19
This Belongs To Joy
The child has wandered; it is not a rare occurrence. Children wish to explore, to insinuate themselves into small spaces. Somehow Beatrice has found her way to the morgue. She has seen a body laid out on the slab. It has been explained to her but this has made things much worse.
‘Do not let that happen to me,’ she tells Joy. ‘I do not wish to end up there.’
Joy looks at the child, at the fear in her eyes. The plea strikes at her; when she nods she knows what she is agreeing to, she knows it is not a promise she can honour.
She knows, too, that it will haunt her if she fails this child.
Beatrice doesn’t wear a scarf like the others do and she is applauded for her defiance, her bravery, but Joy can see in her eyes that she is already defeated.
When Joy wears the
