All Chapters of A Birthday and a Burial: Chapter 11

Once the truth came out, Dad's hair turned grey overnight.Everyone at the police station knew Jacob had lost his mind. The shock had broken him. He could do nothing but sit in the autopsy room with my body for the entire day.Alden tried to reason with him. "The case is closed. Lina should be laid to rest now."But Jacob wouldn't listen. He just kept staring at my body, whispering apologies over and over, calling my name like a broken record. "Lina, I failed you."Meanwhile, Dad suddenly remembered the bouquet I had bought for Mom. He questioned the janitor, checked the logs, and searched through garbage trucks one by one.From sunrise to sunset, he kept looking, even getting mistaken for a scavenger and driven off three times. Finally, he found it.The lilies had long since turned yellow. They were crushed, wilted, and covered in mold—just like what had become of me. He took the flowers to Mom's grave, a place I had never been allowed to visit.Rain drizzled down on Dad, as if