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FOURTEEN
Evil Woman
PRIEST
Isit at the edge of the property and wait for Demon. There doesn’t seem to be any sign of Mom inside. I remember it’s nails-and-hair day. It’s her standard weekly appointment with Jolene. I’m relieved to see that she’s not here, and with any luck, Demon will get here soon and we can get in and out before she shows up.
I still have my key, so at least I don’t have to worry about the neighbors calling the cops or a breaking-and-entering charge. I don’t even know why I still have the key on my key chain. Maybe it’s a reminder of the past and how far I’ve come.
Demon shows up with an SUV. He waves, and I lead the way to the drive. The house is still a dump. She has time to get her hair done, but the cupboards are empty and the place has dirty dishes all over the place. Clothes are lying around everywhere.
I walk into Mom and Dad’s bedroom, going straight for the closet, and see that Dad’s clothes aren’t in there. I open the drawers, and they’re empty too.
“What the fuck!” I mumble under my breath.
“Shit! Did she throw his stuff out?” Demon says. He’s shaking his head. “That’s fucking cold.”
“Welcome to my life, man. Deleting his existence on a whim. She did that with Camille too,” I tell him. I go to my old bedroom and find a couple of boxes piled up. I take a peek inside.
“Dad’s stuff,” I announce.
“I’ll take this out and come back,” he says, grabbing the boxes and sauntering out. I look around my old room. It’s filled with dust. The posters are still on the wall: Led Zeppelin on one end of the room and Rush on the other. I throw open the closet and see a box with my name on it.
I pull it out and discover a box under it with Camille’s name on it. I grab that one too. I open the one with my name on it, and on the top is a letter with my name clearly written on the envelope, and right underneath it is a photo album. I fold and tuck the letter in my back jeans pocket and open the album to the first page. It’s a picture of me as a baby. Next to it is a photo of Dad holding me in his arms. He’s smiling down at me, his chest puffed out with pride.
Each page is filled with memories of illusive moments when the sun shone bright and we were happy. None of those pictures include our mother. There’s me and John playing football in the park. I hardly remember that day. I was still pretty young, maybe six or seven. There’s one shot of Camille in pigtails sitting between her brothers.
I want to tear open the letter and see who it’s from, but I also want to get out of here before the dragon lady returns. I grab the two boxes marked for Camille and me. Demon meets me in the hall and takes them from me.
“Do a final sweep, man,” he says. “From what I’ve heard about her, she’s gonna be pissed when she sees this shit’s gone.”
Demon’s right. This is going to be my only chance to retrieve anything important. I grab a couple of framed photos that Camille might want, then move to the desk in the corner of the room and begin rummaging through it.
Bills and more bills with second and third notices for payment, but Mom’s got to get her hair done instead of paying the electric bill. She’s probably waiting for Dad to die so she can get caught up. I recall a time when the collection agencies were calling daily and Mom would give them a sob story about how her little girl was sick and she needed to use the money for the bills to pay for her medication. She made up so many lies that eventually, they all caught on. They were ruthless and cut off the water and electricity.
That instigated fights between my parents. Dad never made enough money. And, as I clearly learned, shit flows downstream, first to John, then me. We became pawns in their game. First it was begging for money on street corners, because kids attracted the cash. When our cuteness wore off, that job went to Camille. We graduated to part-time jobs, sweeping up or shoveling snow, but even that wasn’t enough. Eventually, it became stealing food from grocery stores, then we figured we could make more money by lifting electronics and selling them.
One thing led to another, but none of that made any difference to our mother. The more she had, the more she wanted.
I keep digging through the drawers to find a brown legal-sized envelope. When I take out the paperwork, I see it’s Dad’s insurance policy and his will. I also notice a blank sheet of paper with Dad’s signature written over and over again, only it’s not his writing. Mom’s trying to forge his name.
Demon races toward me. “Head’s up, brother. She just pulled in.”
“Take this.” I throw the envelope at him. He catches it in midair. I rifle through the rest of the drawers and find passports and birth certificates. I grab the lot and motion for the door. Demon leads the way, only to be blocked by my mother coming through the door, carrying a baseball bat.
Without hesitation, Mom swings the bat hard, forcing Demon to duck, pushing me backward. “Mom!” I shout, but she doesn’t give a shit and raises the bat over her head, ready to take another swipe at Demon. I propel myself to cover Demon, raising my hand and bracing, hoping to get a grip of the hardwood barreling down. I consider myself lucky that I’m able to wrench it out of her hands. That only seems to infuriate her more.
“You fucking dick!” she shrieks. She takes a step back and looks around for something else to grab. It’s her usual MO. Attack! Attack! Attack! “You came here to steal from me!”
“Jesus Christ, woman. Are you crazy?” I jump to one side as she throws an ashtray filled with cigarette butts in our direction. Demon’s up and moving. I know that look in his eye. Woman or not, he’s about to lose his shit.
“I’m calling the cops. Gonna put your ass in jail, where it belongs,” she threatens.
“I got a key. So good luck with that,” I tell her.
“You got my shit in your car!” she hurls back, leaning forward and getting in my face.
“That’s got my name on the box too. And before you continue, I got permission from Camille and Dad to get their shit too,” I shout back, inciting her rage all the more. She lets out a howling screech and comes at my face with her newly manicured claws, nicking my cheek before I grab her hands and push her back against the wall. “Get out!” I call to Demon. “Just go.”
