Chapter 33
Chapter thirty-three
Just a Kid Himself
Propping the heavy bouquet on my hip, I slam the car door shut with the back of my foot.
It takes everything in me to not crack a smile with how Skye is gawking at everyone.
She’s basically performing an interpretive dance beside everyone she used to know.
Everyone is looking somber as they walk into the cathedral.
My fingertips are loosening around the satin-wrapped stems with each step.
When I make it to the top of the stairs, Beth finds me.
The crystalline entryway showcases each delicate piece of glass. Different colors colliding with each other seamlessly.
“So glad you could make it,” she says, squeezing my whole body. I’m unable to breathe under her hold.
“I brought flowers,” I gasp.
“You are a sweetheart.”
She unleashes me from her hold and takes the flowers from my hands, cocking her head to the side to zero in on my neck.
“Where did you get this?”
Her hands drop the bouquet to the floor, grasping for my chain, stuck in a trance.
“Found it at a vintage store,” I snap.
“Weird. My great-grandmother had a necklace exactly like that. The detailing is eerily similar.”
Her hands trace the twisting vines etched around the stone, scanning it meticulously for what feels like centuries. When she finally releases it from her hold, I clasp it in my hands as it slingshots back to me.
“Beth, I’m so sorry for your loss!” someone says.
A wave of new people comes through the door, bombarding her with hugs. I take this as my chance to slip away.
“Everyone is so lively,” I whisper to the stranger beside me. Her face is nothing but a blank stare as she looks back at me.
“Jokes do not land well at memorial services, I see.” This time the woman gives me one quick look of disgust before walking away. I’m back to staring at the life-size portrait of Skye. Wondering if we would’ve been friends in a different timeline if everything wasn’t so—
I inch closer to the photo; one I’ve never seen before. In her blue sundress with baby hairs wisping in front of her face, she looks so carefree. She doesn’t look much younger than her ghostly self.
Before turning to my left to find my seat, I found Skye in the crowd. Everyone is praying and giving their blessing. She is twirling and smiling in the aisle as if this is her big moment.
It isn’t long before everyone is back in their seats, hearing another prayer from the priest. Skye is still flapping around the place as if this was a talent show.
The harpist is playing a soothing melody as the prayer fades out. Once the priest is done, the harpist strums louder.
“I wish someone would give me the aux.” Her body pops up next to me, and I can’t help but jolt in my seat. Saying nothing only annoys her more because she keeps going.
“Who knew this would be so boring? …I can’t believe they chose that photo.”
My whole-body clenches, forcing me to tilt my head to the left, and I whisper in her direction. “Shhhh.”
As discreet as I am, any noise might as well have been a gunshot in this church. A few heads turn in my direction, and I slowly sink in my seat.
The priest starts to speak, and there is not a dry eye in the house.
Every seat is filled.
“Were you always this popular?” I murmur.
“I think I knew a third of these people. It’s Beth they know.”
I nod to myself, completely zoning out on the sermon that has everyone in tears.
Too focused on every detail of the building: vaulted ceilings that probably lead to the gates of heaven and a giant organ taking up the whole stage.
It felt very elaborate and not anything like her.
I imagine Skye having a vigil in a trampoline park or a bouncy house.
“Ben Silva will be coming up here to say a few words,” the priest says into the microphone and I feel Skye gripping my arm for dear life. I refocus my eyes on the stage.
Every sharp edge of Skye’s is rounding out as we watch Ben walk up to the podium. He is already shaky, gripping the wooden top, readily holding a piece of paper in hand.
“As many of you know, I had Skye when I was just a kid myself. She was always a positive kid. Even on the nights I was stressed coming home from work—”
His eyes apprehensively look back out to the crowd.
“I don’t think I handled a lot of moments well with her. Writing this speech, I agonized over how to describe—” He pauses. “If you knew her, you would say she brought everyone in a room together.
“When you have a kid that young, it changes you. The years you were supposed to spend selfishly figuring yourself out for the first time are mixed with raising a little human, hoping that they turn out okay. Hoping they are one of the good ones. I don’t think I ever figured it for myself, but somehow, she did.
She was always so sure of herself. Never questioned any aspect of who she was and the space she occupied.
“It’s funny watching your kid become your inspiration. I wish I understood then what I know now.” His eyes are welling up with tiny tears. I can tell he wants to do everything to avoid letting them fall.
Ben looks away from the audience, facing the organ for a split second to retain his composure.
“There is so much I want to say, but I will leave it at—a luz sabe.”
His last words hang in the air as he grips even tighter to the podium, trying to steady himself, pressing two fingers to his lips to kiss them before gesturing his hand to the air.
My eyes go wide, my breath catching on the phrase he just said.
Did he just—
The phrase. The necklace. My attachment to Skye.
When I reach for her hand, she doesn’t even react. My gaze is darting back and forth between the both of them, watching them fade into their own tears.
Two more people make speeches after him, including Beth.
I want to ask Skye everything. Everything is moving so quickly and Skye is bouncing between right beside me and where Ben and Beth are seated.
After the speeches, the pastor returns to the stage to announce, “Okay, folks—please head to the courtyard behind the church to release the paper lanterns.”
A group of people stands and heads to the backdoor. Skye and I remain perfectly still, not ready to go quite yet.
“This is a family heirloom, isn’t it?” I say.
She remains tight-lipped, giving a slight nod. It doesn’t take long for her to walk quietly toward the crowd. Everything in my line of sight feels disorienting. Every memory of the last few months crashes into me.
Nothing since the fire was by chance, was it? From a distance, I hear the pastor over the loudspeaker, talking.
“Tonight, we release our regret, loss and grief for a life that left us too soon. Instead, we show her how many people here on Earth are waiting to see her again.”
The door is propped open, welcoming anyone to join. My feet walk slowly to the door, where another Bible verse is being read. When he is done, the lanterns are passed down the line. I push myself into the crowd, getting in line.
“I can’t believe she’s really gone.”
“Remember when she went cliff jumping on her seventeenth birthday?”
“Hard to believe it was an electrical fire that caused it.”
A small tear rolls down my face when I spot her bright pink crop top in the middle of the crowd again. I can feel the hurt radiating off her. She is mentally a million miles away.
The girls in front of me continues to share more memories of her, and when Ben joins the line, I can instantly sense him.
“So many people showed up,” he mumbles under his breath. I whip my head back toward him.
“Yeah,” I say softly. “She was well loved.”
“You knew her?” His voice goes up an octave.
“Yeah, she, uhh—”
My thought trails off as the pastor gets ahold of the microphone again.
“Now, everyone, please bow your heads. Let’s pray for Skye’s life on Earth and now with our heavenly father.
Once you are done praying, please release your lanterns in the open air,” the pastor says.
As everyone is tossing their lanterns in the air, I hold on to mine tightly, my body fully facing Ben.
“She told me she loved her dad.”
“No, she didn’t,” he says quickly.
Ben’s eyes lock on mine—a combination of honey and gold. An inherited warmth that the whole Silva clan shares. He must be so struck by my admission about her because his fingertips have loosened their hold on to the lantern.
Sending it straight up in the sky before he is ready.
“Do I know you?” His voice falters.
“I am an old friend of Skye. I was hoping to speak to you about her…”
“What are you doing, Charlotte?” Skye interjects. She is standing between us, trying to push me away. My pendant is stinging at the base of my neck as soon as she says this.
I don’t even care.
“Can we sit down somewhere quiet?” I ask.
“Sure?” Ben skeptically walks behind me. I am sure he is intrigued by the fact that he is following a stranger.
Nobody is left inside of the cathedral. At a random pew, the silence grows between us as we take a seat.
“I want to show you something.” I pass my necklace to him, feeling drawn to do it. Skye doesn’t follow me this time, but in the corner of my eye, I can see her peeking from the door.
Watching our interaction from afar.
“This looks familiar…”
Ben takes the pendant from my hand to examine it in the same fashion as his sister, caressing his fingers along the edges of the stone.
“Almost reminds me of the oval necklace my great-grandmother wore.” He gives a soft but confused laugh. The glow from it is shining the strongest light I’ve seen. His eyes widen as I watch the goose bumps raise on his arm.
I know exactly what he is feeling at this very moment.
Every LED light in the room flickers so rapidly it could send someone into instant epilepsy. The air begins to churn, picking up speed as it swirls around us.
The chant hisses at us, making us both aware of its presence.
“Duas almas incompletas.”
These are the phrases that never sounded like her. But a possessed, ancient voice filled the room. The voice that belongs to the pendant.
It is only when a large thud crashes down onto the hardwood floors that we resurface to a normally lit church. A Bible is cracked wide open on the floor.
“You are gonna think I am crazy…” I say, slipping out an awkward laugh of my own.
“Can’t be any freakier than that,” he says, pointing to the page. A highlighted portion of the text jumps out at me.
“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
I read this out loud before turning my body completely to him.
“Do you believe in spirits or ghosts?”
“My great-grandmother did. She would always go on and on about living in people’s memories. Then again, she was ninety-one and batshit crazy. Why do you ask?”
“Why do you assume she was crazy?” I hiss.
“One time at a family gathering at a restaurant… I think I was about eleven? She randomly started chanting the same things over and over again like something possessed her in the middle of a conversation with my tio.”
“Well—” It feels like the energy around us has stopped. We remain perfectly still as the necklace gravitates from his hand to his neck. Without any effort on his part, the stone blasts a blinding shade of blue.
“Did you know that was going to happen?”
I shake my head no.
Ben leans in and whispers, “This is my bisavó’s necklace, isn’t it?”
I don’t answer. His head shifts away from me as his attention is sucked into something I can’t see, fixated on something that has left him catatonic and lifeless.
I wave my hand in front of his face, but he doesn’t react. I pinch him, but he doesn’t move. Skye is no longer in the corner watching us. All I can do is wait for him to come back to me.
Wait for his slip back in time to end.
“Thank you. Uhh…” His eyes are glazed over, only looking at the photo propped up on stage of Skye in a wild field, frolicking. Was he talking to me, or…? I take the leap, feeling impatient from his lack of response.
Naturally, filing in the blank, I say, “Charlotte. My name is Charlotte.”
“Charlotte, thank you for this. Thank you for giving me my last goodb—” He stops himself before finishing “goodbye,” letting the tears fall off him on purpose.
He doesn’t explain what he just saw. Instead, tugs the necklace, finally able to disconnect the chain from his neck. The pendant’s glow is dying down as soon as he leaves it in the palm of my hands.
“She told me to give it back to you.” A slight grin displays on his face as he takes the largest inhale. His eyes still haven’t strayed from her photo.
“Did she say why?”
“Just that it’s meant to stay with anyone with unfinished business.”
A slight smirk creeps onto my face as I happily take it back in my hand. My feet are digging into the ground.
If his vision was anything like mine, it would stick with him. For days, weeks, years—holding on to his last moment with her.
“So I guess you believe in ghosts now, right?” A nervous laugh falls out of me.
“Yeah, I guess so.” He laughs, and all I can do is match the similarities of the two of them in my head. A calming presence washes over me as soon as I clasp the chain back around my neck.
I still have a little more time.