Chapter 20

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by janello33

by janello33

Back at the church auditorium Linda fans set up in every corner of the room and the lights out to keep the room cool until the the procession came back for luncheon. Trays of open faced sandwiches sat in the fridges cooling and the silver coffee urns percolated noisily on a table off to the side. "Who can drink coffee in this heat?" Randy said between bites of pre selected non melting dainties that Linda had carefully arranged.

"Get your grubby hands out of the food!" Linda scolded shooing the grown man away with a hand. "Ok ok," Randy said arms up in surrender. Randy had stayed behind to "help" but he had been more of a nuisance lurking around the food and drink than anything. "There's gotta be some perks to helping you gals out," he said indignantly. Linda about lost her temper, "I gave you one measly job and it was to put the door stopper under the men's room door, and have you done it?" She already knew the answer to her question and her tone confirmed it.

"Stop trying to help," she said finally. "If I had a smoke, I'd go out for a smoke break," he paused looking at Linda. "Fine," Linda said walking back into the kitchen and digging into her purse. She pulled out a pack of cigarettes that was a quarter full, and threw them at Randy. He caught them but juggled them like a hot potato until he got control of them. He hadn't been expecting more than one. "Don't come back until you've smoked them all!" The other ladies who were flitting around getting the room ready laughed. "

"You gotta light?" Linda pointed to the doors, "Out!" And that was that. "Jesus," Randy said as he left the auditorium. The rest of the church was still deserted and he stopped by Pastor Cecil's door wondering if it would be a sin to rifle through her desk for a light? He tried recalling the Ten Commandments but couldn't recall one about borrowing a lighter without permission. He headed back into the church walking down the centre aisle to the front.

He stepped up to the front of the church where Art's casket had rested not even thirty minutes ago before spotting some candles on a back table. He could smell the sweet sweet nicotine of the cigarettes in his hand and searched desperately for a lighter. Under the table cloth on a small shelf he found a box of those super extra long matches that ... well I guess churches used to light candles in the long slender jars. "Well when in Rome," Randy justified to himself before pilfering a handful. "Guess I'm gonna have some holy smokes," he wished someone would have been around to laugh at that one.

Outside the sun was beating down against the brick facade of the church. Randy examining the long slender match gave a snort of amusement. The match was twice as long as his smoke, Linda's smoke. He'd never used a match this long before. He dragged the match head along the wall carefully not the break it in half and lit the end of his cigarette with the ridiculous thing. He gave the match a quick wave before dropping it and crushing in under his heel and let the first drag of Linda's cigarette fill his lungs.

Randy was at the end of his second cigarette by the time people began to trickle back. He nodded at strangers dressed in black and called out greetings to the familiar faces as they filed back into the church. He didn't wait for the black limousine that carried Dottie and her family. Randy wouldn't have know what to say anyway.

Back inside people where mingling. Most of the men had taken off their jackets and Randy felt ore comfortable now among them. He headed straight for the tables filled with food. Egg salad on buns, fruit trays, cheese and meat trays, puffed wheat cake, nanaimo squares, tarts, pickles filled his plate. He followed the man in front of him to the coffee urns. "How can anyone drink coffee in this heat," he said as he filled his cup. He was hoping for a better response than what he'd gotten from Linda. "Never too hot for coffee," the man made a mock cheers before adding his cream and sugar.

Randy left the man with his coffee joining another group of familiar faces at a table. "It was a nice service," one of them said solemnly. Randy jumped in, "Pastor Cecil always does a good job." Everyone smiled agreeing that yes she always did a good job. Randy's confidence was soaring. Randy swivelled in his seat to take another man by the arm as he passed by, "How about that heat, eh?" The man parroted back that yes the heat was unbearable. Randy loved a good funeral.

Halfway through his plate of food, Dottie and her family entered the auditorium. Linda, that old bag, escorted them to a table front and centre that already had an assortment of food laid out on it for them. He studied Dottie, she seemed to be doing so well. Randy really felt for her, he had really liked Art. He let his eyes move to Darren and his wife and kids and a touch of envy entered his thoughts. Relationships had always seem to evade him and he could never quite figure out why he couldn't have what Darren had.

He snapped out of his reverie when he moved onto Sean. Sean seemed to be concentrating on something underneath the table. Randy thought okay now that guy is either having a hell of a time doing up his fly or .... Sean lifted a cup up and set it on the table and his hands were once again below Randy's sight line. Randy's brain lit up, "The man's gotta flask!" Randy's earlier hesitations about taking to the bereaved dissipated as he licked his thirsty lips. He approached the table to offer his condolences knowing he'd end up getting some of whatever Sean had under that table.