At my grandfather’s funeral in Portland, Oregon, the January rain didn’t fall so much as it leaned—sideways, impatient, tapping against black umbrellas like it wanted answers. People hugged with cold hands and warm perfume. They said words like “legacy” and “remarkable man,” then glanced toward the parking lot where the black SUVs waited like a second ceremony.
After the burial, we filed into his attorney’s downtown office to hear the will. My family settled into leather chairs the way some people settle into belonging. Then the lawyer handed out fortunes—yacht, penthouse, luxury cars, the company—like party favors.
For me, he slid across a small envelope. My mother laughed out loud, right there in front of everyone. “A plane ticket?” she said, eyes bright with cruel amusement.
“Guess your grandfather didn’t love you that much.”
I smiled like it didn’t hurt. And then I went home and opened the envelope—and realized my grandfather had been teaching me chess for a reason. My name is April Thompson.
I’m twenty-six, the kind of woman who remembers birthdays, returns calls, and buys extra crayons with her own money because a kid in her class always “forgets” to bring supplies. For most of my life, my family treated me like background music—pleasant, useful, easy to ignore. Grandpa Robert never did.
He was the only person at Thanksgiving who asked, “How are you really?” and waited for the answer. He taught me to sail on the Columbia River, to tie knots by feel, and to think three moves ahead on a chessboard. “People reveal themselves when they think you can’t change the outcome,” he used to say, sliding a pawn forward with a soft click.
“That’s when you learn what you need to know.”
At the funeral, I tried to hold on to those words. The pastor talked about how Grandpa “built an empire from nothing.” My mother, Linda, wore a black Chanel suit and dabbed her eyes with a tissue that never got wet. My father, David, looked solemn while checking his Rolex like grief had a schedule.
My brother Marcus leaned back in the pew like he was the heir to the whole world. My cousin Jennifer whispered dollar signs into her husband’s ear like she was calling plays. When the service ended, everyone moved as one toward Mr.
The story doesn’t end here –
it continues on the next page.
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