Crooked Man

T W E L V E

"D-dad? Why would he do that? I thought he had died in a car accident!"
"He wanted to leave mom...but...she didn't want him to go. So dad...he...he pretty much showed her that he was capable of harming her. Us...mostly."
"SO HE KILLED YOU?!" I could see the disappointment in her eyes. Her beautiful green eyes. Tears streaming down her pink cheeks.
I miss holding her in my arms. Playing with her hair. Imagining what we would be like when we grew up.
All gone to waste.

"So I k-killed mom for..."she gulps "no reason?"
I just look at her.
"Say something Anna!"
"Yes..."I whisper.
"What?"
"Yes! Yes you did! You killed her for no reason at all!"
"But I thought all the sirens and the tv broadcasting was because the police was coming to get her!"
"And that's another thing..."
She looks at me impatiently.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that...the man you talk to in your mind is actually dad. The crooked man. He's dad." I feel like puking while I say that. But, I'm dead anyway so...
"So that means that he's here. In this house?"
"No, Monica. That was all your imagination. You wanted dad to be here so bad that you felt like he was here. You imagined him here. But...you thought he was hit by a car. So he was crooked. You imagined him crooked."