Red Ribbons on Her Wrists

A hurricane of truth

Young: You could tell Abe used to be handsome, when he looked into certain lights you could catch the ghost of his former self. Then he'd turn back and you'd see the gluttonous mess before you. He offered me a beer which I declined and then hunkered himself down into a ratty armchair, waving a hand at an equally ratty sofa for me. I sat down, pulled out a tape recorder and asked if he minded. He said no and so began the most intense hour and a half of my life thus far.

L.Y. If you could state your name, birthdate and place of residence for me.
A.J. Abraham Michel James, 8/15/85, and 303 Meadow drive, Cherrington PA 17809.
L.Y. Thank you and your relationship to Thalia James.
A.J. Well that's really a matter of opinion, by blood I was her brother, but in soul I was her husband. A few awkward seconds passed between us, he stared at me, daring me to object. I didn't, his gaze was hostile and nostalgic at the same time,  so I decided to play on his emotions and hid my disgust.
L.Y. In soul you were her husband,I can assume then that you had a romantic relationship with her?
A.J. That's correct.
L.Y. A sexual one as well?
A.J. I suppose so, we did make love on numerous occasions throughout our life together.
L.Y. And it was consensual?
A.J. Is that a trap? Are you gonna arrest me if I said it wasn't? Because it was.
L.Y. Incest in of it's self is illegal, but no I'm not here to arrest you, just to understand what happened to her from what you know and get to know her better through friends and family.
A.J. Ok then no, it wasn't consensual. At first but before she disappeared I'd like to think she enjoyed it as much as I did. I must have grimaced because he continued hotly. Listen I know must don't understand what we had, and I don't expect them too. Even our dad didn't get it, but we did and that's all that mattered to me.
L.Y. Ok I'm sorry if I offended you. Could you tell me what you did the day of her disappearance?
A.J. I went to school, I was very upset that day. Kyle, piece of shit, was spreading rumors to disgrace my sister because she decided to leave him for me. Of course they weren't entirely false, we did have a relationship while they had one, but it wasn't her fault really. She had friend to fight me off but I knew she wanted it. She also tried to end it with him, but he held on so, it wasn't really her fault she was a slut you see. I watched that day as much as I could, she didn't seem outwardly shook by the taunting guys and girls, but I was. I punched Jeremy Stevens that day and got suspended, which is why I was on my way home when I saw Kyle talking to her. He was pleading it looked like and she was shaking her head no, I was about to walk over and intervene when she tore herself away from him and joined up with me. Kyle saw me and got back in his truck to drive away. She approached me and I told her why I wasn't in school. She smiled that cute small dimpled smile and I couldn't resist I went over and hugged her tightly wrapping my hands around her bottom. She had such a beautiful backside, she had a beautiful everything. That was when Kyle drove by and I'm sure he saw since you're here talking to me but I didn't care, I loved her more then id ever loved anyone. You see I tried to fight my feelings, I dated other girls but none of them amounted to shit compared to her. They weren't smart, or witty. They weren't talented or breathtakingly beautiful like she was. They just didn't add up and I was tired of fighting. So we embraced and I took her home, she tried to fight me off that day, but I'm sure it was just the stress of all the hateful people from earlier. I got her on the bed and I was on top of her and she was so soft beneath me, so sweet smelling. I pulled up the flannel dress she was wearing and ripped my gym shorts off. He looked up at me then, probably to see if I was uncomfortable. Which I definitely was but he just smiled and went on with his morbid recollection. She sighed once I was inside of her and I made love to her slowly, gently I tried to kiss her but she turned her head, again I'm sure it was just stress. I didn't stop until I finished inside of her, making us one. I stayed contently on top of her until the bedroom door burst open and in barreled the old man. He was in a fit of rage when he saw us, and he yanked her roughly from under me. He barked that I was sick and needed help, he'd help me then he was gone pulling Thalia out behind him. I heard muffled screaming, them yelling at each other and then I heard the door slam. My dad came in and said he'd talk to me later that he had to get back to the shop, it was the last I saw of her.
L.Y. So what do you think happened to her?
A.J. I think she killed herself, she was always so sad. She talked about it often to me. How everyone would be better off without her, which was obviously not true. Everyone got a raw deal out of her leaving. Kyle got harassed by the cops, my mom and I feel apart. The only one who made out ok was the old man.
L.Y. What do mean, I've talked to him, he said he still searches for her in every face he sees.
A.J. I don't think i have ever seen that man weep for his daughter, in fact her disappearance certainly benefited him more didn't it? It solved his incest kids problem, he no longer had to come up with money to send her to that fancy art school, and the insurance finally cleared.
L.Y. Insurance?
A.J. Yeah, dad took huge insurance policies out on all of us about three months before Thalia disappeared and after seven years she was declared dead so he put in his claim and it just cleared I assume because he sent me a check for ten grand. I thought about the new used nice car, the shiny gold watch and the new store front and it all made sense.
L.Y. You don't think your father was capable of hurting her do you?
A.J. Dad? Hm, well he could get rough with her, but I don't think he could of killed her. I think she killed herself. At that I clicked off the tape recorder and put it back into my pocket and reached out a hand to shake his.
L.Y. Thank you for your time Mr. James. Have yourself a good day now. I walked out of his house and once I knew he wasn't looking I snuck back and poured sugar into his gas tank, drove a knife into all four tires and busted a back headlight. It wasn't good enough revenge but it was the best I could do. And I felt better after doing it.