I couldn't bury my father, but I could bury my brother. There were no other family members left, so there was no funeral either.
As I stepped out of the graveyard complex, I called Vega. “Vega, come pick me up.”
I went home right after.
The same group of Luna’s college guys, the ones who had come around before, barged in again, eager to take whatever they could. I didn’t stop them, as usual and even handed them some of the things I’d been storing.
They were practically glowing with excitement as they grabbed whatever they wanted. The only thing left untouched was the box full of memories of Luna and me. Not one of them wanted it.
Well, neither did I.
***
That night, I handed Luna the divorce papers again.
“Cyrus, are you done yet?” she snapped. Predictably, Luna lost her temper again. She locked me in the room.
When Vega climbed over the wall to pick me up, my miserable first half of life finally came to an end.
Luna had been drinking all night. When she woke up, she instinctively reached for some hangover pills.
“Nova, where are the hangover pills?”
“They’re in the cabinet ma'am. I’ll go check.”
Nova wiped her hands and headed upstairs to look for someone. She pushed open the bedroom door, only to find it completely empty.
Luna, as if sensing something was off, rushed up the stairs. "Nova, has Mr. Gray's father been here recently?"
Nova blinked in surprise. "Mr. Gray’s father? He was murdered a few days ago—beaten up to death and dumped on the outskirts of the city. They haven’t caught whoever did it. It’s been all over the news... You haven’t seen it?"
The empty room swallowed Luna whole. She stood frozen for a few minutes, her blood running cold. A deep, crushing sense of abandonment washed over her.
For the first time, Luna felt what it was like to be truly left behind.
