Day Nineteen

A little late due to lecturing last night but only a few hundred words to write. I'll catch up with the rest later today.

Alfie found himself again staring at his prostrate body. He did not think he had begun to stink although he was pretty certain rigor mortis had set in and then moved on. His skin tone had taken on an odd greenish tinge and, for lack of a better word, he thought he looked “mushy”. From these signs, he reckoned he could have been dead for around four days which meant it would be Thursday or Friday. He had not had to deal with many dead bodies before. When his parents died, the hospital and then the funeral director took care of them. He and Lucy had bought the coffins, the best they could afford, although Alfie secretly resented having to spend so much money on an item they were never going to see you again. Their memorial services were simple affairs: a short church service with the singing of their favourite hymns and a luncheon afterwards. Lucy had arranged a cremation before her death as well as the service so it had been easy for Alfie. Perhaps it was too easy, Alfie reflected. There just didn’t seem to be enough time to get his head around her illness and passing before she was taken away from him forever.

Well, he thought it was forever.

Whoever would have thought he’d get to see Lucy again in the strange after life. He had thought she had died angry with him and the relief he had felt when he discovered this wasn’t the case almost overwhelmed him.

But now, they really had problems. If had known how things were going to turn out for Elliot, Beth and Nathan, he certainly would have been a bit more careful around the stairs. Perhaps he would have even installed a stair lift as Clarice had suggested.

Elliot was having an affair. That was a shock. He was such a judgmental kid, so quick to get on his high horse over any kind of morality issue. Hell, even Alfie knew he himself was less conservative than Elliot. But if he were honest, he never did like Elliot’s wife. Well, maybe he thought, I never gave her enough of a chance for her to prove herself to him.

And Beth, such a dreamer and idealist! She and Tom had really thought about their future together—except they had never thought of the possibility of having anything but healthy children. When they had been building their home together, Alfie had been secretly impressed with the plans they had made and the sacrifices they made to build a future together. He remembered how embarrassed Beth had been when Lucy discovered the coupon book. How he had shouted at Tom for not taking better care of Beth when he had spotted her on a public transport bus. Alfie cast his eyes downwards.

It was more than a little shouting. He had grabbed a hold of Tom by the lapels and had shaken him until utterly spent. And Tom had done nothing but hang his head in shame. He had offered no defence, no excuse and revealed no information. He had just turned on his heel and left Alfie on the porch with the neighbours gawking at him. It was only later he found out that they had given up the luxury of a car so they could remodel the kitchen. Alfie had never found the courage to say he was sorry for the misunderstanding. Instead, he avoided both of them. And just when the thought they had everything in order, along came Julie. Alfie smiled, remembered her delighted face as Maurice tickled her. And then he frowned, knowing he was powerless to help Beth and Tom through the darkest days of the relationship. He knew Julie had medical problems but the extent of then was something Alfie had never considered. Nor had he ever thought about the impact of having such a needy child on a relationship.

Nathan was different. They were lucky Nathan was still with them. When Lucy had received the call from his panicked teacher to say Nathan was on his way to the hospital after being hit by a car, they had sped across town. When they arrived, they hadn’t let them in to see Nathan until they stabilised him. And then they had said they weren’t sure if he would survive. It had been an awful time for Alfie and Lucy but they had never given up on the hope that their youngest son would pull through.