17

Mom glared at me ferociously from across the table.

“Ooh, steak for dinner, my favorite,” I said, unable to control my giddiness.

“What’s gotten into you?” Mom asked.

“Oh, please. Like you haven’t relaxed once in a while,” I said. It did not occur to me that I was being condescending, rude.

“Are you drunk?” Elma asked nervously.

“Shhh. Don’t tell Mom,” I said, battling to keep my eyes open.

“Maybe it’s for the better that you go to your room. We’ll talk about this later,” Mom said.

“Except, here’s the thing. We never talk about anything, do we, Mom? You always skirt around the important stuff. Maybe I don’t have to go to my room. Maybe we can get some stuff off the table,” I said as I helped myself to some steaks and tartar sauce.

Mom put down her fork and knife and looked at me sternly.

“Fine. If that’s how you want to behave, let’s do that,” she said, gripping her wine glass tightly.

“Elma, did you know that you and I might be wolves?” I slurred. It was difficult for me to control myself in this state, and even more difficult to form words completely.

“That’s enough!” Mom slammed her hand on the table.

“Mom, what’s she talking about?” Elma asked.

“Your sister’s not right in the head right now. She’s drunk a little too much for her own good. I’ll have a talk with her friends’ moms tomorrow, let them know what kind of company these girls are keeping.”

“Mom, for once in your life can you shut up and not change the subject?” I snapped.

Her mouth gaped open at my audacity.

“Why don’t you tell me what you’ve been hiding? You’ve never once talked to us about Dad disappearing. You haven’t mentioned anything about anything! I had to give the birds and the bees talk to myself. Elma doesn’t even know how to shave her pubes correctly. You’re never there. You never talk to us. Your genius solution to my mental episode in Chicago was to move to a strange new town!” I said. Everything was going really blurry, and I could barely make out my mom’s outline.

“This is the thanks I get for all the effort I put in. I’ve been playing both roles of mother and father to you girls and this is how you repay me. Did you ever ask me, hey, Mom, how are you holding up? I take care of both of you, but who takes care of me!?” Mom yelled.

Elma was scared. Her face was strained and on the verge of tears. She got up from her seat and ran to her room, sobbing.

“You made Elma cry!” I screamed at Mom.

“No, you did, Alice. You’re having one of your episodes,” she said.

Even though I was drunk, and things didn’t make much sense to me, her words stung. I could see how she saw me. Like a freak. Like I was always just a few seconds away from having one of my “episodes.”

“As for your dad,” she said, getting up and walking over to me menacingly. “He clearly didn’t give a shit about you, me, or Elma. Never came back. Never asked if I needed any help. You really wanna know what I think? He might as well be dead!”

That was it. The last stone that broke the dam. Hearing those words from her completely shattered the remnants of my self-control. The thought that my dad might be dead pierced through my heart, suffocating it with pain.

I burst into uncontrollable tears. I wanted to be away from this place. I didn’t care where. I got up and ran out through the back door, weeping, drunk, staggering.

“Alice! Come back! I didn’t mean that!” Mom called from behind.

Too late, Mom. The damage was done. You’d let out how you really felt, revealing the vile person you were hiding from me all this time.

My dad couldn’t be dead. I would have known. I should have known.

I just wanted to escape. I ran wildly through the forest, along the river in which I had once almost drowned and kept running until all I could hear was the sound of running water under my feet and the howl of the wind in my face.

I had never felt so truly miserable before.

I fell to my knees, feeling the alcohol content in my stomach lurching to come out. I couldn’t hold it in anymore. I vomited along the riverbank, heaving out the champagne, the beer, and the mimosas I had with the girls.

Surprisingly, the puking helped me sober up a little. As I got up from the ground, I looked around to see how far and where I’d run. My heart sank as I realized that I was outside of the town limit, staring ahead at the forest.

I gasped aloud as I saw something move behind the trees. Black silhouettes with brimming red eyes bulging from the darkness.

From behind the trees, the wolves appeared, snarling at me, baring their teeth as they circled me, trapping me between them.