Hillary_Flesh and Blood (42 page)

Kathy wailed and groaned in pain. Her legs were broken. Hillary had made sure that she wouldn
’
t try to run again. But she wasn
’
t done yet. Kathy could see the hatred and conviction in her eyes. She saw Hillary lift the bat high and bite her lower lip as she swung it fiercely at side of her mother
’
s head. Then Kathy saw nothing at all.

When she awoke hours later, Hillary was once again nowhere in sight. The house was quiet, but this time bright. Kathy was sore all over. Her head hurt too badly to lift it off the floor. The ringing in her ear seemed magnified. She closed her eyes and drifted back into oblivion.

Hillary had taken a long nap in her bed to make up for all the hours of sleep she had lost
napp
ing on the couch. She awoke just after one in the afternoon feeling refreshed and invigorated. But as she stepped out of bed, a wave of nausea so intense hit her so suddenly that she barely made it to the bathroom in time to throw up the foul-tasting bile from her stomach. Hillary was convinced now. There was no other explanation for all of her prolonged symptoms. She was pregnant.

Enraged by the thought of her father
’
s maggot within her uterus, Hillary considered giving herself an abortion. She
even went as far as to untwist
and straighten a wire cloth
ing
hanger. She had read about that somewhere, how abortions had been done illegally with hangers. She knew how well those often turned out. She was too afraid that she would do more harm than good. She would have to find another way to rid her body of its unwelcome intruder.

For now, she had other plans to work on. She chose a nice pastel outfit
to wear
, grabbed he
r
dirty
robe and walked to the bathroom. Hillary disrobed and stared at her naked abdomen in the bathroom mirror. It didn
’t look any different. It was
still firm and flat, though her breasts did look fuller and were
definitely
sore. With a labored sigh, she stepped into the shower. The warm water felt good on her skin. She lathered up, washing the blood off. Soon, she
’
d be transformed from Hillary the murderous monster to Hillary the all-American sweetheart. She
’
d look sweet and innocent in her pretty spring wardrobe. Until she was done visiting Jax....

Hillary was careful to avoid the pools of blood t
h
roughout the house as she made her way to the foyer. Jax would be home by the time she drove to her house. She lived
about
ten minutes away. Hillary felt confident that she could make it to he
r
house and back without drawing attention to herself. The last thing she need
ed
was to get pulled over. She would drive slowly and carefully and everything would go as planned.

Hillary grabbed her mother
’
s car keys then zipped open her purse. She pulled out her wallet and searched withi
n it for cash. Her mother had
forty-six dollars which she grabbed and stuffed into her pocket. She exited the house quietly and jogged anxiously to her mother
’
s car. It was a big sport utility vehicle, much larger than her father
’
s small passenger car. Hillary had never driven it before. She unlocked it and nervously sat behind the steering wheel. She felt so small within the large leather seat. She adjusted the mirrors and started the ignition.

Taking a deep breath, Hillary backed out of the driveway, screeching to an abrupt stop before hitting the mailbox. Her heart raced. Could she really pull this off? Would she be able to drive this big car all the way to Jax
’
s house? She thought about it for a few seconds before pulling out onto the long, winding road. She didn
’
t have any other choice.

The drive to Jax
’
s house was uneventful. Hillary pulled into the empty driveway and exhaled deeply. It felt as if she had been holding her breath the entire ride there. It took only twelve minutes, but the tense journey seemed to take hours. Hillary exited the car, walked up to the front door and rang the doorbell.

“
Hillary, you
’
re here!
”
Jax said excitedly when she opened the door,
“
I didn
’
t think you
’
d come.
”

“
I told you I would,
”
Hillary replied.

“
Come in. U
h, where
’
s your mom?
”

“
I came alone.
”

“
What? You drove here? Alone? Get outta here, no way!
”

Hillary entered Jax
’
s home and Jax closed the door behind her.

“
That
’
s
soooo
cool! I didn
’
t know you h
ad your license. Wait, but you’re
—”

“
God, Jax, take a breath,
”
Hillary complained.

“
But you
’
re two months
younger
than me,
”
Jax continued,
“
how do
you
have your license?
”

“
Advanced driving classes,
”
Hillary lied. She knew she could feed Jax a heaping spoonful of lies and misinformation and Jax would eat it up greedily and ask for more.

“
Oh my God,
”
Jax said animatedly,
“
you
’
re
sooooo
lucky!
”

“
I think you need to cut back on the coffee.
”

Jax laughed out loud as she twirled
a strand of
her long blonde hair.

“
Shit,
”
she said, losing some of her exhilaration,
“
this would have been the best time to hang out at the mall, but I can
’
t...I have to babysit the twins...they
’
re sick.
”

“
Darn,
”
Hillary said, being purposefully facetious.

“
I miss you, Hill, are you normal again?
”

Hillary had to laugh out loud. Normal? Not quite.

“
Nope, I
’
m a horrible murderer now.
”

Jax laughed, slapping Hillary
’
s shoulder lightly.

“
Oh, Hill, we need to start hanging out again. I told Maddie you
’
d come back from your mental vacation.
”

“
Is that where I was?
”
Hillary asked, amused.
“
Maddie Woodmere? Why are you talking to her anyway?
”

“
Well...we sorta kind
’
ve been hanging out now. She
’
s not that bad, Hillary, you
’
d like her....
”

“
Maddie
’
s a stuck-up, pretentious, know-it-all rich bitch and I will
never
like her,
”
Hillary snapped.

“
Don
’
t be mad, Hill, I guess I just wanted someone popular to hang with while you were
—”

“
On my mental vacation, yeah, I get it.
”

“
I guess you
’
re kinda right about
Maddie
...she did say some pretty harsh things about you to people. Laura too. You know how they are.
”

Hillary narrowed her eyes angrily.

“
What things?
”
she asked irately.

“
It doesn
’
t matter, I
—”

“
Just tell me!
”
Hillary shouted furiously.

“
All right!
”
Jax said with a huff, throwing up her arms,
“
calm down. She said you were a flake...a fruitcake...a basket case...you know, all those things you
c
all crazy people. I defended you, Hill, really...I told her it was just temporary.
”

“
That cunt! I
’
ll gut her alive!
”
Hillary said, seething with rage. She would make Maddie Woodmere pay. And Laura too.

Jax laughed, breaking the tension.

“
You
’
re so funny,
”
she said,
“
I forgot you were a horrible murderer.
”

“
You know, maybe I will get to know Maddie better. Why don
’
t we have a picnic in the woods together tomorrow after school?
”

“
That would be so cool!
”
Jax replied excitedly.

“
Give her a call.
”

“
We
’
ll see her in school tomorrow.
”

“
C
’mon, call her.
I don
’
t want her to make other plans.
”

“Fine. W
hen did you become so bossy?
”

“
Persistent,
”
Hillary corrected her, with a thin smile,
“
the word is persistent.
”

Jax pulled out her cell phone and called Maddie
. From what Hillary could hear
Maddie wasn
’
t too keen on the idea of picnicking with Hillary.

“Just be there,
please, for me?
”
Jax pleaded, then after a short pause, added,
“
great! It
’
s going to be so
much
fun!
”

“
Killer fun!
”
Hillary chimed in jokingly, at least as far as Jax knew.

“
That was such a great idea,
”
Jax said, givi
n
g Hillary a quick, fond hug. Hillary sneered behind her back, forcing herself to return Jax
’
s embrace.

“
How long can you stay, I
’
ve got so much to tell you!
”

“
Does your dad still work late?
”

“
Uh-huh.
”

“
And what time is your mom getting home?
”

“
She had to switch shifts because of the snot
ty
-nose
d
twins so not until the morning, why? What d
’ya
have in mind?
”

“
Oh, my dad wanted to know if you have some duct tape he could borrow.
”

“
Duct tape?
”

“
That silver tape that
—”

“
I know what duct tape is, Hill...yeah, I think we have some...somewhere.
”

“
Can you get it for me?
”

“
What, now?
”

“
Otherwise I
’
ll totally forget and my dad will bitch and cry all night.
”

“
All right, I
’
ll go look for it. You
can go up to my room, your back
pack
’
s by my desk.
”

“
Okay, thanks.
”

Jax
’
s house used to be Hillary
’
s home away from home. Jax used to be Hillary
’
s most trusted friend. Early on when her father began abusing her, Hillary had come close to confi
d
ing in Jax. Yet, she knew Jax well enough to know that Jax would have told her mother and her mother would have stuck her nose where it didn
’
t belong. She would have contacted the police or a social worker or someone who would have screwed things up even more.