Chapter Twenty

Bette couldn’t book the same flight as Ben but she did manage to catch one a few hours later. Ben gave her directions to the hotel and agreed to wait for her there.

Ben looked out the window as the plane made it’s decent. From up there the world seemed calm and peacefully, for the moment his tired body was at ease. He knew this day would eventually come but no matter how much he was prepared it still shocked him in the end. Tina and Ben had a deep unspoken love for their grandmother. There was something about the petit fragile old lady that made people flock to her. Ben began to remember the last time he really spent time with her. After her husband died and she was confined to a wheelchair, she moved in to an apartment close to her daughter. As Ben pulled in to the parking lot he saw his grandma outside with her Polaroid camera taking snapshots for the neighborhoods kids, she later referred to them as her mafia. Ben laughed to himself at the thought as he grabbed his bag out of the overhead and made his way to the terminal.

Ben walked through the gate and saw Tina, looking sad and dejected. She greeting him with a weak smile. Ben sighed and slowly walked over to her.

Ben: “Hey” he said pulling his broken sister in to his arms.

Tina relaxed in to his comforting arms and began to cry again, which is what she had been doing all day. They stood there in silence, there was no need to talk, the mourning had begun.

Tina composed herself and they headed towards the car.

Ben: “So have to talked to dad?”

Tina: “Yeah, I went straight to grandma’s apartment when I got in. So how did you find out? Did dad call you?”

Ben: “No Joyce did, I doubt dad could do it himself.”

Daniel Kennard was never one to show his emotions but Ben and Tina always knew what he was feeling so there was never any need to ask. They both had a feeling he wouldn’t be saying much in the next few days.