Drowning in Guilt

Drowning Chapter 4

Chapter 4

I could feel my father's steady breathing as he stood behind me in our small living room.

"Honey I hate to do this to you, being you just arrived, but I have a few details to get finalized before the funeral."

"It's fine Dad, don't worry about it. Its nice just to be home again." I said softly as I looked around at the pictures of me covering the burgundy walls.

"Okay thanks sweetie." He said, kissing the top of my head.

After he left I started up the stairs, curious if my room was still how I left it. Any suspicions of my old bedroom becoming a sewing room for Grandma Jones vanished as I stood there smiling at my homemade "Do Not Enter!" sign. As I pushed the door in the air instantly turned humid and musty. I looked around my childhood room realizing not only had nothing been changed, nothing had even been touched. There was a thick layer of dust covering every inch of the room. Taking a few steps into the room I stopped to the sound of crunching glass. I reached down, carefully picking up the picture I had stepped on. As I brushed off the dust and broken glass I saw Lexi, Jay and I. I closed my eyes and the memory came back.

'-"Lex! Lex! I got one!" My ten year old self screamed.

"Ahh!" Lexi screeched along with me as I reeled in my first fish.

"Jay, what do I do!" I squeaked, jumping from one foot to the other in excitement.

"Ugh, settle down. Here-" A thirteen year old Jay grabbed the pole from my hands.

"Don't hurt it, kay." I said as I bent down next to him.

He looked up at me with an 'are you kidding me' expression.

After unhooking the fish Jay held it out for me to grab. "Here, we have to get a picture of you with your first catch."

"No! I don't want to touch it!" I squirmed away from the fish flapping in Jay's hand.

"Jay, stand next to Jenna with the fish." Lexi demanded as she set up the camera on the edge of the dock railing. "Okay, everybody ready?"

She hit the timer and slid to my other side. "Smile Jay!" She screamed, smacking him behind the head.-'

"Penny for your thoughts."

I was brought out to my flashback by Jay's voice right behind me. Startled I jumped. I turned around to see a pleased smirk on his face.

"Twenty dollars, I'm not cheep." I replied.

Jay shook his head smiling as he reached into his back pocket pulling out his billfold. "You never were." He said, handing me a twenty.

I took the bill, stuffing it into my pocket. "Do you remember this day?" I asked, handing him the broken picture.

Jay took it and stared at the photo smiling. "Yeah of course, this was your first catch. You we're so pathetic. You wouldn't even touch it. Plus you made me throw it back, we could have had fish that night."

"I haven't been fishing since then." I said.

"You haven't joined PETA have you?" He chuckled.

"Nope, I love my steak too much." I replied, snatching the picture back.

"Hey!" Jay exclaimed.

Then in one quick movement he had flung me onto the bed, landing on top of me. A cloud of dust billowed around us sending us into a round of coughing.

When we had finally finished coughing I started to get up but Jay's weight kept me stationed.

"Get off of me you cow!" I grunted as I looked up at him, his eyes were closed and he wasn't making any attempt to move off of me.