July 31, 1998
Vincent:
'She looks so peaceful.'
'She's in a much better place, Vincent.'
'She'll be your guardian angel from now on.'
Those were just a few of the statements that I heard throughout the day from people who came to the funeral to gawk and whisper about Mommy taking her life. Some said she was selfish for leaving her family behind, while others said she must have been deeply troubled to shoot herself in the head. They flapped their jaws ignorantly, not knowing the reason she had killed herself was right in front of them.
Victor, which I am calling him now because I refuse to acknowledge him as my Daddy, was dressed in his nicest suit, and he was putting on a good show for all the people. He would start telling a story about how happy he and Mommy were, then he'd pull a handkerchief from his pocket and pretend to cry.
Everyone was quick to pat him on the back and tell him it was going to be okay. The whole thing made me want to run to the restroom and barf my breakfast tacos up.
I wanted to tell everyone that he and I were the reason Mommy was dead, but he would kill me if I ruined his perfect reputation.
There was no point in making things worse than they already were. Besides, after this I'd be going back to Grandma's house and I would not have to see him again.
"Vincent..." a sweet voice said from behind me.
I shook the bitter thoughts from my head and
turned around to see Katherine and her mom standing there. They each had a beautiful bouquet of flowers in their hands.
"Hello...." I sighed, trying to hold back my tears. "Thank you so much for....coming."
Molly set the flowers down and took me into her arms. "Oh, Vincent. I'm so sorry."
"Thank you." I repeated, sniffling before the snot dripping from my nose reached her dress.
She pulled away from me and tucked a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear as she looked over at Victor. She picked up the flowers and said, "I'm going to say hello to your father."
She walked away, leaving me and Katherine alone. Katherine shifted on her leg and held the flowers out. "I'm really sorry about your mom, Vincent. I know it's not much, but I hope these flowers help you feel better."
My eyebrows raised at her sad tone. Her blue eyes, which were usually filled with happiness, looked dull and tired. She looked like she had not slept in days.
I took the flowers from her hands and set them down. "Are you okay, Katherine?"
"Yes, I'm alright." She said, rubbing her arm and looking away from me.
"You sure? You seem kinda-"
Before I could finish I felt a strong hand on my shoulder. Victor stepped next to me with Molly trailing behind him. He glanced at me for a moment, then looked over at Katherine.
"Hello there." He said placing his other hand on her shoulder. "Thank you very much for coming. It means a lot to me....and Vincent."
Katherine laced her hands together and looked down at the floor. "I'm sorry for your loss."
"Thank you, sweetie." Victor said, removing his hand from her shoulder. "So, have you had a chance to meet my daughter yet?"
Katherine shook her head.
"I really must introduce the two of you." Victor insisted, "I'm sure you would get along great."
"That would be lovely." Molly chimed in, "She could use a nice girl her own age to play with."
Victor nodded in agreement and turned his attention to me. "Would you do me a favor and grab your sister for me? The last time I saw her she was in the coffee room."
"Sure..." I grunted.
I pushed past the group of mourners and went into the back of the funeral home, where the coffee room was, to find Violet drinking a cup of water. She was wearing a black dress and had a shiny red ribbon tied in her brown hair.
Her bored face filled with joy when she saw me standing there. "Hello, baby brother!" She cried happily, wrapping her arms around me.
"Umm...hey." I muttered, pulling her arms off of me.
Why in the world was she being so nice to me?
It could be because this was the first time we'd seen each other in months, and I guess I should have been glad to see her; but all I could think about was how much trouble she had caused.
"What's wrong, Vinny? Didn't you miss me?"
"Not really."
The smile dropped from her face. "Yeah, well I didn't miss you either!"
"Good." I mumbled, "Anyway, Victor asked me to come get you so you could meet my friend and her mom."
"I don't wanna meet your stupid friend!" She growled, folding her arms. "I don't even wanna be at this stupid funeral right now!"
"How can you say that!?" I cried, shocked by her disrespectful attitude. "This isn't just any funeral, Violet. Our mom is-"
"Dead! Yeah, I know!" She hissed, "God, I'm so sick of everyone reminding me!"
She plopped into a metal chair and put her head in her hands, her brown eyes filling with tears. "Why did she have to kill herself!?"
"Violet..." I reached my hand towards her and took a step forward, "She was sad because of the way we all treated her."
"I never did anything to her!" She cried, "Even though you were her favorite I was still nice to her!"
My fists clenched by my sides. "What are you talking about!? You were always saying mean things to her, and you beat up on her anytime Victor would let you."
"I was just kidding around-"
"Well, it wasn't funny." I said, taking a seat in the chair next to her.
We sat there in silence for a moment, staring at each other in anger. She was mad at me for telling her the truth, and I was mad at her for being too stupid to see it.
She balled her paper cup and threw it into the trash, then looked at me and said something that made my blood boil.
"You know what? I'm glad she's dead."
My mouth fell agape. "W-what did you say?"
"You heard me. If she was too scared to stand up for herself then she deserved to die!"
"You bitch..." I said through clenched teeth.
My vision once again became clouded with dark splotches, and my anger was becoming more intense with each word that fell from my sister's mouth. She had gone too far this time!
I grabbed the back of her neck and slammed her face into the table. "You better take that back right now, Violet! Take it back or I swear you'll be sorry!"
"Vinny-!"
"Take it back!!"
"Let go of me!!" She cried, digging her nails into my arm. "I'm gonna tell Daddy on you!!
I took a clump of her hair and slammed her head into the table again. "TAKE IT BACK!!!"
She gasped and kicked her legs back as hard as she could, trying desperately to get out of my grasp. There was a small line of blood oozing from her nose and her bottom lip was busted.
"Daddy, help!!!"
My boiling anger was immediately replaced with panic. He was going to kill me when he saw what I'd done to his 'little princess'.
I released her and threw my hands in the air pleadingly. "No no no! Don't call-"
"DADDY!!!"
Her shrill voice pierced through my brain like a sharp sword and I covered my ears. Several heavy sets of footsteps came running towards the coffee room, and before I could so much as blink, Victor and the funeral home director were pulling me away from Violet.
"What is going on here!?" Victor demanded.
Violet wiped the blood from her face. "H-he was hurting me, Daddy."
More people stepped into the small room and began whispering amongst themselves, all of them glaring at me. An older woman stepped forward and wrapped her arm protectively around Violet and took her out of the room.
"What in the world got into you, son?" The funeral director asked.
"Never mind." Victor said, "You go take care of the guests and I'll take care of my son."
The funeral director frowned at me before ushering everyone away from us. Victor closed the door behind him and sat down on one of the chairs with a sigh. "What the hell is the matter with you, boy? You can't even show a little fucking respect for your dead mother."
"It wasn't my fault!" I said, "Violet said-"
"Shut up." He said, pressing his finger over my lips before I could finish. "You keep your damn mouth shut and just sit there while I figure out what to do with you."
He stood up and rubbed the back of his head, sighing heavily as he paced around the room.
"You were a mistake." He said, "You have been nothing but trouble since you were born."
He kneeled in front of me and took my chin between his thumb and index finger. "I've obviously been too easy on you, boy. But this time I'm gonna make sure your punishment is so severe you'll never embarrass me again."