Love's Psychos

Chapter 11

After finally working up the nerve to confront his Mother, Caleb dragged his most recent kill out of the elevator and across the pristine white marble floor of his family home. She was not going to be happy about this, not even remotely. The elevator would have to be cleaned before being allowed back into service again, in addition to the floors.

"Come on, you heavy sonofabitch," he grunted in frustration while pulling the body along by its legs, bag of groceries slung over his shoulder. "I've got half a mind to grab the cleaver out of the kitchen and...start..."

As he made his way from the elevator into the suite's parlor room, he stopped upon coming face to face with a middle-aged Japanese man sitting at one of his Mother's expensive velvet suede couches, his mouth agape in stunned shock at the horrific sight in front of him.

An awkward silence hung in the air as the two just stared at each other for the longest time. Whereupon Caleb finally dropped the body altogether and leaned against one of the opposing couches.

"Alright, so I think I've actually got something for this," he spoke up candidly, chuckling in amusement. "Stop me if you've heard this one." Caleb cleared his throat and began to recite a joke. "A sociopathic cannibal with severe narcissistic personality disorder walks into the penthouse suite of a luxury apartment complex..."

The man shot up from his seat and began briskly walking towards the elevator, only to be stopped in his tracks by the teenager covered in another man's blood.

"Hold your horses there, skippy. Mom is definitely going to want to have a word with you before you just take off like that."

"P...please, whatever is going on..." The man stuttered in English. "I want no part in it. Allow me to leave, and I won't tell a soul about what I've seen."

"There's no reason to leave. You're my Mother's guest," he insisted in a polite, friendly tone that did absolutely nothing to take away from the fact he was clearly disposing of a dead body. "Sit back down, prop your feet up. Keep enjoying that expensive glass of sake you've got over there. I promise nothing bad is gonna happen to you."

But of course, the man didn't believe him. If anything, he just began to tremble even more nervously. With a weary groan, Caleb called up to the second-floor balcony.

"Mom! You might wanna get down here! This guy is starting to look like a pee pants scenario waiting to happen, and he's standing on your Persian rug."

"Alright, alright. I'm coming," replied the calm, unbothered voice of his Mother from above. A set of heels clicking against the marble floor punctuated the air as a woman who appeared to be in her late twenties, with shoulder-length auburn hair, wearing a form-fitting evening dress, descended the spiral stairs of her loft above.

"Now, what in the Red Queen's unholy name have you done this time, Caleb?"

He sighed in weary resignation. "Hello to you too, Mother. Why yes, my trip to the market was a success. Thank you for asking."

"Oh, spare me the sarcasm," she lectured sternly, a hand on her hip as she pointed towards the giant bloody mess he was dragging into her home. "Now tell me, what the hell you're dragging across my perfectly clean floor?"

"Okay, now I know this looks bad," Caleb assured, trying to defuse the situation. "But I wanna go on record by saying..." He gestured to the dead body. "...he started it."

She glared at her son murderously. "Somehow, I don't quite believe you. I had one rule when we moved into the new place, Caleb. One! Do you remember what it was?"

He groaned wearily, slumping his shoulders like an angsty thirteen-year-old. "Not...in...the elevator."

Mrs. Barlow nodded, still clearly quite perturbed. "And where pray tell, is that trail of blood you're leaving behind coming from?"

Again, he sighed, turning his gaze away. "The elevator...but Mom, this guy was really rude to me! If you'd seen the way he..."

"Save it," she cut him off, raising a hand in the air. "They're always rude, my son. If they're not rude, they're ignorant or just plain old-fashioned idiotic. That doesn't give you the right to break my one rule in this house."

She then turned to the completely petrified man standing behind her.

"Mr. Fujimi, you have children, don't you?"

He slowly nodded his head. "I...I do. And I really wish to see them again. So if you would please..."

"Tell me, how would your wife feel if your son decided to drag a bloody mess across her pristine living room floor?" she asked, apparently choosing to ignore him. "After going through so much trouble to keep it clean?"

Honestly, he was still in a state of denial over being stuck in this predicament in the first place. But given the way his host was glaring at him so expectantly, Mr. Fujimi decided that if entertaining her curiosity meant leaving this place alive, then so be it.

"I..." The man swallowed back his fears. "...I believe she would be quite upset." He then turned his attention towards Caleb. "You should respect your Mother's wishes, young man. In our country, the family, kazoku, is venerated. Your Mother works hard to provide for you, that you might have a clean home to live in, food on your table, and may receive a proper education."

Caleb hung his head, guilt forming in his eyes.

"As her son, it is your duty to respect the rules of her house and be grateful for what she has provided for you."

Finally, the teenager bowed curtly to the older Japanese man. "You're absolutely right, Mr. Fujimi. Thank you for the lesson." He then turned to his Mother. "I'm sorry, Mom. I know that was literally your only rule, and I broke it. I just...you know how I get around people like that."

She sighed before walking up to him and placing her hands on his shoulders. "Listen, I understand you're not the same little boy you used to be," his mother spoke in a softer voice. "You're seventeen now, practically an adult man. I respect that." She placed a hand on her chest. "But I also need you to respect me. I'm really not asking much from you, Caleb. Just a bit of courtesy."

He smiled and nodded. "So...hug it out?"

She backed away from her bloody son. "After you shower."

Caleb chuckled awkwardly, scratching the back of his head.

"We'll talk about this more later," she assured before pointing to the corpse then back at Mr. Fujimi.

"For now, you deal with your mess while I deal with mine."