Chapters (14)
“Yeah, he liked his mac and cheese, didn’t he?” My eyes close of their own accord. Let the memories scroll across the screen of my mind. With Tina on the end of the line, it doesn’t hurt as much. My heart doesn’t try to stop.
“Everyone likes mac and cheese, silly.”
“Who you calling silly, silly?”
Tina giggles. There is a small pause. “I won’t go outside,” she says. “There are lots of police out there. I don’t want them to get me.”
Oh, my heart. “You stay with your mom, and you’ll be okay.” I want to add, I promise, but it doesn’t seem very wise, all things considered.
EVA
We light candles in the living room. “In honor of a young life lost,” Daddy says.
“We could go to the funeral,” I say.
“No, we can’t,” Mommy says. “No one wants to see Daddy there.”
“Because he did a bad thing?” It doesn’t make sense, because when you do a bad thing, you’re supposed to apologize.
“He did his job.” Mommy is what Daddy calls a broken record, saying the same thing over and over.
“But what happened is a tragedy,” I say. This is the word everyone keeps using. The worst of the worst possible thing. The most terrible kind of sadness.
Daddy puts his head in his hands.
“It’s complicated,” Mommy says. “Let’s pray.”