“Hello? Is someone there?”
George's eyes cracked open at Irene's voice, and he shifted on the plush, almost sofa-like bench to peek through the cracks in the shelves.
He opened his mouth to say something, but his words froze in his throat when he spotted the person standing directly behind Irene. When he realized what was about to happen, he tried to speak, but nothing came out. Tears filled his eyes as he stared on in horror, Irene’s shocked gaze staring right back as she collapsed.
Ollie watcheda range of emotions flicker across Georgie’s face, as the man seemed to struggle to say anything. Sadness, shock, fear, and more, but the one that kept coming back was this look of utter helplessness.
Seconds passed before the man finally stuttered, “I-I couldn’t—I should have warned her! I w-wanted to warn her, but my voice wouldn’t come out! And then…it was too late. And?—”
“Why didn’t you tell anyone?” Noble asked.
“I wanted to!” Georgie cried before whimpering, “God, I wanted to…but it was… It was my mom!”
Ollie’s mouth opened to say something, but it snapped shut as the man’s words computed in his brain. He looked at Noble, eyes wide. The man just shrugged in response.
“Darline…? But…” Irene said slowly, sounding lost.
“Your mom killed her…not Marlow?”
“NO! Dad… Dad couldn’t hurt a fly, let alone a person.” Tears filled Georgie’s eyes. “You have to understand, it wasn’t really her… That last year…wasn’t reallyher!”
Ollie’s brow pulled before a vague memory wiggled free, a wave of sadness washing through him as he gasped, “Brain cancer. Your mom died of brain cancer. It was near her frontal lobe, wasn’t it?”
The man seemed to sag a bit, almost in relief, when he realized Ollie knew exactly what he was saying. “Yes…that last year she was alive, it was like someone else had taken over. Dad and I tried to keep her calm…but she was jealous to the extreme, constantly accusing my dad of cheating. And it seemed, with each passing month, her paranoia got worse…and eventually, she started to get violent.”
“And let me guess, her paranoia latched onto Irene as the number one threat to her marriage?” Noble mused.
“Darline!?” Irene rasped again in continued disbelief. “Also, I would never flirt with or even be suggestive towards a married man! And Marlow was my friend, we… We never saw each other in that?—”
Since Mr. Babs couldn’t see or hear Irene, he accidentally cut her off. “I saw her standing behind Irene with the hammer,and the words just got caught in my throat when I realized what she was about to do. I don’t even know how she got there since my dad had hidden the keys to the other car in fear she’d hurt someone.
“There was so much blood… The smell was awful. And my mom was almost catatonic once Irene was dead. She just stared blankly without a word. I didn’t know what else to do, aside from obviously freak out.
“But eventually…my dad showed up, looking for us. Which was good as it never crossed my mind to call him, and likely if I had, it would have been used as evidence, I’m sure.” The man took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “You know, that was one of the few times I witnessed my dad openly and loudly weep. The sound always stuck with me afterwards, as he sounded so hollow and lost at the time.
“They were friends, you know. Irene and him… Still, he never got angry or lashed out at Mom for what she’d done. But then, she wasn’t really there anymore… He bawled for a while, but eventually, he went silent. Even though the tears were still coming when he started cleaning my mother up.”
“Oh, Marlow…” Irene sighed sadly. “I knew she was sick, but he never told me how bad it had gotten…”
Ollie swallowed hard, blinking rapidly as tears threatened to break free. The fact of the matter was…the whole situation was a tragedy… No one had won or come out on top. Just pain all around.
Sniffling, he cleared his throat and managed to softly ask, without crying, “Did you help him bury her?”
“No…he didn’t want me involved any more than I was. Dad cleaned my mother up and then drove us home, and went back to do everything himself. I didn’t even know where Irene was buried until about six months before my dad died. I think he knew he didn’t have much time left, and didn’t want her to be leftcompletely alone… He wanted… He wanted me to visit her, so s-she wouldn’t be lonely.”
Georgie took a shuddered breath. “Anyway, after he buried her body, he came home and…we never talked about it. We went on like it never happened, as horrible as that sounds. I-I wanted to tell someone, but she was my mom, you know? And she was already dying… She did die, only two months later. They were my parents… I just…couldn’t lose both of them, even though I knew Irene deserved better.”
Ollie rubbed at his eyes when his tears broke free as Mr. Babs started to weep.
At the same time, Irene reached out to the man, looking distressed when her hand passed right through him. “Oh, Georgie, you were a kid. You can’t blame yourself for not saying anything back then.”
“Mr. Babs, what happened wasn’t your fault. You were a kid.” Ollie gently gripped his shoulder, because despite everything…he cared about the man. He had known Georgie all his life, and he cared, so watching him like this hurt. “Your mother was dying, and if you had spoken out about it, you’d have lost them both. So, I get it. But why, at least after your father died, didn’t you tell anyone? There’s no one left to protect. You were only seven when it happened. You witnessed it, but didn’t help hide the body, and were never even questioned, so they wouldn’t have been able to come after you for lying. The likelihood of you being charged with anything was low, so why didn’t you say anything?”
The man shook his head. “I don’t know… Fear? I know it’s not right. The guilt alone should have forced the words out, yet…still I kept quiet… It was just…easier.”
Sniffling, Ollie brushed another tear from his face as more broke free, before pressing forward. “Isn’t it time for you to do the right thing, Georgie? Her family has a right to know whathappened to her, don’t they? Don’t her brothers have a right to know?”
“They do,” the man sobbed. “They do, y-you’re right!”
