“I’m sorry, Aimee,” Archie said, hesitant. He almost seemed like he wanted to hug me but held back. “What happened next?”
“I went to the gun cabinet, took out the 9MM I used for target shooting. Dad was a cop and took me target shooting every Sunday,” I said flatly. “I shot him. And he died.”
“And your mom?”
“Resented me, even though I did it for her, to protect her, until she drove her car onto the train tracks. They said her car stalled, but I know she waited for it. She wanted to die too, to be with him. She blamed me for everything. She’d told me so earlier that day.”
“Your mom blamed you?” Archie asked.
I met his gaze. “Just like your sister. I promise, Archie, I didn’t want to hurt her.”
A mix of emotions flashed across his face until anger settled in. “You lured her there!”
“Yes, I wanted her there. I wanted her to see the truth about Dream. And if she wasn’t there and Dream went missing, she’d go right to Brother Jim. I didn’t want that happening. She couldn’t see that I was doing it for both of us.”
“How could she? You’re crazy! You say you didn’t want to kill my sister, but you did!” He glared at me. “Did you kill Robin too?”
He didn’t believe me. He didn’t love me. I felt my heart breaking again.
FIFTY-NINESEPTEMBER 2023
Aimee
I placed the thermos of vegetable soup into my tote bag and did a quick check of Archie. He was still sleeping on the sofa. He’d be out for a while. I’d added just enough sleeping pills to his cup of tea for a solid nap.
I bundled up and walked the short distance to Robin’s farm. It was cold and dark on the lonely country road, but not windy so it wasn’t too bad.
I knew I must be as discreet as possible.
The lights were on downstairs, and I saw Robin moving around in the kitchen. I hoped she hadn’t eaten dinner yet.
I put a bright, friendly smile on my face and rang her doorbell. I saw her walk toward the door through the sheer curtains on the glass panel on the front door. She opened the door, surprised to see me.
“Aimee!” She smiled. “Come in.”
“Hey, I made some vegetable soup and thought you might like some for dinner.” I held up the thermos.
“Oh, that’s perfect,” she said. “I was just wondering what to have.”
“Great,” I replied, taking off my coat.
“I didn’t see your headlights.” She poured some of the soup into a bowl. “Usually, they shine in the windows of the house when you go around the turn in the lane.”
I nodded, watching her grab a spoon and eat the soup. I made small talk for a few minutes as she ate.
“This is really good soup,” she remarked. “Has a bit of a different taste than usual.”
I smiled, but didn’t respond. That unusual taste was ground peanuts in the soup broth. A few minutes passed until she started gasping. Her face swelled, as I expected.
“Aimee, my EpiPen.” She fumbled in her kitchen drawer, then tried to reach her purse on the kitchen counter. I moved it farther away.
Not that it mattered. All her EpiPens were in my tote bag. I took them a few days before when I slept over here. It was amazing how fast it happened. Robin stumbled and fell on the kitchen floor, wheezing.
Then she silenced.
Permanently.
I put on plastic gloves and hurried around the kitchen to complete my mission. I took out a container of vegetable soup from my tote bag that I had purchased from the grocery store, poured about three quarters of it down the sink, then added a bit of my peanut laced soup to it and placed it in the refrigerator. I put my thermos back into my bag. Then, I replaced all the EpiPens that I had taken back into their normal spots.
Mission complete.
I slung my tote bag on my arm, and surveyed the area to make sure everything was as it should be. My gaze went to Robin, now lying dead on her parents’ kitchen floor.
It was a shame. I really liked her. We were becoming good friends, but that was an illusion. She was never really my friend. The only friend she really wanted was Archie. And I wasn’t going to let that happen. I had learned from my past.
Three weeks ago, I was at the grocery store when I saw them standing in the parking lot. Archie told me they were going shopping together for some supplies for a science project both classes were doing the following week. They stood by her car, talking, and I almost walked over to join them, but hesitated. They put the grocery bags into her trunk. She closed it, then turned to Archie, moving closer. She leaned in, they were about the same height, he was only slighter taller than her, and kissed him.
On the lips.
He backed away, hesitating a moment, which I didn’t like, but he did back away, and shook his head.
They talked for a few more minutes, him standing a substantial distance from her, and each got into their cars and left the parking lot.
Goodbye, Robin.
I turned around and walked out the door.
SIXTY2024
