Thursday, July 28, 2016

CAITLIN'S WAKE!

At the funeral home where Caitlin Harrigan's funeral is being held, Tyler kneels down before her corpse before rising and shaking hands with Sean and his wife Tipper.

"I'm sorry about your daughter," Tyler says.

"Thank you, Tyler," Sean says.  "Your being here means a lot to us."

"Tyler," Tipper replies, "thank you for coming.  I can't believe that Caitlin's ex-beau would do this to our baby."

"I know how you feel," Tyler says.  "We lost our daughter a while back, and my wife's got 2 different neurological disorders coming at her at the same time."

"How is she?" Tipper asks.

"She's taking it badly," Tyler says.

"Please give her our love," Sean says.

"I will," Tyler says.

After greeting the rest of the family, Tyler goes to the water cooler for a cold drink.  Meanwhile, one of Caitlin's friends is crying on a nearby chair.

"Are you okay?" Tyler asks her.

"No, I'm not!" the girl says.  "How could that asshole shoot her and cause all this?"

"How many friends did you..."  Tyler asks, but the girl interrupts.

"I don't want to talk  about it!  I was barred from my prom because I'd gotten into trouble with the police."

"Okay, I'll give you your space.  If you do need to talk, you can always call me at my house."

Tyler walks away with a grave feeling in his heart.  "It's nothing to do with me," he thinks.  "These kids have lost a lot of their friends."

Some of the other kids who've attended the funerals of their friends are waiting to visit the funeral home as he walks out.  He goes to visit his wife, but she doesn't want to see her today; it's not a good day.

Later, he walks into his usual joint, the Bar Stool.  The place is silent since the tragedy a week ago.  Most of the patrons are drinking beer without saying a word.

"What'll it be, Tyler?"

"The usual."

He gets his favorite bottle of beer while someone at the counter is talking about a sandwich on a bagel that he just bought.

"Is this sandwich fresh?"

"Fresh?" The counter man says.  Then he laughs and says, "No!  It's stale!"  Suddenly, his boss comes over and slaps him in the face, causing him to burst into tears.

"You're fired!" he says to him.  "Get out!  Don't even bother cleaning up your damn desk!"  He grabs him and pulls him through the bar before throwing him out.

"And stay out!" he says.  As he walks back to his office, he tells Tyler, "Hey, don't get upset with me.  He had it coming."

"I couldn't agree more," Tyler says with a smile.

"How's the Pigeon?"

"Not too hot.  The doctors wouldn't let me see her today."

"That's too bad."