1 week later....
Gia's P.O.V
"You ready", my mom peered through the corner of my door. "Yea", I whispered, hanging my head low. "Babygirl, I know that this is hard, believe me, I do. But, it does get better. Just pray about it, and trust that God will help you threw this. Me, Jordan, Larry, and Laurent are here for you. You have been so strong for your friend and I'm so proud of you." I shook my head, biting my lip nervously. "Now come give mama a squeeze", she opened her arms out widely. I giggled lightly and made my way into her tight and loving embrace.
After a brief moment of fixing my make-up from my constant crying, I finally walked downstairs, only to find everyone loading up into Jordan's truck. "You can do this, don't break, not now", I thought to myself before heading out the front door.
As I sit in the back seat, I go over my speech that Mrs. Williams asked me to give at Tara's funeral. My earplug's play sad songs into my ear as the long drive to my bestfriend's funeral taunts me in such a way that there's nothing left to do but sit back and watch my worst fears come to reality....
I must've zoned out because when my eyes were finally focused, we we're just parking into a space at the church that had seemed to be miles from the house. I fix my dress getting out of the car, and surprisingly, Larry's fingers intertwined with mines. And when my mom and Jordan weren't looking, he laid a soft peck to my lips, and I happily kissed back. We all walked up to the double doors and made our entry into the church house.
When we were inside, the sound of sniffles, light cries, and small chatter could be heard all around the room. Mr. and Mrs. Williams (Tonya and Isaiah) had just spotted us and made their way through the groups of people, making their way towards us.
"You made it", she greeted us. "Of course", my mom smiled. "Well, the ceremony is about to start", Isaiah's deep voice spoke. I could see the pain through his strained smile. I mean...Tara was a daddies girl, she always has been. And I know he's taking it pretty hard, loosing his only daughter, and now having to sit through her funeral. I can't even try to compare my pain to his... knowing it's much greater than mine's.
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The first 15 to 20 minutes consisted of the pastor giving his speech and preaching to the great and beyond. It brought everyone, including me, to tears.
"But we mustn't cry over this strong warrior, we mustn't! She was a strong fighter and believer in great things and what she needs us to do is to be strong! Be strong for yourselves and for her! Be strong for those who can't! And we have to come together and grieve, let us not push each other out! Come together and stay together, grieving together, crying together, believing together, loving together as one and being with loved one's in need of a person who will be strong for them! Tara is with our holy father and he's taking good care of her, yes she left us early, but she's in good hands and we have to believe that! We can't spend our day's wondering what if she went here, what is she went there, is she coming back, can she come back! No! The sad truth is no my fellow sista's and brotha's! We cannot go on wondering if, because we already know! She's in the heavenly place where God watches over us, and think of it like this... he has a new angel... and her name is Tara! She's now watching over us with a wide smile upon her face as she helps us through this rough time! We cannot go on wondering what if... because if we did... if if was a fifth of liquor, we'd all be walking around sinning in the dirtiest ways! We got to be strong, we got to fight our way through this rough time and believe!" He stopped to dab his sweaty face with his cloth. And by this time, everybody was up on their feet, clapping their hands together and wiping their teary eyes.
