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“Tell me. We’ll figure it out.”
As we walk down the hall, she leads me into a cluttered bedroom. “This is the room she let me be touched in when I didn’t want it.” She walks back out to the living room and points to the pristine couch. “This is where I wasn’t allowed to sit because I’m so dirty. I had to squat next to it whenever I was bad.” She uses quotation fingers.
My blood is still boiling over the first confession that someone touched her and the fact that her cunt of a mother let it happen.
“The kitchen is where she had me count calories. She wasn’t happy with herself, but she hated me more.Could we burn the house down?” Her gaze is unfocused until she looks at me.
“In due time, but for now, I think it’s best for the family to find the note and for this to look as authentic as possible. I do promise we will, though.”
She follows me as I go through the house for any signs we were here. It’s fine if they know she was here, and I’ll give them the alibi that I picked her up.
“Right. The note, the family. I’m so fucking stupid.” I stop moving and she slams into my back. I turn and grip her by her throat and pin her against the wall.
“No, you aren’t stupid, and you won’t become a reflection of this cunt who spit those words at you.” Looking down into her eyes, I let her go, and she continues to follow me out of the house. I look over at her as we get into the car. “I won’t let you talk shit about yourself. In my eyes, you are the most precious human being I’ve ever met, an oddity that I get the pleasure to enjoy. And the power you hold over me? Pfft. I’d do anything you ask.”
We make a quick pit stop at the taco place, and she scurries inside to grab our food. The only sound in the car is the hum of the engine as we drive home. The tip of the cigarette glows red as I light it, and take a deep drag.
I worry about her. Your first kill is exhilarating, but it can also tear you apart. After I killed my father, I was a mess for months until the urge came back. Since then I haven’t looked back, but not everyone is like me. It may be the same for her. Killing your parents is harder than killing a stranger. It doesn’t matter how evil they are, you hope and pray that they will start loving you at some point in your life. But they never do and you're just left with residue from the abuse, the trauma from every action they played out on you, and being emotionally stunted. You are left with work to do while they portray themselves as the innocent victims.
“You handling everything alright?” I ask her as I park the car. We get out of the vehicle and walk to her apartment.
“Yeah, it’s just surreal. I’ve wanted this for so long and, now that it’s done, it doesn’t feel like anything happened.”I say nothing as I watch her unlock the door and we go into her apartment.
We change and get settled on the couch to eat our dinner. I keep glancing over at her. “I told you, I’m alright. It’ll just take a bit of time.” My hand glides smoothly over her back, tracing the curve of her spine. She’s everything I’ve ever wanted and watching her kill sealed the deal for me. I want to be with her forever.
“I am super exhausted, though. I didn’t think that would happen.”
As I stand, I tell her. “Go have a hot shower and get into bed. I’ll clean up.” She smiles at me and walks to the bathroom. As I hear the water going, I tidy up the garbage in her apartment from dinner and the past week. She tries her best, but I much prefer it when I clean for her.Finishing up around the same time she’s getting into bed, I strip off my clothes and get in with her. Her warm body presses against mine and I put my hand over hers, holding her close.
“Goodnight, my dove.” I press a kiss on her temple, listening to her breathing slow. I know she’s asleep. She’s the only person I want next to me for the rest of my life, together we can do anything.
It’s been a week, and Marla has heard nothing. I’m surprised by how much her mother bragged about her other two children. I thought they would be there right away, but it took them much longer than I would have expected. Marla’s phone rings relentlessly on the coffee table as we finish dinner.
“It’s my sister. I wonder if this is it?” I look at her intently as she answers the phone.
“Hey, Ashley slow down. What happened?” She paces as she listens to what her sister is telling her, and her eyes sweep towards me often. “Oh my god, that is terrible. What do we do now?” Marla chews on her lip as she listens further. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.” She ends the call and looks at me.
“They have already removed the body. There are a couple of detectives, and they want to talk to me. Ashley wants me to go to the house, but I don’t have a way to get there.”
I think about it for a few minutes, but from the messages we saw, she didn’t seem to tell anyone that she was having dinner with Marla. “I’ll drive you. We saw the messages, and she never said you broke up with me.”
She nods, grabs her purse and I stand up with her. “I think it’s best if you stay in the car. Or does that look suspicious? Oh fuck, my head is running away on me.”
After we climb into the car, I reach my hand across to the passenger side, stroking her wrist with my thumb as I focus on the road. “Listen, the less you say, the easier it will be. You won’t have to lie, which tangles you into a web where they could catch you.”
Her hand touches mine and she lets out a deep breath. “What if they catch me in a lie? What will I do?”
“You deleted that message to me that night?” She nods and I think for a minute, we pull onto the road where her mother lived. “You came for dinner and then I picked you up because I had to work and couldn’t attend the dinner. You can mention she seemed distant but wouldn’t say anything. I’ll fill in the rest: I picked you up and we grabbed tacos, and then we went home.”
As we park in the driveway, I notice the two cop cars, a couple of other cars, and a man and woman standing in front of thehouse. “I have a receipt from when I got tacos the first time, which would be around the time I picked you up.”
Thirteen
Marla
My eyes widen as I look at him. “I wanted to be thorough. I won’t lose you.” Without another thought, I lean over and kiss him, hyper-aware of the way my dark sweater’s tag itches the back of my neck. I swallow the lump in my throat and openthe door to the car and get out, walking towards Ashley and Michael.
“Do they have any information?” I ask. Feeling Sebastian behind me gives me strength I don’t normally have.
