Can You Catch My Heart

Book One

Buckets Of Blessings

Chapter Eight

By

Retta Michaels

Disclaimer:

If your laws do not allow you to read this story, then don't. All the rest of you people who read it, if you think it's true, boy, have I investment opportunities for you!

Notes From Retta:

One thing I've learned while writing is to get the details down of daily life. When I write something over a longer period of time, I'm not so good. Most of my writing is about a specific period of time.

It's my hope you realize the characters are fictional. They have quirks and ignorance's just like anyone else. Please don't try to write to me and tell me something is wrong with them. TO ME, they're FICTIONAL characters. TO ME, they're perfect as they are. If your world is so dull you have to correct a FICTIONAL CHARACTER, then get a life and don't bother to read my stories.

If you can accept this, read and enjoy.

Chapter 8:

The press conference sent the news into the Wheel of Fortune time. They rolled without commercial interruption because Mitch would not stop talking. Gregg started talking and then, turned it over to Mitch. Mitch started talking and he laid all the bad news out there to the point if I was an investor in the company, I'd be selling pennies on the dollar to get the hell away from it. To say the news loves a train wreck is an understatement. When they go over into Wheel of Fortune and don't apologize is unheard of. They did it not only then, but did it again and flew on in past Leno's monologue at the ten o'clock news.

What was funny was off camera stood Mitch's lawyer, the business' lawyer, and a lawyer I found in Quincy by the name of O'Connell All of them smiled and gave thumbs up as everything said and names used were all true. Mitch in his statements took no prisoners and sent home no bodies. He slashed and burned the others in the fox holes.

I had the guys cell phones in my pockets for fear they were going to answer them. The vibrations I felt were enough to keep a smile on my face. When the interview was concluding, Mitch in a move of showmanship, calmly went over to the truck and said, “Guys, it's now time to deliver some beer.”, then the camera went black.

When the interview was over, I went to the lawyers and said, “You field the phone calls and you decide how much you want to ask when we countersue their threats of lawsuits. I want you to name one hundred times what their yearly incomes are and then, tell them you'll ask for punitive damages on top of that.

They smiled and I said, “Go to work, you're getting paid a percentage.” It was like trying to walk three pit bulls and they see a poodle and letting them go. None of them even attempted to strike out at each other, but they definitely let the Mary Lou and her son know they were toast.

Ty said he had to discuss some things with his dad and brother and I told him, I'd meet him at home. I drove home and had just snuggled under the down comforter when the front door slammed and I heard running up the stairs. He came into the bedroom and dove onto the bed.

“How'd I know you were going to be here!” He said with a huge smile on his face.

“Well, it's not hard to figure. My clothes led the trail to me.”

He said, 'You're nude under there?”

“Most likely because I sure feel that way.”

“Oh man, do we have time for a quickie?”

“No, but if you make it fast, we have have a longy.”

He laughed and said, “Well, I'm coming under those covers and whatever I find is going down my throat.”

“Ooh stinkie toes, watch out!”

He began laughing and said, “You're crazy.”

“No, just that way for you stud puppy.”

“Yeah and I'm that way for you love bunny.”

“ooh, that's the spot, yeah, right there”

He began nibbling and soon I was lost in the rapture brought by his mouth..

When we were done making love, he said, “I can't believe I ate the whole thing” like an old commercial. It was funny because I had just begun to sing the plop plop fizz fizz song when the phone rang.

He rolled over and answered and said, “Sure, you can have him I just wore that thing out!”

“Who is it!”

“Oh, get on the phone and find out.”

“He...Hello....Stop it!”

“You ok over there?”

“Who is this?”

“Well, if it were the evening news, I'd say we had another scoop.”

I took a look at the number and saw it was Joan's house.

“I'm sorry, but the caller I.D. Says it's Joan's house, but you sure aren't Joan and Mark's not going to talk about scoops unless he's dressed as the Baskin Robbin's man, so which one are you?”

He started laughing and said, “Jake, Did you know Dad dresses like the Baskin Robbins man for mom!”

“Oh no, Mark!”

“Yeah, hey stud, I hear my cousin got himself a catch, so I called to see if it was true.”

“No, he never caught me, we're still running around the house naked. Hear me running!”

“No”

“Well damn, I guess he caught me”

He started laughing and said, “I'm supposed to call you as I hear all of us have a trip with you guys tonight.”

“Yeah, we're going to the arcade.”

“Why”

“Well, so we can all talk and get away with murder and do something fun.”

“What do you want to talk about?”

“Well, I'd talk about having sex with your cousin, but he's already wore my ass out. So, I'd say we're going to talk about your love life.”

“Oh”

“Oh...that's it....Oh!”

“Well, I already told mom and she knows and Dad's cool with it, so there's not much to tell. I'm seeing someone and he was supposed to come home with me, but the last minute he backed out.”

“Oh”

“See, now you've said it. That's my love life. It's like the fucking Oprah channel....Oh”

I laughed and said, “Well, is it love like Tom Cruise jumping on the sofa love, or is it Love like Oprah loves Steadman, or is it Love like......”

“Well, to interrupt you, I think it's love like Caspar the fucking friendly ghost. About the time I think it's there, it runs out of the room scared.”

“Oh”

“Yeah, so I think I came out of the closet for the guy and he's shagged ass gone.”

“Well, we'll get you laid hon.”

“No, I'm not really interested in that.”

“Not interested in sex! Are you sure you're a member of that family!”

“He laughed and said, “Well, I put my Chippendale costume on and it's like I went out and a one handed man tried giving me applause. All I felt was the wind from the lack of it.”

“Ooh, bummer dude. You gotta get your ass over here because we'll watch you and beat ourselves blind. Then, the hands reaching out for you will be to feel the dots to see if we can read you.”

He laughed and said, “Oh man,” that was funny.”

“Yeah, I tried to cheer you up.”

“Well, where do you live so Jake and I can come over and play.”

I gave him the address and he said, “Where the hell is that?”

“Well, follow the road out by Caseys and then turn right. Out where a field used to be, is now a bunch of new houses. If you go and see the new hospital, then you've went too far. Turn around and we're on the left. If you went to far and see Casey's, turn around and we're on the right. Eventually, you'll see the road. It's in the old field where there's a bunch of new houses.”

He laughed and said, “Oh man, you've got to give Jake those directions. I'll get lost for sure.”

“Hello” said a deeper huskier voice.

“Hi Jake, man oh man I've been dying to meet you.”

“Huh”

“Yeah, you write stories and plays huh?”

“Yeah,”

“Cool”

“You think so?”

“Yeah, and from what I hear, everyone likes them, so I've wanted to meet you.”

“You're not going to try to pull anything are you.”

“You want me to pull something, I'm your man. If you don't want me to pull it, then leave it tucked in.”

“Huh”

Ty's face was red as a beet and said, “Let me have that phone.”

“Jake, you know where Veterans is out past Caseys? Well drive out and it's on the right in the new housing complex. When you see the house that looks really old, you've got us. Just pull in the driveway and honk.”

He hung up and said, “You pull that on Jake, he'll write that into a story. You've got to be careful with him.”

“I thought for a minute I was dealing with a box of rocks.”

“No, Jake's different. Follow my lead on him. With Mark, you'll have him in stitches. With Jake, he'll sit back and remember everything you said and then will go home and write a story about what you said. Then, he'll act out the characters and it'll be perfectly you. It's strange because he's got a very very dry stale dry Sahara dry sense of humor but when he's acting, you're not going to see that person at all. You'll see a caricature of yourself.”

“Oh, that might be good, but that might irk the hell out of me.”

“Well, just give him a chance. I think you'll like him.”

“Ok, you want to call Gregg and Heather and have them over?”

“I don't know. I'll tell you why. Gregg will be in and be all protective of Jake. You won't get to know him at all. Jake's a good guy, but Gregg's like really possessive of him.”

“Gregg said Jake didn't take any shit off him.”

“No, because Jake turned Gregg back on himself. He played Gregg's character back to him and it blew Gregg away.”

“Oh, so what's the real Jake like.”

“As I said, Dry as a stale cracker.”

“Ok, well, let's get up and pick my clothes up so they don't see Longfellow.”

“Oh, I don't know Mark might like that.”

“No, Mark sounded depressed at hell because his lover played a Tony on him.”

“What!”

“Yeah, when it was time to meet the family, the guy backed out.”

“Oh, I thought you meant.”

“No, but Mark sounds like he's depressed.”

“Well, Mark won't stay that way for long. He's too extroverted.”

“Well, Neither want to go to the arcade and to be honest, I think they'd not be that much fun to take there. It's sounding like I'd rather spend the evening at the funeral home.”

“Oh, well, that might be cool. We do need to go down there and get it ready.”

“Not”

“Why not?”

“We're supposed to get to know them and like them. That's hardly the place to take someone for a fun filled night.”

“Oh man, you don't see if for all the neat stuff.”

“Let's see, a million pink roses. Mark might like it, but I think Jake would take up acting the part of your mom.”

“That'd be funny.”

“No, because I think your mom and I might get along better.”

“Give him a chance.”

“I will, what's Jake going to do when he starts acting the part of me and I start acting the part of me up against the part he's acting. Is he going to act the part of me acting the part of him acting the part of me.”

“Huh”

“Now you sound like family.”

“Ooh, I'm gonna get you for that.....wow, what a sexy ass.”

“You think?”

“Yeah, I think.”

“Well you gotta catch it.”

He proceeded to chase me through the house and had me pinned up against the refrigerator when the door bell rang. I looked at him and said, “Damn, that was fast.”

“Can't be them, no one could drive that fast.”

“Well, throw me my clothes quick.”

“How about if I throw you your clothes slow and answer the door quick. Then, I'd get to see you dress super fast.”

“You do and I'........Oh hi ya'll.”

Heather entered and all she saw was the Longfellow serenade. She turned around and Gregg walked on in.

“So, I see you two are running around the house again naked.”

“It's not like we do it all the time. Heck, we got to stay home for that.”

I tucked everything in and Heather turned back around. Gregg's eyes never left me as he went on over and sat on the sofa. I sure hope he got an eyeful.

Heather went over and sat with Gregg and Ty came over and sat on the arm of my chair with me. He said, “Mark and Jake are on their way out.”

“Oh”

“Mark's depressed because he got stood up by his guy on the trip home.”

Gregg caressed Heather's back and said, “Well, maybe he needs to find someone else. It sure doesn't sound like the Mark we know.”

“No, but I think he liked this guy.”

“He likes them all.”

“It's not like he screws the football team Gregg.” The tone of Ty's voice had an edge to it which put me on alert.

“No, but two trips home and two guys, give him enough trips home and he will have.”

“No, we're going to have to find him someone and then, he'll be happy.”

“Nah, all Mark has to do is go to the grocery store and he'll find someone. Remember that trip when he saw those two guys name tags, Neil and Bob?”

“Yeah and then he went home with Bob!” Ty's voice lost the edge and sounded happier which was good.

“Yeah, but it was funny because I sure never caught it. As soon as Mark saw it, he was falling into the candy rack laughing.”

“I bet those guys never worked together again.”

I interrupted and said, “So, what are we going to do tonight?”

Gregg looked at Heather, “Babe?”

She looked at me and said, “Well, I thought we were going to the arcade, but we could go to the funeral home and help.”

Ty smiled and said, “That's two votes!”

I placed my hand on Ty's ass and he said, “But then again if Lance wants to stay home and get frisky, then I could be persuaded.”

I smiled and Gregg started laughing. Gregg said, “Lance, would you come out front?”

I looked at him and said, “Sure, but what for?”

“Because I need to speak with you.”

“Ok, be right there. I gotta get shoes on. He might try to keep me barefoot and all the rest, but you guys need to take lessons.”

Gregg smiled and said, “Who's to say I didn't teach my brother a lesson or two.”

So help me, I wanted to say, “Well, he really knows how to play the organ” but I didn't.

Heather saw me swallow and smiled. She said, “hon, you gotta stop that. Lance could have really gotten you there.”

“What could he have said?”

I looked at Gregg and said, “Little Brother, you really don't know how you leave yourself open to my wicked little sense of humor.”

He smiled and said, “Well come on, I've been waiting all night.”

I slipped my foot into the last shoe and said, “Ok, I'm on my way. Damn, impatient children.”

I stepped out the front door and as soon as I saw it, I froze. Gregg held out the keys and said, “It doesn't have everything on it yet, but it's paid for to get the turbos.”

Tears stung my eyes and I said, “Oh man.....what year is it?”

“It's brand new”

“Oh man, I've never had a new 'Vette before!”

I ran over and as soon as I opened the door, the smell of the leather hit me. Heather came out the front door and said, “You really need to thank someone in here for it. He's worried you would feel offended.”

I left the door standing wide open and ran into the house. Ty was standing there with a strange look on his face and I lifted him into a hug. “You like it?”

“Babe, I love you. I like it.”

He smiled and said, “You never say you want anything, so I decided to get it for you.”

“Thank you babe.”

He smiled and said, “Well, let's go take it for a quick ride. I hope you don't mind, but I got a convertible. I figured if you were going to get one given to you, I better get one I'd like to drive in case you didn't like it.”

“Oh hon, smell that leather!”

“Yeah, it's like an aphrodisiac, huh.”

“Better than that. The squeak of my ass on the seat and the smell of leather and I'll come home wanting you something awful.”

“Well, promise me later and we'll ride around the block every night.”

“Oh hon, all we have to do is go to the garage and we'll be making out on the hood.”

“That's better yet!”

I said, “The button doesn't open the garage. I'll have to get the right opener.”

He looked at it and said, “They never put batteries in!”

“Well, we'll have them fix it.”

“Spend that much for a car and they don't pay a dollar for batteries. Take it back!”

“no”

“Ok, all that motion on the hood might make the door go up and down.”

I laughed and said, I need to get out and thank them, but you realize we don't have a vehicle here to take them home. Both of ours has just two seats.”

“Are you on call tonight?”

“Ummm, yeah.”

“Oh man, that's going to suck.”

“Nah, it's not like we get many calls.”

And that folks is what they say are famous last words. Just when it seems like you never get a call, you get four in one night. By the next morning, I was so bleary eyed, I was a walking zombie. Ty went with me and he really didn't look much better than I. It seemed we'd just get laid down and snuggled and the next one would occur. We had two house deaths where old people passed away, a semi truck overturn full of hogs and if you ever want to see a bloody mess, there you go, and a pickup at the hospital. Ty looked at me after the night and asked, “Is it always like this?”

“No, it's never been like this. Kind of makes you really want to go into the business, huh?”

“Well, I'd say business is picking up, you're now at sixteen and you're not through with the second month!”

“We hon, we.”

He smiled and said, “Well, teach me what I need to know.”

“First of all, you've got to wear comfortable shoes. Those there aren't good for anything.”

“These are Nike's”

“Yeah, and try climbing an embankment in them and you'll skate to the bottom in them. You need a pair of hiking boots that are black.”

“Why black?”

“Because they go with the black pants.”

“Oh, ok.”

“Then, you need a nice polo shirt and a black jacket. I'll order you a jacket that has the funeral home's new logo on it when we figure out what that will be. I don't want GT because that's too much like a car.”

He thought for a moment and said, “How about the carriage bars with G and T on each side of it?”

“That sounds nice.”

“Yeah, it's a shame we can't have the same name like if we got married.”

“Yeah, but if I did that, my brothers would have a different last name than me.”

“No, I'd drop mine.”

“No, I love your family too much to have you do that.”

“Well, we're hyphenated in the name, so we'd do that.”

“Sounds cool.”

It was funny because after each little conversation, we were running to each other for a hug and a kiss. He learned embalming that night and surprisingly, he never got grossed out. He said, “Is that all there is to it?”

“Yeah, when there's not a bunch of holes to patch up.”

“Oh, so was mom bad?”

“Ty, I won't answer that.”

“Well, you wouldn't let me watch.”

“Ty, not ever gonna happen. I love you too much for that.”

He smiled and said, “Well, I'm learning now.”

The next two came so close together, we didn't have time for embalming. Then, when we got back, he was prepping one while I was embalming the other when we got the phone call from the hospital. He went with me and I introduced him to the security man at the hospital. I told the security man there should be a pass for him already made and he was surprised to see one. Thank goodness Joan's thorough.

Ty had learned a lot that night and I was happy. He now knew the business as well as could be expected and what else there was, could be caught by repetition.

When we went upstairs, the place was adorned with so many flowers wall space was at a minimum everywhere He and I walked around and and just oohed and awed. What was interesting was an elaborate display of a huge eight foot by eight foot spray that had a miniature Draft Horse in front of a sunburst done up in carnations tinted pink pulling a hitch that wasn't shown. Each radiating beam from behind the horse had hollyhocks either tinted in yellow, gold, or white. I was so impressed with the display I went and got my digital camera for the capture. Ty stood there with tears in his eyes and read the card. I expected it to be from the brewery, but when he handed it to me, I looked at it. “To My Loving Wife, Mitch” That's when I started to cry.

Ty and I went on into the chapel and the explosion of flowers were amazing. I said, “Ty, come here, I need to show you where the air scrubbers are and how to do the air handling system.”

He went with me and said, “It's upstairs?”

“Yeah, back here in the room with the panel. We went in and the coldness of the room surprised him. He said, “It's cold in here!”

“Yeah, it chills the air to get it down to be scrubbed. Warm air holds onto mold and allergens. Cold air doesn't.”

“I didn't know that.”

“That's why you don't see mold deep in caves. You'll see it where there's warmer air, but not deep. Those tubes up and over there are the lights that clean the air first. Then, it goes over to these which are the electronic filters. You pull these babies up like this and you wash them over in that utility tub there. That Ajax and Ammonia mixed together in the water, kills anything on them so your hands don't carry anything around. Then, you pop them back in here and snap that back into place. Then, the air goes over to this big mama which is the HEPA filter.”

“Man, that's huge!”

“Yeah, and believe it or not, it's not surprisingly expensive, but you'll be amazed at how much it still catches. When it comes in it weighs like this. See how light. And when we haul that thing out, it goes out in that cart there. They don't make a trash bag big enough for this thing, so the trash man's ok with me using a body bag as long as I label it with that white marker over there HEPA filter. He doesn't want the dump to think they're getting a body.”

“How heavy is it.”

“Well, come here and I'll show you. That empty one weighs ten pounds. It's two foot by six and nine inches deep. This full one slides out on that glide down there and don't trip on it, but have that cart hand because this baby if it falls will clog you up faster than the next breath. You tilt it upon there....ugh.....see, and you pull that over there. Don't put that bag on yourself. I'll help. If that thing falls on you, you'll probably stay there until I find you.”

“How much does it weigh.”

“Approximately three hundred to four hundred pounds.”

“Wow”

“Yeah, those flowers downstairs. And, because all of them are down there, we'll probably have to change this new one tomorrow.”

“What?!”

“Yeah, it's catching ppms which are parts per million. That means a million of them per inch. The air downstairs will be about twenty times cleaner than it is outside, so keep the doors shut. We're not paying to clean the outside.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah, but hon, we'll order more HEPAs and get those in next week. We'll have three more funerals and probably that fourth between now and then.”

“Man, we're going to be busy.”

“Yeah, This one here of you moms seems slow, but those down there will seem like they're in fast forward. Two will be on Friday and the other is Saturday, so far.”

“How will you know what to schedule.”

“I'll give you a clue. We're going to St. Louis on Thursday, so whichever doesn't have a viewing will get the Friday funerals. The one that gets the viewing will get Saturday's.”

“What if they have viewings?”

“Well, we bump the ones that have viewings to Saturday and when that fills, I'll go to Sunday afternoon. We have a family and it's priority. Now, if Sunday fills, then we'll have to stay home on Thursday.”

“Oh”

“Yeah, so we bump and fill.”

He nodded and I said, “So, we've already embalmed and now, it's pretty much a thing of the obits and picks. We'll go to the office and we'll start the obits. I like to have them filled in by the time the family gets here and then all it requires is fill in the blanks for their civic organizations, church names, etc...etc...”

“So, when the person walks through the door, you're already steps ahead in the game.”

“Yeah, come on, and I'll show you. An obituary is easy.”

We went downstairs and into the office and I showed him on the overhead monitor how it was done.”

“So, you've already got a “Text” document started for these.”

“Yeah, all it requires is fill in the blanks and deleting the rest of the line.”

“Cool”

“Yeah, and then you read off the death cert what the person's name and city is. Then, you put the age and date of birth and date of death. Then, put age. I used to have a program that did age automatically, but it was real tedious. I got to the point I could do it faster in my head. If you want to use the program, it's over here in the programs file under Age Calculator. What you do is put in the calendar day and then scroll for the year of birth and then do the same for today's date. It'll tell you years lived and days lived. You don't put the days unless it's a baby.”

“Oh man, I never thought of that.”

“Yeah, sad sad sad....what you didn't see up there is baby caskets and that's because they're under the big ones. I don't put them out because I'll tell you it's ultra depressing. You don't often see me cry at a funeral, but you'll see me ducking out often with a baby. When you do, step in for me and I'll do the same for you.”

“Ok”

But, one thing you don't do is you try not to cry in front of the family. I don't care if you're in mid sentence, you step out of the room. They can see your eyes red and watery, but you're there to hold it together for them. If they see you losing it, then I'll tell you, you'll have a blubbering mess in that chapel and you'll probably have some fights on your hands.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, decorum says people have to hold it together emotionally. If you lose it, then it starts dominoes falling and you'll have a mess. If a fight breaks out, you tell the family to stand back and you hit that panic button. Your job is to protect the body at all costs, however, you never ever ever close that casket with the family in the room. The only time you do that is if the sprinklers malfunction and you're doing it and shoving the casket out the door. The sprinklers are on several circuits here, so don't be afraid to have a viewing out in that rotunda. I've had smaller ones there and it's worked. I didn't like it, but when that big room is too much for three or four people, then, it's ok.”

“Oh”

“Yeah, and when we get the addition put on, you'll have two smaller rooms over there. We'll have big, medium, and small. If we ever get to the point of needing several big, then I'll tell you the town's gotten a whole lot bigger than we'll ever see.”

“Will Quincy's be that big?”

“Possibly. What I'm thinking there is having a different design over there and having six chapels. Two of each. What you'll see is this home with wings on each side.”

“Nice”

“Yeah, and it'll look antebellum instead of Queen Anne.”

“Cool”

“Yeah, I've still got it in my head, but I've been thinking.”

“Well, you just describing it has given me ideas.”

“Yeah, but Ty, what we've got to do is have parking space over there. They turn out enmasse over there and I don't want to ever go to the street to park. If we ever have to do that, we're in trouble.”

“Why?”

“That street's too busy for one and the chances of someone being hit and killed at a funeral are two. Nothing's going to hurt me more than if someone has that happen at a funeral.”

“Has it happened before?”

“Oh man, the horror stories are many. You talk about it happening, it's happened. From trains hitting funeral processions to semi's cresting hills and running smack dab on a funeral turning it into a grave yard. You want to talk about bedlam, I just can't imagine, but if it ever happens, I'll tell you something and that's to protect the body at all costs. Then, the family, and then the attendees. In that order.”

“Ok, but why?”

“Well, do you want the God's honest truth?”

“Yeah”

“Well, as long as there's a body, there's an income. As long as there are people to pay for the funeral, you've got an income. The attendees don't pay for a funeral, so they're expendable.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah, it's cold, but that's the facts. You got to leave your emotions at the door on this.”

“Ok”

“No, I'll rephrase that. In front of the families, you leave your emotions at the door. In front of me, you can do whatever and I'll support you. We're going to see things that you'll just fall down crying. I had a baby once that was beat so bad that I just held that body and cried. The mama went to jail and grandma wasn't much better, but we made it. What really pissed me off was the drugs in that chapel during that viewing. When I saw it, I hit the panic button and finally, I told the grandma that if I had to shut down the viewing one more time, I'd close the doors and she and I would have a funeral. She understood, but the attendees were all out there hawking their wares.”

“I think I heard about that one. Wasn't that the one the mother was trying to take the baby to her mom's house and the taxicab driver saw the baby and told her she was taking the baby to the hospital?”

“Yeah, sometimes I wonder what would have happened if he'd not noticed the baby looking as bad as it was.”

“Well, was it bad to embalm?”

“It was terrible. The little body had bruises and was so messed up in the facial features I really wanted a closed casket. The gram wanted an open body, I think, to show everyone what she did to it so she could never say it wasn't beaten that bad.”

“Smart woman.”

“Smart, but sometimes you need to leave a little to imagination. That's probably the most graphic I'll ever have a funeral.”

“Oh man.”

“Yeah, and if you'll notice Ty, we probably aren't going to see many black funerals in here after that one because word got out I was a racist. That's bullshit, but I admit I'm prejudiced against drugs being hawked and used in my funeral home. If they can't do that shit out there on the street, then fuck 'em. No, not all of them did it, but the young ones that were the offenders went out and acted like I was racist. The older family members all came up and told me I did the right thing. It's terrible but I pity everyone out there in the projects. White, blacks, and poor, all have a hell of a problem out there. It's not blacks and it's not whites. It's the young versus the old. Drugs have taken over and the police don't have a clue.”

“Not all young use drugs.”

“No, and I know that. Those that don't stand tall and I'll be the first to give accolades. They know I'm not racist and they know where I stand.”

“You got your feelings hurt, didn't you?”

“Yeah, and I'll tell you why.”

“Down the street, you have a funeral home that will take a body in and do a funeral for poor people. He's a great guy and he does the monthly payment plan I do. BUT, he charges interest a credit card company would be proud to get. That's twenty eight percent interest hon. Me, I don't charge a penny interest and yet, I'm a racist.”

“Well, they'll come back.”

“I don't want them back if they want to do that stuff in a funeral home.”

“Well, I agree there.”

“You want to know what's funny in a way?”

“What?”

“After being labeled a racist, you'd be amazed at how many of them punks thought they'd drive by and throw rocks through my pretty plate windows. Don't you know they were surprised when the windows bounced them off.”

“How'd you know they did?”

“Ty, first of all, you won't find a rock, brick or anything on the property. Second of all, I walk this property every morning and most of the time several times a day. Trash makes it look unsightly and I don't want it said I didn't have a nice home. When I walk out there, and see a brick laying under a window, I come in and watch video. I call the police and I show them the tape. They said, “Get us a license number and we'll go get them, so, I put up twelve more cameras. By then, they've realized they're not going to get the windows broke and they gave up.”

He smiled and said, “Well, you've got more video than most places around here, so you've got plenty to watch for when times are slow.”

“They're never that slow. I've got a house with television and I've got Railroad Tycoon on the computer.”

He smiled and said, “Any other games.”

“No, but if you want them, install them. All I expect is when you load a video presentation into the system in the chapel, someone's not seeing your latest battle of the dragon lords or whatever.”

He smiled and said, “Man, that's so not right.”

“I wouldn't think either because the kids might appreciate it, but grandma might yell out, “turn that thing down!”

“So what else needs to be done.”

“Well, for one thing, we've got to have like two bottles of Soft Soap out per basin tonight and I want a box of Kleenex every four feet on them pews. I want one within reach of everyone.”

“When are we going to put mom's casket up there?”

“I'll put it up there about three pm. You'll be at home getting ready.”

“Lance, let me help.”

“There'll be other funerals.”

He looked at me and said, “Ok, now, what you've not done is showed me where mom is. Could you do that?”

“Ok, I'll do that. You never saw because I distracted you. If you notice, there's the big morgue that's holding the twelve down there. Then, there's the little one that we put the bodies in that don't have caskets. Then, there's the vault morgue that is locked down.”

“Why's it locked down?”

“I'll tell you. Your mom has jewelry on. Not much, but some. Because of that, I have the locked vault. The entire casket goes in there and it's locked before it goes in. Then, the whole vault is locked. Right now, it can hold two bodies. When we add on, we'll have it holding four. It's reinforced concrete and the entire weight of this building could collapse on it and your mom would still be ok. The beauticians know where the keys are and where they do make up has eight cameras in it. They'll not take a think from that body that won't be recorded. They know that and I show them that. They either agree by those terms, or they don't go in there. So, as I said, that vault is locked and then that room is locked where it's located. The embalming room is locked and that's another door outside of the embalming room. Not one person in this place is going to accidentally find themselves in the embalming room or that vault room. If they say they've been there, I want to know their name and I want them sitting in front of me and the police called. I'll press trespass charges and I can guarantee you they'll come off that statement, or they'll face charges.”

“Do you have video in the embalming room?”

“No, privacy issues. I don't want anyone to say I videoed a naked dead body. Too many things could be misconstrued and that's not happening.”

“Ewww.”

“Yeah, so that's why there's not video there.”

“Have you ever had anything come up missing?”

“Not here, but where I interned they did. That's why I've got the video I do. I'll show you where the eyes are in the casket area that protect the body. While I'm thinking of it, let's go check it now. I want you to see it so you know.”

We went in and I said, “Ok, there's an imaginary line right here. See where that carpet changes?”

“Yeah, that's a different roll.”

“That's there so you and I know behind that line is where the beams are that are an alarm system for the body.”

“What if someone breaks it?”

“I'll explain it to everyone tonight, but first of all, for someone to stick their hand in that casket is uncalled for. They'll break the beam If they want a photo or memorance to go in the casket, you guys tell me and I'll break the beam and I'll shut the alarm system down in front of everyone so they see it's on and active. Now, if someone breaks the beam, you'll not hear an alarm, but you will hear a real faint chime. Wait and I'll activate it, but first move that flower forward about six inches. Ok, now, take a look over there in the curtain. Now, part it and pull those mirrors out...just the mirror and not the whole stick it's attached to. When the curtain moves, those are on hinges attached to the walls and the curtain will push it back. We pull it through the curtain and if you pay close attention, the curtains aren't anything but strips of material a foot wide. They look solid, but that's because they overlap.”

“Cool”

“Now, what you do, is you put on these glasses and you can see the beams. You see them?”

“Yeah, they're all over the place. How'd you get the one's that are up and down?”

“In the floor where that carpet seem is, you'll see it's where the beam comes up. On the ceiling is the receptor. Over here, I've got the beam and you've got the receptor, so what you so is put it so the receptor catches the beam. Yeah, like that.”

“It's easy.”

“Yeah, and it's not going to ever be hard.”

Now, step forward and you'll see what the presentation will look like with the glasses on and with them off.

“Man, no one could stick an arm throught there.”

“Right. I pride myself on having it and don't mind people knowing I've got it. Now, what we've got to do is we've got to adjust video heads.”

“Where they at?”

“Well, the one's in the ceiling are stationary, Over there, there, and there are the ones which will be on your mom from the top. Over there..one second, now you see it?”

“It's little”

“Yeah, and up there and over here are the ones on this side Now, if you'll take this step stool, you'll see the ones up where you need to pull them through on that side.”

“So you've got nine camera's on mom?”

“Well, really eight, but what I'll do Ty is I'll run back and forth and adjust them to where they show everything. No one will take a thing from that casket without it being recorded.”

He smiled and said, “Well, she'd rip their arm off too.”

“She would've but now it's our job to protect her.”

“You just said that to emphasize to me she's gone.”

“Yeah. From this point on, in the way I talk to you guys, it'll be not talking about what she would have done, and it'll be to subtly tell you she's gone. I'm telling you upfront, but I won't come right out and tell your dad and brother. It's a psychological nudge to get ready for tomorrow.”

“Ok”

“Tomorrow's going to be tough Ty. I'll tell you now. Right now, you're still wanting to see your mom. You'll see her tonight, and then tomorrow, she'll be gone forever. I know you might say you're prepared for it, but I'll tell you that now. It's hard. With my parents, I never got closure. I never got that final visitation. My closed casket is up here because when a jet explodes, you don't get a body back.”

He nodded and I said, “Come here hon.”

He came over and I hugged him. Somewhere I smelled coffee brewing and I said, “Heather's up”

“How do you know?”

“Smell the coffee?”

“No, all I can smell are roses and you.”

I chuckled and said, “Maybe it's me, but a little change in this place after a while, and I can smell it.”

“You're telling me I will too.”

“Yeah, and one other thing Ty.”

“Hmmm”

“Downstairs, if you ever smell ammonia really really strong, you don't even go into look to see what it is, you go call the fire department and tell them we've got a toxic body.”

“What's that mean?”

“OK, here's another lesson on drugs. When people brew meth, and/or they've taken meth for a long time, the chemicals in their body and on them will not jive with the embalming fluid. Sometimes, they use embalming fluid in the manufacture of it and a body will go toxic with the embalming fluid in their system. You'll see me take breaks and walk over to mark on that pad I write on. Did you notice I write on two pads in that room?”

“Yeah, why?”

“So I've got to take breaks and I've got to go from pad to pad. If I just did things one right after the other, I'd go to one pad and do check, check, check , and check. Instead, I do something and then go check. Then, I come back and I do something and then go to the other and check. The reason is I'm not standing over that body and I'm not inhaling any fumes if it goes toxic. So, if you smell ammonia, evacuate the building and call the fire department on your way out. You'll not get a chance to walk out of that room Ty, you'll be dead.”

“It's that bad?”

“Yeah, and it's that lethal. You'll see a body come out of there that's glowing and smoking.”

“Have you had one?”

“Not here, but in school, we had one that sent four people to the hospital. I was lucky as I hadn't entered the room yet. When they took that body out, I saw it and I smelled it. I won't forget that smell and I won't forget how close I came to losing friends.”

He looked at me and said, “How will I know?”

“First of all, you won't be embalming bodies. You and I will never get to the point where I love you enough to give up my license over you. Second of all, I love you enough to not allow you to embalm and be there with you. I'll smell it hopefully, and I'll have advanced notice. If not, then the smell is straong ammonia and you don't go near it.”

“Ok”

“I'm trying to tell you things Ty, that I hope will sink in. I know you're not going to remember it all, but over time of doing it day after day, you'll have it down. If not, in on the computer is a check list of what to do.”

“What do I do if you're sick and can't embalm a body?”

“You call one of the other guys that are on our list of people that are on call. If they don't do it, then you let me know and I'll come up off a death bed to go kick his ass. I watch out for those guys when they take vacations and when they have sickness and death in their families. I expect them to do likewise. On this funeral here, I skated so far into the gray area, you wouldn't believe how far in I was. One of the first things Ben did was ask me if I was too close. I'll tell you now, if I ever met your mom once in life, I wouldn't have done the funeral.”

“Why?”

“I'd be too close.”

“Your aunt wants to have her funeral done here. And, that's fine. I'll tell you now, the funeral will be held here, but it won't be done by me. I'll oversee everything she wanted, but I won't be doing it. Somehow, I know she wants me to have the business because she knows I'll pay attention to the details, but how would you feel if your aunt or uncle was seeing your body naked and dead?”

“Oh man.”

“Yeah, so that's why I won't do it. I love them and I respect them too much. That's why I won't let you go see your mom.”

He nodded and said, “I understand now.”

“Well, I knew you would, but Ty, know it's because I loved you enough not to tell you all this until I knew you could handle it.”

“I understand now. I was really not understanding earlier and that's why I asked where she was.”

“I know and I'll tell you now that you to go see the casket and to bring it up would be too much. You still want your mom in a small way and you being alone with the body and moving it in here would have you just a mess.”

“Ok”

We stood there and hugged and I heard Heather say behind me, “You know, he taught me to stand and hug and talk like that.”

“No, don't believe her, she taught me that.”

“Oh pfft....you did it that one day you came over and was in my bedroom. You stood there and I hugged you and then you stood there an hugged me and started talking. Then, an hour later, we were still standing there hugging.”

“Did you hear her? She said she came over and hugged me first.”

He smiled and said, “I heard you Heather. You started it.”

“Well, he did. I was just going to hug him and then, he started the hug and talk.”

“Well come here hon, and we'll all hug and talk.”

Ty looked at me and I brought her into the hug. He smiled and said, “It can be done.”

She smiled and said, “Wow, you figured it out so you could include us all in it.”

“Well, when Gregg gets up, he can join.”

“No, because by then, I'll have my third cup of coffee. He sleeps in really late.”

Ty smiled and said, “Gregg wakes up every day at seven fifteen on the button. You could set your clock by him. If he went to bed at seven fourteen, he'd be up at seven fifteen.”

Heather said, “Really?”

“Yeah, watch the clock and you'll see. I could tell you more, but it'd get personal.”

She smiled and said, “Tell me!”

“No, you'll learn it. It's funny how methodical he is. He's always that way. Every day, he'll get up go to the bathroom, turn on the light, turn on the water, and then go pee. Then, he'll wash his hands turn OFF the water, open the medicine cabinet, get out his toothbrush, turn ON the water, rinse the brush, Turn OFF the water, and then put the toothpaste on. He'll then turn ON the water and brush his teeth. Then, he'll put water in his mouth to rinse and then turn OFF the water. One day, for like the twentieth day in a row, I said, “Gregg, why do you let the water run while you brush your teeth?” He had nerve enough to tell me he didn't. He says he saves water. I say he wears out a faucet.”

Heather laughed and said, “Yeah, and you know he never shuts a door when he pees, but will lock it when he does anything else in there?”

Ty laughed and said, “Heather, he'll never use air freshener or the exhaust fan either. He used to kill me.”

We all laughed and Heather said, “Coffee's made. I brought it down and it's in your office.”

“Ok, I was teaching Ty the way it's done.”

She took a look and said, “That one curtain over there needs adjusted.”

I said, “Ty, Heather's done this to the point she can do it in her sleep, but do you think she'd take the test to be a Funeral Director? Oh no....”

“I don't want to be a funeral director, and besides you've got one now.”

She smiled and I felt her hug Ty. He hugged her back.

We broke apart and she said, “Did you see that one in there from Mitch?”

“Yeah, it's beautiful. I was so amazed I took a photo of it.”

She smiled and whispered to Ty, “I took five of them and they're already on his hard drive.”

He chuckled and said, “You two.”

She said, “Well, I know him and you will too hon.”

He smiled and said, “How many bodies in a night is normal?”

She looked at him and said, “One at the most, why?”

He held up four fingers.

She looked at us and said, “Did you guys get any sleep?”

Ty shrugged and I said, “Hon, this afternoon, we'll take a nap.”

She looked at me and said, “Then, you've not seen the post-it?”

“No, why?”

“Mitch called and said he thinks with the number of people, we should start the visitation at one pm.”

“Oh, well Ty, come here and I'll show you a trick.”

She smiled and said, “Ty, he only shows this to you and me, so go because I never thought he'd show anyone other than me.”

“What is it?”

“Well, he'll show you. You'll be amazed.”

We went into the office and I went over to the panel where the Plasma was located. I said, “Ty, come here.”

He came over and I said, See that brass frog?”

“Yeah”

“Well, push it back an inch but be standing over here when you do.”

He came over to the side and pushed the frog, the panel and the fireplace folded down and the Murphy bed was exposed.

“Cool!”

“Yeah, when I come in here and I'm gone for fifteen minutes, and the door's locked, I'll be in here getting a nap.”

“A fifteen minute nap?”

Heather smiled and said, “Ty, you'll see him sleep and then you'll see him up and you'll wonder how he does it. Now, you know. My advice is to get the sleep when he does because he's went several weeks just on about two hours a day with those naps. When we were putting this place together, he did it and you'd never see him sleeping. He's showing the trick to you and believe me, that man can sleep so still he won't get a wrinkle in a suit.”

He looked at me and said, “How”

I said, “Watch this. I lay down and put my fists against my hip bones and rolled over on my stomach. Then, I don't move. It's something about having your fists against your hip bones and you don't move.”

“Doesn't that hurt?”

“No, but what someone told me once is if you to that and you're on a ledge, you can sleep and never roll off. So, since then, when I'm down here, I don't get undressed. I just take my jacket off and I lay down. For me, I've gotten myself trained to wake up in fifteen minutes. So, when we're really busy, I come in here and I nap.”

“So you want me to nap?”

“If you want, but that's what I'll have to do today. We didn't get much sleep.”

“So that's how you were able to go forever on Sunday.”

“Yeah, I had a little sleep, so I was good to go for a while. Then, when we came to the house, I was going to nap, but then we got involved with making breakfast and we never got it did.”

He smiled and said, “Heather, do you eat everything he eats in the morning?”

“No, if I did, I'd weigh a ton. He puts it away, but over there in that frig is salad makings, so he eats that for lunch.”

“Where's the frig?”

She went over and opened the panel behind the desk. He turned to me and smiled, “You've got this place jacked!”

“Well, I had to think of places to put things I wanted in here and I wanted it to be nice. Origionally, before I did the room upstairs, I had the office and as money came in, I finished it.”

He smiled and said, “So, what did this place really cost if you did it as you went?”

“Between three and four million. Nothing over that.”

He nodded, “So, what's the one in Quincy going to cost?”

“Ty, we'll build the shell and then we'll run one side. The business isn't going to be real busy right off. So, we'll do it as we go.”

He shook his head no and said, “Babe, you're not getting the big picture. You're open here and this place is already at where you need to be for the year and it's only the second month, so you're doing at least six bodies a month and then, you're going to be opening up there and you'll catch on fast up there. You won't have time!”

“Hon, the first year that place is open, I doubt if we do ten bodies. Do you realize I've not done a hundred here yet?”

“How long you been open?”

“Let's see, the first year, I was open seven months and did four bodies. The next, I did ten bodies. Last year, I did fifty eight and this one, I've got sixteen now.”

He looked at me and said, “Ok, year one, you did four and year two, you did two and a half times that, year three, you die five and a half times that, so this year, you're possibly looking at least a hundred bodies, but more like closer to one hundred and fifty.”

I said, “Ty, now, you want to see how I'm looking at it?”

“Ok”

“Year one, loss and minus thirteen. Year two, loss and minus twenty. Year three, gain, plus twenty one.”

“How”

“As I said, It takes seventeen a year to break even. So, you've got to take those from the ones done. Year one was four so that's minus thirteen. That has to carry over so that's minus thirty for the beginning of the year. I did ten, so that's a minus twenty plus that minus seventeen, so that's minus thirty seven for the year beginning last year. I did fifty eight, so I'm plus twenty one.”

“And what logic is that?”

“That's called accounting hon. The banker doesn't care what you've done, he wants that check each month. If it hadn't been for some good predictive calculations, I'd be bankrupt. So, now, we're looking at a population of three times where we are. You've got three more funeral homes over there so per capita, you've got one per ten thousand. Yay rah, but when I come in, it'll make it one per like eighty five hundred. It's still better than here, but two of the funeral homes here haven't been around for a hundred years. Over there, you've got three that have, so you've got to consider that into the equation. They're tying up probably fifteen thousand per home, so that leaves four to take that other business.”

“But ours will be bigger and nicer.”

“Yeah, but if they don't come in the door, they won't see that. So that projected six million I've figured is going to take probably ten years to make back before we break even and then, it'll need a remodel.”

“So what are you tellin me here?”

“I'm saying that it's a risk and it's worth it, but I don't want you to think we're going to go in there and be busy immediately. Heather can tell you how many nights, I'd pace the floor in here wondering if I was going to go broke. That's the honest reason I didn't take my brothers when I had the chance. They thought I didn't want them, but I thought they had a home and they had s roof over their head and I was wondering if I was going to be funeral homeless.”

“Oh man, so they were thinking you had a nice funeral home and could take them and the state was thinking you should take them, and you were facing the reality you knew you had.”

“Yeah and I'll tell you it's right now that I'm just now seeing some daylight. And, you want to know something Ty? That house out there was bought, paid for, and put together by all the free hours here. Heather can tell you what I asked for for my birthday from her. One year, I asked for a door for the kitchen, the other, I asked for the medicine cabinet upstairs in the bathroom. For Christmas, she gave me the sliding french doors, so I put it together a piece at a time and it stayed stacked in the basement here for a long while because I didn't have the money to get the basement dug. It wasn't until last year, that I got it dug and it wasn't until really last Summer that I got it all done on the outside. If you see the garage, you see it's incomplete and that's because I've not had the time.”

Ty smiled and said, “Oh man, I'm sorry.”

“What for?”

“I came in and immediately asked what you wanted. I didn't mean to criticize it.”

“Oh hon, I didn't take it that way. Heather will tell you I tell her what else I want to do to things. You see the limos don't match and the pallbearer limo is a heap in my opinion, but it's what I've pieced together. She'll tell you how proud I am of it and she'll also tell you how much of a dream it's been.”

“So, where'd you get the origional money for the down payment?”

Heather sat at the desk and said, “Ty, let me tell you because he won't tell you everything. He began carrying newspapers when he was ten years old. He had a ratty three speed bike that the first two gears were stripped out of it. That thing was so hard to pedal, you'd think his ass would be the size of beach balls right now, but he pedaled it all over these hills for seven miles a day. Then, in the Summer time, he'd go mow yards and trim hedges until he looked like he was one solid scab from all the scratches. In the Winter, on days off from school, he went out and shoveled snow until he was blue and then bought a sled so he could pull the newspaper bag. When he was thirteen, he got a job as a car hop and still kept the paper route and the mowings, and the snowings, and ate left overs off peoples plates so he'd have a decent meal. He hid that money in a can over under my back porch and when he got a hundred dollars together, he'd go buy a bond and then he'd give it to me and I'd put it in my Bible. By then, he was with Tony and he'd go do all that and be home by ten and in bed and then, he'd go out his bedroom window across the back porch and go out with him. Tony bought him clothes, but Tony wouldn't give him a damned dime. Until he was seventeen, I never saw him get himself a thing that didn't have to be replaced like tires on that damned bike. He'd come home crying when he'd have a flat tire, but he had a box of patches and he'd patch it and never once would he take and use my bike. Only once, did he ever buy himself anything he wanted and that was a pair of red pants. He wore them once and they were terrible. They ripped not in the seam, but down the back of the leg where pants shouldn't tear. You want to talk about someone that cried, you talk about those red pants and I cry for him because I know what they meant to him for him to come off the money to do it. Then, when Tony started manipulating him, Tony bought him cars. Yeah, they were 'vettes, but that first one was a pile of shit I think someone should have painted lemon yellow because it was that big of a lemon. Did he bitch? No, he went out and worked for the parts and he rebuilt that car and just about the time he had it to where it was running decent, the asshole came and told him to trade it. So, it started all over with the gray ghost. I call it the gray ghost because that's where the money went with the damned thing. Parts, labor and two months later, the same fucking parts would break. So, he gets it running and then