“Still,” she mumbled something under her breath that made Aria giggle.
“Don’t start,” I groaned.
“What? I just think that the lump could put some more effort into being a better boyfriend to you, that’s all.”
“I think he’s a great boyfriend. He’s mine, not yours, so please lay off. I have enough shit to deal with. In case you haven’t noticed, my parents just died,” I huffed. I hadn’t realized I had so much pent-up anger in me.
“And you say I have to watch my mouth?” Aria scoffed.
“Aria,” I said in a warning tone.
“I got it, heifer, and just so you know, you have a pass too. But, it’s not nearly as long as your sister’s,” Tina said.
She got up and left, and I knew I wouldn’t be seeing her until morning.
“To the outsider, it looks like you two just had a fight.”
“Luckily, you’re not an outsider,” I smirked. It was true Tina and I had been having this kind of tiff since the sandbox, and it was never a big deal. It always blew over by the morning. I focused on Aria. “Are you going to be okay tomorrow?”
“Sure. We are just picking out funeral arrangements for our parents, no big,” she shrugged.
“Yeah, no big. You almost pulled it off.” I gave her a knowing look.
“I know I have a knot in my stomach thinking about it. I’m more ‘ugh’ about being around Uncle Mick all day.”
Who wasn’t “ugh” about being around Uncle Mick all day? I was just hoping round three of the Opal-Mick showdown didn’t break out at the mortuary and I’d be forced to act as referee.
Trevor came back in, and Aria gave me a hug good-night and went upstairs to bed.
“What happened to Tina?” Trevor asked.
“Do you really care?”
“No, no. I don’t,” he smirked.
“Didn’t think so. So how is your mom?”
He sat down on the opposite end of the couch, putting my feet in his lap, as I had stretched out when he got up. “She is fine. She sends her condolences and is sorry she couldn’t come by. There is no one to cover her shift at the library, and she couldn’t close it.”
“I understand.” In truth, I hadn’t expected his mom to come by. She didn’t really know my parents, and though Trevor and I had been dating for a year and a half, we hadn’t gotten very close. “I know your mom is busy. Tell her thank you.”
“Still, she sends her regards and she said she will call you.”
That would be an awkward phone call once received. We talked for a few more minutes, but when I started to yawn out my responses, he made me go take a shower. We then settled onto the couch in our now-normal positions, with me lying on top of his chest and him stroking my hair. Soon, I was fast asleep.
* * *
It was still dark when I was being woken up lightly by Trevor, who had to get ready for work. It only took him about fifteen minutes to get ready and walk out the door. I decided after two nights on the couch, I missed my old bed.
I opened the door to Aria’s room, expecting to find her fast asleep; after all, it was almost six in the morning. Imagine my surprise when she quickly hid her phone under her pillow and looked angrily at me, wiping her face.
“Shit! You scared the fuck out of me!” she said.
“Who did you think I was? Ghosts don’t usually use the door.”
Aria flopped over on her back and let out a breath.
“What were you doing? Who were you texting or calling at five forty-five in the morning?” I walked in and went to my old bed. “Are you crying?”
“What’s with the third degree? It’s my phone. Can’t a girl check her phone? And I’m allowed to cry, Dac.”
Something wasn’t adding up. She was being weird, and I said as much. “You’re being weird. What’s up?”
“Oh, you mean besides my parents that were killed in a car crash?” she shot at me.
“Mine did too, or have you forgotten?” I shot back. Two could play the brat game.
She sat up, and her face fell. “No, I haven’t. I’m sorry, Dacey. I’m just...I don’t know. I thought I heard it go off, that’s all. I don’t mean to be a brat, I’m just...I don’t know.” She looked at me with tiredness in her eyes.
I studied her. She looked so much like the five-year-old little girl whom I’d met thirteen years ago, with her huge brown eyes staring at me, on the verge of tears, and yet so adult at the same time. I just wanted to protect her from everything bad and wrong in the world. To shield her so she didn’t have to deal with it. I wanted to see her laugh and be goofy again. I wanted my sister back, not this bitchy version.
“You don’t have to go today, you know. We can do it without you,” I tried.
“You don’t want me to be involved?” She looked hurt.
“It’s not that. I just want to try and protect you from it all, A. I don’t want you to have to go through it.”
She was silent, staring at the floor before she answered. “But don’t you think I should? Don’t you think it’s what will shape me? The pain, I mean. Pain, loss, hurt, happiness, and joy—all of it is what shapes you into what you will become or what you already are.”
I looked at her the same time she looked up. “Mom-ism,” she said.
“She knew how to give them.”
Aria nodded. “I think I’ll miss those the most.”
“She said them so much, I’m sure we can remember them.”
“What if we forget?” she asked in a small voice.
“We won’t.” I was certain we wouldn’t.
We each laid back on our beds, lost in our own thoughts, and even after Aria’s breathing turned into soft snores, I still lay awake wondering about her behavior. I know that people grieve in strange ways, but she was just acting strange. Her moods were all over the place. One minute she was my sweet little sister whom I knew and loved, and the next she was biting people’s heads off as the angst-ridden, bitchy version of my sister. I was going to put my foot up her ass soon enough.
Maybe I was overthinking this, and after the funeral and everything, we could both start to heal.
I don’t remember falling asleep, but the next thing I knew, it was morning and Tina was flicking me on my forehead with her finger.
“Ouch, what the fuck?” I asked grumpily, hitting her hand away.
“I’ve only been doing this for the past three minutes. Get up.”
Aria was giggling on her bed watching the show. “Again, I have to watch my mouth?” she asked with an upturned eyebrow.
I shot her a bird as I moved to a sitting position. I felt like I had just fallen asleep, and even though I had gotten sleep earlier, I was still exhausted.
Tina sat on the bed next to me. “I forgot how grouchy you can get if you don’t get a lot of sleep.”
“I would say sorry, but I’m not. Now I’m going to have a red mark on my damn forehead.” I rubbed the spot.
“I know you’re not, and that’s for last night.”
“Thanks,” I griped.
“Anytime. I still love you.” I shot her a look and yawned loudly. My mind was still moving, wondering what was going on with Aria and also how to protect her from all this.
“Mami said breakfast is in ten minutes if you guys are leaving at nine.”
“What time is it?” I didn’t think I had slept that long with how sleepy I was.
“Eight thirty.”
“Shit. Why didn’t someone wake me earlier?”
“Hello, I tried. Hence the red mark on your forehead,” Tina said.
I got up and shot my second bird of the day in her direction before heading to the bathroom to wash up and get ready, then heading down to breakfast. Lack of sleep really did put me in a bad mood. Even Mrs. D’s sausages couldn’t help, much.
I was still in somewhat of a bad mood when Mick walked in the front door at about a quarter to nine and wanted to sit down for breakfast.
“Do we have time for that? I thoug
ht we had to be to the mortuary at nine?” I said.
“Nine-fifteen, and your aunt Opal isn’t even here,” he said, around a mouthful of eggs.
“I’m picking up my aunt Opal on the way there. She doesn’t drive.”
“Thank goodness for small favors.”
“Whatever, let’s go. Aria,” I yelled, ready to not look at his face anymore.
She came downstairs and took one look at my face and knew my mood wasn’t any better than it was fifteen minutes before. “Are we all riding together?” she asked.
“Uh, no,” I replied, before Mick had a chance to swallow.
“I’m riding with Dacey and Aunt Opal,” Aria said quickly.
“I guess I’m riding by myself then?” Mick swallowed loudly. “That makes no sense. Why don’t we all just go in one car? My rental is big enough. I’ll drive us around today. How ’bout it?”
It made sense, although I wouldn’t tell him that to his face, or at all.
“Ugh, fine. Whatever, let’s just go,” I said, visibly rolling my eyes.
He stuffed the rest of his food in his mouth and thanked Mrs. D, and we left. No more than two seconds after we were out the door, my phone went off in my pocket with a text from Tina asking if I was okay because I was being bitchy. Rolling my eyes, I texted her back letting her know I was fine and would text her if I needed to.
I climbed in the back seat while Aria and Mick climbed in the front. Aria gave him directions to get to Opal’s house. When we pulled up, Aria and I got out to get Opal. I knocked on the door because I didn’t have my keys, although the sign to knock was no longer there.
Mr. Eugene answered the door looking a little worried, with Rufus at his heels.
“Girls, come in. Opal is running a little behind this morning but should be ready in a few.”
My bad mood dissipated quickly as I guessed his unease had something to do with Opal. Great. “What happened?” I asked, concerned.
“Well, she was just a little confused this morning, that’s all. It didn’t last long, and she’s fine now.”
I brushed past him and went to find Opal. This was the last thing I needed to deal with.
“Auntie?” I called, heading upstairs.
I heard Aria apologize to Mr. Eugene, saying I was in a mood, and follow me upstairs.
“You can’t just go pushing old people,” she hissed, as we came to the top of the stair landing.
“I didn’t push him.”
“You kinda did.”
“Whatever. Auntie!” I called again.
“What, chile? Why you yellin’ an’ carryin’ on like that?” Opal came out of the bathroom in her housecoat and slippers, with her toothbrush in her hand.
“What happened to you this morning?” I demanded.
“Oh, pshh, chile. Nothin’ happen to me. I’m fine.” She waved her hand dismissively and went back into the bathroom to brush her teeth.
I stood in the doorway. “Mr. Eugene said something about you getting confused this morning?”
“Oh. Eugene likes to worry ’bout me is all.”
I wasn’t buying it. “Stay with her,” I instructed Aria.
I went to find Mr. Eugene and find out what actually happened this morning. He was sitting in the kitchen, petting Rufus.
“I’m sorry if I pushed you. Aria says I did.”
“It’s quite all right. You were concerned for your aunt. It’s understandable.”
“What happened to her this morning? I can’t get anything out of her.”
“She didn’t recognize who I was for about five minutes.”
I nodded because that was what I had been experiencing with her as well.
“Who did she think you were?” I asked curiously.
“She didn’t say. It was someone she didn’t know though. I scared her. She kept asking who I was and then told me she had a shotgun under her bed and she knew how to use it.”
I chuckled to myself. I should probably tell him she actually did have a shotgun, but I had long since taken the bullets out and buried them in the backyard. I’d let him think that for a while longer. Best to keep him on his toes. “How did she come out of it?”
“Well, I calmly reminded her who I was and that I wouldn’t hurt her. Once she had me backed in a corner, it hit her and she came out of it. She asked me why I was huddled in the corner like a rabbit.”
I chuckled again because that was so like Opal. Out of her head one minute and fine the next. “Thank you for getting her to go to the doctor. I realize that I never got a chance to thank you, what with everything going on,” I said.
“No thanks are necessary. The longer she is around, the happier I’ll be. I did it for purely selfish reasons.” He smiled at me.
“Well, whatever the reason, thanks.”
“My pleasure. Now you guys had better get a move on.”
I looked at the time. We were going to be late.
“Please call me if she has another episode. I worry about her. My family is smaller now so...”
“Say no more,” I said. “Understood.” I yelled for Aria to tell Opal to get a move on.
Five minutes later, we were walking out the door. Mr. Eugene had given Opal a kiss on the cheek and gone to his car, letting her know he would see her later.
When we climbed in the car, Mick commented on why it took us so long, which made my bad mood return.
“I was about to send in a search party. What took you so long?”
Luckily for him, Opal responded with a less colorful response than I would have.
“Where your manners? Don’tcha know neva to ask a woman what took ’em so long? You liable to get slapped.”
Mick didn’t say anything else the whole way to the mortuary.
On television, mortuaries always look foreboding and creepy, but the Shaddy Groves mortuary actually looked like a flower shop, if you looked past the fleet of hearses parked out front.
We parked the car and went in, being immediately greeted by a man in an impeccably nice suit. He introduced himself as Joshua Mahoney of Mahoney’s Mortuary. It was advertised as the best; it was the only one in town, so I guess it had to be.
“May I offer you all some water?” He ushered us into a large room with about five different caskets. He gestured at the table and chairs for us to take a seat.
I sat as far away from the caskets as possible. Aria came to sit next to me, grabbing my hand, while Opal took the chair on my other side. Mick walked over and took the seat next to Aria. We all declined water, and Mr. Mahoney jumped right into his spiel of products and prices.
“Wait, I’m sorry. How are we supposed to pay for this?” I looked from Mr. Mahoney to Uncle Mick, who hadn’t seemed concerned with it at all.
“Your parents had money saved up, plus some equity in your father’s shop. Do you know if they had a will of some sort?” Mick asked.
I frowned. Dad had equity? “Um, I don’t know...Do you, Aria?” I turned to her.
“Mom mentioned something once about a will, but I wasn’t paying attention. If they did, it would be in the safe in their room.”
“Well, we can look at all that later. Let’s just see what he offerin’ here,” Opal said.
Mr. Mahoney continued, pulling out a large book and showing programs, cards, and announcements, and after about fifteen minutes, I zoned out. I stared at a rose-and-white-colored casket that was in front of me and wondered if Mom would think that one was pretty to be buried in.
“I just want to pick the caskets out,” I interrupted Mr. Mahoney, who was in mid-sentence talking about limo arrangements.
“Oh, um, I was actually going to get to that next. Let’s see. We have various types of models. What size was she?” he asked matter-of-factly.
“Is she,” Aria corrected.
“Excuse me?”
“What size is she, not was. She’s not gone yet.”
“Forgive me for implying anything less, dear. I know how difficult this must be for you—losing a m
other so young.”
Aria pointed to the casket I had been staring at. “What about something like that? Mom is average size. Can we have that one?”
I squeezed her hand to let her know that I approved and asked Mr. Mahoney the price on something like that.
He flipped open his book and found the same model and showed us the price.
Shit, was that for a car?
“That was a down payment on my house twenty-odd years ago!” Opal exclaimed.
“That’s fair,” Mick commented.
Aria mumbled a curse under her breath, and I nudged her, reminding her of her language.
“Sorry, but that’s a lot of fu—”
“They had a savings, right?”
I shot Aria a warning look.
“Yeah, they did. Although the bank wouldn’t release that information to me, since I’m not on the account. Only you or your sister can access that,” Mick said, rather begrudgingly.
Huh. Now how did he know that? And how ’bout that—money he can’t get his hands on. Score one for Mom.
“Well, what about your father? He is of average height for a man? Six feet to six feet three, yes?” asked Mr. Mahoney, wanting to move the meeting along.
When we nodded yes, he flipped through the book to the more masculine-colored caskets. Aria and I both spotted a blue-and-gray one that matched his work uniform perfectly and pointed to it at the same time saying, “This one.”
“Whoa,” Mr. Mahoney startled. “I’ve only ever seen twins do that,” he mused.
We dismissed the comment. We waited for him to write down the total amounts of the two caskets and everything else he had discussed while I tuned out.
I squeezed Aria’s hand and leaned over to whisper in her ear. “You okay?”
“It wasn’t so bad. Do you think we did okay? You think they will like them?”
“I think they would. They came from us.”
“This is so surreal. I’m casket shopping with my sister,” she said.
A knot started to form in my throat for her. This is what I didn’t want for her—this realization. “I know. It’ll be over soon, and we can go home and climb in bed in our tent. Remember when we would do that and block out the world?”
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