“Seriously, you want me to sit next to Uncle Herbert? He smacks his lips.”
I bit my tongue trying not to snap at my nephew, whom I am sure would rather be somewhere else then here at my house.
Anywhere else on the planet.
“Just sit down“, his mother scolded him, shooting me a small smile as she plopped upon her own chair, as usual barely registering her sons bad behavior.
Like when he kicked the neighbors Chihuahua.
Or locked his 3 year old cousin in the trunk of her mother’s car.
Or beat up of the kid with autism in school.
Everyone made excuses for him.
Everyone else made excuses for each other.
Or worse, simply ignored the fact that there was something happening in the first place.
There were two types of people in our family, the “Ignorers” and the “Perpetrators”.
Both would be sitting at my table tonight.
Pretending.
Eating.
Conversing.
As if everything was normal, nothing ever happened.
All they wanted from me was free food.
It took all of them a moment to get seated, unusually mannered, in anticipation of a full meal. For a full meal even those with the worst inner demons and hidden habits could behave long enough to be waited upon.
After all the facade was what mattered.
It was practiced well.
Today it was at display at my house.
I brought the meal out, followed by a polite applause, but without help, just as I was expected.
The turkey, heavy and just the way they liked it, the gravy thick, the stuffing, plenty.
All with a special ingredient.
No one had noticed the cards, my fine calligraphy of black on warm light brown, the words meticulously written with great attention to detail.
I had made sure everything was right.
No one noticed my smile, my empty plate, until it was too late for them to stop, realizing what I had done.
I enjoyed the moment of realization before death came for them, one, then the other, the poison taken its quick effect as it had been promised to me.
Watching, I moved one of the cards out of my way, observing the finality of it all, the words silently shouting in the midst of the chaos.
“Happy Last Thanksgiving”
© Claudia H. Blanton 2013
It's a pity for them that the "Free food" didn't turn out to be "Consequence-free"
ReplyDeleteThat turkey with gravy and stuffing does sound delicious though. (Smacks lips noisily.) :)
Oooooh, but how is she going to get rid of all the bodies? Given how well the rest of the meal was executed, there must be a plan!
ReplyDeleteNice set-up with outlining the reasons why everyone had to go and get stuffed. (I'll get my hat...)
Wicked! Plus, she gets all the desserts all to herself. ;-)
ReplyDelete