My bitches are the best bitches and I couldn’t have done any of this without them. We turned that little hall space into what we thought Heaven might look like. We all worked as fast as we possibly could. I went through the photo albums Jake brought back and picked out so many pictures I thought would be appropriate. Even Izzy helped pick out some of her favorites, too. She had no idea why we were doing this. I told her that when Heaven gets a new angel, the people that are still here on earth like to have a celebration. It’s so we can say goodbye, cry if we are sad, and say what we have to say. She seemed ok with my explanation, but I know she still doesn’t fully understand.
Jake went through a bunch of Tiffany’s belongings with her parents. He said it wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be, which is nice. They agreed that Izzy can just have all the stuff in her room except the obvious things she doesn’t need, like the bed, the dresser and furniture items. Tiffany’s parents would hang on to her jewelry items and give them to Izzy when she’s older, perhaps on different special occasions. Tiffany had a life insurance policy that would go into a trust for Izzy when she turns eighteen years old. They thought this was a great idea for when she wants to go to college or university one day. Everything has been settled and has been done peacefully. Sometimes, death can bring out the worst in people. I’ve seen it.
Everything seems to be going smoothly. There is like this weird calm in the air. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever felt before
Maybe it’s Tiffany.
Watching.
“It’s time, guys,” Izzy says to Jake and me, sliding the back door open. Ozzy comes running up to her. It’s like he knows something is going on and he has been glued to her. We flick our cigarette butts into the can and head inside.
“We’re coming, baby girl.” Jake says, attempting to calm her down a little.
I hope I don’t fuck all this up.
We arrive at The Legion at about dusk, the sun is just setting over Lake Ontario. It’s beautiful. It’s not even cold out. It’s the perfect fall temperature. Jake comes up beside me and grabs my hand, Izzy has his other. They both seem to follow my gaze.
“It’s beautiful. It’s going to be a beautiful night,” I say, looking straight at the sinking sun over the lake. “You’re beautiful.” Jake turns to me, I turn my head and he places a light kiss on my lips.
“No kissing,” Izzy giggles at us. Jake lets go of my hand and swoops her up.
“What do you mean no kissing?” He plants little kisses all over her face while she squeals in delight. I love that sound and hope I can give her that one day.
“Wow,” Izzy says as we enter the hall. I hear Jake gasp.
It’s awesome and couldn’t look better. The lights are dim and there are Tealight candles lit everywhere. There are pictures of clouds, angels, rainbows and unicorns, pictures of bright lights coming down from the clouds, and it looks so beautiful. In all four corners of the room are stands of helium-filled balloons of every color of the rainbow. One of the girls has made a little sign for the guest sign-in table. It is decorated in a princess motif and invites everyone to take a marker and write a message on a balloon. When the time is right, you’ll find out why!
Pictures of Tiffany are literally everywhere. They are mostly enlarged collages. We made sure Izzy and her parents are in a lot of the pictures. We have pictures of when Izzy was just born and even a picture of Tiffany and Jake with a newborn Izzy. It will be the only picture she will ever have of her mother and father together with her. I take Izzy and Jake around the room since we are the first to arrive.
“Holy Shit,” Kim mutters, making her entrance. “Abby, I know I helped, but seeing it now, it’s incredible!” She smiles at me.
“I couldn’t have done it without you, babe.” I wink back. She finds a table to throw her stuff on and comes over to say hi.
“Izzy, what do you think?” Kim bends down to give Izzy a hug and kiss on the head.
“I love it, Auntie Kim,” she beams.
“Oh phew,” she breathes an exaggerated sigh of relief. Kim’s always been good at breaking the ice when there’s tension. Izzy knows all of her new aunt’s and uncle’s names. She seems rather excited to have a whole boatload of new family.
“Well, I’ll be damned.” I hear Mr. Hart say. I whip around to see him and his wife. They can’t believe the sight before them. I rush over to them and Izzy comes running behind.
“Gramma! Grampa! Look at what Abby did!” She crushes herself into Mrs. Hart.
“Mrs. Hart. .”
“We are way past formalities, Abby, please call me Caroline, and my husband Joe,” she says, bending down to Izzy.
“Gramma, it’s Heaven!” Izzy exclaims rather excitedly to Caroline.
“Yes, it is,” Caroline whispers. A single tear slides down her cheek. I was hoping not to cry this early. I go right in for a hug.
“I tried to make it real,” I say.
She squeezes me. “You did a great job, Abby,” she says in my ear, so only I can hear her.
“Well, I didn’t know what the hell to expect,” Joe pipes in, which makes us laugh.
Jake is by my side all of a sudden, shaking Joe’s hand and pulling him in for a man hug. He then goes over to Caroline, kisses her cheek, and hugs her.
“Gramma, Grampa, can we look around?” Izzy pleads.
“Of course we can, let’s go see what Heaven looks like.” And they take off with Izzy, stopping to look at every single one of the pictures.
People are starting to pile in. The only people I recognize are my own friends and family. I’m just so glad they all came. I plug my iPod into the sound system and get the music going from my ‘Celebration of Life’ playlist. Izzy, my friends, and Jake helped me pick out songs and music.
Everyone who comes to the Celebration of Life makes a rather audible gasp as they walk in. Nobody’s been to a celebration like this before. I’m glad I could shock them all and make this into something that nobody will soon forget.
Everyone is in awe of the decorations. People are drinking, and mingling, and it has a nice sweet vibe going on, which is what I was going for.
I feel like now is the time to give a small speech, before the party goes into full swing. I make my way over to the sound system and grab the microphone, tapping it to make sure it’s on.
Here goes nothing!
“Hey, everyone, I’m Abby and I’d like to thank you all for coming tonight. It means a lot to us. I’m not sure if I’m the most appropriate person to be speaking right now, but, Mrs. and – err, I mean, Caroline and Joe have been supportive of the vision I had to re-create a piece of Heaven.” A single tear slides down my cheek. “I hope you all saw the sign for the balloons and you are all encouraged to write messages, words of love, or decorate them however you want, because at the end of the night we will be sending them all up to Heaven for Tiffany.” Another tear slides down. Keep it together.
“If at any point you want to say some words, then feel free to do just that. For now, if you could all raise your glasses in a toast with me.
“To Tiffany… May she rest in peace and know that her beautiful daughter, Isabelle, will always be taken care of.”
Everyone raises their glasses and Izzy comes running over to me, slamming into my legs for a hug.
“Don’t cry, Abby. I love you.” I pick her up, hug her and kiss her little face.
“I love you too, Isabelle. Let’s ‘cheers’ to your mommy, ok, babe?”
She smiles at me and says ok. Everyone laughs and the first toast of the night is done. Izzy goes running back to the table with my ma and sits on her lap. I turn up the volume on the sound system again.
“Abby, you did such a great job.” Jake appears at my side while I’m taking everything in. “Dance with me,” he says and pulls me to the middle of the room and onto the dance floor while “Tears in Heaven” by Eric Clapton starts playing. He twirls me once and holds on to me like he never wants to let me go. I see more people move to the
dance floor; Tiffany’s parents, Kevin and Amanda, Justin and Dallas, and some other people I don’t know. It makes me warm and fuzzy to see two of my best friends finding one another and I hope it works out for them.
The next song to play is “Spirit in the Sky” by Norman Greenbaum, and everyone stays on the dance floor, in fact, more people come on up and get their boogie on. I’m looking through the crowd to find Izzy and see her still sitting on Ma’s lap. I crook my finger at them and Izzy’s little face lights up. She comes running to the dance floor and starts dancing with us. In fact, everyone is up dancing now and it feels great. I mean, as great as it can, considering it’s a funeral of sorts.
After a few hours have passed, everyone has eaten, drank, danced and gone around to write messages on all the balloons. I go over to the microphone, turn down the music and ask if everyone wouldn’t mind heading outside. Grabbing our coats, we make our way to the beach. My friends all know to grab the balloons.
The night is perfect with only a slight breeze. Everyone is huddled around and waiting. Amanda, Kim, Nikki, Nat, and Dallas start handing out the colorful balloons and ask everyone to wait for a few minutes. Jake, Kev and Justin are lighting twenty paper lanterns to light up the sky. The guys get them all lit and make sure Tiffany’s parents get one, as well as other family members, and her friends. Jake helps Izzy with her lantern. Everything is in place and ready.
I walk to the front of the crowd. “I thought it would be nice to send all our messages to Tiffany up in Heaven. The lanterns will light up the sky and lead the way for the balloons.” I can see some faces with smiles, some are shedding tears. Izzy looks excited, which makes me smile.
“Isabelle, would you like to be the first to send your lantern into the sky to your mom?” I ask. She comes barreling forward with Jake behind her carrying the lantern. Caroline and Joe come up to stand with her, also. “You ready?” She nods her little head. Jake places the lantern safely in her little hands so she can let it go. “Ok, let it go!” And she does, tilting her head and watching in amazement. It really is beautiful.
“Ok, everyone else who has a paper lantern release them now!” They do and everyone looks up in wonder. “Now, everyone with a balloon release them and send them up to Heaven!” And they do. My girls held back a few special balloons. They give some to Izzy that she decorated herself and I found the one I wrote on.
I love them both.
I promise to take care of them.
I’m sorry.
Abby
I let it go to into night sky, lit by all the paper lanterns. People start taking pictures with their phones. I grab mine, too, it’s too beautiful a moment not to capture. I also get some shots of Jake with Izzy, looking up into the sky, and with some of my friends. Caroline and Joe ask for a picture with Izzy, and we do a picture with Izzy, Jake and I. And for the finale, we do a picture of all of us. A group shot of Caroline and Joe, Jake and me, Izzy, my ma, and my friends.
Most everyone decides it is late and it is time to head out, which is when all the hugging and cheek kissing starts. Caroline and Joe ask if they can take Izzy for the night and Izzy is more than happy to go. She has a room with all kinds of stuff there for her at their house. We say our goodbyes and make plans for Izzy to be dropped off tomorrow afternoon. My ma is one of the last to leave. She walks over to me and pulls me into a hug, releases me, then cups my face with both hands.
“Abigail, I couldn’t be more proud of you than I am right now, baby.” She pecks my lips. Yes, I kiss my ma on the lips still.
“Thanks, Ma, I really tried.” Tears slide down my cheeks. I’m feeling overwhelmed and this is what happens. Ma wipes my tears away.
“I love you, Abby,” she says.
“I love you, too, Ma.”
She makes her rounds to my friends and Jake, hugging and kissing them all.
It’s only Jake and I, Dallas and Justin, Kevin and Amanda, Nicole, Natalie and Kim left. We decide to park it on the little beach. Everyone lights up their joints and cigarettes and we all laugh.
“I’ve never been to any kind of funeral like this before!” Natalie blurts and then snorts while laughing. This just makes us all laugh.
“It was definitely one of a kind,” Nicole agrees with her twin.
“I think it was fucking perfect and can’t believe what you guys pulled off,” Jake says to the group.” I don’t even know how to begin to thank you all for what you did tonight! It couldn’t have been easy.” He’s getting a bit choked up.
“We’re family now, sucka.” Dallas winks.
“Ha-ha-ha! That’s cool! Auntie Dallas, I’m down with that!” Jake chuckles at her and she scrunches up her face at him. Everyone’s silly on the pot.
“Well, I love being an auntie and can’t wait to take Izzy shopping,” Kim tells us all.
“Kim, don’t you dare dress her like a little whore!” Nat says a little too loudly. Everyone starts laughing again.
“Why in the fuck would I dress her like a whore, bitch! I’m going to make her into a little diva princess, like me.” I roll my eyes because nobody can really see now. The paper lanterns can’t be seen as clearly as before, but, they are still faintly there.
“Oh, Lordy,” Nicole pipes in, “maybe we should do group shopping trips first before Kim is left unsupervised with her.” She laughs out loud.
“Well, I don’t know about you guys, but I’m fucking tired and want to go home.” I say, swinging my eyes over to Jake’s and he nods at me.
“Yeah, it’s time to go,” Dallas agrees with me.
“Justin!” she yells. “go get our shit.” He obediently goes and does what he’s told. All you can hear is Jake and Kev as they mock him. Laughing, they say, “Yeah, Justin, go get our shit.”
“Just wait you guys; you’ll be grabbing your women’s shit soon enough.” He walks away giving them the finger.
“Pull me up.” I reach my hands out to Jake. While feeling the need to dust the sand off my ass, he yanks me to him.
“You’re in trouble tonight.” He plants a kiss on me.
“Oh for fuck’s sakes! Go home already, you horny fucking rabbits!” Kim shouts at us.
“Ok, we’re outta here, you guys.” I make my way to each one and hug and kiss them.
Kev says, “You throw one kick ass funeral, Abby. If I die, plan mine,” He’s looking at me serious as a heart attack.
“Uh, can we not talk about anyone else dying, please.” I hug him. “She likes you,” I whisper in his ear. He pulls me back to look at him, a shit eating grin on his face.
“Oh, I know.” He winks at me.
“Ok then, thanks for everything, Kev, and we’ll figure out shit about the house soon. I’ll be by at some point to officially get all my shit.” Fuck, I don’t know if I want to go back there yet.
“No rush, Abby.” He kisses the top of my head.
I go over to hug Amanda. “He likes you,” I whisper to her.
She turns to me with her shit eating grin and says, “I know.” I couldn’t be more happy for them.
“Alright, hookers, we’re out of here! Abby, kick ass funeral, babe,” Kim says to me before leaving with Nicole and Nat.
“Come on, Dallas, we’ll walk you back up there.” She walks along with us.
“You know, that really was a kick ass funeral,” she says randomly.
“It was a Celebration of Life. I hope someone thinks to do something like this for me when I kick it,” I blurt, instantly feeling like an idiot.
“Fuck, yeah. Abby, Dallas, you guys did a kick ass job. No joke! I’ve never seen anything like that in my life.” I know he truly appreciates everything and I don’t feel like an idiot anymore. “Recreating Heaven for Izzy was an awesome idea, so were the balloons, the lanterns, the food… and the open bar didn’t hurt,” Jake says proudly.
We all get our stuff and leave the Legion. The Hart’s had taken care of cleaning and arranged to have all the pictures we made sent to their house in a few days. I’m so g
lad they allowed me to make it a celebration instead of all the doom and gloom normally associated with death and funerals. They didn’t have to.
“Love ya, twat waffle,” I scream at Dallas.
“Later, bro,” Jake hollers at Justin.
“Love ya, whorasaurus,” Dallas screams, and Jake starts howling.
“What the fuck is wrong with you two?” he asks, still laughing. I shrug.
“It’s just how we roll, baby.”
He helps me climb into the Jeep, copping a blatant feel of my ass. He climbs into the driver’s side and we head home. He grabs my hand, kisses it, and holds it in his lap.
“I saw what you wrote on your balloon, you know,” Jake casually mentions. “I love you, Abby.”
I turn my head to him. “I love you, too.”
I’ve never meant any words more in my life than I do in this moment.
We get home and let Ozzy out and make sure the furry kids have food and water before we head to bed. Ozzy is barking his head off so I go over to the door to call him inside. He barks at the bushes a few more times before he comes. Finally!
“Get your ass in here, woman! I’m waiting for you,” Jake hollers at me. I slide the door shut and lock it. I’m off to let Jake have his wicked with me. Now!
Stalker
That was a spectacular celebration if I’ve ever seen one. Abby should really consider doing party planning or funerals. Of course, I was there. Did you think I wouldn’t be? I watched like I have these past five days. I made sure I got the information I needed so I could go to the funeral. I should pay my respects, after all.
I wrote on one of those balloons, too, while nobody was looking, or so I thought. After writing I love you,Abby on the balloon, I drew a picture of a woman hanging. I turned to see a cute little girl watching me. She must be Isabelle, Jake and Tiffany’s daughter. Abby is her mother now. I put the Sharpie down and waved to her. She ran away.
You only need to walk into the Legion when there’s an event going on. Nobody notices anything. I made sure to dress appropriately, but casual, with dark denim, a black button down, and a black jacket. It’s not like anyone would expect to see me there, and I made sure to spot Kev before he spotted me. He would be the only one to recognize me. Abby and Jake have probably long forgotten they met me at The Shelter only a short time ago. I’m not significant enough to remember, right now, anyway. That will change.
Obsession (Stalker #1) Page 21
