“Felix…is there…something…I can help…you with?” she panted.
“Yes, you can step aside and let me help you! Honestly, Mrs. McAllister, why would you decide to cut this overgrown lawn by yourself?”
“Someone has to,” she replied. She hobbled to her porch and sat on the steps. “I didn’t realize…it would be so…demanding.”
“This grass is pretty tall and with all the rain we’ve had lately, it hasn’t had a good chance to dry out either. Can I get you something? A glass of water?”
Mrs. McAllister waved him off. “I just need to…catch my breath.”
“You know, I’ve said it a thousand times, and I’ll say it again: Your son should be helping you with these sorts of things. It ain’t right to let your elderly Mom struggle alone.”
Felix started the lawnmower then so Mrs. McAllister wouldn’t need to reply. He knew she’d make excuses for her son, Henry, and Felix didn’t want to hear them, not after what he’d just seen.
Everyone on the street knew Henry as the type of man who liked to draw attention to himself by driving too fast and excessively revving the engine of his fancy car. Nobody had the heart to tell Mrs. McAllister they thought her son was a menace, but they all thought it.
Felix clenched his jaw and set to work. It took him a good part of the morning to cut the long, damp grass and rake it all together. By the time he’d finished, Felix had reached a decision. He marched up to Mrs. McAllister’s door and called out to her.
“Oh, thank you, Felix!” Mrs. McAllister beamed at him as she looked out over her neat lawn. “That looks so much better. Come in, please. You deserve a cool drink after your hard work and I have some homemade lemonade in the fridge.”
“That sounds delicious.” Felix followed the older lady inside.
“Don’t mind the mess,” she said as she gestured to him to sit in the sitting room. “I’ve gotten a little behind with my housekeeping.”
Felix told her not to worry about it, but he was secretly astonished by the state of Mrs. McAllister’s home.
Knick-knacks cluttered every surface, and all of them sported a layer of dust. There were several used teacups lined up on the coffee table and cobwebs in every corner.
The roof was obviously leaking too, and the bucket she’d placed beneath the leaky spot hadn’t been emptied since the last rain two days ago. Worry gnawed at Felix’s heart. It seemed to him like his kindhearted neighbor couldn’t take care of herself anymore.
“Here you go, dear.” Mrs. McAllister placed a glass of lemonade on the table. “I’ve got something else for you too, a token of my appreciation.”
Felix frowned at the metal box she held out to him. It had an odd set of dials on top of it, and although it wasn’t large, it appeared to be heavy from the awkward way she gripped it in her fingers.
“Uh…thanks.” Felix took the box, which was as heavy as it looked, and studied it.
“That’s an antique that’s been passed down in my family.” Mrs. McAllister smiled.
“I can’t accept something like this just for cutting your grass.” He handed the box back to her. “It’s very generous of you, but it’s far too much.”
“Oh…” Mrs. McAllister frowned.
The disappointed look on his face made Felix feel guilty. “It’s just that I don’t need a fancy gift for such a simple task, Mrs. McAllister. It’s no trouble to help you out, and you really don’t need to give me anything at all in exchange.”
“Still, I can’t let you go home empty-handed. At least take some apples for Suzie. I must offer you something more than lemonade for your kindness, Felix.”
It seemed there was no way to escape without a gift, so Felix accepted Mrs. McAllister’s offer and sipped at his lemonade. She left the room with the box and returned a short while later with a grocery bag.
“Here you go.” She placed the bag on the table and sat in an armchair with a loud sigh.
“Are you okay, Mrs. McAllister?” Felix sat forward.
Mrs. McAllister nodded. “I’m just worn out from fighting with that mower earlier. Not as young as I used to be, you know.”
“I’ll let you get some rest.” Felix stood and peeked into the bag on the table. “Those are beautiful apples; I’m sure Suzie will enjoy them. And please, next time there’s something you need to do around here, just come knock on my door.”
“That’s very kind of you!” Mrs. McAllister pressed a hand to her chest. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it, Felix.”
Later that day, Felix was tidying up in the sitting room when Suzie rushed in with an excited grin.
“Dad, look what I found under the apples Mrs. McAllister gave us!”
Felix shook his head and chuckled as he recognized the strange metal box. “I told her I couldn’t accept that! That Mrs. McAllister really doesn’t take ‘no’ for an answer.”
“I think this is a combination lock.” Suzie twisted the dials as her brow furrowed in concentration. “But I can’t get it to open.”
“I’m sorry, Suzie, I know you love those old puzzle boxes and things, but we aren’t keeping this. It’s far too valuable.” He held out his hand for the box. “I’m going to return it to Mrs. McAllister.”
“Come on, Dad!” Suzie held the box to her chest and gave him a pleading look. “She wanted you to have it, so what’s the problem? Please…I never get nice things.”
Although he felt terrible for Suzie, Felix insisted the box be returned. She handed it over and then ran from the room. As Felix headed out, he heard her slam her bedroom door.
Felix knocked on Mrs. McAllister’s front door. He tried calling for her when she didn’t answer. There was still no reply.
“I know you’re in there, Mrs. McAllister,” Felix yelled. “I found your box and I’m here to return it…if you won’t take it, then I’ll leave it on your porch.”
Felix turned to leave, but it didn’t sit right with him. With a frustrated groan, he tried the door handle. He yelled to Mrs. McAllister that he was coming in to put her box in a safer place, then stepped inside.
Mrs. McAllister was precisely where he had left her hours earlier, but her body now slumped in the armchair, and her mouth hung open. Her eyes stared at the wall, unseeing and empty.
Felix shouted her name as he rushed to her side, but it was no good. When he pressed his fingers to the pulse point in her throat, it confirmed what he already knew: Mrs. McAllister was gone.
The paramedics came soon afterward to take Mrs. McAllister’s body. Neighbors gathered in the street as word spread about the kind old lady’s passing. Only much later, after dinner and after sending Suzie to bed, Felix noticed the heavy weight in his pocket.
At some point, he’d put the box in his pocket and forgotten it. He set it down on the kitchen table and stared at it. It still didn’t make sense for Mrs. McAllister to give this to him. He remembered her mentioning it was an antique. On a whim, he reached for his laptop and started looking for similar boxes.
Nothing concrete turned up initially. There were plenty of antique boxes, but only a few resembled the one Mrs. McAllister gave him.
It was when he took a photo and ran an image search that he finally found a match.
Felix’s gaze flickered between the photos on the webpage for a prestigious auction house and the box in his hands. His fingers began to shake as he admitted to himself that they were a perfect match.
Felix swore under his breath. This box was worth $250,000! It was an almost unimaginable amount. If he could sell it at full price, or more…his brain ran through all the possibilities of what he could do with that much money.
Then he remembered Suzie saying she never got nice things before running from the room. He decided then to keep the box for her and that any money he made from it would go toward his daughter’s future.
Felix put the box away in a safe place so he could think about the best way to sell it. A few days later, Felix had just arrived home from a morning job when his phone rang. An unknown number was calling, but that wasn’t unusual. He assumed it was a client until the man on the other end spoke.
“This is Tim, Mrs. McAllister’s lawyer. I’d like to meet with you, if you don’t mind?”
“Uh, sure,” Felix replied uncertainly. “When?”
“As soon as possible. Are you available now?”
Tim’s urgency made Felix wary, but he agreed to meet the lawyer at a cafe in town. Despite his unease, he was curious about why the lawyer wanted to see him.
His confusion grew when he entered the cafe and saw a familiar face seated at a table with the man who had to be Tim.
“Henry.” Felix nodded politely to Mrs. McAllister’s no-good son. “My condolences for your loss.”
“Thanks.” Henry glared at him. “Take a seat, and let’s get to the point.”
“Henry, calm down. Felix has come all this way at very short notice, let him at least get comfortable and perhaps get something to drink.” Tim smiled at Felix. “This is all on me so order whatever you want.”
“Thank you, Tim, but I’d like to know what this is all about, so…” he glanced from Tim to Henry expectantly.
“Well, you see—” Tim started, but Henry cut in.
“It’s about a very valuable family heirloom that’s gone missing from my mother’s house, a small box with some dials on the lid.”
Henry set his elbows on the table and leaned toward Felix. “You were the last person in her house. I know that box didn’t just vanish and I wanted to give you a chance to do the right thing.”
“You think I stole from your mother?” Felix yelled.
“Let’s all lower our voices and discuss this calmly,” Tim said. “Now, Felix, nobody is accusing you of theft—”
“Actually, I think that’s exactly what this lazy show-off is doing.” Felix sat back in his chair and crossed his arms. “I do have the box you’re looking for, not because I stole it. Mrs. McAllister gave it to me as thanks for cutting her grass—a chore you should’ve done for her!”
“Mom would never have given you that box!” Henry stabbed his finger in Felix’s direction. “It belonged to my great-great-grandfather, a well-known politician, who commissioned it from a famous artisan! It’s one of only two in the world! Why would she give it to a nobody like you?”
Felix shrugged. “Maybe because this ‘nobody’ was there to help her when you weren’t.”
“I’ve had enough of this. This is what we’re going to do, Felix,” Henry replied. “You’re going to return the box to me and I’ll give you $1000 for it. Deal?”
“Okay, this is getting very out of hand.” Tim gave both Henry and Felix a sharp look. “Now, Felix, I’m sure you can understand Henry’s misgivings about this unusual situation. He only wants his family heirloom back. As he said, it has sentimental value—”
Felix huffed. “Tim, I don’t know how well you know Henry, but it’s well known that he squandered the wealth his father left him, which is why Mrs. McAllister ended up being unable to afford a nursing home or any sort of home help. He only cares about the dollar value of that box, not the sentiment.”
“You have some nerve!” Henry snarled.
“It’s about time somebody put you in your place.” Felix moved his chair away from the table and stood.
“If you care so much for the box then you’re welcome to join the bidding when I put it up for auction. Goodbye, Henry.”
“You won’t get away with this!” Henry yelled after him. “I’ll have you arrested!’
Felix strode from the cafe with a broad grin on his face. For years, he’d looked on in silence as Henry flitted in and out of his mother’s life in his loud car, never staying long and never doing anything to help her. Knowing he’d given the man a piece of his mind felt good.
The next day, Felix went to a local auction house to have the box appraised. A very serious-looking man with a snooty accent called Mr. Whitaker invited him into a back room for the appraisal.
Mr. Whitaker’s eyes widened when Felix placed the box on the table in the center of the room. He pulled on a pair of gloves and examined the box closely.
“I can immediately verify that the craftsmen’s mark on the underside is authentic,” Mr. Whitaker said. “That means this is quite a notable piece, sir. One of only two in the world. How did you come by it?”
“Well, it was given to me as a gift.”
“A gift?” Mr. Whitaker stared at him incredulously. “The person who gifted this to you must think very highly of you, sir. Will you excuse me for just a moment?”
“Uh, sure,” Felix replied.
He watched Mr. Whitaker leave the room. Something didn’t seem right to Henry. He moved closer to the door. A few minutes later, he heard rapidly approaching footsteps and Mr. Whitaker’s voice on the other side of the door.
“…rather shabby fellow, yes, I suspect he may have stolen it.”
Felix quickly returned to the table. He didn’t like the sudden turn this appraisal had taken. He half thought he might take the box and leave, but the door opened, and a woman entered with Mr. Whitaker in tow.
“Hi, I’m Ellen, and I hear you’ve brought a very interesting piece for appraisal.” The woman smiled brightly and leaned over to study the box. “That is quite lovely…may I see your provenance documentation?”
“Excuse me?” Felix asked. “What sort of documents are you looking for?”
A muscle twitched in the woman’s cheek.
“We require some documentation to prove provenance, sir. I believe you received this box as a…gift?”
“That’s right,” Felix replied.
“Usually, you would provide us with a certificate of authentication, or invoices and receipts, letters, pictures, any authentic and verifiable document that can prove the artifact’s authenticity and your ownership. Did the person who gave you this gift provide such documentation?”
“Uh…I left all that stuff at home,” Felix lied. He took the box from the table and moved toward the door. “I’m sorry, I didn’t think about all that. I’ll go fetch it and be right back.”
“I’m sorry, sir, but we can’t let you do that.” The lady sidestepped to block his path to the door. “We have to be cautious with items tied to historical figures like this one since it was owned by a politician. We are obliged to notify the authorities of any irregularities.”
“You want to call the cops on me?” Felix yelled.
“That is our protocol, sir. Alternatively, we can hold the box here until you return with the documentation you left at home.” The woman held out her hand expectantly.
Felix panicked. There was only one door into the room, and it was currently blocked off by Mr. Whitaker and Ellen. But it was his only chance to escape, so he dodged around the woman and Mr. Whitaker and rushed into the hallway. Someone yelled, but Felix was sprinting now. He reached the reception area just as an alarm started blaring.
Felix felt like he was back on his high school football field as he dodged and slipped past guards who hurried forward to stop him. One caught hold of his arm, but he jerked free and raced out of the building and onto the street. He ran from there until his legs felt like jelly.
Felix paced his sitting room as he pondered his next move. He needed to sell the box to invest in Suzie’s future, but he couldn’t do that unless he had some kind of paperwork…an aspect he still didn’t fully understand. He’d watched a couple of those antique reality shows on TV, and none of them mentioned these details.
He wished he could ask Mrs. McAllister about it. She’d know exactly what documents he needed to prove provenance and probably be able to provide them too.
Felix paused as a thought occurred to him. He strode to the kitchen and stared at Mrs. McAllister’s house. He hadn’t seen anyone there since the day she died. Henry would probably go trawling through there for valuables soon enough, but for now, everything was exactly as the old lady left it.
There might still be a way he could sell the box. It wasn’t something he wanted to do, but he didn’t think Mrs. McAllister would’ve minded. Besides, he had no other choice.
Felix went through his toolboxes. He selected a couple of things he thought might be useful, then fetched his boltcutter from the garage. He gathered his tools together in a backpack. Now, he just had to wait.
After Suzie went to bed that night, Felix crept out and vaulted the fence dividing his and Mrs. McAllister’s yard. He snuck up to the back door and turned on his headlamp.
It didn’t take long for Felix to force the back door open. He entered the house and went straight to the sitting room. He searched an old writing desk and a cabinet but found nothing, so he headed to the bedroom.
A chill went down Felix’s spine as he stepped into Mrs. McAllister’s bedroom. It still smelled like her in here. Looking through her personal space felt creepy and invasive, but he forced himself to continue.
He was halfway across the room when the bedroom light turned on.
“Not so high and mighty now, are you Felix?” Henry crowed from the door.
Felix turned. Henry was holding his phone up, and the flash flickered in Felix’s eyes as Henry took photos of him.
Felix raised a hand to hide his face. “This isn’t what it looks like, Henry. I just need—”
“The documentation for the box, I know.” Henry smirked. “See, unlike you, my family has a known connection to that box so the auction house contacted me after you tried to scam them. Funny how provenance works, huh? Of course, I told them you stole it—”
“That’s a lie!”
“Can you prove that?” Henry crossed his arms and widened his stance, filling the doorway.
“I knew you’d come back here looking for the box’s certificate of authentication and all of that because there’s no way you can prove ownership without it, and if you can’t prove ownership, you can’t sell the box.”
“Now, I’ll give you one last chance to do the right thing,” Henry continued. “That box is useless to you now. I’ll give you until 8 a. m tomorrow to hand it over to me, otherwise I’ll report you for breaking and entering, trespassing, and theft.”
Henry smiled coldly as he stepped aside, leaving the doorway open. “The choice is yours, Felix. Hand over my box, or rot in jail.”
Felix fled from Mrs. McAllister’s house. The consequences he now faced weighed heavily on his shoulders, and he didn’t know what to do next.
It seemed to him like all his efforts to use the box to brighten Suzie’s future had done nothing but get him deeper and deeper into trouble. He wished he’d left the box in Mrs. McAllister’s house the same day he found her dead.
But she’d wanted him to have it and Henry had a darn nerve to call him a liar and a thief. Felix didn’t believe Henry would stick to his word even if Felix handed the box over. He removed the box from the place he’d hidden it and set it on the kitchen table. He stared at it as thoughts raced through his mind.
It took Felix all night to reach a decision, but by the time the first rays of sunlight peeked through the neighbor’s tall trees, he knew what he had to do.
He called his mom and asked her to come over right away. Next, he went into Suzie’s room and woke her up.
“Suzie, sweetie, I need you to pack a bag as quickly as possible,” he said.
A few hours later, Felix stood at the front door with his mom and Suzie. He’d explained everything to them as best as possible, but now the time had come to say goodbye.
“Here.” Felix gave the box to Suzie. “The first opportunity you get, I want you to take this to a pawn shop and sell it. Don’t take anything less than 100, 000 dollars for it, okay?”
Suzie nodded. “But Dad, I still don’t understand…why can’t you come with us?”
“Baby, Henry will never rest if I disappear. Besides, I think this is the right thing to do, and the only way to get clear of this mess while still ensuring you get to live your life to the fullest. Trust me, Suzie. I didn’t reach this decision lightly.”
Felix hugged his daughter tightly and held back the tears forming in his eyes. Saying goodbye to her was one of the hardest things he’d ever faced in his life.
“Promise me you’ll live a good life, Suzie,” he said as he looked into her eyes. “Study hard so you make something of yourself, and travel so you can see what the world has to offer you. Take care of your grandma…family is important, and the elderly deserve our respect.”
“I promise!” Suzie started to cry.
“This won’t be like this forever, Suzie.” Felix wiped the tears that trailed down his daughter’s cheeks. “Someday, we’ll be together again and this whole mess will be behind us. But until then, I need you to be strong and make the most of every day.”
Police sirens wailed in the distance. Felix checked his watch. It was 8:30 a.m., half an hour past the deadline Henry gave him. He couldn’t escape the suspicion that those sirens were coming for him. Felix hurried Suzie out the door and into his mom’s car. He then hugged his mom, told her how much he loved her, and said goodbye.
He watched Mom and Suzie pull out of the driveway as the police sirens grew closer and closer. He watched them until they were out of sight and took some comfort from knowing they were clear of this mess when the cops arrested him.
Despite Henry’s confident threats, the charges he laid against Felix were not as clear-cut as he’d made them out to be. There were a couple of legal technicalities that needed to be worked through, and since the box was now missing, key parts of Henry’s case were in doubt.
The judge had granted Felix bail during the arraignment. Since there was nobody to pay it for him, he’d spent the last four months in a holding cell awaiting his day in court.
All of that changed one day.
“Hey, Felix.” One of the prison guards banged against the bars of his cell. “Get up and get over here. Today is your lucky day.”
“What do you mean?” Felix warily rose from his bunk and approached the bars.
The guard smiled and unlocked the door. “You’re going home. Somebody posted your bail.”
Felix was deeply confused, but he didn’t argue with the guard. He also didn’t ask any of the questions swirling through his thoughts as he followed the man to the front section of the prison.
“Dad!” Suzie hurtled toward him at full speed and threw herself into his arms. “God, I’ve missed you so much!”
“What are you doing here?” Felix looked down at his daughter. “I don’t understand…”
Suzie grinned at him. “I’ll explain everything soon, but first, let’s get you out of here!”
It seemed to take forever for the prison officials to process his release, but eventually, Felix stepped out onto the street with his daughter at his side. Mom was parked at the curb, waiting for them.
“Okay, Suzie, I can’t wait anymore,” Felix said as they got into the car. “What’s going on?”
“Well, I didn’t listen to you about the box.” Suzie smiled sheepishly. “I did look into places where I could sell it, but I couldn’t resist the temptation to try to open it.”
“She worked on that darn box for months!” Mom added. “Had a little notebook and everything to record the different combinations she tried.”
“And just last week I figured it out!” Suzie continued. “The box opened and you’ll never guess what was inside.”
“Just tell me already!” Felix cried, his excitement and curiosity almost overwhelming him.
“A certificate of authentication, a letter from Mrs. McAllister’s great-great-grandfather that confirms he gave the box to her great-grandmother, and a note from Mrs. McAllister.” Suzie gave him an earnest look then. “She really wanted you to have that box, Dad. The note said so.”
Felix frowned. He still didn’t understand Mrs. McAllister’s insistence that he take the box, but Suzie wasn’t finished, so he didn’t get much time to mull it over.
“So I showed the note to your lawyer, and then I took the box with all the papers to an antique dealer.” Suzie grinned broadly. “He gave us enough money for it to post bail and we still have $100,000 left!”
