Guns and Mirrors

FORTY-FOUR

♛Cameron Dawson ♛

Music streams from the radio that's on the desk which has numerous tools scattered along it and I hum along to the song from Ricky Martin. However, when I see boots beside me from where I'm underneath the car, I pull myself out. Following the boots up to the face of who owns them, I'm not surprised to see Katalina next to me. However, I am a little surprised to see how drained she looks.

Her hair is thrown haphazardly into a bun and her face is completely bare, showing the bags under her eyes. Pushing myself up onto my feet, I gingerly place my hands on each arm and look at her.

"Hey, are you alright?" I ask, looking between both her eyes. Katalina nods, although her smile is nowhere near as genuine as I'm sure she was hoping it to be. It's then that I notice that she's carrying a bouquet of flowers in one hand.

"Could you come somewhere with me?" She asks then. "I know you're busy but I'd really appreciate it."

"Yeah. Sure. Of course." I reply, wiping my hands down on a cloth before pulling on my jacket given the fact that today is much colder than it has been since I got here.

"Do you mind driving?"

"No, it's alright. Climb in." I say, offering a smile as I unlock the doors. She slides into the passenger seat and I slip into mine, putting the key in the ignition.

"Where are we going?" I ask as I back out of the lot and head to the gate, guards opening for us.

"I'll direct you." She replies and I nod, finding her behavior so strange and unnerving. It's weird to not see Katalina burning with this intense passion and cracking jokes and having a twinkle in her eye. It's worrying.

We don't talk the whole drive aside from her giving me directions. I listen intently, traveling further into the suburban areas until eventually we pull up to a small cemetery and it's then that I realise why Katalina has flowers. I park outside of the small picket fence and turn to Lina. She's staring straight ahead, her face void of any emotion.

"Would you like me to stay in the car?" I ask softly and she shakes her head, looking down at the bouquet and playing with the wrapping around it.

"No. I'd prefer if you came in with me if that's okay with you." She glances at me then in questioning and I nod, switching the car off and waiting for her to make the first move to get out. Whoever she is grieving for right now, I don't want to rush her. After a few moments of silence, she opens the door and I follow after, trailing behind her as she walks along the cobble pathway. It's so eery seeing all the gravestones.

One of the first things that should have thrown me off is the fact that Katalina is also wearing a grey dress which is the first time I've seen her in something other than shorts or jeans. Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I follow her as she moves onto the grass, weaving between various graves. That is until she eventually slows down, pausing in front of and between two tombstones.

I read it then:

Maria Morales
A kind woman, a loving wife and a nurturing mother

And

Ruardo Morales
A talented man, a great husband and an understanding father

Even though I knew Katalina and Ramiro's parents were here when they died, I thought they would be buried in Mexico for some reason but this makes sense because Katalina and her brother can at least visit them.

"It's my dad's birthday today." Katalina says, snapping me out of my thoughts. Her voice is strong, holiding a numb kind of conviction to it. "He would have been forty-eight."