AllFreeNovel
Share Us
4
By the time Birdie arrived to the mausoleum for dinner, Errol, Flynn, and Ariana were seated and waiting.
Impatiently.
The three of them dressed as if attending a state dinner.
“I’m sorry I’m late,” she said, slipping into her seat next to Errol, who sat at the head of the table, with Ariana at the opposite end and Flynn across from her, avoiding eye contact.
As usual.
Ariana looked down her beak at her. “At the very least, you could have changed into proper attire.”
Granted, Birdie was still wearing the jeans, oversized sweatshirt, and canvas tennis shoes she had thrown on earlier that morning. Appropriate clothing choices, in her mind, when breaking out a dear friend from nothing less than a squalid prison. Although, even she couldn’t deny the scent of antiseptics, despite the facility’s questionable hygiene protocols, alongside the fumes of dire hopelessness that clung to her clothes.
Nevertheless, she would never forget the look of sheer joy that came over Pearl when she walked into the luxury dementia and Alzheimer’s care facility, sobbing with pure relief as Jeanette hugged her for what seemed an eternity.
Birdie had stayed long enough to help her get settled back in her old room. A requirement she insisted upon, given the lack of proper documentation to move Pearl in the first place.
“My apologies,” she said, staring straight ahead at Flynn, who nibbled on a yeast roll. Once again, she was suppressing her monumental feelings of rage in light of the much bigger picture.
Tonight, she would comb Errol’s office from top to bottom for incriminating evidence. Even if it took her staying up every single night for the rest of her marriage.
She didn’t need sleep. She needed only to feel the sting and ultimate satisfaction of exacting revenge.
“Flynn, stop eating the bread,” Ariana spat at her forty-plus-year-old son, who instantly dropped the roll as if it burned his fingers. “You’re fat and slovenly as it is.”
“Yes, Mother,” he said, staring down at his plate.
Whoa. Ariana was testy tonight.
The more meals she took with this twisted crew, the more Ariana began to show her true colors. Her veneer of an unimpeachable matriarch was growing thin.
And Flynn always took it.
Like she had done with Shelby. Her bat-shit crazy religious zealot of a monster…um, mother.
Now that Birdie thought about it. She never remembered hearing her younger stepson, now brother-in-law, speak out. Not during any of their meals as Ariana tore into him. She was surprised to discover his voice was high and tinny.
Like a child’s versus a grown-ass adult.
Ariana’s hostility transferred to Birdie.
“You could stand to lose a few pounds, as well.”
Errol chimed in, adding to the evening’s merriment. “Mother’s right. You’re looking rather dowdy these days.”
She was thin as a rail, having lost her appetite at the thought of her impending payback for Errol allowing Pearl to return under her care. Who could think of eating when considering her upcoming evening, with a man who made her skin crawl and her stomach churn?
Repulsive asshat.
“Of course, dear,” Birdie said, dutifully laying down the roll after taking one last generous bite, more out of spite than hunger.
“Flynn,” Ariana continued, her target returning to her younger son. “Tomorrow, I shall like you to drive me to my hair and nail appointment.”
“Yes, Mother.”
“And while you’re waiting, you can pick up my prescriptions. You’ll have to stop by Dr. Hillsboro’s office for the refills. I would send Birdie to gather them,” she said, lifting a critical gaze toward her. “But we all know of her questionable sexual urges when in the doctor’s presence.”
