Kiss of A Titan
Chapter 61

The eventful burial of Richard's mom at the city's necropolis in Houston coinciding with the preparations for the upcoming national games four days before the last week of August, was the entire news that was gossiped around every neighborhood occupying the southern district of the town particularly neighbors whose domicile was close to the deceased family. Almost everyone at school attended the funeral and I was also there along with my aunt to witness the presence of affluent men whom I suspected to be friends of Richard's father and shareholders in his company.

The solemn funeral which was quite ceremonious though everyone wore black to the occasion lasted three hours into the hot afternoon but it ended briefly before the third hour shortly after the local pastor concluded the funeral service with the usual prayer rites and his lengthy sermon about the afterlife that was comforting to those who cried at the funeral especially Richard. The aftermath of the funeral was the consolation visits to Richard's mansion and a lot of people who knew Richard in school came to share their condolences with the bereaved family including those that didn't attend the funeral and they were all warmly received by the servants as well as Ben who did much of the reception work. Lori came to pay her respects alongside everyone on the athletics team including Tyler and I saw her near the swimming pool having a conversation with Richard and from the way he looked, I was sure he really didn't want to see her but he decided to hear whatever she had to say to him because of the occasion. Chloe had accompanied aunt and me to the Jefferson's mansion and we were quite lost in our talking about things when aunt, on seeing Richard's father standing alone quite aloof from everyone near the woods of the backyard, left us to go see him. I guessed she must have recognized him to be a philanthropist who showed us the way home when we moved here two months ago and she had wanted a perfect chance to express her deepest condolences to him personally.

Mr. Stark was engrossed in his solitude of watching the birds chirping in the woods with his hands in the pocket of his black trouser almost rumpling his natty black tuxedo he had worn to the funeral and didn't quite notice when aunt came to him alone after he had left the guest to wander close to the woods in silent rumination about what was obviously bothering him since the entire day the funeral was held at the cemetery.

I understood at that moment that Richard's mother had instructed him to bury her in her hometown peradventure; she might suffer the same fate like most cancer patients in most hospitals around the country.

Not only did I see a friendly smile appeared on the lips of Mr. Stark when he saw aunt for the second time, but his dull countenance seemed to have brightened up at the sight of seeing aunt beautifully dressed in her dark blouse with a neat veil that she tied her hair with and shawl which she brought along with her to attend the funeral of the rich family. She really wanted to blend in with the kind of affluent people that we saw at the gravesite and she had wanted to leave a good impression in the eyes of the bereaved family if she were to introduce herself as my guardian.

"I'm so sorry for your loss", Aunt said in a fit to comfort Richard's father who apparently was less interested in being reminded of the death of his wife.

"It's quite a sad thing but I believed she will be at peace", "Of course....", "We really didn't quite introduced ourselves last time we met", he said changing the topic all of sudden. It became clear to aunt that he wasn't interested in listening to the comforting words about his dead wife which he had been hearing since morning.

"I...uh...am Sarah....Sarah Thomason", "Thomason? Wait a minute, are you...?", "Yes...I'm Rosalie's aunt..." Sarah replied and Mr. Stark looked at her in surprise. From the disappearance of his smile, aunt soon figured something was wrong with him.

"You ain't aware of this, are you? Didn't Rosalie say anything to you?", "Like?" Mr. Stark questioned feeling a sense of guilt.

"Like we already met before", "No, she didn't. I guess she doesn't know about it", "You're wrong. She clearly saw you that day you escorted you to the car", "Really?", It was Mr. Stark's turn to be surprised at the realization that I didn't tell him I had met him even when I knew the truth. They both turned to look in my direction and I suspected she must have said something to him for them to look inside the sitting room which was fairly crowded with a flock of mourners chatting among themselves.

By the time I looked in their direction for the second time, they were already back to exchanging friendly pleasantries with each other and curious as I had always been, I left the duo I was chatting with and went to meet them at the backyard outside adjacent to the swimming pool where Richard was talking to his Coach. Richard saw me heading in his father's direction but he was so preoccupied with his discussion with Coach Robbins and Linder that he had little time to figure out what was going on.

No sooner had I gotten to where they were that Mr. Stark gave me a stern look but I ignored him and embraced aunt tightly with a pretentious broad grin which masked the anger I had been nursing since the time they encountered each other for the second time.

"Alright, Rosalie....that's enough", Aunt said, breaking free from my warm embrace. Mr. Stark drew closer and I thought he wanted to say something mean as his aura is often present to any stranger who meets him but instead, he took aunt by the hand and kissed the back of her palm.

"If you would excuse me, I have somewhere to be", he said letting go of her hand and he walked away heading back indoors. We watched him leave and Richard, seeing what his father did before he left, came to meet us. Aunt talked with the both of us for a long time before we went back to join the guests who were already departing from the mansion to their houses through the main exit.