Studying The Star Crossed Lovers

❧Chapter 7☙

Come not between the dragon and his wrath.

❦❦❦

"How dare you? My nephew has died and you come to rub it in. To brag about your victory. I will fucking kill you." Shouted Mr. Whiting as he held a gun to Mr. Dancy's head. Claire stood frozen at the podium while many people who had attended the funeral had guns pulled on the Dancy family. 

The majority of Justin's gang had guns pulled on the Dancy family. They moved out of their seats to stand behind Micheal showing their clear support. Now at least 15 guns were pulled on the Dancy family. 

A member of the Dancy gang went to pull out their gun. Noticing the movements many of the guns began to point at the member. Mr. Dancy put his hand on the member's chest causing him to stop reaching for the gun.

"No Vincent we are not going to pull a gun out at a funeral." Said Mr. Dancy and Vincent put his hands down and away from his gun. 

"Sorry, sir." 

Claire felt sick. She wanted to shove a blindfold on and block out the view of an entire church dressed in black, screaming at each other. How dare they? Not just the Dancy family but her own that were turning Justin's funeral into one of their spectacles. 

Even if they were making the Dancy family look bad they didn't make the Whitings look any better. Claire looked across the room to her Aunt sitting in the front pew not giving them any attention. 

Claire wanted to be like her Aunt. She wanted to only give Justin her attention on such a day. 

She looked down at the closed casket and reached out to lay one of her manicured hands on it. Justin would have loved this. All the drama, all the attention. The whole gang joining together to fuck up the Dancys. It would be Justin's dream. 

That didn't make it okay though. That didn't make it right. As far as Claire was concerned Justin deserved all eyes on him. He deserved the attention. This would be all anyone remembered of Justin's funeral. 

They wouldn't think about who Justin was. They wouldn't remember him fondly. Everyone's energy would be focused on hating the Dancy family. 

All of a sudden a black louboutin was flying through the air. Claire didn't take notice of who she hit but all of a sudden all eyes were on her. 

"Sit down." No one moved. "Sit down all of you right now." Shouted Claire and still the room was silent. 

Claire marched over to one of the younger members in Justin's gang and she snatched the gun out of his hand. She cocked the gun and pointed it forwards with a finger ready to pull the trigger. 

Claire had known how to shoot a gun since she was a little girl. It was still frightening though for the hardened criminals to see a girl holding a loaded gun, tears streaming down her face. She didn't care who she pointed the gun at, even her own family. 

The gang members had a moral code that they lived by. Watching a young girl though that seemed to have nothing to lose. A girl that was distraught. She would shoot without conscious if someone tested her. That is what grief did to people. 

"Sit the fuck down." Snapped Claire and the people around her quickly moved to fill the pews. The Dancy family stood in front of her now, no one obstructing them. 

"If you are here to mourn my cousin's death then you can take a seat. If you are here to gloat and celebrate that you have won a battle in this stupid fucking game you play then you have three seconds to get out before I shoot you." 

The Dancy family quickly sat down, not willing to test the girl. Claire turned away and she walked back up to the stay in a church full of people shocked into silence. 

"We are here to mourn my cousin. We are here to celebrate his life and the person he was. He wasn't just a part of your stupid mafia. He was a man. He had a life outside of that." Shouted Claire at the front of the church. 

She hadn't realized she had been crying until her Aunt had to lead her back to a seat as her tears had blurred her vision. Claire curled up into her Aunt's side and stayed with her head buried in her Aunt's shoulder for the rest of the funeral. 

After the funeral, finished people trickled outside for snacks and drinks but Claire stayed in the church. Justin's coffin had been taken away with Claire's aunt but Claire couldn't bear to go. She couldn't see her cousin's body go up in flames. 

Instead, Claire sat alone in the church. She had stopped crying but she still couldn't bring herself to move and face the people. 

"He would have been proud of you." Said one of Justin's closest friends, Hugo. 

"What?" Said Claire as she turned to see Hugo standing down the aisle of the church. 

"He would have been proud of you. When you grabbed the gun and commanded everyone. He would have fucking adored that." 

"He always loved a scene. Storming into places and firing his gun in the air to get everyone's attention."

"He loved you, you know? There was no one he loved more in this world. Even though all the shit he did he was still scared that you would disapprove of something. That you would decide he was evil one day."

"I think he was the first person to ever actually love me." Cried Claire and Hugo went to sit next to her. "I thought I would always have him. Now there is no one. I just have Annie." 

For most of the party that followed the funeral, Claire sat there with Hugo. When Claire was dragged by her Mother into the party she was miserable. She stayed on the outskirts of the party and for once people were to afraid to demand her attention. 

Claire was left alone to mourn. She was glad.