A Gangster's Daughter ✔

Chapter 6: Funerals are for mourning

I stood before the casket. Thank God it was closed. Even if he had been able to have an open casket, I don't think I could have handled it.

At my mother's funeral, I may have only been ten, but I could not bring myself to look at her, I could not bring myself to approach the casket. The thought that my mother was in there scared me more than the idea of her being dead.

"Are you alright?" Aaron asked as he came over and set a hand on my shoulder. I nodded as I continued to stare at the picture of my father and my mother that was placed on top of the casket lid. It was right before my mother died; they had been so in love, so happy, everything had been happy then.

Then again, maybe that was just the ignorant memories of a child.

"How are you both doing?" asked calm, raspy voice, one that I knew only from those sweet childhood memories of mine.

"Aunt Jenny," Aaron greeted, leaning in to hug her. I attempted to smile softly at the dark haired woman. She may have been my father's sister, but she looked nothing like him, with her mane of dark curls that rivaled my father's sandy color that had gone white years ago.

Her eyes were red and puffy. Part of me was slightly confused as to why she was as distraught as she was. She leaned in for a hug and I let her. I may not have seen her in ten years, but she was still my aunt.

She must have known something was up because she didn't say anything to me. She just silently stood on the other side of Aaron and watched as people began to arrive.

I watched as the people came in, part of my wondered which of the people were in on his "secret work". Each person looked just like the others, dressed in nice suits with perfect ties and shiny shoes.

I spotted Gage standing near the door; he stuck out like a sore thumb dressed in just a blue dress shirt and black slacks, his tie loose and the top bottom undone. He watched as each person that came in the door.

A few women stood to the side watching him, one of them tried to catch his attention by walking past but all they got was a glance. Gage was in work mode, a side of Gage I hadn't seen since he and Aaron graduated.

People began coming over to us, giving their condolences and smiling pitifully. I tried to be nice, the nice my father would have wanted me to be. But after all that had happened, I couldn't bring myself to really feel like it, so I tried to fake it.

The room grew still as everyone grew quiet. Eyes turned towards the door one after another. Standing before the door were two men, neither of them I had seen before, they sternly looked over the crowned, drawing much of the attention to them. My eyes scanned them over before noticing that Gage wasn't looking at them like most of the others, he was speaking to a tall dark skinned man who was the last person I thought would ever be here.