5. A Bunny Bearing Gifts

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Jamie tugged at the shirt collar squeezing a little too tightly around his neck. He stood quietly in the corner of the dimly lit room, the morning sun blocked out by the drawn shades. He scrunched his nose, choking a bit on the sweet air filled with the smell of flowers and strong perfume. The quiet hum of people's condolences was interrupted every once in a while by the doorbell ringing. The coffee tables were covered with photo albums, flower arrangements, and "thinking of you" cards.

Jamie left his dark corner of the room and returned to his mother's side, standing awkwardly by her sobbing figure. He shifted his feet, trying to ease the pain of the uncomfortable blisters forming from his tight leather shoes. They were much too small, something that only momentarily fit his feet when he was in 6th grade and his grandmother passed away.

Each time his mother began recovering from a fit of sobs, another family member would approach her or another photo of her daughter would catch her attention. Jamie was worried she'd cry so much that she'd get dehydrated. Surely the human body only has so many tears to cry.

The boy tried his best to avoid looking at the empty wooden box beside him. Technically, it was filled with stuffed animals, toys, and cards. Yet every time he glanced at it, it was like staring into a black hole. If he looked too long, the emptiness would leave him with an echoing void of his thoughts. He wished someone would close it, or at least put it in the ground already so he didn't have to keep looking at it. The woody smell that it offered was beginning to make him nauseous.

Jamie looked away from it again, finding Henry and William standing next in line. "Ms. Karim...I can't imagine what you're going through," Henry began, offering a hug to his mother. William, behind his coworker, kept an uninterrupted stare on Jamie, who glared right back. He was too emotionally numb to yell at the man or even begin to express the contempt that was boiling inside of him.

William stepped forward, holding a yellow stuffed animal out for Nabila to see. It was a rabbit.

"I was wondering if I could put this in her casket...it was with her jacket."

"I never even knew she had one...maybe I forgot about it...go ahead, if you think it was important to her, put it in."

Bullshit. "What? I've never seen her with that before," Jamie spoke up, trying to figure out what William was up to.

"Well maybe you just weren't paying attention." Afton spat each word out.

He placed the bowtie-bearing plushie in the casket and returned his attention to Nabila. His voice changed to an almost dramatic one, "We are truly so sorry for your loss. If there's anything, anything we can do to help you and your family right now, just ask."

Henry joined in. "Yeah, we could even help cover the funeral costs, I know this stuff isn't cheap."

As the words left Henry's mouth, William's kind facade dropped for a moment, as he gave his business partner a look of bewilderment.

"Oh I wouldn't want to do that to you gentlemen, I'm sure we can manage..." the woman replied.

"I'm serious, think of it as a favor, you have enough stress to worry about. Let us at least take care of this."

"...henry" William spoke quietly, trying to interupt the two.

Henry ignored him, insisting, "Please."

"Henry."

"If you're so determined, I won't turn down your offer." Henry smiled warmly at Jamie's mother, before being dragged away by William with a quick "Just a moment."

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