He climbed out of Nick’s bed and went to his own room. He pulled out his portable cd player and the stuffed horse that his father had bought for him when he was eight.
He put in his Boyz II Men cd and turned it to number five. The familiar music flowed into his ears as tears fell from his eyes.
How do I say goodbye
To what we had?
The good times that made us laugh
Outweigh the bad.
Ericka sat by her mother and sisters, watching her father’s coffin being lowered into the ground. Her cousins sang softly as the priest prayed.
I thought we’d get to see forever
But forever’s gone away
It’s so hard to say goodbye to yesterday.
I don’t know where this road
Is going to lead.
All I know is where we’ve been
And what we’ve been through.
If we get to see tomorrow,
I hope it’s worth all the wait
It’s so hard to say goodbye to yesterday.
And I’ll take with me the memories
To be my sunshine after the rain
It’s so hard to say goodbye to yesterday.
And I’ll take with me the memories
To be my sunshine after the rain
It’s so hard to say goodbye to yesterday.
After the funeral, Ericka took her mother back to the house. They sat in the living room, not saying anything, until it got dark. Suzi came downstairs and turned on a lamp.
“Mama, I’m hungry.”
Ericka got up before her mother could move, “I’ll make something mom.”
She walked into the kitchen and made soup and sandwiches for her sisters.
The phone rang as she walked into the living room with the food. She set the tray down and picked the phone up.
“Hello?”
“May I speak with Ericka Mancini?”
“Who’s calling?”
“Nathan Williams.”
“This is Ericka, Nathan.”
“We need you tomorrow.”
“I thought I had the next few days off.”
“John thinks that you should get your mind off all this and come into work. He thinks that it’ll be good for you.”
“Fuck John! My father died Nathan. My sister is in the hospital!”
“Which is exactly why you should come in. You need to get your mind off what happened. I’m sorry Ericka, but I’ll see you tomorrow.”
The phone clicked in her ear as he hung up. She slammed the phone down and took the food into the living room. She went upstairs to get Viki and Suzi. Walking upstairs, she looked at the pictures on the wall. There was one of her father and her at Splash Town for her 11th birthday.
She choked back a sob and continued upstairs. There was soft music coming from Suzi’s room, so Ericka went to her room first. Knocking softly, she walked in and gasped as she stared into Kevin’s eyes.
“What’s wrong Rik?”
“Nothing Suzi,” she said, still staring at the poster on the wall, “There’s some food downstairs.”
“Thank you Ericka,” Viki whispered.
The girls walked out, leaving Ericka standing there, staring at the poster of the Backstreet Boys.
She ran to her room and threw herself on the bed, letting tears that she held back for the past month flow.