Tombstone Read Free

whole world caved in, causing a fissure in his sense of reality and opening the dark secret door in his mind.   Jerald refused to accept that his super-hero mom was gone.   He listened to the news reports, refusing to believe they were talking about her.   Jerald recognized the picture of the woman who had shot her.   Even without the mask, he remembered Bethany’s green eyes.   She was a mannequin that worked in the front room of the club, and she had hissed at him when he winked at her.   Bethany told him that his mother was old, and that she belonged in the ally.   Jerald had avoided her after that.
    A few days later, Jerald stood by his mother’s grave, silently staring at the big brown box with the brass handles and roses carved into it.   Suddenly, he was terrified, and he twisted his hand out of his aunt’s grip and ran up to the coffin, screaming.   His mom was in there… and they were going to bury her.   What would happen if she woke up?
    Heavy gloved hands covered his and they pried him away from the lid.   “Come on, son.   She’s okay.   It’s my job, son.   I promise you, Susanne is fine.”   The graveled voice was working at being gentle, and Jerald felt the man’s strong hands pulling him away.
    Jerald’s eyes filled and he looked across a sea of gray cement pillars pushing up from the grass.   “I won’t be able to find her,” he sobbed.
    “Yes, son.   Yes, you will.”   The man looked at Gertie.   “You didn’t tell him?”
    “How the hell could I?” she cried.   “He’s never heard about you before.”
    “That wasn’t my fault, Gertie.   Susanne should have told me.”   Jerry had no idea that the one night stand after the club had closed had resulted in a child.   “I want my time with him, Gertie, but I can also see how much losing you would tear him up.”
    Jerald peered up in tearful confusion.   The man was tall, with dark wavy hair like his own, except that his had little gray in it.   He stared at the work clothes the big man was wearing, and then he turned towards the small backhoe parked over by a tree.   A million thoughts were going through his mind.   This guy?   Was this guy his dad?   And…and he was going to bury his mom?
    The man could see the fear on the boy’s face, while tears washed down his cheeks.   His heart gripped when he thought of Susanne’s beautiful glassy blue eyes.   “Gertie, come take the boy’s hand.”
    The man took Jerald’s other hand in a strong leather grip that was somehow calming.   They walked a short while, and then the man squatted down.   “Look,” he said, and he pointed to carvings on a headstone.   There were little angels etched into the rock, with words that had the name and dates and how the woman was a beloved wife and mother.
    The man rose and led Jerald to another one.   This one had two names on it, circled by rings made from carved flowers.   The dates were different, and the man explained, “Sometimes a husband or wife passes first, but when the other one joins them, we can keep them together.”   He showed him several more.   Some people were very old when they died, some were very young, and the stones marked their lives so they would not be forgotten.   Jerald could see that this was true, because there were flowers sitting on the grass beside several of the headstones.   “I’m making one for your mom, son, so you’ll always be able to find her.”
    “You’re my dad,” Jerald said.
    “Yes, I’m your dad,” he agreed.   He brushed a gloved hand over Jerald’s head.   “I’m so sorry.   I never knew about you.”
    Jerald looked up in defiance.   “How come you left my mom?” he demanded.
    The man laughed softly.   Jerry had two dates with Susanne before he told her that he was a gravedigger.   As had happened many other times with women, she found his occupation morbid.   He knew better than to argue, and he certainly could not change what he did, so they