“My sweet Dove,” Adrian says sweetly.
“What, Adrian?” I say with a heavy sigh.
“Baby, you look beautiful, but you look like death. You need to eat something,” he says bluntly.
“I know,” I say.
“Hey. We still have the tacos,” Raul says. I look at him and he smiles.
“You still have the food?” I ask.
“Yeah. Some people pig out when they get sad. Thought maybe you might want to eat hers,” he says with a shrug.
“Goddamn it, Raul,” I say with a huff as I close my eyes.
“You look woozy, Little Dove. Don’t cry too much. Get some food in you first,” Brent laughs.
“Fuck you guys,” I laugh tearfully.
“Let’s get some food, and then we can go to the funeral,” Raul says as he gently kisses me.
The entire society is here. I’ve never seen themallgathered before. Everyone is crying. At first, it was annoying because I thought it was a show for many of them, but it’s not just about Fiona. Her death sparked the realization that The Society had grown into something vile. Women were treated as objects to be used and discarded. Edward murdering Fiona turned everyone from blindly following to truly being part of the movement to bring peace. Edward is battling in this war alone, and he has an entire army after him.
We are listening to Fiona’s childhood friend, Susan, cry and talk about how close they were, and it’s annoying. “She didn’t even like her,” I whisper to Adrian.
“Alania,” he chuckles quietly.
“What? She didn’t. She told me all about…”
“Shhh!” Susan’s mother says with a look of disgust on her face.
“Bitch, Fiona didn’t like y’all,” I say loud enough for everyone to hear. “Susan got her and her boyfriend drunk, fucked him, and then gaslit her into thinking she said she could. Your daughter is a whore.”
Adrian, Brent, and Raul are grinning. Fiona’s mother, Linda, sounds and looks like she is crying. Her stepfather, Chris, is hugging her. Their bodies shake for a second, and I’m almost worried I fucked up, but Linda’s cackle suddenly echoes through the room.
“She really did hate you,” Linda giggles tearfully. “You were so awful to her.”
“Just go,” I say. “Everyone. Just go.”
“Thank you for coming, everyone,” Raul says as he turns to everyone. “We have food set up at the community center with all of Fiona’s favorite foods. Please enjoy. Celebrate her life.”
“It’s tacos,” I say. “The girl loved tacos.”
Everyone chuckles and starts walking away from the graveyard, leaving me sitting with Adrian, Raul, and Brent. Linda and Chriscome over and hug me. “I’m sorry we had to meet like this,” I say. “I know things were tough for y'all, but…”
“You find that monster and you make him pay for taking her,” Linda says tearfully. “You make him pay for hurting you. Get revenge, Alania. You deserve it.”
“Thank you,” I sigh.
I watch as they leave, and I stand to walk over to the casket. It’s ready to be lowered into the ground, and I don’t know if I’m ready yet. She and I planned our entire lives together. We were so damn excited to not only live together but to be bound together by the men we shared. I wanted her and Adrian to connect more like I had with Raul, but we ran out of time.
I touch my hand to the smooth casket, and a tear slides down my cheek. “Rest easy, sweet girl. I’m going to miss you,” I say tearfully.
Adrian and Brent take my hands, and we walk back toward the truck. Raul stays behind the casket for a moment. I watch as he kisses his hand and touches the lid before walking toward us. When he gets closer, I see the silent tears. He doesn’t say a word before wrapping me in a tight hug and burying his face in my hair. A few seconds pass before Adrian opens the back door, and Raul moves in to sit.
“What are you doing?” I laugh as he sits in the middle seat. I climb in, but he promptly pulls me to my knees in front of him.
“Suck my cock, Little Dove, or should I make you?” Raul says simply. A wicked grin spreads across my face, and he tuts at me. “If I have to make you, you don’t get to come. Be my good little whore and you’ll come on my cock.”
