All The Deadly Secrets by Carol Schaal

Author:Carol Schaal [Schaal, Carol]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-03-27T16:00:00+00:00

22

If the mourners at Bernice’s funeral had been solemn and respectful, those gathered for Dennis’s last rites on Saturday were nervous and full of chatter. People kept looking around, perhaps expecting to see the devil incarnate walking into the room, and even the minister caught the unease. He stumbled through a reading of Dennis’s obituary, making it clear he had no personal knowledge of the man in the casket, and spouted generic praise while avoiding any hint of the facts of Dennis’s death. When he asked if anyone would like to say a few words, he was met with silence.

Finally, to everyone’s relief, he uttered a final prayer and ended the service with an invitation for those present to join the family at a luncheon following the trip to the cemetery.

This time, I did go to the cemetery, because I thought Tami and D.J. might need to see a few more faces of friends there. As I stood, shivering, near the open ground, Dennis’s final resting place, I saw Maccini, dressed in civilian clothes, standing off to the side. He caught my glance and lifted his chin, the look of a man ready to do battle. I returned his look. We were like two kids, set to throw grimy snowballs at each other, neither one of us backing down.

He did not make an appearance at the lunch in a nearby church’s basement, an event even more depressing than the funeral. The ham on white bread sandwiches and bowls of macaroni salad, green beans, and coleslaw did little to lift anyone’s spirits.

Sarah, Frank, Justin, Kylie, and I sat at one of the metal folding tables. Frank, as usual, tried to get a conversation flowing but with little success. Tami, who was walking around thanking everyone for being there, eventually took a seat next to me. I gave up on my half-eaten sandwich and held her hand.

“You okay?” I asked, realizing it was a stupid question.

She gave me a wan smile. “Den would be so mad if he could see this,” she said, passing her hands above the food on the table. “And he would have been right. I could have afforded better, but I decided it was time to spend money on the shop and on me and on D.J.” Her face contorted as she tried to hold back tears.

“You know, he was not the bad man everyone thinks. He worked hard, and we raised a good son together. That counts for something.”

None of us at the table could say a word. What would we do? Argue with her? Offer the same platitudes we’d heard at the funeral service?

D.J.’s arrival broke the uncomfortable silence. “Hey guys, thanks for coming,” he said, standing behind his mother and massaging her shoulders. “Anybody need anything else?”

His attempt at being a proper host met with shaking heads, but Kylie, at least, had the presence of mind to say the appropriate thing. “We’re all so sorry about this,” she said. “And we know it will take a while for you and your mom to want to go out and do a lot of socializing.

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