Phantom

Chapter 10: Money
“What’re we doing today?” I asked Nathan as I took a sip of my milk to wash down the waffle that Nathan gladly made from scratch.
“I was thinking that maybe it’s time to tell your family about the fortune.”
Nathan has been bugging me about telling my family about the fortune for the past week.
“You won’t be able to get your car if you don’t give them a heads up on how you got it,” he added.
“Why didn’t you tell me that before? I would’ve told them a month ago when we went car hunting!”
“So you’ll tell them today?”
“Of course! I want my car ASAP.”
He chuckled.
To my luck, Jayant came over to visit that very day and came with my brother and sister whom he picked up at their daycare. I had to wait until half past nine to start the conference because my parents came home at nince o’clock from work. Once I got my share of the fortune, my parents would never have to work again.
“Do you want me to leave since it’s a family meeting?” Nathan asked me before the meeting started.
“You don’t have to. You’re basically part of the family now,” I smiled at him and led him into the dining room where the rest of my family sat waiting to hear what I had to say.
Nathan pulled out the chair at the end of the table that was waiting for me. Once I was settled in my chair, Nathan walked to the other end that waited for him.
“This is awkward,” I mumbled under my breath to myself.
“Okay, what do you have to tell us, honey?” My dad asked who was sitting to the left of me.
I took in a deep breath. “So you all know that many things are entailed to me being a ghost, right?” I asked rhetorically. “Well, there’s one that is… I don’t know if it’s on the same level as my abilites but it’s just another thing that seemed to be stuck with me.”
“You’re acting like we won’t accept what your going to tell us. Whatever it is, it’s probably incapable of making us live differently than we do now,” my mom said and squeezed my hand gently.
I looked up towards Nathan and he gave me an encouraging nod with his head.
I smiled. “We’re rich!” I squeeled with a giggle that grew into boisterous laughter. I felt like those people you see on movies where they steal from prestigious banks and get away with it.
“Calm down, Natalia,” my mom said with a chuckle.
“Why aren’t you all jumpy? We’re rich!” I squeeled once again.
My mom looked over at Nathan with an anxious face. “Really?”
He nodded his head slowly with a slight smile.
I looked at my brother and sister who sat in their chairs oblivious to my recent outbreak.
“Really?” Mom asked, my voice a note higher than usual.
I nodded my head, a gigantic smile across my face.
“Really?” She asked again, her voice getting higher and her grasp on my hand tighter.
I nodded my head again.
“Really?” She asked, this time her voice as high as a hyena’s laughter.
“Mom, your cutting off my circulation!” I cried and pulled my hand away from hers.
“Oh, sorry,” she squeeled.
“But yeah. Really.”
“How much is rich exactly?” My dad asked, calming both me and my ecstatic mother down.
“Are you ready?” I asked, smiling.
“Tell us!” My mom said, becoming childishly antsy.
“Thirty million dollars,” I said slowly.
My parents jaw dropped and their eyes widened. My sister quickly turned her head toward me with the same expression as my parents. Jayant cursed under his breath in amazement and Jonathon sat in his chair, swinning his legs back and forth, looking down at the table. He was too young to understand how much thirty million was.
“This is crazy,” Jayant said, breaking the silence.
“You don’t believe me?”
“No, I believe you. What I think is crazy is the amount of money!”
“We’re freakin’ rich!” Nicolette screamed, no longer stupefied and waking up Mom and Dad.
“So what’re you planning on doing with the money?” My mom asked.
“I’m not sure,” I said and shrugged my shoulders. “But it don’t get my share of the fortune until I’m eighteen,” I said glumly.
“Darn it. And you got my hopes up,” Nicol mumbled and sat back in her chair.
“That’s just in one year,” Jayant pointed out.
“All of you need to remember one thing, this money won’t change the way we live right now,” I said, making sure everyone heard me.
Nathan looked at me curiously. “With a couple exceptions,” I quickly added.
“Like what?” My father asked.
“Well… I’m kind of buying myself a car,” I said guiltily. “With the help of Nathan,” I added. “A Mercedes,” I squeaked and smiled angelically.
“Wow,” Mom mouthed. She took a deep breath. “Well, it is your money after all.”
“But I’m willing to share and when I say that I don’t mean copious amounts that’ll lead people to wonder, okay?”
“Darn it,” my mom and dad mumbled.
“I wanted to upgrade our home,” Dad said.
“And I wanted to go on a wild shopping spree,” Mom said.
“Well, there’s nothing wrong with bingeing once in a while,” I sighed reconciling.
Everyone laughed.
I looked at Nathan and he gave me a thumbs up and smiled.
“Car,” I mouthed.
He chuckled and shook his head.