Chapter 34 Kavita Ridley
Kavita Ridley
It was the day of Franklin’s funeral. Instead of picking a dress for her wedding, Kavita was wearing a black fur-trimmed dress with a black tulle hat.
She tried to conceal her pain. She looked at her reflection in the mirror.
She had aged in just a few short months.
If she could go back and warn herself, she would never have met Franklin.
Because now she mourned his love and loss; she wouldn’t be able to have either in this lifetime.
She wept into her black handkerchief. Amelia and Adesua rushed into the room and held her as she broke down.
Kavita wouldn’t pray this pain on anyone.
She craved his touch. She wanted his smell around her once more.
Her brothers had begged her not to go in case the Mob made an appearance, but she was going to be there no matter what.
Mr. Pierre drove Kavita and her sisters to St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
Wei, being the overprotective brother, drove her brothers in his car.
She thought one day she would be here for her or Amelia’s wedding, but instead of a celebration, it was to mourn the life she could have had.
She took down the lace tulle covering her face.
The moment her heels touched the ground, the crowd screamed their names.
Even in the face of death, they had no sympathy for her.
It was another moment when the rich had lost. A moment for them to use in another gossip column.
A time for the rich to be humbled. Kavita let them believe they were winning by allowing them to see her in despair.
Kavita hoped the church would be filled with people, and indeed it was.
The large white Gothic arches made it feel like heaven.
She hoped Franklin’s heaven was like this.
Small rainbows were cast from the beautiful stained-glass windows.
She did love him, and so did others. She saw the young boys whom he’d gotten out of trouble with the law sitting together, weeping.
The elderly lady who lived across the street from him, Mrs. Tamara; he would get her groceries every week as her health had started to fade.
He was more than his past life with Lucky.
Even if that was how the press portrayed him, she knew he had done more in this life than most. The smell of incense wafted to her nose.
It smelled like sweet honey and lavender.
It wasn’t Franklin’s scent, but she settled for it, as it gave her some peace.
Kavita and her siblings sat in the front row.
None of Franklin’s family showed up, in fear of retaliation by the new leader after Lucky and Franklin had died.
It was seen as an act of disrespect, since Franklin had turned his back on Lucky.
Kavita shook her head at how sad it was that even family would turn on him like this at death.
She knew that even after all the scandals and secrets, her siblings would be there for her, life or death.
The organ player took his seat and started to play, soft and low.
It was a beautiful hymn. The notes reverberated through their lungs.
Oh, how she wished it could bring life into Franklin again.
As the tempo began to quicken just a tad more, she felt her heart race as the priest came to the pulpit.
Father Callaghan gave a head tilt to Kavita in respect of Franklin’s passing.
He was adorned in green-and-gold vestments.
Father Callaghan had been her favorite priest since she was a young girl. She’d always been fond of him and his stoic Irish ways. She knew he was going to have quite the word to say about Franklin, but she hoped he would spare him.
“Franklin Califero was not a person you’d call a saint, by any means. He was many things: a builder, a person who wanted to create a legacy and a family with Kavita Ridley. He died in pursuit of this and protecting the one he loved.”
Whispers and murmurs echoed through the cathedral.
They could whisper all they wanted, but she knew every word he said was true.
Her head felt heavy as she tried to keep it up.
Knowing that Franklin was so close but so far was unimaginable.
If he could only have seen the impact he had in one room.
Franklin would sometimes find himself insecure that he didn’t have the things the Ridleys had, but he had a heart and soul that would have gotten him there. Something her father had lost long ago.
After the service ended, the crowd quickly dispersed, getting out of sight.
No one was sure whether the mobsters from Lucky’s group would be there.
A line of cars waited along Fifth Avenue, with Mr. Pierre in front to escort her.
The drive wasn’t long, but it was the end of their story.
She knew he would have held her hand and said, “This is just a moment in time, my Kavi.”
The Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx was where he would be laid to rest. He would be beside his father, reunited once again.
It pained her that both Franklin and his father had met the same fate.
Kavita wished for a moment that she had been pregnant with Franklin’s child.
She would have had a piece of him in this world.
She cradled her stomach, feeling an emptiness that overwhelmed her body.
The priest stood to the side of the open grave near the tombstone.
His voice trailed through the heavily blowing wind.
He read the final rites. She held a white rose close to her heart, not wanting to release it, as this would be their final thread of love together.
She opened up the locket he’d given her with the pressed marigold flowers and a picture of them.
She kissed it gently as the rose fell from her hand.
Kavita looked to the sky, hoping he knew she didn’t want to leave him.
She looked over at a nearby tree. Two men from the funeral were standing far away, wanting to remain unseen.
When she made eye contact with them, they turned and walked away.
Wei and Henrik stood by Kavita’s side as she walked away from the crowd of people.
The rest of the siblings followed. Omar brushed his hand on her arm, trying to console her.
“I want to say how proud I am of you, Kavita, for how you are handling this,” Wei remarked. “I admit I have been hard on you in the past, but you’re doing great, little sis, and we’ve got you.”
Kavita looked up at her siblings. For the first time, they were acknowledging her together.
She wasn’t being scolded for using her free will to do the things she enjoyed.
They saw her as someone who had grown into a woman and who was now mourning death once again, which they had all experienced. She struggled to fight back tears.
“I think it’s safe to say we put all of this in the past,” Amelia added.
Henrik nodded. “As much as I get tired of cleaning up after your messes, I wouldn’t do it for anyone else,” he said as he gave Kavita a kiss on the forehead.
“Are we all good now?” Diego asked, taking a look at Adesua.
Adesua approached Kavita, giving her a tight hug and spinning her around.
Adesua chuckled quietly. “I think we are.”
The Riverside Park Promenade was golden bright and airy the next morning.
Kavita and her sisters walked together hand in hand.
After Franklin’s death, something had broken in them.
The pride in what they should do to protect only themselves faded away.
Seeing Franklin dead was different from Dale’s death.
Franklin was someone who loved Kavita, and they knew it.
The Hudson River was in their view in the early-morning sky.
She loved being one with nature. She felt like Franklin was now in the wind that blew past them, ruffling the grand trees.
Kavita still wore all black in mourning, but something in her heart felt at peace that the war was over.
A ferry slowly chugged along the river. She wanted the same escape.
Kavita saw the glow in Amelia’s eyes come back.
She had thought she had lost her after Dale’s death.
The warmth in her was there. The last time they’d sat in silence together was when they were young teenagers.
For once, neither one of them had anything to say.
They watched the ducks go silently by them.
Kavita started humming a song called “Bye Bye Blackbird.”
The park wasn’t too busy that Friday morning.
She expected to see more cars out and about, but the quietness around her was much more prominent as her heels crunched the fall leaves beneath her.
Once they made it to the Turtle Pond, there was a handful of people, some feeding the nearby ducks, others reading a book in the shade.
“I don’t want us to keep secrets like this from each other anymore,” Kavita remarked.
“I think we should go back and burn everything, if I am being honest,” Adesua responded.
Kavita had written a letter to each of her siblings, leaving them at their doors. Tonight, on the full moon, they would let everything go. All the pain, the murder, the lies, and the secrets. She was over it, once and for all.
My dearest siblings,
Meet at the lake at 3 am. Tell no one of this. Be discreet, and whatever you do, do not wake Father and Mother.
Yours truly,
Kavita