Chapter 8
The funeral didn’t take place until a whole week after her death. The news had spread quickly through their small town and soon it was all everyone was talking about. Everyone was in disbelief. Things like that happened in movies and books. Not there in their small town where everyone knew each other and people only locked their doors during the night. It just wasn’t conceivable, the idea of one of their own beating their only child to death.
Especially someone as highly regarded as Lisa's father had been, always involved in the community, never missing church. Jennie hadn’t learned the details of her death until two days after it had happened, as she had shut down when she first heard the news. She’d known Lisa's parents were extremely close minded, which was the reason why Lisa never came out to them, but she had no idea that they would react this way. She’d thought that at worst, they would disown her. She knew that technically speaking, her father was the one who killed her but both her parents were just as guilty in her eyes.
Jennie blamed herself for being so reckless, kissing outside Lisa's house right where anyone could see them. Things had been thrown into chaos after the news spread.
Her neighbors had apparently heard the ruckus and called 911 but it was too late by the time they arrived. Lisa was already gone. All they could do was arrest both her parents. Her mom had told her that morning that both were facing life in prison. Her dad for murder and her mom for being an accomplice to murder for standing there and not doing anything while it happened. She supposed it should have made her feel somewhat better, knowing they would spend the rest of their lives rotting in jail. It didn’t however. The only thing that would make her better was waking up from this nightmare her life had become.
With both her parents in jail, Jennie’s mom had taken up the responsibility of organizing the funeral for the girl she had loved as a second daughter. Jennie had been of no help, moving from her bed only when she needed to use the restroom. And now, the day Jennie dreaded was finally here.
She stood by the tree line watching people gather around the fresh grave from a distance. She didn’t want anyone talking to her, telling her they were sorry for her loss. It pissed her off, seeing so many of their classmates paying their respects like they were any better than Lisa's father. Acting like they’d been friends when they hadn’t even accepted her for who she was. She wanted to scream at them that they had no right to be there. That they hadn’t known Lisa. Not like she had. They just knew the popular soccer player with somewhat violent tendencies that had fallen from grace.
They didn’t see the Lisa that Jennie did. The girl that had befriended her when no one else would and had then spent every recess for a long time after helping her with her English. The girl that had once skipped school just so that she could take care of Jennie when she was sick and home alone even if it meant that she ended up getting sick too. Who had given up the sport she loved to play just to protect her. The girl who had an unhealthy love for bad puns and who always had a joke on the tip of her tongue. The girl who would spend hours watching cheesy romantic movies on Netflix with her just because Jennie loved them even if she herself spent the whole-time making fun of them.
They had no idea of how caring she could be. Or of how big of a goofball she was. They never knew the real Lisa. And now, they never would.
Jennie couldn’t stop thinking about how much pain Lisa must have been in during her last moments. How scared she must have felt knowing that she would never wake up again. How lonely she must have been.
One by one, everyone started leaving the cemetery until she was the only one left. She slowly walked over to the grave. She couldn’t get over the fact that the girl who had spent years by her side was now nothing more than an empty corpse. She would never get to kiss her again. Would never hug her again. Never hear her voice again. She was just gone. Just like that. There one moment and gone the next.
They’d been so close. So close to getting away from here and starting over. So close from starting their new lives together. They were supposed to have forever. And now, it was all gone. It felt like the worst pain Jennie had ever felt. It felt like the pain was psychically consuming her from the inside out, overwhelming all her senses until it was all she could feel. Like she had a big hole inside her where Lisa used to be. A hole that would never be full again, a permanent reminder of what she had lost.
The numbness finally faded away as Jennie was taken over by anger unlike any she had ever felt before. At the world for taking away what was supposed to be her forever. At Lisa's father for letting his hate and ignorance blind him. At Lisa's mother for standing by and watching as her daughter’s life slowly slipped away. She was even mad at Lisa for promising her forever and then taking it with her when she left. The person she was angriest at, however, was herself. For failing the one person who mattered the most to her out of everyone else in the world. The person that had always protected her and made her feel safe, and instead of returning the favor, Jennie had left her to suffer a slow and painful death. And now, she would have to spend the rest of her life missing her.
The pain finally proved to be too much as she fell to her knees, her legs no longer able to support her weight. Through tears, she stared at the headstone in front of her.
Lalisa Manoban
1997-2015
“Just like the passing of a day, a life full of sunshine ebbs away”
Forever in our Hearts