A Monster in Plain Sight

By the time the livestream started, I had already turned the car around.

In the distance, I spotted my frail mother-in-law, Barbara Hamilton, huddled on the highway shoulder. Her gray hair was disheveled, and as cars roared past, she wrapped her arms tightly around herself and shivered.

I rolled down the window and glared at her. "God, you're so annoying! You took forever. You deserved to be left behind!"

Barbara jerked her head up at the sound of my voice. She had no idea I'd secretly started a livestream on my spare phone. Her face was full of fear and guilt.

"Jules, I was wrong... I'm sorry… I won't do it again, I promise. Please don't leave me behind... It's so dark, and I'm scared..."

Instead of easing up, I became even harsher. "What are you dawdling for? Get in the car! If we miss the parade, I'll beat the hell out of you!"

Barbara flinched and hurried to open the rear door.

In her panic, she caught her foot on the door frame and fell heavily to the ground.

"Ow! Jules, that really hurt!" She groaned in pain, her forehead striking the concrete. Blood immediately began to seep from the wound.

I didn't move an inch.

The livestream chat exploded.

"Holy shit! Is this woman even human? She's completely heartless!"

"The old lady fell that hard, and she won't even help her up?!"

"She's lucky she got stuck with an easygoing country woman like that. If she had a tough Southern mother-in-law like me, she'd have gotten slapped across the face already!"

In the passenger seat, my mother, Astrid Baldwin, yawned and urged me impatiently, "Get out and help her up. The Thanksgiving parade is about to start."

"Can't be bothered." I didn't even lift my eyelids. "She's a useless old hag. If she falls and dies, all the better. One less retirement expense to worry about."

My mom nodded and went back to playing on her phone.

"Oh, right. Jack and his family are already waiting at the entrance to the scenic area. They're waiting for you to buy their tickets!"

"Tickets are $39.9 per person. I'm certainly not making my precious son pay out of his own pocket. Transfer him the money now."

"Got it." I opened my phone without hesitation and sent my younger brother, Jack, a $200 cash gift.

"Only $200?" My mom frowned. "That's not enough! Jack's mortgage alone is $800 a month, and he needs another $200 for cigarettes. Send him another $1000."

"Mom..." I hesitated. "I just replaced his car with a BMW last month. I don't have much left in my bank account..."

"You're such an idiot!" My mom smacked me on the forehead. "Just transfer the money from Barbara's account! Doesn't she give you $1000 every month anyway? Use some of it to help Jack!"

I nodded repeatedly, took out Barbara's account details, and tossed them to my mom. "You do it yourself. Transfer however much you want."

Satisfied, my mom took the card and began operating the phone with practiced ease.

By then, Barbara had finally managed to climb into the back seat, panting for breath. Her forehead was covered in blood, yet she didn't complain. Instead, she carefully pulled a squashed sandwich out of her backpack.

"Jules, are you hungry?" she asked with a vacant smile, her eyes full of pleading affection. "I... I saved this for you... Eat it..."

I glanced at the sandwich and tossed it out the window in disgust. "It's just a crappy sandwich. Even a dog wouldn't eat it!"

Barbara's hand froze in midair. A flicker of sadness crossed her eyes, but it quickly gave way to self-blame. "Right, right... It's a lousy sandwich... I'm useless..."

The livestream comments spiraled out of control.

"What the hell! Is this woman even human?!"

"She treats her bloodsucking mother like royalty, but treats the mother-in-law who supports her so generously like an enemy!"

"This piece of trash doesn't deserve to be anyone's wife! Whoever marries her is doomed!"

I glanced at the comments and started the car, my expression blank.

In the rearview mirror, Barbara sat curled up in the back seat, staring out the window with vacant eyes.

No one noticed that my hands were gripping the steering wheel so tightly my knuckles had turned white.