Page 14 of The Millionaire Mortician

I was just finishing up with a body when I felt somebody standing in the doorway.

There was no need for me even to look up.

I knew it was Maverick. I instructed the other embalmer to wash the body down and slide it back into the drawer for me.

Peeling off my gloves, I then pulled the mask and gown off my shoulders and stepped into the hall, with Mav trailing me with his eyes.

Before he could even open his mouth, Parys came rushing up. “Five bodies just came in... from overseas,” he informed me, almost out of breath.

I glanced at Mav as he looked back at me. No words were needed. We both knew it was no ordinary remains. This was our shipment. That’s when I realized his reason for popping up on me.

“Put them in morgue number two,” I instructed.

Parys nodded quickly, then disappeared down the corridor. Mav and I started to make our way upstairs to my office. The ride up in the elevator was silent. We never spoke outside my office when people were around. There were always eyes and ears lurking, or at least that’s how we felt.

As soon as we reached the office, my personal phone rang. First, I thought it was Daija, but when I pulled it from my pocket, I saw it was my aunt, Patrice.

Before answering, I showed Mav the phone. “Hey Auntie,” I answered, putting it on speaker so he could hear.

Aunty Patrice was my aunt on my father’s side. She was back home in Trinidad, calling through WhatsApp.

“How allyuh boys doing? It’s been a rell long time ino.” Her voice carried that mix of warmth and distance.

I cracked a little smile at her heavy accent. “We’re good, Auntie. How are things with you?”

“I dey, can’t complain. Getting old, yuh know how the ting go. Ah calling because ah want to know if allyuh coming down for...” her voice trailed off. “Umm, we trying tuh do somethin’ on behalf of yuh parents. Give back tuh de community, yuh know?”

My parents’ death anniversary was approaching in a few days, so I knew exactly what she was talking about before she could get it out.

I rubbed the back of my neck, something I did when I became uneasy about something. Those were the kind of conversations I dreaded having. Then I heard another voice jump on the line.

“Yo, big bro, wah goin’ on? Ah need to holla at allyuh ‘bouta business scene here,” he stated, speaking in codes, just enough to slide past Auntie’s ear. “It hadda be face-to-face, though.”

I flicked my eyes to Mav, who was listening attentively. He looked at me and nodded once.

“Aight,” I gave in. “We’ll fly in.”

Auntie Patrice screamed out in the back with excitement, then jumped back on the phone. “Ah cyah wait tuh see allyuh.”

“We can’t wait to see y’all, too. Listen, Auntie, we’ll send some money up front so you can organize whatever for the give back, aight?” I offered, looking at Mav, who nodded in agreement.

“Awwwhhh, thank you, thank you!”

“That’s no problem at all. I’ll have my assistant give you a call in a minute to sort it out.”

We spoke for another minute, and then we finally hung up.

Silence sat heavy in the office after that phone call. I leaned back in the chair, watching Mav lean against the wall with his arms crossed.

“You sure about this trip back home?” I asked him in a low voice.

Mav’s eyes cut sharply before they softened just a little. “It’s about time.”

I nodded slowly. “Say less.”

We spoke about business for a good while, mapping out some things. Once we were finished, we made our way back downstairs to the morgue.

Walking into the room, five bags had been lined up like new arrivals in a holding cell. Parys had done exactly what I told him.

Each body had paperwork lying on top of it.

Since we couldn’t unload with all the staff still around, I got a head start and checked the paperwork, ensuring everything was in order.

I reviewed the documents, cross-checking names, weights, and origins to ensure accuracy.

Everything matched the way it was supposed to.

Still, Mav and I don’t trust words on paper alone.

With the door closed, I went and unzipped one of the bodies while Mav stood back watching from a distance.

The woman had seemed to be still intact.

That’s when I flipped her over on her side and saw a long incision neatly sewn along her back.

I checked the other four bodies, and it was the same thing.

“Aight, it seems to be in there. I just have to wait and confirm a little later,” I told Mav.

For the time being, we just had to be patient, which was something I mastered in both lines of business.

I exhaled slowly and looked at Mav. He just stared at the bags with a blank facial expression.

“Long night ahead,” he muttered.

“Always,” I replied.

And we left it at that.

By the time eleven o’clock rolled around, my hands felt heavier than the weight I’d been moving. Sweat rolled down my back even though the morgue air conditioning stayed on blast. I’d just finished unloading, sewing, and zipping back up all the bodies like nothing ever touched them.

Mav had dipped out earlier, leaving me to do the dirty work, but he slid back in when it was time to clean up and count the product.

I didn’t complain. I was in my element, and it was the norm for us.

My brother usually kept his hands light on that part of the process, but tonight, he surprised me when he rolled up his sleeves, helped wash the bricks, lined them, and counted them out.

Work definitely moved faster, with both of us in sync.

Once we stacked everything the way it was supposed to be, I got to work placing them back into local bodies.

I got in my surgical bag and got the job done.

That was the art of it for me — nobody ever suspects the dead carrying weight.

By the time we zipped the last bag, my shoulders loosened up for the first time all week.

The first shipment was a success, thankfully.

I wasn’t gonna lie. It had me on edge the entire time.

Don Rafael wasn’t someone to play with. The shipment was only a test, and I wasn’t about to let Mav and me fail it.

Aside from that, I had Frost in the back of my head, and Daija on the other end, waiting for time that I hadn’t been able to give.

All of that had been pulling at me. However, with the shipment tucked neatly in place, I felt a little more air in my chest.

The drive home was quiet and calm. I didn’t even turn on the radio. Sometimes silence would tell you more than words.

When I got home and walked into the house, the place was dark except for the light from the stairs. Walking up, I reached the bedroom and went inside to see Daija was still up, cheesing ear to ear at her phone. Her eyes lit up in a way I haven’t seen in a minute.

I leaned against the doorway. “Is the joke that sweet?” I asked in an even tone.

She looked up quickly, brushing it off with a laugh. “Group chat,” she casually replied, then dropped her eyes back to the screen like whatever had her smiling wasn’t worth explaining further.

I didn’t press it, though. My body was screaming for the shower, so I stripped out of my clothes, stepped into the shower, and let the hot water run over me. I needed to wash off the smell of embalming fluid and cocaine dust.

While bathing, my mind kept circling back on things. The shipment was good, business was straight, but something about Daija’s grin stuck with me.

When I came back out of the bathroom with my towel slung around my waist, she was still glued to her phone. She had that same grin on her face, only that time it wasn’t a girls’ group chat smile. I knew her smiles, and that one had a different curve and a different shine.

I observed everything discreetly but decided not to push anything. It wasn’t the right time. I was too tired, plus I didn’t want to quickly jump to conclusions. My plan was to just sit back and observe.

Dropping my towel, I pulled on some shorts and sat on the edge of the bed to apply some lotion to my skin.

“Mav and I gotta head to Trinidad,” I blurted out with no buildup. “I gotta go deal with some family things and business. It’ll only be a few days. I’ll be right back.”

With my back turned, I felt her sit up in the bed. “Okay,” she simply stated without a fuss or trying to invite herself on the trip. That usually wasn’t Daija, which in itself told me something.

The energy between us felt off, the same way it had been feeling for the past week. She was right there next to me yet felt far away. It was like her world was shifting somewhere else, and without me.

I stretched out beside her with my back to the ceiling. Neither of us attempted to cuddle or talk. I just let her have her time with whomever was on the phone, and I closed my eyes to get some rest. Whatever was done in the dark would eventually come to the light.