AFTER Carmela’s mom was laid to rest, I promised to stay in her house to help her clean and pack up her mom’s clothes and other belongings. Jared and I were on our way to her house after my shift at the diner when I noticed that he was quieter than usual. Earlier, he was also quiet at school and didn’t even interact with Drix and his friends during lunch.
Come to think of it, he was quiet for the duration of the wake and during the funeral too. I was just focused on Carmela that I didn’t even think about Jared’s behavior at the time. I turned towards him and asked, “You’ve been quiet lately. Is everything okay?”
Jared stopped the car at the side of the road and held tight onto the steering wheel. He just looked ahead, and when he spoke, his voice was deep and sounded sad.
Jared: “Before
