That was interesting to Cindy. She’d known almost nothing about her Uncle Charlie’s life. It was beautiful to learn that he’d had such a fulfilling marriage. Cindy wondered again why her mother had rejected him so completely and kept him out of their lives. Cindy looked at Mattheus out of the corner of her eyes. He was gazing out into the ocean, listening intently to everything that was being said. Cindy wondered how Mattheus was taking all this, if he thought her family was strange?
“How about you? What have you got to say, Cindy?” her mother turned towards her then.
Cindy felt a wave of oppression and sorrow come over her as she opened her mouth to speak. All she could think of was how much she wanted to know what had happened to her sister and why? It was almost impossible to talk about their relationship when everything else hung in the air. Ann’s passing was still unreal to Cindy. She had no idea at all what it said about Ann’s life. Was there a secret aspect to Ann that she never knew about? Was this memorial service and all these praises a grand cover up?
“Go ahead, talk Cindy,” her mother demanded.
“Ann was the most incredible sister anyone could have wanted,” Cindy mouthed the words reflexively. “I told her that many times, too. I told her I loved her, I thanked her for everything. Ann was a cornerstone of my life.”
Charlie turned and fastened his eyes upon Cindy, listening deeply to what she was saying.
“Ann didn’t want much back from me, either,” Cindy went on. “She gave unconditionally.”
“That was her mistake,” Frank mumbled loudly.
“She gave everything and never really asked for anything,” Cindy went on.
“Except that you come home,” Cindy’s mother interrupted sharply, as a breeze from the ocean blew up. “She told me she wanted you back in the States.”
“No, Ann’s main wish was for me to be happy,” Cindy became defiant. “She wanted me to be my own person, not to follow along in anyone’s footsteps. She told me that many times.”
“That’s hard to believe,” her mother uttered. “Ann often told me she missed you and wanted you home.”
“No,” Cindy voice rose above the din of the waves which were lapping more loudly on shore. “You know how I knew that Ann really cared for me and not just for herself? She wanted for me what I wanted for myself. She just was concerned that I be careful!”
“Not true!” Frank interrupted Cindy gruffly. “Your sister wanted you to settle back home, take that job on the paper, get a real life. She didn’t want you traipsing around the Caribbean always putting yourself in danger.”
Cindy felt Mattheus shiver beside her, as he gripped her hand.
“Cindy has a real life,” Mattheus broke in, as all eyes turned to him.
“This is about Ann, not about me,” horrified Cindy spoke over him. “Let’s use the time to remember her.”
Cindy’s mother moved down towards the ocean , opened her arms widely and spoke into the wind that blew on her face.
“Ann was the daughter I always wanted, everything a mother could have hoped for. She married a good man, lived close by. She respected my wishes, stayed at my side, especially when her father died. Ann never left me; would never have left on her own. I was blessed to have had her.”
Cindy felt the pit in her stomach grow deeper as her mother spoke and as the wind blew more strongly on all of them.
“I want Ann to know how much she means to me,” Cindy’s mother continued, her voice raw with emotion. “I want her to hear every word I’m saying.”
Suddenly, Uncle Ben suddenly started to sob. “Ann hears you, Claudia, she hears you,” he managed between sobs.
Charlie took a step closer to them and Frank stepped back and put his face in his hands.
Cindy held Mattheus’s hand tighter. Was Ann’s spirit there with them? Did she hear what they were saying? If she was there, what Cindy wanted more than anything was for her sister to tell her how she died. I need justice for you, Ann, Cindy spoke to her sister in her mind. I need you to help me understand.
Ben pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket then and started reading aloud.
“The good we do lives after us. It is never forgotten, lives on for eternity. The good Lord is watching over dear Ann and watching over all of us now.”
“Is there anything else to be read?” Cindy’s mother’s voice rose shrilly, like the sound of a seagull flying by.
“Yes,” said Cindy, as she stepped forward, remembering a passage that had guided her life these past years. “For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought into the open. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Frank’s head shot up as he stared at Cindy pitifully.
“It means we’ll definitely find out what happened to Ann,” Mattheus chimed in. “The truth can only remain hidden for a little while.”
*
They all spent a little while longer on the beach, prayed for Ann’s spirit, and then returned somberly to the hotel.
“That was beautiful, Claudia,” Ben kept repeating, guiding Cindy’s mothers footsteps off the sand, back onto the streets. “Would you like us all to have a meal together now?”
“Not now,” her mother seemed discombobulated. “I need to rest now, Ben.”