4: 4
The second my cousin saw me, he got right to it. "Come on, that herbal medicine's just sitting there doing you no good. Why not hand it over to me? Whatever you buy for the second half of the year, you give it all to me."
"I think my nose got it wrong earlier. That medicine of yours isn't cheap junk after all. It's the expensive kind."
His lie was the reason Grandma and my father had torn into me.
And now, one throwaway line about his nose making a mistake, and he expected me to just hand the medicine over?
Since when did things work out that nicely?
I turned him down flat.
Greg put on an apologetic face. "I get it, I get it. Can't just take it off you for free. After all, you cost money too."
He dug a hundred out of his pocket and held it out to me.
"A hundred bucks should cover it. I know you're tight with Renee. There's no way she'd charge you top dollar."
Like he was doing me some kind of charity.
Several thousand dollars' worth of medicine, and he wanted to buy it off me for a hundred?
I had good reason to suspect the whole thing today had been his setup.
Wanting to take medicine I'd paid for and use it to worm his way into Grandma's good graces. Not a chance.
"Grandma handed you her whole pension card, and all you're giving me is a hundred?" My voice climbed. "Why don't you just rob me instead?"
"So you admit your nose got it wrong? The way I see it, you framed me on purpose so Grandma and my dad would rip into me!"
"If you actually mean this apology, and you actually want to buy the medicine I've got, then give me ten thousand. Then I'll think about it!"
The instant I named a high price, Greg blew up.
He swung a fist into the door frame.
"Ten thousand? Gail, are you out of your goddamn mind trying to squeeze money out of me?"
"Let me tell you something, I got you yelled at on purpose! Looking at your pathetic, money-grubbing face, you had it coming!"
"You don't actually think Grandma would like you if I hadn't stirred the pot, do you? Dream on! The only person Grandma will ever love is a grandson! Not some worthless girl!"
"I was going to buy it off you for a hundred and say a few nice words about you to Grandma. Now I can see you don't even deserve that!"
Seeing that none of it moved me, he only got more worked up.
He jabbed a finger at me and shouted, "Gail, you just wait! Don't think you'll ever see a single cent of Grandma's money!"
"Don't go thinking I'm stuck without your medicine! I was only giving you this chance because you're my cousin! You're the one who threw it away! Don't you dare regret it later!"
I watched him stalk off, then reached up and tucked my hair behind my ear.
I don't know who'll end up regretting anything, but it won't be me.
The next day, I packed a few things and moved out.
When Grandma and my father found out, all they said was good riddance, don't ever come back.
I didn't care. I had no intention of going back anyway.
Later I heard my cousin had found some herb up in the mountains that cured every illness, that it prolonged your life, that drink it long enough and you'd live forever.
Grandma was thrilled about it. With one grand gesture she rewarded Greg with a hundred thousand dollars.
He even made a point of taking a photo to rub it in my face.
I glanced at it, thought the whole thing was ridiculous, and didn't give it another thought.
A month later, I got an emergency call from my father.
"Gail! Your grandma's been rushed into the ER, get over here now!"
Behind him on the line I could hear my cousin, panicked, yelling.
"My grandma's going to be okay, right? She's going to be fine, isn't she? Doctor, say something!"
