Still In

IX

2 weeks later...

Omniscient

The day of Olivia's funeral was today. The church wasn't full. Olivia didn't have much friends or family. The front row consisted of Tyrell, Tariq, Tanya, and Raymond. Nobody wanted him there but he was Olivia's brother. He had the right to be there. Behind the immediate family were Dave, the kids, Kianna, Sean, Rashad, Randy, Leslie, Angela, and Greg. Tanya still wasn't a fan of Bianca nor Carrie so they weren't invited.

The three Wilson kids all dealt with the death differently over the last two weeks. Tariq had gone into a fit of rage. When he got home that night, he began breaking any and everything in his path.

Tyrell turned to the bottle. If it had even an ounce of alcohol in it, he drunk it.

Tanya basically cut everybody off. She stayed to herself. She didn't speak to anybody not even the people she lived with. She wasn't eating and she barely slept. Yesterday was the first time Dave had gotten her to leave the room.

One thing the three had in common: their lack of communication. They didn't check on each other. They had no idea what the others were doing to cope. They hadn't spoken since that night. They were in their own world of pain.

To Tanya, the funeral seemed to fly by. She wasn't even paying attention. She was zoned out just as she was 2 weeks ago. When the funeral ended, everybody left a rose on the closed casket and left out the church. Tanya was the last one to leave out. The immediate family got into the limo that Dave paid for and everybody rode to Angela's house where Cassie was preparing food.

The limo ride was quiet. Nobody acknowledged each other. It was like they were all there by themselves. When they got to the house, they got out and went inside. Cassie had finished cooking and set everything up on the dining room table. Everybody sat and mingled except for the Wilsons which was expected. Dave took out food for Daniel, Tanya, and himself. Tanya didn't eat though. She just stared at the food.

Tariq ate and just stayed silent. Tyrell only ate to have something on his stomach when it was time to drown his sorrows. The scene hurt everyone. Nobody said anything though. Nobody except for Daniel. He got up from his seat and repeatedly tapped Tanya. She was pulled from her alternate universe and brought back to Earth. She looked down at Daniel and picked him up for the first time since that night and sat him on her lap. He picked up a piece of chicken from her plate and held it up to her mouth.

She smiled. Dave smiled. He missed seeing her smile. She took a bite of the chicken which put a smile on Dave's face. He'd spent so long trying to get her to eat even a grain of rice. Daniel laughed and proceeded to feed who he considered to be his mom. After awhile, Tanya started feeding Daniel. When the food was finished, she wiped her hands and mouth along with Daniel's.

"Thank you baby." She said.

Words. She was getting better. Dave started to get emotional but he kept it together. Kianna got so excited that she stood up and threw her arms around her bestfriend.

"I missed hearing your voice." She said, wiping her tears.

"I'm sorry." Tanya mumbled.

"It's okay."

The rest of the meal, Tanya talked to everyone except for her Uncle. Her brothers still weren't talking though but she figured they would in due time. She spent time playing with the kids and studying her siblings. They had changed. When the kids fell asleep, she went outside to Ty and took the cup that contained maybe his fifth drink for the day.