Powerless (Book 1): Powerless (39 page)

Awakening
on
the
morning
of the funeral, he was
unable
to
shift
the
feeling
that
he
was
knowingly
entering
into
the
hardest
day
of
his
life
so
far.
Getting
up,
and
getting
dressed,
putting
on
a
new
jacket that
Jennifer
had
got
him
the
day
before
; he
prepared
to
bury
his
brother.

He sat
a
solitary
figure
on
his
bed
when
Jennifer
walked
in
.

“It's
time…”

As
she
said
these
words
she
saw
Lee
sticking
the
piece
of
paper
that
he
had
been
writing
on
in
his
pocket. He
stood
turning
to
her
and
nervously
asked,
“Do
I
look
okay?”

Jennifer
approached,
gently
adjusting
the
black
tie
that
Lee
had
put
on
and
reassured him.
“You
look
good.”

They
made
their
way
back
up
to
the
house
to
say
their
final
farewells
to
Tom.
Everyone
left
the
house
leaving
only
close
family
to
say
their
good-byes.
Lee
walked
over
to
his
brother,
again
brushing
his
hair
with
his
hand,
in
painful
understanding
that
it
would
be
the
last
time
he
would
ever
see
or
feel
the
brother
who
had
lain
down
his
life
to
protect
him.

As
Lee
focused
on
his
brother,
his
father
was
approaching
him
and
handed
him
something,
which
was
wrapped
loosely
in
a
red
satin
cloth.
Lee
looked
at
it
puzzled
and
slowly
unfolded
the
cloth
to
see
what
was
inside.
There
were
two
sharp
polished teeth,
each
was
long
and
jagged.
One
was
fastened
to
a
leather lace
in
the
fashion
of
a
necklace.
Lee
looked
at
his
father.

“What
is
this?”

Philip
explained
how
he
tracked
them
when
they
were
on
the
trail
and
confronted
by
the
bear
all
those
years
ago.
Saying
that
he
had
their
back
even
when
he
wasn’t
there,
he carried
the
teeth
with
him
every
day
from
that
to
this
and
it
was
time
to
give
them
to
whom
they
belonged.
So
Philip
reached
into
Lee’s
hand,
lifted
the
tooth
that
had
the
lace
attached
to
it
and
tied
it
around
Lee’s
neck.
“The
other
one
is
for
your
brother,
you
give
it
to
him…”

Lee slipped
the
tooth
into
his
brother’s
pocket
across
his
chest
in
front
of
his
heart
and
kissed
him
one
last
time
on
the
forehead. He
whispered
in
his
ear,
“I
love
you
so
much.”
Standing
up,
he
turned
away,
letting
the
undertakers
seal
his
brother
away
in
a
box
that
he
would
never
leave.

The
coffin
was
carried
outside
and
a
few
volunteers
approached
to
carry
it.
Lee
made
sure
that
he
was
there
for
every
step.
The
physical
discomfort
of
the
coffin
pressing
against
his
shoulder
seemed
a
relief
from
the
emotional
turmoil that
was
in
his
heart.
Lifting
his
brothers’
coffin
up
on
his shoulder
he
began
the
solemn
walk
to
lay
him
to
rest.
The
people
who
carried
the
coffin
changed
every
few
paces,
but
Lee
would
not
let
his
place
go.

Lee
didn’t
know
who
was
carrying
the
coffin
with
him,
as
he
couldn’t
see
anyone’s
face
through
his
own
grief,
carrying
the
coffin
so
his
brother
was
sitting
on
his
left
shoulder,
as
this
was
a
familiar
feeling
to
have
Tom
on
this
side
of
him.
Lee
knew
that
Tom's
ears
were
right
by
him.
As
they
walked
Lee
spoke
softly
into
the
coffin
begging
him
to
get
up
and
telling
him,
“This
is
it,
if
you
don’t
get
up
now
there’s
no
coming
back.”
No
one
else
could
hear
Lee's
quiet
despair
as
they
took
a
long
walk
to
the
grave
to
say
good
-bye
.
He had never
felt
as
alone
or
empty
as
he
did
right
at
that
moment,
knowing
he
was
speaking
to
someone
who
would
never
speak
back.

When
they
got
there,
Lee
and
Philip
placed
Tom
over
the
hole,
supported
by
a
few
planks
on
the
grave
they
picked
out.
Lee
stepped
back
and
looked
around,
this
was
the
first
time
he
could
actually
see
the
funeral
procession
and
how
vast
it
was.

There
were
more
people
than
Lee
could
count,
but
there
were
no
faces.
Lee
couldn't
see
the
face
of
anyone
other
than his
father
who
was
breaking
down
with
grief
every
few
moments.
Lee
could
hear
him
talking.