Lucy's sister was getting married. After her family had finished mass on Sunday, her sister had only said that her boyfriend of six years proposed to her. She said it just as she was about to leave for work. Lucy had not heard when she said it but noticed the awkward silence that had fell on her brother, mother and father.
She asked them to explain and they seemed so awkward that she started getting nervous. Finally, her mom said "Your sister was proposed to". Lucy was shocked. It was a happy thing afterall...her sister was getting married! So Lucy said "Well first of all...Congratulations!"
Lucy's Dad burst out laughing and threw in his congratulations. Lucy added "And secondly, where is the ring? I want to see the ring!"
Even through the computer screen she saw the tension roll out of her Mom and her brother was laughing. The tension had passed. Lucy was not even aware that she had been the one to remove that heaviness that had started to settle over them.
"Well I always wear gloves so I would not be wearing it anyway" Her sister responded.
"But you don't have to wear it to the hospital" Lucy countered.
"He did not know what kind of ring I would like"
"Since when does the girl pick out the ring she's proposed to with?"
"He did not actually propose, he...he...pre-prosed!"
Lucy opened her mouth then shut it again. She squinted into the screen and let the confusion fleet over her face.
How could she be engaged without a ring? What were all these excuses? And what the hell was pre-prosed?
She was not even aware that her sister had wanted to take that next step in her life. Especially not with that guy. Lucy never liked him. From the beginning of the relationship, her sister had tried to keep it a secret from her parents. Then after two years of them dating, she was accused of stealing at the hospital by his ex-girlfriend and was almost thrown in jail. That was when they had found out. Then her sister brought him home shortly after that. Basically told them that they were going to make dinner and to eat. Lucy remembered that day clearly. Her sister and boyfriend were in the kitchen for hours and hours and they could not go in to get anything to eat. By the time they finished cooking, Lucy was starving. She ate two whole sausage burgers that night, downed roasted potato wedges like they were going out of style and still picked at the remaining ones in the bowl.
She had seen the guy watching her the whole time. She knew her sister had done most of the cooking. Could taste it in the food. She could also taste the parts that he cooked. Tasted the venom that was in his blood, seeped into the food. But she had been starving, so she ate.
She did not like him from the start of their relationship, conceived of lies. Her sister would then start bringing him home randomly. No heads up, no warning. Her whole family hated it. It was an invasion of their privacy and her sister knew it. And did not care.
Even when her Mom and Dad told her to at least let them know when he was coming over, she would not. She would not even grant them that courtesy. So one time, when there was no water in the house, Lucy was about to go bathe outside. Then she saw that her brother was picking up his clothes off of the line. Clothes which had been drying from two days ago. So she went to help him and suddenly heard her sister and the guy. Lucy and her brother froze. They were aware of what their Dad had already spoken to their sister about and very aware of her disregarding it completely. They heard the water start gushing out of the pipe they used to bathe and fill up their buckets with.
The hate and violence rolling off of her brother matched her own. Their home was their sanctuary. They were supposed to feel safe here. If Lucy had not stopped to be a good sister and help her brother, she would have been naked under that pipe. Right under the eyes of that pig that had watched her so maliciously as she ate. How much more if she was naked... The very thought of it turned Lucy's blood black. She felt the hate ooze through her veins like ink.
