February 11, 2020
The next day, Sam drove to the house as usual. He had to leave town to go back to work, and he had come to say goodbye to Miss Jasmine and his new friends. He found Kenneth and Larry at the dining table.
Kenneth said, “It’s not good, Sam.”
“What’s not good?”
“Aunt Jasmine. I think you should go see for yourself.”
Sam had never been in the back part of the house except for the bathroom. He opened the hallway door and opened the first door. That looked like Kenneth’s room. He went to the next door and opened it. Miss Jasmine was lying on her back on a mattress on the floor, with the blanket covering her up to her neck. Whale was lying next to her stomach on top of the blanket. Neither moved.
Sam knew, but he walked over to confirm. Miss Jasmine was gone. Her eyes closed, and to use a cliché, she looked peaceful. Sam looked at Whale. She was still and Sam couldn’t see her chest moving. Sam just said, “Miss Jasmine…thank you so much, Miss Jasmine.”
Then he walked back down the hall to go sit at the dining table. Kenneth said:
“Are we supposed to cry?”
Sam said, “You can cry. But I don’t feel sadness having known her. I don’t think I can cry. Maybe in a few weeks.”
“That’s how I feel,” said Larry.
They heard two car doors shut. Rosemary came in with Jackson Jackson.
“Surprise!” they both said cheerfully. Then Rosemary saw their somber expressions and said, “What’s the matter?”
Larry motioned to the hallway door and said, “Go see.”
In a few minutes, they both came back and sat at the table. Nobody spoke for a while.
Larry said, “She put the mattress on the floor so Whale could get up and down by herself and not fall off.”
More silence, then Jackson Jackson said:
“I think we should have a parade. We could call it the Miss Jasmine parade. We could get everybody to drive through Frenchtown and drive to that park she liked so much. That’s where I saw her when I was a kid. Then we could have some food and music, maybe some biscuits. We could invite the mayor!”
“I think Miss Jasmine would like that,” said Rosemary. “I think we should do it.”
“Sam, Rosemary said you were heading home today. Is it possible to stay for another week? We’ll need you in the parade,” said Jackson Jackson.
“Tallahassee is home. You’re damn straight I’ll stay. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
And then all five of them started to cry.