On the other side of town, William Phillips called out to his wife as he brushed away a piece of stray hair which had fallen onto the lapel of his jacket. ‘Hurry up Suellyn, what are you doing? I don’t want to be late for the funeral.’
Suellyn applied the last of her makeup and looked in the full-length mirror on the dressing room wall, tilted her head and was satisfied. ‘I’m coming. But I can’t find my black leather handbag, the one with the gold chain. You haven’t seen it have you, William?’
William didn’t know where her handbag was and wasn’t about to help her find it. ‘I’ll be waiting in the car.’ He grabbed the car keys and walked towards the lift. He checked his watch and wondered why it mattered so much to Suellyn that she had to have that particular bag. She must have at least ten other black bags to choose from. And to be late today, today of all days. William fumed. He just knew the traffic was going to be chaotic as he opened the car door and slumped behind the steering wheel.
Suellyn finally appeared and eased herself into the leather passenger seat. She turned towards William and patted his knee. ‘Found it,’ she said and placed her gold chained handbag on her lap. She didn’t notice William roll his eyes as he reversed the Mercedes out of the parking bay and drove out through the basement garage into the heavy rain.
‘It’s all right William, calm down. I don’t know why you’re getting yourself so upset. They won’t start the service without us. We’re family.’
They travelled the eleven kilometres to the city through the rain in silence.
‘Park there, William, next to that old yellow car.’ Suellyn pointed to the vacant space in the church car park. The rain had eased and they entered St Benedict’s through the sandstone block archway.
William and Suellyn were escorted by a funeral attendant to a pew in the second row on the right hand side of the church. They shuffled past an elderly woman deep in prayer wearing a ridiculous hat. A spotted grey feather poked out from beneath the band and brushed against Suellyn as she took her place on the pew. William’s knees knocked against the pew in front of him. They both turned to look at the woman beside them and realised they had no idea who she was.
The woman with the feathered hat began to snore lightly; it was sleep that had overtaken her, not grief. Her head fell forward and then suddenly jerked upwards as people do when they realise that they have fallen asleep at an inappropriate time. The woman adjusted her hat and looked at William and Suellyn sympathetically. William wondered if she recognised them or perhaps she felt she already knew them from a description Rose may have given her of her only son and his wife.
The elegant arrangement of red roses William had ordered rested in the middle of the polished mahogany coffin. Roses, William remembered, were his mother’s favourite flower. Suellyn nudged William in the ribs as he fiddled with his cuff links. She leant forward and picked up a hymn book from the shelf in front of her and flicked through the pages. William glanced up at a stained glass window depicting the resurrection of Christ and then turned his eyes towards the unknown woman who sat beside him. She looked away and blew her nose loudly into a man-sized handkerchief.
A black suited figure came forward and placed a bouquet of cheap, grocer shop flowers, wrapped in clear cellophane, on top of the coffin. The bundle of flowers was tied with a pink ribbon. He paused for a moment and muttered something under his breath. Tommy Dwyer turned around slowly and their eyes met - Suellyn bit her lip. Her stomach tightened as he walked past her and returned to his place at the rear of the church. William was looking down at the carpeted floor when the organ stopped playing and the small group of mourners fell silent. Father John stood up from his invisible chair behind the pulpit and addressed the congregation. The service began.
‘Our sister, Rose Patricia Phillips, has died. We gather to give praise and thanks to God as we honour her life.’
William shifted in his seat and looked over his shoulder. He looked at the small congregation and realised that he didn’t recognise anyone, apart from Anita, his personal assistant, who was sobbing three pews behind him. What was she doing here? She must be angling for a pay rise, he thought cynically.
The service was going on for far too long. Suellyn was grateful that William had decided not to give a eulogy. She stirred uncomfortably in her seat and placed the crumpled service sheet down beside her and looked back over her shoulder, scanning the congregation, searching for Tommy. He was sitting at the back of the church between Max Gray, Rose’s gardener and an elderly man with a snowy white moustache and pouchy eyes. What was Tommy doing here? She had told him not to come. The last thing she wanted was for William to come face to face with Tommy Dwyer. She hoped there wasn’t going to be a scene and prayed that he had enough sense to just slip away quietly after the service.
‘Into your hands, God of mercies, we commend our sister, Rose Patricia Phillips in the sure and certain hope that together with all who have died in Christ, she will rise with him on the last day. We give you thanks for the blessings, which you have bestowed upon her in life: they are signs to us of your goodness and of our union with the saints in Christ. Grant her eternal rest.
Amen!
In peace let us take our sister, Rose Patricia Phillips, to her final place of rest.’
Tommy stood well back from the graveside. Edi was inconsolable, she thought it was her mother they were burying. Rhoda looked at Kevin as if they both realised they had made a mistake in bringing her. Ashleigh attempted to comfort Edi by holding her hand but her attention was drawn away from her when she noticed a well dressed man in his sixties who looked remarkably like William Phillips.
She turned her gaze to the woman who was holding William’s arm. Suellyn Phillips was supporting him, playing the role of devoted wife. She watched as she dabbed at tears with a snowy, white tissue and shifted from one foot to the other. Suellyn looked divine in black and her long legs were accentuated by the tailored pants she was wearing.Rimis was observing everyone quietly in the background, making his own observations and winked as he met Ashleigh’s eyes.
The coffin was lowered carefully and respectfully into the ground. Father John offered the final ritual, the rite of committal and the small group of mourners hurried back to their cars to escape the rain.
It was still drizzling. Kevin approached the grave and looked down into the dark, deep hole in the ground at the clumps of soil and the soggy flower stems covering the coffin. Ashleigh gently ushered the sisters back to where the car was parked. Rimis walked towards Kevin and stood across from him on the opposite side of the grave. He couldn’t help but notice his out of date suit and outrageous tie. ‘We’re watching you, Kevin,’ he whispered.
Kevin blinked twice and stuttered, ‘I have to go. The ladies are waiting for me.’
‘Maybe you can give me a call sometime, Kevin. I’d like to see your paintings. I’m a bit of an artist myself.’ Rimis reached into the inside pocket of his suit jacket and opened his wallet. He pulled out a creased business card and walked over to where Kevin was standing and stuffed it into the breast pocket of his suit jacket. Kevin nodded nervously and hurried off towards the car park.
Tommy decided it was proper to offer his condolences even though it was raining and he had a long way to drive home. Suellyn watched him striding towards them and tried to work out his mood from the look on his face, but it was impossible; his face was flat and free from emotion. He was holding a large, black umbrella above his head, his shoulders were hunched and she worried that he might slip as he sidestepped a muddy puddle of water as he approached their parked car.
William held the car door open for Suellyn and juggled his umbrella over her head to protect her from the drizzle, which looked as if it would turn into a downpour at any moment.
Tommy approached the car and extended his hand. ‘My condolences to you both.’
The rims of their umbrellas bumped against each other and sparked off a shower of rain drops. With the two men standing side-by-side,
their similarities were obvious and impossible to ignore, the same dark eyes, the same thin lips, the same height. Suellyn wondered if they could see the similarities in the other, if they could see what she could see. But if William had noticed the likeness, he wasn’t about to say anything.
‘Thanks for coming today, especially in such miserable weather.’ William shook Tommy’s hand firmly. ‘Did you know my mother from Eden Street?’ he asked politely, even though he was annoyed at having to stand in the rain and speak to this stranger. They were all getting drenched. William looked at Tommy, thinking he looked familiar. Tommy looked at William and thought the same.
‘Pleased to meet you, sorry it’s under such sad circumstances. Your mother and I go back a long way,’ he said, as a large raindrop dripped from his umbrella and ran down the back of his neck.
‘Well, Suellyn and I certainly appreciate you coming. My mother didn’t have many friends, at least that I know of.’ William looked at Suellyn and noticed her face was pale and drawn. The stress from Rose’s death was obviously getting to her. He felt guilty now as he realised that he had underestimated the feelings Suellyn had for his mother. He had no idea that she cared so much. ‘Let’s get going Suellyn, let’s get out of this rain.’ Suellyn didn’t take her eyes off Tommy as she edged her way into the car and settled into the passenger seat.
‘Nice to meet you both.’ Tommy gave a quick wave but didn’t make any attempt to move from where he was standing. He stood his ground as the rain grew heavier and water seeped into his shoes. His eyes followed the Mercedes as it reversed out of the angled car space and drove off slowly down the road. A new set of mourners were arriving. Dealing with the dead was big business he thought as he turned and walked back towards his car.