#4: Sympathy
It was a rainy spring afternoon when the door bell rang that Sunday. It was basically like any other Sunday afternoon; Alvin had just rolled out of bed and was messily pouring milk into his bowl of cereal. Theodore was in the kitchen as well, trying to perfect his latest recipe. Dave wasn't home; he at his office, getting ready for the work week. And Simon had been in the basement, tinkering with a new invention.
Simon had been irritable when he answered the door; after all, his brothers were right there, yet they were too "busy" (lazy) to get it themselves.
"Hello?" Simon grunted as he pulled open the front door. However, he quickly forgot about his anger when he saw the woman standing on the porch.
She wasn't just any woman. She was a Chipette, perhaps in her late fifties or early sixties. She was plump with sad hazel eyes and brownish grey hair was tied in a tight braid that went down her back. Her floral printed dress was faded and worn, and she carried a purse that looked three times Simon's age. There was a whisper of a smile on her wrinkled round face.
"Hello, sir." The Chipette's voice was quiet and raspy, as if she hadn't spoken in a long time. "Is this the Seville residence?"
"Yes," Simon confirmed, unable to take his eyes off of this woman. He'd seen very few Chipettes in his life; Jeanette, Brittany, Eleanor, and his mother were the only ones that came to mind. Was this stranger a relative?
"I'm sorry for just dropping by like this," she said. "But I felt like I needed to speak to you and your brothers. May I come in?"
Simon opened the door wider. "Of course."
She gave him a grateful smile and let herself inside. Simon politely excused himself to get his brothers. At first, Alvin and Theodore resisted greeting the mystery guest, but after Simon explained that she was a Chipette, curiosity got the best of them and all three boys joined her in the living room.
"Allow me to introduce myself," the woman said quietly. "I am Harriet, sister of Harry Chipmunk."
Alvin, Simon, and Theodore exchanged glances. Last week, they had read about Harry's death in the newspaper. The con artist had died from cancer that he'd been diagnosed with two years prior. None of the boys had been particularly upset; they hadn't even see the man in years, and most of their experiences with him had been pretty awful. He'd lied to them, scammed them, and ruined many days of their lives. Harry was not a nice man, and although the chipmunks didn't celebrate his death, they hadn't cared enough to mourn him.
Simon cleared his throat. "We're sorry for your loss," he said softly. They hadn't liked the man, but Simon figured someone ought to say something. This was his sister after all.
Harriet's small grin never wavered. "Thank you," she said. "Now I'm sure you must be wondering why I'm here…"
"Yeah," Alvin said with a frown. He crossed his arms against his chest. "We are, actually. We weren't exactly on great terms with Uncle Harry."
"Alvin!" Simon hissed at his brother's rudeness.
But Harriet let out a quiet giggle, not so different than their mother's.
"You must be Alvin," she said. "Harry did say that you were a little firecracker."
Alvin's eyebrows shot up. "He did?"
"Why of course," Harriet's soft voice answered. "I also recognized you from a photograph that Harry showed me years ago. My, what a looker you turned out to be."
Alvin sat up a little straighter. Simon could tell his brother was holding back a proud smile.
Harriet turned to Theodore. "And you, my dear, must be Theodore."
"That's me," Theodore said with a grin.
"Harry said you were the sweet one, the nice one," Harriet told the heaviest brother. "Harry admired you. He said he wished he could be as kind as you."
Theodore's green eyes widened at this news.
Harriet's smile widened a fraction when she looked at Simon.
"Ah, Simon Seville," she said. "I'd know who you were even if my dear brother hadn't mentioned you. I see your name in the paper frequently for all those fabulous inventions you're always coming up with. I remember Harry telling me how intelligent you were, even when you were a child."
Simon cleared his throat again, unsure of what to say. The fact that Harry the con artist supposedly talked about them so affectionately was odd to say the least.
"You boys may not know it, but you meant a lot to Harry," the Chipette spoke. "I know he played some cruel tricks on you all those years ago, and I know that he was wrong for doing it. But, believe it or not, Harry respected you boys. I think, in an odd way, he sort of thought of you as friends."
Alvin snorted. "Friends? Yeah right."
"Harry tried to pull a few more schemes after you last saw him," Harriet explained. "But after a while, he gave up and became a custodian. He was never satisfied with his job; Harry loved money, and always hated that he never had enough of it." Harriet sighed. "But he managed. To be truthful, I didn't see my brother much of our adult lives. Visiting me would cost Harry money, and my brother was very frugal after he accepted his role as a custodian."
"We don't want a whole life story," Alvin muttered under his breath. He grunted when Simon elbowed him in the ribs.
"But when Harry did visit me, he always managed to bring up you three," Harriet continued, seemingly not noticing Alvin's rude comment. "He'd say that he managed to fool a lot of people in his day—suckers, he called them—but he could never quite finish the job with the Chipmunks. My brother was a proud man, but I know that he always respected you boys for that. Plus, I think he genuinely liked you.
"When Harry got sick a few years ago, he wanted to call you boys, just to see how you were doing and perhaps even apologize. Obviously, he never got around to it; he figured you wouldn't want to speak to him, given your bitter history.
"The cancer dramatically worsened about three months ago. Within those three months, my brother wanted to make sure I honor a certain request."
The boys watched the old Chipette reach into her battered purse and pull out three unwrinkled envelopes. She handed them to each chipmunk, and after exchanging puzzled glances with one another, they opened the seals.
All of the envelopes contained a check for three hundred dollars, all from Harold S. Chipmunk.
"I know it's not much," Harriet said. "But Harry felt like he owed you something. He didn't have a family of his own, aside from me."
Simon stared at the check, and then looked up at Harriet. "I'm sorry, but I don't think we can accept this."
"Yes we can," Alvin said quickly.
"Simon is right," Theodore said, ignoring Alvin's dirty glare. "I mean, you were his sister. You should have this money."
Harriet folded her hands on her lap. "Oh, don't worry about me. Harry ended up leaving some money to me," she said. "Harry wanted you to have this."
Before the trio could respond, Harriet slowly stood and made her way toward the door.
"It was a pleasure meeting you boys," she said kindly. "I hope you enjoy what Harry left for you."
Simon stared at the check again, his mind whirling. This was so bizarre. Harry had left $900 for the Seville brothers? After all he put them through?
"Wait," Simon heard himself say, just as Harry's sister reached the door.
Harriet paused and looked at Simon with that never-wavering peaceful smile. "Yes."
Simon swallowed. He was going to ask her some questions; was she really who she said she was? Did she have proof?
But all those questions went out the window as Simon looked at the sweet old woman's smile.
"We're sorry for your loss," Simon said quietly. "You have our sympathy."
Harriet's smile widened. "Thank you, Simon," she said. Simon thought he saw her begin to tear up. "That means a lot to me." Then she opened the door and she was gone.
A few beats of silence went by before Alvin said, "Wow. That was weird."
"Yeah," Theodore mused, watching Harriet walk down the street through the wet window. "It's funny how you can affect someone's life so much and not even realize it."
"I guess so," Alvin muttered, staring at his check. "Well, at least we're all three hundred dollars richer now. I guess old Uncle Harry turned out to be useful after all."
Simon rolled his eyes, not even bothering to tell his brother that he missed the whole point of Harriet's visit and what she had revealed.
Theodore's words echoed in his mind: "It's funny how you can affect someone's life so much and not even realize it." It was probably the wisest thing his brother had ever said, and it really made Simon think.
He bespectacled chipmunk looked down at his check and decided he would give it to charity. How ironic would that be? The conman's money going to a charity in need. How fitting.
Simon and his brothers carried on through the day as if nothing unusual had happened. The didn't mention Harriet's visit to Dave; for some reason, they thought it was something that was scrictly between them and Harry. They never heard from Harriet again, but Simon didn't forget her. It was thanks to her that he no longer thought of Harry as a villian, but more of someone who let greed take over his life. Harry may have not been a great man, but it at least sounded like he felt some kind of remorse in the long run.
It showed Simon that people really could change, and that gave him the slightest bit of hope for this world.
Wasn't sure how to end this one; that's why it's so abrupt (and stupid). I just wanted to finish this prompt so I could get to the next one :P
