Chapter 5: Unforgettable But Definitely Regrettable

 

The last memory of my mother was nothing I’m proud of. She was crying on the sofa. She was telling me about something Greg said to her that hurt her feelings. No surprise.

 

 She was like a child. Her legs were tucked underneath her as she hugged a pillow. I wished so badly to comfort her. To hold her and kiss her and help her recover.

 

 I would have if it weren’t for Greg. Greg. I hate him.

 

 He told me he attached a camera to me and was listening and watching everything that I saw and heard while he wasn’t around. He told me that if I said anything negative about him or took my mother’s side on things I would be sorry. Very sorry.

 

 I was almost positive that there was no camera. It was almost stupid of me to have any faith that there was, but I knew that he had access to things like that at his work. Deep down I knew that there was no camera but I wasn’t about to risk it. I just had to let my mother cry it out without me.

 

 It was driving me mad. I stomped angrily out of the living room where my poor mother wept and slammed my door.

 

 She must have thought I was mad at her. That I thought there was something wrong with her and maybe went as far as she thought I hated her. In such an awful mood you think of things harsher than they really are.

 

 I loved her with all my heart and I still do. The person who I hate is Greg. Greg killed her. Greg ruined everything.

 

 The next thing I heard was that she was in a car accident. I was told that she skidded off the turnpike and hit a tree. They found her the next morning. The autopsy said that she died around midnight. Mom was never out that late.

 

 The cause of death was force blunt trauma to the head. They speculated that her air bags failed when she needed them most and her head slammed into the steering wheel. I knew that wasn’t what happened. I knew it was an act of Greg.

 

  I didn’t handle it well. Who would? My mom just died. I stayed in my room for days. I didn’t eat for days. I didn’t see Greg for weeks.

 

 When he finally came back he slapped me across my face and warned me not to tell the police anything about him that would not be commendable.

 

 I knew that if I did tell the police I thought it was him I would be the next victim and I wasn’t going to let Greg conquer me like that. I was going to defeat the one who defeated my mother. My beloved mother.

 

 Oh, how I miss her. What I would do to have her sit next to me on this plane that I bought tickets for online with Greg’s credit card yesterday.

 

 The turbulence on the plane was rough. I never liked planes and I’m now remembering why. I feel sick. My mouth begins to water while my stomach turns.

 

 I’m pushing my way through to the bathroom as politely as I can. People shoot me dirty looks as I’m on the verge of throwing up my insides. Everybody thinks everybody is out to get them. Everyone is attacking you instead of just dealing with their own problems. They may just know you from seeing you across the room but the still want to destroy you. That’s what people think. It sounds ridiculous to you but I’m sure you’ve thought of people that way before.

 

 These people that I have never seen before this second are thinking “What a rude girl! Who taught her those manners?”

 

 “The man who murdered my mother, that’s who.” I answer their unspoken question in my mind.