JOELLE

And there he was. The french immigrant my mother fell in love with 25 years ago was standing in front of me, his hand on the doorknob of the front door, waiting in awe for the reuniting hug I could never give him.

“Tu es plus belle que dans mes souvenirs.”

“You are more beautiful than I remembered.” I felt those words crawling inside my stomach, stirring my innards as if I were a soup.

“Come on inside.”

I reluctantly step inside the house that we used to take vacation as a family. It’s like the “buyer” didn’t wanna touch a strand of hair… or even a grain of dust really.

“Where’s my sister?”

“You sadden me that you do not speak French to me mon chéri.”

“Sorry. Never a fan of the language.”

“Oh, well, same as your mother!”

“Don’t you dare speak about her again!”

“Relax, relax… You’ll scare off your sister…”

“Alyssa? Alyssa, where are you? Come down!”

“Boo!”, yells the girl coming from behind me.

“Oh, god, you make a habit of startling people. Are you alright?”

“What are you doing here Joelle?”

“I’ve come to save you sweetie.”

“I don’t wanna be saved. You should be saved of yourself!”

“Hey, watch how you’re speaking to your sister kiddo!”

“It’s not easy raising a 10 year-old by yourself you know? I’m glad we found you, what would I ever do when her period would come?”, he whispered in my ear.

“I honestly don’t wanna imagine…”

“See, I’m useless without you sweetheart.”

“Cut the bullshit dad! We both know pretty well what happened on the night of the 21st of March 2021.”

“What? The tragic accident that took your mother’s life?

“We also both know very well that it wasn’t an “accident”. ”

“What are you saying hon? I planted on killing my own daughters? Is that who you take me for?”

“Only one person died that day, the one you intended to.”

“You were always a bit aloof Joelle.”

“Oh, no! The only reason I ever was is apparently you!”

“Sweetie…”, trying to touch her.

“Don’t you lay your hands on me! Alyssa, come, please…”

“Why would I come with you? Daddy was there for me. Where were you?”

“Daddy killed mommy Alyssa.”

“Yeah, right. That’s bullshit!”

“Hey, watch your tongue girl!”, exclaims the man.

“I don’t know why you have to swear like an American, damn those fucking Tv soap operas you watch!”

“I am defending you, father!”

“Don’t need you to sweetheart. I have the truth by my side.”

“Oh well, who sounds American now?”

“Joelle, you have the chance of regaining your family. You may have run away that day, but this time you can choose to stay.”

“Alyssa, I’m sorry I didn’t come back for you. I was scared. I should have been braver.”

I grab a shovel I’ve been eyeing and hit my dad on the head.

“Joelle!”, screams the little girl in tears.

“Alyssa, Alyssa, look at me. We have to get out of here. Grab your teddy bear and let’s get out of here, okay?”

“No! What did you do? I want daddy!”

“He will be okay. I’ll call an ambulance for him, but after we leave this place.”

“Joelle, you’re scaring me!”

“After today you won’t have to be scared again Alyssa. I promise you.”

“It’s only temporary”, said Joelle to the agitating girl hiding behind her shadow, as she came face to face with her nearby victim her jumpscare caused her to wear a neck-brace.

“Hey, I’m Janet-”

The little girl with the teddy bear runs up the stairs.

“She’ll need some time.”

“I understand.”

“Thank you, Miss Saigon. And I’m sorry, for everything.”, falls on her embrace crying.

“You should have told me…”

“I needed to be sure first.”

“Well, I hope that becomes your lesson to not doubt yourself ever again.”

Alyssa knocks a vase down accidentally staring at them from the stairs. Its pieces scatter to the floor.

“Alyssa!”, yells her sister, ready to follow her as she runs up the stairs when Miss Saigon presses her wrist to hold her back. She sighs.

“Where’s your broom?”

The attic was a place in her house I had never visited before. It looked like the remaining pieces of another life. Old letters, pictures with friends, I even saw some pictures of her with my aunt. They looked pretty close.

“The remaining pieces of another life.”, Miss Saigon exhaled.

“That’s what I thought.”

She smiles softly. “That’s from our trip to Rio de Janeiro.”

“You went to Rio de Janeiro?”

“Like I said, it was another life.”

Joelle feels Miss Saigon’s gaze piercing through her eyes.

“Miss Saigon… I need to tell you something…

And it’s not gonna be easy to hear…”

“Smash!” As I was ready to mumble the inevitable, the large roof’s window smashes and Miss Saigon grabs me, holding down my head while also bending hers as thousands small sharp glass pieces fly all over us, some of them landing on us and cutting through our skin. Miss Saigon had closed me in her embrace like a bird-mother so she got most of the hits herself, while when I felt it ended in what was a few seconds but felt like a painful eternity, I turned up my gaze to face the person I never wanted to see again. “I see you there Janet. Don’t you hide from me.”

“Oh, sorry for trying to save your daughter’s eyes from this mess!”

“It’s her mess to clean… She stole my daughter from me.”

“I believe the right verb here is “saved”.”

“I don’t need your fucking linguistics corrections, you’re not a part of this family no matter how much you’d want to.”

“Maybe not, but I am the best to take care of the girls until Carol gets here.”

“Oh, Carol, Carol! You still think she’ll show up?”, he laughs. “Like she did after the accident, dumping her niece in her old house all alone with her teacher-friend to keep her company? Or more like dumping her friend to her niece...”

While Miss Saigon’s eyes became so harsh you would think she could kill my father with just her gaze, she suddenly breaks into loud sobs. And then, I had enough of it.

“Don’t you dare speak to her like that!”, I manage to mumble, scared, Miss Saigon being the only one I could find the strength to stand up for at that moment.

“Oh, you found your words again, kiddo? I was worried for not having taken you to that speech therapist your mum was insisting on when you were five years old and couldn’t even pronounce "dad".”

“I think that was deliberately. Thinking back at it I had really good instincts, ba”, mumble I, like when I was a baby. And then he hit me.

“I really hoped those places you were sent to would finally teach you some respect!”

“First of all, I wasn’t sent to them, I committed myself and secondly…”

“Bam!” I grab the old typewriter on the table behind us I was checking from before and smash his head with it. After the shovel hits and that, I was pretty sure it was over.