Afterthoughts by Lynn Tincher Read Free Book Online Page B

room, running his hand over the
chair that still had the ropes attached and paused to stroke the
roughness of the ropes. He glanced up at the boarded window and
admired the view. Dark and damp, the way he loved it. “It’s amazing
what can be accomplished in a dark room,” he laughed
wickedly.
    He stood in the middle of the room,
remembering her; seeing her hair matted and damp. He longed to see
her suffer and was proud that she was going to pay.
    “ It’s time for me to go. I
must see her again!” he sneered as he eagerly left the room,
closing the door quickly behind him.

Chapter 9
     
    The day of Richie’s funeral was
bright, warm, and sunny. After the previous night’s storm, it felt
as if it were spring instead of early September.
    Paige and Aileen helped Sarah dress
and fix her hair before walking her down for breakfast. Sarah was
more responsive today, although she still didn’t talk more than she
had to and she ate only a small bite of the bacon and eggs Aileen
had prepared. Paige wondered what she would be like after the
funeral. Would she be able to recover? Would she be able to carry
on with some semblance of a normal life? Paige couldn’t imagine
losing a husband and a son the way Sarah had. Even though she came
close a couple of times, Paige never married. Her job was her
marriage.
    She didn’t have time to maintain
anything that important. Plus, she liked having her way and doing
what she wanted without having anyone else to worry about, except
for Harry, of course. He was the only outside responsibility she
wanted. But she was still lonely. She still longed for a touch, a
whisper, an understanding glance shared between two like
individuals.
    Harry crawled under the table and laid
his head on Sarah’s knee.
    Paige watched as Sarah slowly reached
down and scratched his ears.
    “ What a great dog,” she thought. It gave her hope that Sarah could
recover. Maybe she should get Sarah a dog after all of this was
over.
    She remembered how much
Harry helped. “There’s something about
those loving eyes looking up at you, needing your love and
attention, loving you in return,” she
thought to herself as she bit into some bacon.
    The funeral service was beautiful
although Paige didn’t notice any of it. She didn’t feel well at
all. She kept fidgeting around on the pew, watching Sarah, looking
at the rest of the solemn crowd. It was the same crowd that was in
the same place not so long ago for Anthony’s funeral plus all of
Richie’s friends. Paige wondered if any of them could have had a
hand in Richie’s death.
    Sarah finally became hysterical. Paige
tried to comfort her but at the same time was relieved to have some
sort of emotion from her.
    It helped Paige realize that Sarah was
coming out of her shell and opening up to what was happening. That
would help her cope. Paige held her in her arms and rocked her back
and forth through the service.
    She stroked her hair and held her hand
while trying not to listen to the service and trying to be strong
for Sarah.
    Paige was thankful that the service
was not a long one and the grave side service was to be even
shorter. She hoped that having all of Sarah’s friends around her at
Aileen’s during the evening that would follow would help as well.
Maybe that would force Sarah to break down some of the walls she
had built around herself the last couple of days.
    After the grave side service was over,
Aileen, Paige and Sarah walked back to the car. Paige walked over
to stand by Sarah on the sidewalk and Aileen leaned into the car to
get her jacket from the back seat. A sudden prick of fear consumed
Paige as she heard the squeal of tires and horrible thud. Her heart
pounded as she wheeled around to find a TARC bus, Louisville’s
public transportation, stopped with Sarah lying on the pavement in
front of it. “Oh, God!” Paige screamed as she and Aileen rushed to
her. She was bleeding badly from her mouth and nose. Aileen tried
to lift her but Paige