Will You Stay? (Urban)

32

He put on his only suit and his only tie, laced up his loafers, and put in his cufflinks. 

Wrenden

Here

He was annoyed by her presence but knew she meant well. All he wanted to do was be alone. The guilt was eating him alive, and though Wrenden always tried to make him feel better, it wasn't working. 

Nothing was working. 

The only memory that surfaced to the front of his mind was the last argument they had before she died. 

Jaylen put the handwritten eulogy in his pocket, grabbed his keys, and walked out to Wrenden's car. Flora was already sitting in the front, so he made his way to the back seat. "Goodmorning," he mumbled. The lump in his throat grew after seeing how puffy Wren's cheeks were. She looked like how he felt. 

Though he hadn't brought himself to cry just yet, he felt it coming. 

The drive there was silent. Nothing but the sounds of cars speeding past them. The tires drove over the rough gravel driveway as Wren searched for a place to park. 

"Jaylen you can get out while I look for a spot. You should get in there," she said. Without a word, he unbuckled his seatbelt and got out, closing the door behind him. The large doors of the church were open, welcoming mourners with faces he didn't recognize. 

If he had it his way, none of these strangers would be here. Nobody was in Domonique's life enough to be here crying and sad over her death. They might have been blood but nobody here was her family. 

He walked to the front row of seats and sat by himself. Across the aisle were some familiar people. Her mom, brothers, a pregnant woman. All dressed in black, wiping the tears from their eyes and talking amongst each other. 

Seeing Domonique's mother made Jaylen want to strangle the life out of her. They had literally no relationship and here she was, crying as if her life depended on it. He tried to understand that losing a child is a pain like no other. But this woman didn't even deserve to call herself a mother. 

Wrenden and Flora walked in and took a seat next to him. He stared at the huge picture of her that stood on the easel by her casket. It was from their small Thanksgiving feast they had all those months ago. Things were easier back then. Nothing was as hard as dealing with this. 

In his mind, he felt like he would never get over it. 

The paramedics came and whisked her bloody body away as Jaylen tried to follow them in his own car. Ten minutes after his arrival, Domonique Williams was pronounced dead. 

Though the investigation was ongoing, the police ruled it a robbery gone bad, though nothing was stolen. 

If he shut his eyes, all he saw was her blood pooled on the ground. He rubbed a hand over his face and put his arm around Wren, who was now sobbing lowly. The preacher preached as the atmosphere in the church got heavier and heavier.

Jaylen wished this was all a dream. That if he pinched himself hard enough that he would wake up and things would pick up right where they left off. Domonique wasn't supposed to be lying in a casket. He wasn't supposed to give a speech about her while she was dead. 

"They're calling your name," Flora tapped him. He shook himself out of his thoughts and walked up what felt like a million tiny little steps to get to the pulpit. 

Clearing his throat, he searched through his pocket until he felt the crumpled paper against his fingertips. 

He looked as Jordan comforted his mother by rubbing her shoulders. Raheem sat there with his jaw clenched while his soon to be wife held his hand. "Domonique would laugh at my ass if I ain't get through this."