This Can't Be Love

Chapter 25: The Self-Destruction of Bethany Lawrence, Part 2

"To hell with it, I don't need etiquette. It's not like anyone can see me... There's nobody here... You hear me? There's nobody here!"

She scoffs to herself as she enters Samantha's room with the bottle in her hand.

"Who the hell am I talking to...?"

She starts packing more things into the suitcase, inadvertently spilling drops of wine all over the items she packs as well as the bed.

"Oh I'm not getting rid of Sammy, I'm just... You know... Getting rid of her stuff... So that... Hmmm..."

Bethany yawns now.

"Oh God, I need a break. I'll just take a power nap. Continue packing in about an hour..."

Bethany lays on top of the pile of clothes that hardly fits into the suitcase and worms her way into a state of comfort.

Several hours later, Bethany painfully awakens and she still has a tight grip on the bottle of wine she fell asleep with. The sun is brightly coming into the room and Bethany keeps her eyes closed from the pain this causes her. She walks to the window to close the shade. She grunts when she notices she has not let go of her bottle, then puts it down on the floor.

"Oh, what am I doing in Sammy's room?"

She looks around and sees the evidence that she had been packing, and it refreshes her memory.

"Oh... Right... It's a new year... Time for good will..."

A few more hours later, Bethany's SUV arrives at the parking lot of a thrift store. After pulling into a parking spot, Bethany exits the vehicle. She is wearing her regular winter coat and scarf, but this time a set of large dark sunglasses have joined the ensemble. She walks to the thrift store's door and enters.

Inside the thrift store, she stands at the counter and speaks to the man behind the register.

"Hey... I brought a whole bunch of stuff for you guys, you mind giving me a hand?"

The man nods and walks around the counter. He walks outside with Bethany.

"Like I said, it's a lot of stuff. You might need help, or at least a dolly or something..."

When they get to Bethany's vehicle, she opens the rear door of it. The man standing with her lets out a whistle that expresses surprise when he sees all the boxes and suitcases in Bethany's car.

"Is all of this coming in?"

"Yes, all of it."

"Well, hang on a minute. Let me go get the boys."

Bethany nods with retracted lips as she stands there with her arms crossed. The attendant walks away and she waits a few seconds for him to come back. She begins to nervously tap her foot with impatience. Two other thrift store workers come out and one of them is wheeling a handtruck.

Bethany steps aside and points them to her vehicle. She watches as they start grabbing boxes and carrying them inside. With each box they touch, she becomes more emotional. Her nose has become red and her lips moist. She licks her lips and tries to keep her composure, but a tear is visible trailing out from the bottom corner of her sunglasses.

That evening, Bethany is sitting at her dining room table, drinking wine yet again. She is alone in her empty house with the light above her being the only one that is on. Upstairs, Samantha's bedroom is clean, with nothing but an empty bedframe sitting in the middle of it. Bethany has given away and sold most of Samantha's belongings, the last of which is the boxspring of her bed sitting out on the curb with a sign that reads "free - take me." Bethany is inside drowning her sorrow in liquor, mourning the loss of her love for Nathan almost as much as she grieves over the loss of her daughter.