” It was difficult. Although we had become friends court etiquette had definite requirements and it was hard to be formal in court and informal when...we were alone. I just hoped I would not embarrass either of us with a slip of the tongue at the wrong moment. For a while we sat in silence which was broken only when I inquired:“Do you miss your family, Isabel?” “Oh yes, Anna. Very much, but this is how life is. What about you?” “Yes, I do. I miss my sisters most of all.” “You never mention them.. “You didn’t tell me what your mommy told you to do when you were here.”“She said to be nice to you. Am I being nice?”“You are very extremely nice to me, Dear. Are you comfortable there? This is the first time I have seen you wear a dress. You usually wear your track suit. Is that a new dress?”“Yes, Mommy said you would like it. Do you think it’s nice?” Girls are so dependent on attention.“I think it is very nice. Do you wear it to school?”“No. I’m not allowed to wear it to school. Mommy says. She could smell it on him, feel it in the skin, hardened even on his earlobes. It was caked on parts of his body, plastered dry and flaky in some areas and like watery mud in others. She felt the warm slippery feel of the wet paint as he slid against her and rubbed his hands along her arms and then shoulders, unwittingly massaging her with the oils already soaking his skin. There was a dab of red on his cheek and she kissed it, wiping it as her lips swept across the thick flesh near his mouth.. I drive the hearse into the hospital parking lot and pull around to the back to the morgue. I've been working at the funeral home for over a year now. I've still got another four months until I finally graduate.I've always been fascinated by death and funerals. As a kid when I went to a funeral I would linger at the casket, watching the body. When no one was looking I'd reach out my hand and touch the skin. The skin never felt real. It felt like cold rubber. As I got older I would attend.