The Secret I’ve Kept for Forty-five Years

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Yes, I can keep a secret. This secret started back when my dad died in 1971. My brother had been living with our dad and discovered him dead in bed. Our dad didn’t have much. He was renting a place from one of his friends. So my brother packed up everything and loaded it into our dad’s car. I was living with an aunt and uncle and they told my brother he could move in there, too, until he got on his feet. My brother didn’t have his own car so he drove dad’s to our aunt and uncle’s place. He parked the car in front of the garage, unload our dad’s chainsaw from the trunk and put it in the garage. Then he brought a box of stuff into the house. “If my car is in the way, I’ll move it,” he said to our uncle. Then he said, “I put my chainsaw in the garage. I have another box of my stuff to bring in.” And he went out to the car to get it. Everything of our dad’s quickly became my brother’s. Granted, he was the oldest but he didn’t even consult me on anything. And since Dad had very little he did not have a will. It just all became my brother’s. One day when my brother wasn’t around my aunt said to me, “Your uncle and I got an item out of your dad’s stuff and hid it for you. The way your brother is claiming everything we were concerned you wouldn’t get anything of your dad’s.” I thanked them for saving the item for me. (I’m referring to it as “item” because it’s not important what it was.) A couple of weeks later my brother started digging through our dad’s things. After about an hour he said, “I wonder what happen to my item. I’m sure it was here with my stuff.” We all acted as if we knew nothing about it. My brother said he knew the item was there, he just couldn’t figure out what became of it. Not long afterwards my brother met up with some of his friends who convinced him to move out of state because there were more jobs elsewhere. He sold our dad’s car and moved away. I don’t remember what happened to the chainsaw, but I think my brother sold that as well. Over the years my brother has commented two or three times that he wonders what ever happened to the item. I’ve never told him, but I still have it. I don’t know how my dear brother would react if he ever discovered I’ve had the item all these years. I may just take this secret to the grave. If I die before he does, he’ll find the item among my stuff. If he dies before me, he’ll never know what happened to it. ( By the way, my brother never reads what I write on here so I’m not worried about him reading this and figuring out what the item is. Both my aunt and uncle passed away years ago and I don’t think they told anyone so just the three of us knew about it.)