Mariana knew she had to leave the apartment as soon as possible. She took off the gloves and carefully removed Emily’s bonnet from her head. She had to dispose of them later. Her heart was pounding, but she managed to keep an emotionless expression, thinking about the last time she saw Amanda a year ago. The time, she saw her real sister, not just her body laying on the bathroom floor. The memory of the expressionless face and the sullen atmosphere of their last meeting always helped her turn all the emotions into pure sadness.
After she headed down the stairs to the nearby self-service laundry, she once again checked the time, hoping she’d still catch Emily there. Coming through the door, she quickly located her by the furthest washing machine, just as she was inserting Jacob’s t-shirt into the drum. Mariana waved, reminding herself to breathe.
‘Hey! How’s it going?’ - she asked Emily, her voice was weak - 'Jacob didn’t answer my call, I thought he was with you. He didn’t come to, you know... the anniversary’. Mariana thought about her demented mother, sitting by the set table, hopefully, convinced she’s still in the bedroom. She imagined her staring at the black and white photo of Amanda, unable to remember to mourn her.
‘Are you serious?’ - Emily replied with disgust in her voice - ‘So he’s not just a dick to me, then. I don’t know what’s happening to him lately, but he’s been such a pain to live with’ - she sighed. ‘I’m actually sorry. Oh damn, and I’m out of coins, I’ll be back in the minute’.
‘Of course, you are’ - Mariana thought, suddenly feeling the weight of her wallet, filled with the coins she took from Emily last night. As Emily started to fight with the machine to change some money, Mariana filled the laundry machine with the clothes she wore when she spoke to Jacob a few minutes ago. They were covered in his blood. When Emily turned back, Mariana looked as she didn’t move an inch.
‘I hope that it will work out well between you and Jacob’ - Mariana said when Emily started the laundry. Emily responded with a fake smile. ‘He’s a good person’ - Mariana added, knowing that they both considered it a lie. The heartbroken expression of Emily, and her bruised arms, reminded Mariana of her poor Amanda after he left her and of when she was found dead exactly a year ago. When Mariana left the self-service laundry and headed back home, she thought of Emily, and how the police could find traces of Jacob’s blood on his girlfriend’s laundry. She thought of how her own soul was purged of the guilt, at least on the surface.
She greeted her mother, who didn’t even notice her leaving the flat.
‘Why’s Amanda not with us?’ - the mother asked.
Author's note:
Mariana killed Jacob - Emily’s boyfriend. He broke her sister’s heart (and was abusive) and in Mariana’s opinion, contributed to Emily’s depression and later suicide. As Emily and Jacob were going through a crisis, Mariana decided to act.
コメント