Unfortunate Events

Chapter Twenty-One

Cross Hall

Bobby headed upstairs. He saw James West, the chief usher standing closing the doors to the East Room. 

"Attorney General?" James was stunned. "Please call me Mr Kennedy" Bobby corrected him, his eyes baggy and red. James nodded. Mr West then stepped out the way as Bobby pushed open the doors and closed them behind him. 

He stood in silence, isloated in front of the identical coffins; both draped with an American flag. He stepped forward. He stood on the podium holding up Jack's coffin. Folding back the flag, he opened the coffin. He couldn't see his brother's face. 

They had wrapped his head in a sheet, so the wound wouldn't be visible. Bobby reached into his pocket. He pulled out a pair of scissors and took a snip of his brother's hair. He took four cuts before sliding them into an envelope. It was the same with Jackie. Afterwards, he finally sealed the coffins. 

"I have asked Tiffanys to make two lockets" Bobby sobbed, popping the envelope into his pocket. "They're for Caroline and John. I'll put the locks of hair securly in them. I'll have them sealed so the hair doesn't fall out" Bobby explained his idea. 

He paused. The silence eventually became too much and he spoke again. "I've uh.." He started. "Arranged for the gravesite to be closed for several days while it is decorated formally" Bobby explained. He promised it will look Presidential, nothing less. Before closing the door, he said: "Goobye, my family". 

The usher shut the door before Bobby walked along to his brother's portrait outside the Red Room. He was so thankful they were painted before they were shot. He leaned forward and kissed it. His brother looked so angelic, in one portrait. "I promise you'll never disappear. You'll always be remembered. You'll always be my brother". 

Bobby stroked the frame, before kissing it one last time. He then left, with hair in his pocket, for his home. Dreading the fact that the funeral would be tomorrow.