4 Chapter 4

After downing another small bottle of an unknown alcohol , Laura followed her family downstairs, hoping Louis wouldn’t say or do anything stupid.

“So Louis, how did you and Laura meet?” Anne pried. Apparentally it wasn’t just Louis she had to worry about saying or doing something stupid. Laura needed to find a way to stop this interaction  before her family knew too much.

“HEYyyyyyy….” Laura shouted somewhat awkwardly before trailing off. “I thought we were gonna  eat?” Throwing an arm over Anne’s and Lizzie’s shoulders, Laura rushed her family to the dining room in hopes that they would forget that Louis hadn’t actually answered how they had met. Reaching the bottom step, Laura came to a sudden halt, the room was spinning and she was starting to sweat a tremendous amount. She came to the conclusion that it would be best for her to stop drinking before she became drunk.

Usually Lizzie would notice when Laura wasn’t doing okay and she would take care of the situation, but after Laura called her a murderer, it was unlikely she would show any sisterly acts anytime soon. Anne on the other hand, never cared or showed much attention to Laura when she was acting odd. Laura assumed no one would mention her current state of somewhat tipsy, completely awkward behavior, and would move on, but before she could push her family into the dining room fully, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

“Laura, are you all right?” Louis asked, his voice oozing  fake tenderness and love. Outwardly it probably seemed genuine, but Laura knew the truth. She jerked her shoulder free of his hold and ushered her family to sit down. “Laura, you didn’t answer my question.” Louis observed loudly.

She glared at him subtly  before grabbing a glass of water and downing it in an attempt to sober up. Everyone sat at the table in awkward silence before Anne piped up again, hoping to get to know Louis.

“So Louis —” Anne started while pouring a glass of water for Louis.

Laura rolled her eyes. Here we go.

“—What brings you all the way to the middle of nowhere America?” Anne asked, chuckling as if what she said was funny.

Lizzie finally made eye contact with Laura.  They seemed to agree that Anne needed to shut up. Maybe Lizzie wasn’t as mad as Laura had previously thought.

Louis took a sip of water. “Well, I thought Laura told you I was coming? You didn’t tell them I was arriving tonight my dear?” The condescension in his voice had Laura fuming. “It was always our plan, how could I let her come here all on her own during such a difficult time? And of course I was hoping to finally meet her family.” He flashed his signature smirk at Anne and that was the final straw for Laura.

Standing up suddenly, Laura’s chair screeched against the floor , gaining everyone’s attention. “You must be tired Louis. I’ll show you to our room.”

He tried to argue. “Oh no, I’m okay love-”

Laura grabbed his arm and dragged him out of his chair. “I said you must be tired. Let me show you to our room, dear.” Without waiting for his response she dragged him towards the stairs. As they made their way to Laura’s room her anger grew. She couldn’t believe he showed up here without asking- she couldn’t believe he showed up here after being caught cheating!

“Laura, dear, calm down, you’re hurting me.” Louis said, trying to break free from her grasp once they made it to her bedroom.

She spun around. “Oh I’m sorry dear, I didn’t realize I hurt you .”

~   ~   ~

As the commotion worsened, Matty took the chance to slip off, going into another room. He entered the living room, with its large furnace and soft, velvet furniture. He remembered when he and Grandma would spend all day there, watching game shows and talking. A pulsing pain wavered throughout his head, and Matty rubbed his tired eyes, wincing. He headed down the hallway, entering the first floor’s bathroom and locking the door behind him. Turning on the sink, matty  splashed cold water onto his hot face, shaking the scraggly hair out of his face.

He didn’t know what to do. Deep down, he knew he’d never get anything from this reunion, especially not the house. After today, he surely wouldn’t be able to come again and revisit the bliss of childhood. No one else knew it, but he’d sometimes come up here, when everyone else was at work or on vacation, and just lay in Grandma’s bed, eyes to the ceiling. He’d often pop a tab of LSD ; if anything, he hoped he could see her one last time. Her sweet smell was fading from the bedsheets, though, and left an empty feeling in his heart. His mind wandered and he often found himself not even realizing where he was. And deep down, Matty was terrified of forgetting Grandma ; He was scared of losing the memories of her as he dug himself deeper into a pit of drug addiction and despair.

All this thinking was just making Matty’s headache worse; he had grabbed a couple of whatever was in his car and popped them in his mouth. Whatever, he thought, he’ll just keep to himself for the rest of the night. After drying his face off, Matty opened the door, only to smell a sweet aroma of Grandma’s famous apple pie.

The hallway seemed lighter, as if the summer sun was filtering through all the windows, despite the actual dim cold that was now. The hallway was illuminated in bright shades of yellow and orange, and as Matty went back towards the living room, it seemed to have opened up as well; the velvet couch was greener, more vibrant; the TV was playing a rerun of Wheel of Fortune ; and grandma was sitting on the couch, with the remote in her hands. She glanced at him, her eyebrow raised.

“Matty , what took you so long? You’re gonna miss the big winner!” She patted her lap, and Matty felt a smile take over his gloomy face.

He walked over, and time felt like it stopped. He sat in her lap, with her arms around his small body; the click of the TV remote turned the sound of the show back on, and Steve Harvey  was asking some ridiculous question. Grandma was saying something, but Matty couldn’t make it out.

“What, Grandma?” he asked, looking up; all he could see was a blurry face, concealed by the sunlight beaming down into the room. Her voice was muffled, but had that same sweet, soft sound Matty loved so much. As he reached up to touch her wrinkled face, a burst of pain hit his chest, as sharp as a knife. He desperately flailed his hands to reach her, but Grandma started growing farther and farther away, as the edges of his vision went dark, and he felt the cool air of winter pierce through his t-shirt.

And suddenly, Matty was in the woods that surrounded Grandma’s house; the red trees cried their leaves off onto the frosted ground, and the chirping of birds grew louder as their wings fluttered by. Through the dizzy haze of his vision , Matty looked at his hands, which were covered in dirt; he was laying on his back. He held his chest, tears welling up in his eyes.

~   ~   ~

It was only after Laura and Louis had fully made it up the stairs that Lizzie and Anne noticed Matty had slipped off, leaving them to share the dinner table to themselves. The distance between them in combination with the vastness of the room itself let a cold silence fill the space as the two sunk into thought, neither of which seeming to have anything to say. Occasionally Lizzie would take a peek at her mother wondering what she could be thinking. What was her next step? Did she even care about how much they had all grown apart? Lizzie could only guess since her mother just stared off into space with her usual lack of care .

Across the table Anne was lost in thought. Tonight, was always going to go poorly, every meeting their family had after the death of her mother had failed  in some way. Every time there would be an argument over something, who gets this or who gets that. When it wasn’t over how the fortune would be divided  it would just spark from the fact that her children just seemed to hate each other now. Their relationships had been shattered by her mother’s death, hell  they probably didn’t like each other before that. Anne knew Lizzie at least partially blamed her for what happened to their family, but also knew that she couldn’t focus on that right now. She thought that at least something productive had to happen tonight and was trying to find a way to make it happen. The only problem was that Lizzie couldn’t help staring and Anne couldn’t stand it because she knew how judgmental those eyes could be .

Lizzie chanced another glance at her mother, hoping that she wasn’t taking notice. It was hard for her to gauge how she felt about her. She wanted to have a perfect family that was whole again but every year that passed made it harder for her to remember what it was like when they all still loved each other. Each time she saw Laura there was something new to argue with her about. With Matty, all she could feel was disappointment as out of nowhere all his hopes vanished, replaced by whatever pill made him feel better that week. Her mother had never helped of course. Lizzie had never known what it was that made their family so special , and her mother had never been very reassuring on the matter. There were always deflections and whenever she did say something, it always left a bad taste in Lizzie’s mouth. Around every corner there was a new secret  that needed to be protected, like Anne was trying to bury bodies. Worst of all was how protective Anne was of their family’s wealth. For the longest time Lizzie had the suspicion that her mother proffered  Laura over her and Matty, not to mention the fact that Matty always seemed so proud about how close he was to their grandmother. Anne had always denied such accusations, but it never came off as genuine. Lizzie knew that every world that came from her mother’s mouth was calculated, every smile fabricated, all in an attempt to make all the pieces fall into the right place. Lizzie was starting to see how the lines were being drawn and wondered if that was what drove them all apart. In the meantime, all she could do was stare at her mother and wonder if what she thought was true or not .

Meanwhile Anne was thinking about the issue of who the house was ultimately going to go to. She had spent months mulling over the decision, knowing the whole time who that person would be and just not wanting to have to make the call. At a glance it was the obvious choice. As much as it pained her to say it  Matty was a lost cause that had given up on becoming anything a long time ago, he would probably end up burning down the house if given the chance. Whether or not she was to blame for how he turned out, she thought that she didn’t have the time to waste on things that couldn’t be changed. Lizzie couldn’t have the house. Anne didn’t know where she picked up her sense  of self-righteousness, but it clouded her judgement. Anne tried to sugarcoat their family’s history as much as she could and even then, Lizzie seemed disgusted with what little she knew. She didn’t seem to grasp the fact that in order to make any impact ugly decisions would have to be made. It had taken a long time and a lot of blood to get their family what they had, and Anne knew that she couldn’t let Lizzie throw it away, she would make everything they had done pointless. After another nervous glance from Lizzie, Anne felt the slightest twinge of guilt. Most people would say it was wrong to choose favorites, and she knew that for certain based on how much it made her children resented  each other. Still there always had to be someone to step up to the plate and be the one to take charge. Anne had many brothers and sisters that she grew up with and there was a reason she was the only one of them still sitting in this house deciding its future. A long time ago, Anne’s mother had made an important choice on who was going to be trusted and now Anne had to make that choice. Anne knew it had to be Laura, even if she was immature , she still appreciated their wealth.

Lizzie  knew she had to say something to her mother. Doubt had begun to creep into her as she wondered if she was part of the reason they all hated each other. Maybe she had ostracized Matty too much, been too hard on Laura when she was going through a rough time, driven her mother away by not understanding her perspective. Regardless of whether that was true or not didn’t really matter to Lizzie, she knew that someone would have to step up and be the one to bring them all together again, starting with her mother.

“Mom ” Lizzie asked in an uncertain tone. Before she could continue however, Anne shot up from her chair.

“Not now  Lizzie.” She said in an annoyed, yet almost exhausted way “I don’t have time for another one of your sermons about why I’m awful. I need to talk to your sister, and she desperately needs better company than that Louis boy .” She continued.

And that was where the conversation ended. Lizzie, having lost the courage she had just a moment ago, could only lay back further in her chair as Anne headed for the stairs.

~   ~   ~

Laura was furious. How dare Louis have the audacity to show up here after everything that happened? And to think he could just intrude on her family reunion, acting like nothing was wrong.

“Baby,” Louis said in a smooth tone, extending his arms out to grab her waist. “I’m sorry about what happened-”

“Don’t even pander to me like that!” Laura smacked his hands away. She turned around and walked towards a window which peered over the front lawn. She placed her hand on a nearby dresser to support herself. The trauma  of the past several weeks was beginning to surface, she felt like she could collapse.

“I trusted you…” Laura was choked up. She closed her eyes as a tear rolled down her face. “I… I loved you.” The words could barely escape her mouth.

“I love you too  Laura.” He spoke swiftly. Brushing past the weight of those words which meant nothing to Louis “Look, how many times are you going to make me apologize? Let’s just go back to the way things were, huh?” Louis took a few steps towards Laura.

Laura swiftly turned around and pointed her finger at Louis.

“Don’t you come any closer to me!” Laura yelled.

Louis stopped in place. He shrugged his shoulders and dropped his hands to his sides. He let out a sarcastic laugh and began shaking his head in bewilderment.

“You know?” Louis said “You should be grateful, after all I’ve done for you.”

The words pierced Laura’s chest . The rage inside of her grew.

“Done for me?” She asked in disbelief , “I should be grateful that you’ve been cheating on me with my best friend?!”

Louis hesitated.

“You should be grateful for the thousands of dollars I’ve spent on your shitty art career!” He raised his voice back at her.

Laura paused for a second. Her anger was making her breath  heavily. She knew Louis never believed in her artwork, but hearing the truth coming from him broke her even more.

“I invested in my own career,” Laura said “I’ve never asked you for a cent. I have more money than you could ever make at your dad’s finance firm.” She continued sternly, trying to make him feel the pain she did. “I don’t need you.”

Louis shook his head.

“You really think those measly sales you had were ever real?” he continued, “I bought every painting  you ever sold. Every single one, Laura.”

Laura stopped to look into Louis’ eyes for a moment. Her thoughts began to race around her mind. Was he telling the truth? Was her entire career a lie? She decided to push back.

“You’re lying,” she exclaimed “I sold paintings to people on the spot, I talked to them personally.” She paused to think, her breathing continued to become heavier.  “Mary buys paintings from me all the time!” She said, referring to a frequent customer of hers.

“Oh please,” Louis said sarcastically, waving his hand through the air. “Mary is my dad’s secretary. I give her a couple hundred  bucks and send her to your galleries. I keep them in my office. You’re nothing without me.”

It was at that moment, something inside Laura broke. Her family was in shambles, her career was a lie , the love of her life had cheated on her. She had nothing.

Laura began shaking and her breathing became louder. A ringing sound began piercing her ears. She was dizzy, unaware of her surroundings. She was having a panic attack. Her heart beat grew stronger and louder, feeling as though it could burst through her chest. She wrapped her hand around a metal object on the dresser to keep herself from collapsing to the floor. Tears were streaming down her face.

“Pfff,” Louis turned around towards the door, “You know you’re really pathetic Laura.” Laura tightened her grip around the object in her hands. She was enraged and could feel the metal digging into her skin . She didn’t care, the pain felt good.

Louis continued, walking towards the door. “I don’t know why I wasted my time coming here. I’m going downstairs, maybe your sister will entertain me–”

“Ahhhhh!” Laura screamed and swung the object in her hands towards Louis. It hit him in the head as he collapsed to the floor with a loud thud. She stood above him breathing heavily. She looked down to see a metal candlestick holder in her hand, the top covered in blood.

“Uhhh…” Louis muttered a sound .

Laura struck the candlestick holder against his head a second time. The impact let out a crack sound and blood spilled across the floor. Louis’ body  sat there, lifeless.

Laura felt calm. She revelled in her work. A smirk appeared on her face as she stared at the lifeless body.

The bedroom door opened, Laura swiftly  looked up to see her mother walking into the room. Her face appeared ghastly.

“Oh …” Anne muttered, “Just like your grandma .”