A Well Staring at the Sky: A Death Foretold — Part 6
Read Part 12: A Graduation
They told me I had to leave. That if I didn’t go home, she would continue to linger and not let go. They have already bought the plane ticket and I needed to pack now in order to make the flight. I plead and beg and cry and reason and no one listens. The deal has been signed and sealed and delivered; consent it not mine to give.
On the plane, the young man next to me talks at me. It turns out he is my coworker’s cousin and he’s Jordanian, so we have common bonds. I eat an entire box of cookies as he babbles on. I feel grateful that his conversation does not lapse. If there is any silence in this cabin I think I will start to scream and rage and beat my breast in frustration and mourning. I cannot let these emotions betray me.
I take the metro home and drop off the talker at his stop. He is grateful for my company and for helping him arrive safely at his destination. I wish him safe travels and continue my ride home. I think Andrew and I talk upon my arrival. I know I sleep. I go to work for a half day on Friday. I think I do normal weekend things that weekend, but I am a just a zombie going through the motions of life and do not remember any details from those four days. I was just waiting for them to call me to tell me that she has passed.
The call comes on Monday morning at 6am. It’s my mother. Susan has died. She is being transported to the funeral home for cremation. Mary and Mother had spent the last hour washing and dressing her. Susan wore slippers and silk, pink pajamas into the depths of the crematorium. She would have liked it that way.
Mother says that she and Mary will spend the next days going through Susan’s belongings. I am Susan’s sole heir, but they will take care of it for me. Mother will bring me what items she thinks are best to keep.
I hang up the phone and cry and Andrew holds me. He tells me not to go work, but I decide to go anyways. I can’t hide from life forever I say and I sink into the bed pulling the covers over me and sob. People send me flowers and offer condolences. Then, life keeps going on.
Read Part 14: A Magnet
