She didn't know why everyone was crying
So she took shelter in her fathers coat and folded her hands
She didn't look up at her family.

They were weeping.

What did they lose? What was so catastrophic to make her brother crumble to his knees and curse they sky?

Looking down at her scuffed patent leather shoes, she shifted her weight from side to side
A lock of her hair slipped out from behind her ear and and brushed past her dry, emotionless face

Retreating further into her father's cover, she inhaled the musky smell of tobacco
The familiar smell reassured her.
That smell- taking her back to her home and family dinners
Watching her father and uncle smoke cigars and playing cards
Filling the room with laughter.

They hadn't done that in quite some time.

Lately dinners have been quiet
With no smoke filling the room and no laughter to warm the house
Only cold clinks of silverware against bare plates
They would all sit, listening to occasional cough and sigh in the room
And she would wait for her uncle to arrive
But he would never come