Violet

Chapter 43: A Mother's Breakdown

I closed Mariel's bedroom door behind me. Taking a seat on her bed, I watched as she pulled a small notebook out of her dresser. She sat next to me and opened it up. When she reached the page she was looking for, I saw a strange drawing.

It was grass. Tall grass. Next to it were bodies. "I saw this on the news last night," Mariel looked at me. "And they're playing it again today at 5 PM."

I stared at the drawing, confused. "What is it?"

"They found bones and bodies in a hole. Hundreds and all of them were unidentified."

"Are you serious?" I asked. "How?"

"No one knows," she shrugged. "All of the bodies have the same burns. It wasn't like a fire had burned them either. The bodies look like people made of ash." She shook her head then looked at me. "You had told me before that you live near tall grass, right?"

"Yes," I said.

She bopped me on the head unexpectedly. "It's your dad! Connect the dots, Violet."

I rubbed my head and sneered at her. "What?"

"Don't what me," she stood up and smile. I was unfamiliar with this excitement coming from her. "An evil book that your father was obsessed with. The weird and unexplainable happenings. His distance. The bodies found near your home. What was her name.." She snapped her fingers and thought for a few seconds. "The disappearance of Rosemary. Then you have Abby, but I'm not sure how she fits in on all this."

I watched as she raised her hands in the air as if she wanted to hug me. But she didn't, she just stood there looking at me waiting for me to put everything together but I said nothing. "Ugh," she groaned. "Your father is practicing evil magic, killing people, and trying to scare you!"

I thought about her words. I don't know why I got upset, but I did. I didn't like her talking about my father in that way. It sounded insane, but so was my life story. I looked at her, slightly shaking my head. "That's not possible."

She plopped down next to me and grabbed my shoulders. "Neither is an eyeball popping out of your throat, yet you think this isn't impossible. Violet, the tooth, the spiders, Abby's lies and didn't you say she was close to your father?"

"Yes."

"Are they...is he into younger girls?"

I stood up and squeezed my eyes shut. "Ew no!"

She stood up. "Then she's helping him somehow."

With my eyes still shut, I thought about it. When things are so horrible are can be true, you sometimes don't want to accept it. I didn't want to believe it, but the possibility of it pushed passed my logic. "I think...that might be possible."

She placed a hand on me. "I think he's making your mom crazy."

"No," I said firmly. "She was drunk."

"Oh right," she nodded. She softly sat back on the bed and stared at the carpet with her eyebrows raised. "Wow. This is something."

"So," I said. "Is there a way to stop him?"

Mariel shrugged. "Beats me. We need to learn more about this book. Do you want to go to the library tomorrow? I would today, but school and soccer have me beat."

"Yeah," I said feeling my legs. "I'm sore too."

"If we find out anything, we should write a book about it!" Mariel joked.

I laughed. "A book about my life?"

"Yeah," Mariel nodded. "Call it, Violet."

Somehow in my mind, I had a feeling people would read it. "A lot of people would love to hear about a disturbing life. I'll take that into consideration."

"And I'll be your witness."

"You didn't see anything," I said.

"Maybe just not yet," she winked.

We laughed, then spent most of the afternoon laughing over reality shows. When the news finally came on, they replayed the event Mariel told me about. Sure enough, they showed the black and burnt bodies of people lying in holes. After it went off, Mariela asked me if I wanted to go home. I shook my head. "No, I don't. Can I stay here?"

"Sure, let me check," she got up, rolling her eyes at the fact she would have to talk to her mother.

***

I helped Mariel cook dinner. She was a really good cook and says she had been cooking for herself and her mother since her mom lost her mind to alcohol. During dinner with the two of them, Mariel's mother talked about her days when she was our age. She mentioned that she was a party animal. 

Mariel's mother was tipsy and not fully drunk just yet. When she was like this, she wasn't that bad to talk to. Mariel laughed at the stories her mother told. It wasn't a light laugh either. It was that kind of laugh where it hurt to breathe and the tears just kept coming because it was just too funny. Seeing Mariel smiling like that calmed me down. Her smile was magic on me because I knew it wasn't easy for her. 

I started to think if  I was becoming like Mariel and smiling less. I wondered if I would be the one laughing only when my mom wasn't that drunk. If I would be the one without a father one day. I quickly pushed those thoughts away when a tear almost fell out of my eye.

After dinner, card games, and serious laugh attacks, Mariel and I went upstairs. The real reason we went was because Mariel's mother was getting less funnier, more serious, and rude. 

Around 11 PM, Mariel and I fell asleep. She slept on a huge bean bag chair that she had in her room, while I slept on her bed. I fell asleep and had a few nightmares about my dad. In each dream, my mother and Abby was there. All three of them were laughing at me in some parts. Abby picked on me and told me that my father hated me and that I was a disappointment. My mother chased me around with bottles and before one came crashing down on my head again, I woke up.

A real crash came from downstairs and I immediately sat up. I heard groaning and crying coming from downstairs. I tried waking up Mariel but she just wouldn't budge. I gave up and went down myself to see candles lit in the living room above the fireplace. A shattered glass bottle was sprawled out on the carpet next to the mother's body. 

*Point out any mistakes.*