My Heart Will Go On

Chapter 6- Goodbye, Doc... Forever

"Fudge! Are you still in bed?! You are! I can't believe this! You know we have a lot of work to do this morning!"

I groaned and squeezed my eyes shut. Going to the funeral was the last thing I wanted to do. Not only did I not want to remember Uncle Doc, but I really didn't feel like being around a lot of people. On top of that, Papà was clearly irritated, which did nothing to make me feel better.

As if on cue, my father stormed into the room and yanked off my bedsheets. "Get up!" he ordered. "You still need your hair brushing and you need to get dressed! Why did you not get up an hour ago like I told you to?!"

As grumpy as I was, Papà can be quite scary when he's angry, despite his size. A lot of the time, I'd be grateful that he doesn't get angry at me very often. This time, however, I just did what he said and got up. I wanted to tell him I wasn't going and that I was staying at home, but the words wouldn't come. Besides, I doubt Papà would've let me. I had no choice but to go to the funeral.

As I got dressed after I'd bathed, all I could think about was how my outfit reminded me of Uncle Doc. It was a simple black jacket and equally simple cobalt blue dress, the exact same shade as Uncle Doc's paint job, with black flats. I know that my dress colour wasn't a coincidence, but it still made me feel bad. Don't you just hate it when the one thing you don't want to think about is the only thing you can think about?

"Hey", everyone greeted us softly when we arrived Flo's. We were the last Radiator Springs residents there. I noticed that I wasn't the only one wearing the same shade as Doc. Uncle Ramone had painted himself cobalt blue. Plus, all of my family either had the colour somewhere on them or were sporting some sort of accessory that colour like a hat or hubcaps.

My family hugged and kissed me. I let them, but I didn't return the affection.

"How you feeling, sweetie?" most of them asked me, only to be met with silence.

"She needs more time", I heard Papà whisper to the others as if I wasn't standing right there.

Aunt Sally had nodded along with everyone else and I heard her add, "I'm sure she'll have some closure after today."

"I think we all will", Lightning agreed.

Closure? What did that mean? I had no idea.

We were all sat there in silence before someone- I don't remember who- announced that it was time to go. The first stop was Willy's Butte, where we had put a stone up. He wasn't buried there, though. We (I mean, they) had honoured Uncle Doc's request and had him cremated, which I found utterly creepy. This was really all that was left of him. I couldn't fathom that that was what he had been reduced to. That's when it hit me that this was real and that I was never going to see Uncle Doc again. Of course, I already knew all that, but that was the wakeup call. Once again, my family and bunch of others shed tears, but I wasn't ready to do that. I stood there with my head lowered like I'd seen people do at funerals in movies. If anybody said anything, I didn't pay even the slightest bit of attention.

During this part, I was stood between Babbo and Uncle Sarge. I remember as we started driving- or walking in my case- towards the Wheel Well Motel where the memorial service and reception would be held, Babbo reached out to take my hand. As I'd done a lot in the past couple of days whenever someone tried to touch me, I jerked away from him. Babbo gave me a sad look with tears in his eyes, but said nothing. He didn't look surprised either.

Needless to say, my family was pretty worried about me during this time. A couple of times, I made them mad too, but that wasn't always my fault. Like on that journey to the Wheel Well. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Papà clutching a bunch of small pieces of yellow lined paper.