AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Did you know they’d be here today?”
He glanced back at them, then back to me. “I knew there was a possibility. Otherwise, your uncle would’ve been buried last week.”
“How did they find out?”
“The way we all did. The news.”
I nodded and sighed, unable to take my eyes off them. “How’d they end up together? Aren’t they in separate facilities?”
“They’re in the same prison on different sides. Both female and male detention centers are combined into one. The authorities probably shoved them both on the same bus because they were coming to the same place for the same reason.”
“Hmph.”
“What’s going on in that head of yours?”
My father leaned over the casket and wept. I turned my eyes from them, feeling sorry for his pain but still glad Uncle Benjamin was dead. It was a wretched thing to wrestle with.
“Nothing.”
Uncle Dexter peered at me. “Doesn’t seem like nothing.”
I peered back. “Are you inside my head now?”
“I don’t need to be. I know you well enough to know when something is on your mind.”
“Everything is on my mind. My parents, Grandfather’s dubious plans, Dominic.” I shook my head. “Some days I feel like I’m losing my mind.”
“Who’s Dominic?”
I froze, frowned, and pulled back a step. “Did I say Dominic?”
“Yes. Who is he?”
I shook my head. “I misspoke.”
“You’re much like me—you hide so much from loved ones.”
“Which loved ones? You? Them? Because you guys are all I have left besides Grandfather, and none of you are available. So, just which loved ones am I hiding from?”
“I said I would come around more, Penelope. I apologized, okay?”
I let out an exasperated sigh. “It’s not about you. It’s just…” I sucked my teeth. “I don’t know. Forget about it.”
My father was yanked back from the casket, and the guards began to usher my parents toward the waiting bus. The graveyard was empty now except for my parents, Uncle Dexter, the guards, and the officiant. Benjamin’s coffin was almost entirely lowered. As my parents walked past me, I dropped my umbrella and took off into a sprint.
“Penelope, no!” Uncle Dexter shouted, but I was too far gone. They were so close to me, closer than they’d been in a decade. They paused, and my father headbutted the guard while my mother tripped the other.
It was all I needed. I lunged into them, my arms swinging around their necks simultaneously.
“Mom! Dad!” I kissed them repeatedly, first one, then the other, as I cried tears of joy. “I love you so much. I miss you so much!”
They couldn’t hug me in return, but we pushed our bodies together, and I squeezed them as tightly as I could. My heart thrummed wildly. It was a moment of bliss I could bottle up and keep with me forever.
“We love you, baby,” they said, the words coming almost in unison.
“I’m sorry. I had to do it. I know you’ll be in trouble, but I had to!”
“Don’t be sorry,” my father said. “Fuck them and fuck everyone else.”
