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WALKING THROUGH THE cemetery, Rafe Salvaggio led Eden closer to the ossuary building, finally stopping in front of a grave. “This is where Brettito used to be,” she told Eden. “But now he’s somewhere in the building over there.” She pointed to a building that looked like a small church. “It’s the ossuary for the in-ground graves. They moved him a couple of years ago. He’s been dead for over twenty years, but sometimes, it still seems like it was yesterday to me.”
“Why did they move him?” Eden asked, surprised they would move a body from a grave.
Rafe shrugged. “To make room,” she explained. “My father paid for twenty years. His family thought it was enough. Now he’s in a very small box piled on top of other small boxes full of bones. I never like the thought of all those bone boxes. I would take them all to America, but they belong here.” She shifted her eyes toward Eden. “But I don’t belong here,” she said firmly. “I don’t want to come back here again.” She turned and started walking to the cemetery gate.
Eden followed with feelings of confusion and concern. She didn’t understand why Rafe was being so insistent about not belonging in the cemetery. The memory of their therapy session and Rafe’s outburst about death needing a choice ran through her mind. Gabri said she was doing better. Eden worried Rafe was thinking about or planning her death. It scared her. She caught up to Rafe and touched her arm. “Rafe,” she said taking her arm to stop her. “Rafe, wait.”
“What?” Rafe turned to Eden with a frown. She wanted to leave this place.
“Why are you saying those things?”
“What things?”
“The things about not belonging here and being turned into a diamond,” she said. She felt a small trickle of sweat run down her back. “It scares me,” she confessed. “I don’t want anything to happen to you. I don’t know what it means when you say those things. Do you think about death? Are you thinking about hurting yourself? Please,” she said shakily, “please don’t—” She was stopped from saying more by the anxiety thrumming through her.
Rafe scowled down at Eden. “I’m not that sick,” she retorted. She wondered if she should feel insulted because Eden thought she was so weak or pride because Eden thought she was brave enough to end herself. She could never quite figure out if suicide was a product of weakness or strength. She knew that sometimes she wished she would just not wake up, but she didn’t think it was the same as self-harm. “I only wanted you to know that, when I die, I don’t want to be here. It doesn’t mean anything. It probably won’t matter anyway because Gabri knows. We’re here, and I was telling you other things, so I just told you that too,” she said with a shrug.
Eden wondered if Rafe was telling the truth or covering her tracks. “Okay,” she said softly. “Good. Bronte and I need you.”
“If you say so,” said Rafe, doubtful Eden really needed her anymore for anything. “Let’s go.” She turned once again to make her way out of the cemetery with Eden following close behind.
