knowing your mother and father like I do, I’m sure they know the trust fund exists. Don’t be surprised if they pay you a visit between now and your birthday to make one last-ditch effort.”
Josh wasn’t worried about that. No matter what his parents said, if they begged even, he would never leave Philadelphia and go work for his father in New York.
“Lady, you know I can’t accept…all of this.” Her love and support overwhelmed him. She had secured his dream and given him the ability and means to fend off his parents one final time.
“You will.” He heard her sniffle and then clear her throat. He rarely saw his grandmother upset. The last time he saw her cry was at Julia’s funeral. “Because you are all I have left, boy.”