“Melanie didn’t deserve to die like that, and I hate that my niece paid the price for something her father did thirty years ago. I can’timaginethe guilt he’s feeling. But you? You’re better than this, Jenna. You haven’t even asked once how Ollie is doing, or Aaron. You’re missing your husband? Well, your kids are missing their mother. Tomorrow’s the viewing, and then we have the funeral the next day. You have until then to get your shit together.” She leaned over Jenna and kissed her forehead. “I love you. Saying ‘I’m sorry’ solves nothing, but it’s the only word the English language offers us at times like this. Just remember, you’re not alone and it’s okay to lean on us as much as you need. It’s why we’re here.”
The viewing was heldat the funeral home across the street from their church. It was a testament to how much Melanie was loved in their small town by the crowd that appeared. In addition to her mother and father, three brothers, one sister-in-law, one nephew, one bio aunt, eighteen club uncles, eleven club aunts, sixteen club cousins, and one cousin-in-law, most of the town came. Carlos and Zoe attended as family while the town’sdeputies were on crowd control. Poison and the remainder ofNon Crasstood with the VDMC in full colors. Every teacher from kindergarten through high school showed, as did the town’s mayor, most of the town council, Mabel from the bakery, Tony from the pizzeria, Kelly from the diner, Pastor Melrose from their church and congregation members, Mr. and Mrs. Gaunt from the upholstery store, all the non-member employees from the club’s various businesses, every fireman from the firehouse, and a large group of college students also attended. It was standing room only less than a half hour into the two-hour viewing with a line to see the casket out the door.
A screen on the wall showed picture after picture of Melanie’s life. From the time she was born to learning to walk to her father teaching her to ride her first bike to her first day of preschool… Her attempt at cheerleading before she accepted she couldn’t dance any better than her mother and her brothers’ soccer games, to the bake sales and helping out at church events, science fairs and Girl Scout events, field trips, and running into her father’s arms at a variety of airports… Then the big move to Mount Grove. Pictures at Carter’s high school and college graduations, Jordan’s high school graduation and his first concert, Ollie and Melanie dressed like elves when they’d been ushers at the church’s Christmas services… College pictures donated by her friends and roommate.
It was all a blur. It didn’t seem real. How could it be real?
When the funeral home director approached them to say it was time, the clubs started to help clear out the room so only family was left behind. Ollie offered to go too, but Lilly held his hand and told him to stay.
Jordan went first. He approached the casket where his little sister lay. Bending, he kissed her cheek and whispered something into her ear. Then he returned to the family to take Drew so Lucy and Carter could have their moment.
Lucy already had a pack of tissues out, wiping her eyes as they approached. Carter reached inside to touch a lock of his little sister’s hair. They whispered their goodbyes before joining Jordan and Drew by the door.
Ollie, unsteady on his new crutches, hobbled up to the casket. He nearly knocked the flower wreath on a tripod over, but managed to catch himself and the flowers. He didn’t say anything that his audience knew of, just stared down at the woman who had been his sister for such a short amount of time. Finally, he turned and headed towards his older brothers.
The four of them left out the front doors, Lucy still dabbing her eyes.
Lilly touched a hand to one of Jenna’s and Steel’s shoulders before walking up to the casket. She patted her niece’s hand, kissed her forehead, and said her goodbyes. Then she followed her nephews out the door.
Jenna and Steel continued to sit. Since Jenna was unable to walk at present due to her flare-up, she was in her wheelchair. Upon entering the viewing room, Steel had placed a chair next to her and sat himself down. They barely said two words to each other, barely touched. They both sat in silence, staring at the open casket of their daughter, as people had paid their respects and said their last goodbyes. They had been two amongst many in that crowded little room, but they might as well have been there on their own.
Now they were, and it felt no different. Watching the number of people who showed love to their daughter had not brought her back. Seeing all the photos and the memories had only driven home that there would be no new pictures taken, no new memories to be had. There would be nothing but an empty void in their lives where their vibrant, courageous, beautiful daughter had been.
Eventually, Steel stood. Without saying a word, he bent and picked up Jenna from her wheelchair. She did not reach for him or lean on him as he carried her to their daughter. Placing her on her feet, Steel kept a tight hold around her middle to support her so she could stand.
Jenna’s entire body trembled, but that could have been her flare-up or her grief. Likely a lot of both. Her grip on the edge of the casket was tight, like she wanted to hold on with all her strength and never let go. Tears continued to flow down her cheeks, a steady stream with no end in sight.
“I can’t do it.” Her voice was wet and shaky. “How am I supposed to say goodbye?”
Steel leaned forward, his forehead barely resting against the back of her head. “I don’t know.” His voice was cold, distant.
“I hate you a little bit right now.”
He nodded. “I hate me, too.”
“You left me alone.” Jenna reached forward and cupped the side of Melanie’s face. “You’re going to leave me again, aren’t you?”
Steel straightened. He adjusted his right arm around her waist to reach forward into the casket to cover Jenna’s hand over their daughter’s cold cheek. “Yes.”
“How long?”
“As long as it takes.”
Jenna never looked back at him. She didn’t tell him to be careful or that murder was wrong. She didn’t tell him to let the police handle it or beg him to stay with her. She just nodded her head once. “Make him suffer.”
The church wasold with peeling paint, fading carpeting, and chipped wooden pews, but the structure was sound. Recent fundraising had gotten them an updated PA system and a web camera so people who were unable to attend services could still worship. Several of the bibles and hymnals in the pew shelves were donated by the Duncan family.
Melanie’s picture and closed coffin were positioned on the dais with a funeral wreath and a casket spray.
Some who attended the viewing were not present and some who couldn’t make the viewing were now in attendance. The first several pews were reserved for family, first with the eight Duncans, thenVia Daemonia, and thenNon Cras. The seating area was divided into three sections with two aisles. Several of the ol’ ladies sat in the back so they could leave inconspicuously if their babies started to fuss. The other club kids sat with their families. Spot and Aerial were also in attendance. Lucky had to quiet Scotty when he wouldn’t stop asking when Melanie was going to wake up. Cassie had been unable to get herself out of her home to see the viewing, but she was fighting tooth and nail to be here for her cousin now.
After the sermon, hymns, and prayers, Jordan stepped up to the podium. His was the second eulogy, the first given by Melanie’s Aunt Lilly.
“Well,” he started out, “this just sucks. I hate the fact that I’m here, that all of us are here. I stayed up all night just trying to figure out what to say. How am I supposed to stand here and tell you how great my sister was when all of you already know it? You’re here because you knew her, and you loved her.” He held up a stack of notecards. “I jotted down all this information about Melanie, but to be honest, that just makes all of this even worse. I don’t want my sister’s life to be summed up to the bullet points of a eulogy.” He tucked the cards in the inside pocket of his suit jacket. “So I’m just going to talk, and we’ll see how this goes.”
Jordan took a deep breath, his shoulders rising and falling heavily. “For as long as I can remember, my parents have claimed that I acted so much like a middle child that they had to make me one. I have always been the problem child in the family. Mom blames every one of her gray hairs on me. I was the only one of the three of us—now four,” he indicated to Ollie, “to get grounded as kids. I wasn’t exactly the most well behaved of children either. I stole, I cheated, and I didn’t care too much about school. After all, why did I need to learn history when I was going to become a famous rock star?” He paused after the rhetorical question as the audience chuckled lightly. “I get it now, what my parents said. It wasn’t the fact that Melanie’s birth changed who I was or defined me as a middle child. It was that having her in my life made me who I am today, made me a better man.
“As far as little sisters go, I guess Carter and I could have gotten worse. Melanie was always in her own little world of books. We were awful to her at times, picking on her as big brothers do. I remember the first time Dad saw us. I think Melanie was five or six, and Dad came back for a quick R-and-R weekend. Mom would scold our behavior when she saw it, but it was nothing compared to Dad’s reaction. Carter and I thought he was going to whoop our asses. Instead, he sat Carter and me down and explained that we were ‘men’ and we were never to treat a woman like that, sister or no. Said that we were her last line of protection and it was our job to ensure that she had our love and support, always. That she knew she could come to us for anything, and we would never turn her away. That if something happened to him, or even Mom, that we would be there for her, no matter what.
