Lies You Tell (DE)

50.

Joseph whistled spinning a DVD in his gloved hands as he casually stepped over Uniques grandmothers body. She laid sprawled out on the dingy tile floor in the kitchen of her restaurant with a laceration to her head that was starting to form a pool of blood beneath her.

Joseph stopped whistling, tilting his head to the side staring at her as he crouched down beside her and closed her eyes. Snapping the security footage dvd in half, he tossed it on top of her body before grabbing a gasoline canister he'd brought and poured the rest of the flammable liquid on top of her.

Resuming his whistling, he fished a red B.I.C lighter from his pocket and flicked it— observing the flame, before dropping the lighter and watching flames engulf her body and make a bee line following the trail of gasoline he'd left throughout the entire restaurant.

Leaving before he could smell the pungent odor of charred flesh, he got into his striker— the fancy name for a stolen vehicle that he'd purchased to run his "errands" in, and drove to a junk car lot retrieving his real vehicle before going home.

Joseph flushed his latex gloves down the toilet, got in the shower and changed with a couple hours to spare to spend time with Grace before they stopped visitation at the hospital for the night.

Holding a bouquet of yellow roses, Joseph waited for the elevator to ding before getting off on Graces floor.

" Hello Joseph," The nurse in charge of Graces care said upon him entering the room.

He smiled bleakly, setting the flowers down on a table covered with other bouquets he'd been bringing over the past couple days. Joseph unzipped his black Moncler coat, shimmying out of it and draping it over a chair before sitting at her bedside.

It had been three days since the incident, the longest three days of his life. At the end of each day he'd bring her flowers and come sit and talk to her until it was time to leave. Joseph read online somewhere that she could still hear him despite being in an unconscious state. He didn't know how true that was but he still did it anyways.

" She's doing really well you know," The nurse said with an empathetic smile, tucking Grace in. " I heard the doctors talking about reversing the anesthesia tomorrow,"

" Really?" Joseph perked up, switching his gaze from Grace to the nurse.

She smiled gently. " You didn't hear that from me though," The nurse said before softly closing the door behind her.

" You hear that bae? You doin good," Joseph said, turning back to Grace and grabbing her hand. " You so strong,"

Joseph stared at her, twisting his lips to the side before patting his sweats pockets for his classic flavored chapstick. Popping the cap, he twisted the bottom and applied some to her chapped lips.

" I been watchin YouTube videos tryna cook for myself but that shit don't be comin out right, I don't know what it is," He chuckled to himself. " It don't be tasting as good as yo food, I miss yo cookin," Joseph paused sighing, looking up at the TV that was still on the sports channel from last night when he was watching a basketball game.

" I just really miss the fuck outchu, you don't even know. You my right hand, it feels weird not being able to talk to you and hear your voice or feel you touch me.. Yo mama keep telling me to stop beating myself up bout this shit but I can't bae, I can't. This shit hurting me seeing you like this, I feel like it's my fault,"

" I'd take all yo pain away if I could. I'd trade places wit you if I could, I'd take them bullets, no questions asked you know this, I love you more than me-," Joseph stopped talking feeling himself start to tear up.