Chloe entered in a bright red dress, Buddy in her arms, clinging to Ethan’s side, just as I was bowing to the guests.
An obnoxiously cheerful song blasted through the funeral hall.
Chloe strutted up first, slammed Mr. Hayes’s portrait to the floor, and sneered at the body in the casket.
“Ugh, corpses look so ugly. Ethan, don’t let Buddy get scared!”
She grabbed a flower basket and hurled it onto Mr. Hayes’s face, the lush stems and petals covering his features.
A few neighbors couldn’t stand it and shoved the hysterical Chloe aside.
“Ethan, are you really going to watch this lunatic desecrate your father like that?”
Chloe’s eyes were rimmed red. Ethan pulled her close, scowling at the people who’d stepped in.
“Mind your own business.”
“This is a family matter. Who are you to tell us what to do?”
“Out. Now. Don’t delay Buddy’s recognition ceremony!”
Seeing a son indulge others in trampling his father, the onlookers shook their heads as if he were insane. No one wanted to waste anger on such an unfilial man, and they drifted away.
After the guests were gone, Chloe “accidentally” knocked over a candle beside the casket.