Moving Serafina

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203 Attending Henry Bennett’s burial was difficult for Clay. They had never been close but Clay always respected Henry, a loner much like himself but far more dedicated to the county and the little town of Solitario where he had lived all of his eighty-eight years. But to see Henry’s casket waiting next to the fresh grave into which Serafina should be going sent Clay into a deep depression that everyone mistook as grief for Henry. Since Henry had never married, there was no immediate family crowded around the gravesite early Thursday morning for the combined funeral service and burial. The county commissioners, consisting now of only Dobb and Yebbie, decided it was far too hot to conduct a separate service and a burial in one day becausetherewasnoair-conditioninginthechurch.And everyone agreed it would be best to just get Henry into the ground and move on. However,Dobb and Yebbie did postpone till Friday the regular Thursday night meeting in respect for the deceased judge and had hastily posted notices to that effect around the community. DobbandYebbiearrivedtogetherfortheburialand mostof theadultcommunitymemberswererepresented. A smattering of people from Presidio and the outlying C H A P T E R 21 Bob Cherry 204 areas of the county also came. Bea stood next to Locket, who appeared weary from the previous day of active duty on Cinco de Mayo. Jovita dressed appropriately in black slacks and black blouse and sunshades. She wore no jewelry but she refused to wear anything in her hair except her trademark red scarf. She stood next to Clay at the edge of the crowd and heard him whisper too low for anyone else to hear, “It’s Sera’s grave. Can’t y’all see that?” Jovita hooked her arm through his when he muttered this and again, everyone misinterpreted Clay’s grim visage and Jovita’s sigh as grief for Henry. Halfway through the service, Gus arrived and walked up behind the crowd, his hat in hand. Clay saw that Alvaro was not with him. “He didn’t come home last night,” Gus said to Clay after they had lowered Henry into the grave and the crowd began to disperse. “That’s not unusual on Cinco de Mayo, but I’m a little concerned after we had our discussion about—” He stopped and looked at Jovita, who still held Clay by the arm. “It’s okay, Gus,” Clay said. “She knows.” Jovita nodded but said nothing. “Well, we had a little disagreement over all that,” Gus went on. He looked around and continued when he saw no one was within earshot. “About what he might be able to find out and what he might be able to do that nobody else could.” “I wondered if he’d balk,” Clay said. “Well, I couldn’t tell for sure. He’s stubborn, always has been. But if he makes up his mind about something being right or wrong, he clamps down on stuff like a Gila monster and just won’t let go. He’ll do MOVING SERAFINA 205 it his own way.” “I know,” Clay said. “Takes after his big brother.” “Well,” Gus said. “It gets us both into trouble sometime.” “You talk to Locket yet?” Jovita said. “He was over there all day yesterday but I don’t know if he saw Alvaro.” “Locket knows she’s over there?” Gus hissed, startled at this. “I mean, at our place?” “No way,” Clay said. “That’d been real awkward for him. But he does know Alvaro might be asking around about the baby.” “Locket will be over at the restaurant after this, Gus,” Jovita said. “If you want to talk. He’s on duty but he wouldn’t miss Bea’s food for anything short of a riot.” “You’re coming over too aren’t you?” Clay said. “Bea and the others will have it all laid out by now.” “Sure, for a while. Then I’d better get on back,” Gus said and then awkwardly, “She’s out there by herself.” They moved away from the gravesite but not before Clay glanced one final time into the hole which now held Henry’s casket. He stopped and then looked back at Adelita’s grave and drew in a deep breath but said nothing. “How is she?” Jovita said to Gus. “She’s crying,” Clay said before Gus could answer. Jovita saw Clay was staring...