Chapter Two:379Please respect copyright.PENANAzEkGzbdlVd
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The two siblings sat on the curb, watching the last of the fire get extinguished. John had his arm wrapped around his younger sister in a comforting embrace. She was trembling into him as her gaze shifted over to the firefighter walking towards them.
His face was covered with the ashes of the once great Lowry mansion, his eyes still seeming to process everything that they had witnessed. It was no secret that he had dealt with his fair share of house fires; the tragedy, the loss… But this time seemed different somehow. He had never seen people gather to perform a public mourning before. Everyone in the city seemed to be there, tears streaming down their shocked, sorrowful faces. Candles were already being set, their small lights growing in numbers as more and more people crowded the streets. Even with the sun in the sky, the lights could clearly be seen from miles away.
Marie’s gaze shifted again, focusing on the people crouching to set down their own candle.
“Why are they doing this?” she asked.
John didn’t answer. Frankly, he found it ironic. A fire had burnt their house down, killed their parents, and people were starting new ones.
The firefighter took his hat off and looked down at it for a moment. He sighed as he rubbed the back of his head.
“I’m sorry for your loss. I mean… Damn…” he paused for a moment, “That one really caught us by surprise… No one really expected it either… It just…” He looked down as he kicked the dirt.
“D-do you know what caused it?” Marie asked nervously.
The man frowned and shook his head. “No. There’s no sign that it was the stove or a candle… But there’s no sign that it was an explosive or a match.” He looked back at the charred remains. “Yup, it’s a head-scratcher all right…”
John’s eyes burned with anger as he glared up at him. He wanted to yell, “How the hell do you not know?!” But that wouldn’t help. No, it wouldn’t rebuild his house; give them back all of their stuff. It wouldn’t bring their parents back either. He turned away as he tried to blink his frustrated tears away.
“We also found the bodies, if you’d like to see them.” The firefighter rubbed the back of his head again, “Although, to be honest, there isn’t much left.”
Marie looked up at him in horror, imagining her parents’ blackened, crumbling bodies. John glared up at him. Does this guy want us to feel worse?
Thankfully, another man was walking up to them, a man that John vaguely remembered from business meetings that his dad forced him to attend with him. His name was William Cruz, a stereotypical corporate snob; one of his dad’s top men.
The firefighter walked away, the corporate merely glancing at his back as if he were a nuisance.
“Mr. Lowry,” he greeted.
As he opened his mouth to say more, John said, “Don’t call me that.”
Cruz shut his mouth, giving John an impatient stare, as if saying, “Are you done?”
He cleared his throat, fidgeting with his tie slightly. “I know this must be a hard time for you and your… sister…” he glanced at the crying Marie in John’s arms, “But there are some matters that need to be discussed…”
“I’m not talking about that right now,” John shot back. It was his turn to be annoyed now. What he really wanted to say was, “Can’t you see that my sister and I are having a rough go of things right now? Our parents are dead, we’re pretty much homeless, and we have nothing left, so why don’t you go screw yourself?” But he knew where that would land him.
Cruz glared at him. “All right. We’ll discuss it another time, then.” He started to walk away, but turned around. “And just so you know, John…” The young man looked up at him. “I’ll be in charge of the company until your ‘bereavement leave’ is over.” He turned to resume his walk, not noticing the pure hatred in John’s eyes. “Prick,” the succeeding Lowry muttered under his breath.
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People walked up to the still-shocked and grief-stricken siblings, each and every one of them telling them how sorry they were for their loss. Some even left flowers by their feet or by the foundation where their house once stood. The two just watched on, occasionally offering the slightest of smiles or a nod to show that they at least acknowledged the people’s existence. The police showed up to take a look into what may have happened, but John knew they would come up empty, just like the firemen.
As the sun started to set, the candles that had managed to survive the countless hours they had been out there started to burn even brighter. People had come and gone, but John and Marie had stayed rooted to their spots, not once saying a word since Cruz had left. Marie stayed huddled in her brother’s hold, for it was the only warmth and comfort she had.
The lights twitched and swayed in the gentle breeze of dusk, but never fully went out. They lit the street like hundreds of stars that had fallen to the earth. The lights seemed to beckon the lost siblings toward them; the siblings that were cast out at sea with no other boats or lighthouses to help them. There may have been no lighthouses, but they had the stars. They would always have the stars.
John and Marie looked towards those tiny flames, as if they would make everything disappear. But they couldn’t. They could cast a little light on this darkness that was slowly surrounding them, but they couldn’t completely get rid of it. They could only provide enough to help them see what was in front of them. For them, it wasn’t much, but it was enough… For now…
“John…?”
The oldest Lowry looked down at his sister, the light of dusk revealing his dried tear marks.
“Yeah, Mare?”
“Where are we gonna go?”
John looked at his feet, unable to answer her.
“What are we gonna do?”
She looked to him for answers, for he was the only one she could ask. But he had no answers to give. He looked back at the candles, watching them wave back and forth, back and forth…
“I don’t know, Marie… I honest to God don’t know…”
As the sun finally disappeared behind the horizon, the stars broke through the black sky, but for some reason, they appeared dimmer than ever.
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“Geez, Will… And you just let them sit there?!”
Cruz fidgeted with his tie, looking out of the office window, showing no remorse.
“Of course. They seemed like they were fine without our assistance.”
“They’re just kids, Will! How the hell are they supposed to find their own food; their own home?”
“As you are well aware, Mr. Ruiz, John is twenty-one now. I’m sure he is fully capable of taking care of both himself and his sister.”
Ricky Ruiz stared at his new boss, unable to believe what he was hearing. “With all due respect, I don’t think Mark would want this for his…”
“Mr. Lowry is dead, and his final wishes are entirely unknown. The only things we can grant him his everything he left in his will. Other than that, it’s none of our business.”
Cruz walked out from behind his desk and straight to the door, not even offering a glance to the concerned Ricky. He paused in the doorframe, sighing.
“If you’re really that worried about them, why don’t you go take care of them yourselves?”
And with that, the new CEO of Lowry Inc. left without another word.
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The chilly night drew John and Marie closer to the candles. This was the first time they had gotten up-close and personal with the city’s mourning gifts. Marie immediately noticed that some of them were scented; lavender, vanilla, pumpkin pie, sugar cookies…
There were tiny notes attached to almost every one of them; R.I.P. was the most common one. Although it wasn’t original, the two appreciated the thought nonetheless.
“Why would people go to the trouble of doing this? This isn’t even the funeral.” Marie wondered aloud.
“Doesn’t matter. I mean, if this is what the aftermath is like, I can’t even imagine what the viewing’s gonna be like… Besides, this city loves our family, especially our parents.”
“Really? I thought they hated us because we were the rich people looming over them.”
“No. They don’t see us like that. Trust me, Mare, they can’t live without us.”
Marie gave him a puzzled look, but didn’t ask any further questions. She wasn’t old enough to fully understand what their family meant to Granbury, but she had a feeling she would learn pretty quickly in the coming weeks.
But the candles weren’t the only thing that would be given to them that day. They were greeted by the headlights of a black Lexus that came rolling up the street. They both turned, squinting through the sudden flood of light. The car stopped a reasonable distance in front of them, the headlights soon flipping off.
Marie watched with curiosity as the door opened and a black dress shoe stepped out onto the pavement. Her and her brother immediately recognized its owner, even in the dim light.
“Ricky!” Marie called with excitement. He had barely slammed the door shut when she ran up and embraced him in a warm hug. He smiled and ruffled her hair.
“Hey kids,” he greeted kindly.
John walked up to his dad’s best friend and smiled. Ricky looked him in the eyes, noticing how hard it was for him to smile. He put one hand on his shoulder.
“Some day, huh? Y’all must be exhausted.”
Marie nodded sadly, as did John. Ricky put his other hand on Marie’s shoulder.
“I’m so sorry, kids. If I could bring them back, I would. Although, I don’t think I need to tell you that.”
He let go of them and walked back to his car, opening the back doors.
“Now, whadaya say we get you to a new house?”379Please respect copyright.PENANAXe9sTwnl7d