Red Canary Stories

  XVI. Sins of the King. Grief of the Father.  The day of Apollo Hightower’s funeral had arrived. A somber air had settled upon the estate. So heavy it felt like treading through sludge. The service was in the next hour, but Solomon was at Josie’s mausoleum instead of getting ready. The black blazer was draped over his arm. The white shirt he wore was untucked and partly buttoned. Puffiness from all the crying he had done the night before had settled heavy on his face. Solomon was the epitome of a broken man shattered by yet another tragedy. A father crippled by unbearable grief over the horrific loss of his only child. He groveled before Josie’s statue, pleading for forgiveness over Apollo’s gruesome death. Shortly before Josie’s own death, she told her husband to make sure their son was always cared for.   As he reflected on the conversation from the past, Solomon wondered if Josie said those words because she had sensed her own demise around the corner. Nevertheless, h...