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“I am,” I insisted. “Even if it’s weird to be back, it’s good that I came.”
Laughter echoed up the stairs and I heard children running around in the living room. In a second, my mother would come and demand they all quiet down. This was a morning of sadness, after all. It wasn’t time for playing. Still, hearing them laugh helped make my words to Audra feel true.
“How’s Mom been?” Audra asked weakly. I glanced at her quickly, a warning in my eyes that made her quickly add, “I’m just asking.”
“It’s like I said, she’s been freaking out since I arrived yesterday. They both have.”
“No, I don’t mean about the funeral,” Audra said with a wave of her hand. “I mean about you.”
“She’s been fine,” I said evasively. “Shouldn’t we get going? I thought everyone was afraid of being late.”
Audra opened her mouth as if she were going to argue, but she soon thought better of it. She grabbed my purse from the dresser and handed it to me. After smoothing my hair and pinching my cheeks, she smiled at me in the way only a big sister can.
“Let’s do this,” she said. Her tone suggested we were going into battle and maybe we were. A Prewitt reunion, even one for a funeral, was always an interesting event.
“Do you feel sad?” I asked.
“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?”
