Hello all,
Concluding the little tale I started in the last chapter. ;-)
I hope my next inspirations are, um, angst-free..
Cheers! L.

A Grave Secret, Conclusion

Theo sat on the edge of the living room sofa, elbows resting heavily on his knees. He kept his head down, long thin dreadlocks tumbling over the sides of his face. He touched the silver ring he wore on his left thumb and moved it in circles around his finger. He sniffed as tears ran down his face. Bobby handed him a box of Kleenex and sat down. Camille took the girls upstairs to play, leaving Jeremiah, Bobby and Theo in the room

"So you two was close friends?" Jeremiah asked quietly, looking closely at the young man.

Theo lifted his head and stared at the wall that was still ridden with bullet holes from the gun fight a few weeks before. His eyes were fixed on one picture – a fresh-faced Jack looked back at him, his hair shaggy as always, his lips quirked in a little smile, a gaping hole through his right shoulder.

His lips trembled and he finally responded, "Yeah, we were close …" He swallowed with difficulty, "I just can't believe this ... We spoke on the phone not that long ago.. I mean, I had no idea shit like this was about to go down. He never said nothing about that … He just said that y'all needed to take care of some stuff, that's all! … I never guessed that... Oh fuck, J!" He buried his face in both hands and sobbed.

Bobby and Jeremiah looked at each other and then back at the young man who was falling apart on the sofa.

"Listen, the fuckin' bastards responsible for this … they paid for it ..." Bobby said grimly. "I'll probably blame myself for what happened to him my entire fuckin' life …I know that. But even that won't bring him back.." Bobby blinked back the tears that were starting to pool in his eyes.

They fell into an uneasy silence for a few moments. Theo wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and let out a shaky breath. "I'm sorry ... I'm just ... I'm just in shock, that's all.."

"Hey it's alright man." Bobby patted him lightly on the shoulder. The young man managed a weak smile.

"So you two was in the same band?" Jeremiah asked.

Theo nodded quietly and cleared his voice. "We'd only dreamed about it forever.." He laughed weakly. "Then when J moved to LA last year, we just fuckin' went for it. We kinda sucked at first .. but we really got our shit together after a while.." He lowered his head and fidgeted with the thumb ring… "..Where was he buried?"

"Holy Cross Cemetery ..." Jeremiah replied. "I'll take you there if you want.."

Theo nodded and stood up, "I'd really appreciate that.. Can you take me now?" Jeremiah rose from the sofa, "Sure.."

When they got to the door, Theo shook Bobby's hand, "I'm sorry 'bout your mom.. and Jack... I'll miss him a lot..we were best friends.." Tears filled up his red, puffy eyes.

"You take care.. If you're gonna be in town for a while, feel free to drop by again.." Bobby said, squeezing him reassuringly on the shoulder.

"Tell Camille I'll be back in a bit," Jeremiah closed the front door as he and Theo stepped out onto the snowy street.

Bobby returned to the living room and sat down slowly on the couch, his forehead furrowed in quiet reflection. He'd recognized that ring on the kid's finger. He shook his head and looked up at the picture on the wall, 'So you were a little fairy after all..' … He smiled even as a tear rolled down his cheek.

(610 words)