Page 126 of Mariposa
My grandma holdsthe teddy bear tight in her arms, tears rolling down her cheeks, her fragile fingers shaking against the blue fur.
She sits crying silently.
“You didn’tchoosegrandpa over him, did you?” My throat tightens up. As my eyes sting, tears flow into them, clouding my vision.
She shakes her head, unable to look at me, and stares at the door behind me. “Nomija. I didn’t choose your grandpa. I chose Graham.”
Her words stop me from moving, and I take a deep breath to calm down. Still staring at the brown, worn-out box with scratches, I tuck the last letter in and close the box.
“Promise me, Violet. Before you marry someone, make sure that they’re the one. Or you’ll end up like me, married to a man who thinks he has your heart, but in reality, it’s a hollowed-out heart he’s claimed.”
I’m taken aback. She spent her entire marriage loving a man who was dead.
The door opens from behind me, and I’m positive it’s my mother, so I don’t bother turning around.
She looks down at the teddy bear and unzips an opening I never knew it had. She pulls out an aged, wrinkled, yellow-tinted paper and then flips it over.
It’s a newspaper.
She still can’t look at me. She lets me have the crumpled, aged newspaper, and my mouth drops open when I see Graham for the first time.
Graham Hunting, Special Forces Green Beret, killed in action, age 28.
He’s in his army greens, posing with the American flag behind him like any other army graduation photo. It’s in black and white, no color, but even through that, I can tell he has light eyes.
“You know, you look so much like my granddaughter, Violet. She’s in Basic Training right now!”
My chin wobbles as my grandma tilts her head.
She isn’t lucid anymore.
“She’s funny, strong, and loves to bake. I think you would make great friends.” Her voice shakes.
She’s forgetting me.
Who does she think I am?
My swollen face turns slack, my shoulders and back slump as I hold back my cold grief. I want to collapse in her arms.
This is too much.
“Graham? Is that you?” My grandmother drops her teddy bear, and it tumbles to the floor. She’s confused again, making the cut in my soul bleed profusely.
I thought she was talking to me, but she’s calling out for someone behind me.
I quickly turn around, expecting to greet my mother, but the words get caught on the tip of my tongue.
It’s Kade.
He stands there, his dark waves brushed back, with one wave curled on his forehead. Those beautiful wolf-like eyes areglowing more vibrantly than ever. He looks the same yet so different at the same time.
It can’t be.
Am I dreaming?
He’s here.
Looking at me.
