How Lara Got Her Mother Back: A Short Story

Lara and Ruby’s escape plan was simple enough.  It took almost no effort to track down their father’s old dealer, a regular at the wall behind the counter of Jean’s Convenience.  Lara simply slid him a few packs of honey-berry backwoods, and he began to listen.  Once their father had purchased the heroin at the “extremely discounted price” Samuel was offering, all the girls had to do was catch the attention of Danny’s parole officer.  Sending their father to prison was not their first choice; to Lara, there was never a choice at all.

At the end of each week, he would hold out his right hand and make a fist with his left, and she would reluctantly hand over her paycheck.  How could she not, when he claimed that it was the only thing “keeping your mother off of the streets”, and that Lara “should be fucking grateful to even live under this roof”.  She knew for a fact this wasn’t true; Danny had been stuffing her paychecks into his pillow for the last 7 years. It wouldn’t matter soon, though, because once her father was put away, she would take the pillowcase, the truck, and Ruby all the way to 9100 River Road.  That was the return address on the largely unpaid rehabilitation bills they kept receiving in the mail.  At least that meant her mother was still alive and safe.  The plan was perfect, flawless, impenetrable- until it wasn’t.

Lara knew something was off the second she approached her father’s trailer.  The tacky flamingo lights had been ripped from the awning, Danny’s empty beach chair was covered in broken needles, and the mini-fridge was overturned, spewing beer onto the faux grass rug.  There was an indescribable scent emanating from inside the trailer, much fouler than its usual musk of sweat and cigarettes.  As Ruby and her boyfriend Xavier picked over the scene, Lara noticed a trail of vomit dripping down the stairs and crept into the trailer.  It stretched back and forth around the kitchen, ending at the foot of her father’s bed.  Instead of finding a pillow full of money, there she saw Samuel clutching a purple-skinned Danny, covered in his own puke.

“What did you do?!”  Lara screamed, running to her father.  “Get away from him!”

“I didn’t do shit.”  Samuel yanked Danny’s arm, dragging him back through the vomit.  “Your junkie dad apparently hadn’t gotten a fix in so long that he couldn’t resist using it all in one night.”  Lara felt for a pulse around his clammy neck.  She felt silence.  And then she felt rage.

“Killing him wasn’t the plan!  Forget your money!”  She spat, storming towards the door.

“Hey!” Samuel gripped her arm, seething through gritted teeth.  “I did what you asked.  Are you gonna help me finish this, or not?”

“Dad?”  Ruby breathed, glassy-eyed.  “Dad!” She cried, swinging her bony fists at Samuel.

“Quiet, Ruby…” Xavier whispered, cupping a hand over her mouth.  “We need to leave.”

“The kid’s right,” Samuel grunted.  “Let’s get him outside.”  He and Lara lifted Danny out the door and down the stairs, lowering him into his favorite beach chair.  “The plan doesn’t change.  He overdosed on his own.  We were never here.  Lara, you take his phone.”

“But how do we-“

“Shush!  Do you hear that?”  Xavier held his hand up as they all turned their heads to follow the sound: a low, unidentifiable hum.  White lights reflected off the slick leaves of the trees surrounding the trailer, growing brighter and brighter as the hum drew closer.  The sound of gravel grinding against tires echoed through the forest and Lara’s stomach dropped.

“Someone’s here.”

“What if it’s the cops?”  Ruby worried, grasping Xavier’s hand.

“Get in the trailer… now.  Don’t make a sound.”  Lara ordered them.

“Fuck this. I’m out of here.”  Samuel scoffed, shaking his head.

“What?”  She narrowed her eyes at him.

“I’m sorry about your dad, but I can’t go back to jail again.”  He paced backwards, giving her one last sorry look before he disappeared into the trees.

“What a dick.”  Lara rolled her eyes.

“Where is he going?”  Ruby worried, poking her head around the trailer.

“Babe, we have to go inside.  He’s gone.”  Xavier pulled her by the wrist into the camper and shut off the lights, ducking under the table.  Lara stood alone in the forest, lit only by the half-moon and the oncoming headlights.  Her father’s lifeless body lay next to her in a party city beach chair.  She couldn’t help thinking they both deserved this.

The sound of Britney Spears’s “Toxic” blasted on the radio of the rusted Sedan that pulled up next to the trailer.  A busty blonde woman in a pink tank top emerged, hobbling over to her.

“Danny!”  She rasped.  “I know you’re in there!  Don’t try and hide from me!”  The car locked behind her as she began to fiddle with her phone.  Lara’s pocket buzzed.  “I hear your phone, Danny!”

“Shit.”  Lara slipped her hand into her coat pocket and silenced the ringer, praying that the woman would think nobody was home.  Her step hastened, the smell of cigarettes and burnt hair becoming increasingly pungent.  There was no stopping her now.  Lara did the only thing she could do.

“Actually, Lucille,”  She lit up the string of flamingos, “it’s Lara.”  

“What the fuck was that for?” Lucille threw her hands in the air, sloshing her half-empty Mad Dog 20/20 onto her acrylics.  “You nearly scare me to fuckin’ death, you know that?”

“I’m sorry, I-“ 

“Danny!  What’s your lil’ bitch doing here?  Saturdays are my nights!”  She bickered at her unresponsive boyfriend.  Lara tried to speak, but her throat closed up.  Her fingertips began to tingle and her heart jumped as Lucille shouted again.  “Danny!”  She took a closer look at his forearm.  “Oh, my god.  Danny?  DANNY!”  She ripped the needle out of his arm, slapping him across the face to wake him up.  She whipped her head around, lumbering towards Lara as mascara dripped down her face.

“You fuckin’ BITCH!  You killed ‘im!”  Rage welled up in Lucille’s drunken eyes and she charged at her, slamming her body into the trailer.  She gasped for air, wincing as Lucille’s nails dug into her arms.  “You did this on purpose!”

“I didn’t, please!”  Lara cried, trying to push her off.

“LIAR!” Lucille backhanded her across the face and blood began to drip from her nose.  She held out her hands and dipped her head in surrender.

“You’re right!  I did this on purpose!  Just call the police and we can get this over with.”  She begged.

“I knew you did it, you fuckin’ dirty whore!”  Lucille pulled a switchblade out of her denim cutoffs, backing Lara into the trailer with the knife against her throat.  “Give me one good reason I shouldn’t slit yer throat right now!”  She panted like a rabid dog as Lara tried desperately to steady her own breathing, the blade coming dangerously close to breaking her skin.  A muffled sob from behind cut through the silence and Lucille lowered the knife.

“Someone else here with you?”  She backed up and looked around the trailer.

“No, I promise it’s just-“ 

“Be quiet, Ruby!”  Xavier whispered.

“They’re inside, aren’t they?”  Lucille made for the door, knife in hand.  “Your lil’ whore sister and her friends!”

“Please, stop!  They didn’t do anything!”  Lara sprinted to the door, plastering her hand over the handle.  Lucille threw the switchblade to the ground.  She grabbed Lara by the edges of her coat, ripping her off of the door and shoving her into the dirt.  Blood ran back up her nose and down her throat, as Lara rolled to the side and spit up clumps of red.  She heard a loud click.

“Don’t you fuckin’ move.”  Her eyes rose to meet the front of her father’s rifle, shaking in Lucille’s hands.

“Please, don’t.”  She managed, her limbs going numb.

“It’s what your daddy woulda’ wanned.”  Lucille shook her head, raising the rifle to her shoulder.

“Ruby, run!”  Lara screamed, closing her eyes and choking back a sob.  The worst part was, she was right.  Lara’s father wanted her dead before she was even born.  He nearly killed Ruby before she could even speak.  He might as well have killed their mother; it was only a matter of time before the rehab center would throw her and her unpaid bills out onto the street.  Lara wondered what he could have possibly done to Lucille to turn her into the woman holding a rifle to his daughter’s head.  She supposed that now she would never know.  She expected to hear a gunshot, feel a bullet, maybe finally find out if God exists, but all she heard was a smack, and then a thump on the ground.  She opened her eyes to see Lucille’s face in the dirt, dark blood spilling from her mop of blonde hair.  Samuel stood above her, holding a metal baseball bat to his side.

“Holy fuck.”  He breathed, swallowing hard.  Lara knelt on the ground, speechless and motionless.  “Well?”  He held out a hand for her.  “Help me clean this up.”  She stayed there, numb and frozen, calculating the damage.  Samuel pulled off his hoodie and wrapped the baseball bat, blood spotting the fabric.

“Stop.”  She stood suddenly, snatching the bat from his hand.  “If we’re gonna do this, we’re gonna do it right.”

———————————————————————————————————

“We make it look like a murder-suicide.”  She ordered, tying back her brown locks into a tight ponytail.  Samuel narrowed his eyes.

“Are you sure she’s even dead?  I didn’t think I hit her that hard.”  He shrugged.

“Of course she’s dead!”  Lara snapped.  “Fuck!”  She slammed her fist down on the flimsy plastic table, making Xavier jump.  He stared in disbelief at the two dead bodies before him, wondering how he was going to explain this to his mother when he got home.  Ruby clawed at his arms as she watched her sister pace back and forth around her father’s body.

“What do we do?”  Ruby whispered tearfully, but the only response she got was silence.  Xavier held her, looking to Samuel for answers.  All he could do was blink back at them.

“Like I said before, murder-suicide.”  Lara breathed.  “Now, help me move her.”  She held Lucille’s bloodied head with a towel while Samuel and Xavier held her feet.  They laid her out over the broken needles in front of Danny.

“God…”  Samuel gagged as Lara pried open the fingers of her dead father, wedging the bloody baseball bat between them so it balanced perfectly against the beach chair.

“This is fucked up, even for you, Lara.”  Xavier shook his head.  “And what about fingerprints?  Your blood?”

“You really think those pigs are gonna even care enough to do a forensic investigation?  Besides, they’ve probably been waiting for something like this to happen to Dad.”  And she was right, they had been, but she never thought it would be her that did it.  “Ruby, go get the money and get in the truck.”  She ordered, staring daggers at the boys.  Her doe-eyed little sister followed without question.  “You two are gonna go home and act like this never happened.”

“I’ll leave once I get my money.”  Samuel sneered.

“I think- I think I’m gonna go to Phoenix.”  Xavier pronounced, concluding that he, in fact, would not explain this to his mother at all.  “I can’t leave Ruby.”

“No way!  You need to stay here and be our alibi.”  Lara brushed him off and turned to start the car.

“You know what, Lara?  You’re not in charge of me.”  Xavier stormed after her, blocking the car door.  “I’m coming with you.”

“Dude, calm down.  Let’s just get out of here.”  Samuel warned, pushing the two apart.

“Or what?  You gonna kill me too?”  Xavier shoved him back.  The three began shouting at each other, swearing and stomping like fifth graders on a playground.  

“My sister, my dad, MY rules!”  Lara argued.

“My drugs, MY rules!”  Samuel shouted back into her face.

“Oh, fuck off!”  Xavier threw his arms out.  “If it weren’t for you we wouldn’t be trying to cover up a double homicide!”

“You wanna be next, fucker?”  Samuel threatened, rolling up his sleeves.

“STOP!”  Lara screamed.  “Do you guys smell that?”  The trace scent of smoke lingered in the air, like a campfire burning in the distance.  They ceased their arguing and approached the trailer slowly. 

“Ruby?”  Xavier’s voice wavered.

“Stay away!”  She wailed, coughing.  “This is all wrong!”

“Ruby, I swear to God if you don’t get out of that trailer right now-“  Lara stomped up the stairs and jerked the door handle.  “She locked herself in.  Fuck.”  Lara whispered, feeling around for any open windows.

“We killed two people!”  Ruby cried.  “And for what?  Money?  We deserve to die here!”  Flames crept up the curtains, seeping out the cracks between the door.  “Just go!  They’ll think it was me and you’ll be fine!  Go save Mom!”

“Don’t do this, Ruby!”  Lara screamed, tears welling up in her eyes.  “We can figure this out together!”  Silence rang through the forest clearing.  “She’s not responding!”

“Move!”  Xavier pushed her out of the way, smashing the window with an old radio.  “I can’t fit through!”  Lara swept away her tears and tore off her coat.

“Push me up!”  She held onto the windowsill, granules of shattered glass cutting her palms as Samuel joined his to lift her.  She launched herself into the trailer, rolling over dried up vomit and window shards.  Ruby was spread out on the floor, barely breathing as fire engulfed the walls around her.  Lara dragged her sister to the door, just like she had done with her father’s drugged-out corpse.  She wasn’t going to let it end like this.  “Help me!”  She grunted and kicked open the door, Samuel and Xavier coming to her aid.

“I’ll get her to the truck!”  Xavier threw an unresponsive Ruby over his shoulder and ran to start the truck.  Lara began to choke on the smoke, stumbling down the stairs and into the dirt.

“Sam, the money!”  She rasped as he tugged her off the ground.

“Fuck the money, I wanna live!”  The two lurched towards Danny’s truck, barely outrunning the smoke.

“Fine, but you’re not driving.”  The tires spun up dirt as Lara revved up the engine and pulled a 180 away from the burning trailer.  Pieces crumbled off in embers, sending sparks flying over the beer-soaked rug; Lucille, Danny, and his prized party city chair erupted in flames.  Although it might have been a fitting end for the couple, Lara couldn’t seem to stop crying.  She wasn’t going to miss her father, Lucille, or the money, but Ruby would.  Ruby would miss ever getting to fix things with her father; Xavier would miss ever getting to be honest with his mother; and Samuel would miss the time before he became a murderer.  All Lara had to do was drive.

———————————————————————————————————

She drove through the night until the sun started to rise over the deserted highway, wondering if the police were only minutes behind her, or if nobody even smelled the smoke.  Xavier and Ruby slept peacefully entwined in the backseat, but Samuel remained awake with her through the night.  He didn’t say a word the entire time.  She followed the pink clouds all the way to Phoenix, and found comfort in knowing that they lead to the one thing she could give Ruby: her mother.

“Time to get up, fuckers!”  Samuel slammed his fist on the car horn, laughing as Xavier and Ruby awoke startled and mortified.

“Really?”  Lara shook her head.  “I’m trying to park!”  She furrowed her brows as she struggled to slide the battered old truck between two much nicer cars, hitting the curb at least three times.

“You call that parking?”  Samuel smirked, grabbing the gearshift and putting the car in park.  “If you get a ticket, you get a ticket.”  He shrugged, stepping out of the vehicle.

“Dick.”  She followed him out of the truck, along with Xavier and Ruby.

“Are you sure this is the rehab center?”  Ruby asked, observing the sign in front of the lavish building that read: Summerstone Luxury Apartments.

“This is 9100 River Road!”  Lara fumed, ripping her mother’s bills out of her pocket to re-examine them.

“I mean, it’s a big building.  Maybe it’s got other businesses inside.”  Xavier suggested, taking Ruby’s hand and leading her to the front door.  “We might as well check.”  

Once they were inside, it was clear that they were in the wrong building.  Ruby gazed in awe at the sparkling glass chandeliers and white leather couches that adorned the lobby, trying not to stain the marble flooring with the soot from her sneakers.  Lara was not so careful, lunging to the front desk and nearly smashing the bell with her fist.  A clean-cut man in a suit and tie emerged, disgruntled at Lara’s apprehensiveness.

“We’re looking for a woman named Lottie Romano.”  Lara stretched her elbows across the desk intently.  “Does she live here?”

“Lottie?  You mean Lottie Moore?”  He asked.  “There’s no Romano here.”

“Lottie Moore?”  Lara sighed, backing away.  “But that’s not-”

“Here she comes now!”  The man pointed to the doors behind them, and two children about the age of eight ran in giggling, followed by a woman wearing sunglasses and a large coat.  She approached the desk, swinging her Birkin bag over the counter and slamming it on the bell.

“Eddie!”  She shouted in a shrill voice.  “Do you have my package yet?”
“I’m right here ma’am.”  The man crossed his arms.  “And no, but these kids here claim to know you.”  She turned swiftly to face Lara and the group, lowering her sunglasses.

“Oh my god, you’re alive.”  Lara muttered, mouth wide open.

“Lara, is that you?”  Lottie whipped off her sunglasses.  “You look terrible!”

“Mom?”  Ruby gasped, throwing her arms around Lottie.

“Not here!”  Lottie whispered, pushing Ruby away and dusting off her coat as her eyes darted around the lobby.  Ruby stumbled back into Xavier’s arms, shaking her head.

“What happened to you, mom?”

“Don’t call me that!”  Lottie threw her sunglasses back on.

“They don’t know, do they?”  Samuel scoffed, nodding toward the two kids dancing around by the elevator.  She snatched her purse off of the desk, holding it away from Samuel and his multiple face tattoos.

“No, they don’t.  And they never will.”  She snapped, turning to Lara.  “Me and Mr. Moore are very happy together, Lara.  I’m not gonna let you fuck it up like you did with me and Danny.”

“So, what, the rehab bills were just a front to keep us away?  We actually paid for some of those!  We thought you were in trouble!”

“Well, at least they went to good use, didn’t they?”  She tucked her hair to reveal glittering silver earrings with diamonds reflecting colors Lara couldn’t even name.

“They’ve been living in filth, you know.”  Xavier narrowed his eyes in disgust.  “The least you could have done was help them once in a while.  You’re their mother.”

“Looks like they have all the help they need with you two hoodlums.”  Lottie sneered, making her way towards the elevator.

“Lottie, wait!”  Lara embraced the fluff of her mother’s coat, hugging her tightly.

“Get away from me, or I’m gonna call security!”  Lottie jerked her purse around, fending off her daughter.  Lara smiled, empty eyed.

“Whatever you want, ma’am.”  She made straight for the door, pulling Ruby along with her.

“We’re just gonna leave?”  Ruby fretted as Lara dragged her, catching one last look of the woman who was supposed to be her mother.

“That’s exactly what we’re gonna do, Ruby.”  Lara piped.  “Get in the car.”  Xavier and Ruby followed Lara almost instinctively, terrified by her sudden calmness.  She walked briskly up the sidewalk towards a payphone.

“Hey!”  Samuel placed his hand on her shoulder.  “You okay?”

“I will be.”  She huffed.  Samuel began to notice a certain darkness in her eyes, the hollowness of her cheeks, the shaking of her fingers as she shuffled around in her pockets for a quarter.  She shoved the coin into the slot and pressed the phone to her ear, hungry for an answer.

“Hi, I’d like to report a double homicide.”

“What the fuck?!”  Samuel lunged for the phone and Lara held him back.

“Yes.”  She spoke clearly.  “Danny Romano and Lucille Jimm.  In fact, I know who did it.”  Lara’s stare bore holes into Samuel’s forehead.  “It was Lottie Moore of 9100 River Road.”

“What is wrong with you?”  Samuel whispered, throwing his arms up in the air.  “All the evidence leads to us!  You have his fucking cellphone for God’s sake!”

“Oh yeah, I forgot to mention,”  Lara smirked at Samuel.  “You’ll find Danny Romano’s cell phone in the left pocket of her fur coat.”

Photo Credit: (William Fawcett/Pixels)