A funeral Foretold 2

I It was a late night in May. It had been raining for three days straight and my husband was behind at work. He and his brothers owned a construction company. The continual rain had forced them to have to work late tonight. Buck had come home long enough to eat dinner and change his clothes. Then he kissed me good night and headed back out.

I wasn’t worried about being alone. At the end of our front side walk was Mr. Grant’s store and it was open and busy until 9 at night. Mr. and Mrs. Grant were Buck’s ex-in-laws. Our trailer was on part of what used to be their land. Their house sat about 1000 feet from the trailer. That had been one of the conditions of Buck getting his children when he had divorced 15 years before. I liked the Grants and knew what if I needed anything Horace and Lucille would be there. Also, Buck had an old shot gun in the closet and a pistol in the dresser.

At ten I turned on the evening news and watched the weather. At least the storms were gone for a few days. It was going to be bright and sunny but not too hot over the next few days. It was the kind of days Momma used to love. My thoughts turned to Momma. She had died a few days after surgery three years earlier. Even though she was seventy-five I couldn’t believe that Momma was gone. She had now joined Daddy and Grady both. I smiled at the thought of my family reunited in Heaven.

The phone rang and I answered it. “Momma?”

“Hi, Chris. What’s wrong?” My oldest daughter never called this late unless something was wrong. I was worried it may have been my youngest one, Tammy, who had left her husband a few weeks before and moved in with Chris and her family. Or maybe even my only grandchild.

“Tammy and I were sitting here talking and we just got a weird feeling. We wanted to make sure that you were alright.”

“I am fine.”

“How is Buck?” Her tone was getting more worried.

“He’s working with Pap and Johnny. They are working late tonight with the other boys. And before you ask if something was wrong some one would have called.”

“Alright.” I could here her frustration. I felt a little frustrated too. Chris and Tammy were what my Granny had always called sensitive. They knew when things were wrong. If both of them felt it, something was wrong. “Well, I am sorry to bother you, Momma. I love you.” I could hear Tammy in the background saying I love you.

“I love you both. Get some sleep and stop worrying.” I laughed and hung up the phone. But now I was worried.

About twenty minutes later I went to bed and fell asleep. It was about midnight when I heard it. At first I thought that Buck had come home and was walking down the hallway to come to bed. But then I realized it was pacing right outside my door and in the hallway. I slowly and quietly got up and walked to the dresser. I pulled out the loaded pistol. Then I crept to the door, where the pacing was continuing. I threw open the door and turned on the light at the same time. The pacing stopped. There was no one there. I gulped and started down the hallway to the little room we had turned into a walk in closet. There was no one there. Next I checked the bathroom, the spare bedroom, living room and kitchen. I even checked the front and back doors. No one was around.

The hair on the back of my neck was standing up. I was too scared to go back to sleep. I got me some milk out of the fridge and poured myself a glass. Then I went back to the bedroom. At this point, I had not heard it and was starting to convince myself that it had all been a dream. I shut and locked the door and sat back down on the bed.

It started again. I curled up in bed, terrified of what it was. I kept a watch on the clock. It was now 12:30. Finally, I decided to try and read. Maybe if I could get my mind on something else. I had not gotten far in the book when the pacing stopped. It was now ten till two am. I figured that whatever was causing the noise had given up and left.

I put away the book and crawled under the covers. This time I left the light on. I wasn’t asleep an hour when the phone rang. It was my baby brother, Robert. “Nita?”

“Robert, what’s wrong?”

“There’s been an accident. Gary was killed in a car wreck.”

My heart sunk. Velma’s oldest son was dead. “What happened?”

“They were coming across the new bridge. The one with the new concrete guardrails. The driver lost control of the car. Gary was the only one wearing a seat belt, but the guy behind him knocked him into the window at the same time the window hit the concrete barrier. He was killed instantly.”

I slowly took everything in. “What time did this happen?”

“They said a little before two am.”

I sat straight up in bed and looked at the locked and closed door. “When is Velma now?”

“She’s at her house. We’re on our way over there and we can pick you up.”
“Where is Howard?” Howard was Velma’s ex-husband and Gary’s father. He had also been my first boyfriend before I had dated and married my first husband. Howard and I were still good friends. When Velma had had surgery a few months before, he had come to visit her.

“He is out of town, but one of the girls got in touch with him.”

“I’ll be ready when you get here.”

“Okay.”

I hung up and started dressing. Then I unlocked the door and went out into the now silent hallway. I went into the living room and sat down on the couch. I know it would take Robert a few minutes to get ready and come get me, so I laid my head on the arm of the couch and got a few minutes of sleep. I wasn’t asleep when I felt someone kiss me on the cheek. I opened my eyes expecting to see Buck standing there. He wasn’t. No one was. I bolted up and looked around.

I was already a nervous wreck when Robert knocked on the door. I almost wet myself when I jumped. He saw me through the view holes in the door and laughed.

“What was that about?”

We got into his car and started to Velma’s and I started telling him the story.

“You expect me to believe this?”

“Robert, I know how weird it sounds, but I am telling you. Someone was pacing in my house and someone kissed me.”

He looked at me with a little brother look, even though he was 34. “Okay, what ever you say, Nita.” Then he laughed. “Maybe it was mom.”

I laughed too. I needed to hear that. Right now I needed to think it was Momma, trying to warn me and comfort me. She never I would need that strength to help my sister trough the next few days.

*Author’s Note*

My grandmother always told this story and believed that it was her mother who was pacing and kissed her on the cheek. When she died in 2001, I was with my mom in the hallway taking down some family pictures. As we walked by a large picture that had hung in the hallway as long as I can remember, Mom took it down. I looked at her. “That’s Buck’s brother. Why are you taking it?”

She looked at me and shook her head. “That’s Grady, Momma’s brother who died in the car wreck.”

I am convinced that it was her brother Grady who was warning her and kissed her. Mom gave the picture to Uncle Robert, who told me later that weird things had happened after his house after that picture arrived.