Just Bury Him

by Small Town Big Dreams

Marcia thinks back to a comment she made she wishes she didn’t. One-shot. Contains French, but explanations are at the bottom.

"If He Gets Killed Or Something, You Just Bury Him..."

Author: Small Town Big Dreams

Not being Beta'd right now, since Laurie's on holiday. Again.

Summary: Marcia thinks back to a comment she made she wishes she didn't. One-shot. Contains French, but explanations are at the bottom.

Je ne le possède pas, I think. Could be wrong. (The word, not the ownership.)

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"Far better it is to dare mighty things than to take rank with those poor, timid spirits who know neither victory nor defeat."
Theodore Roosevelt

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"Cherry? Are you okay?" Soft whimpering sounds come from the other side of Cherry's powder room door. I sigh, pulling the blanket up over my legs. The Valance's are all extremely paranoid about security, so attempting to open the door would be suicide even if it wasn't already padlocked from the other side. Personally, I didn't get it. Bob just died, and she's crying for another boy.

"Just go away!" She screeches angrily from the other side, her voice breaking at the end. "Just go away, Marcia. Please."

"Cherry..." There's no answer, so I sigh and walk out of her oversized, mint green room, down the brown and cream hallway, past the loft that makes the entrance to Cherry and her older sister's rooms. I stop at the top of the stairs, and listen. Muffled sobs still reach my ears, so I continue on. The Valance's home is decorated like a French country mansion, as though they still lived there. Cherry'd once told me that all of her family was from France, and her father's side had moved to America when her dad was one. Her mother's family had moved here when Mrs. Valance was fifteen, and you could still tell by the way she talked. Money had been in their family for years, on both her parent's sides. Some of the girls at school gossiped that Cherry was actually the great, great, great, great something granddaughter of Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte, Marie Antoinette's daughter, to which Cherry'd almost choked from laughter.

"Those dummies!" She'd laughed. "Have they never opened a textbook?"(1)

Sometimes these past few days I'd wondered if she'd ever smile like that again.

The dark brown hardwood makes no noise as my feet hit it and I enter the kitchen. Mrs. Valance sits on one the black leather chairs, a cup of coffee in her right hand. Her dark green eyes are underlined by dark smears, showing she hasn't been sleeping or using her large collection of Swiss make-up products. Out of concern for her youngest daughter, no doubt.

"Marcia, how are you this afternoon?"

"I'm fine, Madame Valance. Thank you for asking. How are you?"

"As fine as I can be right now, Marcia. How is Sherri?" Mrs. Valance asked, raising her cup to her mouth and taking a sip. Their housekeeper steps out of basement behind me and pauses, obviously having a question.

"If you'd excuse the conversation for a moment, Marcia?" Mrs. Valance asks. I nod and step to the side.

"Madame, c'est impossible d'entrer dans la chambre à coucher de Mlle Sherri pour faire le ménage en ce moment." (2) The housekeeper falls silent, waiting for a response. I personally have no idea what she just said.

Mrs. Valance sighs. "Elle a fermé la porte?" (3)

The housekeeper nods.

"Merci. Cela peut être fait demain." (4)

The housekeeper says what I recognize as thank you and goodbye, and exits the room. Mrs. Valance stares down into her coffee. "I'm sorry for that interruption, Marcia."

I smile, hoping to lift her spirits. "It's fine. Cher- I mean, Sherri, isn't doing too well. Bob's death really tore her up."

Mrs. Valance stands, towering over me at 5'11. Cherry is 5'10, almost her mother's height, and her dad is 6'4. I'm shorter, only 5'6. I've always felt rather insignificant at the Valance's home. I forget my random inner musings and pay attention as Mrs. Valance speaks.

"Thank you, Marcia. I think you should head on home now. I'm going to go talk to Sherri now. Good bye."

"Goodbye, Madame Valance."

XXXX

I leave through the back door and head over to my car, unlocking the door and sliding inside. It's extremely unlikely that anything would happen to my car in this neighbourhood, but Cherry's "Never leave anything out where it could be taken" rule seems to be rubbing off on me. I start the car, but I don't go home.

Instead, I turn the car toward the East and just drive aimlessly. I pass the drive-in and suddenly realize I'm a little too far into the East side for comfort at the moment. Those greasers we'd talked to just a few nights ago were the first I'd ever met that were halfway decent, and then they up and killed Bob! I take a side road that lead to the outskirts of middle class Tulsa and back around the long way to home.

Halfway there, I pass a little church with lots of old, cheap looking headstones. Four men that look a bit familiar stand in front of two freshly dug graves; the dark haired man who I assume is the oldest has his arms around a blonde that looks like he's sobbing slightly. The two others stand a little ways away, the shorter one slumped slightly. As I pass, the fourth turns around. It's evident immediately, even from here, who it is. He nods slightly, and I attempt to nod back. A sentence I only remember saying now runs through my mind.

"If he gets killed or something, you just bury him."

I wish I thought before I spoke, even though I had no idea it would lead to this.

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The name "Sherri" is an American variant of the French 'chérie' from which the meaning and origin of the name is derived. It means "darling".

The surname Valance has been found in England and Scotland, but is ultimately of French origins. It comes from the town Valence.

Isn't it fun to actually do research so the story makes sense?

(1) Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte was unable to have children.

All translations have been made as close as possible to the French versions. Give me a break, people! I'm thirteen and clearly not completely fluent in French. Yet.

(2) "Madame, it is impossible to enter the bedroom of Miss Sherri to do the cleaning at present."

(3) "She has locked the door?"(It actually says, "She has shut the door?", but I can't find my dictionary at the moment, and the internet is not working.)

(4) "Thank you. That can be done tomorrow."(This translates to "Thank you. That can be made tomorrow." Hey, but I tried?)

Reviews tell me whether or not my writing sucks.

Thanks.