At My Husband’s Funeral, My Son Whispered Six Words

Pa. Sign it tonight. Tomorrow Ramírez comes back and we end this.”

“I told you. No.”

There was a long quiet. And then Diego said something I have played back maybe forty times since.

“You don’t look good, Pa. You look tired. You should take your pills and go to bed.”

“I already took them.”

“Take another one. You look bad.”

A pause. The clink of a glass.continue reading …