Chapter 10 - The Storage UnitNoah emerged from the bathroom, his hair wet and clinging to his forehead. He looked between David and me, sensing the heavy, unresolved tension in the air.
“I have an appointment at the counseling center at one,” Noah announced.
David looked genuinely surprised. “You made an appointment?”
“Last night,” Noah said. “But I want both of you to meet me afterward.”
“Where?” I asked, a cautious flicker of hope igniting in my chest.
“At Aunt Rebecca’s storage unit,” Noah said, his tone leaving no room for argument. “There is something there you need to see.”
At three-thirty that afternoon, David and I pulled up to the old, red-brick warehouse beside the railroad tracks. I had been paying the monthly fee for Rebecca’s storage unit for five years, telling myself I would sort through her life when I was "ready." Readiness, I had learned, was a myth.
Noah met us outside. He had changed into a clean shirt, and though he still looked incredibly fragile, his posture held a new, quiet determination.
He slid the corrugated metal door up with a loud clatter. Inside, the unit smelled of dust, old paper, and stale air. Boxes of books, winter coats, and kitchenware were stacked haphazardly. Rebecca’s blue bicycle leaned against the back wall, its front tire completely flat. David reached up and pulled the string for the single overhead bulb, casting a harsh yellow light over the remains of my sister's interrupted life.
Noah walked directly toward a battered cardboard box in the corner labeled ELAINE—PERSONAL in Rebecca’s looping handwriting.
“I found this when Dad brought me here to look for the insurance records,” Noah said, his voice echoing slightly in the cavernous space. “I didn't show either of you because I didn't know what it meant.”
He opened the flaps of the box. Inside were a few sealed envelopes, a blue spiral notebook, and an old, cracked mobile phone wrapped carefully in a silk scarf.
May you like
My heart began to pound so fiercely it hurt. “That was Rebecca’s phone,” I breathed.
“The police returned it with her belongings,” David said softly. “I thought it had been lost.”
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