R.I.P.

by Charity B.

  All by myself, I walk through the trees. I step over a log, and what I see makes me gasp. Moss! That’s one of my boxes! I check it off, determined to get a bingo.

  I try to not think about it when they’re mean to me, even though it just makes me do it more. Maybe they don’t understand how they are making me feel? If I let them see how much they are hurting me, maybe they’ll stop.

  If not, then they deserve to suffer.

  Flipping through my brand-new sticker book, I try to decide who I will teach a lesson to first. While it may have been Ashley’s idea, it was Martin who made me swallow the bug. First, I should decide what I’ll do, then I’ll choose to who.

  A whole page of pretty rainbow stickers makes me smile. I pick a small one to put on my cheek.

  My fingers touch the cold stone of the angel wings on the headstone in front of me. “What do you think, Eliza? Should I make them eat bugs? How would I do that?”

  “Talking to Eliza?”

  At the sound of Malakai’s voice, I jump up to run around Eliza’s plot. The gate creaks closed behind him as his dark hair falls over his eyes and his warm smile brightens his face. This is the first year we’ve ever gone to different schools. I hate it. He’s in middle school now and gets out thirty minutes later than me.

  Squeezing him with all my might, I say, “Do you think she can hear me?”

  He kisses my head with a laugh. “I don’t know, maybe. If she can, do you think she can understand you? She’d be two for eternity.”

  I take his hand as we walk to the mausoleum. “I think she understands me. She was two when she died, but she’s been an angel for over a hundred years.”

  Grinning at me, he pulls open the door. “You have a point.” It’s much darker in here. The dim light casts a shadow across his face while he sits on the floor. “Your rainbow sticker is cool.”

  “I won a whole book at bingo!” The pages flap when I shake it in front of his face.

  His eyes glitter with his smirk. “Sounds like you had a better day than I did.”

  It makes him sad and mad every time I tell him what the kids do to me, so I try really hard not to.

  “Why? What happened?”

  He clasps his hands, resting his arms on his knees. “Just the same old shit.” He shouldn’t say bad words. I used to tell him so, but he never listened. Something flashes across his face, and he raises his eyebrows. “Oh, yeah, I did overhear a crazy story today. I think you’re gonna like it.”

  “Okay!”

  “Apparently, there was a guy in Florida somewhere that was murdering people, then serving them in the food at the restaurant he owned. How messed up his that?” He shakes his head with a shudder. “So disgusting.”

  My eyes go wide, and I clap my hands. “That is a good story!”

  Not only that, but now I know what Martin’s lesson will be.

  Looking into the hole, I wait for him. He’s going to have to come out eventually. Daddy said he wants him dead because he’s ruining the yard. My fingers tap the cool metal of Malakai’s baseball bat.

  “Come on, little groundhog. I just want to talk to you!”

  The sound of Mommy’s van makes electricity crackle through my stomach. It’s been difficult finding time to be alone with the bodies the last few days. Not very many people have died lately, and I have to get to them before Mommy embalms or cremates them. She’ll get mad if she finds me in the morgue, but she hardly ever leaves.

  I sneak inside the front door, taking off my shoes to tiptoe down the stairs. Peeking my head through the cracked open morgue door, I watch as she wheels a woman’s body in through the back entrance. She immediately lifts her head onto a block before she writes her information on the white board and attaches a band around her wrist. My impatience causes me to shift my feet as I watch her take off the lady’s clothes. Finally, she covers her with a sheet and puts her in one of the coolers.

  Since I don’t want to get caught, I go upstairs until she leaves the morgue. In my room, I get my crayons and a coloring book. I bring them to the kitchen, coloring pretty pictures while I wait. Malakai is with Daddy cleaning the church, so when I hear Mommy in the hall, I run to see where she goes. Her steps are slow as she climbs the stairs to the top floor. Listening really close, I don’t move until I hear the shower going.

  I need to hurry.

  With a napkin and a pair of big scissors from the kitchen, I run to the morgue, jumping off the third step from the bottom. The cold air from the cooling locker hits my face as I tug the woman’s body out a little. Using the scissors, I try to cut off her big and second toe. It’s too hard, though, so I have to snap the bones by hand. I’m so excited my skin is tingling.

  Once the toes are wrapped in the napkin and the locker door is closed, I’m able to safely sprint up to my room.

  I look at the severed toes, deciding the best way to make Martin eat them. I’ll need to separate the skin from the bones. Then I can hide it inside something.

  When my door opens behind me, I jump, hurrying to cover the napkin. “Hey, whatcha got?” Kai asks on his way over to me.

  I open my mouth to tell him, before changing my mind. It will be a much better story after it’s done. “Oh, nothing…Will you help me make cupcakes?”

  Lunch is usually one of the worst parts of the day. Today, though, I’ve been looking forward to it since I woke up. Even Mommy screaming at me last night doesn’t bother me. She’d said she knew I took the toes, but no matter how mad she got, I wouldn’t tell her where I had them.

  I swing my pink Barbie lunchbox, skipping to the table that Martin is sitting at. Throwing my leg over the bench, I sit down and open the box.

  “I don’t want to be seen with you, loser. Sit somewhere else.”

  His comment doesn’t upset me even a little bit because of what I’m about to do. This is making me feel better already.

  “You can’t have the whole table to yourself. Besides, I’ll hurry. I’ve been excited to eat my cupcake all day.”

  Opening the plastic Tupperware, I make a show of licking my lips at the strawberry toe skin cupcake. “Mmmm.” Just as I’d expected, he reaches across the table, snatching it out of my hand. “Hey!”

  His big teeth show with his cackle just before he sinks them deep into the pastry. Half of it is gone in one bite.

  I grin at him as a repulsed frown pulls down his face. He forcibly swallows and tosses the cupcake on the table. “Ugh, that’s nasty. What the hell is in that?”

  Lacing my fingers, I lean forward, keeping my voice low. “That was really mean of you to make me eat that bug. So, I made you eat something yucky too.” His eyes widen in question. I can’t tell him without giggling. “It’s the skin from a dead lady’s toes.”

  He tries to get away from me so fast that he falls over the bench, unable to stop his vomit from spewing onto the floor. I stand to leave, picking up what’s left of the cupcake.

  My smile is firmly in place all the way out of the cafeteria. I’ll eat my lunch in the bathroom again.

  Malakai

  18 years old

  “Bang! Bang! Maxwell’s silver hammer came down upon her head. Bang! Bang! Maxwell’s silver hammer made sure that she was dead,” Adriel sings along with the only radio station we could find with a clear signal. “I like this song. I wonder who sings it.”

  I’m trying to pay attention to what she’s saying, but I’m running on very few hours of sleep. We still have a few more days until we get to Grande Isle, and I’m not comfortable with the idea of sleeping at motels the whole way. It seems too obvious if the police are looking for us. Plus, we keep stopping to use the bathroom or eat, so the drive is taking longer than I’d like.

  “We need to find somewhere to stay soon. Like an abandoned building or something. I need to rest.”

  Her eyes flicker with excitement. “Can we do that the whole way to Louisiana? I like that oodles better than staying in nasty motels. This should be an adventure anyway.”

  I lau
gh through my exhaustion. She’s always been the type to be animated in her joy. While I constantly fear that she’s like our mother, in reality, she’s the exact opposite of her. My mom rarely expressed her emotions. Adriel screams them.

  We drive through a whole lot of nothing for another fucking forty-five minutes. After crossing the Arkansas border, I’m about to suggest we just sleep in the car when she taps on her window with a gasp. “Hey, look! That might be abandoned.”

  I follow her finger to a little building set back, away from the road. It’s too small to be a house, yet too big to be a shed. Turning on my blinker, I follow the makeshift road that leads behind the structure to a dirt lot surrounded by foliage.

  She jumps out, slamming the car door while hollering, “Come on!”

  I follow her to the front where we find a wooden, hand-painted sign that reads, ‘Connie’s Book Café’ nailed to a closed serving window. Using the bottom of my palms, I push up as hard as I can, but it doesn’t budge. We walk to the side, both looking through the dirt covered windows. There’s nobody inside, and it doesn’t look like there has been for a while. Adriel keeps exploring while I try to see through the glass. From what I can tell, it looks like a storage room.

  Crack! Crash!

  “I got it!” she hollers from the back, near where I left the car. Turning the corner of the building, I find her holding a long, metal piece of an air conditioning unit. She beams up at me as she pushes open a small wooden door. As I step inside, I look down at the hole she made above the handle. It’s just big enough for her to slide her hand through.

  Three rows of shelves, some labeled, some containing a book or two, are lined up behind the serving window. What I think is a kitchenette sits to my left, and I’ll be damned if there isn’t a cot on my right.

  “This seems like a weird place to have a bookstore.”

  She picks up the hardcover resting on the ‘Children’s Fiction’ shelf, blowing off a cloud of dust. “It gets kind of boring in the car after a while. Maybe this was for people riding in the car like me.” The pages flip beneath her fingers when she says, “I think it’s a good idea.”

  “Obviously not too good or it wouldn’t be out of business.” She squints at me, so I add, “Besides, there’s no one like you.” That earns me a grin. There has to be at least six inches of dust covering everything in here. “God, this place is filthy. You were turned off by the motel, how is this any better?” She shrugs as I fall onto the cot, watching dust clouds fill the air. “Well, I don’t care either way. I’d sleep just about anywhere right now.” Holding the book, she lies down beside me. “What did you find?”

  “The Secret Garden. Will you read some to me before we go to sleep?”

  I kiss her head as I take the book. “No more than a chapter.”

  Covering her mouth with a sleepy yawn, she says, “Okay.” Her head rests against my chest while I turn to the first page.

  “When Mary Lennox was sent to Misselthwaite Manor to live with her uncle, everybody said she was the most disagreeable-looking child ever seen…”

  For the second morning in a row, I wake up with Adriel missing. It’s either late enough in the morning or early enough in the evening for the sun to add some light to the space, allowing me to see she’s nowhere in here. I hear her speaking before I even reach the partially open door. Her voice doesn’t give off any hints of danger, so I quietly peek outside.

  She leans against the car with her arms crossed as one of her creations, I think she calls her ‘Sluma’, is lying on the hood.

  Adriel shakes her head, throwing up her arms. “I don’t know. Whatever happens, it’s worth it to try.” After a moment of silence, she frowns. “Don’t say that. He won’t ever let that happen.”

  The air turns thin around me, making breathing difficult. There is nobody else around. She always talks for her toys, but this is different. With a small smile, she shrugs. “Forever.”

  I don’t know if the tears falling down my cheeks are from fear or heartbreak. It’s happening like I’ve always feared it would. How am I going to protect her without knowing what she’s seeing or hearing?

  My hand wipes over my face before I walk out the door. “What’s forever?”

  She jumps away from the car, glancing to her toy as she shakes her head. “I—I was just…um…thinking.”

  I can’t hold back my scoff. She’s lying to me now? “Don’t fucking bullshit me. Not after everything. What did your doll say?”

  With wide eyes, she slowly turns her head toward me. “You can hear her? And see her moving?”

  Holding back my sob is becoming increasingly more difficult. “No, but you can, can’t you?”

  Her face doesn’t give away even a hint of emotion when she straightens. “Yes. Ever since Uncle Bennett told us about Mommy and Daddy.”

  I let the back of my head drop against the wall of the book café. It’s only been a couple weeks, and an eventful couple of weeks at that. “Why lie to me? As far as I knew, you didn’t do that.”

  She holds her hands behind her back, and when she looks at me, her voice shakes. “Because I don’t want to be like Mommy. I know you don’t want me to be like her either.”

  I wonder what it’s like. To live like that. What she sees and hears is real to her. It’s not her fault. She can’t help it.

  “You’re not like Mom. You may have the same…gift, but besides that? You’re just you, Adriel.” I walk up to her, lifting her up and sitting her on the hood of the car. “Please don’t hide things from me.” The smile that kills me every time brings her face back to life. My lips find hers, and she responds by pulling me closer. I brush her hair over her ear, leaning in to whisper. “Don’t lie to me again, okay?”

  Her irises flash like lightning bugs. “I promise.”

  I still can’t believe I slept for nearly twelve hours. At least it allowed me the energy to drive through most of the day today and finally get us into Louisiana.

  “What are we going to do about another car?” Adriel asks.

  I’ve been contemplating that since she got this one. “We can’t keep killing people for them. Stealing one will just worsen our situation and put the police right on our ass.” Not to mention, what are the chances we’ll find a car with the keys in it? I don’t know how to hotwire a car. Unless I’m missing something, that leaves us with only one risky option. “Maybe we should hitchhike?” As soon as the suggestion leaves my lips, her face darkens. “Shit, Adriel, I’m sorry. I’ll be with you this time. I don’t know what other options we have.”

  Sighing at her lack of response, I keep my eyes peeled for somewhere to stay before it gets too dark. When houses begin to pop up, we both see a tall one with boarded up windows at the same time. The driveway is long, wrapping around to the back of the house. With the broken windows, it’s easy to see that this home has undoubtedly been forgotten.

  “Maybe we can finish breaking the glass to push you through?” I barely get the idea into words when shattering sounds beside me. She’s holding a rock, knocking off all the sharp edges. “Hold on, let me get a towel from the car.”

  After safely hoisting her inside, she lets me in through the back door. The floral wallpaper is ripped in large sections, water stains altering its original color. A few pieces of broken furniture are scattered across the floor, accompanied by trash. I nearly trip on the torn carpet as we make our way up the creaky stairs. The upstairs rooms aren’t any better, maybe even creepier than the bottom floor. There isn’t a single bed to be found besides a baby crib.

  “I like it!”

  With a laugh I take her hand to lead her back to the car. “We should get some stuff to make things a little more comfortable. “Why don’t we try to find a place to buy supplies before we settle in?”

  Every time we get in this car, it makes my skin burn. I can’t wait to get rid of it. Since I don’t know where anything is or have a GPS, I just pick a direction. It takes about ten minutes to start seeing restaurants, houses a
nd businesses in the town called Cut Off.

  I stop at a dollar store, holding her hand as I tell her, “I’ll get a few blankets and pillows. You get some food. Not too much though. We need to save money.”

  One of her creations is clutched tightly to her chest when she nods in agreement, skipping on her way to the food section. Finding the home goods, I choose two of the thickest blankets and fluffiest pillows I can find. We’ll be fine without a heater. I didn’t get too cold last night with Adriel next to me. Not only are we well into spring, it’s also getting warmer the farther we drive.

  As I pass several aisles looking for Adriel, I notice a girl in an employee uniform, tapping on her touchscreen. My head spins with the urge to get ahold of that phone. I need to get online. Glancing around to make sure Adriel isn’t nearby, I make my way over to the girl.

  She looks up, meeting my eyes as her face widens with a smile. “Hi, do you need help findin’ somethin’?”

  “Actually, I have a really weird question…” I rub the back of my neck, working out a way to ask this without sounding like a freak. “Can I use your phone for a second?”

  “You don’t have a phone?” she laughs.

  “I lost mine. I’m not from here.”

  Biting her lip, she raises a brow. “Oh, yeah, sure.”

  I try my best not to rip it from her hand, typing our names along with Lettleton into the search bar as fast as possible. My eyes scan the links until one posted today makes me unsteady on my feet. The stomach acids in my gut turn sour.

  Incestuous Iowa Teens Suspects In Murder Investigation

  LETTLETON – Police issued an arrest warrant early Sunday morning for Malakai Courtenay, 18, and Adriel Courtenay, 17. The siblings are wanted for questioning in the murder investigation of an unidentified body.