The wake was a grand event.
The coffin was closed, and there were so many flowers that from outside the church you could already smell a sweetish aroma in the air.
The entire city showed up. Most of those present had no direct connection to the family, curious types who followed the news on television and were there for their own amusement. There were eulogies and weeping.
Dona Lu received the condolences and I could see, behind her mourning attire and her controlled expression, a certain peace.
Sulamita and I also went to the funeral the next morning.
The day was sunny.
I noticed that the gravedigger who’d done Junior’s sepulcher was the same one who had sold us the cadaver,
At the end of the ceremony, we gave our condolences to Dona Lu and Mr. José.
Thank you very much, they said.
We left through the passageways of the cemetery, hand in hand, feeling the sun hot upon our dark clothing.