The Fruit of Insanity

Granny's House

"Venice, hurry up! Allona is at the door!" Venice's older sister, Emeralda, yelled.

"Coming!" He yelled back.

He quickly rushed out of bed, got dressed, and grabbed his phone before hurrying downstairs to find Allona sitting on the couch with Narcissa.

"Ready?" She asked.

"Yeah let's go." He said, a little out of breath from running around.

As they got into the car with Allona's mother and older sister, something in the rear view mirror caught his attention. It seemed as though his skin had taken on a paler tone than the day before. Also his eyes looked even more bloodshot than when he saw them in the mirror the previous night.

"Venice, are you alright honey?" Allona's mom, Lorianne, asked.

"I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"No offense, but you look kind of sick." Allona's sister, Patrish, pointed out.

"It's nothing. I feel fine. I guess I just didn't get enough sleep last night." He answered before whispering to Allona. "I need to talk to you about this later."

"I bet it was those cherries." She whispered back.

The rest of the ride was spent listening to the radio and making small talk. A few hours later they finally arrived.

Granny Marcita, as everyone called her, lived on a solitary farm, with two of her sons and their families living right down the dirt road. The farm itself was surrounded by a corn maze  while the large, three story house was shaded with apple trees.

Granny's husband, Terrance was a rich seller of fruits, vegetables, and eggs. He died around five years back, but his two eldest sons, Jona and Reece took over his work since they lived so close.

As Lorianne, Patrish, Allona, and Venice got out of the car, the front door was opened to reveal Granny Marcita herself walking towards them with open arms as her long died blonde hair bounced in a messy bun.

She greeted them all with a smile and led them inside. The windows, like always were covered in thick curtains, as the beautiful, dimly lit house smelled like peaches.

Granny led them into the kitchen and pulled two pans out of the oven. One held freshly steaming rolls, while the other was filled with sweet, mini fruit tarts.

She was about to grab the plates when her phone rang.

"Hello?" She answered.

They all watched as she talked with whoever was on the line for about six minutes, before hanging up.

"Who was that?" Patrish asked.

"That was your uncle Jona. He, Reece, your aunts, and the kids are all coming over later today to see y'all." Granny told them.

Venice got a bit irritate. How was he supposed to have a private conversation with Allona in a house full of people.

Allona quickly noticed his irritation at hearing there was going to be a crowd and said, "Don't worry. They only ever come over for Patrish."

"Oh please. You know that isn't true." Granny Marcita rolled her eyes.

"It is true, and we all know it. The older ones are the same age as her and like to make jokes at my expense, while the younger ones just want to spy on me." Allona glared down at the thought.

"The younger ones just want someone to play with." Patrish defended them.

"No, those little brats just want to get on my nerves, and every time I tell them to leave me alone I get in trouble. The only one I can say I like is Karlotta. She keeps to herself and actually goes through the same thing. Everyone in the family bothers her too." Allona spat back.

"Karlotta a total freak though!" Patrish exclaimed.

"She's still better than the rest of them." Allona said as she stood up.

"We should talk before they get here. Where do you want to go?" She turned to Venice.

"Let's go upstairs. I'd like to see what it looks like up there." Venice said before following Allona as she led him to the second floor.