“This is the one.” Alex stopped. Josie had been so caught up in her own head she barely knew where she was. She stood before Michael’s grave. His death was on Antonio’s head. It was on Samuel’s, Tanya’s, and it was on Josie’s too. The sad thing was, he probably would have thanked her. He got what he wanted. She often wondered what it would have been like if he had made it that day. Would he have still felt the same way? Could they have found a way to be happy? Deep down, she already knew the answer to that question. The lesson she chose to take was that there was no point delaying the things that she wanted to do. Life was short. She had spent her whole life trying to be the antithesis of her sister, but that was the wrong way to look at it. Her sister had spent her whole life doing what she wanted, and now it was Josie’s turn. If only she knew what it was she wanted to do.
“Ready?” Alex pulled a bottle of tequila from his man-bag and sat down on the floor, pouring one shot glass for himself, and one for Michael. He placed the shot glass on the stone.
Josie sat on the soft grass and poured herself a shot, tequila spilling over the side of the glass, leaving sticky residue on her fingers. The dappled sunlight filtered through a towering ever-green overhead, leaving dabs of light and dark across the words carved in the headstone Josie had chosen. A buzz vibrated in her pocket, and Josie slipped out her phone. Tanya’s name flashed up on her screen. “Not today,” Josie muttered under her breath and went to put her phone back, when it buzzed again with another message from her sister. She decided to read it so she could then forget about it.
Josie.
I have something to tell you. I waited until you went away as I knew you’d be mad, and I wanted you to have some time to cool off before we talked. That article in the newspaper. Someone has approached me and asked me to write about my experiences. A novel. They offered me an advance. Money’s been tight. I had to accept. I hope you understand.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Josie’s voice cut through the peace and quiet of the cemetery, sending a bird flying up from a tree above.
“What’s wrong?” Alex sat up straight.
“Never mind.” She kept it to herself. She was not going to let Tanya ruin today. It was too important. “You know what we should do?” she said.
Alex looked at her, waiting for her suggestion.
“We should finish this whole bottle. Screw it. We can drive back tomorrow. There’s a place to stay not far from here.”
“Cheers to that.” He poured them another glass each and raised it up.
She knew it was just a hunk of stone and some ashes buried below, but she wanted to spend as much time there as she could. The burn of the tequila took her back a year. Back to Mexico. Back to Tulum. She tried to claw back the fading memories. There was a moment that she had considered not asking to sit down next to the lonely-looking guy at the hotel bar, and to take her drinks to her room. In some ways, she was glad she asked to take that chair, to know this person, if only for a short time. She wondered if he would have let her sit with him if he knew how it was going to end up, but yet again, she already knew the answer to that question.
.
