Chapter 21-Tobias
"Are you sure he's going to show up?" I asked Rachel. We were at the funeral for Jake's parents and his brother.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure he will," she replied. "He'll feel that it's his responsibility to show up."
The funeral was a private affair. No TV cameras, no photographers were there, although a few of those tabloid reporters were probably hidden somewhere.
Fortunately, it was a beautiful day. No clouds were in sight, and the sun was shining with all of its radiance. The Pacific Ocean's water was sparkling, reflecting the sun's light. The cemetery was overlooking the ocean. All in all, a very nice place to be buried.
For some reason, this place seemed familiar. Except there had been more people, and Jake was here, and…
What was I thinking about? I shook my head clear of those thoughts. I had never been here before. This was the only funeral I had been to.
Most of the people here were Jake's relatives. Some of them were friends of the family, as well as Tom's high school friends. The other Animorphs were here as well. Although I had never met Jake's parents, I'm sure they were nice people. I had never known Tom outside of the time he was a Controller.
Ever been to a funeral? It's a depressing scene. Everyone was dressed in black. Most of the people were either crying or talking about happy memories. I felt out of place, like I didn't belong. My whole body was sweating in the black suit I was wearing. It felt constricting.
Tobias, you're a human now, not a hawk, I told myself.
Marco, Rachel, Cassie, and I were hanging out, away from the other people. Except for Rachel, none of us really didn't belong. We didn't have any happy memories to share. We were invited as a sign of respect, I guess. And to lure Jake back from wherever he was at.
The past couple of days had passed by so quickly. The day after Jake left, we had been picked up Ax's ship and taken to the White House. There, we held a press conference, talking about the war with the Yeerks. We talked about Elfangor, Visser One, everything we remembered. We purposely didn't talk about missions that involved the Chee, because we had promised not to reveal their existence.
Just like that, we had become world heroes. Our story spread around the planet like a wildfire. Never had the entire human race had heroes like us. A few kids and an alien had beat and entire alien empire that was a few centuries ahead in technology. The press ate the story up. They loved it.
I had to readjust to being a human. For more than three years I had lived as a hawk, hunting to eat my food. I was used to having razor vision and having wings to fly around. No longer would I have to hunt my food. Compared to hawk eyes, human eyes are dim, and walking on legs is far slower than flying. I would live in a house instead of in a tree.
The qualities of being human came back to me quicker than I expected. I was able to not wear my hawk stare as much. Facial expressions were still a chore. It was hard, remembering how to smile, how to frown. Hawks don't do those things. It was difficult, trying out the muscles in my face. Besides that, I was pretty much as normal of a human as I would ever be.
"What do we do? Stand here like losers until Jake comes?" Marco inquired, interrupting my thought process.
"No, we're probably going to have to sit through the funeral," Rachel answered.
"Why do you make it sound like a chore?" Cassie said. "Funerals are a place to pay your last respects to the dead. It shouldn't feel like a burden."
"Fine, whatever you want,-" Marco began.
"Shut, up, Marco," I interrupted. Marco looked surprised. "Cassie's right. We're here to honor Jake's family, not to hang out. During the funeral, just sit there and act the part, even if you don't want to."
"Funeral's beginning," Rachel whispered. "Our seats are front row on the left."
I took Rachel's hand, and we walked down to the front row. We were sitting next to Rachel's mom and her two sisters. Rachel's mom was crying, and Jordan and Sarah were trying to comfort her.
"I'm sorry," I said to Rachel's mom. I couldn't really think of anything else to say. My seat was on the aisle. Rachel sat down next to me.
"I'm not going to be called up to say something, am I?" I asked her. I hadn't prepared anything.
"No, a few relatives will be going up. You didn't really know Jake's family too well, so you're spared," Rachel responded.
The funeral began with the pastor saying a few words about Jake's parents and his brother. How they were churchgoers, followers of their religion, and how they would forever enjoy the afterlife in heaven.
Jake's relatives started coming back and talking about his family. Happy memories were remembered, people started crying. I was embarrassed. I had no reason to be here, but I had to stay. There was no way I could just get up and leave.
Occasionally, I would glance over at Marco and Cassie. Marco seemed to be asleep, but he was awake. Despite his immaturity, Marco was respectful when the situation called for it. Cassie was simply looking ahead, a somber look on her face. She had known Jake's parents, so I guess she knew more about them than I did.
The funeral seemed to pass by quickly. Rachel had a resigned look on her face. "He's not coming," she whispered.
"It's not over yet," I answered back. "He'll come."
More people came up to speak, and finally, the funeral was over. People got up and started conversing with one another. Rachel and I were walking over to Marco and Cassie when someone pointed to the back and shouted, "Look!"
Conversations halted, and everyone turned to the back of the lawn. There was Jake, our brave leader in the war. He was wearing a tuxedo, black pants, a tie, and sunglasses. His hair was perfectly gelled into place. In one of his hands was a bundle of roses, and in the other, a basketball.
Nobody said a word as Jake proceeded up the aisle slowly until he reached his parent's grave. He placed the roses under the tombstone. He then moved over to the headstone marking Tom's grave, and put the basketball next to it.
For the longest time, Jake just knelt there, his hands caressing the remnants of his family. People were weeping. My eyes were beginning to blur with tears. It was too sad to watch. Even Marco, the least emotional of our group, shed a few wet ones.
Finally, Jake got up and walked over to me. He took his sunglasses off. His eyes were red, his face streaked with tears.
"You're right, Tobias," Jake said in a barely audible voice. "You guys are my family now."
"It's okay, Jake. We're here for you." I turned to Rachel, Marco, and Cassie. "We always will be."