Chapter 4

The vultures descended. It was shockingly fast.

Uncle Scott and his wife, Debra, were the first to arrive, less than an hour after my text. Scott was wearing a cheap suit and a fake, sorrowful expression. Debra was already dabbing at her dry eyes with a tissue.

"Oh, Dad!" Scott boomed, rushing to the bedside. "We were so worried! We came as soon as we heard!"

My parents, Anthony and Jennifer, showed up next. They carried a big gift basket filled with fruit and cheap chocolates.

"We were just on our way!" my father said, avoiding my eyes. "We just had to pick this up for him first. We wanted to make sure he had some nice things."

Then came Aunt Sylvia, looking frazzled and furious. She had cut her Florida trip short.

"I can't believe this!" she wailed, tears streaming down her face. "Do you know how much a last-minute flight costs? It was a fortune! But for Daddy, anything."

Grandpa Rufus, propped up on his pillows, looked at her calmly. "Don't worry, Sylvia. I'll reimburse you."

He then looked at me. "Molly, go to the downtown branch of the bank. The manager, Mr. Henderson, is expecting you. I called him. Withdraw fifty thousand dollars. In cash. Bring it here."

The room went silent. My aunts and uncles just stared, their greed suddenly naked and raw. I went to the bank, feeling like I was in a strange dream. I came back with a heavy duffel bag and placed it on the foot of Grandpa's bed.

He unzipped it, revealing stacks of hundred-dollar bills.

The sound of my family's collective sharp intake of breath was the only thing you could hear. They were stunned into silence, their eyes fixed on the money.