| by CHRISSIE ROHRMAN  Let It Go by Ben Lelis | Flickr It looks roomy enough inside the freezer chest, but even after putting my weight against the lid, it still won’t close completely. I squint down through the vapor at my mother’s wrinkled face. Even dead, she looks disappointed in me. With a sigh, I haul her limp body back out of the freezer. For such a small woman, she was heavier than I expected. It seems poetic, considering the weight of disapproval I’ve felt my entire life. “You’re out, James,” she’d sneered at me from across the polished marble countertop. “I’m seeing my lawyer tomorrow. The house, the cars and jewelry—it’s going to your brother. All of it.” |
| We’ve never had anything in common; I’ve always been a disappointment to her. But I’ve been clean for six months, and when she called me to come here, I swear to God, I thought we were mending fences. It’s not like any of this is really hers to give away, anyway. She married into this wealth, inherited it all after Dear Old Stepdad #3 was found mauled by a Grizzly on a weekend hunting trip upstate. Or, his arm was found. My reaction may have been a bit…extreme. I’ll own that. But the candlestick was right there, and it made such a satisfying thunk against her skull. She was silent for once, dropping to the Italian tile like her strings had been cut. Frustrated, I scoop ice-crusted packages of venison and beef out of the freezer with red, numb hands, flinging them to the garage floor to make room for her body. This is a short-term plan, I know; just buying time. My digging fingers strike a solid, ice-slicked surface. What the hell? There, buried beneath a mountain of frozen wrapped meat, is the curled, one-armed body of Stepdad #3. Huh. I look to where my mother lies waiting on the concrete and nod appreciatively. It looks like we might have had something in common after all. Chrissie Rohrman is a training supervisor who lives in Indianapolis, Indiana with her husband and five fur babies. She loves writing competitions, and her short fiction has been published in various print and online magazines. She is currently drafting her first novel, a YA fantasy. Follow on Twitter @ChrissieRawrman or Facebook: Chrissie Rohrman Writes Things |
