The street in front of Kathy’s house was painted in crimson: a line of red pointing straight to home. Looking down, she saw the crimson dropped from her hands, creating a splatter of color on the layer of dust that caked everything south from the city proper. Wiping her hands on her sides, Kathy stepped into her home, and was greeted by her son watching TV.
“Mom...are you okay?” Billy asked, his eyes planted on the blood.
“I’m fine, we’re good now.” Replied Kathy.
“...you’re covered in blood, mom…”
Kathy knelt down to face her son directly. She placed her blooded hand on Billy’s shoulder.
“Someone had to die, and I had to do the killing; you’ll understand when you’re older.” She said, before grunting as she stood back up. Her joints have been hurting her lately. “Oh,” she continued, “I
lost my job; unrelated to the killing. But things are gonna be tight till I can get another job.”
“Okay.” Billy said.
Kathy made her way to the couch, plopping down onto the faux-leather. The blood splashed up onto her, coating her body.
“Shouldn’t you clean yourself up, mom?”
“I’m fine, its just a little blood.” Bits of pink meat began to ooze from Kathy’s hands, as she continued, “and brain matter.”
Billy sighed, before he sat next to Kathy, the blood now coating his pants. The TV blared, as Kathy turned the volume far past the point it should have been. She hoped it would discourage Billy from asking more questions.
“Who did you kill?” Billy asked.
“It’s not polite to ask.” Kathy replied.
“Will the police come after you?”
“I doubt it.”
“Why do you doubt it?”
Kathy sighed, before turning the volume on the TV as high as it would go. The speakers popped and smoked, as the sound became distorted.
“God damn it, Billy! You made me break the fucking speaker!” Kathy said, throwing the remote to the ground, shattering it.
“I’m sorry Mom!” Billy said, as he scattered behind the couch.
“Sorry isn’t gonna fix the speaker, is it? Get the fuck back over here right now!” Kathy screamed, grabbing for Billy’s shirt collar.
“Please mom, I’ll get a new one; I can fix it, please mom, please--”
“Fucking spoiled little brat! Do you know how hard I worked for that speaker?! That thing cost 20 dollars; 20-fucking-dollars! Do you have 20 dollars to buy me a new one?!”
“I think you should call Dr--”
“Don’t say his fucking name! I sure as shit won’t give you my fucking pills again, you fucking waste!”
Billy’s frantic breath caught in his throat, as tears ran down his face, mixing with the blood Kathy got on his face.
Kathy raised her hand high in the air, blocking out the light from the fixture above. Pulling it down sharply, she slapped hard across Billy’s face, smearing the blood and tears.
“What good are you, anyway?!” Kathy began to cry, as she threw Billy to the ground.
“I’m sorry, mommy!!!” Billy screamed, hyperventilating.
“You look just like him, but you’re too much of a pussy to be anything close to him!” Kathy screamed, as her crying turned to panic at the thought of Ian.
Billy couldn’t speak, he was crying too hard.
“Go to your fucking room, kid. I don’t wanna see you. I don’t wanna see your face.” Kathy exhaled, falling to the ground, which was now drenched in blood.
Billy couldn’t speak, he was crying too hard.
“I don’t wanna see you.” Kathy repeated. All she could do to hold her emotions in place was pretend that Ian was alive.
Blood streamed through the cracks in the doors and windows. The floor was then a riverbed, smelling of iron.
“I’m sorry Momma...I’m sorry...I’m sorry Mommy….I’m sorry.” Billy said, as he struggled to stand in the ever-rising blood.
“I don’t wanna see you.” Kathy said.
“I’ll fix it Momma….I’ll fix it.” Billy said, as he ran upstairs.
“I don’t wanna see you.”
Upstairs as a loud bang which cracked at Kathy’s ears, as a wave of blood crashed down the stars, and broke down the walls of her home, leveling it to the ground.
Kathy was then standing above the body of his son. He looked just like his father. He had taken his father’s gun and put a bullet in his temple, just like his father had. Kathy was numb. The only other love in her life was now gone, just like the first. The kid’s body floated on the river of blood, as the sky rained down crimson droplets. Kathy thought she should be sad, but she felt nothing at all. In her mind was the voice of her father, shouting at her, biting into her skin, tearing at her flesh. She hated that miserable old man; if her suicide attempt had been successful, maybe he would have felt what she felt then. Nothing at all. Before long, Kathy laid down in the blood, gripping her son’s body close to her chest. She wept softly, as she drifted off to sleep.
She woke up at the sound of the bullet going through her son’s skull. His body was gone, and so was the house. The blood had dried, turned brown and covered in dust. She checked her phone. She had been asleep for a week. Her skin was covered in dust, her eyes dry and pained. As she struggled to rise, she looked around her. Her neighborhood had been leveled, like the city proper. The war must have reached her doorstep. Turning around, she saw a woman dressed like a dancer.
“Are you okay, ma’am?” Asked the dancer.
“I don’t know. My son is dead.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry.” replied the dancer.
“It was a long time coming. His father died the same way.”
“Is there anything I can do for you?” asked the dancer.
“Spare me, bitch. I don’t need your fake kindness or generosity. All that died with the world.”
“I lost my daughter some years back; I know the pain you’re going through.” said the dancer.
“You don’t know shit.” said Kathy.
"I know enough. Here, my number. If you need someone to talk to, just give me a call, okay?" replied the dancer, as she handed Kathy a slip of paper. Kathy let it fall to the ground.
They stood in silence for a moment, before the dancer finally said “Have you seen a man who looks like he could be my brother?”