Faithfully

70

"Mom, we have to go." Betty told Alice as she grabbed her sleeve and pulled her towards the door. "Elizabeth, why?" Alice asked as she ripped her arm from Betty's grasp.

"Just trust me, okay?"

"Why are you acting so strange? What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything! Mom, we have to go!"

"I'm not going anywhere until you tell me why you are in such a rush?"

The front door swung open and Hal walked in carrying an old projector. "Where did you get that?" Alice asked. "Storage." He replied with a smile. "I want to show you girls something."

He set up the projector on the sofa table behind the couch. "Alice? Betty?" Hal said pointing towards the couch. "Take a seat." The look on his face gave Betty a chill up her spine. She wanted to take off for the door and run, but she couldn't leave her mom.

Alice sat on the couch and Betty sat in the chair next to her mom. Hal flipped the switch which started the projector. After a bit of warming up, a little boy appeared on the school as he sat in a chair. "What is this? Some old home movie?" Alice questioned.

"I think you're really going to enjoy this." Hal smiled and deviant smile.

Off of the screen, a woman started to speak.
"Now, remember, I'm making this movie so we never forget what your daddy sacrificed for us.
You do love your daddy, don't you, Harold?" "Yes, Mom." The little boy on the chair said.

"And you want your daddy to keep living with us?"

"Yes, Mom."

"I don't understand, what are we watching? Is that you, Hal?" Alice asked. "It is." He replied.

"Your daddy did something very noble, Harold.
He took care of that Conway family." The woman continued. "They were sinners. And what happens to sinners?"

"Sinners have to die."

Betty's eyes were glued to the screen. She couldn't move an inch. "Oh, my God! What is this, a snuff film?" Alice asked. "Shut the hell up, Alice, for once in your life!" Hal shouted at her which caused Betty to wince and they all turned back to the film.

"That's right." The woman sighed. "Now, that little Conway boy who survived, they're going to ask him who killed his family. He needs to point out somebody, anybody, but not daddy. Because we don't want daddy to be taken away from us, do we?"

"No, I love my daddy."

"So you have to help him. Make sure that when they ask the Conway boy who he saw kill his family, make sure he doesn't say daddy. Can you do that, Harold? Convince him?"

"I think so."

"You're a good boy, Hal. Your father let him escape, but you, you will do better. You must do better."

When the film was over, Hal walked around the couch and stood in front of his wife and daughter.

"Take out your taperecorder, Alice." He told her. "I need you to record this." And she did as she was told. She pulled it from her purse and set it on the coffee table after she hit record. "The Conways, that was the family that was murdered 40 years ago?" Alice asked. "Yes." he replied.

Alice picked the recorder up from the table. "Oh, my God!"

"Take it out! And I want to tell my story." Hal looked towards Betty and said, "No, our story, really. First, to clear something up. Your Great-Grandpappy Cooper wasn't murdered by his brother, like some dog. He was the killer. He killed Great-Grandpappy Blossom and then took on the Cooper name to create a new identity for himself. For us."