Even after burying her son, she still had enough in her to fuss at everybody around her. I knew it wouldn’t last, though. Grief came in waves, and right now the house was full enough to keep her distracted. Eventually everybody would go home,the food would stop coming, and she’d be left with the kind of silence no mother should have to sit in.
I reached over and squeezed her hand. “You know I got you, right?”
Her expression softened. “I know, baby.”
“You need anything, you call me.”
“I know.”
“I mean anything.”
“Kaiden, I heard you the first two times.”
“Just making sure.”
She gave my hand a squeeze before letting it go. “Come on. Let me give you that stuff before I forget.”
I followed her down the hallway toward the bedroom Sam used whenever he stayed over. He hadn’t lived there in years, but she’d never completely changed the room. There were still old pictures on the dresser and a few things in the closet he probably hadn’t touched since he was a teenager.
My aunt walked over to the bed and picked up a plastic hospital bag.
“This is everything they gave me.”
I took it from her and looked inside. Sam’s wallet, keys, watch and a few other things sat at the bottom. His phone was there too, the screen cracked across one corner.
“They said that was everything he had on him,” she explained. “I don’t know if there’s anything in there that can help you, but I figured you’d know what to look for.”
“I’ll go through it.”
She nodded, but instead of leaving, she sat on the edge of the bed and stared at the bag in my hand.
“I keep trying to figure out what he was doing there.”
“So do I.”
“He didn’t say anything to you?”
“No.”
“What about Mace?”
The question caught my attention, causing me to frown. “What about him?”
“I don’t know. Them two talked all the time.”
“Sam talked to everybody.”
“Not like he talked to Mace.” Before I could askwhatshe meant, she shook her head and waved it off. “Maybe I’m thinking too much. I don’t know. I just keep going over everything, trying to figure out if I missed something.”
“You didn’t.”
“How you know?”
“Because Sam wasn’t a lil’ boy, Auntie. If he wanted you to know something, he would’ve told you.”
“That don’t mean I wouldn’t have noticed.”
I sat beside her. “Auntie, don’t do that to yourself.”