One Week Later
“In sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ, we commend to Almighty God - our sister, Cathleen Wright; and we commit her body to the ground; earth to earth; ashes to ashes; dust to dust. The Lord bless her and keep her, the Lord make His face to shine upon her and be gracious to her and give her peace. Amen.”
There came a collective chorus of “Amen” as mourners dressed in black made the sign of the cross before solemnly bidding their final farewells to the woman who had once been the shining light in their small but troubled community. Luke stood among them, his hands buried deep in his pockets as his mother’s casket was gently lowered to the ground. All around him, relatives and neighbours sniffed and sobbed, his Aunt Shirley pulled him into a tight hug before crying onto his shoulder, but Luke couldn’t bring himself to shed a single tear. He knew this day would come, he’d known it from the moment his mum had spent her first night in hospital; from the moment the doctor had told him it was breast cancer. Yeah, he cried then, but now it was just a matter of staying strong, holding back the tears, putting on a brave face for the family, being a man...just like his mum would’ve wanted him to.
Once the burial was over, Luke ventured through the cemetery looking for a decent spot for some air. He stopped under a large oak tree overlooking the cemetery lake and pulled out a cigarette to light.
“Alright, Luke..?”
He looked up and was surprised to see his brother, Terry, approach him. Luke regarded him for a moment with an inward smile. It’d been ten years since their last encounter and Terry hadn’t changed one bit. He was still everything Luke wasn’t - clean-cut, smart, successful, established; the cunt was even dressed in his police uniform - as if Luke needed any reminding that a member of his family worked for the Old Bill.
Luke breathed in his cigarette. “Terry...” he said, un-interestingly turning his face the other way.
Several awkward seconds passed between them.
“Seems like it was just yesterday we were out here burying dad, eh?” Terry continued, looking out onto the rippled cemetery lake and sighing. “We were just kids then. Now look at us,” he paused for a few seconds and sniffed before turning back to face Luke. “So, I just had an interesting conversation with Aunt Shirley back there...she tells me you’ve managed to get that teaching job you were after...It’s good to hear that you’ve finally-”
He suddenly broke off mid-sentence, his eyes widening as they fell on Luke’s face.
“Jesus,” he breathed, violently grabbing Luke by the chin to inspect his tired red eyes and the long deep stitch on his left brow. “Look at the fucking state of you – you look like shit!”
“Cheers...” Luke blew a fresh blanket of smoke to one side.
Terry gave a cold laugh. “I should’ve known it was too good to be true.” He looked Luke up and down with fury. “I guess this means you’re still part of The Firm then, eh? Still running around England like a little poodle doing Romano’s dirty work for him?”
“Last time I checked, that ‘dirty work’ gave me the money to keep mum alive all these years,” said Luke matter-of-factly.
“Oh, and the fact that you had to kill a hundred people in order to get that money makes it alright, does it?”
“A hundred?” Luke repeated with a raised brow. “Bein’ a bit dramatic there, don’t you think?”
“Come on, Luke...” said Terry, with a look of irritation that was all too familiar. “D’you think Cathy would’ve wanted this for you, eh? D’you think she would’ve wanted her only son wasting away his life like this, running around with a gang-”
“The Firm ain’t a gang,” Luke growled, “they’re my family, which is more than I can say for you...”
“What are you talking about? You’re my brother, Luke - I only want what’s best for you...”
“Are you fuckin’ serious?” asked Luke taking a step back to look at him. “You come here after ten years and suddenly decide you wanna be the big brother again? Tell you what, why don’t you just drop by Aunt Shirley’s for the reception, have a cup of tea, then run along back home to your wife and kids and leave my business to me, alright-”
Terry suddenly slammed Luke’s back hard onto the trunk of the tree, his eyes blazing with rage. “YOUR BUSINESS?” he yelled, prodding Luke’s chest with his finger. “What the fuck’s the matter with you, eh? D’you have a death wish or something, because let me tell you little brother, you carry on living your life like this and the next funeral is gonna be yours!”
Luke stared daringly into Terry’s eyes.
“Now you listen to me, and you listen good...” continued Terry, menacingly, “those days in the past when you’d fuck around and I’d quietly put up with - those days are over, d’you hear me? Over! Now, we play things my way...”
Luke let out a dry laugh.
Terry ignored it. “This is how it’s gonna work from now on. First, you’re gonna stop running around with Romano and his little group of shit dealers, then you’re gonna hand in your weapons to the station, and, lastly, you’re gonna start that teaching job you’ve been offered, do I make myself clear, because if you even think about disobeying me this time-”
“YOU’LL DO WHAT, EH?” Luke yelled suddenly into his brother’s face. He’d had enough. “What you gonna do, Terry? Arrest me? Put me in jail? GO ON, WHAT?”
“STOP IT!”
The two brothers suddenly turned to see their Aunt Shirley hurriedly approach them.
“STOP IT, THE PAIR OF YOU!” she glared at Luke angrily. “FOR GOD’S SAKE, LUKE, YOUR MOTHER’S JUST BEEN BURIED, HAVE YOU NO SHAME?”
Luke angrily released himself from Terry’s grasp before taking another puff from his cigarette. He felt his Aunt Shirley place a soothing hand on his shoulder, her anger simmering down slightly.
“Terry knows he was wrong to leave you the way he did all those years ago. He knows how hard his absence has been for you. But he’s here now and he wants to make it up to you...he wants to help you...”
Luke took one last inhale from his cigarette before chucking it hard on to the ground by his brother’s feet, “There was a time when I needed his help, when dad died, when mum had to work three jobs just to put food in my mouth, when our house nearly got repossessed, when social services got involved – that’s when I needed him! Now, he can go fuck himself as far as I’m concerned, ‘cause I don’t need his help...I don’t need anyone’s help anymore...”
And with one final glare at his so-called brother, Luke walked away.
“Luke!” he heard his Aunt Shirley call out. “Luke, come back here! LUKE!”
_______
“O Merciful God, hear the cries of our grief, for you know the anguish in our hearts. It is beyond our understanding and more than we can bear. Accept our prayer that as Keith Mitchell Jr. has been released from this world’s cruelty so may he be received into your safe hands and secure love. We pray that justice may be done and that we may treasure the memory of his life more than the manner of his death. Amen.”
The Priest’s words meant nothing to the young woman standing in front of the coffin of her husband. His voice felt like an empty echo that she didn’t have the courage or the energy to pay any attention to.
The bastard that shot Keith, didn’t just kill a husband, he killed a son, a brother, and more importantly he killed a father of an unborn child. Gemma fought hard to hold back her tears as she watched the casket slowly descend into the ground. Her mind brought her back to the day she first met him, the day they went on their first date, the day they got married...
Suddenly the weeks of grief and agony replaced itself with feelings of hatred and determination Gemma had never known she had inside her. She would get her revenge, even if it took her a lifetime to achieve it...
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chapter 1: http://www.youngwriterssociety.com/topic60449.html
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Firstly, your MC - I really feel for Luke. At first, I thought he was just another heartless cold-blooded killer, but you really explained a lot in this chapter by bringing in his elder brother. I'm starting to understand why he might've resorted to joining a gang, maybe because he needed a male role model which he lacked in his brother.
Gender:
Points: 2165
Reviews: 8