in memorium

All three C/Katherines burst into tears.

     Merideth looked behind her. The hammering had been so well timed, she was suspicious that the TV crew had ordered it up. But they looked as bewattled as the rest of the assembled mourners. The sound seemed to be coming from the direction of the middle-income housing project.  She handed Kat a Kleenex.

     Meredith wondered whether the TV people had miked the podium. Were they even allowed to? Was this a public event?  She watched her son slip off, presumably to find out who was nailing and tell them to knock it off.

      Reverend Paul waited until the noise stopped, and then went off script. “People do terrible things to other people. A terrible thing was done to Malcolm Addams. We are grieving him today.” He gripped the podium. “But we should also grieve for the person who did this horrific thing, who has lost his humanity. We may not be able to personally bring him to justice. Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord.  But this soul-eating crime will be punished, now and in the hereafter. And his life will be as a vale of tears. Let us pray for his salvation in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

    The minister was showing his fundamentalist roots, Meredith thought. She did not doubt his instructions were to keep it ecumenical and light on Jesus.  She saw Bobby lean forward and whisper something to Kate. The Katherine next to her blew her nose with no regard for her makeup. Reverend Paul went on praying for some considerable period of time. Meredith stopped listening and started wondering how someone in the audience could have signaled to someone else with a nailgun and timed the interruption so perfectly. Text on a cellphone? From where she sat, she couldn’t see anyone tapping on their phones.