2.
Just like before, I could hear the funeral dirge
before I even reached the front door.
く
I got inside.
There was a makeshift altar set up in the
living room.
Ha, my dear brother was playing dead again.
“Ashley, you’re finally here!
Come, see your brother one last time.
The funeral home is coming any minute. He
couldn’t handle the pressure and jumped off
the pier, oh woe!”
I glanced at the crowd in the house.
Most of them were creditors looking to get
paid.
Like before, once we got rid of Ethan, my
loving parents would suddenly collapse into
vegetative states.
Then, all the family’s debts would land on me.
They’d be dead or incapacitated, untouchable
by any creditor.
“Girl, what are you staring at?
Go see your brother!
The crematory guys are coming any minute.
Ethan always doted on you!”
I ignored the stares and walked over to Ethan,
taking a look.
“Mom, he’s still got color in his face.
Is he sure he’s dead?”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mom and
Dad clenching their fists, worried.
Mom sniffled and tried to pull me away.
く
Dad moved to pull the sheet back over him.
But I wasn’t having it.
I ripped the sheet off and started wailing,
hugging Ethan.
No tears, just slobber all over him.
“Ethan, why, oh why, did you do this?
It’s all my fault!
You always told me you hated Mom and Dad
holding you back, that you loathed this
suffocating family!
I should have encouraged you to run away!”
The chatter in the living room died down.
Mom and Dad’s faces darkened.
“What?
When did your brother say that?”
He didn’t, I was just stirring things up.
“He told me all the time that he hated you
guys, hated your constant need for control,
hated… hey?
Mom, Dad, look, is he breathing?”
Ethan immediately stopped breathing again.
Mom and Dad stopped questioning what I’d
said and dragged me aside, afraid their
precious son would suffocate.
But I stood my ground.
I stayed by Ethan’s side, rambling non–stop.
“Ethan, I know you hate that Mom and Dad
aren’t dead yet, so you can inherit everything
sooner…
Г
Ethan, I heard you hooked up with Dad’s
mistress last week. Don’t let that stress you
out too much…
Ethan, so what if your girlfriend spent one
night at a hotel with her first love? Why did
you have to do this?”
The stories I was spreading got wilder and
wilder.
The creditors‘ faces grew more excited, and
Mom and Dad’s faces became darker.
I smiled, finally satisfied, and pulled the sheet
back over my brother.
His face and neck were red with anger.
Hope you can keep it together, bro.
The real fun!e just getting started
<
The real fun’s just getting started.