BELOVED--20

* * *

Kevin took it well when Catherine told him on Tuesday after school that he had to stay home with Casey the next day instead of going to Monterey for the funeral.

"You're right," he told Catherine. "I need to stay here. I hate to let Berto down, but..."

"You're not letting Berto down. Just give him some assurance that you'd be with him if you could. As for Cam, you talk to him about whether he should go or stay here," Catherine said. "I'll leave it up to you guys."

"OK, Mom," Kevin said a little wistfully.

"It comes with the territory, sweetheart."

"I know."

On Wednesday morning everyone was up earlier than usual except for Catherine, who had decided not to run that day so she could spend some time with Casey. After putting on his running clothes, Kevin took the baby, still asleep, down to Catherine's room and put him in bed with her.

"Thank you, Kevin."

"Yep," Kevin said, still half asleep himself. "Cam's gonna stay home with me today."

"All right."

Kevin and Cam went down to the driveway, where there was the usual quiet grumbling and cussing from the boys while they did their stretches and warmed up a little by running in place. Then they were off, and after the first mile, they were starting to get into stride. Mary and Ian decided to stick with the guys that day, and were running at a faster pace than usual to keep up.

Berto looked tired, Cam noticed as he and Kevin ran beside him. Cam felt the boy's pain in the form of a tightness in his own chest, wishing he could, by sharing it, lessen it. Nobody should have to endure this, burying both parents after an awful death. He wondered why God would permit what had happened, and asked the question as part of a little prayer he offered for Berto as they ran. He heard no answer, only the sound of his own breathing and that of his brothers as they all pounded along their route.

They arrived home by 7 a.m. to find Catherine, Rosa and Yolanda busy in the kitchen, fixing breakfast. Casey was in the rocking cradle. Mary and Ian and the boys went upstairs, showered, and except for Cam and Kevin, the guys dressed in white shirts, ties and dark suits. They had all shined their shoes the night before, and they were handsome as all get out.

Kevin and Cam went into Berto's room before they all went downstairs for breakfast.

"You know we'd be with you today if we could," Kevin said.

Berto straightened up from tying his shoes. "I know you would."

"We'll be thinking about you."

"Thanks, man."

Kevin gave the boy a hug, as did Cam. Berto smiled a sad smile and clapped Kevin on the shoulder. They went downstairs to the dining room.

Carl looked over all the boys over as they gathered around the table, and he grinned to himself. He couldn't help thinking that if he had the chance, he'd take any one of these guys to bed in an instant, except for Dan, of course, and make love to them for hours. It would be a good time, he thought to himself, at least for him.

After breakfast there were some last minute trips to the bathroom to use the facilities and to fuss about their appearance. Catherine pushed the button to open the outdoor gate and everybody went down to the driveway. Dressed in Levi's and a T like Kevin, Cam held little Casey, nestled in the crook of his arm as if he'd been born to the job. The baby sucked on a pacifier and looked as if he was ready to fall asleep.

The four women in the group were dressed in black, and Rosa and Yolanda were wearing mantillas, and had their rosaries. Ian and the boys carried their suit coats over their arms so they wouldn't get wrinkled before arriving at the visitation.

"You boys all look so nice," Mary Carson said. "Handsome!"

"We fight it, Ma, but we can't hide it no matter what we do," William said.

Cam rolled his eyes.

At that point, a shiny, black stretch limo pulled into the driveway, engaged by Ian so they could all go in one car to Monterey.

Kevin whistled. "Yo!! Pimp my ride, dude!" he said. "Way to go, Ian! Does that thing have a pool in it?"

"I'll pimp your ride, you little..." Ian stopped talking, and putting an arm around Kevin's neck, squeezed it, and then gave the boy a kiss on the cheek. "You and Cam behave yourselves today."

"We'll follow your example in all things," Kevin said.

"I told you to behave," Ian responded laughing as he helped Mary, Catherine, Yolanda and Rosa into the car before letting the boys get in. Once inside, the guys staked out their territory and started checking out the amenities as the car began backing down the driveway slowly as Kevin and Cam waved good-bye.

The car left, the gate closed, and Kevin and Cam looked at each other.

"I don't suppose you'd be interested in grabbing a little more shuteye," Cam suggested.

"Yep! Let's put Casey in bed with us."

"All right," Cam said. "For now it's all right, I mean. Later, we might have stuff to do."

"Ya think?" Kevin asked.

They went upstairs, stripped down to their boxers, and climbed back in bed, putting a now-sleeping Casey between them. When they started drifting off after a few minutes, though, Cam put Casey in his crib so they wouldn't roll on him by accident in their sleep. Cam returned to bed and moved over next to Kevin, kissing his shoulder.

Thinking Kevin was already asleep, Cam whispered, "I love ya, man." He didn't expect an answer.

"Are you sure?" Kevin came back.

"Don't make me hurtcha."

Cam moved his head into the crook of Kevin's neck, and they drifted off to sleep.

* * *

The traffic was heavy across the Golden Gate Bridge at that hour of the morning, but once on the other side of the city they made good time. The guys occupied themselves by listening to music on their ipods and keeping Berto talking while the adults chatted among themselves. Yolanda and Rosa, especially, were feeling very emotional about what they would face in Monterey.

When they arrived at the funeral home about 8:45, the limo driver identified himself and his passengers to a police officer stationed in the driveway, and the limousine pulled around to the back of the building. Everyone went inside except for Ian, who sought out the police unit commander in front. Half of the Monterey SWAT Team had lined up just behind the sidewalk, eyeballing the houses across the street. The unit commander showed Ian a schematic which the Swat unit members had memorized, with every window of the houses under surveillance assigned a number on their drawing. If a member of the unit saw movement behind a window and shouted out a number, all the officers would know instantly which window it was and could react appropriately.

Pleased with the preparations, Ian went into the funeral home. Two rooms ordinarily divided by a folding door had been opened up into one large room in order to accommodate the gathering crowd. The closed caskets of Berto's mother and father were against a draperied back wall, each with a crucifix above it and a prie dieu in front of it. The area was banked with flowers and floral displays, including one from Mary, Ian and Catherine, as well as one from the boys as a group.

Berto was kneeling in front of his mother's coffin, praying. Standing behind him and to one side, Mark Carson could see tears running down the boy's cheeks, and Mark himself began to cry and went and sat down in a folding chair a few rows from the front. Mary went to her son and sat beside him, wordlessly putting an arm around the boy's shoulders and holding him. The other boys lined up to take their turn in praying before each of the caskets as Berto moved over in front of his father's coffin to pray and say good-bye. The MacKenzie household adults, including Yolanda Vega and Rosa Mendez, were right there in the midst of those offering their prayers.

The priest, Father Saucedo, came in wearing a biretta and black cassock and sought out Berto, murmuring a few words of comfort in Spanish. The crowd had grown huge very quickly. Many were teachers from the school where Mrs. Hernandez taught, and tenants from the apartment building that Mr. Hernandez managed. After conferring with Ian, the priest delayed starting the visitation service until more people had had a chance to sign the visitation book, to offer their personal prayers and say their final good-byes to Berto's parents. Everyone went out of his way to speak with Berto, who was operating numbly on autopilot by then.

The priest started the service by saying a few laudatory words about Mr. and Mrs. Hernandez, and then moved into saying the sorrowful mysteries of the rosary responsively with the congregants. When he was finished, people began to file out, some to go to work and others to go down to Our Lady of Guadalupe for the Requiem Mass.

Berto and the family were the last to leave as the priest waited behind to say prayers as the bodies were loaded into the two hearses. The family's limousine rolled slowly down the driveway following the hearses, exiting the funeral home on to the street without incident. Ian breathed a sigh of relief.

At the church, the hearses stopped in front, where the pall bearers, comprised of neighbors and friends of the Hernandezes, stepped forward to move the bodies into the building. The limousine pulled around to the rear so that the family could enter the back door, protected from the street. A second contingent of Monterey SWAT stood at the front sidewalk of the church eyeballing the houses across the street.

The coffins were placed on rolling catafalques and covered with white palls. Then they were wheeled up the aisle to the crossing and swiveled around feet first toward the altar. The Mass began. At the appointed time, Father Saucedo sprinkled the caskets with holy water and waved a thurible over them as incense billowed toward the roof. His homily relating the life of Mr. and Mrs. Hernandez to the promised resurrection was good, Berto thought. Ian stole a look at Berto, and he seemed composed. But no one could know what he was feeling inside. The boy was numb, but he let the beauty and symmetry of the Mass flow over him and felt peace. Yolanda Vega was seated on one side of him, and Catherine on the other. Periodically Catherine would reach down and take Berto's hand and squeeze it to try to comfort Berto, and then let it go so as not to intrude upon his thoughts.

At the conclusion of the Mass, the caskets were turned around and rolled to the front door, followed by the family. The pall bearers lifted the caskets and carried them down the few steps to the hearses while the family returned through the nave to the back door of the church and stepped into the limousine. Funeral home employees began to line up the cars of people who were going to the cemetery, each car with a blue pendant on the front fender and headlights shining into the murky sunshine.

When all was in readiness, the priest entered the first hearse for the ride to the cemetery, and preceded by police motorcycles, the long line of mourners' cars began their journey. As the limousine rolled into the street without incident, Ian again breathed a sigh of relief that Alejandro hadn't intruded with an act of violence.

A half-hour later, the long procession had reached the cemetery. There were six police officers on duty at the front gate, three of them with rifles, checking out occupants of the cars as they drove in.

Near to where the limousine had stopped, two new graves lay open, with folding chairs under a canopy alongside for the family. A car had preceded the caravan from the church, and the site was banked with flowers from the MacKenzies, the Carsons, and from friends and co-workers of the Hernandezes. When the pall bearers had gathered and moved the caskets from the hearses to the grave site, the family stepped out of the limo and went to the seats. Berto sat in the middle of the folding chairs provided, with Ian and Mary on either side of him. William stood behind Berto's chair with his hands on Berto's shoulders.

Ian had had the funeral home print a little guide for the graveside service, and he had asked them to include all three verses of the words for Taps following the order of service:

Day is done.
Gone the sun.
>From the lakes.
>From the hills.
From the sky.
All is well.
Safely rest.
God is nigh.

Fading light.
Dims the sight.
And a star.
Gems the sky.
Gleaming bright.
>From afar.
Drawing nigh.
Falls the night.

Thanks and praise.
For our days.
Neath the sun.
Neath the stars.
Neath the sky.
As we go.
This we know.
God is nigh.

Father Saucedo blessed the graves, led the mourners in the Our Father, the Hail Mary and appropriate committal prayers, and put a handful of soil on the caskets as he solemnly reminded those present that even at the edge of the grave, Christians make their song: Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia. Berto stood and placed a rose on each of the caskets and returned to his seat, where he sat, head bowed, unmoving. The formal service was over. After a few minutes, Mary Carson sent the others in their party back to the car as she, Catherine and Ian stayed with the boy. Berto remained sitting there in silence in his chair beside the graves for perhaps ten minutes.

Ian walked back to the cemetery access road and caught the priest before he re-entered one of the hearses, handing him an envelope with a substantial thank offering in it. By the time he went back to the chairs at graveside, Berto was standing and looking at the caskets, Mary's arm around him. The four of them returned slowly to the limousine. Berto's face was devoid of emotion now, his brown eyes opaque.

The family sat quietly in the vehicle, the air conditioning humming, until the line of cars began to move and the limousine also moved forward. Still in silence, they reached the gate to the cemetery. They were just turning on to the main road when there were pinging noises as bullets began peppering the doors of the car, and with a crack, several side windows of the limousine imploded, spraying glass fragments over everyone in the vehicle. In slow motion, Ian saw the faces of those he loved bleeding from the flying glass. Mark Carson pitched forward on to the floor.

* * *

Kevin awakened first from their nap. Casey was still asleep in his crib, and Cam 's head, eyes closed, was next to Kevin's on the pillow they were sharing. Kevin's head turned slowly to look at his partner, and he smiled at the sight of Cam's long, lean, defined body, wearing only his boxers, lying next to him. This beautiful boy he loved and who loved him lying next to him--how could he have been so lucky in life, he wondered, lucky enough to have this boy and their new child to love and care for?

Kevin lay there quietly in the unaccustomed silence of the empty house, not moving, until he heard the cadence of Cam's breathing change. Kevin smiled.

"You awake?" he asked.

"Gettin' there," Cam said, taking Kevin's hand and putting it on Cam's chest, holding it there on his pec.

"We need to talk about Teri McKee and the prom Friday night," Cam said.

Chapter 1	Chapter 2	Chapter 3	Chapter 4	Chapter 5	Chapter 6	Chapter 7	Chapter 8
Chapter 9	Chapter 10	Chapter 11	Chapter 12	Chapter 13	Chapter 14	Chapter 15	Chapter 16
Chapter 17	Chapter 18	Chapter 19	Chapter 20	Chapter 21	Chapter 22	Chapter 23	Chapter 24
Chapter 25	Chapter 26	Chapter 27	Chapter 28	Chapter 29	Chapter 30	Chapter 31	Chapter 32
Chapter 33