T w e n t y S i d e d

The time is upon us. Kelly and Michael have to figure out what to do with the house. It’s not as simple as flipping it for profit or turning it into their family home. This house was Kelly’s great-grandmother’s home, built by her family, for her family.

It was built by her great-great grandfather for her great-grandparents.

It was the source of a known family feud in the 80’s.

It was a gift from her late great-uncle to her mother.

It was the place that Lorretta rebuilt after her divorce with Kelly’s father.

It was the place Logan came home to when he was born.

It was the place that caused Kelly and her older sister to stop speaking.

The house is steeped in grief, every room reminds Kelly of her late mother, but selling it feels criminal. The funky bathroom is the result of her mom realizing her independence. The weird roof-balcony is a family mystery. Logan took his first steps in that living room, which is documented by a home video taken by Lorretta, who can be heard cheering him on.

Kelly watches that home video over, and over, and over again, just to hear the briefest clip of her late mother cheering on ‘you’ve got this!’. She shows Michael how tiny their son’s little hands used to be, only to burst into tears wishing she could show her mom the clip.

The freezer is filled with casseroles from family, friends, and basic strangers, all trying to help. Flowers from the funeral are brought home, and die one by one. Lorretta’s cat, Noodle, sleeps exclusively in Michael’s lap, as heartbroken as anyone else to have lost her person.

Kelly and Michael talk about selling the place, and quickly realize they don’t have the heart. They talk about just staying there, but every corner of it stirs up memories. A year passes, and the house begins to feel like stagnant water. The house is almost always dirty, and little projects sit unfinished in almost every room.

It becomes clear that things cannot continue the way they are.

Kelly and Michael have a hard conversation, and make some calls around to find a good realtor to help them sell.

The for-sale sign goes up and the couple break the news to their son, who is devastated. Kelly and Michael halfheartedly pack, and have many a heavy conversation debating if they’re doing the right thing.

Finally, at three in the morning one night, Kelly wakes Michael up. She’s had an idea.

They brew a pot of coffee and stay up till the sun rises, talking. Both of them think the idea is perfect, then horrible, then terrifying, maybe ideal? It would be risky, and neither of them have the slightest idea where to begin. But, then again, their two original ideas both felt wrong. ‘sell the place’ or ‘keep things as-is’ have both proven failures.

Kelly has suggested they turn the bottom floor of their home into a bookstore, in honor of her mother. They will have to look into zoning laws, and likely legally turn it into a duplex to even tackle it, but it would overcome the issues they’ve faced so far. The house is too big for their family of three. Kelly had been working on a writing career when her mom died, and Michael knows business pretty well, it’s a fairly good skill set for the job.

Lorretta died less than a year after graduating college with a library sciences degree, which has left a sick, unfinished feeling in the hearts of everyone that knew her. Turning her home, a place she poured years of work into, into a bookstore, feels somehow like closure to her family. It takes weeks for the couple to finally stop pacing paths into the carpet thinking about logistics, but eventually, the for-sale sign comes down. They decide to take the risk.

Bay Jubilee Oldest child of Shamus Young. They/Them