Page 116 of Worth of Waste

“I just want to leave,” she said in a mumble, fumbling with the key fob and the unlock button. “I want to get the fuck out of here.”

Theo cleared his throat, shoving his hands in his pockets as he watched her warily. He never came any closer, and Karen appreciated that. She was not in the mood for comfort of any sort.

“I need to go pick up J from the daycare and get the hell out of this city,” Karen said, her words catching on the ache in her throat.

“How’s he doing?” Theo asked.

Karen looked over at him, not sure what to say. “He’s …”

“Yeah?”

“Lost.”

A lot like she was.

A lot like Theo looked to be right then.

Theo shifted on his feet, glancing over his shoulder back at the church. “Listen, if you need anything, Karen … or if the baby needs something, you know where to find me.”

“You can’t give me what I need, Theo.”

He nodded. “Yeah, I know.”

“I don’t even understand what happened. One day, everything was fine, and then the next, he was gone. He didn’t even say anything about something like this.”

“He didn’t know. Nobody did. It looked like a timer bomb on his radio, so when he switched stations, it set the relay to count down three seconds before it blew up. The car burned out, but a lot of pieces were sent flying, and that was how they found part of the electronics for the bomb.”

Karen wished that information helped her somehow.

Just knowing how it all happened.

“Who?” she asked.

Theo shrugged. “I don’t know, but I’m working on that. Could I, uh …”

Karen finally got that damned car unlocked, and she pulled opened the driver’s door. “What, Theo?”

“Could I call you? Maybe we can meet up once a week or something.”

She looked to the church. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea. He didn’t want us around those—”

“Just me,” Theo interrupted quickly. “I owe it to him—who else is going to help you with that baby, now?”

Karen nodded. “I know how to contact you.”

With that, Theo said his goodbye, and Karen watched as he made his way back to the church, and then disappeared inside. A part of her wanted to go with him, to finish what she had started with Dino, and put him to rest like they both deserved.

A bigger part wouldn’t allow her to let go at all.

A part that still didn’t want to admit he was gone.

Karen climbed into her car, needing to get away from those thoughts. She was just starting to back out of the parking space when she had a thought …

His mother’s grave.

Who would clean it now?

Who would say hello to her every Sunday like he had done for years?