Chapter 24

The lawyer returned with a packet of documents for Mila to sign just as she was being released from the hospital.

“You’re all set here,” Dr. Ogawa said. “Be sure to follow up with the appointment I gave you.”

“Thank you,” Mila said, wiping her hand on her grungy t-shirt.

“I’ll walk you out,” Granger said, falling into step beside the nurse wheeling Mila out of the ward. When the reached the sidewalk, the nurse helped her to stand, then retreated with the wheelchair, leaving Mila alone with her mother’s attorney.

“The coroner’s office has called,” he grunted, “wanting to know what to do with your mother’s remains. I know this is a difficult time for you, but I thought you should know that your mother already made arrangements to be laid to rest at the Cherry Hills Cemetery, with your father and brother.”

Mila felt a lump in her throat and she tried without success to clear it. Her mother could go to hell, but Michael’s death still felt massively unfair.

“I’ve given them the permission to go ahead with the burial on Tuesday, and I hope that’s all right with you,” he continued.

“Yes, that’s fine,” she said through her cotton mouth.

“If you need help with further arrangements, here’s the Hillside Funeral Home’s number. Ask for Jane, she’ll help you with whatever you need.”

“Thanks,” Mila said, accepting the card he held out.

“Here,” he said, gesturing to the diner across the street. “Let’s get some coffee and finish going over these documents.”

“Okay,” she said agreeably. She followed him to the crosswalk and over to the restaurant. Shortly they were seated in a blue vinyl booth with coffee being poured into two ceramic mugs. He brought out a pen and Mila began working her way through the stack.

When her task was completed, Granger took back his packet of forms and said, “Here. I’ll bet you’re glad to see this. Your PIN hasn’t been set, but you just call this number on the back and they’ll take care of it for you.”

“Okay,” she said, accepting the plastic rectangle with the name Milo Thorne stamped on the front of it.

“There’s a $300 daily limit on single withdrawals, but you can probably get that changed if you go down to the institution. Other than that, you can charge whatever you want and it works more or less just like cash. We’re still handling the estate’s debts; did you wish that service to continue?”

“Yes, please,” was certainly the answer to go with since she hadn’t the slightest idea what he was talking about. That put a satisfied smile on his face, though, and with a final handshake, Corbin Granger said he’d see her again.

“Goodbye,” Mila said quietly as she watched him leave. She realized as he crossed the street that she didn’t have money for the coffee. She was sitting there slack-jawed, trying to figure out what to do when the waitress reappeared.

“You ready for me to take that?” she asked.

“Um, yes,” Mila said, expecting the woman to clear the cup. Instead, the waitress grabbed the plastic credit card out of Mila’s hand, and surprised her by walking off with it. Mila got up to follow her and wound up at the register, where the woman ran the little rectangle through a square machine with buttons. It whirred and spit out a piece of paper, which the woman handed to Mila with a pen. Mila stared for a moment. The waitress stared back.

“Oh, you can just line through the tip if you left one on the table,” she said.

“I didn’t,” Mila admitted.

“Well, then you can just go ahead and add it to your total there and sign on the bottom. The yellow copy is yours.”

Mila looked carefully at the small slip of paper. It appeared to be some sort of IOU. She did as the woman instructed, filled in a tip, wrote in the new total and signed her name at the bottom. The waitress accepted the form, and returned the card with the yellow slip to Mila. Mila pocketed both.

“You come back sometime, all right?” the woman said with a wink.

“Okay,” Mila said, heading for the door.

What a weird life I’m having, she thought as she walked outside. The lawyer was long gone, and Mila had no idea what she ought to be doing next. She had a feeling she needed to go home, though, so she decided to start walking. After about five blocks, Mila stopped and pulled out the card. She wondered who else accepts these IOU’s, and whether she could get some new clothes with it. She pocketed the card again and walked a little faster. For the first time in memory, Mila was eager to get back home. Her mother wasn’t there; she had no reason to fear.

Happiness exploded in her chest and Mila began to run. The sooner she got home, the better.