The Home - 3. Chapter 3

I took the bedclothes upstairs and made up the beds. I moved my stuff into the master bedroom. The master bedroom took the whole side of the house. Directly underneath was the library and study. Looking around, checking out closets, I found a secret. There was a seat in one closet, I sat on it, when I did, it started to move, downward. When it stopped, I pushed open the door, and I was in the study. I just laughed, a secret way from the master bedroom to the study. I wanted to see if it worked in reverse. As soon as I closed the door, I was on my way up. Thinking of Pa, I just started to laugh out loud. I wonder what other secrets this house held that Pa hadn’t shown me.

I took my personal elevator back to the study. When I closed the door to the closet, I heard the elevator return to the bedroom. I wonder how to get it back down for me to use to go up. I knew there had to be some way. For now, I had a safe to check out.

I opened the safe, took out the trays with jewelry. As I started to go through the trays, I found a ring with a royal crest on it. I tried it on, and it fit. As I was holding it up, admiring it, I glanced at the painting of my forefather. He had his hand across his chest, and on his ring finger was this ring. I looked at the picture closely, examining his ring; it was the same ring.

I smiled as I put the trays of jewelry back into the safe. The ring I would wear. There were several tin boxes in the safe. I took one out and opened it. When I looked into the box, my heart started to beat fast. The box was full of 100 dollar notes. I just put everything back in the safe, close the safe, put the board in place, hung the picture, and sat down in the desk chair.

I needed to lie down. This was too much, the ring, the jewelry, and the cash. There were several more boxes in that safe. I shuddered when I think what they may contain. I went to bed.

I fell asleep, and Pa came to me in my dreams. He touched the hand where I had the ring. He smiled, nodded his head, and disappeared.

I slept straight through until morning. I fixed my breakfast, went to the tool shed. Today I was going to start weeding the garden and see what I can salvage. I worked all morning pulling weeds. At lunchtime, Mom called and wanted to know if I wanted to go shopping. I told her Marlene took me yesterday. That led to a discussion about why Marlene was here.

“I’m not sure. I gave her a tour, and she was surprised when I mentioned I had a bedroom here. She asked if I had seen any of Nonna’s jewelry. I think she was hoping there was something she could have.”

“I have Nonna’s jewelry. I gave some of it to your Aunt Victoria.”

I knew where some of it was as well. I wonder if Mom knew what was in that safe.

“What are you doing?”

“This morning, I’ve been weeding Pa’s garden. I need Dad to help me or show me what I need to do next. This afternoon, I’m going to start in Nonna’s herb garden.”

“We’ll be over for dinner, Don’t bother cooking. I’ll bring food with me.”

I had another five hours until Mom and Dad would get here. I’ll finish weeding the garden and start on Nonna’s herb garden. While working in the garden, I was thinking about needing a car until I got Pa’s car running. Since I only needed a car for a short time, I’ll lease or rent a car. Pulling weeds, using a hoe to break up the clods of dirt, and picking the ripe tomatoes, I was busy. Not paying attention to the time, I heard a car horn. Mom and Dad had arrived.

Opening the door for them, I helped Mom carry in the food she had prepared. I hugged Dad, “Are you ready to teach me about gardening.”

He just smiled, “Let’s see what you have accomplished. Mom said you were working in the garden.”

“I was pulling weeds and breaking up the soil. The soil hasn’t been worked for the last three years, and the ground was getting hard. I don’t know if these plants will need to be replaced or will they come back once the ground is loosened and watered.”

Walking into the kitchen, “Tony, where did these tomatoes come from?”

“From Pa’s garden. When I was weeding, I noticed several of his tomato plants had ripe tomatoes, so I picked them.”

“What else did you find?”

“Not much more, the lettuce plants look like the bugs or animals ate them. I couldn’t even find any roots. They probably dried up. His pepper plants were not in good shape either, although a few plants had his hot banana peppers. I’ll pick them when I’ve finished cleaning up the garden area.”

Dad put his hand around my shoulder, “Let’s go take a look while Mom prepares dinner.”

Walking around the garden, “Tony, this doesn’t look too bad. Use the hoe like you have been, loosen the soil, and that should be enough. I’ll bring over some fertilizer, and we can work that into the ground. You’ll also need some wooden poles for the green beans. Those plants lying on the ground isn’t good, insects can attack the beans, and they will rot. Beans or any plants that grow should be put on poles. I’ll bring some over with me. If you can get to a hardware store or lumber mill, you can pick some up. You’ll need them for the grapevines as well.”

“What about Nonna’s herb garden?”

“You can weed that area, as you are doing here. If you can get some straw, you can mulch it around the plants. That should keep the plants in good shape until winter. I think Nonna use to gather most of the herbs in the fall and then hang them to dry. You might want to look around to see if you can find any that she hadn’t used. Some of these you’ll need to plant every year.”

I watched Dad as he pinched off a leaf and smelled it. He gave it to me. I smiled. This was one of Nonna’s favorite herbs, sage.

“Are you going to make any wine this fall?”

“I was thinking of doing that.” Walking toward the vines, I picked a grape, ate it. “These aren’t ready. The sugar content is too low. If I picked them now, I would need to add more sugar to the mix.”

Dad picked one, tasted it, “It tastes fine to me.”

“Yes, for eating but not for making wine. Can you give me a list of plants I can plant in Pa’s garden? I know what he has there now, but I would like to add more, like corn. For some reason, that was one crop he wasn’t interested in.”

“Probably because of the birds.”

“What do the birds have to do with it?”

“They will eat the corn. That is why farmers who raise corn to sell use scarecrows.”

“Do they work?”

“Only if the wind blows. Crows are crafty birds, and they aren’t usually fooled for long.”

“There’s Mom, and she’s waving. Dinner must be ready.”

While we were eating, Mom looked at me. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“That ring you are wearing, where did you find it?”

Now, do I tell Mom about the safe or not? It wasn’t that I didn’t want her to know. I didn’t want my other relatives to know.

“If I tell you, promise you won’t tell anyone else?” She nodded her head yes. “It was in the safe. I tried it on, and it fits, so I have decided to wear it.”

“You were able to open the safe? I don’t even know where the safe is located, in the office, I assume, or their bedroom.”

“It’s in the office,” I said nothing more.

“Tony, I’m going to take some of Nonna’s herbs home. Do you have the keys to the attic door?”

“Yes, I suppose they are on the key ring. Why do you want the keys to the attic door?”

“That’s where the dried herbs are. You haven’t checked out the attic yet?”

“No, even when I stayed here, there was no reason for me to go there. But now you have my curiosity aroused, and I want to check it out.” I did go there one time. I knew there was a bed in that room, but I didn’t go any further.

“After dinner, we can do that.”

I thought I knew all of the secrets in this house. Obviously, I do not. I didn’t know where Nonna stored her dried herbs. I wonder what else is there that I haven’t investigated. “Mom, do you want to take a salami home? Pa had a few in that room. I brought one up, and it’s in the refrigerator.”

“Did you taste it?”

“Yes, it’s good, but you have to slice it very thin. I’ll cut you and Dad a piece.” I took the salami from the refrigerator, and Mom noticed the mold on the skin. I removed a section of skin and made several thin slices. I handed one to Dad and Mom. I watched as they smelled it and then took a bite.”

“How many are down there?”

“There are five more down there.”

“Okay, I will take one.”

Mom put the leftovers in the fridge when we had finished eating, and I started to wash the dishes.

“Tony, I’ll dry.”

“No, Mom, I’ll just rinse them and let them air dry.” That’s what I did.

“Dad, come, and I’ll show you the wine cellar. You can get your salami while we are there.”

“Let me have the key to the attic, and I’ll get the herbs while you get the salami.”

I gave Mom the keyring, and she knew which key she needed. Dad followed me to the basement.

I showed him the door to the wine cellar, and he was smiling. Walking into the basement, you could smell the wine. Dad sniffed the air, “Is this where Pa stored his wine?”

“Yes, in those barrels. I think there is still some wine in them. Want a taste?”

“It’s probably vinegar by now.”

“Let’s taste a little.” I took a cup hanging on a hook by the barrels, open the tap, and drew off about a half cup. I smelled it, and it smelled okay.

“Do you want to go first?” Dad shook his head no. I tasted the wine, it wasn’t bad, but it was a little sour.

I handed the cup to Dad. He smelled it, then took a little taste. “It has started to turn. If you want to save this, you should find a way to stop the formation of vinegar.”

“I’ll have to read up on it. Pa’s wine wasn’t the best, but he thought it was, and that was all that matter.”

“What’s in these jars?”

“Grappa, do you want a taste?”

“No, if it is anything like the wine, I’ll pass.”

“Dad, besides the salami, do you want some of these sausages?”

I let him choose what he wanted, and he took one salami and three sausages. “Mom will make something good with this sausage.” I knew she would.

Walking back upstairs, Mom was entering the kitchen with several bunches of herbs. The aroma of the herbs permeated the kitchen. It was a smell I truly loved.

“Mom, Dad, come with me. I want to show you something.” We went into the office, I opened the closet, told Mom to sit on the chair. She started to laugh, and then I knew she knew about the elevator. I closed the door, waited a few minutes, and when I opened the door, there was the chair, no Mom. I asked Dad to sit in the chair, closing the door, I sent him upstairs as well. I walked up the stairs to Nonna and Pa’s room, which is now my room.

When I walked in, they were laughing. “You knew about the chair?”

“Yes, I used it a lot when Nonna was ill. You have moved in here.”

“Yes, I’m closer to Nonna and Pa in here. Mom, there are some clothes here, I’m not sure what to do with them.”

“Once you have checked the pockets, you can give them to Good Will. I don’t think anyone in the family will want them.”

“I’ll do that tonight.” With that said, Mom and Dad decided to leave.

“Tony, I’ll bring over some poles and fertilizer sometime this week.”

“Thanks, Dad, don’t forget the salami and sausages. Mom, you need to get your herbs from the kitchen.”

I walked with them to the kitchen and then to their car. Waving goodbye, I waited until they exited the gate before going back into the house.