The funeral the next afternoon was short and soppy. There were many tears shed that day and after everyone who wanted to come up to the altar to speak had, every member in the church's eyes were puffy-red. Well, almost every member that is.
Ody Winter sat in the front row, staring at every man, woman, and child who rose to speak. He was astonished at the number of people who sat in the pews and how many he didn't even recognize.
As he rested there and observed the people come up to talk about what a great person his father had been, no one noticed the pair of earbuds Ody had turned up to volume 3. Everyone else was too busy listening to the speakers and balling their eyes out. They refused to acknowledge the deceased man's own son. The same son who sat in the front row, doing his best to block out the noise so that he wouldn't cry.
The boy had been to a funeral before. Ody knew the sort of speeches that were being said a few feet in front of him and he didn't wish to hear. It wasn't because he didn't love his father, but because he wouldn't cry. His father was strong. He must be as well and do all in his power to stay that way.
After several hours, the ceremony was over. Ody waited outside the church where Eric drove Penny and him back to the Winter's estate to pack for New York City.
No one said a word the whole ride home. Eric drove the car, Penny stared out the window, and Ody browsed his phone—the volume of his music a full 7.
Neither Eric nor Penny mentioned his earbuds. Ody figured they didn't notice them. In truth, Penny was burning up inside at the thought that this boy was related to her.
Pushing her feelings aside, she continued to look over the hills of Cazenovia. She was heartbroken at the thought that she would have to leave it all behind her in the morning.
The girl wished she did not have to depart and felt at that moment in time that she would give anything to have her life the way it was a few weeks ago.
Her eyes were puffy and her cheeks tear-stained as the car drove up in front of the place she could only call home for a few more hours.
No one spoke as they climbed out of the car and what they each had to do seemed implied.
Penny, entering her colorful bedroom on the second floor, looked around the place as the tears flooded her eyes once again. Carefully placing each item into the box Eric had brought her, her cheeks stung as she watched her hands mechanically remove things from the walls.
From books, to sewing materials, to posters, to clothes, it all went in the boxes. Every fiber of her being begged her to leave it be. She wanted to stay. For once why couldn't it be that simple?
The moving van was going to come after Ody and Penny left. This would allow the two children to be safe in their apartment before the new week of school began and minimize the number of days Ody would have to miss. Eric had volunteered to watch over the movers. Afterall, Devlin had left all his stuff to the Winters in his will, yet his estate to Eric.
"Penny, have you seen my charger?" Ody stormed into her room, not bothering to knock first.
Jumping at the sudden noise, Penny spun around and faced her brother, mumbling, "No, I haven't."
"Huh?" Ody said loudly, pulling out an earbud to hear her clearly.
"No, I have not seen ya stupid whatever-ya-call-it!"
"Phone charger?" Ody laughed as he shook his head, "What do we live in, the 1970s?"
Her jaw clenching with hatred, Penny turned to Ody in embarrassment and fury.
"Stop it right now," she shouted, pushing her brother back up against her bare wall.
"Stop what?" he shouted back at her pushing her harder away from him but with more force so she fell back on her bed.
"Stop all of it! Ya have no right to come to Cazenovia and act like this! Just because he's gone doesn't mean you're the only one who lost something! I saw ya that whole funeral! You were listening to ya stupid music like he meant nothing to ya! Ya can't act like ya care about him when ya don't even pay attention at his funeral! Why did ya even come?"
"Penelope, don't you say that I don't care! You do not know the half of what I've-"
"Been through? Oh please, ya were the smarter one and that is why ya got to go with Ma. Don't you tell me that ya don't agree with them. Ya know I wanted to stick with Ma but couldn't because ya had to be sooo smart that she chose ya. I would've gladly been in your shoes this whole time and ya know that so don't start whining now."
"Yeah, well, I wish I'd been in your shoes and have wished that ever since I was forced to leave here! And don't tell me life wasn't hard for me in the city. You have no clue what it is like out there!"
Crying now, Penny responded, "Oh, and ya deserve my pity because ya had it harder? Ody, just because ya life has been hard doesn't mean mine has been a breeze. We both know that ya made it harder on yourself then ya had to! That is what ya always do!"
"Oh, so it's my fault now? It's my fault I got what you wanted? It's my fault I didn't turn out how you wanted me to? I bet it's somehow my fault that our father is dead!" he spat at her.
The room went momentarily silent. Penny tried to say something but she choked on the biting accusations before they could leave her mouth. She finally settled on mumbling through tears, "Please, just leave me alone, please."
YOU ARE READING
The Post Sunday Experiment | COMPLETED 2020
مغامرةAfter his parent's divorce, Ody Winter moves to New York City with his mother, leaving behind the rolling hills he and his sister grew up on. Two years later, they learn that Ody's father, scientist Devlin Jax Winter, died from a peculiar suicide...
