Karma With a Vengeance by Tash Hawthorne & Wahida Clark

Author:Tash Hawthorne & Wahida Clark [Hawthorne, Tash & Clark, Wahida]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Literature & Fiction, United States, African American, Urban, Genre Fiction
Amazon: B003GDJKKE
Publisher: Wahida Clark Presents Publishing
Published: 2009-12-04T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

T

he wooden cathedral doors of St. Rocco‘s Roman Catholic Church were opened by two husky male ushers. They stood outside the sanctified building holding the doors with their

weight. The sun shone by itself earlier that morning just like the weather man on the news said it would. But it was a little after one o’clock and the sun was now accompanied by light sprinkles of rain. The sun shower was uncommon for the fall in New Jersey, but it was a beautiful sight to behold. If anyone looked a little deeper into the rare spectacle, they would have probably thought God was having mixed feelings about calling Soleil home so soon. Only He knew.

A faint rainbow appeared and spread across the sky just as the Alonso-Cruz family filed out of the church behind Soleil’s casket. Four pallbearers, along with Victor and Miguel on each side of the casket, walked unhurriedly down the concrete steps. The family were all dressed sharply in simple black pant-suits with the exception of Lorenzo who wore his suited army uniform complete with his stars, stripes, strings, and other awards he‘d earned over the course of his time in the service. He and Karma, with the other remaining members of the family standing behind them, stood beside Father Pacella at the top of the church’s steps and watched the pallbearers place Soleil’s casket into the hearse. Lorenzo was visibly shaken. His body shook lightly as he cried silently to himself. Karma, whose arm was interlocked with her father’s, tightened her grip and kept her head cast toward the ground. She didn’t know when she would look up and face the world again.

At Karma’s request, her mother’s wake and funeral were both held at the church that day. She thought it necessary to arrange the homegoing as such to make it easier on herself and the family. The only thing that didn’t sit very well with Karma was having to see her mother for the first and last time that day. She couldn’t bring herself to view her mother prior to the services, so Indigo decided to go to the funeral home the previous day to make sure her aunt was impeccably done and acceptable for viewing. When Indigo arrived at Karma’s home later that evening, she reassured her cousin, through tear-filled eyes, that she would be pleased with her appearance.

The family met at Karma’s condominium around ten o’clock, said a prayer with the funeral directors once they arrived, and then filed out of the building into the black stretch limo that was waiting for them outside. To the family’s surprise, many of the tenants were standing outside in the crescent- shaped driveway waiting to give them their final condolences. Little conversation took place inside the limo. Guilt spoke for everyone. The family mostly looked out of their windows, watching the other cars speed past them on Route 280. When they finally arrived at the church, the first thing that greeted them was the glorious sounds of the church’s band playing the instrumental to Richard Smallwood’s Total Praise.

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