She stared into the night, her eyes focusing on the streetlight across the way, and thought of Daniel.
Daniel.
Burying an empty coffin had been the hardest part. It was difficult enough to accept the death of someone you loved, but when there was no body, the loss was somehow magnified and made even greater.
Even after all these months, it was still a raw wound to her, a bleeding slash across her emotions and her psyche, and though it was even worse at night, alone, in bed, it hurt all the time, and just standing here in the kitchen after dinner, she felt a huge painful emptiness in her gut. She wanted to sob out loud, wanted to cry out her anguish and burst into tears, but she knew that Tony would be back with his homework in a minute, and she didn't want him to see her cry. She needed to be strong for him. She needed to provide him with as stable a home life as she could manage under the circumstances.
She thought of Daniel's 'friends.' She believed what they'd said, as far as it went, but she thought there was probably more, and while she knew they weren't about to share it with her now, she was willing to wait. She would find out eventually.
A light breeze caressed her cheek, a movement of air Bentley Little through the torn screen that seemed at once cooler and warmer than the night outside.
She thought she heard her name, whispered.
Margot Tony walked into the kitchen, put his books out on the table, took out his paper and pencil. She wanted to tell him to be quiet so she could listen, so she could hear the whisper again, but she said nothing, continued to stare.
Margot She opened the screen door, looked around, but there was nothing. No movement, no sound.
'What is it?' Tony asked, coming up behind her.
She let the screen door fall closed, continued to stare straight ahead, into the night, not wanting him to see her tears.
Margot 'The wind,' she said softly. 'It's just the wind.'
