I felt my hands begin to shake.
“He told me black made me look like an undertaker.”
This time, several people laughed through their tears.
That was Jack. Even when he was discussing his own funeral, he had to make sure the joke landed.
Theo’s face crumpled.
“I told him there wasn’t going to be a funeral. I told him he was going to college and getting a job and buying that stupid refrigerator he kept talking about.”
He pressed his lips together.
“Then he asked me to promise.”
He looked directly at the coffin.
“I didn’t want to. I thought if I refused, maybe that meant it wouldn’t happen. Maybe it meant I wasn’t giving up on him.”
His voice dropped.
“But he looked at me and said, ‘Theo, I’m not asking you to give up on me. I’m asking you to promise me something.’”
I covered my mouth.
