Time To Face Things Head On

chapter 25

Winona's pov

"YOU'RE A DISGUSTING WORM NO! A RAT A RAT I TELL YOU! I screeched at Claude full of a seething rage. I grabbed the vase of flowers to my left and threw it right at him. 

He had finally come over after the events of last night and I finally had some kind of emotion. Rage. 

It was only brought on from Claude's actions but as usual I didn't give a shit, everyone would feel my wrath while I held on tight to this emotion. Even claude's new fling had already experienced first hand why I'm a force you shouldn't mess with.  

It was like karma gave me the wheel since I ran into her at a restaurant when I went out to breakfast with my parents.  My only regret was not sending her head through the powder room mirror. 

"WINONA STOP WHAT THE HELL" he demanded. 

"DON'T YOU WHAT THE HELL ME! I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR US TO BE ALONE COMPLETELY THE MOMENT I SAW YOU KISS OLIVIA PATES!!" I raged 

Claude looked at me. He was caught red handed and had that same guilty look he had when Gerty caught us together. It made me even more mad. He was just looking for cheap thrills and good rides which was further infuriating. 

I took the ring off my finger and flicked it at him "here you'll need this for the next girl you decide to screw while engaged to Olivia 

"This isn't going to be completely my fault Winona, I know I did wrong but if you would have stopped being a frigid bitch for two seconds I might have been more compelled to have stayed faithful." He lectured his pathetic words filled my heart with laughter. Angry, wild eyed laughter.

"Gerty was the most caring woman that you ever had and you still wound up in my bed" I laughed "you have no excuse here Claude so why don't you do yourself a favor go give Olivia a ring on the telephone rumor has it she had a horrifying experience at the diner this morning" I sneered while lighting a cigarette. Claude angrily left after picking his ring off the floor. He was on his way out when my parents had begun knocking on my apartment door. They were here to scold me again for my behavior this morning and I still didn't care.

Gerty's pov

Mom and I spent the evening putting together all of the letters Miriam had written. It was the quietest the house had been in a long time, while we wrote addresses onto envelopes. We were even surprised that Miriam had money stashed away for stamps and her funeral. She had thought of everything and we had no idea she had even been planning it all. The clock finally chimed nine and we realized we were still nowhere near the end of her letters.  Mom poured another cup of coffee when Judy came running into the kitchen

"Winona is being sent to a sanitarium!" She cried. I didn't give much sympathy though instead I what I was writing 

"That's the best news I've heard all night" I muttered before licking an envelope. 

"It gets better, Claude was having an affair with Olivia Pates" I stopped for a moment thinking about how Claude had come to talk to me this morning, how I sent him away… I felt bad for Winona but after her behavior and last night I knew her spiraling downfall would be imminent.

"You reap what you sow" I muttered going to the next letter. I was stunned when I saw it was for Winona herself cursing its timing. I stared at the paper and wondered what to do with it. Miriam wasn't here any more, I couldn't ask her what the hell it was about, and it felt too invasive to read it… because Miriam wasn't here any more. 

I couldnt remove my gaze from the Dear Winona. My heart grew heavier and I held a tear back trying hard to keep them from

The grief I had been trying hard to deal with later had finally caught up with me from the thought of Miriam being gone forever instantly weighed on me. 

Mom touches my shoulder "gerty go get some rest" she requested to me like I was a child again, but I didn't protest like one, instead I trudged to my room thinking I could sleep this emotional turmoil off so I could grieve rationally. I didn't make it far though, once my door was shut behind me I dropped to my knees and started sobbing over Miriam. Even with her emotional distance she kept with everyone she was still my best friend and like a sister. 

The moment I met her was my first day in Sister Protts Class in my freshman year of high school at our catholic school. I went to grab my notebook and knocked my bible off my desk while the sister was writing on the board. She turned around instantly locking eyes with me when Miriam piped up "aw sister sorry about that. I was stretching my arm and knocked her bible on the ground".

She took me under her wing after that, even though she knew I was a scaredy cat. Winona was my friend but she didn't mind ditching me when I was wussing out. Miriam though, she would stay with me and help me stay on the nuns' good side. She'd give me advice about boys, taught me how to braid my hair, I could still hear us giggling in my room when we were teenagers and we stole a bottle of mom's rum. Dad caught us and made us do chores all day the next morning while we were painfully hungover. 

Oh the countless memories of her, I wish we could've stayed in touch better when she joined the Army, but she was broken when she left, only to break more after losing Lieutenant Turner. I started to kick myself more for not doing better at reaching out to her while she was gone. I had told her about getting engaged but after she was sent to Italy we stopped writing.  I should have done better.  

As my thoughts ran rampant with my tears I sat there until I finally fell asleep. Still full of regret for not being a better friend