FOOLISH SENTIMENT

THE WAKE AND THE WILL

"We spent nothing less than one billion on this funeral. Now we have to get it back. I mean, I have to get it back. The both of you are useless anyways, especially the so-called owner, a forty-year-old man with no iota of sense," said Ana.

"That's a lot to say coming from a thirty-three-year-old woman that's unmarried," retorted Albert, surprising everyone.

"Dad," Lana said, "are you okay?"

"I would be more okay if everyone started acting like adults. This is your mother's funeral, for Christ's sake!" Albert responded.

"It's not like she was the best of mothers," Ana retorted, "unless you want to continue living in denial. She wasn't a good wife, not to talk of a good mother. And let's not forget, she's a criminal! Not a petty thief, but a murderer! Murder! We have been living with a killer all our lives!".

Pow! A sound echoed through the room. While Ana was talking, Albert had gotten up and slapped her, hard across her face everyone was shocked.

Dad I mean Albert had never raised his hands on anyone, I mean, never, ever, no matter what, no matter how troublesome or naughty we got. He looked around the room and said, "If you cannot behave like my children, OUR children, then leave my house. I want to mourn my wife in peace."

With that, he left for the room.

"I can't believe this room is going to be just mine from now on," Albert said, as he lay down on the bed.

"Way to leave a man hanging, Kiara," he said, looking at their wedding picture on the side of the king-sized bed.

"We looked so good together, didn't we? I heard some ladies whispering about my age and that it's not too late at sixty-five to have another. Just like they did at your luncheon still jealous of you even in your death. People never change," he chuckled.

"I always only had eyes for you, and I always only will, until my last breath. I remember when we were match-made to get married. I was the happiest man alive. I mean, the saying that goes, 'whatever is yours will always come back to you,' must be true. You came back to me.

Chris's death, though unfortunate, was a blessing for me. I finally got what I wanted. I knew you killed him, Kiara, but that never bothered me. Just like it didn't bother me that you couldn't get to show love for our own kids, to show love for me. That was okay. I gave them enough love for both of us, and seeing you every single day made it worth the hassle. Don't beat yourself up about it, you hear, my love?”

“Oh, the memories like when your father approached me with a business deal, thinking it was just another day. God bless that man's heart and soul. I was the happiest man alive when I saw it was a marriage contract. Fastest deal I ever made. Then a day to the wedding, you approached me to tell me you were pregnant for Chris. I won't lie, I was not happy, but nothing would stop me from getting married to you. Nothing at all." With that, he drifted off to sleep.

Downstairs wasn't so filled with memories. The siblings were about to go hand-for-hand, head-for-head, and eye-for-an-eye!

"Get out," said Ana. "This isn't your house."

"This is more my house than yours," said Chris. "I am the man of the house, and there's nothing you can do about it."

"Oh, is that so? So that was your plan, to kill my father just like your mother killed yours," said Ana.

"You mean our mother," retorted Chris.

"Mommy, I'm hungry," said a little voice, and all heads turned. Lana's daughter, Samantha, had come into the parlor from her room upstairs.

"Where are your brothers?" she asked, as she was almost out of breath, trying to stop the fight between her siblings.

"They aren't in the room, and I don't know where they are, Mom," she answered.

"Okay, love, go into the kitchen. I'm coming," Lana said.

With that, after making sure her child was out of sight, she screamed, "Would you guys stop behaving like kids? For the love of God, have some respect for the dead! At least she gave birth to all of us."

"Don't speak to your elders like that," Ana shouted back.

"Then behave like one," Lana said and left.

Total silence fell upon the room. The two of them glared at each other as the lawyer entered the room and greeted them. They both arranged themselves and sat down. The lawyer was there to read Kiara's will.

"Can I have everyone downstairs?" he asked, to which no one replied. "Where's your father?"

Again, no one replied, until Lana came in, greeted him, and took him to the corridor to talk. She explained that the family had still not decided on a date to hear the will and would communicate the date later to him.

"She instructed me to read the will immediately after her death," said Mr. Ken, the lawyer.

"I understand that, but no one is ready to listen at the moment. Please come back another time," Lana stressed, as she walked out.