Calling All Dentists (Calling All... Book 2), page 21
Chapter 19
Everyone was rushing around, in and out of the bathroom, up and down the stairs, answering phone calls, eating breakfast, ironing, dressing, either flapping and fretting or brooding and grieving. Grandma paced around, not quite sure what to do and followed instructions automatically as Alex gave them. Alex generally sorted everyone else out too. She’d always been the same – disorder, disloyalty or disempowerment were not words in her vocabulary. A strong-willed woman, Alex happily welcomed and would use the threatening words – dismember or dissect – should anyone get in her way.
Joe and Tiffany arrived, dressed very smartly in a black suit, purple shirt and tie and a navy blue skirt suit and white blouse, respectively. Tiffany sat on the edge of the sofa, looking uncomfortable and watching everyone, to-ing and fro-ing, she smiled sweetly, but awkwardly, here and there.
The three brothers, Jack, Aaron and Joe, clumped together, fully dressed in their smart suits, talking quietly in the far corner of the dining room. Discreetly laughing now and again, they tried to suppress any outbursts as a mark of respect for their Grandad’s funeral day and for Grandma’s sake as she tottered around the house aimlessly.
“I hope you’ll all be ready soon,” shouted Alex, “We all need to be over at Grandma’s house promptly at 10.15.”
An eerie silence fell on Dot Stern’s house as the time approached 10.45. Everyone knew it was coming and the atmosphere in Grandma’s living room turned icy cold like the wintery air outside. Watching from the window, Emma’s mum sighed and gulped back the rising flood of emotions. The hearse was coming.
Beautifully coloured wreaths lay on each side of the coffin. One of the largest ones formed the word, ‘DAD’ and on the top of the coffin sat the small shape of a ship, intricately made from the tiniest of red and white flowers. Emma looked at the ship and swallowed hard as she linked arms with her mum and grandma.
Trailing behind them, Jack, Aaron, Joe and their dad walked quietly to the second funeral car as a few neighbours stood out on the pavement, wrapped in heavy coats, acknowledging them in a respectful manner.
Tiffany was the last to leave Grandma’s house with strict instructions to lock the front door behind her. She did so with her head bowed all of the time. Then she slipped the key in to her pocket and walked silently away.
Leading her mum and grandma to the first car, Emma nodded her head to her grandma’s neighbours and then guided her elders in to the back of the black limousine.
“Are you ok Grandma,” whispered Emma softly. Grandma nodded her head and looked out of the side window at the group of mourning spectators on the side of the road.
Emma’s mum held on to Grandma’s hand, patting it gently with her other hand and then looked to Emma and half smiled through watery eyes. “Are you all right?” she mouthed to Emma.
“Yeah,” Emma mouthed back as the limo slowly and silently pulled away, following closely, behind the hearse.
Tiffany followed the funeral procession in her own car. She was going to help escort people back to Alex’s house for the wake. Grandma Dot had not wanted to have the wake at her own house. She’d hardly been at home since losing her husband, the one and only love of her life. She couldn’t face being at home. The emptiness and the bleak winter days made it almost unbearable to stay in the small bungalow alone, staring at the four walls that were filled with memories of him. Alex had offered to have the wake in her home, which was far bigger and much better equipped for functions of any kind, than Grandma’s was. Alex liked to take control of things and insisted in providing the buffet to relieve her mother of some of the stress. It also kept her mind focused on something else as well. Alex would grieve privately for her dad, when the time was right for her but until then she needed to look after everyone else – as was usual.
There were far more people than Emma would have ever expected, waiting outside the chapel of the crematorium. She didn’t know what she had expected when they arrived but the sheer volume of people, quietly standing at a respectful distance away from the driveway into the chapel’s porch, was touching and emotional. Emma gulped and held back the tears as she helped her grandma out of the car.
The second car soon followed and Emma’s dad and her brothers got out, pulled their suit jackets down by the hem and adjusted their ties as if they had all practiced to do it together in unison. Looking around at the crowd of reverently silent mourners, they all nodded their acknowledgements and then joined the others. Moments later, Tiffany arrived, sullen faced and with her head still bowed.
A member of the clergy stood waiting by the chapel doors, hands clasped together across his bulging midriff. Several other attendees from the crematorium and the funeral directors hovered around, tacitly respectful and standing with their hands clasped together, one hand over the top of the other, in front of them. Emma marveled at their duteous stance and dress code and the fact that this was only a job to them yet they did it superbly.
Grant and the three siblings were instructed to move towards the hearse in preparation for the removal and lift of the coffin. They would then carry it into the chapel.
Emma looked at Aaron and noted he was gulping. She guessed he would be anxious so she moved towards him and rubbed him gently on the shoulder, “Are you ok?” she whispered. Aaron nodded and half smiled. Stepping back out of the way, Emma returned to her grandma and mum and they all quietly watched, while the coffin was lifted, put into a secure position on everyone’s shoulders and then slowly carried into the chapel.
It was terribly solemn and silent.
Emma and her mum linked arms with Grandma and followed behind as Tiffany and the other mourners, courteously left a short distance between themselves and the immediate family, before they too entered the chapel.
The service was relatively short and simple but then Grandad’s brother, Great Uncle Norman to Emma, got up and made an emotional speech about some of his own memories of his elder brother and their years of growing up together. He spoke about Grandad’s lifelong hobby of model making and his greatest achievement, the scaled replica of the Titanic, which he built for the 100th year remembrance day, way back in 2012. He told the tale of how Grandad managed to create some hype in the papers and local television as he launched his most prized model into a lake to coincide with the real Titanic’s one and only voyage. Much to the disgust of Grandma, he also told the story of her misadventure, when she fell in to the lake and prematurely sent the Titanic on its maiden voyage. He told everyone how amused Grandad had been by it all when he phoned Norman to tell him about it. Great Uncle Norman’s tales gave everyone in the chapel, a reason to smile in Grandad’s memory, apart from Grandma who cried or scowled or both at the same time incredibly.
A few sobs were heard coming from around the over filled chapel and Emma guessed that there had to be about 40 people present, which she felt was a fitting tribute to her grandad’s final day. Then the tears began to prick her eyes and her lip trembled as she repeatedly gulped and sniffed, trying to suppress them for her mum and for her grandma’s sake too.
As the curtains began to close and the CD player played Grandad’s favourite song by Celine Dion - My Heart Will Go On, the sobs turned to obvious cries and anguished tones of grief. Emma couldn’t stop it, the tears came copiously and she shuddered as she realised she was crying, not only for her dear old grandad, but she was crying for her own personal loss too and for the total mess she was in.
Slowly the mourners turned up in over-filled (to the point of being of illegal carrying capacity) cars and glided along Pinewood Avenue, trying to find spaces to park. Luckily about half of the residents in the avenue were working families and had left home for the day.
The Frey’s and Grandma had all been escorted home, at an extra cost, by the funeral director’s minibus and were waiting with bated breath for everyone else to arrive.
An eerie, hushed silence hung in the air as everyone filtered in through the open front door, greeted and hugged the widow and her family, and then hung around in the kitchen or dining room, either staring at the spread of food laid out on the table or talking in hushed voices to each other.
Misty barked and yapped at the patio doors, wanting to be let in as everyone arrived.
Tiffany had brought a car load of people back with her. She had then rushed through to the kitchen (still with her head bowed) and busied herself by making cups of tea and coffee. She politely made her way through the gatherings to hand out hot drinks and then she asked the new visitors what drinks they would like and started all over again. She looked very at home in her new, albeit temporary, role as a waitress and gently nodded and smiled at everyone as she took their orders.
Eventually, after many stops to greet and acknowledge her extended family members, Emma reached the kitchen which was just as packed as anywhere else and squeezed into a corner away from the kettle. She did not want to steal Tiffany’s job or assist in the distribution of beverages, as she felt that Tiff was doing a fine job on her own. She reached into her small black bag and grabbed her phone. No messages. She hadn’t heard from Andrew since last night but she assumed it was because he was so good natured and well mannered that he would probably be showing his respect today by not texting her at all. Shame, she thought and threw it back into the bag.
Misty came bounding in to the kitchen and then out again, having just been let indoors by Emma’s mum. Misty didn’t know where to go or what to do as she sniffed at the multitude of legs filling every room. She didn’t have enough bones or balls to give every single person a token gift so she gave up and squeezed herself underneath the dining table, waiting patiently for any misplaced tidbits that might reach the floor.
Aunt Josie had finally made it to the funeral, along with Emma’s cousin Daniel and his wife, Ali. They had been a little late and had to sneak in at the back of the chapel discreetly. Emma couldn’t stand Ali’s snooty air of importance and she was sure that her aunt Josie couldn’t either.
“Emma’s en hair Joosie,” said Ali, pointing a down turned finger in Emma’s direction. Aunt Josie sidestepped into the kitchen, walked straight over to Emma and flung her big arms around her neck.
“Hello honey, how are you?” she asked in a reserved kind of way… a very reserved way for Aunt Josie. She was normally a bouncy bubble of buffoonery and at 52 years old, she seemed all the more funny as she told her tales of dark comedy and impersonated practically everyone to the point of ridicule. Today, Aunt Josie was on her very best behaviour and very respectful of the mourners and her brother Grant’s, family.
Daniel had already disappeared and was talking to Aaron, Jack and Joe, by the front door. The cousins hadn’t been together like this for years and it was such a shame that they had all been brought together on such cheerless terms today.
In the kitchen, Ali smirked slyly at Emma and made her way over to Tiffany who was decidedly short, in comparison to Ali whose legs were up to her armpits. Her blonde hair was so long that she could sit on it. “Would yoou leke a han weth thoose?” she asked in her strong Welsh accent.
Tiffany looked up and smiled at her sweetly. As a fairly new member of the family she was quite unsure who was who and therefore she felt she should be very polite to everyone and oblige.
“Thank you, that’s very kind of you. That gentleman over there would like a coffee,” she said nervously, pointing in the direction of two elderly men standing at the end of the dining table. Tiffany handed the cup to Ali and watched her saunter off, flicking her blonde hair back as she went.
“Yes I’m ok, thank you. How are you doing?” asked Emma quietly, smiling at her beloved aunt. Her childhood memories of Aunt Josie were filled with happy thoughts of laughter, silliness and generally, lots of clowning around.
“I’m good, sometimes.” Josie winked and smiled, “How’s your mum and grandma coping? I haven’t really spoken to them yet.”
“Bearing up I suppose, considering.” Emma shrugged. “How’s Jacob?”
“Oh you know my Jacob, always covered in bruises. I keep telling him he’s getting too old to be throwing himself on the ground all of the time.” Josie shrugged, “He’s stuck out in Paris at the moment, some big rugby tournament for the under 16’s.”
“Oh, I see. Is that why he couldn’t come then?”
“Yes, well you know what he’s like Emma. His teaching always has to come first.”
Emma sensed the annoyance in Aunt Josie’s tone of voice and tried to think of how to change the subject momentarily.
“Honey, what happened to your tooth?”
Instantly Emma’s face flushed a deep burning red and she sucked her bottom lip in tightly.
“Lost it,” she mumbled disconcertingly. “It fell out.” Emma cringed as she realised that she had dropped her guard during the day and probably everyone had noticed her missing tooth – even possibly, perfect, pompous Ali.
“Ah, my love, come here.” Josie pulled Emma to her and gave her another hug, “Have you got problems with them honey?”
Emma nodded like a little girl and looked in to her aunt’s eyes as if she was pleading for help.
“It happened to me, you know. I was about your age, well, maybe a little older. Terrified I was. No, I was petrified in fact.”
Emma’s face lit up instantly – she had someone she could really talk to, someone that understood how frightened she was, and best of all it was her dear Aunt Josie, whom she loved and respected dearly.
“These are falsies,” she said pointing to a forced grin. Emma stared hard, disbelieving that her aunt had false teeth.
“Really? I… I never knew.”
“Suppose I kept it pretty quiet. I didn’t want to scream
and shout from the rooftops about the fact that I was terrified of the dentist and my teeth were starting to fall out. I had periodontitis.”
Emma gasped, “Oh my Goodness, so have I.” Looking around the crowded room, Emma could see that everyone else was wrapped up in their own conversations and mostly on the topic of Grandad, which made Emma feel a little guilty that she was having this self-indulgent conversation with her aunt. However, it was a deeply needed chat on Emma’s part and one that she now had to have in order to gain as much information as she could.
“I told them to whip them all out,” whispered Josie as she used her hand in a flicking motion across her mouth.
“Oh gosh, really? They don’t even look false, I just… well, I never knew.” whispered Emma, still shocked from her aunt’s revelation.
Josie winked again and then accepted a cup of coffee from Tiffany as she approached her from behind. “Thank you darling. It’s nice to see you again, although under very tragic circumstances.”
Tiffany nodded, pulled the corners of her mouth down and then turned around and headed back over to the kettle and her new acquaintance, Ali, the sleek super-model.
“No, they’re pretty real looking these days, aren’t they?” Aunt Josie forced another exaggerated grin. “Are you going to have treatment?”
“No I’d much rather do the same as you. I’m scared of my own teeth, I know it sounds ridiculous.”
“No, it doesn’t sound ridiculous Em. I know exactly what you mean honey. I used to have terrible nightmares about mine.” Emma’s jaw dropped again and she stared hard at her aunt without blinking her eyes as she began to register her words.
“Oh gosh, so do I. I can’t believe it.” Suddenly Emma wished her aunt didn’t live so far away, in the thick of Wales. She needed her here. She needed her understanding and support.
“Honey, I understand that they’re worrying you a lot and you’re very scared but I advise you to think long and hard about having them all removed.” Aunt Josie looked very serious, which was always such a shock to see as she was usually the most un-serious person anyone could meet. “Think very long and very hard, Emma. It’s not an easy option and it takes a while to learn to live with them, but it was the right choice for me. You’re still very young though honey, you need to make sure that you are making the right decision, for you.”
It didn’t matter what Aunt Josie said now, Emma’s mind was definitely made up. She did not want her own teeth anymore – there was no way she could handle all of the treatment required to correct and save her own. At least she would be put to sleep to have every one of her teeth removed – she knew that much.
“Thank you Josie, you’ve really helped me out a lot today. I still can’t believe that I didn’t know anything about your teeth though.”
“Give us a hug,” said Josie, pulling her niece towards her. “Just don’t rush in to anything Emma – get some proper advice please.” Josie winked at her, “Now I’m going to find your mum and dad, and your dear old grandmother.”
Aunt Josie waddled away and left Emma standing in the corner of the kitchen, gazing into the middle-distance, unsure whether she wanted to laugh or cry or both.
By five o’clock, almost everyone had left. Aunt Josie, Daniel and Ali sat on the sofa together, waiting for the last few people to leave. They had a long journey back to Wales but it was one they had to make as Josie had young children to care for tomorrow morning, in her role as a child-minder. She had spent most of her life either bringing up her own two boys or looking after other people’s children. Sadly, she had never re-married after her first husband left her and had spent her life on her own. She was content though and probably one of the happiest, go-lucky people that Emma knew. In fact, the whole Frey family hoped that her bubbly personality was not just on the surface – secretly hiding an inner and lonely existence – and that she truly was a happy person.
“Right, we’ll be getting along now then,” said Josie, standing up and tugging her tunic down, over her bottom. Daniel stood up and then turned to pull Ali out of the seat. “Come on you two,” said Josie, eyeing Ali with what Emma thought was contempt. Ali stood up and forced a sarcastic smile at both her husband and Josie. “Right,” said Josie, clapping her hands together, “It’s been good to see you all again, I’m just so sorry that it has been under very sad circumstances.”
