by Charity B.
“I’m about to.”
I blow out a relieved breath. “Don’t call yet.”
“Kai—”
“Just listen, Uncle Bennett.” Even with the knowledge that my mother always turns the cameras off on family nights, it’s still a much larger risk than we can take. “You have to delete all the security footage.”
“Wh-what?”
I’m out of time and options. Ignoring him before I can change my mind, I blurt, “After you do that, come to the church. Then we’ll call the police.” Adriel’s eyes shifting to mine is the first move she’s made in what feels like hours. “There’s something you need to know.”
It won’t take Uncle Bennett long to get here. Not that there’s anything I can do to make this scene less horrifying anyway. Adriel barely speaks a word and not a single one about our parents. Right now, I’m thankful for it. If we accept our reality, really believe it, I’m scared we won’t be able to do what needs to be done.
Dad showed me how to clean up enough times that I know how. However, half the shit I need is at the house. Razor wire wraps around my insides when I look at Adriel. She sits on the table, tugging on the fuzz of Princess Sparkle’s bear body.
Taking her hand, I lead her upstairs. “Come on, he’ll be here soon.”
We wait in the lobby, watching out the double doors for Uncle Bennett’s black Camaro. In the silence, Adriel’s whisper echoes loudly in my ears. “What are we gonna do, Kai?”
Six words are about to make me crumble. I don’t know how much longer I can keep the sorrow at bay. Her hair is smooth beneath my fingers as I cup the back of her head, pressing her body against my chest. “Stick together.”
I’m so close to giving in to the tears.
Headlights flash through the glass of the doors, stopping right in front of us. Uncle Bennett gets out of his car, raking his hand through his hair. I’ve never seen him look like this. My mother once told me that he has more beauty products than she ever did. But now, his slumped posture and unkempt style makes him appear like someone else altogether.
As he opens the door, I take a step away from Adriel to give him a good look at our bloodied clothes. One, two, three seconds pass as he stares through us. Recognition flashes across his face like an ‘on’ button. His eyelids peel back from his bulging eyeballs, enlarging them to three times their size.
“What the hell?! Are you guys all right?” Beneath his disquieting stare, we allow him to check us for the injuries that aren’t there. “What happened?”
Never in a million years did I plan to breathe a word of this aloud. Where do I even start? Turns out, I don’t have to.
“There’s a dead sinner in the basement,” Adriel announces. “Mommy and Daddy aren’t here to help us with the body, so we need you.”
An invisible eraser dissolves every one of his expressions. Only his eyes move between us. “What? Like a person?”
With a groan, I wipe my hands over my face. My sister’s approach is rarely delicate. “An extremely bad person.” His eyes beg me to say something that’s not completely insane. “Mom…” I sigh. “We’ve been doing it for years. With Mom and Dad.”
Tossing us a disbelieving scoff, he marches toward the basement. Fear fills my lungs at what his reaction to this will be. I grab Adriel’s hand to pull her down the steps behind him.
He stands quiet and still for an eternity, staring over the body bag containing Mr. Jasick.
“What the fuck?!” We’ve been waiting in silence so long that I jump at his outburst. Adriel, on the other hand, just leers at him, not so much as startled.
“Are you going to help us, Uncle Bennett?” The tightness of her hand squeezing mine suggests she’s as nervous for his response as I am.
He whips around, glaring between us. Just as I think telling him was a huge mistake, he walks over and places a hand on each of our cheeks.
“I’m not losing my entire family in one goddamn night.”
Adriel
17 years old
Malakai tries to tell the story of how we got here while I look around at our mess. Since Mr. Jasick got free, blood tracked in some places that weren’t protected by the plastic.
“I knew Azalea had issues, but I never would have imagined it was this bad.”
Princess Sparkle’s fuzz lifts from her body as I clench it in my fist. I know he’s helping us and that he’s sad because Mommy’s dead, but that doesn’t stop the fury that’s been boiling since we called him from erupting in me like a volcano.
“She didn’t have issues!” I scream. Stomping over to him, I stand on my tip-toes to get close to his face. “She was special. Jesus gave her that gift.”
He glances at my brother with scrunched eyebrows. “The last thing I want to do is disrespect her.”
Malakai’s warm hands rest on my shoulders to lead me toward the stairs, unknowingly calming me down. “Come on, let’s go get cleaned up.” Mid step, he turns back to our uncle. “You brought us spare clothes, right?”
With a nod, he digs into his pocket, tossing Malakai a set of keys. “In the trunk.”
Princess Sparkles’ horn keeps bumping the side of my leg on our way to the parking lot. Kai unlocks the black trunk to reveal the trash bag with our clothes, a jack, and jumper cables. He throws the bag over his shoulder on our way back inside, never letting go of my hand.
As soon as we’re in the bathroom, he removes his shirt, his abs flexing as he pulls it over his head. The dried blood on my dress rubs against my chest when I take it off. The action gives me a flashback to the last time I undressed in front of him. As we clean each other off with soap and water in the sinks, I force myself to not touch him in the way I want to. My nipples harden beneath the paper towels when he dabs me dry.
Malakai kneels next to his crumpled jeans to pull my panties out of the pocket. His dark eyes look up at me as he clears his throat. “I didn’t want M—” a sob tries to escape, “anyone to ask about them.”
My sadness about Mommy and Daddy is hiding behind a thick black fog. Every time I think I know what I’m feeling, the numbness gobbles it up. Kai though, he’s being crushed. It seeps from his eyes and echoes in his voice. Seeing him like this hurts me more than my own emotions. The second after his clean shirt slides over his torso, my arms tighten around it. I hate that I can’t take this away or fix this for him. Nothing I say or do will make this better.
“We should go,” he murmurs with a broken-hearted sigh.
Uncle Bennett is waiting for us in the basement. “Later tonight we’ll come back to finish up. Now though, we need to get to the house and call the police.”
He never told us how they died. Just that they had. “What happened?”
The ceiling holds his gaze until he finally meets my eyes. “Micah and Azalea had dinner plans with Mr. and Mrs. Westbrook a few hours ago. The Westbrooks got worried when they didn’t show up or answer any calls. There wasn’t a response at the house either, so they called me.”
“You found them?” Kai asks. Uncle Bennett looks like he might break down at any minute when he nods.
Frustration jerks my lips into a frown as I cross my arms. “I meant how did they die?”
They both look at me as if I’ve grown horns like Princess Sparkle. “Are you sure you want me to tell you right now? It’s truly horrible.”
While Malakai’s eyes are begging me not to push this, I have to know. “Yes.”
Uncle Bennett glances between us, opening his mouth three times before any actual words come out. “Azalea’s throat was cut. Micah had been injected with something—most likely formaldehyde. It looked a lot like a murder-suicide.”
Usually when I get angry, I feel hot enough to spontaneously combust. This time though, it’s freezing. It’s so cold that it turns all my organs into icicles. Daddy would never have left us.
This was Mommy.
I push between them both, grabbing Princess Sparkle to race up the basement stairs.
“Adriel, wait!”
Malakai misses my arm as he reaches for me. His pleading gets quieter every time my feet land on a step.
The cool night air hits my face the minute I burst outside. Never looking behind me, I cut through people’s yards to make my way to the park.
Uncle Bennett must be playing a mean trick on us. She wouldn’t have done this. I know she was sad a lot, but how could she take Daddy too? I don’t understand.
“She hated you from the second you were born.”
My body immobilizes at the sound of a girl’s voice. I search the playground with wide eyes while the swing set chains clink together in the wind.
The stars catch my attention, momentarily distracting me from the girl who spoke. They look funny. The stars are…green? Moving faster than normal, they dance together in the sky. I rub my eyes when the girl speaks again.
“It’s not your fault. It wasn’t hers either. You just aren’t the kind of person people love. You’re the kind of person people hate.”
Whoever this girl is, she’s hiding. “Hello?” I call out.
Tiptoeing to the tunnel slide, I check to see if she’s in there when she adds, “Except Malakai, your daddy, and us. We all love you.”
I spin because it sounds like she’s behind me. “Who are you? Where are you?”
“I’m one of your best friends, and I’m right here. Come on, if we hurry, we might get to see their bodies.”
Movement in my hand makes me jump in surprise. I shift my gaze down to Princess Sparkle who is smiling at me with sharp, pointy teeth. My scream is inaudible, trapped inside my chest. The only thing I can do is stare. Holding my breath, I lift her up.
I’m not sure what I’m seeing.
She’s different than she was minutes ago. Her plastic doll face has morphed into skin, moving like a person’s. The horns burrowed deep into her forehead appear to have grown naturally instead of being hot glued.
“Princess Sparkle?”
I squeeze her with both hands in front of my face. Her teddy bear fur is coarser than it ever has been. The rip on her stomach is now a missing chunk of torn away flesh, allowing me to see her skeleton and pink muscles. Red, swollen skin puffs around the crude stitching on her missing eye. Pretending is fun, but this is…
“Don’t squish me that hard. It hurts!”
Howling fills my ears, making me drop her to cover them with my hands. My eyes snap shut. This isn’t real, this isn’t real, this isn’t real. It’s just been a scary night.
Smell the flowers, blow out the candles.
After three big breaths, I lift my eyelids, almost kicking her because she’s still alive, staring at me and waddling around my feet. When I reach down to grab her, I cover her mouth to stop her from talking. “Don’t bite me.”
Forcing my brain to focus on the sound my shoes make as they hit against the concrete, I walk the rest of the way home. The stars have returned to motionless white dots, helping to normalize my heart.
Malakai paces next to the hearse in the driveway, his shoulders visibly falling in relief when he sees me. He meets me halfway, taking my hand. “Are you okay?” I hold my breath as I lift up Princess Sparkle, fully prepared for him to freak out. His eyebrows scrunch in question. My stomach feels heavy once I realize she’s turned back into a toy. “What?”
She came alive, I just saw it! I open my mouth to explain, but every word falls back down my throat. If I tell him, he’ll think I’m just like Mommy.
Shaking my head, I walk toward the house. “Nothing.”
His hand grips my arm. “Wait. You ran away before we decided on a story. Tell the police we were at the park when Uncle Bennett came to talk to us, okay?”
“Okay.”
There are oodles of strangers behind the door, scurrying through my house. The sight crawls over my skin like bugs. I drop Princess Sparkle on the hall table and rush past the people to go to the morgue, only to find the top of the steps blocked with yellow tape that says ‘SHERIFF’S LINE: DO NOT CROSS’ in black letters.
A hand softly touches my back. I spin around to see a man in a worn-out suit looking down at me. “That’s an active crime scene,” he grumbles. “You can’t go down there yet. Are you…?” He looks at his phone. “The daughter? Adriel?”
I don’t answer him as my eyes find Kai. The moment he’s beside me, he takes my hand and asks, “When can we see our parents?”
A toothpick wobbles between the man’s lips. “They need to be taken to the morgue and—”
“Is that a joke? They’re in a morgue right now,” Malakai snaps.
“The police morgue.”
He tells us his name is Sheriff Knewzy. Sheriff Nosey is more like it, asking us a million questions about Mommy and Daddy. I’m happy that Kai answers most of them.
People are here for so long that Uncle Bennett goes to the Burger Bin to get us food. Even though I usually like that place, I only eat a couple fries. I’m not hungry. All I want to do is go back to the church to finish with Mr. Jasick.
It’s boring me out of my brain waiting like this. Cuddling next to Malakai on the couch, I rest my head on his lap.
Ding, ding, ding, dong. Bing, bing, bing, bong.
Bong!
Bong!
Bong!
My eyes fly open at the grandfather clock’s chiming. Bong! Bong! The hysteria lining Kai’s whispers has me jolting upright. His gray irises burn with panic.
“Dad’s secretary will be at the church in less than three hours. We have to—”
“I know, okay?” Uncle Bennett glances toward the hall.
“Well, then what the fuck is your plan?” Kai snaps in a low voice.
How many bongs were there? I look at the short hand pointing to the 5. The police people are still here? That’s very, very bad. Now we’ll have to find somewhere to stash the body until we can use the retort downstairs.
Luckily duckily, I know just the place.
“Uncle Bennett, may I please have some ice cream?” My brother and uncle both look at me like I’m bonkers. “I want the yummy bubblegum kind you had in your freezer last summer.” I lean forward, raising my eyebrows to hint at what I’m implying.
Realization hits Malakai first. “That’s a really good idea,” he says with a slow nod, urging Uncle Bennett to agree.
When it finally clicks in to his skull, his eyes widen and his mouth forms an O. I look to Malakai when Uncle Bennett stands to pull his car keys out of his pocket. Where the heck does he think we’re going to put Mr. Jasick? In his trunk?
He hands Kai the keys. “Meet me in the car. I just want to tell them we’re leaving.”
“I’m going to get Scabecca first.”
Uncle Bennett raises an eyebrow at Malakai, who waves him off. “Her doll.”
Hurrying up the stairs, I snatch her off the shelf. My shoes pound on the wooden steps as I run outside. I don’t like being here with all these people I don’t know.
Safe in the car away from listening ears, Uncle Bennett scoffs with a dry chuckle. “We are so fucked.”
“We’re not fucked,” Kai says. “We just have to be smart about it and keep our shit together.” Uncle Bennett stays silent, so he snaps, “All right?”
He glances in his side mirror. “Yeah, I got it.”
“Stop by your place first. I didn’t get anything to clean with, so we’ll have to work with whatever you have.”
With bleach, trash bags, and rags packed in his trunk, we are finally ready to go back to the church. I buckle Scabecca next to me in the back seat, watching Kai’s reflection in the passenger window. His face creases as he loses himself in whatever thoughts he’s having. I wish so badly I could be in his mind to feel the things he does.
The second Uncle Bennett shifts the car into park, Malakai jumps out, running to the trunk for the supplies. I have to jog every few steps to keep up with him as he rushes to the church basement. His urgency is relevant. We need to have the body gone and this place spotless in less than two hours.
Scabecca l
ies next to me as I kneel on the concrete to scrub at the stray blood splatter with bleach. Blood puddles in spots on the plastic that need to be soaked up.
Uncle Bennett is completely useless. He just stands in the corner dry heaving. I don’t understand his problem. He works at a mortuary, for goodness sake.
After one last inspection, I feel a lot better that at least the cleaning part is done. I set Scabecca on top of the body bag, giving me use of both hands to help lift the overweight cadaver.
As we struggle to carry it up the stairs, Uncle Bennett groans, “I can’t believe I’m actually doing this.” The corpse’s timing is perfect when it chooses this moment to release gasses, letting out a moaning sound. In his shock, loses his grip on the body, almost dropping it. “Goddamn it.”
It takes forever for us to get him out of the church. All three of us grunt with the final shove that stuffs Mr. Jasick in the trunk. Kai runs back inside for the trash bags, and I look up at my uncle, wiping my hands on my skirt. “There. Almost done. See? That wasn’t so bad.” He just glares at me, so I climb in the back seat with Scabecca to wait.
While it makes me a little nervous to drive with a body this way, Uncle Bennett is a skittish ball of anxiety. He grips the steering wheel so hard his knuckles are white the entire drive back to his house. Every two seconds, he looks at the rearview mirror. Even with Malakai trying to reiterate that we’ll be fine, his shoulders don’t relax once.
His garage sits catty-corner to his house, allowing him to park in between. Malakai’s hand rubs across my back as we follow Uncle Bennett inside the garage to the large, black chest freezer. White clouds puff up into the air when the door is lifted.
“Do you know how many Omaha Steaks I have in here?”
Kai rolls his eyes. “Your meat collection is the least of my worries.” Assessing the space, he shrugs. “We can try to fit as much as we can in your kitchen freezer. The rest we’ll have to put on top of him.”
