Page 13 of A Lifetime in 30 Days
“I won’t ever see him again,” Vanna said quietly then, as the tears had rolled down her cheeks.
Granny had moved in closer and wrapped an arm around her waist, since she was shorter than she was and didn’t try reaching up to her shoulders.
“He’s at peace now, Vanna. You deserve to be too.”
Those were the words Vanna had been telling herself since she’d gotten up this morning and prepared to say her final goodbye. Caleb had lived his life—whether it was in a way she approved of or could live with, he’d done it. And now she had to continue to live hers.
Minister Stevenson began reciting scripture, and Vanna sat holding a long-stemmed white rose in her hand. Beside her, Jamaica, Ronni, and Granny held one too. Vanna didn’t cry again as she stared at the casket for what she knew would be the last time. Instead, she let the corners of her mouth lift lightly as she recalled some of the good times she’d had with Caleb.
The Saturday mornings he would bring them both a bowl of Cap’n Crunch cereal to bed, so they could find the cartoon channel and watch the way they used to do when they were kids. Or on Christmas Eve, when they would each open one gift together. Those were good moments, and they filled her chest with a lightness she hadn’t felt this week.
“You’re up here laughing, and my son’s about to go into the ground,” Gail said, her tone—as well as the look on her face—agitated.
Before Vanna could reply, Granny stood. “Look here, Gail. Don’t start no shit today.”
The graveside service was complete. The minister had prayed and come by to hug Vanna one last time. Others had gotten up to put their flowers on top of the casket, which was why Gail was near Vanna at all. Vanna hadn’t moved at the conclusion of the service, and so Jamaica, Ronni, and Granny had remained seated beside her while everyone else moved around. But now the confrontation Vanna had prayed wouldn’t happen was about to pop off. She could see it in the way Granny was standing, with one fist on her hip, her chin lifted, eyes narrowed at Gail.
“Nobody was talking to you, Mabeline,” Gail shot back. “Your grandchild has done nothing but disrespect me and my child since the day they met. But it ends today! Sittin’ up here in that loud-ass outfit when she knows Caleb always wanted everybody to wear white for him.”
Vanna only sighed at that last statement, because out of everything Gail had just said, that part was the furthest from the truth. Caleb had hated those Easter Sundays when she would remind him that they wore white at their church. He would attend the ever-popular white parties,but he’d always throw on tennis shoes that had a pop of color. So, while Gail, Cher, and the rest of their family had shown up today wearing all white, some of them—the younger ones—wearing white pants and T-shirts with a picture of Caleb on the front, Vanna never had any intention of wearing that color. Nor had Gail bothered to ask her to wear it during the hundreds of times she’d called Vanna in the last week.
“Nobody cares what y’all got on,” Granny continued. “That boy of yours sure don’t care no more.”
Gail took a step closer to Granny, and immediately Vanna stood. Ronni was right behind her. Jamaica got up from her seat too, but she moved so that she was standing directly in front of Cher, who had decided to join her mother in this ridiculous confrontation.
“You will not stand here and speak ill of my child,” Gail said. “Not you or your granddaughter, who never deserved him.”
“That’s enough,” Vanna said. “The services are over, so we can all go our separate ways now.”
“Oh, like you called yourself doing when you put my baby out on the streets,” Gail shot back.
“Your baby was grown!” Granny shouted. “And if you’d taken half the energy you do in runnin’ your mouth to teach him how to be a decent adult, my granddaughter wouldn’t have gotten rid of his ass.”
“C’mon, Mama,” Cher said grabbing her mother by the arm. “Let’s just go.”
But Gail ignored her daughter. Instead, she opened her mouth to say something else to Granny, but Granny put a hand up in her face.
“I don’t have any more words for you after this, ’cause you ain’t worth my time,” Granny told her as she shook her head. “Stay the hell away from my granddaughter after today. Don’t call her, don’t text her, don’t even speak her name. If you do, I swear I’ll come to your house and beat you like you stole somethin’. You hear me?”
Again, Gail opened her mouth to speak, but just as she did, she dropped her gaze and screamed. “Ewwwww!!! Get this little mutt!”
All eyes fell to Gail’s open-toed white shoes, which were now being sprinkled by Frito’s urine. Jamaica burst into laughter, and Ronni clapped a hand over her mouth. Gail was about to raise the now-soaked foot to kick Frito, who by now had finished doing his business, but Cher grabbed her arm more forcefully this time.
“Mama, I told you to come on. Out here making a scene when none of this is necessary,” Cher told her. She was shaking her head now too, her honey-blonde goddess braids swishing with the motion.
Granny bent down and scooped Frito up, then dropped him right back into the oversize brown leather bag she always carried. Vanna hadn’t even seen the dog escape, but knowing Granny, she’d probably discreetly let him out during the service so he could relieve himself elsewhere in the grassy area. Not on Gail’s feet. Then again, Vanna didn’t put anything past her grandmother.
“I hate all of you no-class hoes,” Gail snapped at them just before she turned to follow her daughter’s directive.
Cher hadn’t spoken a word to Vanna, and she hadn’t really cared. She’d only seen her sister-in-law a handful of times in all the years she’d known Caleb because Cher only half dealt with her family in any capacity. Which was probably why the woman hadn’t engaged in this current argument, instead opting to get her mother out of here before Frito’s pissing stunt was the least of what happened. One of the cousins—at least, that’s who Vanna thought the younger girl with herRIPCalebT-shirt tied in a knot at the back so that the front of it was stretched over her full breasts was—did look over at them and yell, “Y’all ain’t got no class, and my cousin was better off without your fake-bougie ass anyway!”
Jamaica laughed even louder this time. “Girl, go on before I forget I’m too old to put hands on somebody else’s child.”
“Who comes to a funeral to cut up?” Ronni asked when most of Caleb’s family had found their way to their cars. It was a good thing they’d been toward the end of the funeral procession so they could pullright off and not have to wait for Ronni, Jamaica, and Granny to make their way to their cars.
“People with no money to pay for funerals but still wanna flap off at the mouth,” Granny snapped. “Get on my nerves!”
“Well, I bet she didn’t plan on you sending Frito after her ass,” Jamaica added with another chuckle.
