Free Irises by Francisco X. Stork Page A

the benefits, given that she was incapacitated. And Mary? Kate wasn’t sure, but she suspected that if Father had listed both Mary and her as beneficiaries, they would have had to wait until Mary turned eighteen to receive any of the money.
    After she put the documents in the mail, she called the insurance company to ask how long it would take to process the claim. The lady at the other end of the line was obviously accustomed to hearing the question. She couldn’t predict, but it wouldn’t be long; it could be as short as a week, no more than a month. There would be a small investigation and then the check would be issued.
    â€œWhat sort of investigation?” Kate asked.
    â€œNothing unusual,” the insurance lady said in a sympathetic voice. “We look into the cause of death. It’s nothing to worry about. Was an autopsy performed?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œYour father died suddenly?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œWe’ll need to get his medical records.”
    â€œI need to send those to you?”
    â€œWe’ll get them directly from his primary physician. The policy usually provides for a release of the records. We’ll check. If we need a consent form, I’ll mail it to you or you can come get it. We’re right here on Mesa.”
    â€œIs the check mailed?” Kate asked.
    â€œWe may have someone deliver it in person or ask you to come get it. For your own security, we want to make sure that the right person gets the check, and we’ll ask you to sign some documents saying you received it.”
    There weren’t too many other details to take care of. She found her father’s savings account book in the top drawer of his desk. Father didn’t use a regular bank. He deposited his monthly paycheck from the church with the Ysleta Credit Union, and then he took out in cash what he was going to need for the month. He paid his bills with money orders that he bought at the post office.
    There was four thousand dollars in the savings account. Kate hoped that was enough to keep them going until the insurance money came in. She had found out that the home care organization that employed Talita charged fifty dollars a day. If the insurance money didn’t come in quickly, she didn’t know what they would do.
    Fortunately, there weren’t any debts other than what was owed to the funeral home, and she thought the church would pay for that. It worried Kate that none of the deacons had so far mentioned that they would take care of those expenses. Her friend Bonnie had said that a special collection had been taken up for them, but she hadn’t heard anything more about it. Father had also mentioned a retirement account. She reminded herself to talk to the deacons about that. At school she was great with numbers, but these kinds of figures were confusing and worrisome and they clouded the mind with questions. How, for example, did Father manage to pay fifty dollars a day for home care for Mother? His small monthly paycheck must have gone directly to Talita.
    She couldn’t help feeling that it was unfair. She was eighteen years old. Her classmates at school were worried about the prom and trying to have as much fun as possible during their last semester in high school. She had to worry about money and make decisions about marriage. In the next few days, Kate threw herself into her schoolwork, or tried to, as a way to forget the many thoughts that whirled in her mind. It was good that advanced calculus, astronomy, and Honors English demanded all of her attention, even if she couldn’t fully give it to them.
    She and Simon sat together for lunch as they always did, but there were more and more silences between them. She could tell that his pride had been bruised. She felt bad about the sad way he had walked out of the house, and part of h er wanted to reach out to him and give him hope, but she thought that to do so might make it worse in the long run.