Chapter 33: Time to Say Goodbye“It’s time to say goodbye,” Papaw said, holding out his hand to me.
I shook my head.
“Come on, boy,” he said. “He’s your daddy. You’ve got to say goodbye.”
“I don’t want to,” I said, my voice choking with embarrassed, childish tears.
“Daddy, please,” Mama said. “Leave him be.”
“I’ll go with him, Martha,” Papaw said. “He’s a young man now. He can do young man things. And he’s a Cantrell. And the Cantrells ain’t a bunch of p*****s. Ain’t that right, boys?” He looked to me and Billy for confirmation.
I stared at Papaw, miserable, wiping at my eyes and feeling stupid. Papaw didn’t like it when we cried, and I had tried so hard not to, but as soon as we had walked into the funeral home and seen the casket with Daddy inside it, I had burst into tears and coul
