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“And one of the most expensive models,” added Nate pointedly. He was well aware of how cruel our father had been, and like me and Gabriel, he wasn’t grieving the death of our father.
“And that’s a popular choice? Why would people want pictures on the casket?” asked Nancia, her brow slightly furrowing in concentration. She had never chosen a casket before, and this was all new to her.
“Yes, it is popular. People like the comfort of knowing that their cherished family member is going to a better place once they pass through the pearly gates.”
“The pearly gates? Christ, he needs to improve his sales spiel,” muttered Gabriel under his breath.
“Our father definitely won’t be seeing any angels before he burns in hell,” drawled Nate.
Simon could only manage a squeak in response, and Gabriel huffed as he started to lose patience. He didn’t have much patience at the best of times, and I knew that he was irritated this visit was taking him away from business matters he needed to deal with.
“You’re not one of the funeral parlor employees we usually deal with,” I said to Simon. “We know them all quite well, given how often we’re here.”
“You come here often?” said Simon in a high-pitched voice as his eyes widened.
This kid must be new, I thought. “Yeah, we’re here all the time. How long have you worked here?” I inquired.
“It’s my f-first week,” he stammered, losing more confidence the longer he dealt with us.
“Don’t worry, your advice is really helpful to us,” reassured Nancia, smiling at him. Trust her to feel sympathy forSensitive Simonhere. He needed to toughen up if he was going to work for an undertaker whose main client was the Mafia.
“We don’t want anything that’s going to cost extra,” declared Nate.
An old lady, who appeared to be looking for a casket for her recently-deceased husband, shot us a dirty look while also tightening her grip on her purse and hugging it into her body—she obviously thought we were the sort of people who weren’t to be trusted.
“What’s your cheapest model?” Nate said loudly.
“For fuck’s sake, Nate,” snapped Gabriel, finally losing his temper. “Can you try to act like a son in mourning for just a few fucking minutes? Our father has just died, Mother is beyond upset, and everyone in the Società will be attending this fucking funeral.”
What my eldest brother really meant, but couldn’t say in front of the twins, was that we had to seem like a family in mourning. We didn’t want any suspicions raised as to the possibility that our father’s death wasn’t from natural causes. We had to keep the truth quiet in order to protect Jess.
“It’s not as if we can’t afford it,” added Gabriel, unclenching his fists and trying to calm down.
“It’s not as if he was a good man,” retorted Nate.
“Look, Nate, this isn’t the time or place for you to object about what we do in our business,” I said in a quiet voice.
I turned to Simon, who was quietly edging away.
“Er…do you want me to get my manager to assist you?” he suggested in a hopeful tone, clearly keen to offload our dysfunctional family onto someone else.
“Yes,” said Gabriel tersely.
“No,” I said forcefully at the same time. “We’ll take whatever is your most popular model. And you’re not paying for it, Nate, so stop whining about the cost,” I said before he could make another inappropriate comment.
Simon’s eyes darted from me to Nate and then to Gabriel. And, having second thoughts, he scuttled away to get his manager after all.
Nancia gave a final sympathetic smile to Simon.
And Nate, upon seeing this, rolled his eyes. Nancia always had a thing for the weakest person or underdog in a situation, and she obviously thought we were being too hard on Sensitive Simon.
***
The funeral took place later that week, and it was a grand affair as befitted the former Capo of the Società.
Mother was pleased with the arrangements we had made and particularly liked the casket we had chosen, including the engravings. The funeral passed without any suspicions being raised as to the circumstances surrounding my father’s death and the events preceding it.
Once the day was finally over, I breathed a sigh of relief. No one had appeared suspicious, meaning that I could stop worrying that someone would find out Jessica’s secret.
