Life after Death: The Afterlife of Hezekiah Chamblee

Chapter Nineteen: Final Goodbyes and Broken Family Bonds

Third-Person POV

Morgan-Zeller Memorial Chapel & Cremation, fourteen days after Hezekiah's death...

The day of Hezekiah's memorial service had finally arrived as the family had organized for a small event consisting of limited guests (immediate family, Jana Sulzbach who was Cameron's plus one, Andrew Coleman and his family, and a restricted number of people from various social circles). Hezekiah's remains were cremated and placed in a simple urn as there were no flower arrangements.

Everyone in attendance wore black for the occasion, howbeit with designer labels ranging from Tom Ford and Christian Siriano to Kenneth Cole and Versace. And of course, the local media were kept outside from tarnishing the time of mourning for the Chamblee family.

The service itself was done perfectly according to plan made by Adelle and Jeffrey. The singing of "Battle Hymn of the Republic" was done by one of Leigh-Anne's friends (a soloist from St. Angus Catholic Church) while Cameron read a poem by Tennyson. The priest read various scriptures about life and death while condemning those who had committed suicide and mourned for the boy who had potential yet saw himself as too broken for the family.

And then came the eulogy from Jeffrey and Adelle Chamblee themselves as the matriarch wore a simple charcoal Chanel pantsuit with matching hat while her husband wore a black Bill Blass suit. "Hezekiah was a young man who never really got with the times," the former began. "Of course, he did right by this family and was very respectful, but it seemed like he wasn't a true member of the family. I often wondered if he thought that he wasn't enough."

"And I wonder why he thought that," Senator Coleman said sotto voce to his wife.

Andrew glared at his parents and shushed them.

"The day he came into this world, my wife and I saw that there was too much tragedy and seriousness in his innocent eyes," Jeffrey said. "I often felt like he was too grown-up to be a kid."

Oh, please, Cameron thought dourly, fighting the urge to roll his eyes. If that's a way to make a joke, then I'm Rodney Dangerfield in a pre-teen's body.

"Still, my wife and our other children never truly bonded with Hezekiah as he was too much of a wallflower to be sociable," Jeffrey continued. "No one got the chance to know the REAL him as he kept himself behind a wall. He must've had some demons that he wanted to keep out of the spotlight so we wouldn't worry about him. But we did worry about him because he felt like had a lot to live up to, especially our family's values that we strive to maintain. I guess the pressure got too much for him and he gave up too easily since he offed himself after his high school graduation."

Adelle motioned for the other children to join her and Jeffrey to the front of the chapel. "Today, my family and I stand as one to mourn the loss of Hezekiah and remind ourselves that we can be strong in the time of grief," she said as a stray tear left her eye. "We will miss him, but he would want everyone to move on. It'll be hard at times, but I know that we did all we could to make him feel like a part of our family."

"That's a lie. That's a dirty rotten lie. All you did was make him feel useless and worthless."

Gasps echoed through the small chapel of the funeral home as Michael Coleman stood to his feet with his wife following suit. "Dad, this is not the time for you to rant and rave," Andrew hissed. "Sit down right now. You're embarrassing me and yourself!"

Michael sneered at his son. "You still want to keep up appearances and align yourself with this family of vipers?" he spat. "I can't believe you."

"Father, this can wait until we're at the privacy of our home," Andrew said sternly, narrowing his eyes in silts. "Now, sit down!"