Office Hours

54 | the p e n i t e n t

| Z O Y A |

     Know what? Sheg it. She's done playing nice so I should too.

Besides, Caden and Sunshine are close-by.

Zoya came right out and said, "Are they accusations, Mrs. Thomas? The last time I was here, you told me that you know everything that happens in your house. That means you know that nasty man was touching your daughter and you did nothing about it! All for what? Huh?" Zoya loudly hissed, watching the woman go wide-eyed but it didn't stop her rage. "You pushed her to her death! You!"

Delilah's lips trembled and she wiped her eyes. Zoya was taken aback and suddenly she regretted her choice of words. Whether or not her accusations were true, Zoya knew it was no easy feat to lose a child and spouse within the span of four days.

Frantic, Zoya began to apologize. "Mrs. Thomas, I-"

"I never meant for my baby to die," the woman cried. "I didn't know that he was touching her. I saw how he looked at her at times but I didn't say anything about it because I thought I was going crazy. When you spend too many hours home alone, you start imagining things. I-I wanted to believe that my baby would come to me if Alexi ever touched her."

Tears flooded Zoya's eyes. She was beginning to regret this confrontation. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Thomas."

"Don't be," Delilah said. "You're right. It's my fault."

Zoya didn't answer, not wanting the woman to feel any worse than she already did.

I shouldn't have come here, Zoya thought, about to leave when Mrs. Thomas spoke again.

"Before Alyssa. . . killed herself I overheard her talking to someone on the phone. Something about wanting to expose a student for sleeping with my husband. I was so angry and jealous. How could Alexi be cheating on me again?"

"Again?" Zoya asked.

"Yes. Again," Delilah said. "The first time, I had my suspicions so I started following him whenever he said he had meetings out of town or wanted to visit the gym late at night. . . Have you ever heard the person you love moaning how good someone else feels?" Delilah asked, tears in her eyes and her voice cracking.

Zoya shook her head.

Delilah sadly smiled. "My skin crawled whenever he laid next to me at night. I couldn't live like that anymore. I-I had to do something before I lost him. . . So I used what little I know of the chemicals he'd always talk about at dinner. I probably didn't mix them right so I didn't know it would actually k-kill her-"

Zoya's eyes widened, shocked by all the gory details that kept spewing from Delilah's mouth. She knew she was dealing with a crazy person, but not a full blown mental patient.

"Why did you kill her?" Zoya asked, aghast. "Lizbeth wasn't the one who owed you loyalty."

"I panicked when I realized what I did," Delilah confessed, hanging her head low.  "I called someone for help and almost tore the door off when I heard a knock. I thought it was my help but no, it was stupid girl. She'd talk and I couldn't have that. I did things more clean this time. I forced her to drink a bottle of Hennessy, toyed with her breaks and sent her home.

I wasn't proud of my actions. So I put it all behind me until I overheard Alyssa's conversation. I knew I had to do it again. Men can't think for themselves sometimes, but I know Alexi really loves me. I was only helping him see that no one can please him like I do. . . I was going to kill whichever little slut he planned on meeting that night-"

Zoya tasted bile.

She was going to kill me. . .

Zoya's voice was unsteady when she said, "You were going to keep killing and killing until your cheating husband finally loved you? You're sick-"