Cursed Pool

Chapter 24. The Past Of Many Horrors

When I was ten in a half, the world was good, not great, but not terrible, I was huming random notes to myself when I ran home from school. My house was a two story brick building in Illinois. The only thing nice about the yard was the garden and that was about it. I remember after school I blew off my homework and I did my knitting in my tiny bedroom. Before knitting was my hobby, it was more of a calming thing after a rushed day at a horrorfying school.
  Outside my door I could hear the sounds of footsteps on the creeky wooden floor. The door flew open and I felt the breeze of it swinging. I was almost scared out of my mind thinking that it was my Father, but it was only Vivianne Conalie. "Ugh! Evangeline keep it hidden! Keep it hidden!" Vivianne whispered hurriedly. I put the fabric quickly under the covers of my bed. "Evangeline, do you know what could happen if Dad finds out you like knitting?" She whispered. "Will Dad yell at me?" I guessed. During that time period my biggest concern was getting yelled at by my Father. "Yas!" Answered Vivianne. Then without saying anything, Vivianne gripped my hand tightly. Her hand didn't feel right. I can tell by the hot sweat in her palm that she was rushing.
  Did I mention how poor we were?
  We get to the front yard. I saw my sister Isla holding a giant cardboard box. "This has got to be the worst thing yet." She sighed. I got intrigued, so I said "Ooh what is that?" Isla turned the box over and dumped everything out. I giant bouque of purple flowers fell to the spring grass. "Oh God no, not again!" She complained. "Dad wears giant unattractive shoes, how can the villagers still give him flowers! I swear he's gonna be in his hundreds one day and it probably won't stop." Vivianne said with a annoyed facial expression. "You're telling me." Isla scoffed. "I tried to tell the neighbors to stop!" I said.
  I noticed my Father walk over to us. His beard gently stroking the green grass after every step he took. At this point and this age, I could look at him without being angry but I still felt the fear of getting yelled at. "Hey what's that?" He demanded. His eyes flared, Isla's eyes widend, Vivianne's eyes squinted, my eyes rolled. "Oh nothing special just flowers." Isla admitted. "Hey I told you guys to talk to the neighbors and force them to STOP SENDING FLOWERS TO THE HOUSE!" I watched with pain that even when my Father jumps in anger, his beard still touches the grass. None of us spoke because we were too afraid of our own parent. "Why are you guys out here anyway? You should be doing school work." He hissed with his hands on his hips. "Hey I did my work for four hours today, so I'm going out to dinner." Sassed Isla. "You won't be able to pay for that though, I doubt your that rich." Father sneered. Father randomly walks around slowly. "Why can't you be like your sister Alandra Conalie. You could live in hotel room after hotel room and own a nice car and have millions of dollars, but your a problem. You hate houses. I'm talking to you Isla Conalie." He finneshed. Isla's blood boiled and I could just tell. "Anyway I have to go to the office to steal a fishtank, but there's traffic. I might be gone for all night, so, Isla you will bring your sisters with you when you go out to dinner." He said with his eyes sharp like knives. "I think my sisters are perfectly capable of eating dinner at the house. I don't need to bring anyone else out to dinner." Isla snapped back. "Why not?" Barked my Father. "Because they can't." Argued Isla. "Okay, well bring Evangeline at least, she's too young to be at home without you, so I will take Vivi with me to hair cutting place, and you could bring Evangeline."
"No no no no no!" Isla complained.

I remember the pain I had to deal with already knowing that the only reason Isla didn't want to bring me is simply because she doesn't want a young child like myself to figure out her secrets.
  As I cluelessly followed my sister through the busy streets to the diner all I thought about was the fact that I already know Isla was dating a college guy named Shawn who works at the restaurant. Isla was in high school so they have a large age difference, I can sense them not lasting long, even at that age.
  "Y'know Isla, you don't have to constantly lie." I say loudly in public. I remember how I did it loudly on purpose. Isla turns around. Her face showed the pain in keeping the secret hidden. "Shhh! Jesus Crist Evangeline! Don't talk!" She whisper shouted through gritted teeth. "I will talk if I want to! It's a free country! Now you listen to me!" I chirped with my arms out wide. "Yeah, *breath* and you listen to me Evangeline, I need you to shush because our Dad doesn't know, I keep seventeen secrets and I want you to feel bad because if you figure out these secrets your dead meat." She said in a whisper standing close to my face. So close that I can smell her minty breath. We went silent for a hot minute looking into the restaurant window, untill I started screaming. "THAT IS A NONSENSE ANSWER! THERE IS NOTHING SENSIBLE ABOUT WHAT YOU JUST SAID!"  "Well it makes sense if I say it does." Isla said bitterly.
  Isla is losing her mind, I can feel it. I don't like it that I have to be here right now.
  The restaurant smelt like cigarette smoke, so I began coughing obnoxiously so I absent-mindedly took a glass of ice water from a woman at a table. I drank down the whole thing and threw the glass away. I heard it shatter in the distance.
  Because we didn't bring any money, I decided I should snatch a bun from the cooking section. Isla wasn't looking, so I secretly did this. The buns in the room were hot. I wanted to get my hands on those hot delicious cooked buns sitting patiently on the stove. I saw a forty year old guy snatch a bun the quick and calm way, but then he was yelled at and forced to leave, so I shivered and put the bun back on the stove and ran out and whistled to myself pretending I didn't do anything guilty.
  "Shawn can you get us dinner for free?" Begged Isla as Shawn walked by. He sighed quietly. "You can only get food for free if you go on that stage and sing something." He said gesturing to the stage where I noticed a man singing a loud opera number. Isla looked at it and cringed. Then she looked back at Shawn with love twinkling in her eyes. I almost gagged, but I forced a serious face. "I can't do that." She said nervously. "Why not? The school gives you singing lessons right? Do they still do that?" Shawn's loud voice is getting creepy. "Yes they still do that, but everyone knows I sing like a frog." She confessed. Shawn smiled. "Why don't you just go back to the drawing board." He insisted. I'm sort of intimidated by this college man. I don't know what Isla sees in him. They look at eachother. The same way Autumn and Nicholas look at eachother. I had the tangy feeling when you don't ship people. "We should go out to the beach after this. Because the water and the sunset...." Isla's voice drifted off. "That sounds lovely." Shawn replied. It was obvious that I was the third wheel, but this third wheel is the good wheel. I stepped between them. "If you can't sing, then I will." I said not knowing how bad I will regret it. "That's a bad idea-" started Isla. I turn to her old man of a boyfriend and I said "Can I do it?" Shawn looked me up and down. I was wearing a brown dress with two holes in it, but I can still sing. He thought and thought. "Well I'll have no objection just whatever." He responded. Isla gave me an extremely nervous glance. I don't know why I was so confident, but the opera man I remembered was wearing a purple robe leaps off the stage. Only half of the restaurant people were looking at me. I am only doing this because if I sing, I don't need to pay for food. I closed my eyes and I sang the lyrics to the first song that popped in my head. A song that my uncle used to sing several years ago.