The Final Gathering

Chapter One: A Family Gathering

             Lisa Ramirez strolled down the pier of her old hometown in a quaint Florida beach town. She had recently moved to southern Georgia with her husband and was home visiting for her father's 50th birthday. The salty sea air smelled nostalgic and the wind that flowed through her shoulder-length, dirty blonde hair felt comforting to her. She stood on the pier in her flip-flops, leaning over the railing with her eyes closed, soaking it all in. She quickly opened her eyes when she remembered why she was out there and not at home with her parents and husband. She had two younger sisters. Lillian was 21 and was driving in from Colorado with her new boyfriend, Asher. Lola, the youngest, was eighteen and still lived at home. However, when Lisa arrived at her parents' home, Lola was absent. "Out with some friends," Carol DeFrank, the matriarch of the family, had said while she embraced Lisa when she arrived in Florida (Lisa was Carol's obvious favorite and was thrilled to have her home). The problem with this was that Lola didn't have any friends and while Carol was too oblivious, Lisa took it upon herself to go find her sister. Lola was the typical rebellious teenager and that set her apart from her aging parents who were ready for their last child to hurry up and leave the nest. However, when it came to Lisa and Lola, there was more tension than love. Even though Lisa didn't particularly care where her sister was, she was determined to have a good vacation and that meant everyone needed to be home.

Lo, where are you? I'm at the pier.

Lisa sent the text to Lola, uncertain whether or not she would get a reply. She continued strolling down the pier, slowly, not wanting to leave. She loved her husband, Cruz, but they had their problems much like all other couples. Being home was what Lisa needed and she was going to enjoy every minute of it. She got to the shore and bent down to pick up a cream colored seashell when her phone vibrated.

Blue Moon. Why do you care?

"The hell?" Lisa thought out loud. Blue Moon was the poorly named strip club that all the old sleazy husbands went to forget about their cranky wives. It was also the only strip club in town so it was the home to all the local boy's bachelor parties. Lisa didn't have time to reply. She tossed the seashell back into the ocean where it belonged and headed toward Blue Moon.

Lisa always thought that place was disgusting. The man scanning ID's at the front was missing a few teeth and looked down Lisa's dress while licking where his front tooth should've been. "You can go in. Or you could stay out here with me, sweetheart," he said while attempting a wink. Lisa scoffed out of disgust, grabbed her license from him, and barged in. She started looking around for her sister. She saw old men who resembled the creepy ID guy, young boys who must've used fakes in order to get in, an old classmate, but no Lola. Lisa reached into her bag to grab her phone when she heard her voice.

"Get your nasty ass hands off me, I told you I would get it!"

Lisa turned her head around so fast she thought she got whiplash. There was Lola, wearing almost nothing: a black lingerie set with thigh-high stockings and a horribly fake blonde wig. There was a middle aged man in business attire grabbing her by the wrist and yelling at her. Lisa and Lola had their differences, but no one put their hands on her baby sister. Lisa rushed over to the table and pulled Lola away from the man.

"The fuck?!" Lola squealed as she was pulled away.

"I don't know who the hell you think you are but if you touch my sister one more time I swear to God I will kill you. Do you understand?" Lisa threatened through gritted teeth while still holding her sister protectively behind her. She had her finger pointed in the man's crater-filled face.

"She owes me money. And if she doesn't get it to me, I'll kill the both of ya. Do you understand?" the man answered Lisa in a disturbingly calm tone of voice as he slowly moved her hand away from him. Lisa jerked it back toward her quickly with a gasp.