Chapter 13
The funeral was held on Sunday, a hot, windy day when people were anxious to tend to their yards, visit relatives and friends on nearby farms, and generally do anything but attend a burial.
In spite of these other demands on their time, a small crowd gathered at the grave side. Most were dressed in black, which accounted for the perspiration forming uncomfortably on a number of foreheads, and the services were kept brief.
The Wilsons were there. Carter Wilson seemed more depressed than his wife and son, but he managed to successfully conceal the reason for his grief.
The Andersons were there, properly somber even though Mr. Anderson kept glancing at his watch. Ronnie Anderson cried openly, unable to conceal his feelings, as well as Linda or Bobby.
Mrs. Loud was there, feeling it was expected of her, and hoping she might fasten onto some new gossip. She had heard the vague rumors circulating in the neighborhood the week before, but she had been unable to come by anything she could sink her teeth into. And now the opportunity for a juicy scandal had escaped them all.
Larry Gorman stood next to Carol, listening but not paying any real attention to the preacher's final words. He had mourned privately when Carol called him with the news that fateful night. Although he recognized that his marriage had been under stress for the past few years, Larry had come to believed they could have made a go of it by starting fresh in a new city.
Turning, with Carol still at his side, Larry began accepting the condolences as the small crowd started leaving. His responses were mechanical, but he wanted them to know he appreciated their concern. Finally the crowd had melted away. Larry and Carol were left alone beside the grave. The Wilson family was standing a discreet distance away and the rest had left.
"You look like you need a drink," Larry said softly to Carol.
"Thanks, Larry," Carol replied, "but I'm on the wagon - permanently!"
"Look, you had problems of your own - and then this. Nobody blames you for hitting the bottle a little," Larry said kindly.
"It's not that," Carol sighed. "I guess it's just time I grew up and faced life."
"Few people ever really do, you know," Larry offered.
"Maybe not, but I'm going to give it the old college try," Carol smiled.
"Are you going back to Chuck?"
"Good heavens, no!" Carol said with a bitter laugh. "I don't have to live with a queer to face life, Larry!"
"Just asking, Carol," Larry commented sympathetically. "We've both been through a lot recently, and I wondered what you were going to do."
"How about you?" Carol asked as they began walking slowly back up the drive.
"Oh, I think I'll go ahead with my new job," he sighed. "Turning back now wouldn't help anything. And I don't think it will be good for me to stay here and constantly be reminded of..."
"Christy would have wanted you to go on," Carol cried, "She was so happy and excited about the change."
"Was she really?" Larry asked.
"Yes, Larry, she really was. I know for sure that she had been going through some kind of a personal hell lately, and this was the answer to her dream."
"You two were very close, weren't you?" Larry asked.
"Only for the past few weeks, actually," Carol sighed. "Nobody will ever know how really close we were these past two weeks. We shared everything!"
"I gathered that," Larry said slowly. "You know, you and Chrissy are - were - much alike in so many ways. Oh well ... Carol, I'm going to need some help. I'm supposed to start my new job tomorrow and all of the loose ends here have to be tied up and put away." "I know."
"And I've been wondering if you ... well, if you would want to share in, behalf of Christy, in this whole new life we were to start ..."
"Share in her husband, too?"
"Well, maybe even that ..." Larry replied carefully.
"Larry Gorman! Are you propositioning me?"
"Well ... I mean ..." Larry stammered.
"Only minutes after we buried Christy?" she said with pretended indignation. Then she burst into almost hysterical laughter, bringing tears to her eyes. She covered her face with her gloved hands so that the Wilson family standing discreetly on the other side of the drive couldn't see, and would think she had dissolved into tears of anguish.
"Look, Carol... I mean - please... For Pete's sake, Carol! What's so damned funny? I didn't mean..."
"Yes you did Larry Gorman! And what's so funny is that I was thinking the very same wonderful thought! Maybe you can't understand this, but Christy would be overjoyed to see the two of us screwing ourselves silly right after her funeral!"
"I ... I don't understand ..." Larry said with a faltering voice.
Carol leaned over and whispered in his ear. "Knock off the shit, Larry," she said softly. "I can see your hard-on pressing against your pants! Come on, let's see if we can pick up the bits and pieces of our damn lives and begin having a ball!"
Carol linked her arm in his and they fell into step as they walked toward the waiting black limo. As they crossed the drive, Mrs. Wilson approached them.
"I just wanted you both to know how sorry I am," Mrs. Wilson said in a gushy voice.
"Thank you," Larry replied automatically. "She was so young!" Mrs. Wilson persisted. "And so pretty! And Christine was a kind woman - you know, she was absolutely wonderful with young people!"
It was all Carol could do, but she managed to keep a straight face.
"Yes," Carol said softly, "Christy was marvelous with them all."
"She certainly had a knack," Mrs. Wilson sighed.
"Yes, Christy was good with them," Carol said enigmatically as she held onto Larry's arm and walked toward the black limousine.