Fook

by Brian Drinkwater

  “Her daughter,” Derek added.

  “Her daughter? What are you talking about?”

  “Just like the little slut currently growing inside of Mrs. Tillmore here, your sister is going to give birth to the biggest cunt of them all.”

  “Fuck you!” Sarah snapped back at Jason. “What is he talking about Derek?”

  “I’ll explain later but now we need to deal with this situation,” Derek whispered.

  “If you two are done,” Jason interrupted.

  “Jason, put the knife down. You don’t have to do this. There’s a better way. You’re better than this.”

  “That’s right. I am better than this. I’m a fucking god.”

  “You’re a fucking psychopath,” Sarah mumbled.

  “You know, I wasn’t planning on it, but given your sister’s ability to spawn the seed of Satan, I should probably do your future husband a favor and take care of you as well.”

  “Jason,” Derek pleaded.

  “What? You never know. Maybe it’s you. I could be doing you a favor,” Jason grinned. “But first...”

  Removing the knife from Tabitha’s throat, Jason buried the blade in her back as she let out a gasp and stood frozen in shock.

  “No!” Derek lunged forward.

  “Oh god,” Sarah turned away in horror.

  “See you at the dance.” And with that, Jason vanished as the wounded woman fell into Derek’s arms.

  Lowering her to the floor, “You’re going to be okay. The police are on their way,” Derek turned to confirm Sarah’s call.

  Reluctant to let the woman see her response, Sarah offered only a slight shake of her head from side to side as Derek shot her a ‘why not’ look.

  “The line was dead and then...,” Sarah whispered.

  Turning back to the woman in his arms, Derek pulled his hand out from beneath her to find that it was covered in blood.

  Mrs. Tillmore just stared up at the ceiling overhead, her only sound a slight gurgling as her lungs filled with blood.

  “It’s going to be alright. You’re going to be alright,” Derek continued to lie.

  Slowly the woman’s eyes wondered from the ceiling overhead, pausing briefly on Derek’s tear filled eyes before coming to rest on her stomach. Unable to speak, she slid her hand onto her stomach, comforting her unborn daughter as they both passed.

  THIRTY-SEVEN

  “Katie, can you get the door?!” Phil yelled down the stairs, receiving no answer from his daughter who he’d last seen sitting at the kitchen table, shoveling down her second bowl of frosted flakes.

  The girl’s cereal addiction had gotten worse since being pregnant. At age six she’d gone through a phase where she had refused to eat anything but cereal for nearly two months before they’d finally convinced her to try something that didn’t come from a box. She’d nibbled on two strips of bacon before extending her Kelloggs run another month.

  The doorbell rang again.

  “Katie!”

  Again, no answer.

  Struggling to get his belt through the final loop, he fastened the buckle and almost forgetting, zipped his fly before poking his head out of the upstairs master bedroom to issue one last, “Katie, door!”

  Silence, then another bell.

  Sighing, Phil shuffled down the stairs, unlatching the deadbolt as he reached the last step and pulled open the door to reveal his oldest daughter and some boy he’d never met.

  “Sarah!” he exclaimed, struggling with the stubborn latch on the screen door before finally striking it with an open palm.

  “Whoa!,” Sarah laughed as she caught the violently opened door.

  “Sorry about that. That damn thing’s been sticking even worse lately. What are you doing here?” he leaned down to hug his daughter. “I thought you weren’t coming home until next week.”

  “All of my finals were this week. I just took the last one yesterday so I figured I’d come home a week early,” Sarah lied. She had three more finals; one tomorrow and two more the following Monday morning, none of which she’d come up with a good excuse for missing yet.

  “Well, I’m glad you did,” Phil continued his excited greeting as he looked up at his daughter’s unknown guest, making eye contact for the first time. He seemed like a fairly intelligent guy. Something in his eyes gave him an educated and well balance look, however with his disheveled clothes, dirty hands and bruised face, Phil couldn’t help but think trouble. “Who’s your friend?”

  “Daddy, this is Derek.”

  “Nice to meet you, Sir,” Derek attempted to win over the large police officer Sarah affectionately called, Daddy. He’d intended to add points with a firm handshake but apparently looking to intimidate his daughter’s new “friend”, Mr. Bishop clamped down on Derek’s hand like a set of vice grips.

  “Likewise,” Phil stared at Derek suspiciously as he continued crushing his fingers.

  “Daddy,” Sarah, whispered loudly for her father to stop.

  Reluctantly, Phil did as she asked.

  “Boyfriend?”

  “No,” Sarah responded after a short pause to consider what her father would prefer to hear.

  “Shame,” Phil smirked.

  “Daddy,” Sarah scolded, taking his attention off of Derek for the moment.

  “Well, come on in,” Phil waved the two into the living room. Why didn’t you just use your key?”

  “My keys are on my other key ring. I grabbed the wrong set when we left Boston,” she lied, not wanting to share with her father the events of the previous night or the fact that her and Derek had spent the rest of the night asleep at a rest stop along I-90, though not much sleep had been had. They’d spent most of the night arguing over what they were going to do about Jason, and the liquor store and Mrs. Tillmore and now her very own sister. She’d argued for telling her father everything; about Jason and what had happened and what they feared was next, leaving out the time travel bit of course. Her father was an intelligent man, trained to tell when someone was lying, which is why she’d finally given in to Derek’s wishes to hold off telling anyone anything until they had had more time to consider their options. Able to tell that she really believed what she was saying, he’d likely take her to Cannon Memorial for a psych evaluation before he believed the farfetched and horrific tale. Then, once he learned that at least the part about the murders was true, he’d surely arrest Derek and charge him with the unspeakable crimes. No, for now silence was their best friend.

  “Sarah?” Katie called out surprised as she exited from the hall bathroom.

  “Katie,” Sarah unenthusiastically responded, drawing a look of confusion from Derek in return.

  “What are you doing here?” Katie continued the uncomfortable welcome.

  “School’s out. Thought I’d come home a bit earlier.”

  “Oh. That’s nice.”

  Derek’s eyes bounced back and forth as the sisters exchanged uncomfortably hostile pleasantries before their father interrupted.

  “You two,” Phil scowled. “Quit this bickering and give each other a hug."

  Reluctantly, the two girls embraced.

  “See now, isn’t that better?” Phil mediated the more pleasant greeting.

  Katie eyed Derek with the same uncomfortable glare he’d received from her father only moments earlier.

  “Are you alright?” Phil questioned his youngest daughter as he noticed her hand holding the lower portion of her stomach.

  “Yeah, I’m fine,” Katie replied, rubbing at her belly. “I think I just ate too fast or something.”

  “See. That’s why I tell you to slow down. You need to give your body a chance to catch up with your eyes. Plus I’m sure all of that sugary cereal doesn’t help.”

  Temporarily putting their differences aside to acknowledge the common, over protective element in both their lives, the two girls exchanged a look.

  Confused and at a loss in this new and unexpected family element, Derek remained silent.

 
“Listen, I have to get to work…,” Phil changed the subject, “…and as you can see, I’m not quite ready yet.” While he had on the entire uniform, his shirt remained unbuttoned and his belt, while fastened, obviously required tightening by a couple notches to eliminate the awkward sag to one side. “Why don’t you two catch up…,” he took both of his daughter’s shoulders as he directed them toward the kitchen, “…while I get to know our friend Derek here a bit better.”

  Looking over her shoulder on her way into the kitchen, Sarah offered an, “I’m sorry,” look to Derek. She’d warned him of her father’s overprotective nature, especially when it came to his daughters, but she couldn’t help but feel bad when she saw the nervous fear on Derek’s face.

  *****

  “So, getting big,” Sarah broke the uncomfortable silence, immediately realizing the negative connotations of her statement. “I didn’t mean…”

  Katie just glanced down at her growing stomach. She was doing everything she could to conceal just how much she was showing. All of her pants had built in elastic at this point and all of her once favorite, form fitting shirts had been banished to the back of the closet in exchange for a whole new wardrobe of stylish, yet loose fitting tops. At six months she was starting to look like someone seven or eight.

  “Katie, I really didn’t mean—“

  “—It’s okay,” Katie sighed. “According to Daddy, I inherited mom’s baby carrying genes.”

  “That’s true, she did get pretty big with you…not because you were fat.”

  “I know I’m big, but it’s alright. My doctor says everything is progressing perfectly and in a few months I’m going to be holding my little girl.

  Watching her sister as she held her stomach and talked about the life growing inside of her, Sarah couldn’t help but realize that this was a completely different version of her sister than the one she remembered only four months earlier. The last time she’d been home had been during Christmas break which had also been the time that Katie had chosen to drop the baby bombshell on the family. Their father had at first been irate, demanding to know the father’s name so he could race over there and “crush his nut sack with his nightstick,” was how he’d so eloquently put it. By the end of the week he’d cooled down and accepted the reality of the situation, promising not to harm the boy and assuring his youngest daughter that he’d be there for her every step of the way. Things hadn’t ended as well between her and her sister however.

  They were once inseparable, but since she’d gone off to college the dynamic between them had changed. Sarah was off making that unavoidable transition into adulthood while Katie had been left at home, an only child for the first time in her life. Add to it their mother’s death and things hadn’t been the same since.

  The death of their mother had had very different effects on them. While Sarah had taken the tragedy as proof that life is short, and had pushed herself through the remainder of high school, placing second in her class, Katie had chosen a more destructive path. Instantly, her grades had plummeted. She’d grown more and more defiant toward both her father and sister, who’d struggled to keep her out of trouble. A new set of friends had led to early experimentation with alcohol and weed and then, a quick romp with Jordan McCandlis had given them the tiny life now poised to join their family.

  At that point Sarah had had enough. She understood the pain her sister felt. Katie was four years younger and just entering her teenage years at the time of their mother’s death but her downward spiral had taken its toll and the pregnancy had been the last straw. At that point she’d essentially written her sister off, leading to nearly no contact between them, the only words ever exchanged being, “I don’t want to talk to her,” whenever Sarah called home to talk to her father and asked if her sister was around.

  “So have you come up with a name yet?”

  Taking a seat on one of the barstools at the island, “I don’t know, Daddy really likes Ruth and I keep having to remind him that it isn’t the fifties anymore.”

  “She’d probably come out with a walker in toe,” Sarah joked, pleased to see a smile on her sister’s face. “What do you want?”

  “I was thinking Isabella, but now I sort of like Jenna,” Katie smiled at the name.

  Though she no longer needed convincing when it came to Derek’s story, hearing her sister utter the now familiar name of her future niece, Sarah couldn’t help but get lost in thought.

  “You don’t like it,” Katie snapped her sister back to reality.

  “No. I do. It’s pretty.”

  “Not Jennifer though, just Jenna,” Katie added. “Everyone is named Jennifer it seems. I like the name, but I want her to be more unique than that…without giving her some crazy name like Celebration or Moonbeam.

  “How about Destiny,” Sarah suggested.

  “Eew no,” Katie instantly scowled. “That sounds like a name Daddy would say belongs to a stripper. Up next on the main stage, Destiny,” Katie joked in an announcer’s voice.

  “Yeah, I guess you're right but what do you know about strip clubs?”

  Glancing down at her stomach, “I think I know a lot more than I should at this point.”

  The two laughed.

  “This is good,” Sarah thought. After the way she’d reacted during Christmas and four months of no contact, she’d been afraid that their relationship had been irreparably damaged and that the close, sisterly bond they’d once shared could never be restored. After just a few minutes of light conversation though, things seemed just like they used to be when they were younger. Well, not entirely the same, Sarah thought as she glanced at her sister’s stomach.

  “So who is he?”

  “Huh?” Sarah shifted her eyes upward.

  “Your friend currently being grilled by Daddy.”

  “Oh shit. You think he’s okay?”

  “I don’t know. You remember what he threatened to do to Jordan. You aren’t pregnant are you?”

  *****

  “She’s not pregnant, is she?” Mr. Bishop continued his interrogation.

  “What?” Derek responded, shocked by the question. “No…I mean…I don’t think so. I guess she could be, but it isn’t—“

  “—A simple no was the answer I was looking for,” Mr. Bishop interjected.

  Derek had just watched the man strap one gun to his ankle, another under his shirt and a third to his belt. Normally quick witted and perfectly capable of standing his ground under a barrage of questions, he suddenly found himself feeling like a high school dropout interviewing for the position of Chief Physician at John Hopkins.

  “So where are you from Mr. Miller?”

  “Cannon, Sir,” Derek realized his mistake as soon as he made it.

  “Really? I must know your folks then.”

  “Cannon, Michigan,” Derek added with a grin of much needed confidence.

  “Oh really. I’m from Michigan.”

  His grin faded.

  “Never been to Cannon though. Is that near Detroit?”

  Derek didn’t know what to say. If he answered yes, and Sarah’s father was from Detroit, he ran the risk of being caught in the lie. He knew the man was testing him. He was a police officer for Christ’s sake. He was used to getting a read on people and he’d already made it clear that he didn’t much care for him.

  "It’s a small little town. Most people don’t even know it’s there,” he provided as vague an answer as he could come up with.

  “Ah. I grew up in Detroit,” Mr. Bishop added.

  “Sorry.”

  “Excuse me.”

  “I mean…yeah, it’s out in the western part of the state, nowhere near Detroit,” Derek fumbled for a response, confident that the peculiar look meant Mr. Bishop didn’t believe a word he was saying.

  Staring at Derek with an analyzing gaze, Mr. Bishop slid his radio into his belt. “You know I don’t trust you, right?”

  “I’m aware,” Derek kept his response short and simple this time.


  “Good,” Mr. Bishop took a step closer. “Because the only thing that matters to me in this entire world, are those two girls down there and my future granddaughter. And as much as I look forward to meeting Sarah’s future husband and father of her children, it’s not going to be you and it’s not going to be now. Am I clear?”

  “Crystal, sir. Just friends,” Derek managed to stand his ground in the face of the looming officer.

  “Good. Then let’s go see what the girls are up to,” he grabbed hold of Derek’s shoulder with the same set of vice grips.

  THIRTY-EIGHT

  “Your dad hates me,” Derek spoke up from the passenger seat of the car.

  “He doesn’t hate you,” Sarah assured him.

  “No. I’m pretty sure he does. And I might have told him that you’re pregnant.”

  “What!? I’m not pregnant!”

  “I know. Well, I don’t know. How could I know that? See, that’s exactly how it happened,” Derek began to babble again, wondering what the hell was wrong with him today.

  “Whatever. He knows that I wouldn’t be stupid enough to let that happen.” Thinking about what she just said and her sister. “I didn’t mean it that way.”

  “I know what you meant. So what’s up with you and your sister anyway?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Really?” Derek grinned.

  Not aware that the awkwardness between her and Katie had been that obvious, “We’ve had our disagreements over the years.”

  Derek just stared at her, not satisfied with her attempted dodging of the question.

  “What? Alright, yes. I’m not thrilled that my sixteen year old sister is pregnant. I don’t think that’s all that shocking. Ever since our mother died she’s been a bit of a mess.”

  Just as before when the sensitive subject had come up, Derek didn’t know how to respond. “Sorry,” was again all he could think to say.

  “You said that already,” Sarah looked over with a grin, sensing his level of discomfort with the topic. “Cancer,” she added.

  Derek nodded, not sure where to go with the conversation, especially given their current situation.