Chapter 18: Her Mother's Letter

The cemetery sat on a hill above the town, with a view of the lake and a low stone wall.

My mother's grave was in the third row, under a maple that had dropped all its leaves on her.

I brushed them off with my sleeve.

The four men stood behind me in a loose line, hats in their hands.

Nobody had told them to take their hats off.

"Hi, Mom," I said.

The wind moved in the bare branches.

"I did something loud on Saturday. You'd have loved it, and you'd have told me I was dramatic."

David made a small sound behind me.

I felt his hand come down on my shoulder, and I put mine over it.

"Bernard," I said, without turning. "Auntie says you have an envelope."

Bernard didn't joke.

He came forward and stood beside me, and took it out of the inside pocket of his jacket.

It was white and soft at the corners.

My name was on the front in my mother's slanted hand.

"She gave it to me in the hospital," he said hoarsely. "It's been in this jacket ever since."

"Why you?"

"She said I was the only one of them who'd never read it." He tried to smile. "She was right. I've wanted to, every day."

I took it.

My hands weren't steady, so Ellis stepped up and, without a word, held the flap flat while I tore it.

There was one sheet inside, folded in three.

I read it standing at her grave, out loud, because I wanted her to hear it too.

"Zelda. If Bernard is giving you this, you have finally asked David something he couldn't answer, and I'm sorry I'm not there to watch."

Keep reading free with an account. Start Taken in My Sleep by My Stepfather David and His Friends from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.