SAVAGE

8.

"They're saying it was a suicide." Lisa informed Jersey.

"Suicide?" Jersey reiterated as tears continued to cascade down her cheeks. Her heart was broken, and she felt like her life was slowly but surely falling apart.

"Yeah." Lisa replied while looking at her niece. Vivienne meant a lot to Jersey. She was the one who had raised her after Terrie was murdered.

"I don't believe it." Jersey objected while shaking her head.

"Why not?"

"I know my grandma; she wouldn't kill herself. I just visited her Auntie. She was happy and-"

"Probably just covering up for you." Lisa interrupted. "Mama wasn't happy, Jay. She was miserable inside that prison."

"So, what's next?"

"I'm waiting for them to transfer her body, so I can identify it properly."

Jersey palmed the side of her face and asked, "Where are they transferring her to?"

"The morgue, why?" Lisa replied as she gave her niece a suspicious look.

"I want an autopsy done."

"Jersey..." Lisa started while closing her eyes for a brief moment. "Why do we need an autopsy? Her death was ruled as a suicide. They found her hanging in her cell."

"I don't believe it. Somebody-anybody could've killed her in there." Jersey repeated.

"No." Lisa objected while clearing her throat. "Mama has been through enough. I'm going to claim her body and then she's getting cremated and that's it."

"But by law you're supposed to have one done. Not even if it's an internal autopsy." Jersey tried to reason with her aunt.

"Not if I don't want one. I'm not signing the paper for her to get an autopsy Jersey, so you can stop it. Mama hung herself-we don't need a medical examiner to tell us that."

"Listen to yourself." Jersey pointed out; her eyebrows snapped together in anger. "You act like you don't care."

"I do care about my mama. Hell, I shed a lot of tears about her. But the fact still stands, she killed herself because she was sick of being in prison. Mama knew she was going to rot if she didn't."

Jersey thought about the remaining years her grandmother had while inside. She shut her eyes tight which made more tears fall.

"I just can't believe that." Jersey bleated while grabbing a bunch of tissues.

"You're making a mountain out of a molehill." Lisa commented while pulling out a Newport.

Jersey opened her eyes and looked right at Auntie who was now puffing on a cigarette. She sat there wearing her hair in some box braids. Her sun-kissed skin looked smooth but the bags under her eyes told a different story.

"Why are you cremating her?"

"I can't afford a casket." Lisa answered.

"Okay, okay..." Jersey repeated over and over, trying to get herself to process that. She didn't want her grandmother cremated at all. "So-so what about the funeral?"

"I'm not doing a funeral. She told me if she ever died, not to have one."

Jersey scoffed while wiping her eyes. She stood up to leave because she didn't want to be around her Auntie at all. Jersey felt like Lisa was just throwing Vivienne away.

Lisa sat there watching her niece closely. "Where are you going?"

"I need to go. Just let me know when you're going to identify her body."