Chasing Mr. Carlton ( The story of a Shrew's Son)

Part 41

Matt watched Bobby carefully as she sat across from him in the car. 

She didn't say anything, she didn't do anything. She only stared out the window and even then, he was sure she wasn't really seeing anything.  She was quiet, she'd been quiet since she got the news and he couldn't imagine what she had to be feeling.

Everything happened so quickly from that day, he drove her home, she didn't protest, he stayed with her all night, she didn't say no. Still, it was like she wasn't even in the room with him, she'd completely disconnected from her body and only god knew where she was.  What was strangest was that she wasn't crying, she hadn't cried a bit.

Matt couldn't imagine, he only knew that if he lost the connection to either one of his siblings he'd be devastated.

But Bobby was different. She had been calm the entire time, she handled things in a practical manner and she didn't protest over the arrangements he made because she knew they were the most practical choices.

"I'll need to go." She said suddenly, as she sat staring out the window. Matt frowned, from what she told him he knew that her family wasn't the type to be trust. "I have to go see Robbie."

He was quiet for a second before nodding.

"When are the services?" He asked and she chuckled, it was a humorless sound.

"I very much doubt that my family will arrange services. I wouldn't be surprised if they just..." Her voice died out and she took a deep breath.

"Then we'll take care of it." he said firmly, making her turn to look at him. "Call, make whatever arrangements you want and I'll take care of it."

"You don't have to." She said and he reached out, taking her hand.

"I can't stand the idea of it either. He was your brother, your twin. If anyone could know, it's me." He said, giving it a squeeze. He would have made the calls himself but he knew that Bobby needed to have some semblance of control, she would want to do it herself.

After that, time sped up even more. Before he knew it, they were on their way to Texas and she would make sure he was properly buried. No one seemed to think it strange that Matt would go with Bobby, after all, they were extremely close even if they were always fighting.  Eddie had stayed behind, knowing that Bobby would need him to help pick up the slack when she was gone.

He wasn't sure what to expect when they got to the small little town in south Texas. It was only about 14 blocks long, maybe another 6 wide and there was exactly one cemetery just outside of it. There wasn't more than one of each school, one big church and truck stop on the opposite end. It wasn't an ugly town, it was actually quite nice, pretty little houses lined up in a picturesque manner and then far south of it, past some railroad tracks and beyond the truck stop was the type of old and dilapidated trailer park you saw in movies. It looked completely abandoned... but it wasn't.

He'd kept close to Bobby the entire time, had an arm around her shoulder and was vigilant. He didn't trust the people who were standing across from them at the funeral even if most of them looked harmless. A few people greeted her, commenting on how long it had been since they'd seen her, commenting on how very different she looked.

"Are you okay?" He asked, thinking it was a dumb question but unsure what else to say as they walked back to the car.

"I didn't see any of them." She said, frowning.

"Did you want to?" He asked, knowing she was referring to her family.

"No, not really. I just..." She said, looking like she was still trying to sort things out in her head. "I guess I did expect them to show up and make a scene."