Short stories

Confession

I’m not crazy, I swear. You must believe me. Maybe people say otherwise, but you must not listen. I’m sure you’ve heard that a lot. But I can write to you what is happening in my head. People who brought me here say that my problem is in my head. But there’s only one person who can know it and it’s not Mr.-Know-It-All. I’ll tell you what really happened. For that, we must go back two months earlier. My story resembles of a novel from John Saul…

My husband and I had just moved to a small town that I knew quite well. My father had gone two or three times during the previous year and had told me good things about it. Actually, this town haunted him. He thought it was charming, but very strange. He seemed attracted to this city for a mysterious reason. Whenever I visited him, he was just showing me pictures of it. This is when he started to scare me. He seemed so obsessed.

My father lived only for the pictures he had. He died about two weeks before I moved there. As an inheritance, he gave me all the photos in a box filled with other souvenirs. I was with him when he died. He told me:

“I want you to go to Silver Cap and you give this letter to your mother.”

The day before my departure, my mother begged me not to leave. This town had destroyed her marriage and almost killed my father. But I didn’t listen. Why would I do that? Everything was perfect! It was so beautiful that I couldn’t believe it was all true. I was breathless. It was a very quiet place, small and without a significant past. Total perfection in its simplest form. Our house was very nice, but a little too big for two people. My husband’s boss told us he found that house because he thought we had children. He made us promise to fill it with children’s shouts and laughter. We really tried… but I didn’t know I was already pregnant. When we found out, my husband was quick to announce the news to his boss. He sent us flowers to congratulate us and asked me to be careful with the baby. I had no job at the time. Not wanting to be left alone at home, I started looking for a small part-time job to fill my free time. I quickly found one. My husband’s boss was aware of it and I soon lost my job. All because he told my new employer that I had lied about my criminal history. I went home, completely devastated and in tears. My husband felt sorry for me. His boss told me it was better that way because I was pregnant.

Only my husband’s boss and I knew very well the real reasons for my new layoff. I wanted so much to kill him. I don’t understand why he did it. I had never being in jail, not even a single ticket! No criminal record. But he kept repeating that he did it for my unborn child.

The day before, Mr. Goldberg, our neighbor, hit his wife in front of their two children. The police boarded my neighbor. The next day, I had to go to the doctor for a routine checkup. So I was the one who had the car. After my appointment, my husband was waiting for me at his office. I overheard my husband’s boss spoke with the police chief. He told him they had to get rid of this violent man and his wife refused to see him again. The police chief nodded when the boss asked him to simply kill Mr. Goldberg. I heard everything! Stepping back, I dropped a pot on the floor. Obviously, they heard that. The chief tried to stop me. When I arrived on the sidewalk, a car hit me. The car was driven by my husband’s boss. That bastard killed my baby. But nobody believed me when I told my story to the jury because I filed a lawsuit against him. I accused him of murder. The bastard denied it! My doctor came to testify against me. He told the judge that my baby had some breathing problems because of tobacco, drugs and alcohol I ingurgitated during my pregnancy. He accused me of being an alcoholic smoker and drug addict. As he worked during the day, my husband didn’t know what I was doing. The doctor who treated me told me that my neighbor surprised me with a fork to slash the fetus… Mrs. Goldberg has confirmed what she had claimed…

I was convicted of murder. For psychiatric reasons, I was sent in a psychiatric hospital so I will no longer be a danger for myself. My husband refuses to visit me. During the trial, he looked at me with such contempt and refused to talk to me. I was just crying.

I just wanted to warn you that this story is the truth. Believe me… You probably know that my mother comes to visit me regularly to the hospital. I’m always happy to see her. She sometimes met my husband. She tells me how he’s doing. According to what she said, he still lives in Silver Cap, but he’s not doing well. He doesn’t sleep much since I left. My mother asked him to come and see me, but he can’t forgive me for what I did. I wrote him a letter. I told him the same story I told you. I don’t know what it will do. I love him so much.

It was my mother who asked for my transfer to another hospital. At Silver Cap, I was still restrained to my bed and I got an injection every two hours with a liquid that gave me convulsions. When I was my mother, I begged her to get me out of this place.

I don’t deserve what happened to me. I’m not crazy. My baby died because a car hit me. The whole procedure is based on false evidence. I want to get back to my life. I ask you to be in front to the judge for my second trial. I need your help. Tomorrow, a doctor must come to examine me to determine if I did use a fork to kill the fetus.

I’m innocent! Everyone lied during the trial!

THE END