House of Dolls

The Last Dinner

Nathan spent the rest of the night sifting through the shattered remains of his dolls. "Tomorrow is the night; there is no turning back," Nathan told himself as he rose from the floor, wiping away his disappointment. He had been planning his big break for almost a year, needing to get away from what he perceived to be his life's problems.

He vowed to leave his parents behind at first, but that quickly changed to a plot to ensure they were permanently removed from his life. He couldn't accept the idea of them removing him from their will if he left. He believed he deserved what they had for what they put him through all of those years. Nathan eventually wanted it all to himself, deciding to put his scheme into action right after his father displays hatred towards him. Making his parents pay and ridding himself of the constant abuse was the most important thing in his life.

He wanted to make sure their ending was special, not only in his eyes, but theirs. In his twisted mind, he felt doing it on a day of special meaning would mean the most to them.

His parents' anniversary was the following morning, on a Friday. Nathan decided to avoid any interaction with his parents by walking to school instead of taking the bus. He left the farm before sunrise to begin the nearly two-hour journey. Instead of focusing on his work, Nathan spent much of the day daydreaming about that evening. He took a nap when he got home from school, preparing himself for the eventful evening that was about to unfold. Nathan awoke from his light sleep a few hours later, rested and ready to begin. He stood up, looked in the mirror on the wall of his bedroom, cracked his neck from side to side, and gave himself a pep talk. "They deserve this, Nathan. Think of how they have treated you and how you'll be free. You can do this."

Nathan then proceeded to the kitchen after pumping himself up. He noticed his mother seated at the table as he descended the squeaky staircase. She had sat alone, her glasses on the bridge of her nose, reading the daily newspaper. Nathan's father, on the other hand, had taken comfort in his usual evening position, lying back in his recliner, incessantly clicking the TV remote.

Shari peered through the top of her glasses at Nathan as she noticed him in the kitchen, feeling the need to address the previous situation "Nathan, I'm sorry about your dolls; you know how your father feels about them. I suppose it's time to put the rest of them away." She continued to read while shaking her head. Nathan scowled at his mother as he watched her lick her finger, flipping to the next page, oblivious to the hatred on his face. He was enraged that she refused to intervene and assist him.

His father then glanced over from his permanent seated position toward Nathan as he shouted, "Make yourself useful, Nathan, and go grab me another beer."

"Useless kid," his father then mumbled under his breath.

Nathan complied with his father's request and went to get his drink. He didn't say anything to either of his parents at the time, as he tried to contain his rage and convince them it wasn't a big deal.

"I'm going to start dinner for the two of you, mother," Nathan stated as he began to take out all of the ingredients for their supper.

"Oh, OK, dear," Shari replied with her focus still on her paper.

Nathan then started preparing his parents' dinner. He had in mind a savory pasta dish with hearty meatballs. His mother went into her bedroom as he started rolling the homemade meatballs. "I'm going to wash up," she yelled at Nathan.

That had been the ideal time for Nathan to add the final ingredients to his mixture, which he had carefully hidden in a safe place. They'd been hidden behind the stove, where Nathan hoped his parents wouldn't notice.

He intended to use oleander leaves he had picked from his mother's garden and wild mushrooms he had found in cow dung. The oleander is a dangerous poison to humans that can be found in anyone's garden with no trace of purchase, and the mushrooms are a hallucinogen that would render them completely unaware of what was going on. He had finely chopped his garlic, fresh basil, oleander leaves, and mushrooms and mixed them into the meatball mixture. Nathan could only think about how simple it would be to carry out his plan.