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“I do,” Audra nodded. “Don’t you?”
“Not really,” I answered honestly.
“Monster,” Audra teased.
“Shut up, I hadn’t seen the man in ten years.”
“You’re going to hell,” Audra said, pretending to be serious.
“Fuck off,” I said, jabbing her in the ribs with my elbow.
“There’s that Piper Prewitt charm,” she cooed.
“I hate you.”
“You adore me.”
We stepped out into the hallway and I pulled the door closed behind me. My mother was standing at the foot of the stairs, her head tilted upward as if she were about to yell something to us.
“Oh,” she said, relaxing her neck. “You’re ready.”
“Yup,” I said as Audra led the way downstairs.
“Good, let’s go.”
Six
Piper
The funeral was large and loud. When we stepped inside the church, I immediately spotted ten cousins and four second cousins. They were all crammed in the middle of the aisle talking loudly and boisterously. If you didn’t know why we were all there, you would have thought someone was getting married not buried.
My mother led the way down the aisle, squeezing her way between relatives, stopping to say hello as she went. I kept my head down. Avoiding eye contact was the best way to get through this without someone…
“Piper?!” A voice yelled from a few feet away. Everyone in the vicinity immediately fell silent. “Piper! You came!”
I turned to see my cousin Melissa hurrying toward me. She engulfed me in a bone crushing hug before pulling away. She held onto my arms and looked me up and down.
“Ugh! You look gorgeous,” she said with venom in her voice. “I don’t know why I’m surprised, you always were the pretty one.”
“Thanks Mel,” I said softly. “You look great. How long has it been?”
“Six years!” she half-yelled. “Can you believe that?”
“No,” I shook my head and glanced around me. I caught Audra’s eye and tried to silently convey I needed help. She just laughed and made her way into a pew with the kids. I could have killed her.
“So, what have you been up to? Still in New York? How are things? Are you still a paralegal or something like that?”
“A lawyer,” I nodded. “Yeah, I’m still…”
“Oh no!” Melissa interrupted. “Looks like they’re about to start. We better sit.”
Melissa hurried away in a blur. I turned around and made my way over to Audra in a fog. When I sat down, I shoved my shoulder hard against hers.
“Ouch,” she snapped.
“I can’t believe you just left me with her!” I hissed under my breath.
“You looked like you were doing fine,” she chuckled.
