I take in a deep breath before knocking on the door. I hold on to the picture tightly in my pocket, as if it were a hand of reassurance.
The door opens and that familiar face answers. "Liam's not home." Mr. Finely said solemnly.
"I know." I breath. "I wanted to talk to you."
He motions me in the house and I then follow him to the kitchen table, where we sit in silence.
"How'd you know my mom?" I ask him with a straight face.
Mr. Finely laughs and leans back in his chair as if it were amusing. I stare into his eyes, determined.
"I don't remember." He said as if it were a joke. "It was just one of those friendships that sort of happened out of bliss."
"Why'd you say she lied?" I then ask with my eyebrows scrunched.
"Because she did." He then said in a very serious tone. "She was a dirty liar."
I look down at my lap, wanting to just get out of whatever I got myself into.
"What did she lie about?" I force. My voice comes out as a strain.
"Don't remember." He smiled once again.
The fact that he was taking all of this as a joke angered me. I take out the crumpled picture of him and my mom and show him.
"Will this jog your memory?" I ask in a desperate tone.
I watch him as he stares at the picture. Anger grows in his eyes. Pure anger and his fist started to clench, making the veins in his hand start to pop out.
"Where did you get this?" He asks through gritted teeth.
Suddenly the roles were now reversed. "Answer me first. What did my mom lie about?" I press the question even more.
He looks up at me and stares me in the eyes. I stare right back at them. Those dark, beady eyes. He gets out of his chair abruptly and disappears into the hallway without saying a word. I'm left there to only wonder what would happen next.
After a minute or so passed I also got up and made the decision to leave before things got even messier than they already were.
My throat was tight and my palms were sweating and I knew that needed to get out of here. I just felt it.
I reach for the door when I hear a click. A click that everyone knows. A click signaling that death could very well be near.
I slowly look over and see Mr. Finely about 5 feet from me. His dark, beady eyes were locked on mine, and the gun he was holding was pointed directly at me.
I felt my breath leave my chest and instant fear grow into my eyes.
"Where'd you get the picture, Grace?" He asks in a husky voice.
I scrunch my eyebrows together being that he called me by my mothers name.
"It was in my moms album." I tell him quietly, but clearly.
"It's your fault. You brought this upon yourself. I'm not going to show any mercy, just like how you did. Remember that, Grace? Remember? I learned that from you."
My chest was rising and falling at rapid rates as I started to put two and two together. He was replaying what he once did to my mother. I was now in her position. It was almost as if I were her. And this was the first time I didn't want to be connected to my mother at all.
Mr. Finely grips the gun holding it steady. Nothing but fear was pulling through my veins and my thoughts were nonexistent. He clicked the gun once more when a car drove up into the drive way.
His eyes left mine and traveled over the the window. He lowered the gun and disappeared back into the hallway.
I was still in shock due to the events that just took place. I heard the front door open and Liam walked in.
"Andi? I didn't know you were coming over?" He said in a light voice. A voice that didn't fit the mood left lingering in the air. "What's wrong?"
I shake my head slightly with my eyes still fixed on where Mr. Finely was standing. He looked over to where I was looking and walks in front of me.
"What did he do?" He then asks. "You should've told me that you were coming over."
"What?" I ask him, my voice barely audible.
Liam looks around before saying in a hushed voice, "My Dad has these meds that he's suppose to take in the morning, but he hasn't been taking them. I saw the bottle almost full this morning."
"Meds for what?" I then say.
"He has psychosis. It's basically where he can't decipher reality from what's in his head." Liam explained in a hushed voice.
I felt my eyebrows scrunch together once again. Before either of us got a chance to say anything else I quickly left house.
The house that held my moms murderer.
