M.O.E.. Linda Blum
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a good point.
“But to do it in such a flamboyant way,” Nora huffed.
“That was Leo,” Morty laughed. “He always told me he wanted to go out in style and boy did he ever.”
Morty eventually got Nora calmed down so that Judy could go back to Ren.
“How’s your grandma?” Ren asked.
“Not too pleased with things, but what can she do. Morty was honouring Uncle Leo’s wishes.”
“I’m just glad we didn’t bring Jay,” Ren commented.
“So am I,” Judy agreed.
The rest of the night went smoothly. When visiting hours were over, everyone piled out of the funeral home. Judy, Ren, Hope and Rick stood in the parking lot for a while talking, until they ventured into their cars and headed for home.
Hope was quiet along the drive. Being in a funeral home always brought back memories of her father. He had been dead for years now and the grief may have lessened, but it never went away. Part of the reason for this was that Hope felt that her dad committed a mental suicide.
One year prior to her dad’s death, Hope’s grandmother had suffered a heart attack and died. There was no warning. One day she was alive the next she was gone. Her dad took his mother’s death hard and he never recovered from it. Her mother didn’t help matters either, as she was always complaining about his mood, never trying to help him get through his grief.
As time went on, he became more and more depressed and eventually started to become ill. At first he contracted colds, then it turned into some sort of an infection that never seemed to go away no matter what medication he took, until eventually he got cancer.
Hope was optimistic that he would recover, but when she was told he only had six months to live she lost it. She told him if he died that she would commit suicide. Her father got in a tizzy about her declaration and begged his sister, Fran, to speak with his daughter. Fran had pulled Hope aside and reprimanded her for her outburst. After that, Hope reluctantly told her father she would continue living even after his death. She didn’t want to do this, as she was trying to give him a will to live since she felt he was just giving up.
When he died, however, she regretted telling her father that she would continue on and for not following through with her threat to end her life, as life became unbearable after his death. Her mother and brother were a pain and of no comfort to Hope. Then there was the issue about her father’s ring that was supposed to go to Hope, but never did. To top it all off Hope happened to come across her father’s journal. She read her father’s thoughts and feelings after his mother died up until the last disturbing entry where he wrote that he was very tired, depressed, and didn’t know if he could go on. After that he stopped writing, then five months later he was dead.
The irony of his death was that most people thought that the cancer killed him, yet Hope knew differently. He lost his will to live. The cancer just helped facilitate his way out of this life. This fact alone was hard for Hope to take. Like her father, she too became deeply depressed after her father’s death. Judy was there to help her through her rough times, as she knew what it was like to lose a parent since she lost both of hers. Hope didn’t know if she would still be here if it wasn’t for her friend.
As they pulled into the driveway and parked, Rick turned to Hope.
“Are you all right?” he asked in concern.
“Yeah,” she replied.
“You seem down.”
“Funeral homes do that to me.”
Rick watched her closely guessing there was more to her mood.
“You seemed uptight last night as well. I’ve been meaning to ask you if something happened at the restaurant?”
His question shook Hope as memories of Jonathan came flooding back. Rick noticed her sudden edginess and became concerned.
“Something did happen didn’t it?” Rick questioned.
“No,” she squeaked.
“You’re lying.”
“I am not,” Hope countered.
“Tell me what’s going on,” Rick demanded.
Hope wasn’t about to tell him about Jonathan so she opted to lie instead.
“Look I just got my monthly cycle,” she started. “You know how I get when it’s my time of the month.”
Rick groaned. “I thought you just had it.”
“Yeah, like last month.”
“It didn’t seem like that long ago,” he whined.
“Believe me I wish it was that long ago. Having it is a pain.”
“It’s not that much fun for me either,” he grumbled.
Guys were such whiners when a woman got their menstrual cycle just because the sex had to stop for a few days until it was over.
“Well live with it, I have to,” Hope griped.
Rick never commented further as he heard the irritation in her voice and knew it was best just to keep quiet.
They entered their apartment in silence. Rick headed for the bedroom while Hope checked the answering machine for messages. She noticed the flashing light and was considering waiting until the morning to listen to them, but curiosity got the best of her.
The first one was from her mother asking Hope to call her. Hope sighed wishing she’d have waited until the morning to find out who called. The last thing she wanted to think about before going to sleep was of her mother. When the last message began playing, Hope’s breath backed up in her throat. The sound of Jonathan’s voice boomed over the room. Hope quickly turned down the volume hoping Rick didn’t hear him. After listening to the message she quickly erased it then sunk down on the couch.
She was reeling by the fact that he called her home asking her to meet with him so that they could talk. He knew she was living with someone, but obviously didn’t care. Hope got the impression he wanted to stir up trouble for her.
As she sat mulling over his message, Rick entered the room. He noticed the dark look on her face and came to sit down beside her.
“I’m sorry for being such an ass,” Rick said.
“That’s okay.”
“Why don’t you come to bed?”
Rick took her hand and guided her towards the bedroom. Once inside they got changed and slid into bed. Rick cuddled up beside her and held her close.
“Who called?” Rick asked.
Hope was startled by his question, but tried to keep her cool.
“My mother.”
Rick groaned. “What did she want?”
“For me to call her.”
“Are you going to?”
“I haven’t decided yet.”
“Who else called?”
“No one,” she replied sheepishly
“I saw the light blink twice indicating two messages were left,” he said.
Damn why did he have to be so observant, Hope thought.
“The other was just a hang up.”
Hope held her breath hoping he would believe her. When he muttered some comment about hating when people did that, she began to relax.
Rick was soon fast asleep while Hope lay there awake. Her thoughts turned to Jonathan’s message. She couldn’t believe his audacity to call her place, especially when he knew she lived with her boyfriend. Now she had no choice but to meet with him tomorrow,