Set against the backdrop of the 2020 Covid-19 outbreak, a young woman, Gravely Eaton, is stuck working at the family funeral home with a father she hates. The world is dying around her, but there seems no escape from her boring life with no friend...
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The next day, both of us were on edge about the damage done to the apartment and father's nefarious work across the street. How long had he been hiding out there? Did he watch Healy and me come and go, maybe look in through our windows? Father's motive for trashing our home was obvious. He wanted to torment me, just as he did in life. Maybe by wrecking our personal space, he thought he could rattle Healy into leaving. Most guys would've taken a hike at the mere hint of an attack by the living dead. But, like me in the beginning, father had underestimated my boyfriend.
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While Healy did the dishes, I sat on the sofa and called Justin to make sure there were no complications from the crack on his head. His wife Indira answered and she was none too happy to hear from me. Before I could get a word in edgewise, she laid into me for getting her husband into so much trouble. She pointed out, they were still making payments against the new iPhone stolen from Justin. In another angry breath, she told me family videos and photos were on the device, and those memories were lost forever because of me. I offered to buy a new one, but there was no defending myself, and I completely understood her venting. After all, her family's breadwinner was nearly killed. At the very least, he'd be off his feet for a few days. No Uber, no taxi, no money.
Healy could hear Indira's loud voice shouting over the phone. I cringed, on the verge of tears, with each of her bellows. Some of her lambasting was in Hindi, but it stung all the same. Sometimes it doesn't matter what language is yelled at you. You just know they're pissed off. Healy walked over to me and did something I couldn't do. Stone-faced, he pried the phone from my trembling hand and pushed the END button. I half expected Justin's wife to call back and continue her rant, but she didn't. I wouldn't have blamed her. She screamed "Sali Kutti" again and again. I looked it up. It's Hindi for "stupid bitch". My father used to call me that, but it hurt more coming from the wife of a friend.
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