Page 111 - NS 2024

Jeanne’s scoff was nearly louder than her son’s tears. “Don’t you? After all, she’s the one who left you both. I wouldn’t be defending that.”
Whoever’s case held more water; it mattered little; neither would live another half decade. Barry was found liable in the car crash that took his life, simply because he had taken the other driver’s infant with him to the grave. Whatever estate would have been left to Min was decimated by the case, effectively vindicating the dead child by punishing the living one. Jeanne had been on her way out for a while, which could surprise no one who had ever seen the crone’s chain-smoking potential unleashed. Near the end—a period in which she had forgone chemo in favor of an additional pack of Camels a day—her mobility had lessened to an extent that, with reluctance, she gave up Min’s guardianship to St. Mary’s Home for Misplaced Youths.
Grandma Jeanne kept reassuring Min as they had packed her things, wheezing all the while.
“You will do well in such a place, Minny. Their Sisters are some of the most generous souls in the world, and your fellow girls will learn to respect you for your brain.”
All dressed, with only a suitcase and a backpack to call her own, nine-year-old Min had stared into the mirror and wondered how life could get any worse.
“I’ll see you every weekend, darling,” her grandmother had rasped out as the nuns walked her little ward into the confines of the inner halls. They never saw each other again, and Min was sent notice of Jeanne’s death a month later from the sobs of Sister Tonya—who had been close to Jeanne for years.