Inheriting Her Secrets And Her Daughter

Saturday at noon, the buzzer rang.

A lawyer was standing on my porch, looking crisp and out of place in my neighborhood. "Susie Beck has passed away," she said, her voice practiced and neutral. "Her will names you as her sole beneficiary. It’s an estate valued at five million dollars."

Susie Beck.

My ex-girlfriend. We’d been over for two years.

The lawyer handed me a brass key. "She said there was something you had to collect in person."

When I got to her place, the wake was still in full swing. Her current boyfriend was draped over her casket, wailing for the benefit of the room.