Page 7 of Red Snow
HAVE YOU EVERheard a woman try to scream with tape over her mouth? It sounds ridiculous. It’s annoying. It’s enough to make you want to end it all without giving it a second thought. It’s like a screw being drilled into your head while you’re awake and able to feel everything. Mother would hate the sound just as much as I do.
I hear her in there. She’s moving around on top of the plastic I put on the floor. She won’t get far, though. The tape on her wrists and ankles is tough and I wrapped it around tight enough to cut off blood circulation. It won’t be long before her hands and feet turn a paler white and start to hurt. She’ll be in agony, but she brought it on herself.
I didn’t plan on doing this. I just wanted to go out and enjoy the fact that I could. Finally! After all this time, I’m free to go out and live my life without being held back, or yelled at just for being alive, andthisis what I get in return.Thisis what I end up with. Fuck!
I walk down the hall and stand in the entrance to the living room. She’s laying on the floor, right where I left her, and I can see her eyeballing the door. If I’d tied her up any looser, she’d make a break for it. She’d disrespect my mother’s house even further by running, knocking over furniture, yanking on the doorknob, and hopping down the steps into the night. She’d do her best to stop this from happening—this thing I never planned on doing. Luckily, I tied her up nice and tight. She isn’t going anywhere, and this is happening.
I let out an intentional cough to draw her attention away from the door. She might as well stop thinking about leaving. When she looks up at me, the fear in her eyes is like an aphrodisiac to me. I’ve never felt anything like it. She’s terrified, and I love the way it makes me feel. Water fills her eyes as we make eye contact, and I don’t even try to hide the smile that takes over my face.
I take a step towards her and she recoils, horrified by the thought of me getting close to her. But it’s not her I’m walking towards yet. It’s the knife I placed on the couch before I left. It’s rather large, and she knows it’s there, so when I grab it, her breathing picks up. It’s the fear taking over her lungs. With the large hunting knife in my hand, I squat down next to her so she can see it up close.
“If I remember correctly, your name’s Brenda. Right?” I ask politely, to which she nods her head.
“Okay, Brenda. I’m going to take the tape off your mouth now,” I tell her calmly. “If you scream, I’ll use this on you. Understand?”
She nods, and I slowly peel the tape back, exposing her lips.
“What to do you for a living, Brenda?” I inquire, as I take a seat on top of the plastic right next to her.
“Please don’t kill me,” she responds, and my blood boils.
“I asked you a fucking question!” I snap, and she immediately starts sobbing. “When I ask a question, you will goddamn answer it! Now what do you do for a living?”
“I’m a teacher. Please. Please don’t do this.”
“A teacher? How interesting. Where do you teach?”
“Creekside Park Elementary School. First grade. I’m begging you not to do this.”
“Creekside Park, huh? Cool. That’s cool. Do you like teaching little first graders? I bet that’s rewarding.”
She doesn’t answer this time. She just cries with heavy sobs that rock her body up and down like gunshots. I don’t like that she didn’t answer me.
“What the fuck are you so upset about?” I snap at her. “I’m the one whose mother you disrespected. I asked for a simple favor, and you acted like I was some sort of ingrate. Like I’m a pervert! You disrespected me in my mother’s house! Fucking bitch! Goddamn bitches! And now you’re the one crying? What, are you crying because I didn’t have sex with you? You came here for sex, didn’t you? That’s all you wanted from me, isn’t it? Fucking sex! How goddamn ironic. I shouldn’t even be surprised. I should’ve known better than to think you’d be a nice girl. You put my dick in your filthy mouth, and now you’re the one crying your eyes out.
“Is that what you do all the time? Huh? You go to bars and pick up guys all the time? Guys to have sex with? Meaningless sex? Aren’t you too old for that kind of crap? You should be married with some kids by now.”
“Iammarried. Idohave kids. That’s why I’m begging you not to do this. Please!” she replies.
“What the fuck did you just say?”
Sensing my anger, she doesn’t answer. Again.
“You dirty little cunt! You’remarried? You came back to my house to have sex. You sucked my dick right in this living room, and you’re married? I should’ve known! Of course you are. You’re a dirty little slut! How do the kids at Creekside Park Elementary School feel about you cheating on your husband with random guys from the bar? Do they write notes about you, calling you a filthy, cheating whore? They should. You deserve that. They should. They will!”
While Brenda cries her big, dumb fucking eyes out, I stand up and grab the roll of duct tape from the couch and start re-taping her mouth shut. I cover her mouth and wrap the piece around five times before I finally tear it. It needs to be secure.
After tossing the roll back on the couch, I drop the knife on top of the plastic on the floor and pick up another tool resting on the sofa. It’s a ten-inch hacksaw with a yellow blade. Brenda’s eyes bulge at the sight of it, but the way it looks will be the least of her problems.
I didn’t plan on this happening. I just wanted to go out and enjoy the fact that I could. Brenda brought this on herself. She earned this with her actions. With her disrespect.
This is Brenda’s fault.
Are you happy now, Mother?
