Chapter 20: Death Is ForeverCHAPTER 20
DEATH IS FOREVER
Wilmington—13 Years Ago
We had the funeral the next morning. The guys from the smoke shop really made me proud, driving their Caddies and Lincolns in the procession to the cemetery. Rosa insisted we take a different route home from the gravesite—to confuse the spirits. That was fine. It gave me time to think before everyone gathered at her house.
Rosa had been cooking for two days. The rest of the neighborhood chipped in too, bringing foods of all types for the celebration. It seemed odd to celebrate someone’s death, but that’s what we did. At Italian funerals there was an unspoken hierarchy regarding the burden of entertainment. The primary job fell to those furthest from the deceased and moved forward in a downward scale. Friend
