the team was sat with jayden family, not that there was many of them. there were 3 grandparents, 2 cousins, one aunt, jayden and, her mom. to say it was a small family would be an understatement.
olivia was sat next to jayden, an arm slung around her as tears fell lightly down her cheeks. on the other side of the girl was her cousin, maddy. their hands were interlocked, silently comforting each other.
despite the small family, the were still many people there. her dad was a good person. he knew everybody.
jayden didn't process anything that was going on. everything said to her went through one ear and out the other. she didn't hear any of the the speeches. she didn't hear any of the condolences or sorrys. she just sat there.
after everybody had said what they wanted, jaydens mom was knelt down in front of her, "baby, its your turn."
the girl slowly stood up without saying anything, pulling a piece of notebook paper out of her pocket. it was written in a messy cursive which she hadn't used since her dad taught her when she was nine.
the walk up to the front was the weirdest moment of her life. her ears were ringing and her hands were shaking. her black cork wedges made it harder for her to walk and her dress was so itchy.
when she reached the front of the church, she unfolded her paper and began to read.
"my dad has been such a huge part of my life since i was a child. i don't remember a lot from when i was that little, but i do remember how he used to bring me to work with him." she sniffled, "he would always get me a donut on the way there, and we would promise not to tell my mom because it wasn't healthy. sorry mom, i never told you about that until now." she could see a smile smile form at the corner of her moms lips as she let out a light laugh.
"eventually, i knew all of the people that he worked with. most of them are in this room right now. i had even gotten a nickname by his coworkers. as i got older that eventually stopped because i had school, but he would still bring me a donut home every saturday. when i was fourteen, i found out that it took him an extra half-hour to get home because he was doing this. he went out of his way to make everybody happy, even if it was inconvenient for him. i think this just shows how much he cared, even towards the end of his life," her voice broke with the last words, tears streaming down her face. "he was such a good person, he didn't have a selfish bone in his body."
"i didn't think he would go so soon, because he was a good man. when i got the call that my dad had died, it was from the nice lady at the hospital." she stumbled over her words, her voice trembling. "i remember getting so mad at her, even though it was not her fault. i yelled that she was lying to me, because i couldn't believe it and i hung up the phone. when my mom called me minutes later asking if i was on my way, i didn't say anything. i just sat on the floor and cried, because it was true."
jayden brushed off the microphone, "my father was such a huge part of my life, i didn't know what to do without him. when i found out, it was like something was missing from my heart, and he was. i don't think i can ever forgive him for that, because he left us," she sobbed out in an angry tone, "i don't know why he would do that to us."
her mother instantly rushed over and grabbed her shoulders, whispering to her as she walked her away from the front and to her seat. there was not a person in that room that didn't have tears on their face.
jayden glanced over at nika, their teary eyes meeting for a split second before the girl broke it.
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