Fresh Kills Read Online Free PDF Page B

should’ve saved us both the trouble.”

    “Because Mom would be heartbroken if we didn’t do the right thing.”

    “Mom is dead. Besides, she was heartbroken for most of her life. It’s too late for either of us to make it up to her now. What the hell’s the difference?”

    “Mom’s not dead in here,” Julia answered, tapping a small fist above her heart.

    She started crying again. Quietly. One deep breath and a steady stream of tears. I lifted her from her chair into an embrace.

    “It’s just us now, Junior,” she said. “Don’t be a complete bastard. Not to me.” Against my shoulder, I felt her eyelashes beat back tears. “Stay here, in our house, with me. Until this is done.” She looked up at me. “Don’t leave me here alone.”

    I sat with her and held her hand until she stopped crying, but we didn’t look at any more pictures. I started to tell her what Waters knew about our father’s death, but she stopped me. Purvis had already told her. I wanted to know more about her conversations with Purvis, but I bit my tongue. He was a touchy subject for her, too. I just got up from the table and went back into the den.

    After she tidied her makeup in the bathroom, Julia joined me on the couch, sitting close beside me, and we watched the Mets fall further behind.

    “Has Jimmy called back?” she asked.

    “Jimmy who?”

    “McGrath,” she said. “I called him when I got in.”

    “Jeez, what’d you do that for?” I asked.

    “Because I knew you wouldn’t,” she said. “Just like when Virginia dumped you. For Christ’s sake, your father just died and Jimmy’s your closest friend.”

    I sank back into the couch. “Jimmy and I don’t talk so much anymore.”

    “Why am I not surprised?” Julia said, shaking her head. “What happened? What’d you do?”

    “I didn’t do anything,” I said. “Nothing happened. Just life, you know?”

    “Call him in the morning,” she said. She stared at me, waiting for a promise to do what she said. She’d have a long wait.

    “Can we talk about something else?” I asked.

    “Actually, we do need to talk about the arrangements for Dad,” she said. “The wake, the funeral Mass, all that.”

    “The hell we do,” I said. Me and my big mouth. She so set me up for this.

    Julia chuckled like she knew exactly what I was thinking. “I’m sorry you feel that way,” she said, “but things have already started. I called Scalia’s and arranged for them to receive and prepare the body. They even agreed to handle the insurance for us. I didn’t want to make any of the formal, final arrangements without talking to you.”

    “About what?” I said. “I’m not interested in formal arrangements. How much of a bribe would it take for the coroners to take him right to the Dump?”

    Julia crossed her arms and sank back in the couch. “That’s disgusting,” she said. “And it’s rude. A lot of people from the Towers were laid to rest at Fresh Kills. It’s where they found Eddie Francis. That, at least, should matter to you.”

    “You’re right about the Dump,” I said. “It’s better company than the old man deserves.”

    Julia snatched up the remote and muted the game. “Enough. There’s going to be a wake, and there’s going to be a decent funeral. Like in a normal goddamn family.”

    I turned to face her. “That’s what you wanna do? Fine. You wanna try and make some pretty pictures out of this mess? Fine. But don’t expect me to participate in it.”

    “This isn’t about pretty pictures. It’s about doing the right thing.”

    “You spent years trying to do the right thing by him,” I said. “What’d it get you?”

    “This is about more than him,” Julia said. “It’s about Mom. It’s about us. Give me one good reason you can’t take a week out of your oh-so-exciting life and do the right thing by your family.”

    “I don’t want to,” I said. “That’s reason enough. The best thing you could do for