by B. Groves
He nodded and faded from Claire’s sight. Claire turned away from the empty space that her brother occupied when she heard a noise outside the doorway.
Another figure walked past the door, but the young girl never knew who had been standing there while she spoke with the ghost of her brother.
“Hi,” Claire said putting her arms out and embracing the woman she loathed but knew the act she was playing wouldn’t last long.
“How ya doin’?” Shirley asked returning Claire’s embrace.
Claire plastered a smile on her face and pulled away from her aunt. She tried to hide her emotions now that she gazed upon the face that was similar to her own.
“I’m so happy you came.”
She cursed her own stupidity for not seeing it sooner. In fact, for not seeing it the moment she pulled into the bakery parking lot to ask for directions.
Shirley lifted up her face and sniffed the air, grinning the whole time. “Somethin’ smells real good.”
Claire noticed Sue wore a jacket and heavy black sweater underneath. She hid her frown wondering why Sue wore such heavy clothing on a warm day and decided she would watch her every move.
Claire’s alarm on her cell phone beeped and Claire took the phone from her pocket.
She groaned and said, “I love being a writer, but sometimes the messages are overwhelming.”
Sue nodded in agreement. “Ha! Try owning your own business, it never stops. You saw that the other day with Jack.”
Claire nodded and turned slightly to the side. She wasn’t answering a fan at all, she was turning on the record button she usually used for reminders about her books.
Claire tapped the button and returned the phone to her pocket. She hoped her hands stayed steady.
She looked up at Sue and smiled. “I’ll bet. Is that man always like that?”
Sue rolled her eyes. “Always. He don’t bother me anymore, but when I train new girls I have to warn ‘em.”
Claire held Sue’s gaze and Claire felt a shiver run down her spine and goose bumps formed on her arms.
Sue’s icy blue eyes flickered like she knew what was coming, but Claire hoped she didn’t catch on to her bluff just yet.
“Ready for lunch?” Sue asked, her voice turning guarded.
Claire placed that winning smile on her face and said, “I sure am. I hope you brought your appetite.”
Sue rubbed her belly and laughed. “I’m always ready to eat.”
Claire made sure she kept one eye on Sue as they walked to the kitchen. Both women had quieted as if lost within both their thoughts. Claire noticed Sue turn her eyes to the portraits on the wall and then turn away. Her face turning a deep shade of red, but a smile played at her lips.
Claire turned to her and asked, “Are you okay?”
Sue nodded but didn’t speak.
Claire walked into the kitchen and turned around to face her aunt.
She was looking at a startling resemblance to herself and her mother.
Sue’s eyes were everywhere except on Claire. Claire could see emotions playing over the woman’s face and each one became more intense with each passing moment. She would have loved to have the ability to read minds at that moment as she wondered what her aunt was thinking.
“I have a surprise for you,” Claire said waiting for Sue’s reaction.
Two dark eyebrows lifted in question and Sue stopped to wait for Claire’s surprise.
“No. Go over to the island. It’s over there,” Claire said gesturing to the island in the middle of the kitchen.
As Sue walked over, Claire made her way to the stove and did a quick stir of the leftover strawberry jam.
She heard a scoff and then a small growl, but it was so quick that if Claire’s senses hadn’t been on alert she would have missed it.
“What is this? A history lesson?” Sue asked.
Claire took a spoonful of the strawberry jam and ate the gelatinous mixture of sweet and tart. “So delicious. You know, I’ve heard about pepper being added because it makes the flavor of the strawberries pop. I never heard of butter, but I must say the butter adds a richness you’d never expect since strawberries are so acidic.”
Sue’s mouth turned down as she placed both hands on the countertop. Her eyes turned to the family pictures Claire had set on the island with the food. In the middle of all those pictures were the one with Claire’s mother and Sue when they were younger.
Claire pulled her cell phone from her pocket and set it on the other side making sure the recorder still worked.
Sue turned back to Claire, her eyes now devoid of emotion, her mouth turned into a smile but it was not a happy one.
Sue shook her head, whispered something that Claire couldn’t hear before she spoke to her niece again.
“I never thought you’d figure it out so fast,” Sue said.
Sue stood up straight and removed her jacket, setting it carefully on the barstool, but her eyes never left Claire’s.
“When you saw me, I thought it was over—”
“You didn’t think I was going to come home? Did you?” Claire asked.
Sue shrugged. “Oh, no. I figured you’d come home. Once George found you, I figured it would happen. I was gettin’ ready to sell the shop and get lost in the mountains again.”
“I didn’t recognize you, at first,” Claire explained.
“I know you didn’t. I know you lost your memory of me, but I didn’t think it would come back so fast,” Sue said. “I thought I had time.”
Sue moved around the pictures with her hands, a bitter smile formed on her lips. “What do you want, Claire?”
“I found him,” Claire said, hoping the news would trigger a confession.
Sue didn’t move, she didn’t react, she only kept moving the pictures around with her fingers. She would stop gaze at one and then move on to the next one.
“I hate this family,” she finally muttered pushing the pictures away from her.
Sue’s eyes met Claire’s across the island. Claire’s body stiffened from the lack of emotion on her face.
“Mama never did tell me where he was,” Sue commented.
“Safe. Still dead, but safe,” Claire answered.
The tension in the room between the two women thickened with each passing word that left their lips.
“Is he with my Daddy?” Sue asked.
“No, but he’s safe,” Claire said.
Sue exhaled a breath and then laughed sarcastically.
“I have a letter from Rose explaining everything so even if you try leaving, Sue, this might be proof,” Claire said. “Rose can’t verify it, but it’ll be something. Jack could always confess if something happens to me.”
Sue laughed again and turned away from Claire to gather her thoughts. “Why haven’t you called the police? Why didn’t you tell Mac? Ya’ll are sleepin’ together, right? I noticed you didn’t call the police the night I was spyin’ on you in your driveway. Why not?”
Claire felt the tears well up in her eyes, she reached into her other pocket and set the butterfly brooch on the countertop.
Sue eyed it for a long minute and then turned to Claire waiting for an answer.
Claire wiped her eyes and said, “David told me himself. Why were you spying on me that night? Were you planning on hurting me? I didn’t tell anyone because I wanted you to tell me first.”
Sue turned away and shrugged. “I wasn’t gonna hurt you that night. I was gonna talk to you, but I changed my mind.”
Claire clenched her fists at the edge of the counter, her jaw tightened as she thought of the moment she saw David limp in Rose’s arms.
“You killed him, but I was hoping,” Claire tried to control her emotions, “you would say it was an accident. It wasn’t because you were always hitting us and abusing us and I want to know why.”
The tension in the room turned thicker. Sue’s demeanor changed even further. Her face became darker and turned a deep shade of red.
“You hav
e no idea what I’ve been through,” Sue said.
“I don’t give a shit—”
“No!” Sue screamed slamming her fist on the countertop making Claire flinch. “You will listen.”
Claire eyed the chef’s knife she had sitting near her.
Sue’s own eyes welled with tears from her own memories. “My mother gave me away for money. For the money, Claire. Do you know how that feels?”
“That doesn’t—”
“It does. See, she sent me off to live with my aunt and uncle. My Dad’s brother and sister but do you know what that was like?”
“Jack said it was you who caused all the trouble,” Claire answered.
Sue threw back her head and laughed. “Oh, Daddy… still lives in denial about his perfect sister and her husband.”
Sue leaned over the counter and stare Claire straight in the eyes. “Yeah, they took me in. They couldn’t have kids of their own so when Jack and Rose were in trouble they jumped at the chance to raise a baby. But that’s not where it ends.” Sue’s eyes reflected her deep seeded anger. “My uncle decided he liked me. A little too much, if you know what I mean. Want to know why I did all those things? Because I couldn’t tell anyone. I had to keep it a secret.”
The bitterness and betrayal came through Sue’s words.
“Because of this, I meet my real mother and father who don’t believe me, but had to take me back anyway because my aunt said I was a liar and an evil little girl.”
Sue stood there shaking as she told her story to Claire. Her face turned a deeper crimson while she clenched her fists.
“Rose didn’t believe me. She never loved me and never wanted to take me back. Why? Because she had her perfect child. Her beautiful little blonde-haired angel Janie. Your mother. Your sweet, innocent mother. Oh, and how perfect she was. She wanted to save the world, ya know.”
Claire clenched her fists from Sue’s sharp words about her mother. Claire knew how her parents were. If Janie hadn’t become pregnant with her, they’d been planning on joining the Peace Corps for several years before coming back to the states and starting a family.
“What does my mother’s character have to do with how Rose treated you?”
Sue shrugged. “Nothing, but when you’re eight years old and forced to live in the attic, you’d be resentful too.”
Sue glanced up at the ceiling and then pointed. “All those rooms up there. Plenty of room for me since it was only Janie and Rose, but no, I had to live in the attic with all the dust and the spider webs, sometimes a critter or two. I was told it was because I did bad things. I lied and tried to set my aunt and uncle’s house on fire. Besides, Rose told me I wasn’t supposed to be here.”
Sue exhaled a shaky breath. “It was hell livin’ in that place. I couldn’t breathe in the summer. I thought I would freeze to death in the winter. I was sick and pale, but no matter what I said, no matter what I did, I knew Rose would never love me like she did your mama. She sent me to a different school. Not the fancy-schmancy one that Janie went to, but another school across town.”
The bitter words fell from Sue’s mouth while Claire tried to push her own feelings aside for the moment while she listened to her story.
“Jack would appear once in a while, but he didn’t even care.”
Sue looked back to Claire and her eyes turned from remembering dark times to gleeful.
This change in her emotions startled Claire and she quickly glanced down to make sure the chef’s knife was still within reach.
“Your mother was always nice to me. She would bring me candy and treats when Rose wasn’t lookin.’” Sue softened for a few seconds but it didn’t last long because she was practically bursting at the seams to tell Claire the rest of it. “I think I was thirteen.” Sue unleashed a huge grin. “Janie let it slip. She was bringing some decorations up from a holiday, I can’t remember which one, but she told me she missed her daddy and she didn’t understand why Rose pushed him.”
“My mother knew?” Claire asked.
Sue’s eyebrows rose. “Yes, and how did you know?”
“It’s in the letter.”
Sue laughed lowly and deeply. “I guess she thought she’d find forgiveness before she kicked the bucket.”
Sue stood up straight and pulled a picture of Arthur from the pile. “I don’t know if he abused mama like she said. Accordin’ to your mother, he was a good father.” Sue shrugged and put the picture back down on the counter. “Janie watched Mama push Arthur before he was ready on the skis. He lost control and hit the tree dead on.”
Claire lowered her eyes and took a deep breath. She had a feeling she knew what was coming next.
“With that knowledge you confronted Rose and then you blackmailed her,” Claire said with a tilt of her head.
“Smart… You are one of us.” Sue laughed and clapped her hands. “It was a nice ride after that. Mama was a terrible liar, and couldn’t say she didn’t do it. She hated Arthur even if the abuse wasn’t true. She wanted to be with my Daddy, but it gets even better.”
“What do you mean?”
“Arthur left strict instructions in his will that if she were to bring me home or went back to Jack then all the money had to go to other interests and she would lose everything. The house, the money, the car… whatever, and only Janie could inherit some of it.”
“That explains why Rose kept you hidden from the world,” Claire said.
Sue’s gloating turned to anger. “The money was more important than me, Claire, but I had my way with her after finding out that little tidbit of information and Mama took care of me real nice after that. She set up that bank account long before I moved back here. We changed the name constantly, so the will wouldn’t become null and void in her name.”
Sue went to explain further, but Claire was getting impatient. “What does this have to do with you killing my brother? You had your money. You had your blackmail. Why did you hate us so much?”
“I didn’t hate—”
“Did you run my parents off the road?”
Sue smiled and waved her finger. “Now that is somethin’ I am not guilty of.” Sue then laughed. “I didn’t like my husband very much. Mama made me marry him after I left. He was a decent man, but damn he was stupid.”
Claire’s eyes widened at the revelation about Sue’s husband.
Claire moved closer to the edge of the island and set her fingers near the chef’s knife.
“Why did you murder my brother?”
Sue turned sharply to Claire. She growled and clenched her own fists on the countertop.
Claire could see her body tense and her eyes flash from emotion. “I didn’t want to.”
“That’s not an answer,” Claire said.
Sue mumbled something that Claire couldn’t hear.
“Tell me why you killed my brother,” Claire said no longer hiding the outright accusation in her tone. “Tell me why you hated us so much. What did we ever do to you?
Sue muttered again and Claire asked what she was saying. The tension in the room had been letting up as Sue told her side of the story. Any other time, Claire would have been sympathetic, but with all that Sue had been through it would never be a good enough excuse about why she murdered David.
“What?”
“I said… ” Sue trailed off and Claire was ready to throw her hands up in frustration. She needed that confession. The letter said it all, but she wanted to hear it from Sue herself.
Sue looked haggard, but Claire didn’t relent. “I want to know why you abused us. I want to know why you killed him.”
Sue rubbed her face and said quietly, “I finally had what was coming to me and then you two little shits come along and Janie has an accident with your daddy.”
“So? You had what was coming to you. My parents died, and all you could think about was the money?”
“I hated both of you. That’s true, but your brother… ” Sue trailed off again. “Your brother was the worst.”
Clai
re was incredulous. “He was three years old. What could he possibly have done to you that made you hate him?”
Sue’s chest moved up and down with deep breaths. She shook her head and said, “It doesn’t matter. It’s over, so I’ll reword what I said. I didn’t hate your brother. I loved him.” Sue’s emotions left her face. “He was so beautiful, and I couldn’t help it. I tried to stay away from him, but his curly hair and his eyes… they melted my insides. I wanted to love him. He hated me, though.” Sue put a hand over her belly in emphasis.
Claire couldn’t breathe when Sue explained what she’d done. She let go of the knife and the metal hit the counter with a low clanging noise. She stumbled backward about two steps and felt her stomach lurch.
“I told him if he ever told anyone I would kill you and him,” Sue said lacking any emotion in her voice. “When I asked him that morning, he said he told you. I covered it up with saying that he stole some food from me because Mama didn’t know.”
Claire put her arms around her chest and shook her head furiously not wanting to believe what she heard.
She stared at Sue but her lips couldn’t form the words as her brain raced with so many thoughts.
It all made sense now. The bruises on David’s body, him wanting to sleep in her bed because he felt safe there. Tattling on Sue every chance he got. He couldn’t put his real message into words, so he did it in other ways and Rose never recognized the signs. Claire’s own guilt boiled inside her although she tried to tell herself that she had been too young to recognize them.
Tears fell onto her cheeks and if she didn’t get some air soon, she would vomit all over the kitchen floor.
A movement caught Claire’s eyes, and she turned to see her brother’s apparition solemnly nodding from the corner.
“How… why?” Claire asked in a whisper.
Claire struggled not to collapse on the floor in a giant heap and sob the rest of her life.
This woman hurt her brother. She not only killed him but before she took his life, she preyed on an innocent child.
Claire’s soul died a little in that moment she would spend the rest of her life haunted by Sue’s confession.
Claire glanced over in the corner. Her brother stood there watching the woman who hurt him with steady eyes. He no longer had a voice to speak out about the abuse he endured, but Claire did. She would be his voice, so he could rest in peace after all these years.
