Mrs. Stein came over to Agnes and held her arm, “I’m sorry for your trouble, dear Agnes Limerick.”
Agnes introduced Norman. Mrs. Stein directed her attentions to the baby – “what a beautiful baby, Agnes, she’ll have your red hair when she grows up” – but Agnes kept looking back toward the hallway. A minute later she saw the black shadows of six men carrying Granny’s stiff body across the front hallway into the parlor.
Ten minutes later, Agnes saw the men leave and the women go inside. Fifteen minutes later, they left. Was Granny alone? Forbidden at an Irish wake. You could never leave the body alone. Agnes rushed into the parlor. She saw Mrs. O’Toole sitting on a chair in the distance. “Good, Agnes. I’ll leave you alone with Annie Kate. You can have time with her before we close the front window.”
She stood by the coffin a moment, feeling the cold breeze rush in from the window, and looked at Granny. She was dressed in white lace, red rosary beads with her hands, gold crucifix around her neck – all white, like Granny’s face, except for the red hair. She’d kept her hair red right up to the end. But the face shocked Agnes. Its right half was turned up at an angle, the chin, the mouth, the eyes, her eyebrows, all of it. The hemorrhage must’ve occurred on that side. It pained Agnes to realize friends would see Granny with that frozen expression on her face. She touched Granny’s fingers and pulled them back, guilt washing over her. She should’ve first kneeled to pray for Granny’s soul.
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