MAD MARY

💀 CHAPTER FOUR | GREEN EYED CRAZY.

Mary stared at the Beckhams, Poodles head still in her arms. She was not frightened nor was she surprised. She had expected a meeting with the family but not so soon.

They all came through the back door of the basement as she did. Alice stepped in and the rest of the family stood outside close to nature.

"Hi there...um...do you have a name?" Alice asked as she began to take kind steps towards tattered Mary.

"Alice get away from her! She butchered Poodles remember?!" Richard reminded his wife.

Alice turned to Richard and took a glance at her son. She recalled the fear in his eyes when she woke up a few minutes ago. Alice turned back to the lost lady in front of her. The green in the child's eyes reminded her of herself a few years ago. It also reminded her of something else. Something she had forgotten. She stared at the child.

"I'm the only one who understands." She said.

"Understands what Alice?" Richard asked. The blue in his eyes were partly kissed by red capillaries of fury. His knees knocked silently in fear. Sweat poured down his armpit and facial pores.

Alice walked closer to Mary. She took the dog's head off the girl's hands and with a piece of clothing she found nearby, she began to wipe the blood off Mary's hands and face.

"I'm the only one who understands what it is to be her. To be lost...to be feared. I understand that better than anyone and that's why I know she's sorry for what she did." Alice said.

"Say what?!" Richard yelled.

"Shoot me! The fuck is wrong with this house?! It's been raining crazy since we moved in!" George said, surrendering both his arms to the air.

"Language George!!" Alice scolded her son.
She turned back to Mary. She wiped and wiped but the dried up red on Mary's hands remained still.

"Well it seems we've got to wash this off with water." She told the lost girl with a smile.

Alice took a good long look at Mary Angela. Mary had scars of faded purple and pink on her flesh. Scratches long and short decorated her hands like tattoos undefined.

Alice placed both her hands on Mary's cheeks. They were the total opposite of soft. Her jawlines stood out like the ones on Walt Disney's Maleficent. Her collar bones looked like blade necklines guarded by skin. Her limbs were so thin, the torn orange T-shirt she wore dangled like an oversized dress. The ripped jean she wore pasted on all sides by the brown of dirt and old became unnecessary in the realm of covering, for her waist grew thinner by the day. Mary was a malnourished child.

"Oh the poor thing! She's been starved for so long I'm sure. Look at these cheeks! No wonder you ripped apart the cereal boxes. You're hungry aren't you?" Alice asked Mary.

"Mum how can she be hungry when she just ate a whole carton-worth of cereal? Come on!" George stated fact.

"Shut your mouth George! You eat three times daily. Those boxes of cereals might have been the only thing she's had in days!" Alice scolded her son and turned back to Mary.

"You're hungry aren't you?" she asked. Mary remained silent. Her green eyes just stared at the woman whose warm hands kissed her cheeks.

"So would you tell me your name now? What can we call you?" Alice asked again and as before, Mary kept mute.

"No worries. Take your time. You've not been with humans for a while so it might be awkward for now but you'll get used to it. Come along. You should freshen up." Angela told the thin child.

She stood up and offered Mary her hands.

"You should get on your feet first." She said.

Mary looked at Alice for a while and without a smile but a warmed heart, she placed her hands on Alice's and with Alice's pull, she stood straight.