Time passed in a blink of an eye. On the day of the funeral, the weather was cloudy and gloomy.
All men who attended the funeral were in jet black suits. The women who accompanied their husbands
were also in black dresses, some of them in black suits as well. The women had very light make-up on.
A lot of people attended the funeral. There were at least 1.5 times more attendees than Victoria’s
funeral.
Funeral wreaths were lined up from the hall until the road. Dolores and Matthew stood at the entrance
of the hall. They were also wearing black and were wearing a name tag, indicating that they were
families of the deceased. They greeted and thanked the people who came to mourn for their loss.
“I’m so sorry for your lost, I’m sure that he has gone to a better place.” Marina and Jeffrey came
together. They were about to walk into the hall when Marina noticed that Dolores didn’t look so well.
She grabbed her hand and said, “You have to take care of yourself, okay?”
Dolores replied, “I will.”
Dolores didn’t have any makeup on. Her hair was tied up into a simple ponytail and a white flower was
tucked behind her left ear. Matthew and she thanked Marina and Jeffrey for coming. Marina sighed
slightly and walked into the hall with Jeffrey. The hall was huge, solemn and sombre.
They walked into the hall and stopped in the middle of the hall. They said their prayers to the
deceased.
After saying his prayers, Jeffrey looked at the black and white picture in front of the casket, its frame
was decorated with black and white flowers. He was overwhelmed. His eyes turned red and he
remembered the day when Jayden got married to his sister. He was wearing a black suit, he looked tall,
handsome yet restrained standing in the wedding hall. He was standing next to his sister, they looked
like they were made for each other. But alas, fate made fools of the people.
In a blink of an eye, they had all aged.
He regretted. He regretted making his sister marry him. He ruined both of their lives. No, three lives. He
almost ruined their child’s life as well.
He stared at the picture and whispered in his heart, “Jayden, I’m sorry. You were one step ahead of me.
But don’t worry. I will probably meet you soon. When we meet again, I will apologize to you; apologize
for everything that I’ve done.”
Ever since he found out the truth, his health degraded. Marina took care of him the whole time.
“Okay, let’s go,” Marina whispered to Jeffrey. There were still a lot of people waiting in line to mourn for
Jayden.
Jeffrey nodded. He said his prayers again and whispered, “Rest in peace.”
“My condolence. He has passed on; please take care of yourselves as well.” Kenneth and Camden
came together.
Camden who usually dressed unrulily was in a nice black suit today.
Kenneth and Camden tried to comfort Dolores and Matthew as they mourned for the dead.
Benjamin only came over around noon. The woman who made Dolores called her madam last time
was here with Benjamin. There were a lot of people and hence she was acting normal and didn’t do
anything outrageous today.
The memorial service went on until 2 pm. Dolores and Matthew stood there from morning till afternoon.
Theresa brought them some water and made them drink some. They were standing there the whole
time and didn’t have the chance to eat nor drink.
Around 3 pm, it was time for burial.
Black cars, one after another drove through the city. They were heading towards the outskirts.
They stopped by the roadside as they arrived at Q cemetery.
The people got off the car, they were here to see Jayden off for the last time.
Matthew walked in front. He was holding Jayden’s photo. His children were standing next to him.
Dolores stood next to her daughter and the others walked behind them. They slowly marched into the
cemetery.
A light wind blew, and the conifer trees swayed. The scent of chrysanthemum filled the air, the
atmosphere was bleak and dreary.
They stepped on the quartz floor and walked towards the grave. They changed the tomb, there were
now two pictures and two names on it. On the left was Jayden’s name, and on the right, his wife’s
name, Victoria.
The gloomy sky started raining mildly.
It was also raining when they buried Victoria, but it was raining harder this time.
Matthew looked grim. He bent over and placed the picture in front of the grave. He put his hands
together and said his prayer. The others did the same as well.
“Andrew, Amanda, say your prayers to your grandfather and grandmother,” said Dolores softly to her
children.
The children walked up and were sobbing. They rubbed their faces and knelt in front of the grave.
“Grandpa, say hi to grandma when you see her. Tell her that we miss her. We miss you so very much
too,” said Andrew with his hands clasped together.
“Dad, we don’t have a grandpa or a grandma anymore,” Amanda cried while holding on to Matthew’s
leg.
Matthew squatted down and dried her tears. He hugged both his daughter and his son and said in a
low voice, “Don’t cry, your grandfather and grandmother wouldn’t want to see you so sad.”
The children still had tears in their eyes, but they quickly dried their tears upon hearing what Matthew
said. They didn’t want their grandparents to see them so anguish, they wanted them to rest in peace.
The day turned dark around 5 pm because it was cloudy, to begin with.
The burial ceremony had ended, and the funeral had ended.
People left one after another. Only Matthew, Dolores and their children were left.
They knelt in front of the grave in the rain, saying their last goodbyes.
Suddenly, Boyce who was waiting outside of the cemetery ran over. He glanced at Dolores and then he
whispered to Matthew, “Joshua has gone missing.”
Matthew raised his head abruptly, his gaze turned sharp, “What happened?”
The superstition their family believed in was that pregnant women and babies shouldn’t attend funerals.
Babies had pure eyes and they might see something a normal adult couldn’t see. If the baby spotted
Jayden, Jayden wouldn’t want to leave.
As it was against the custom for a pregnant woman to attend the funeral, Jasmine stayed home to take
care of Joshua.
She went down for a cup of water and the Joshua went missing.
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