Poisoned Crimson

Chapter 22. Dominic's Punishment

Chapter 22

"Laughing like demons gone mad in the moonlit night, 

no longer able to gloss over such a sin,

Thrusting the thorns of the black roses into your head, we'll swear to each other 

So, this theory is nowhere near complete''

''I can't believe she just kicked him in the face,'' I said chuckling. Beth giggled as she inserted the key in the keyhole, opening the front door of her house.

''Well I thought that was amazing, he deserved it,'' she said more quietly when we noticed the lights in the house were out except for a dim light coming from the living room.

On our way home, we kept talking about the movie we saw, and we laughed a lot. It definitely felt great to do something so normal as going to the cinema with a friend. Only now could I realize it. I closed the front door behind me quietly.

Benjamin's words still lingered in the back of my head, but I forced myself not to think about them now.

''That he certainly did,'' I muttered while we took our coats off leaving it on the coat hanger. I wanted to say something else when she pressed her finger on my lip quickly.

''Listen,'' she whispered, and so we both did. I had to hold in my laughter when I heard snoring coming from the living room.

We headed towards the origin of the sound, seeing Beth's dad spread out on the couch. The dim light that we saw earlier came from a football game on TV. We slowly approached, trying not to make any noise that would wake him up.

''Does he always fall asleep on the couch?'' I whispered, taking in his peaceful sleeping face.

''Most of the time he does,'' she whispered back, taking the remote that was on his lap. ''Usually, I wake him up and carry him upstairs, but when I'm too tired I just leave him be.''

I nodded watching her father silently. He was so different from my father. My father spent his days in the office or travelling, if he ever did come home it would be very late. I knew that because sometimes I would try and stay up. I failed a lot of those times, but I did remember he came home at 3 a.m. once. Way too late for a little girl.

Beth shut off the TV, letting darkness take over the room.

''Do you want some coffee or something?'' Beth asked quietly, and my head shot towards her. Did I hear her correctly? Did she say coffee? Not tea?

I smiled brightly and nodded. ''Coffee sounds fantastic.''

''I'll make some then, come on,'' she said, making her way to the kitchen. As I followed her she turned on the kitchen lights. She took a coffee filter from a cupboard, filled the coffee pot with water and took a spoon and a coffee powder can.

My eyes drifted off to the dish rack, with the clean pasta plate and fork and knife.

Beth followed where I was looking and shrugged her shoulders.

''At least he cleans up after him,'' she said throwing two scoops of coffee powder into the filter. ''I guess that's the least you can do for feeling guilty for letting your daughter take care of you,'' she added with a sigh.

She put the filter in and turned the machine on. I smiled sympathetically.

''You should be lucky for that you know,'' I said. ''I mean, some people don't even do that. They don't seem to feel guilt all too well.''