Good Girl Gone Bad

~29~

Declan

"Violet Davis was an amazing woman. She had two beautiful sons and a hardworking husband."

My mother is dead. She's gone. Forever.

Georgie is sitting on my left. Mani is on my right. Harlow is sitting next to Georgie. Nobody else is here.

It's just me and my brother. Then, two girls, we met six months ago.

"She was devoted to her work and her family. Her love for animals and all things living was immense."

It's just us four kids. With this random guy giving the speech. Some assistant dad has probably written it.

My mom is dead.

The grass is so green that it looks fake. The stupid brown wooden box. The six-foot-deep hole in the ground looks way deeper from up close.

Nobody says anything as the strange man cranks the stupid brown box into the ground. Nobody moves. Nobody cries. Nobody makes a sound. Silence. Absolute silence swallows the cemetery whole.

***

Those had to be the worst thirty minutes of my life.

"I'm going to the bathroom. I'll be right back." I say to no one in particular. I think Harlow heard me. I walk right past the bathroom, to the parking lot, get into my car, and disappear from the horrible cemetery.

Mani

"Hey princess, have you seen Declan?" Georgie asks. His eyes look more tired than usual. "No I haven't but I can call him or help you look for him" I give him a small smile. "Yea thanks" he smiled back. I call and he declines on the first ring. I left a voicemail. "Hey it's Mani, just wanted to know where you went. Are you okay? We're getting kinda worried. We might head to your house so you should meet us there. Bye."

I wait a little but he doesn't call back. I even checked the mens bathroom which I will never be doing again. Then I got the idea to check the parking lot. His car is gone. Where did that boy go? "Georgie, can I borrow your car? I think I know where he went." "How am I supposed to get Har home?" "I'll order an Uber for you," I say. "Fine" he tosses me the keys.

***

"Declan, Are you in here?" I ask into the air. My words echo in the empty stadium. I hear a small cough echo off the stage. He's sitting in the center of the stage with a lit cigarette between his fingers. I stand there silently behind him. He slowly brings the fiery stick to his lips. He blows the smoke into the air in front of him. "What the actual hell?" I say to him. He quickly turns his head to look at me. "Hey bug, it's not what it looks like. I swear." He ran his hand through his hair. "What do you mean it's not what it looks like? It looks like you're running away from your problems and smoking a cigarette." I cross my arms.

"Okay it's what it looks like. But I'm not doing anything wrong" he scratched the back of his head. "That just depends on who you ask and you know that. Ask me. Ask me what I think." "Do you think I'm doing something wrong?" he looks away from me. He looks embarrassed. "I think it's unattractive. I think that it's horrible for you. I think that it could kill you one day. I think it's disease in a stick. I think you should never smoke it again. Now let me ask you something. How many times?" I let out a sigh. "Five."

I turn around and practically run out of the stadium. I get into Georgie's car. Does he know? For how long? When? Why? Five.

Halfway home I realize. I'm driving home. Alone. For the first time ever. Warm tears began to quickly fall down my cheeks. I wipe them away and press the accelerator. Then slow down again. I don't like fast driving.