Page 111 of Reclaiming Adelaide

I shook my head. It was such an impossible answer to give. What did I need?

How about my parents?

My home.

My best friend.

Jake…

“I need you to help me feel…” I sniffled and glanced up at him. “To feel normal.”

He hung his head and sighed before looking back at me, his longer strands on top brushing over his forehead. “Where would you like to go?” He offered his hand, and I took it, letting him hoist me up to my feet as I wiped the tears with the back of my hand.

Away from here. Far away, where I could disappear into a crowd of faces. Some called it purgatory, but to me, it was home. It was the numbness experienced somewhere between absolute happiness and pure torture. That’s where I wanted to be.

I shook my head. “Anywhere but here.”

He turned his palm in mine and walked me down the street, the incline steeper than I remembered.

Auntie Mable stepped out of the church doors with Becca and Monica beside her. She glanced at us and pinched her brows with a snarl on her upper lip.

Jake jerked me off the sidewalk and gave Becca a slight tip of his head to the left. She followed his direction, and I tightened my grip on his hand as he led us to the other side of the street.

Auntie Mable stepped down the stairs with fury in her eyes.

“Don’t say a word,” he said as he shielded my body from her marching towards us.

“What was that all about, Adelaide?” Auntie Mable crossed her arms over her chest as she tapped her foot on the ground.

“Adelaide has taken the death of her parents very hard.” His stern but calm voice had her gaping like a fish and rearing back.

“We all lost someone here. I lost my brother and parents, and I’ve never acted this way.”

I opened my mouth to reply when Jake squeezed my hand.

“I’m glad you could handle your grief in such a constructive manner, Ms. Leaver. However, Adelaide is allowed to grieve in her own way. If you don’t like that, it’s best to step back until your emotions have simmered down.”

Monica glared at Auntie Mable as she walked past her and hugged me. “Are you okay?”

I nodded, swallowing hard as I glanced around at the gathering crowd.

What have I done?

Jake’s tempered tone left my pulse thrumming in my ears like a drum about to go to war. I hid behind him with Monica’s arms wrapped around me like a cowering child, afraid of the consequences.

“This is the problem with society these days,” Becca said as she looked down at my aunt. “You have a certain expectation of what people are supposed to look like as they process their grief. No one should have to sit pretty and grieve. Shame on you and your judgmental friends.”

My mouth fell as Becca spoke to my aunt. I’d never heard her say anything to anyone that wasn’t kind and respectful. She was the good-natured one, in contrast to Jake.

Auntie Mable’s ears turned crimson, matching her rosy cheeks as she adjusted her stance. “I’d… I’d like to s-speak to Adelaide. I don’t even know who you p-people are.” She turned her shoulder slightly as though she’d garnered courage and lifted her chin, snubbing her nose at us.

“You know who I am,” Monica said. “And what you’re doing is gross. Especially on a day like today.”

“And it doesn’t matter who we are. You won’t be speaking with her today.” Jake twisted his gaze to mine. “You two get her in the car.”

Monica nodded and rubbed her hand up and down my arm as we followed Becca to the blacked-out limo with a driver holding the door open.

“Thank you, Monica. For coming and standing up for me.”

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