Traveling Vivian

Chapter SixtySeven - CHICAGO

I buried Calvin's body in the grounds of the cemetary. Linlee held Ella as I watched his coffin being settled in earth. My heart froze when I saw it. Was it all my fault? I closed my eyes and tried to imagine what and how life would be like if he was alive. Would we make things better? Would Calvin still love me? My heart dropped when I remembered his words."I will always love Ella but I will no longer love you!"

The words hit me like a ray of lightning. I wished there was something I could have said to stop him from this. But he was gone. He was no longer going to be there when I woke up in the morning or when Ella needed a feeding or changing. He wasn't going to be there to see Ella grow up into a beautiful toddler or anything. Most of all, he left me here alone. Now it was going to be me and how to survive without his support.

The mourners dispersed as the priest said his last goodbye. I turned away from Calvin's grave and looked at Ella. Aunt Patty held Ella in her arms as she cried. She rocked Ella as Ella laid in her arms, ignorant of the world around her. The peaceful serendity that Ella had made me jealous. Sometimes I had that peace. I wiped my tears and went to Aunt Patty. I grabbed Ella from her and kissed Ella's big forehead. She was Phil's baby but she will never know any of her fathers. I gulped a breath and turned to Aunt Patty's crying eyes filled with sorrow and confusion.

"Vivian. Oh my sweet Vivian! You're welcome with us anytime!" Aunt Patty said as she squeezed my wet cheeks.

I looked away at nodded. "Thank you. But I think we will be alright for now. Calvin left us some money. It's a pity he decided to leave us."

Mia came running down the hill and cried out. "My brother! My big brother!!!! What did you do, you skank!?!"

"Skank? Don't you dare call me names!" I hissed/

Hilda, Calvin's older sister, went to Mia's side and held her. She whispered something to her as Mia growled. She looked at me and then turned away.

"Be nice, Mia. This is your sister-in-law. Even though, Calvin is gone. You will always be her sister. And she has a baby with him. Ella!" Hilda exclaimed loudly.

I turned to Mia who snarled. "That's right. I will always be family."

"I don't regard you as my sister after Calvin!" Mia yelled.

"Oh shushes! It is his funeral. Enough bickering." I cried out.

"Vivian, we have a funeral event we planned for him. If you want, you can come to it. We hired a catering company to serve dinner." Uncle Tom said to me as he fidgeted in his pocket for his keys.

"Thanks. But I've decided to pack all our stuff. We are going to move away from this town. I am thinking of moving to the city like Chicago." I whispered.

Aunt Patty shook and stood up. "Why?"

"I have a job offer there. I'll be a manager at the marketing firm. I figure it will be a good job after Calvin." I said. That was a lie. I needed to move out from this town. Phil, Calvin, the school and Linlee's sugar daddy all lived here, well, everything was here. The memories were painful and I wanted to leave. I needed a new change.

"Well please bring Ella over for Christmas then?" Aunt Patty asked.

I smiled and nodded.

We parted our goodbyes and though it was quite strange to still consider them family, they were persistent I called them that. Ella was not even biologically related to them but they called her as their grandchild or their neice. I figured Mia knew about Ella because she kept gasping when they said they were going to write another check. If anything, Calvin must have texted her before he killed himself.