Freezing Bonds that Tie our Hearts (Blood and Water #2)

28. Aiden

Ravenbridge only had one church. It was in the middle of the town, and frequented by both Northies and Southies, although never to this extent.

It seemed like everyone was here today as we buried our kids.

I sat on a front pew, Nova on one side of me and Bianca on the other, both of them crying softly as they held my hands.

I didn’t cry. I couldn’t.

People say that there are five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.

I was stuck on anger.

Actually, anger was too soft a word for what I was feeling. I was murderous, downright ready for war.

When we arrived earlier, the crowd in front of the church was astounding. It was like everyone had decided to put their differences aside and show support. The chief of police and his wife were seated right behind us, and for once he wasn’t an asshole when he came to offer me his condolences. If anything, he looked sorry which in turn made me angry. All of this could have been avoided if he had been a decent fucking human being.

His wife, Miranda, was downright sobbing when she offered her condolences and, to my surprise, she hugged me tight. To say I was weirded out would be an understatement.

People I had never even seen before came up to me, telling me how sorry they were for Oscar, how he didn’t deserve what happened to him. I said nothing and only nodded quietly, knowing that the reason they were coming up to me was because Carmen was a no-show.

Ever since that night where the news broke out about Oscar and the other kids’ bodies being discovered, she just gave up. Mom was the one who broke the news to her and needless to say, Carmen lost it. We tried keeping an eye on her but every time I’ve been there, she was either crying or passed out drunk.

Her not coming to her own son’s funeral just made it all the more obvious that she wasn’t ready to face reality just yet, and I couldn’t blame her.

The night I truly and well realized that Oscar was gone, I didn’t find it in me to cry. I felt hollow, like something had been taken from me that I would never be able to get back. I stayed in bed until Nova came over, laying in there with me and holding me tight while she cried softly against my chest.

I didn’t cry.

I couldn’t.

My attention was brought back to the front of the church, where Father Pernaud was starting his speech. Behind him, Oscar’s casket was closed, at my demand, because seeing how peaceful he looked in death was both a relief and excruciatingly painful. Next to it, a big picture of him, smiling for the camera at his last football game was framed, standing on a dark wooden easel. Gabi had taken this picture only a few months ago and as I looked over at her sitting next to Bianca, she couldn’t even stand to look at it, as she doubled over, crying.

“Dear friends, dear family. Today is a sad day. We are all gathered here to say goodbye to an angel gone too soon—”

The sound of the big wooden door opening in the otherwise silent church, followed by the light click of heels against the floor made all of us turn around.

Carmen staggered in, doing her best to walk straight even though she was clearly drunk.

My jaw tensed as people started whispering among themselves.

She wore a short tight black dress and relentlessly tugged on the hem to make it longer. Her heels were high, the type she would probably wear to work at the strip club. This outfit was probably the best she could do in terms of funeral attire, yet people were judging her for it.

Her eyes were red and rimmed with runny mascara but other than that, she didn’t look to be wearing any makeup. She drunkenly brought herself to the front of the church, our eyes following her curiously, and when she looked up and saw the picture of Oscar next to his casket, her face crumbled. Her knees hit the ground, as she let out the most heart-wrenching sob I had ever heard.

I was off my pew and crouching next to her before I could think it through.

I grabbed her arms and helped her up, not surprised when I felt mom’s hand next to mine.

“My baby!” Carmen weeped, squeezing her eyes shut, “Give me back my baby, please! Please…”

She painted a painful picture, and I wasn’t the only one to think so. Several people around us looked down on their lap or started dabbing at their eyes. Mom was biting her lip to the point of drawing blood, to keep herself from sobbing.

“Please give me my baby back…”

We helped her to her feet and sat her down next to my sisters, Samantha immediately hugged her side, crying softly. Father Pernaud waited until Carmen had quietened down to resume his speech but I didn’t hear a word of it, much too focused on my own pain and what I’d planned on doing about it.

The rest of the service was a blur to me, lowering Oscar to the ground, friends and family crying around us, taps on my shoulder and hollow condolences being offered to me. It was all too much and I was ready to start dissociating, if it wasn’t for Nova.

She stood by me the whole time, doing her best to keep her composure because she wanted to stay strong for me, she said. Her hand squeezed mine every time she felt me spiraling down my thoughts, anchoring me.

When there were only a handful of people left in the cemetery, I decided now was the time for us to go.

Of course, I’d planned on coming back, to pay my final goodbyes to Oscar, but I needed to be alone for that. I didn’t want to wait until everyone was out today because I knew Carmen wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon. She was on her knees next to her son’s grave, sobbing quietly, with mom by her side, rubbing her back.

Mrs. Delacruz, was there too, although her gaze was lost in the distance, probably thinking of the child she too had lost. Samantha, Gabi and Bianca were walking out of the cemetery to go home with Julian and Matthew who would be driving them there. Mr. Starling and Nova’s sisters were already back home too, they had gone after the service because Rory was starting to panic a little.

Maddox was standing next to his car looking at us from the curb, shades over his eyes. He checked in on me every day, which I was still unsure if I appreciated or resented.

“I think it’s time we go.” I tugged on Nova’s hand, bringing her closer to me and she hugged my side, nodding.

She was dabbing at her eyes when we turned around, only to come nose to nose with one person I had no idea was still there.

Miranda Richards, the chief of police’s wife.

He himself had gone home with most of the others, after we closed Oscar’s grave, and I had thought his wife had followed, but I was apparently wrong.

Her red-rimmed eyes found mine, and I could tell she was doing her best not to burst into tears.

“Hi,” she gulped, “hi Aiden.”

“Hello, Mrs. Richards.”

A glint of sadness shone in those bright eyes, “I just wanted to tell you again how sorry I was,” she sniffled, “I can’t imagine the pain you’re going through right now.” My jaw tensed at her words, because indeed, the pain was out of this world. Unmatched.

“There is something I’ve been wanting to tell you for a while now and—and I just never found the courage to until now.” Her chin was trembling and she pinched her lips to keep herself from crying.

Nova’s hand squeezed mine tightly in incomprehension and I squeezed back because I had no fucking idea what was going on either.

“Everything that happened with these poor little angels, it made me realize something. I realized that life was too short and I just had to tell you.”

“Tell me wh—”

“You better not be coming on to my son right now, you perverted bitch.” Mom’s voice boomed from behind me.

She was no longer kneeling next to Carmen, Mrs. Delacruz was there instead, looking at us curiously.

Tension was throbbing between my mother and the other woman, like two predators gearing up to fight, and Nova and I were just caught in the middle.

“What?” Miranda exclaimed, her eyes wide in surprise and… disgust?

Mom was downright seething, “Don’t think I haven’t noticed how you stare at him around town,” she pointed a finger in her direction, “not only is he too fucking young for you but he’s got a—”

“You don’t understand,” Miranda shook her head, biting her lips as tears finally managed to break free and run down her cheeks, “he’s my son.”