By Kelly Blake

“I think he really wanted cremation and his ashes spread in the sea.” Lyla stated most ardently.

Lyla’s word had to be trusted. She accepted and loved me as I am. But I also knew my father and his wishes should be considered. Sort of anyway…

“We do have a burial spot arranged for. Other members of the family are buried there.” I said in a hushed voice. “I’m so confused.” I sighed and glanced at my hands.

Lyla reached beneath the comforter and grasped the last remaining remnant of my…’maleness’.
“I know this is a tough decision baby doll.”

I loved her calling me that. It always gave me warm fluffiness.

“But we need to do something with the…remains. Cremation does solve a lot of issues. And we can’t forget the money factor. Burying is costly.” Lyla said softly as she wrapped her arm around me.

We both sighed as I nuzzled into her side. Lyla found me. She saved me and believed in me. So she’s a little older than me. She brought me wisdom and understanding. And she brought me the one thing I so very longed for; a true sense of family. Lyla understood my needs, my desires, my likes and my dislikes.

My family disapproved of my need to be myself; to be a woman. Most of all, my father was furious when I left home to seek my way toward that end.

“Well…?” Lyla rolled her eyes upward and grinned. “What does your mom think?”

“What does my mom think?” I muttered softly and considered the question.

“What does your stepmom…” Lyla paused and giggled. “…ummm…your ex-stepmom think?”

Reaching across her body, I cupped her pendulous breast in my hand. Pondering Lyla’s question for a moment, I suddenly grinned teeming with excitement.

“We should do a FaceTime with them. The way they feel about each other should make it epically amazing.” I snickered.

“Yeah…?” Lyla laughed. “And the way they felt about your dad should make it even more so. You are such a wicked girl.” She added emphatically.

Luckily we were able to reach them at their respective homes. We reached my mom first. She was not a particular fan of Lyla. This was mostly due to Lyla being only a few years younger than my mom.

“Hello Jamie…” Lyla said with a smile. “We have a serious question to ask and…” She paused. “Oh… We just reached Ava. Hi Ava...” My stepmom… “We have Jamie on the call and we have a question for you both.”

After the perfunctory greetings and the expressions of mild annoyance with each other and us, we got down to business. Lyla led the conversation to my relief.

“Nyssa thinks we should bury her father but I think cremation would be more in order. We would like both of your opinions.”

“Well…” My mom said curtly. “Why not simply dump the body on some dirt road in the hills? That’s all he deserved as far as I’m concerned.” Jamie spat.

Hmmm… That would be good for the environment. Fertilizer for the ground and food for the wildlife…

“That would be poetic justice.” Ava mused.

“And I remember how Nyssa loved to make castles with her grandparents until I took away their ashes so cremation is not a good idea.” Mom said wryly.

I’d forgotten about that and had to giggle.

“Why not get a wood chipper and simply throw the body in.” Ava chuckled.

“That’s not a bad idea except for the cleanup afterwards.” Lyla smirked.

Several other ideas were offered such as dumping his remains in a lake; dumping him in the medical waste bin at the hospital. We all rejected dismemberment as being way messy and sawing through bones wasn’t very appealing.

After an hour of wading through alternatives, some sort of good and some kind of humorous, we ended the FaceTime on very good terms. Or at least we all agreed that good old daddy didn’t deserve more time spent on his disposal.