Mental

50 | s t a b b i n g

"When people don't express themselves, they die one piece at a time."

— Laurie Halse Anderson

/ / l o u i s / /

"Louis?"

I don't turn around. I would recognize her voice even if I was miles away from her. I rub the back of my neck and bite my bottom lip. A part of me was hoping she wouldn't be here. I mean, why is she here? This is where Joe was killed by Harry.  I wouldn't even want to come back here. The other part of me is glad that she's here, though. I missed hearing her voice and her saying my name makes me want to hug her and never let go.

"Louis, is that you?"

Slowly, I turn around and look at her. My eyes widen and I automatically regret coming here. Evelyn's face is red and her eyes are puffy. There's something wrapped around her neck and I don't have a clue as to what it is called. Her hair is barely to her shoulders and I raise my eyebrows. What made her want to cut her hair?

"Evelyn, who's at the door?"

She's pushed away from the doorway and a much older woman approaches. She first looks at Zayn and she looks him up and down with disgust. Zayn smiles at her and waves. Of course, she doesn't wave back at him or smile. She just shakes her head and looks at me. As soon as her eyes land on me, her jaw drops and she looks frightened.

She screams, "It's you!"

"Huh?" I'm confused.

"You're supposed to be in jail!" she shrieks and Evelyn peeks through the doorway to look at me. She looks at the woman with concern and places a hand on her shoulder. "I had you put in jail!"

"Mother," Evelyn says through gritted teeth.

I look back at the woman and try my best to examine her. I see where Evelyn gets her looks from. She looks exactly like her mother. Twins, really. I clear my throat, "I'm no longer in jail, ma'am, as you can gladly see."

"Gladly?" she laughs a humorless laugh. "I'm not glad to see you! If anything, I'd be glad to see you dead!" I take a step back and try not to let her know that hurt my feelings. I suppose I deserve what she is throwing at me. "You deserve to be locked away in jail and you deserve to rot in Hell for what you've done! You've caused nothing but pain for my daughter. Look at her! She's in pain!" I look down at the ground instead.

"I would never hurt Evelyn," I whisper.

"Then why was she put in the hospital?"

"Yes, I'll admit it. It was my fault Evelyn was put in the hospital."

"No," Evelyn makes her way back into the conversation and Zayn bites his nails. "It was my fault. I should have listened to you. I was being too stubborn and if I had listened to you, we wouldn't be in this mess right now."

"I'm going to count to three," her mother tells me. "And when I get to three, I want you gone. If you're not gone, I'm going to call the police."

"Please," Evelyn shakes her head. "You don't need to do that. He went to jail for no reason, Mother. He didn't do anything to me but care for me. You were so quick to jump to conclusions and you sent him to jail!"

I intervene, "But I agreed to go."

"One," her mother begins to count.

"Don't do this," Evelyn begs and rushes out of the apartment. She throws her arms around me and looks back at her mother. "I lo—" She stops and clears her throat. "I care about him."

Her mother shakes her head, "You love him?" Once again, she laughs. "Not too long ago, you were crying about the stupid ring. Now, you're claiming that you love this man who took you away from your home. What ever happened to loving Joe?" Evelyn doesn't respond. "God, you're such a whore. I can't believe I raised a whore!"