ultraviolence // kai anderson

confessions

    In the morning around 10am, Addison clears a few things up with a bombshell confession. She's seemed a little strange the entire time I've been here, and in the morning once the older two kids have gone on the bus to school, her three year old is still asleep, and her husband has gone to work -- she spills.

    "Don't be mad," she winces.

    "Why would I be mad, what happened?"

    "Well, you know I have a guilty conscience..." she begins, and my smile is already faltering. "She didn't take it bad or anything I swear."

    "Who didn't take what bad?"

    "I... might've confided in Lacey that hypothetical question you came to me with a couple months ago."

    My face goes blank and has likely paled as the room begins spinning.

    "--was only hypothetical--" her voice goes in and out. "--didn't seem upset--"

    She told Lacey I was having an affair on her brother. Fuck. Fuck. That's probably why she won't see me or take my calls, why she'd been so distant and won't tell me a thing. Did her mind immediately go to Kai? Were we that obvious? Would she be telling Gregory, or worse, had she already?

    "When was this?" is all I ask.

    "I-I don't know, not too long ago."

    "Before or after Thanksgiving?"

    She thinks for a moment then answers, "Before?"

    I scrunch my face up and rub roughly over my forehead, then say, "I have to go."

    "Wait it doesn't have to be like this, I'm sorry," she calls out to me as I stand and make my way to the front door where my overnight bag already sits. I'm shaking my head and refusing to respond. "You can still come to me with things--!"

    Her front door slamming behind me prevents me from hearing anything else she has to say, and I angrily drop into my car to head home. I know the house will be empty by now, and some alone time is exactly what I need. I'll shower, get into some clean clothes and hopefully a better mind set, and head straight to Lacey's from there.

    I shove the gear stick forward harshly into park once I'm in my own driveway, then slam my hands on the steering wheel and grip it till my knuckles turn white. A guilty conscience, really? That's what made Addison go running to Lacey with something I trusted her with? Couldn't she have just talked to me? I could've made something up to ease her worries if it was plaguing her that much.

    At the end of the day, I know there's no one to blame but myself and my own guilty conscience. If I hadn't been seeking affirmation that I wasn't having an affair when I very blatantly was, I wouldn't be in this situation. Now it all boils down to how long until Gregory finds out.

    I exit the car and fuss with my keys until I find the right one to get into the house. My bags instantly hit the floor when I see what's awaiting directly inside.

Thanksgiving Night

    Lacey peered sideways into the living room where party guests still gathered around her shaken mother, making sure no one was paying her any mind. Once she was confident that no one was, she took large strides up the staircase, skipping as many steps as she could at once. At the top landing, she wasted no time before creeping into her mother's bedroom.

    Confusion clouded her features as she took in the scene before her; stacks of paper were strewn about the dresser, with a few single sheets having fallen on the floor, and both bedside tables' drawers were pulled all the way out. She crouched to start cleaning up, hoping to get everything back in order before her mother found things like this, when she saw the filing folder the papers must've been ripped from beneath the bed. She reached for it without hesitation, but before putting anything away, she began skimming through the paragraphs as quickly as possible.