Star Bright (5 page)

“
Mama.” Maria
whispered. Edna looked up to meet her daughter’s frightened eyes.
She knew what she was asking, and for the first time she felt glad
Maria had suffered a lesser evil. The last time she had to tell her
it crumbled Edna’s heart.

“
No, he
didn’t...” she stopped. She took a deep breath and swallowed a sob.
Maria closed her eyes and exhaled in relief. She couldn’t have
stomached that degradation again, “He’s passed out in the living
room.” Edna lowered her voice to a whisper, “Tom and Jane are
coming to pick us up.”

Maria’s body tightened.
They’d tried that already and it didn’t work. She was too scared to
try it again. Edna put a reassuring hand on her, “I took the gun
away from him, and Tom will handle him.”

The door crushed in and
fell on the floor. Michael held Maria tighter and hid his face in
her side. Maria stood up and placed him behind her. She too was
scared, but not too scared to protect her son. Edna passed a shirt
to her before she placed herself in between Ricky and Maria. She
stared at him, full of rage. She might not wait a week she was
ready to take him out right there and then.

Ricky staggered into the
room, a bottle of vodka in his hand. He was still wearing the torn
up bloody shirt, but it was also wet with liquor, “It’s good you
are awake,” he stumbled forward, “Now go clean up your blood from
my carpet!” he yelled, but no one moved which only pissed him off
even more, “So, you haven’t learned your lesson yet?”

Maria and Edna just
looked at him not saying a word. Maria put on the shirt, then held
Michael against her, gently rubbing his back to sooth
him.

“
Michael, come
here!” Ricky barked.

Michael stiffened behind
Maria. He pressed himself hard against her as if he was trying to
hide inside her back and clasped his hands around her chest. All
Maria could hear was muffled moans and his hot breath on her back.
Maria pressed him tightly against her, feeling her son’s
fear.

“
He’s not going
anywhere!” Edna barked back.

Ricky pushed Edna aside.
She fell against Michael’s desk, pushing all its contents on to the
floor. He then slapped Maria and she fell on the bed. Michael
looked at his mother and grandma before he looked up back at his
father. His face stern, all the fear wiped away. He looked angry,
with his little fists clenched at his side. Maria looked up at her
son, fear crept into her when she saw the image of Ricky’s angry
face on her son’s. She hated that look and she hated the fact that
they resembled each other in that angry state more.

Michael yelled at Ricky
angrily, “What do you want Ricky?”

“
Don’t speak to
your father that way!” Ricky slurred out his words, rocking
unsteadily on his feet.

“
You are not my
father!”

The sound of Ricky’s hand
against Michael’s head made Maria scream. She watched her son
collapse on the bed unconscious after hitting his head on the
frame. Edna picked up the chair and broke it over Ricky’s back. He
fell on the floor and the bottle crushed under him. She then pulled
Michael into her arms and jetted out of the room, Maria followed,
her hand over her son’s bleeding head, sobbing hysterically,
“Michael, baby please wake up!”

Ricky following them,
“Come back here!”

Maria pushed her mother
out the door, “Hide, I’ll hold him off,” she looked at her son’s
limp body and the sobs and fear was replaced by an angry fire
simmering inside her. She wiped the tears away with her fists then
turned to face Ricky, a monstrous look on his face.

Maria letting her angry
tears flow freely, “You hit my son!”

“
He defied me!”
Ricky took a staggering step forward.

“
He’s a baby!”
Maria yelled, “I thank God everyday he’s not like you and I’m going
to make sure he doesn’t grow up to be a drunken, useless bastard
like his father!”

Ricky took a step closer
and swung his fist at her. Maria dodged it and ran into the
kitchen, but he caught up to her and pushed her down. She fell,
knocking the candles on the table over. It caught fire fast,
fuelled by the alcohol Ricky had been carelessly pouring on the
floor in his drunken stupors.

Maria crawled away from
the flames and sat pinned against the wall. She watched the blaze
consume the table, the counters and the dish clothes. She wasn’t
sure which way was worse to die, being burnt alive or being beat to
death by a drunk.

She would take the flames
without a second thought.

It was a more respectable
death.

Ricky didn’t seem
deterred by the fire. He came after her, slowly like a cat on the
prowl. He felt a surge of victory as he watched her, scared and
cornered like a mouse. He took a few more steps, but tripped on his
feet and fell close to her, knocking himself out on the
floor.

Relieved Maria got up and
leaped over the flames for the door. She couldn’t go through the
living room, as the fire had already spread there, facilitated by
the wall to wall carpet. She stood at the door and looked at
Ricky’s lifeless body. She wasn’t surprised at her coldness towards
him. He dared to hit her son unconscious, whatever tiny emotion she
had left for him, it was completely wiped away by that.

She stood a few feet away
from the house and watched it burn for a moment. She wanted to make
sure he didn’t get out. She wasn’t committing murder, she didn’t
knock him out, and neither did she light the fire. He did that all
himself, and she was going to let it be. This was her chance of
ridding herself of Ricky and she was taking it, grateful that he
had done so all on his own.

“
Mama!”

Michael’s cry woke her.
He was alright! Relieved she ran around the house to the front.
“Michael!” she cried in relief when he ran to her. She scooped him
up in her hands and held him tight against her, happy that the
nightmare was over.

“
Where is
Ricky?” Edna moved closer to her. Maria just stared at her, not
saying a single word. Edna nodded her expression, glad, empty of a
flicker of neither pity nor concern, “It was for the
best.”

“
I didn’t do
anything. It was all by his own hand.” Maria defended
herself.

“
It was a
matter of time before he killed himself. Let’s just make sure he
succeeded.” She smiled, and then turned back to the
house.

Edna watched the home she
was raised in, where her daughter and grandchild were born, sizzle
to the ground. It was once a place full of happy memories, her safe
haven before Ricky polluted it.

But at that moment, it
rose to its former glory, taking all their nightmares away and
rescuing them from future miseries. Edna had one more reason to
love her home.

Maria paced around in
Jane’s living room. It had been a week since the fire, and that
devil’s death. Maria had a reason to smile, seeing her son so happy
and relaxed as if all the shackles of fear and sadness that had
held him down had disappeared with Ricky’s death.

There was no reason for
him to sneak into Maria’s room, to make sure she was safe and alive
or try to protect her if she was not, nor did he have to tip toe
around the house so that Ricky wouldn’t hear him. He got full
night’s sleep. Yes she was glad, seeing her mother smile and busy
herself with the children and the household. Edna didn’t have to
accompany her daughter to every room just in case Ricky cornered
her alone and beat her. She sat in the sun and played with the
children like a normal grandmother was supposed to.

Yes, she had a number of
reasons to smile, but she still worried. The Sheriff was back the
third time that week, asking the same questions over and over
again. Maria thought they were trying to link her to Ricky’s death.
She had watched enough crime shows to know that suspect number one
was always the spouse. They thought she killed him, the whole town
thought she killed him and she didn’t blame them for suspecting
her, everyone knew Ricky beat her black and blue as a
hobby.

“
How many times
do I have to say this, he tripped me, the candles fell, then the
house caught fire, then he fell and I ran.” She stopped by the low
table in the middle of the living room and faced the sheriff on the
couch. She felt like she would shrink under his suspicious
gaze.

“
You didn’t
stop to make sure he was alright?” The sheriff asked with a serious
tone. Maria paced again, feeling uncomfortable under his gaze. His
grey hair and numerous worry lines on his head, caused by the
stress of being on the job for over twenty years made him look even
scarier to Maria. She felt like he could see right through her
lie.....

No, she wasn’t lying she
was omitting, and what he didn’t know couldn’t possibly warrant
further suspicion.....

Yes it could, and by the
way he starred at her, it did.

“
The man was
trying to kill her, why would she stop running?” Edna defended
Maria. She stopped Maria’s pacing and stood next to her, “look at
her face, what makes you think she would stop? Maria turn around
lets show him your back.” Edna forcefully turned Maria around and
lifted her shirt.

Maria pulled down her
shirt and stared back at the sheriff after she gave her mother a
scolding look. But the exhibit seemed to have worked. The sheriff’s
stern look was replaced by pity, then disgust and finally anger.
Maria stared at him keenly, not sure what to make of the sudden
change. She hadn’t shown him her bruises before, he’d only seen
those on her face- a busted lip, a black eye and a bruised chin,
which weren’t as bad as those on her back and belly.

“
So you ran out
the back door to the front of the house where your son and mother
were and the three of you ran away together without looking back?”
The sheriff repeated Maria’s story, his voice gentler.

Maria sat down in the
seat next to him. The images of that night flashed in her head,
“Yes, that’s right.” She lied. She wasn’t stupid enough to tell him
the truth, she wasn’t going to spend time in jail, away from her
son for that animal.

He gave Maria a gentle
smile before he stood up, “Thank you for your cooperation. And off
the record, I’m glad you tried to get away from him, there is no
doubt in my mind he would have come after you, fate was on your
side that night.”

Maria stood up and dug
her hands in her back pockets. She smiled and didn’t say a word.
She knew fate had nothing to do with Ricky roasting that day. She
wondered if the sheriff would share the same sentiments if he knew
she let him roast, and watched just to make sure he did. As cold
and heartless as it may sound, she wished he was wide awake and not
passed out drunk when it happened.

Jane stepping away from
the kitchen door way, “Sheriff, did you find the body
yet?”

“
No. We think
he was toasted completely. The booze all over the house facilitated
the fire, and I don’t doubt he was soaked in vodka.”

“
Good riddance
to bad rubbish.” Edna muttered. Maria looked at her stunned,
wondering if her mother was provoking to fill the second spot on
the suspects list, which Maria knew only contained her name
currently. “Is this the last we are seeing of you sheriff?” Edna
asked.

“
Yes. The case
is closed, we are ruling it as an accident.” He tipped his hat and
walked out the door.

Maria collapsed on the
seat, relieved. The nightmare was finally over, she could go on
with her life, without fear or looking over her shoulder. Jane went
and sat next to her. She watched her friend’s relieved face, an
expression she had never seen in years, she was sad it was about to
disappear in the next minute.

“
Now that the
sheriff is gone how about you tell me the truth? We found you
watching the house burn down.”

Jane knew Maria was lying
from the beginning. She and Tom had gone to get them all out of the
house, forcefully if need be. Tom was psyched up to beat Ricky
again. When they got there, the house was ablaze and everyone was
out except one. Edna and Maria had insisted on watching the house
completely burn and only left when the sheriffs arrived. She had
hoped Maria would confide in her about that night, she had waited,
but she couldn’t wait any longer.

Edna waved goodbye to the
sheriff before she closed the door and turned to Jane and Maria,
“We had to make sure that SOB died.” she said casually.

“
Mama.” Maria
looked at her surprised by how candid she was. She was telling the
truth, but it was something Maria hadn’t worked up the courage to
say out loud.

“
Maria did
you...” Jane left her question hanging.

“
No. Of course
not!” Maria yelled anxiously. She stood up agitated, “He caused the
fire, he knocked himself out, I just didn’t bother to help him!”
she tugged at her hair, the frustration of how serious the
situation was, taking a toll on her.

Jane stood up and went to
hug her, “Calm down. I’m not accusing you of anything I just wanted
to know.” She pulled away and looked at Maria, “He killed himself,
that’s nothing you should feel guilty about.” Maria looked at her,
Jane seemed to understand her actions. Edna did, so her conscience
shouldn’t be weighing heavily on her. “Relax, and get Ricky out of
your mind, if you don’t you’ll never feel at ease. Enjoy your life
and your son, you are free.”