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  “Riggin,” Ember’s voice reeled him back to the scene in front of him, “Riggin, what are you doing here?” The scrawny man laughed. Ember pushed him away from her. “Riggin, baby, it’s not what you think.” She was walking toward him now. “It doesn’t mean anything, I swear. Baby, baby, talk to me,” she pleaded with him as she grabbed his hand.

  Riggin peeled his eyes from Scrawny and looked at Ember, her eyes were dry and emotionless.

  “Ah, look at the big man with the big muscles, he’s gonna cry,” Scrawny’s laugh cracked. “Cry, baby, cry.” Scrawny pretended to cry.

  Riggin couldn’t take his eyes from Ember, a tear trickling down his face. Ember didn’t say a word, just rubbed his chest and tried to get close to him. He gently pulled her hands away and backed away from her. When he got to the door, he could hear the cackling of Scrawny following him. It chased him down the stairs, with Ember’s voice a close second. He could hear her yelling after him, “Riggin, Riggin, it meant nothing! I was so lonely!”

  Riggin had told her before he left that he loved her. He had asked her if she loved him. She had sworn she did and would forever, and now her lying mouth was chasing him. He ran out of the house, forgetting his coat. He slipped on the last step, landing on his rear in the fresh mud. Getting up, he looked one last time behind him. There she stood in the doorway, her soiled night gown hanging from her body, her thin red hair sticking to her face, dark in the shadows. The reality he saw now was in complete contrast to what his mind had expected to see.

  Chapter 3

  Two days after watching the finale of Jury of Love with June, Sofey’s phone rang at 6 AM. “Hello?” Sofey said sleepily when she picked up the receiver on her pink landline phone beside her bed.

  “Dolly, wanna go to a funeral with me?”

  Sofey stretched and yawned, “Uh, no, June, I really don’t want to crash a funeral with you. But thanks for the invite. Ya know, I could make you a really great casserole, if that’s what you’re after.”

  “No, no, I’m not crashing this one. I actually knew the man who died.”

  Sofey felt a pang of regret for her sarcastic comments, although she really would make June a casserole if that’s what she wanted.

  “He was a dear friend of Barney’s, God rest his soul.” June went quiet then added, “Hank was a nice guy. But he had some hard times. His daughter and her husband died in a car crash one night when they were out on date night. Their’s is a sad story all the way around but the saddest part of it all is that Riggin was left an only child. They had a babysitter that night too, poor girl had to be there when the police came to get him and tell him the news.”

  “That is sad.” Sofey sat up in bed and rubbed her stinging eyes.

  “Very sad, dear. Hank and his wife, Betty, were going to raise the boy.”

  Sofey took a quick drink of her warm water. “Well, that’s-”

  “But she up and left after the child went to live with them. Hank said he didn’t know what happened to her. He said something must’ve just snapped in her mind after they lost their daughter. And, I believe that because I always liked Betty. She was always one who was quick with the compliments,” June took a deep breath, “sincere ones, too, not forced ones like some fakey people try to butter you up with. For instance, she always loved my meatloaf. She said she did and I believed her because she always took seconds.” June cleared her throat, “We didn’t hear much from them after Hank and Barney, God rest his soul, parted ways in business. On the best of terms, of course.”

  “Of course, I can’t see Barney parting ways with anyone on bad terms.” Sofey said

  “Oh no, not Barney, that big softy,” June agreed. “Well, we did get a Christmas card with a picture of Hank and Riggin every year. That’s how I recognized him from Jury of Love, ya know.”

  “Oh, OK, I was wondering how you recognized him.” Sofey chuckled.

  “Yes, well, I hope Hank’s last years were good to him and that grandson of his took good care of the ol’ man.”

  “I’m sure we’ll find out when we go to the funeral.”

  “You’re going with me? Dear me, you are a good friend, Dolly.”

  Sofey was already in her closet, browsing through her dresses to see if she had anything appropriate for a funeral. “Do I just wear a plain black dress?” Sofey blushed even though June would never think she asked a dumb question. “I mean, I have only ever been to my daddy’s funeral and Barney’s. I just want to make sure a simple black dress would be appropriate.”

  “Yes, Dolly, a simple black dress will be perfect. I’ll wear my normal funeral attire, black slacks and grey blouse.” June muffled the phone receiver, “Coming!” Addressing Sofey again, “OK, hon, I gotta go. My Bunco group is here so come over if you get bored...Corn dogs are cookin’ ladies!” The phone went dead.

  Sofey shook her head and hung up the phone. Looking through her clothes a little more, she found a simple knee-length black dress with ¾ sleeves and a round neckline. She held it up to her body and walked to her full-length mirror on the back of her door. She frowned and lowered the dress. She had put on a few more pounds than she’d have liked. She squeezed the pudge around her middle then shrugged. “I’m not trying to impress anyone,” she told herself and touched her frizzy, brown curls, sighing as she slumped her shoulders. Hey! Braceface! Nice hair, Brillo Pad! The high school girls’ cackles still stung Sofey’s ears as she shook her head, willing the memories away.

  There were several older ladies from the senior center sitting in chairs toward the front of the funeral parlor where Hank Broomfield was lying in his casket. They patted their eyes with their white embroidered handkerchiefs and consoled each other.

  On the left was a closed black curtain which shielded the immediate family from view, leaving them to mourn in private, away from prying eyes.

  June and Sofey sat in the back row, close to the exit door.

  “Dolly, watch my back. I’m going to go sneak a peek at the family before the funeral starts.” June stood up as Sofey grabbed her arm.

  “No, June,” Sofey hissed, “just sit here and enjoy the ...oh brother. Just sit here and wait until the funeral is over, would you, please?” Sofey was desperate for June to sit and not make a scene. What in the world? She must be watching rerun cop shows again.

  June let out a childlike huff but sat back down next to Sofey. “Well, I’m going to take a look after the preacher gets done.”

  The funeral was nice. There were several people who stood to talk about what a kind man Hank was and how he’d give you the shirt off his back, his last morsel of food, or the last penny in his pocket. “He sure would,” June would whisper and nod every so often. Sofey reached over to hold June’s hand. She was sure this was the only funeral besides Barney’s, God rest his soul, that June had actually teared up at. She was a ' tough old broad’ as Barney used to say.

  June and Sofey watched as Hanks casket was removed by the pallbearers, which included Riggin and five other men. As they carried it to the hearse to be delivered to the crematorium, June pushed through bystanders to get to the family area and take her peek at them. Sofey followed closely behind her, whispering, “What are you doing?”

  “I want to see his family. Maybe I know them.”

  Sofey couldn’t help it and peeked over June’s head when she moved the curtain, just a tad, to see who was in there. There were four rows of six chairs. In the fourth row, two seats in, sat a lady with a black veil and wrinkled hands clutching a small black purse and a white crumpled hanky.

  Her back was straight and she looked straight ahead. The atmosphere was as expected, unspeakably sad. Sofey closed her eyes and turned away. June lingered for a moment then closed the curtain, dabbing her eyes, she grabbed Sofey’s arm. “Let’s go get something to eat.” Her eyes sparkled with tears that refused to fall.

  The adjacent room was set up cafeteria-style, with a long table at the front full of comfort food, from green bean casserole, meatloaf, dinner r
olls, and mashed potatoes to pecan pie and fruit punch. June and Sofey filled their plates and found a table in the middle of the room.

  “Why do you want to sit here? Do you know anyone?” Sofey shifted her weight on her feet, hoping June would decide that a couple seats alone in the back would be better.

  “I don’t know, I might. Let’s see, hmmm?” She patted the seat next to her.

  Sofey half-smiled and sat next to June. People passing by smiled politely at them but found their seats elsewhere, gathering in familiar groups to chat and share memories of Hank.

  “Dolly, I think that’s Riggin.” June nudged Sofey’s leg while pointing her fork in the direction of a couple of tall, dark-haired young men.

  Sofey swallowed her mouthful of mashed potatoes, “Wonderful.”

  “I’m going to talk to him.” June stood up and marched away before Sofey could object. Pretty soon, June was towing Riggin back toward Sofey.

  Sofey took a hard swallow of mashed potatoes and grabbed her fruit punch to clear the pathway to her esophagus in case she had to speak to...the incredibly good looking guy June is dragging over here. Do I have anything in my teeth? She quickly ran her tongue over her teeth. He has such big arms. Maybe he lifts weights. Or maybe he just chops wood. Or he could-

  “Dolly, this ...Oh, I mean, Sofey, this is Riggin, he is Hank’s grandson.” June smiled up at Riggin, her arm entwined in his.

  Sofey stood up. Covering her mouth, she lifted her finger as she turned her head away to stifle an uncontrollable cough that had just surfaced in her throat. After at least three different people asked if she was OK, she turned back to June and Riggin, red-faced, and managed to say, “Hi.” Then, scrubbing her hand on her napkin, she held it out for Riggin to shake.

  “Um, hi. Nice to meet you.” Riggin gingerly accepted the handshake from Sofey, then, nonchalantly, wiped his hand with a handkerchief from his pocket. He didn’t attempt to pull his eyes away from hers. Her eyes, they’re so big and shiny and a darker shade of brown than I’ve ever seen. They’re like...like… the only thing his mind could compare her eyes to were... cow eyes. Wait, would that sound bad out loud?

  Sofey quickly drew her hand back and reached for her ice water as another coughing fit threatened to erupt. She almost had the cup in her mouth when someone behind her said, “Oh, excuse me, dear,” and bumped into her, sending the full cup of ice water down the front of her dress. Startled, Sofey stepped backward, knocking into an older man with a cane, carrying a full plate of food.

  “Oh, my!” June reached out in a failed attempt to stop the unfortunate event.

  “I’m so sorry,” Sofey whispered as she attempted to clean up the food from the floor.

  Riggin already had his jacket off, offering it to Sofey to cover her wet dress. “Here, take this. And don’t worry about the food, I’ll get it.” He took the paper napkins full of food from Sofey and smiled, “Really, I got this.”

  “Thank you. And I’m so sorry.” Sofey bolted for the restroom with Riggin’s jacket pressed to her chest.

  June found Sofey sitting in the waiting area of the restroom on a loveseat, crying as she dabbed at her dress with paper towels.

  “Oh Dolly, are you OK, hon?” June sat next to Sofey and handed her a few more paper towels.

  Sofey sniffed and nodded, “I’m just super embarrassed.”

  “Well, yeah, who wouldn’t be? But who cares? Ninety percent of the people out there are old and we’ve all had our share of mishaps, believe me. Like once,” June held her chin and looked into space. “Like once I...well, once I lost my dentures at one of the funerals I was crashing!” She sat up on the edge of the loveseat, speaking with increasing excitement. “Yes, I had gotten a plate of food and was sitting down when an old pervert went and slapped me right on the bottom!” June laughed out loud and hit herself on the knee. “Right as he did my dentures flew out of my mouth and landed in my paper cup.”

  Sofey rolled her eyes.

  “Then,” June continued, “the water splashed out and landed on the slice of cherry pie of the lady who was sitting next to me.”

  “Juney, is that made up? Because it sounds made up.”

  “What?” June put on her best offended face. “No, it is certainly NOT made up to make you feel better.” She stood up and smoothed her slacks. “I’ll be out there waiting for you.” She winked at Sofey as she walked out.

  Sofey took a deep breath and looked at herself in the mirror. “Well, you sure made a spectacle of yourself in front of those poor grieving people. Look at you! Your dress is soaked and your makeup is a mess, mascara all over the place.” She pointed her finger at the girl in the mirror, “You probably ruined this poor man's funeral.” She dabbed the makeup under her eye. Well, I hope June is ready to go, I just want to be at home, writing, and in my sweats. Throwing away her used tissue she walked out to find June.

  Sofey walked around the corner and found June talking to Riggin and another guy in the foyer. Stopping abruptly, Sofey blushed and turned to walk in the opposite direction.

  “Oh! Sofey, come here, dear,” June called and waved Sofey over.

  Sofey cringed and slowly turned back around. “Um, sorry again for the mess in there.” Sofey’s voice cracked just a little as she felt her face catch fire.

  “No big deal. Really, it’s OK.” Riggin smiled and turned to the man next to him. “This is Terry, my buddy who’s really more like a brother.”

  Sofey smiled and shook Terry’s hand. She recognized him as one of the pallbearers.

  “I was just telling Riggin how I knew his grandfather and how Hank and Barney, God rest his soul, were good friends.” June turned to Riggin, “Barney always said Hank was his favorite person to work with.”

  “Honey bear! There you are. I’ve been looking everywhere for you.” A beautiful, tall blonde girl with pink rosy lips and gorgeous shiny hair walked up to Riggin. She gave him a pouty face as she drummed her perfectly manicured magenta nails on his chest, showing off a huge, stunning diamond ring.

  Sofey’s mouth dropped open as she looked at Riggin’s left hand, which the beautiful blonde was inspecting.

  “Honey bear, where’s your ring?” The blonde whined.

  Riggin blushed, “Uh, June, Sofey, this is Rita.”

  Rita put her left hand to her chest and held the right one out for June to shake. “I'm his wife.”

  Riggin shifted his weight and turned to June, “Thank you for sharing your stories. It was really nice seeing you.” He hugged June and nodded at Sofey. “I’m sorry, I need to…” he looked around desperately, “to oversee the food.”

  Watching Riggin walk away, followed closely by Rita, Sofey smirked, “He needs to ‘oversee the food’?”

  June shrugged, “Go figure.”

  “Oh,” Sofey exclaimed, “I still have Riggin’s jacket! I should probably get this back to him and thank him.”

  “OK, Dolly. Meet me by the front entrance when you’re ready to go.”

  Sofey hurried to the kitchen area but was told Riggin had left for home. Her only chance to catch him was in the back-parking lot. She easily caught sight of him through the lightly tinted glass door standing by a white BMW. Opening the door, she was just about to call his name when Rita walked up to him and kissed his cheek. Sofey reddened and turned away, walking back into the building. Ugh, I don’t want to intrude on their grieving. Maybe I’ll get June to give him his jacket. I’ll put a thank you note in the pocket so I don’t have to see him and be embarrassed all over again. Sofey stole one last peek at the couple. Rita was straightening Riggin’s tie. Lucky girl.

  Riggin fumbled for his car keys in his slacks pocket. His head was pounding and he just wanted out of there.

  “Riggy.”

  Riggin winced and curled his hand tightly around his car keys. Pulling them from his pocket, he turned to face Rita.

  Sauntering over to Riggin, Rita said, “How’s my Riggy?” She was tall enough that she didn’t need to stand on her toes when
she kissed his cheek.

  Riggin slowly removed her hands from his shoulders. “Enough with the pet names, huh? I think you’re overdoing it a little.” He glared at her as she started straightening his black silk tie.

  “Overdoing it? Whatever do you mean, honey bear?” Rita pouted. “All married couples use pet names.” She inspected her nails for possible chips.

  Riggin turned from her and unlocked his car door. “Hey, I’m leaving so if you want a ride, you might want to get in.”

  Rita placed her hands on her hips and looked around the parking lot as if weighing her options. “Wellllll, I’ll need to go get my purse.” She turned to leave but stopped a few steps away. “Can you at least wait that long before leaving?”

  Riggin groaned as he waved her away. What in the world have I gotten myself into? A year with her? Can I actually do it? He rubbed his temples. OK, Riggin, OK, you’ll both walk away from each other with $500,000. $500,000! The house, the car, everything would be paid off. Riggin sat back and looked out the window at the pine trees that surrounded the back-parking lot. You HAVE to do this, man. No big deal, you don’t have to actually do the things married people do, just put on a show for the public.

  The tapping on the window made Riggin jump. Rita was outside the passenger window pointing angrily at the door’s lock and mouthing for him to unlock the door. Riggin sighed heavily and unlocked the doors.

  Flopping down into the black leather passenger seat, Rita huffed and slammed her door. Riggin grinded his teeth, his shoulders meeting his ears.