the change of season

Cody wasn't so sure the grief support group helped much, but he always ended up at the hospital basement on Saturday night after he got off his shift of volunteering as (no one was to know) a candy stripper.  It was good to keep busy and since he was here anyway, he always showed up for coffee and cookies. He usually went for the juice, though.

There were all kinds of people there, but no one he really wanted to know. Some of the older ladies would make over him when he would arrive. Of course, they were happy to ask if he'd met anyone, or if he were dating.

He was still too shy to say much. He never really talked about his brother, but it was good to listen to others talk about their feelings. And he was used to it now. All though, he never saw any of them outside these white walls, he felt connected. Maybe. At least for 45 minutes to an hour.

And then he was alone again. Always alone.

But like a late bloom in the fall, she walked in.

Even the white haired women who generally crowded around him, mingled back to the coffee as if they wanted him to be seen.

Cody was not used to this and he stood there hugging himself.

Another teenager. Finally he got up the courage to ask her if she were lost.

"I don't think so." She was straight lipped, but didn't look all that distressed.

"Oh." His throat was stiff, but he finally managed to tell her his name and why he was here. His brother was shot at a house party and later died at the hospital, over the summer.

"I dunno exactly, how my mother died. I wasn't there." She said very quietly.

Finally, they sat in the big circle of folding chairs. Cody sat next to her. She looked over to him and said. "My name is Bree."