My name is Gr3gory
My whole life, I've been... unlucky. Whether it was having a broken limb every summer, getting sick every flu season, never getting good grades, or even just my hair looking dumb, styled both long or short, it was as though I was a magnet for misfortune.
Very much unlike my twin brother Jeremy. He was the best at everything. He always had friends, always got the girl, the good grades, prom king, you name it, he had it.
Even now, as we both were taking college classes, I was struggling; changing my major frequently, while Jeremy was flex coursing his way through med school. 26, finishing six years of credits in only three, and somehow had still made time for life outside of school, to spend with our mom, and his fiance.
I still lived at home, so I saw mom daily. Honestly she wasn't too interesting. She had maybe 5 things she'd say on repeat, and that was it: "You planning on getting out of bed today?" "Did you put any job applications in this weeks?" "Are you planning on cleaning your room, so I can finally do all the dishes?" "You need to figure out a financial plan, like your brother" "Are you planning on moving out soon?"
But when my brother came over, she swooned over him. Congratulating him on his most recently published medical article, or complimenting his fiance on her new necklace or earrings. She always had nice things to say to him: how proud she is, and how good he looked. How she never doubted he would become a dignified member of society.
And you might think that, yes, I, Gregory, have a pretty lame life. Whether it be my own poor choices, or what the universe laid out in front of me. I suck. And I must be very depressed.
And I would be...
Except I just got a letter.
And I've been waiting until our family dinner, to share it with my mom and Jeremy.
I wore my best button up shirt and my least wrinkled pants. I even tried combing out my hair. I could hear Jeremy and his fiance, Shelby walk in and trade greetings with our mom.
I came down, almost giddy to help prepare the meal, which surprised my brother. Usually I snuck in, last minute, to eat and then go do my own thing. Throughout the next hour, they all eyed me curiously, until the moment finally came.
In the middle of our meal, I stood up and announced, "Guys, I'm moving out!"
They stared at me, a mixture of confusion and excitement. Jeremy, being an optimist, was the first to say, "Hey, Greg, that's great! You found an apartment?"
"Nope" I said still cheerful.
"A home? That's a pretty big commitment" my mom chimed in, "are you buying or renting?"
"Not that either" my smile couldn't get any bigger.
Everyone was quiet, so I continued, "I found our grandfather."
My mom gasped and immediately started choking on her wine.
"Grandfather? We don't have a grandfather" Jeremy said.
"Well, that's what mom wanted us to think." I said as I held up my letter, "I just got this in the mail. It's from an attorney who was just assigned to Ham Spiegel, our grandfather. He had a will written long ago, that stated, in the unlikely event that he become ill, to the point of needing living assistance, I can get soul inheritance of his house, land, ALL OF IT, if I just go take care of him!"
"Long ago, but it included you, specifically?" Jeremy swiped the letter from me.
"You can't possibly," mom was still coughing, "be considering going out to his property"
"Uh. Yeah I am! It's a sweet deal!" I started getting a little upset. Why weren't my brother and mom as happy as I was?
"Yup it says here: Gregory, and only he, has this opportunity" Jeremy read.
Mom persisted, "Greg please don't go out there. You don't even know him"
"Well who's fault is that?!"
"He isn't like other men. Not like other grandfather's. He was a terrible father, and I don't want you going near him."
I chuckled, "What's he going to do? It says here, he's needing living assistance. He could be in a coma! I could literally just be changing shit bags, and saline drips. And in exchange, I get my own place! I thought you'd be happy to have me out of your house." I grabbed my letter back from Jeremy and headed up to my room.
Mom caught up to me, holding my arm, "Gregory I'm begging you to please not go. There will be other opportunities. This isn't your only shot."
I stared at her for a moment, and smiled. She actually cared about me. She was actually begging me to stay. She was actually showing some interest in my decisions.
But it didn't matter. I had made up my mind a week ago. I had spent the last few days packing my stuff. Surprisingly, there's not a lot of it. I only needed two suitcases.
I stepped away from my mother, walked around the corner, grab those two suitcases, said one last goodbye and walked out the door.
I thought back to those last few moments, as I sat in the train station. I also thought about what opportunities lie ahead of me, as I make a very unexpected turn in my life: meeting a man I never knew, seeing sites I've never seen...
An announcement rang out, and I got up to catch the train that would take me closest to the little town of Deepwater, Missouri.