Chapter 50: Called it cruel.
A lot had occurred in the span of only two consecutive days following Master Joshua. His son's George and Stephan showed up. All grown and pompous. Every single person was baffled as to why they would attend a funeral of someone who sold them off without a second thought. Someone who was ashamed of having them to the point that needed them gone.
"He did not sell us off, he asked a boarding school chancellor to come fetch us." Stephan explained over some tea and crumpets.
"Once we were settled, he often visited and told us everything would be alright and that this was for our own good." George added.
"I suppose those were the trips, he often made to Sheffield?" Lady Martha said with a sigh before sipping her cup of tea.
"Yes, Ma'am!" Stephan replied. Master Milton and Gerald only gave each other a look of disgust.
"... if you're here for his will then I will have you know that he had nothing to give for his mulatto bastards.." Master Milton said clicking his tongue.
"I must apologize for my brother's behavior, he is very dull and extraneous."
Master Milton only chuckled. "Wait until they hear how you molested their little sister and gave her another mulatto. Who will be considered extraneous then?"
"Milton do not be ridiculous, they happened to be in-love. Do not speak of things you have no clue about." Lady Martha intervened.
"You're not and never will be my mother. What you should have done is taught your son to keep his junk in his trunk furthermore, I'm only here for what belongs to me."
"Do not speak to my mother that way Milton. I have had it up to the top of my head with your nonsense."
"Panashe is—" Stephan and George remembered her name, some memories were blurred but they remembered her. It was not easy hearing how she had followed in their mother's footsteps, there was nothing wrong with having a mulatto but it obviously meant someone with great superiority was taking advantage and it broke their heart knowing that.
"The funeral will be held tomorrow, can we please stick to the main point and that is giving Joshua Gallagher a great funeral. I'm not bitter, I'm not sad either. I just want this over and done with, he deserves a good funeral with his loved ones. Everyone will be waiting to laugh about our father but we should stand united. I do not at all care about mulatto grandchildren or mulatto sons. That is still my nephew and I have watched him grow. Those are still my brothers and I'm open to having a solid relationship with them from here on. There is no other mother, I'm aware of than Lady Martha. Milton you ought to respect her her. We're all Gallagher's, the outsiders are waiting to see us fight and pick at each other but we should not entertain it. Milton as our oldest brother, I'm quite disappointed." Master Gerald said blatantly. There was silence on the table. Cynthia, Kathleen and Rachel being the only Gallagher girls remained quiet knowing how overpowering they could be.
"What about Edwin?" William asked out of the blue.
"He passed on right after you left." Lady Martha replied.
There was awkward silence.
"Now that we're all in our right minds, let's get busy. I have a list of things at hand..." Gerald said taking out a list. "The Cunningham's are not invited, not after they stole father's land. He never took a liking to them."
"But Austin is my dearest friend." William added.
"But he is a Cunningham and therefore, he is not welcome nor invited." Master Gerald said going back to his list.
"Cornelius Dickson is not invited, not after he said he couldn't wait to piss on Father's grave. Ephraim and Caleb Darwin are not invited either, for no reason except I cannot stand them." Gerald cleared his throat. "Uh now we will go to the list of women who claim Father took advantage of them which is probably most definitely true." He shrugged, everyone on the table nodded agreeing. "Rhoda, Barbara, Florence, Harriot, Augusta, Nanny, Sally, Deborah, Pamela, Charity, Edna, Rosamond, Beatrice and Myra. As far as I know these are the potential women that may cause a scene therefore, they're to be kept out."
"Moving onto.." He paused afraid of hurting Lady Martha's feelings. "Father's mistresses.."
"Skip that, Gerald!" William's sister, Cynthia said almost immediately.
"It is all out in the open, anyways.."
"Gerald, do not act an imbecile." His older sister Rachel, let out making him close his mouth.
"The list of people owing father money." He continued. "The Watson's, Harvey Howell—"
"I'm sure, your lists are endless but, I'd rather not hear the rest."
"Oh, I'm sorry William. I'm sorry you did not know father as well as I do enough to make lists to secure his funeral and possessions."
"This is absurd, I will only come to the funeral and the reading of the Will, exclude me out of the rest of this foolery." Master Milton stood up to leave.
"We'd like to be excused... maybe see our mother and sister?" Stephan added.
"Of course!" William said gruffly knowing that Panashe wanted nothing to do with him. With that a servant was called by Lady Martha to take them there.
"How is Tracy and the kids?"
"I'm leaving her mother!" He said solemnly. "Liam and Adeline, are not my children." More silence followed, Gerald had his ears perked up.
"Are you quite alright William?" His older sister Kathleen, questioned seemingly concerned.
"Perfectly fine."
"That's tough!" Gerald snickered. "Yet you called us filthy liars when we tried to warn you."
"I'm truly sorry, William. You do not deserve this." His mother comforted him.
William shrugged loathing the pity that had been going around. "You still have Christian." Lady Martha added.
"Christian?" He questioned.
"Your little boy.."
"His name is Christian?!" He smiled for a bit.
"You seem to know nothing about him." Cynthia added.
"I thought he was Wilkin's son, that's what Tracy had convinced me."
"You ought to be a fool, if you cannot see the resemblance."
"I'm already a fool for leaving in the first place." He shrugged.
"I wonder how Christian is taking it. Him and father were quite inseparable." Gerald added abruptly.
"It's really a shame." Rachel added.
—
Panashe's mother was sat on a wooden bench. With Christian who seemed to be caught up with his own thoughts. With no filter his grandmother had told him. "Your Grandpa is dead, he died and we will bury him underground and the worms and all the bugs will indulge in his remains."
Christian only giggled then said. "So when will Grandpa return?"
His grandmother only seemed even more annoyed. She did not care about that old geyser, death is what he deserved.
"He is not returning anywhere Christian. Grandpa is dead dead. He is not breathing and they will dig a hole and throw him in there then we will forget about him. Grandpa was not a very nice person."
Christian turned to furrow his eyebrows. Tears prickling at the corner of his eyes. A somber frown on his puckered lips. For a moment, Panashe's mother felt bad, maybe that was a bit harsh but she needed to. Knowing Panashe would probably beat around the bush, in hopes of not hurting him. Someone had to do it, right?
"Grandpa is very nice." Christian said wiping the tears on his cheeks.
"Not anymore because grandpa is dead."
"I want to see grandpa!"
She only rolled her eyes. "Christian stop being ridiculous. You do not belong there, you belong here with your mother. She should not have even allowed you to mingle with those braggarts of a family."
"I want to see grandpa..." Christian turned to walk away but Panashe's mother roughly grabbed him back.
"I want to see grandpa!!" He cried, her hold was still tight on his little arm and would surely leave a mark. Aggravated and not knowing how to calm the little brat, Panashe's mother turned to harshly clap him, it left a five finger mark. She grabbed him by his shirt to give him a thorough beating with her flip flop. Christian bit on his lip so hard it started to bleed, he managed to get out of grandmother's grip before running off. She did not bother running after him, he loved causing tantrums, he would soon be back eventually. She sat back on the bench and clicked her tongue. She blamed Panashe's poor parenting skills for raising this boy as a Caucasian when he wasn't. If anything, he needed to start learning that this wasn't a perfect world and further more that he was a result of rape. Panashe's mother would be sure to tell him eventually.
Suddenly she saw two young men approaching her. Her eyesight was not as great as it used to be, she had to squint her eyes to be able to see properly.
"Mother!" They said in unison. She almost had a heart attack. This must have been a dream, she thought to herself . They looked familiar but so grown and poised abundance. They looked well dressed—
They hugged almost immediately, fountains of tears flowing. Tears of joy and happiness. She thought she would never see them again. She had become a very cold person, when they left. Even colder towards her daughter. She was quick to invite them for tea, even though the place looked inhumane and resembled a shanty town. They did not hesitate giving into their mother's warm welcome. They talked and talked until sunset. George and Stephan explained everything and for a moment... she felt somewhat grateful for Master Joshua. Her boys were educated and well spoken. Most of all they had their own freedom and were not owned by anyone.
When Panashe returned home, she was surprised. They were even more surprised to see what an incredible woman she had grown up to be. Panashe's mother was so happy she forgot all about Christian running off. After a few talks, Panashe finally asked—
"Mama, where is Christian?"
Her mother only fiddled her fingers before whispering "How should I know? The boy almost made me break my back?"
Panicking Panashe asked her once more. "Do not worry about him, he will return soon."
"SOON?!" She yelled, it was already dark and she was afraid for her child. At this moment she blamed herself for thinking she could trust her mother when her mother always made it known that she did not like Christian and preferred for him to have been aborted much earlier.
"If anything happens to my son, I swear I will never forgive you!" She spat before leaving.
Panashe's mother only shook her head and asked George and Stephan if they wanted more tea. She continued to tell them how much of a fool their sister could be at time and how she overreacts.