Sunshine and Bullets: The Complete Box Set (The Bullets Trilogy) by CoraLee June

Author:CoraLee June [June, CoraLee]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-12-12T16:00:00+00:00

I’d never been to a funeral before. I thought they were like the movies, rain streaming down as men and women crowded you with looks of pity. But instead, it was sunny in Chesterbrook on the day my parents were put in their final resting place. Streams of sunshine beat down on our backs as we walked through the cemetery.

I thought everyone wore black suits and dresses. I thought it would be a somber affair. But to show solidarity with a dead man, all of the Chesterbrook Police Department wore their dress blues. So instead of black, there was nothing but a sea of navy at the church this afternoon, stoic faces in the pews. They were rigid, their stiff kevlar forcing them to sit up tall and proud as the preacher said nice things about my parents. We weren’t churchgoers, and every polite comment was a generalization.

“She was a good mother.”

“He was a selfless protector.”

And the expressions? Those were the most jarring. I’d thought people would be as solemn as I, struggling to comprehend their grief. I had expected to see the evidence of their sadness. I wanted to know I wasn’t alone, I wasn’t the only one missing the two most important people in my life. But the crowd mostly looked curious; they seemed giddy to be at the most exclusive funeral of the year. Everyone wanted to look like they cared the most, to send the biggest flowers, offer the best frozen dish because their prized funeral casserole was somehow worth losing your family.

The caskets we buried were empty, a few handfuls of ash on silk pillows. They had picked their plots at the local cemetery years ago, determined to be together even in death. Their wills requested that they be buried. They planned for everything, but they didn’t expect to burn in a car fire and leave nothing behind.

There were just two large portraits of them situated at the front of the church. I couldn’t look at their photos, a vibrant echo of who they were. All that was left of them were memories and photographs. By the end of the week, the house wouldn’t even be mine.

After the funeral, we went to the Bright’s home for a post-funeral get-together. Mrs. Bright loved to host. “Any excuse to throw a party,” she used to say to my mother. “You doing okay?” Mrs. Bright asked as she clasped her hand over mine with a frown. She was the only one that looked how I’d expect someone to look at a funeral. She loved my parents. It made me feel a hint of satisfaction to see her so miserable at their passing. “I’m tired of all this bullshit.” My voice was a slow growl as I crushed my napkin into my fist. I was ready to get the hell out of here to drink something hard and avoid the fact that I was now all alone in this world.

“Callum...I’m so…”

I knew Mrs. Bright was going to say sorry;

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