‘…Del’? Why didn’t you answer me? Where are the kids?…’
Delores nodded, the images forming, unravelling like an old-fashioned movie reel and curling on the floor as the fell in a heap.
“You turned around to face me, and that’s when I saw it—the blood.”
Delores’ face screwed up in pain. She lifted her hands and stared at them, still seeing blood on them even after all these days. Her children’s blood.
“I asked you if you were okay, and you smiled at me. Do you remember that, Del’? Do you remember smiling when I asked if you were okay?” Michael’s voice was like caramel as his words washed over her. Both sweet and thick, they filled her head, consumed her thoughts.
‘…Are you okay? Are you hurt?…’
“Yes, I remember,” Delores sobbed, still staring at her hands, at the blood dripping through her fingers, sticky, hot, and dark. Her children’s blood trailed over her palms and down her wrists until it dripped from her elbows.
“I came around the island, and that’s when I saw them, that’s when I saw Anabel and Owen.”
The room grew darker, the sun finally dipping below the horizon. Michael didn’t move to turn a lamp on. Instead he enjoyed the dark, embraced it. Delores let out a moan of pain, a guttural sound which came from somewhere inhuman.
“They were on the floor, their fragile little bodies curled up next to each other. All covered in blood. I could see Anabel’s face, her eyes were open, staring up at me, ‘Daddy, why didn’t you save me, Daddy?’ That’s what she was saying. Can you hear her, Del? Can you hear her begging you to stop?”
‘…Mama! Please, mama, please! It hurts…’
“It hurts, mama.”
‘…It hurts, please stop.…’
“Please stop!” Michael yelled next to Delores’s ear, making her startle and scream. “Stop it, mama!”
‘…Stop it!…’
“Stop it, please!” Delores cried out.
“Stop it!”
‘…Stop it!…’
She sat up in bed, her heart hammering against her chest like it was trying to escape from her body. She drew her pale legs up to her chest, wrapped her thin arms around them, buried her face in her knees and cried.
“Stop it, mama!” Michael mocked.
“Stop it, Michael!”
‘…Please, Mama!…’
“Please, Michael, please!”
‘…Mama, no!…’
“There was so much blood, Del’. So much blood, and you were covered in it. You ran to me, hugged me, you told me you were sorry. There was blood on your hands and I held them tight and showed them to you, and asked you why, and you just shook your head and cried like you always do when you get like that. When you get yourself into such a state. But this time it’s too much, Del’, this time you went too far,” Michael said through gritted teeth, his blue sapphires still glinting in the dark.
“I know, I’m sorry,” Delores begged as she searched the dark for his face.
“Sorry isn’t good enough.”
“I know, I know. I’ll pay for it. I know.” Delores nodded in agreement. It was the very least of what she deserved, she said to herself.
An ache burned through her body. Her head throbbed angrily, painfully, and she let go of her legs and clutched at her temples, willing the blinding pain to stop.
“You need your meds, Del’,” Michael reached into his pocket and pulled out his small clear baggie of pills. He took one out, leaned over and placed it on her waiting tongue. “Prison is too good for you, you know that, right?”
