They buried Collins two days later. His parents refused to attend, prompting Maureen to scream at them for fifteen minutes, until they hung up. Roger draped his leather jacket over one arm. Neither owned a suit. Maureen emerged from the bathroom in a loose skirt that fell to the floor and a dark sweater.
They'd all agreed that they wanted to speak at the funeral. Mark went first.
"Collins…Collins was one of a kind. Self-proclaimed anarchist. I remember one time, he'd disappeared for months and showed up one day on the doorstep full of wild stories about how he'd backpacked through Europe on a whim and ran naked through the Parthenon…that's how Collins was. He did what he wanted and what he knew was right and didn't care what anyone thought of it…"
Maureen followed Mark.
"Collins, my friend, my fellow protestor, my mentor, my philosopher…I-I don't know what I can say. You were more…more than any of us deserved. Even-even after Angel went, you brought spirit and laughter back to our family. You held us together. You…I love you, Collins."
Maureen stepped down, tears clouding her eyes. Roger wrapped his jacket around her shoulders and took her place in front.
"Collins…Thomas...I can't…I loved you like a brother."
Roger returned to Maureen and Mark. They listened as a few of the members of Life Support said their goodbyes and shared their memories. When the last speaker was done, Benny stood and made his way up the aisle from the back. Roger glared at him and moved to stand up. Maureen put a hand on his wrist.
"Don't," she whispered, "not today."
Roger stayed seated and waited for Benny to say something.
"Collins was my brother. Not in a friends-like-brothers way. Flesh and blood. He was three years older than me. He, uh…he left home his senior year of high school. He left because our parents were ignorant and homophobic. And because I was too selfish to stop him. I –I can't explain away all the wrongs I did…can't explain away any of them. All I can do is say I'm sorry, Collins. For what's it's still worth, I'm sorry. And I love you. I'm sorry I wasn't a better brother."
Benny strode out of the church, tears flowing down his cheeks, without waiting for anyone.
They buried Collins in an empty plot beside Angel. It felt right. They were together again.
