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Uncomfortable, Arlana suggested they take a walk in the adjacent cemetery. Their grandmother lay buried somewhere among the stones, long forgotten by their side of the family. Arlana wanted to stay out in the fresh air and pay her respects to her favourite grandparent.
Finding the grave was much more difficult than she expected. Adelaide's children walked on tombstones while Jaira walked ahead, searching alone for their lost grandparent, trying to deal with her own grief and rejection - a terrible cocktail.
Arlana stopped to ask a man mowing the grass in the cemetery, but he didn't know either.
"Maybe it is one of the open graves just over there. Be careful though, you wouldn't want to fall in."
Creepy.
Defeated, the siblings walked back to the funeral home. Jaira began shaking as she walked, her body making exaggerated trembling motions that were not exactly convulsions either. She swayed back and forth as though about to faint, yet was able to walk down the path toward the parking lot. Unsure what to do, Arlana reached for her hand, supporting Jaira in her time of grief.
Adelaide rolled her eyes.
"Drama," she mouthed.
The wake was over and relatives were filing out the door.
"Wait a minute. I have something for you in the trunk," Adelaide halted her eldest sister as Jaira stormed towards Lachlan's waiting car, upset the focus had turned back to Adelaide and the packages she had brought. "This is from Grandpa for Aziel, and here is something for Jaira."
"Why don't you give it to Jaira yourself? I think it would be more meaningful," Arlana really just wanted to get off her feet.
Emotionally exhausted, she wanted nothing so much as to re-join the others waiting in the car.
"And this..." Adelaide paused, ignoring anything Arlana had just said, "Is for you. It is Grandpa's greatest possession," her voice hardened, "I know you don't care, but you lose everything. You always move from place to place. If you dare lose this..."
"Adelaide, don't talk to me like that. I am not one of your children."
Arlana wouldn't put up with it anymore. There was no need to be so rude, especially at a time like this.
Adelaide turned on her heel and marched to Lachlan's car, shoving the token for Jaira through the window. She said something to Jaira, but Arlana wasn't listening.
"What was that all about?" Lachlan frowned as they turned out of the parking lot toward the hotel that was not yet booked.
Arlana rubbed her forehead.
"Family."
Enough said.
****
THEY DROVE IN SILENCE toward the motel. Clearly run down, it looked like it was home to more than one species of insect yet everything else was booked or out of Arlana's price range.
"I'll just go in and book the room first," Arlana spoke first, "Give me a minute." The stress of the last few hours made her feel as though she were drowning, unable to come to the surface for air, yet she held her composure as she reached the front desk.
A dark-skinned woman barely looked up from her paperwork, "How many rooms?"
"Two, please. I'll pay for this and then get the luggage if you ladies want to take the key and head up," Lachlan appeared at her side, passing Arlana a worn door fob, then turned back to sign paperwork.
"Thank you," Arlana's fingers brushed Lachlan's a moment before she turned back to the car.
"Okay, so we are going to head up to our room. Number 114. We don't have much time before tonight's visiting hours."
By the time they reached the lobby, Lachlan had caught up with their luggage. They squeezed into the narrow elevator, the compartment shaking as they passed each floor.
Washing up, they sat together on the adjacent beds, eating hastily made sandwiches.
"Are you planning on going back tonight?" Lachlan looked up from the plate he balanced in one hand. He had sprawled out on the bed Arlana and Aziel would share. Jaira sat on her own bed surrounded by her luggage, Arlana seated beside her.
"I want to take Aziel tonight. I have been thinking that I might regret it if I don't - it is important to pay his final respects even if he doesn't fully understand what is happening or may not remember," Arlana shared her decision.
Lachlan nodded in agreement.
Adelaide never contacted them nor made any effort to meet up, although Arlana glanced at her cell phone frequently. With just an hour left before the second wake would begin, the two women got ready to go.
"I'll stay here," Lachlan stood, his luggage already in his room, "I have some work to do anyway while you are gone."
****
"TONIGHT SHOULD BE BETTER," Arlana squeezed her baby sister's hand as they approached the funeral home. "At least everyone knows you are here now."
Jaira nodded but was silent. She was focused on Aziel and hoped his presence would be a welcome relief as people normally focus on a child. Her story of betrayal having been told, all she wanted to do was cling to any available wall.
Nothing is ever that simple.
The sisters hadn't realized they were the first to arrive and the adjacent room containing their grandfather's coffin was not yet open. Apparently, they needed to wait for Aunt Samantha's arrival as the power of attorney.
Adelaide's pastor arrived next. Pastor Cookes. Arlana greeted him politely, remembering all too well the first night of meetings at the mission only a few months ago. She had known him years ago before that night's service and still, the brief conversation was extremely strained.
He focused on Jaira, asking her about Quebec and the churches there confessing that he hoped to open a church in that province shortly. Would she talk to her neighbours and see if they were interested in starting a home church?
Jaira scowled, shrugging her shoulders.
Jaira continued to roll her eyes, answering him in short sentences. He didn't pick up on the hint she would rather do anything but speak to him.
"Where is Adelaide?" He questioned.
"How would I know?" Jaira snapped minutes before he pulled a phone out of his breast pocket and texted their sister.
"How soon will they get here?" He asked again, not getting the hint. He paced by the door, a musky cologne wafting in his wake, before pausing just long enough to say, "Who is he?" as he gestured toward one of their many uncles.
"My uncle," came Jaira's terse reply.
For some reason, he had set his focus on Jaira and there was no escaping him.
Arlana led her son to the guest book where she signed her name. Aziel signed below, his letters were large and awkward.
An elderly lady standing behind them smiled, "That is precious."
Aunt Roseann soon arrived, joining her niece, "I talked with your uncle and told him what we discussed this morning. We'd like to have you come to the house tonight. I just don't want Adelaide finding out - she isn't invited."
"No worries. I won't breathe a word."
At that moment Adelaide entered the room, accompanied by her husband. Their brothers weren't there, Arlana assuming they were babysitting Adelaide's children.
Arlana made up her mind to be the bigger person and approached her sister, speaking softly.
"I'm really sorry about what happened this afternoon and hope you will forgive me."
Adelaine nodded, returning her hug although her husband remained silent.
All forgiven, Adelaide turned, introducing her pastor to the relatives she knew. Gavin didn't say a word as he followed his wife and pastor around the room.
"What is this guy's problem? What is he even doing here?" Uncle Jasper muttered under his breath, leaving the room before he could be targeted.
Gavin offered to take Aziel to see his great grandfather laying in the coffin. Arlana had been against the idea but wasn't sure if she was making the right decision. Would he need this as closure later?
Adelaide spoke up, "I brought the kids up to the casket this morning. Just for a few minutes."
"Oh okay," Arlana sighed, joining them.
Rivkah had told her that Jews don't look upon the dead. It is seen as rude to look upon someone who can no longer look back. She glanced down upon the waxy, yellowed figure, at a loss for words.
Turning to her son in Gavin's arms she murmured, "That's Great Grandpa. Remember him at the hospital? He is in Heaven now," although she wasn't so sure, remembering her grandfather's dream in the hospital and how he had said he didn't want to go to Heaven if he couldn't be an angel, wings and all.
Her grandfather had never spoken to her of the Lord or even as much as told her a Bible story. Thinking back, he had never talked with her much at all throughout her entire life. Perhaps that is why her eyes were painfully dry.
"Okay, I think that is good enough," Gavin stepped away from the casket, walking toward the large framed pictures depicting Grandpa's life when he was young up to the present.
Adelaide stood at her husband's side, weeping softly. Placing an arm around her shoulders, he set Aziel down who, like a homing pigeon, gravitated immediately to his mother's lap.
Gavin and Adelaide didn't stay long, leaving with a wave. Arlana stood to say goodbye motioning for Jaira to acknowledge their sister. Jaira turned dramatically, facing the wall.
"What is going on between you and Adelaide?" Pastor Cookes, still mingling among the grieving, picked upon the palpable tension between the siblings.
"Talk to Adelaide about it!" Jaira snapped.
A moment later the pastor, Gavin and Adelaide disappeared into the night.