The car crash

Chapter 11

Another rabbit, soft, velvety gray fur catches my eye. It almost blends in with the surroundings, but its twitching nose gives it away. Benny. That's what I'll name it. I move towards it, like a thief in the night, and before it can scamper away, I gently grab it. With a quick motion, I squeeze its neck, feeling its heartbeat slow down to nothingness.

"Little brother what are you doing," a voice interrupts my thoughts. I turn around to see Benny approaching from behind, a mixture of curiosity and disgust etched on his face. I release the rabbit and stand up, feeling my younger brother's eyes on me.

"You name the animals after the people you hate?" he asks, his tone filled with bewilderment.
I chuckle, shaking my head. "Nah, that's old," I say, leading him back inside the kitchen through the backdoor

As I stand there, my eyes fixed on him, I watch with a mix of annoyance and disbelief as he expertly packs my sons' lunchboxes. Each item is carefully placed in its designated spot with precision and care. The audacity of this man - who does he think he is, taking over my role as a mother?
Without thinking, I blurt out,

"You need help?" My voice is laced with irritation and a hint of sarcasm. He turns to face me, a smug smile spreading across his face.

"What can you do?" he chuckles, continuing to work with ease as if taunting me to prove my worth as a parent.

As I answer the request to help prepare the kids' food, I notice a strange reaction from Benny.

"Your kids," he whispers under his breath, shaking his head slightly, and I can't help but wonder what that's supposed to mean. Nevertheless, I try to push the thought aside and walk over to the cabinet, scanning it for a knife to use. My fingers graze over sharp edges, and I feel a shiver run down my spine. Suddenly, Benny's voice startles me.

"What are you doing with that?" he asks, causing my heart to skip a beat as I instinctively turn to face him. From the corner of my eye, I see the concern etched on his face and the worry in his eyes.

"I want to cut my kid's sandwiches," I announced firmly, shuffling forward with my walker. As I approached Benny, he recoiled in fear, taking several timid steps back from me as if I were brandishing a deadly weapon. The frustration of the situation threatened to overwhelm me - I couldn't even chase after my own child, let alone harm him.

"They won't eat the crust, you know," I explained, my voice tinged with sadness as I started trimming off the unwanted edges of the bread, trying to make the sandwich as appetizing as possible for my picky eaters.

Maybe you should go back to the doctor," Benny said, taking slow, measured steps towards me. As he closed in on me, his shoulder accidentally brushed mine, sending shivers down my spine. I cleared my throat and looked away, trying to suppress the awkward tension building between us.

"What do you mean?" I finally asked, hoping to break the silence. Benny, his hand buried deep in his pocket, nervously scratched his unkempt brown hair and exhaled sharply.

"Jolica told me you're having a hard time getting it up," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. My mind went blank.

Why would she blabber something so personal to Benny?

Before I could say anything, Benny continued.

"Look, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with you. But you know, as men, it's not normal for us to-." He trailed off, leaving the rest unsaid.
As the venomous words escaped from his lips, my grip on the knife tightened.

"Shut up!" I roared, lunging forward and plunging the blade deep into his eye. He stumbled backward with a blood-curdling scream, and I pounced on top of him, continuing to stab him relentlessly. Each violent strike was accompanied by a spray of hot, sticky blood that splattered across my face and clothes, leaving a gruesome trail of freckled stains. In that moment, all I could think about was the audacity of his words, the insult to my very manhood.

How dare she tell him that, how dare he speak of me in that way. The rage inside me burned like wildfire, fuelling my frenzied attack until the only thing left in the world was the feel of the knife in my hand and the sound of his screams ringing in my ears.

I hurled the knife with furious momentum to the side, startled into an upright position. Giddiness consumed me as I caught sight of my brother's lifeless body, a twisted smile spreading across my face.

I'd finally done it - killed him, just as I'd always promised. But my triumphant laughter was short-lived as the sobering reality of my actions settled in. Panic and dread washed over me in waves. Jolica - my jittery nerves spiraled out of control as I realized she'd be back any minute.

"I heard screaming - is everything okay?" Amanda's sudden appearance caused my blood to run cold.

My eyes snapped to her, the blood on my clothes and the unmoving form of my brother still fresh in view. I could feel her gaze lock onto me, her mind undoubtedly racing with horror as she pieced together the gruesome tableau before her.

"Amanda-"

"So, you found out?" Her voice was barely above a whisper as she slowly made her way towards me. My heart was beating so fast that it felt like it was about to jump out of my chest. I instinctively took a step back, as if she had just pulled a gun on me.
She knelt down and picked up the bloody knife with a rag, and I couldn't help but stare at it in shock. How could someone be so calm in this situation? She carefully walked over to the sink, turning on the faucet to wash the blood off the blade.

"What are you doing?" I hissed at her, my voice barely above a whisper.

"We have to get this body cleaned up," she replied calmly, her face serene as though nothing out of the ordinary was happening. Maybe it was because she was a nurse and was used to seeing things like this every day. "I'll take care of the body. You clean up the kitchen," she whispered to me.

" What can you do? What experience do you have-"

" I killed my mother" she interrupts I stared at her for more answers, she lets out a long side, " there was no reason to it... I just did it's

I nodded numbly, unable to process anything that was happening. It was as if I was in a daze, watching everything unfold before me without really being present. But even as panic threatened to overwhelm me, I couldn't help but marvel at how she remained so composed.