Our stilted singing cut off abruptly as my grandmother lit her cigarette from the tip of her ninetieth birthday candle. Her painted lips cracked into a smile as she puffed a cloud of blue gray smoke towards the ceiling. My mother's hands clenched and I instinctively grabbed the knife off the table. "Let me cut the cake," I chirped, as my mother reached for it. The cake slid slightly and the iced roses I'd placed on top started to fall. They weren't pretty but it was the thoug