Violet's Kismet

Chapter 10: The Confession

Chapter 10

The Confession

I made it all the way to Friday, thank goodness, another school week was over. My birthday would be coming up soon, September 30th and I was looking forward to a nice relaxing party with my friends. Crys was handling the details with Grandmamma and they wouldn't tell me anything about the decorum or the guest list, no matter how many times I bugged them. I really needed a fun party, to get my mind off of all the weird stuff that had been happening.

Earlier that week, I seem to have had a severe lapse in memory between an evening jog and awakening in my bed. I had some strange memories of an old man and a hotel where I had woken up to smoke filled room and lots of questions, with a different, middle aged man who looked like the Dos Equis guy.. For now, I was writing it off as a dream and doing everything I could, to shake the weirdness I had been feeling. Things around me and inside of me, had been feeling different, sort of like I was awake, but at the same time, I was also in a dream, like nothing was really real. I wanted to be able to let go for once and live my life as a fifteen year old, well, I would only be fifteen for a short while longer. 

I was really excited about my sweet sixteen! It felt good to find that carefree and happy feeling once again, as I tried to keep my thoughts on the Sweet Sixteen Birthday Party that Crys and Grandmamma were planning for me. During the week, I'd come through the kitchen to find the two of them whispering at the table. I tried to extract the details out of them, but they were really good about covering their tracks. Every time I would try to snoop, I would get caught, but that didn't stop me from trying.

I was a tad freaked out about the supernatural experiences. As I sat by the fireplace in the family room with Grandmamma and Frank, it felt comforting to have them there, with me, the best thing I had, since I was minus a mom and dad. I was wrapped in a purple snuggie, sipping hot cocoa, on the big couch, Frank was relaxing in the Lazy Boy close by the stone fireplace and Grandmamma was working on one of her paintings on the love seat. She painted in the family room mostly, as she tended to use this as her 'art room'. She was practicing with fruits. Frank and I watched her paint as she concentrated on her master piece. Salem lay on the braided rug, in a ball purring.

“I wish I had the life of a cat, particularly Salem, it's so simple!” Frank said. I smiled, “He does have a good life.”

Grandmamma looked up with her reading glasses on; she looked over at Salem, all comfortably curled up on the rug. “I'll have to agree with Vie.” She nodded. Frank sipped his coffee, until it reached the bottom and he was about to get up and get more coffee, but Grandmamma wouldn't have it, she insisted on tending to the refill.

Frank and I looked at each other, “She's a stubborn one.” he joked, as they had had a playful argument over who would fill the coffee.

“Stubborn as a mule!” I smiled, laughing and so was Frank. I sipped my hot cocoa with whipped cream on top, I felt so relaxed.

“So how is the campaign going for town council, Uncle Frank?” I asked.

“Well, pretty good so far, Vie, Aunt Mel has been really supportive of me and gosh, I just love her for it. I'm actually running for mayor, Vie. Mel and I decided that it was in our best interest and that we were up for the challenge.”

“Mayor?” I said surprised by this new information.

“Yes, Mayor, can you believe it?” Frank said as he was mystified by the burning fire.

“Wow, that's great, I hope you win!” I said even toned. “Not hope, I'm confident that you will ...” I said correcting myself from a false hope to a response that was more carefully constructed with confidence.

“Thanks darlin’, you know you're like a daughter to Mel and I. You're welcome to be as much as a part of this election as you'd like. We'll keep you posted.” “I'd like that, Uncle Frank.”

“You know Vie, I want you to know, that no matter how busy Mel and I get with this election, or how busy we get with anything else, for that matter, you're always going to be a priority to us and we're here for you. I know how rough life can get, especially as a teenager these days, and I want to make sure you feel protected and appreciated.”

“I do” I said and I meant it. “And thank you, for being here for Grandmamma and me.” “It's the least I could do for your parents, sweetheart. Mel and I miss them everyday”

“So do I” I said, as Frank and I were both standing now, I had gotten up to add more firewood to the fire and Frank decided to help. I could hear Grandmamma rustling around in the kitchen, she must have made more coffee, because she was gone for so long. She made her way back into the family room.

“Hey you two” Grandmamma said as she was putting on her jean jacket, “I'm just going to head out the corner market to get some cream for the coffee. Frank argued with her that she didn't have to and Grandmamma insisted. “Don't burn the house down while I'm gone” Grandmamma said as we shoved what was probably way to much firewood into the fireplace for September, we couldn't help ourselves, we were having fun and it showed.

I was glad Grandmamma had decided to go to the store, because it gave me an opportunity to talk to Uncle Frank alone. When the fire was blazing more than it should, I decided to sit back down and so did Frank, we were laughing. “Ah, we always have fun, don't we kiddo?”

Salem was curled up in my lap, for a second, I petted him and then leaned forward sending him off. I leaned forward with a serious look on my face. “What is it kiddo? Miss your parents?” “Well, yes, I do, but that's not what's troubling me at the moment.” Frank leaned forward with a more serious look on his face. “What's up kiddo? You know you can talk to me about anything ...”

“Yes, I know. It's really complicated and I don't really know how to say this.” “Okay ...” “Well, about a week ago, I was out for an early morning jog and something very strange had happened to me. While I was jogging through the park, I decided to take a rest, along the river...” “Alright” “And I saw this, these images ...” looked confused as I tried to speak.

“Images” He asked. I fumbled for the right words. “Yes, it was like, they weren't real, but I saw them.”

 “What did ya' see Vie?”

 “I saw, I, I, I saw, Colin and Cindy.” 

“You couldn't have possibly seen Cindy, her body was found in the river late June, she was confirmed dead, Vie.”

 “I know, I, I know that, but, I saw ...”

I was choking on my words. Frank looked real serious. “I saw Colin murder Cindy.”

 “You saw Colin murder Cindy?” 

“Yes, I saw Colin murder Cindy, I saw, the events leading up to her death, it was awful.”

“Why don't we go and check it out tomorrow morning?” 

“Grandmamma doesn't know and I haven't told anyone else ...”

“We'll go out for breakfast and you can show me” Frank said. “Okay” I agreed hesitantly. “Sure, and we can get a stack of pancakes!”