Violet

Chapter 4: Violet

  Tiny fingers curled around Jason's pinky. The newborn peered through brand new eyes at what must be such a strange world after living in the womb. Her legs kicked in a tiny jagged motion, looking for the resistance they were used to, but finding nothing but air. Jason wondered if that was unsettling or a relief, it must have been pretty cramped in there. When she stretched, her hands barely rose above her head. She cooed and Jason chuckled at her. She was beautiful. She was perfect. 

"Violet," Jason said, holding her in his arms like she was a delicate treasure. Her black eyes, not yet an official color, stared at her father. His heart overflowed with an indescribable happiness. He wondered how he had created something so beautiful.

"Alright, you two," Veronica said in a weary voice as she held out her arms. She rested in the hospital bed. "Hand her over. I'm getting jealous."

Jason laughed and carried Violet over to her mother. "I'll getcha back," Jason whispered playfully to Violet.

There was a soft knock at the door. When Jason saw who it was, he looked away and faced the wall. His hands rested in his pants pocket and he bounced around on his heels nervously.

"Claire!" Veronica said. She spread out her arms to welcome Claire in for a hug. "Look at you."

Claire placed her hands on her stomach. "Three more months to go."

"Looks like you got the girl you wanted," Veronica said. "Have you and Marcus decided on any names yet?"

Claire nodded. "Abby." She turned to Jason and smiled. "What do you think about Abby, Jason?"

Veronica's smile slowly turned into a frown. She didn't find it appropriate to ask Jason what he thought in a manner like that. Jason walked over and sat on the bed where Veronica laid. "It sounds nice," he said.

Claire nodded and smiled. "Thank you." She walked towards. "I'll see you two later. Congratulations, Veronica. Oh and Jason." She only stared at him. "Don't forget," she mouthed before walking away.

Surely Jason knew what she meant by that. Don't forget. As in, don't forget to pay me the money you owe me for keeping those papers from getting to your girlfriend. The papers that held the truth. 

Veronica sighed. Jason placed his hand on her hand but she moved it away and placed it on Violet.

"What?" Jason asked.

Veronica waited a few seconds before looking at him. She shrugged and gave him a weak smile that indicated she was not happy at all. "While I was gone-"  She hesitated. "Did anything happen between you and Claire?"

He shook his head and looked at the bed before looking at her. "No. Why?"

"I just find it funny"—a sentence Veronica would use whenever she was upset—"that Claire calls you, comes over, and stops from time to time. Whenever you take her calls, you go in a different room. I've been here a month and seen her face almost every day, Jason."

Jason shrugged. "That's not my fault. Maybe she just wants to see us. She is our friend."

"She's your friend, Jason," she said abruptly.

Jason lowered his eyebrows and shook his head. "Veronica, relax. Claire is no harm to us." He looked at Violet. "Today's a special day. Let's not ruin that. Please."

Veronica looked at him suspiciously. 

"Please?" Jason asked once more.

"Go home," she replied then looked at Violet. "I just...don't want to see you right now," Veronica said.

Jason angrily stood up, grabbed his keys, and swiftly walked out of the room. Once he was inside his car, he pulled away from the hospital and got onto the highway to head back home. Claire popped into his mind. He wanted her out of his life. 400 dollars a month to keep her silent started to get stressful and he could barely pay for a decent place for himself. The spot he lived in now was small. One bedroom, kitchen, living room, and a bathroom.

"Shit!" He squeezed the wheel, thinking about Claire. Never had such hatred crawled in his mind. He thought things would be better if she somehow died but moved the thought away, finding himself over emotional. 

He didn't realize that he was speeding on the highway, when all of a sudden, a deer pranced out in front of the car. The car brutally crushed the deer's body. Jason gained control of the car quickly and pulled over to the side. 

As a lover of animals, he quickly got out of the car to examine the deer. He slowly approached it and looked at it. Its neck was broken and its head rested on the deer's stomach in an awkward position. Blood poured slowly from its neck onto the cold, hard road. The deer struggled to breathe, making its head move in the process.

"Poor little guy, " he said. "You know, in a way, you look kind of beautiful." He walked back to his car, only to bring back a pen and paper. He began to draw the deer's body. Happy that no cars were passing, he took his time to focus on every detail. Every small detail.

When he was done, he became aware of the blood dripping out of the deer's neck. Using his finger, he touched a small amount of dripping blood and with it, drew an X on the picture where the eyes should have been. He used more blood, raised his hands in the air and let the blood drizzle onto the neck of the deer in the drawing. Jason smiled. The blood made the drawing look so realistic as if the deer was actually bleeding.

"Now there's an idea," he said, getting up. "Realistic art."