The Queen Of Bad Things (Book 2)

Chapter 6. Rubble

Things with Aria hadn't changed much. Aria hadn't woken up out of the coma, and it had been five days since the incident.

I hired a team to clean up the rubble at the mansion and rebuild what they had to of it. The GTO rolled to a stop in front of the estate. My eyes took in the scene. Rubble and debris still covered the ground where the front door had been. As I stared at the ruins, I realized that rubble pretty much summed up my life. My life was a massive pile of rubble that I couldn't climb out of.

Throughout my life, I had my fair share of grief, but this was torture — and I had no choice but to endure it. I hadn't seen Angel since the incident. This was the first time I had left Aria's side — if I had a choice, I wouldn't have. However, I had funerals to go to, and I needed to see my son.

Angel was still with my mother. Mom intended to bring Angel to the funerals today. Andersen's funeral would happen first, and Jennifer's funeral would be after. Funerals and I didn't mix — I hated funerals, to say the least, but Joey needed me. Andersen deserved a farewell from me, and so did Jenny.

Our bedroom was exactly the same as we had left it. Aria's pajamas from the night before were still strewn across the mattress. I stared around the bedroom for a long moment. Aria's hairbrush sat on the dresser beside her jewelry box. Nobody had made the bed.

It was impossible to stand in the bedroom and not breakdown. Crying wasn't something I did often. Tears fell from my eyes as I sat down on the bed. Aria and I should have been in Paris on our honeymoon. The feeling of Aria not being here crushed me.

Andersen's sleek black casket was closed. Due to the conditions of Andersen and Jennifer's body, we had to leave the coffins closed. My hand rested on top of Andersen's casket.

"You were a great friend and an amazing worker, Andersen," I said. "You were a true Latin King. If you see Carlos, tell him I said hi." I placed my fingers to my lips and pressed my fingers to the casket.

A hand rested on my shoulder.

I gazed back at Austin.

"We still have one more," Austin said.

"Yeah, I know," I muttered. "Are you sure it is okay with Joanna that we go?"

"Joey talked to her. Joanna wants us there. We're going to carry the casket out when the funeral is over," Austin said.

Luis, Benny, Austin, Abel, and Joey came up behind me, and they all placed a hand on top of Andersen's casket. We stayed silent for a long moment.

The sun sat high up in the sky. We carried Andersen's casket out to the hearse. I spun around to face the guys.

"Jenny's funeral will take a little while longer. There will be more people there as well. Joanna wanted the burial to be private," Joey said.

Jenny's funeral was across town in another church. I was somewhat surprised that Joanna allowed us to be a part of Jenny's funeral. Sometimes when a family lost a loved one, they didn't want the Latin Kings involved. At times they blamed us for the things that went wrong.

Joanna knew about us long before Jennifer found out about us. Joanna worked for Carlos and was good friends with my mother. I had been friends with Jennifer for as long as I could remember.

The church's parking lot filled with different vehicles — some of the people I recognized and others I didn't.

Joanna stood near the doors of the church and greeted people on their way in. Joanna pulled me aside.