Emily’s husband Harold was an undertaker at Mortensen Funeral Parlor. He had inherited the business from his father who inherited it from his.  She accepted the long hours and the calls at ungodly hours of the night. Death is really an inconvenient thing.

Jason, their teenage son was a good boy. He made the honor Roll; he played football and baseball for the Artesia Bulldogs. He was a good boy until he started hanging out with Nolan Pettis and Christopher Riley. That’s when he discovered booze and girls. He’d pick Nolan and Christopher up on Friday nights, in his ’85 Chevy and cruise from Circle K to Sonic a few times. They then would gather with the other teenagers at the Bulldog Laundromat parking lot next to Taste Freeze.

Emily struggled to help Jason; he was barely passing in school, so she’d do his homework for him. This…