by Milly Taiden
“It doesn’t look like her, our mom was a beautiful woman,” she insisted, looking at Ethan who just sat with no reaction other than a blank stare.
“Miss, your Mom suffered significant trauma to the face. It was the best we could do to display her for your family,” he told her as he stood up, signaling an unspoken dismissal of the siblings.
“What was the cause of death? What happened?” Ethan spit out crossly. Charley was shocked at the venom in her brother’s voice.
The man stopped in his tracks, letting out a long sigh. These kids weren’t giving up. He went back to his desk typing something into his computer. After staring at a computer screen for a couple minutes, he looked at Charley and Ethan.
“Look, I’m not the coroner, but reading over her information, blunt force trauma,” he said, hoping this was sufficient.
“This guy beat her to death?” Ethan asked.
“Yes, that would be correct.” he said, with a nod.
“And she looks like that because someone bashed her head in?” Ethan asked, hearing those awful words come out of his mouth.
The door opened, and Ned walked in. Charley immediately jumped up, not wanting to be a part of it. Ethan stayed where he was, still letting it sink in. The papers never stated how she had died. This new information was becoming harder to understand.
“Ethan and Charley, I want us all to gather with your mom,” Ned said, reaching out for Ethan. Charley made her way to her father, letting him put his arm around her.
“Dad, where did they find her?” Ethan asked.
“Ethan,” Charley said.
“It’s ok, Charley. Ethan, she was in her car in her office parking garage,” Ned said. His response was hurried, indicating his willingness to give out that information in exchange for returning to the service.
Ethan studied his dad’s face. He decided he’d accept his dad’s answer, and they headed out of the office. Maybe there were some things he just didn’t want to know.
Vinnie sat waiting for Charley and Ethan to come back. This was turning into quite the freak show, he thought to himself. He prayed it would end soon. He was tired and being anywhere near dead people just gave him the creeps. Hearing Charley go on about how it didn’t look like her mother pushed it all to horror show morbid level. He’d been to enough funerals to know that when someone died tragically, they rarely looked like they had in life.
He held Everly close, stroking her shoulder. He was surprised that out of all the kids, she was doing holding it together the best.
Ned motioned for his children to gather for one final goodbye. He knew if he stayed there any longer, he was going to break. With the trauma his children had experienced due to their mother’s death, he needed to hold it together for them.
“Your mother would be glad to know we all showed up today to see her off. And I just want to say she loved you all more than anything. She may be gone, but I don’t want to forget all the good times we had with her. She was a good woman, let’s not forget that, ok?” he asked, looking to each of them, awaiting a reply.
Charley cleared her throat, Everly took her hand. She pursed her lips, trying to force words out.
“Missed but not forgotten,” she said, hardly able to speak. Quinn nodded in agreement, followed by Everly and then Ethan. Ned appeared satisfied and relieved to have it over.
***
Quinn collected her jacket as they all headed out of the service. They didn’t stick around like grieving families typically did. They’d had enough and didn’t think they could tolerate more.
“Your aunt said she would stay with your dad,” Jordan told Quinn. She just nodded, then pushed the door to let herself out.
Jordan was nervous, and he had no idea what he could say to her. He’d never attended such a strange showing in all his life. Not one tear was shed. This family—this dysfunctional family appeared to have no emotion at all, and he found it hard to believe that was the case.
***
Charley followed her brother outside, watching Quinn and Jordan as they made their way across the parking lot. She could finally breathe again and was relieved she’d made it through without breaking down. All that was left was a simple cemetery prayer and she would be at peace.
“Dad said Mom is to be cremated,” Everly said in passing. She looked slightly irritated and in a hurry, Charley thought. She wondered why the hurry?
Ethan ran to catch up with Everly. This was the point where Charley was beginning to think the whole family was nutty. Dad hadn’t said a single word about cremation until now. Why?
She stopped in her tracks, then turned and walked back into the funeral home to find out.
***
Through the doors of the funeral parlor, Ned sat alone. The showing had been quicker than he’d imagined it’d be. Family and friends said their silent goodbyes and shared hugs and words of strength with him. None of it, though, would heal his aching heart or remove his worry for his silently-suffering children. Charley had been shattered at the sight of her mother—rightfully so, she was barely recognizable.
Ned didn’t know what he would do now that it was over, his marriage gone. He knew his kids wondered the same thing. It would be hard for a man his age to start over. He thought back to the last day he had with Sandy. It was like every morning, he was up after her. Instead of coming down and kissing his beautiful wife, he snagged the newspaper and plopped down in his recliner. He’d tuned out her typical nonstop chatter about Charley, and he felt guilty he hadn’t listened to her. However, he had listened as her high heels clicked down the hallway and the jingle of the keys in her hand. That was his cue to lean a little farther back in his recliner, knowing she’d be gone for the day. He’d heard the same words she spoke every day as she made her way out the door. ”Goodbye, Ned, have a great day, honey.” She’d always wait a couple extra seconds hoping he’d get up and kiss her goodbye, but he never did. In fact, he was too worried about the time he would have alone and rarely ever actually listened to her anymore. He figured this was what relentlessly pained him now. He kept going back to that day when Sandy came rushing in the door, in a panic and talking about her patient. He was becoming more and more aggressive and telling her things she didn’t want to hear.
Ned leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes, trying his hardest to recall the name. He knew it wasn’t Sam as the newspapers had reported. If he’d listened more carefully to what his wife had said, he might be able to help the police locate her real killer, and in so doing, allow Sandy to rest in peace.
Charley
Charley checked her email from her phone. She and her family had gathered at their favorite restaurant—the same little Italian place they’d eaten in just about every month as she was growing up. Her dad wanted to celebrate their mom’s life by having a nice meal together as a family. Charley was looking forward to heading home to New York, but she wasn’t looking forward to the loneliness returning home would bring. .
She nodded to the waiter as he poured her one more glass of red wine.
“So what are everyone’s plans?” Ned asked.
Charley cleared her throat, resting her phone in her lap.
“I have an important project coming up for a new book. It will probably keep me busy until close to summer,” she said with a sigh.
Vinnie twirled his pasta on his fork, bored with the quiet dinner. Resting his elbow on the tabletop, he poked his breadstick into his spaghetti.
“I’ve got finals and then possibly a hiking trip with a couple of the guys at school,” Ethan said. He was looking forward to spending some time in the wilderness. Now that his mom had been laid to rest, they could all get back to their normal lives.
“When are you going back to school, Ethan?” Charley asked him.
“Two days,” he replied. He was going to use the last of his time home to try and get more information about his mother’s death.
“I have shows to do for a week, and then some recording to finish up for the
album,” Everly said with a smile. The thought of getting back to the recording studio was enough to brighten her mood. She knew she’d never fully recover from losing her mom, but she felt recovery was possible now knowing that she’d been laid to rest. She would always miss her, but she had her memories to cling to.
Quinn sighed, knowing anything she was about to say wasn’t as great as her sisters or her brother. She felt so pathetic compared to her siblings and she cringed as everyone waited for her to speak next. Jordan rubbed her on the leg, just letting her know he was there for her.
“Oh, well, back to work. Maybe some casting calls,” she said, tossing her napkin on her plate, looking away from them all.
“I really believe we are going to see her in something big soon,” Jordan tossed out.
Quinn gave him the eye, wondering where he’d gotten that garbage.
“Well, good for you,” Everly said, courteously nodding her head.
She felt like a charity case and was silently trying to kill Jordan with her thoughts. He smiled and put his arm around her, totally oblivious to her thoughts.
“It’s going to happen, and if not, remember I told you about Andrew there in LA?” Ned asked his scowling daughter. He knew his second youngest child was close to throwing a fit. He sometimes blamed himself for her selfishness and childish outbursts, but he had learned to deal with it over the years.
Quinn laughed to herself. A job as the secretary of a law firm was not was going to make her happy. Most of the time, they hired young girls like her to sleep with them. And she wouldn’t be willing to sleep her way to the top for a little bit of cash. Working for a balding uptight man wouldn’t be her cup of tea either.
“Why don’t you ask if he will hire you, seeing you haven’t worked in years?” she asked her dad.
“That was uncalled for, Quinn,” Everly scolded.
“I don’t need a reminder that I am failing in my career choice,” Quinn snapped back.
Everly dropped her napkin and studied her little sister. She could be so hateful sometimes. Her dad had worked on the railroad for many years to provide for his family. The only reason he had stopped working was because he’d been injured on the job. Quinn seemed to forget that every time she got angry with him. After all, he was only trying to give her some guidance.
“Acting is one of those things where you either have it or you don’t,” Vinnie said.
Quinn shot him a glare. He threw his hands up, trying to play it off as nothing more than an innocent remark.
“Quinn’s a good actor,” Jordan said, protecting his girlfriend. He wished he hadn’t opened his mouth.
“Oh, I think we all believe you,” Vinnie said. Everly jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow.
“I don’t need anyone telling me what I can or can’t do,” Quinn snapped.
Charley downed the last of her wine. She didn’t understand why every encounter always ended up with someone getting upset. Was it that hard for them all to get along? She touched her dad’s hand as he sat there surrounded by the squabbling siblings, not saying a word.
“Everyone shut up. Dad, I am sorry for my bratty sister. She doesn’t know when to stop talking sometimes. And Quinn, you do whatever makes you happy, you’re a grown woman. If you mess up it’s on you,” Charley said, shaking her head at everyone.
Ethan ignored the chaos at the table. He was used to it. The family was forever upset about something. Ever since he could remember, his sisters clawed each other’s eyes out about everything.
Charley was the most tactful bitch. She cleverly wrapped her insults with praise or a smile.
Everly was the most sinister bitch. She would attack without warning.
And then you had Quinn, the psycho bitch. She had no filter, just went for the jugular.
This was how he saw women. His mother liked to play it cool. She was the silent kind who could plant something in your mind without you knowing, but later it would eat at you. Having a psychologist as a mother taught the children that manipulation was an easy craft to master.
“Hey, hey, let’s just enjoy our meal,” Ned said, gaining their instant cooperation.
“So, I was thinking of taking periodic visits to come see you all. It would give me something to do,” Ned said.
He noticed his children didn’t look too happy about that.
“I’m sure Charley would love that. She has no life,” Quinn said, under her breath. She knew everyone could hear her, but she didn’t care.
Charley bit her tongue. Her foot wiggled nervously under the table.
Quinn smiled, looking away from them all. Jordan squeezed her thigh fairly hard, pleading with her to cool it. She watched as an eye-catching guy moved toward the table.
“Charley?” he asked, studying the table, his eyes fixed on her. How did he know Charley, Quinn wondered.
Charley seemed surprised to see him, and he looked happy to see Charley.
“Hey there,” she said, beaming an uncomfortable smile at Adrian. Charley knew her family was watching her every move. It wasn’t often that men approached her out of nowhere.
“Charley, don’t be rude, introduce us to your friend,” Ned said.
Charley stumbled for words, nervously pushing her hair away from her face.
“I’m Adrian, sir,” Adrian said, extending his hand to her father. He rested his hand on the back of her seat. Tugging at the collar of her shirt, she tried not to look so embarrassed.
Everly gave her sister a kind smile, knowing she was embarrassed. This guy was really cute, she thought.
“Hi, I’m Charley’s sister, Everly.” She stood to shake his hand. He smiled at them.
“Well, I’m Ned, that’s Quinn, Charley’s other sister, then you have Ethan, her brother and Vinnie and Jordan,” Ned said. He was always eager to know anyone interested in Charley.
“It’s nice to meet you all. I didn’t know I’d run into you here,” he said, looking back to Charley.
She nodded, not sure if she should stand up and face him.
“Yeah, I like to eat.” She instantly grew warm. Adrian laughed at her awkwardness.
“I’m still holding you to your word. You know that, right?” he said, grinning from ear to ear.
“Okay,” was all she could spit out. This was difficult for her, especially with an audience.
“What are you doing tonight?” Everly asked, interrupting the uncomfortable conversation. This guy was obviously interested in Charley, and she was flailing like a fish out of water. She had to help her.
Charley shot her a freaked out glare.
Adrian put his hand to his chin, acting as if he were actually pondering it. This amused Everly, he seemed to have a good sense of humor and he was cute! Vinnie stared at the side of her face. He was probably ticked off that she’d gotten involved in that conversation.
“I hope I’ll be seeing your beautiful sister,” he said, looking at Charley.
Charley gave a giddy smile, melting like putty in his gaze.
“Is seven o’clock good for you?” Everly asked.
“It’s perfect,” he said to her.
Charley was bewildered at the date being planned right under her nose.
“I will call you for directions, see you soon,” he said, patting her on the shoulder and leaving.
***
As he walked away, he realized he’d patted her on the shoulder. What kind of guy does that? And he hadn’t even said goodbye to her family. He wasn’t doing well in the first-impressions department lately. At least the sister who never spoke a word liked him. He looked down and hoped she hadn’t burned a hole in his crotch.
Charley and Adrian
“That’s what you’re wearing?” Everly asked, looking at Charley wearing black dress pants and a red, button-up sweater. She didn’t understand her sister. She was beautiful. She was tall with legs to die for. She had big brown eyes that popped with her honey blonde hair. She had the perfect cheeks that required only a small dusting of blush t
o make her look gorgeous. And, according to all her guy friends, “a great rack.” And she never appreciated it…any of it!
Vinnie sat up, looking at Charley. He nodded his head in agreement with Everly.
“You’re going on a date with a guy, not a bunch of nuns, Charley,” he said.
Charley sighed, looking in the hallway mirror at herself. She’d thought her pick was suitable. She wanted Adrian to get to know her—not her breasts or her legs. Everly came to stand next to her, knowing what she had to do.
“Come with me,” she said, taking her sister by the hand. She was going to make her look fabulous. She knew Adrian would be blown away when she was done with her.
“Ev, I don’t want to look slutty,” she argued as Everly dug through her suitcase ignoring her. She pulled out some scarves, jewelry, and a makeup case, busily making her way around the room.
Charley feared the worse, her heart racing. She knew she had only an hour left before he’d be there. At least he didn’t know where she lived, she didn’t like surprise visits.
Stepping out of her closet Everly unzipped a dry cleaning bag, revealing a white, almost sheer dress. Charley was startled at the plummeting neckline.
“Charley, you’re not a slut to show a little skin. You’re beautiful, you can pull it off. You want to make a good impression, don’t you?” she asked, admiring her dress. She hoped she wouldn’t have to tackle her to get the dress on.
“You never say those things to me,” Charley said, giving a small smile. She touched the dress with her fingers, trying to get a feel for what might be on her body in a few seconds.
“I would have thought you always knew that I thought you were beautiful,” Everly said back. She tugged at Charley’s shirt and was surprised how quickly she pulled it off. Maybe she really did want to make an impression on Adrian.
