The Art of Griffin

Chapter 28

"Before you drive, you're not high are you?" I say trying to see any signs.

"I might be reckless, but I'm not stupid enough to drive high or drunk, " he says starting the car.

"Can't blame a girl for checking" I say buckling up my seatbelt.

We ride in silence until Kealan speaks "I'm going to stop for some coffee do you want anything?" I turn to see he's looking at me.

"Yeah, thanks" I reply as we pull into a drive-through.

He orders the coffee and pays before collecting, passing mine over.

"Thanks," I say smiling.

"So is she expecting you today?" I say turning to look at him.

"You could say that" he replies.

"How much further?" I say looking at my phone. Hoping that I would have had a message from Griffin but he hasn't contacted me again.

"Fifteen minutes," he says sounding upset.

I see his hands tensing on the steering wheel the closer we get.

It's not long until he's pulling into a car park not up to a house.

Taking off my seat belt I turn towards him to see his head hanging down looking tormented before he lets out a loud sigh getting out of the car.

Opening my door I climb out or more like stumble and follow him through some gates.

It takes me a second to realise where we are and when I do it hits me like a ton of bricks.

We are in a cemetery.

We are visiting his mom's grave. I walked up to him understanding his behaviour before we got out of the car.

I stay silent as I don't want to pry as I watch him sit on the grass in front of the gravestone.

Lillian Lowe

Beloved mom and wife

1979-2023

He stays silent staring off in the distance.

To give him some space I speak softly "I'm going to go grab us a coffee and give you some space".

He nods and I walk off to a nearby coffee shop I saw before we walked in.

I know I don't know much about Kealans situation but I do know what grief does to a person and I can see that he hasn't handled it the best.

I was lucky I had the Dramos to look after me and support me after my parents died. I'm not sure Kealans had that support.

Pulling myself out of my thoughts, I walk back to find him in the same spot and sit next here him passing him the coffee.

"Thanks" He responds.

"Mom, Princess, Princess, Mom," he says talking to me and the gravestone.

"I haven't known her long but she's currently babysitting me until I sort my shit out" he continues.

"It's nice to meet you Lillian" I say genuinely touched that Kealan had me come along.

I'm not sure why he did but I think he just needed some support.

He turns toward me when I speak giving me a small smile.

We spend the next forty minutes in silence.

I can't help but think about my parents, and how much I miss them. Sometimes I think I replaced them with the Dramos.

Nobody really talks about them to me, Nathan on occasion says they are proud of me but Soph has always worried talking about them will set me back and Griffin has never spoken to me about them.