The Family (VOL. 1)

Chapter 17

Water dripped from my chilled skin as I climbed out of the bath and wrapped a towel around myself before joining Loretta in the bedroom where she was waiting. 

"Now that you're all clean, how about we get you in some clothes?  Where on earth did I leave that dress?" she held a finger against her chin and the other on her hip while her eyes scoured the space. "I bet I left it in grandma's room."

"Grandma?" I asked, drawing my brows together. That must be who I saw in the room next door when I was with Bubba the other day. 

"Oh, that's right, you haven't met her yet, have you?"

"Can't say I've had the pleasure," I said, drying my hair with a holey towel.

"Well, it's time you had. Come on, I'll introduce you." She crossed the room and grabbed the door handle.

"I can't go out there, I'm in nothing but a towel!"

"Don't worry about it. The boys aren't here. Nobody but us girls will see you."

I relented and followed her into the hall, clutching the towel tighter around myself and peering over the railing in search of the boys. I really need to find Bubba right now. If I could just talk to him I might be able to get this whole thing postponed. 

She slowly creaked the door open. "Grandma, you awake?" she whispered, tiptoeing into the room and kneeling beside the woman. "I have someone special here to see you." she waved her hand for me to come forward.

I inched into the dark room bathed in shadow, the only light coming from the sun shining through the window the woman was facing. The floorboards creaked beneath my bare feet, my wet footprints visible through the thick layer of dirt on the floor. White paint peeled from the walls in ribbons, cobwebs caked each corner. The room was nearly empty except for some old trunks, boxes, and the broken-down chair the mystery woman sat in.

The closer I approached her, the more flies seemed to be swarming the air and the stronger the smell- good God, what is that smell! I froze dead in my tracks, my heart dropped to my stomach when I laid my eyes on Grandma...or what was left of her.

A rotting corpse, gray skin stretched tightly over bone, sat in a tattered dress hanging loosely off its frame.  The eyes nothing more than hollow sockets, the lipless mouth hung open bearing the few teeth she had left in her mouth. My stomach heaved as my nostrils filled with the stench of rotting flesh. I threw a hand over my mouth, turning away to mask the smell along with the look of terror on my face.

"Grandma, this is Tilly. She's gonna marry Bubba today." She paused for a moment and stared at the corpse, nodding her head as if it were speaking to her. "That's right, she's gonna be a Sawyer!" she said with a laugh. "Tilly, dear, don't be rude. Say hi to grandma."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am," I stuttered out, half gagging, the smell foul enough to sting my eyes causing tears to swell in the corners.

"I know, isn't she just the prettiest peach you ever seen. She's gonna make a good wife to Bubba. She turned her attention towards me, "Grandma wants you to shake her hand, Tilly."

Alrighty then, she's officially lost her marbles. I glared at Loretta like she was a mad woman, which she is if she's expecting me to shake hands with a dead body. And to think I thought she was the only moderately sane person here. Boy, was I wrong!

" Go on, honey. She don't bite." She brushed the few sprigs of gray hair left attached to the scalp out of the corpses face.

I reached down, everything in me screaming not to, and with two fingers picked up the boney hand, giving it a slight shake, any harder and I'm sure it would've dislocated from the socket. I kept my eyes on Loretta, avoiding the empty stare of the corpse and trying my hardest to plaster on a believable fake smile.