“And what does that mean?” she asked without turning around.

“I have no idea.”

“Don’t lie.”

“Why would I lie?”

“He said you know the truth,” the girl turned to stare at me angrily.

“What truth?"

“Jack, could you just answer my question?”

“Sabi, this interrogation won’t lead to anything. I have no idea what nonsense your drunken brother was spouting.”

“What do you know? What truth is he talking about?” the girl persisted with her questioning.

What are you going to do? Did I really sin so much in my past life? Why am I being punished like this? Damn this girl!

“Don’t look at me like that, you’ll get a burn,” the girl turned to stare out the window again.

“So, the truth,” I muttered thoughtfully, “Alright. Let’s just try to avoid throwing scenes, okay? The truth, well, the truth is that Eric and I flushed Flippy down the toilet.”

‘Oh, that’s something I shouldn’t have said ’, I thought, feeling Sabrina’s eyes widen in horror. She positively didn’t expect anything of the sort.

“Yes, we did it,” I couldn’t stop myself. It was all too funny giving her the details of the “unfortunate incident”. That had taken place in our childhood. “But don’t get mad, alright? I’m still driving. We didn’t realize what we were doing, we were seven years old, and saving the life of a goldfish seemed like a matter of honor back then. After some brief deliberation, we decided that at the end of the day, all sewage pipes must lead out into the ocean; sooner or later Flippy would be home. Yes, we were wrong. Who hasn’t made mistakes? What can I do about it now?” It was done, and we dreaded Sabrina finding out.

Then Grandpa came to our rescue and said he had released the fish into the river because the fish tank had been to small a home for it. Sabrina believed Grandpa and, after a while, stopped mourning and scolding us. Poor Flippy was forgotten.

And as a thank you to grandpa, Eric and I had behaved like the most diligent and obedient kids in the world for two whole days.

“Hey!” I exclaimed as Sabrina gave me a hefty slap on the back of my head.

“God, why are you so furious?!”

Seemingly offended by my words and the “truth” she had heard, she turned away with a look of indignation on her beautiful face, a righteous woman in grief.

I parked the car in front of old Venters’ house, cursing silently and vividly imagining how I would be giving Eric a proper walloping.

“Jack, I won’t just let this go,” Sabrina persisted.

“And what will you do? Torture me?” I asked angrily, as this conversation was really getting on my nerves now.

“That’s an idea,” Sabrina squinted. “They say sticking sharpened bamboo sticks under the fingernails is a very painful process,” she hissed, getting out of the car and slamming the door shut.

I rolled my eyes and buried my nose in the steering wheel. What am I going to do about her? She won’t just let it go, that’s a fact. No use denying it. Pulling up by the house, I feverishly recalled all the mischiefs Eric and I had done in hopes of bringing Sabrina to tears. All that mischief went straight to her heart. Poor Flippy came to my mind again. Damn it, Eric. I’ll kill him and not regret it, damn it!

I got out of the car and trudged towards the entrance door, feeling Sabrina’s gaze burning a huge hole in my back a few feet behind. Slowly, trying my best to keep myself in check, I turned to her and waved my hand in a stopping gesture. She was not to go in.

“What’s up?” I noticed her looks have significantly improved since this morning.

Miracles do happen, don’t they?

“I just wanted to say this is my favorite coat, so maybe you’ll switch your anger for mercy and stop staring at me so intensely with your loving eyes? You’ll burn a hole in my coat.” I tried to be charming and even made a charming grimace.

“Maybe I’ll treat you to something inside? Coffee? Poison? Rope?” Sabrina murmured.

“I wouldn’t…”

“Eric’s in his room,” she snapped and pushed past me into the house.

“I guess I shouldn’t count on coffee then?”

“And were you?” Sabrina raised her eyebrows in surprise before disappearing behind the door leading to her bedroom.

Well, it seems Sabrina may have been won over. Now it’s time to deal with Eric.

Compromise

I stopped by the door, proudly bearing an old road sign “Stop”. Behind it, loud snoring could be heard, occasionally interrupted by agonizing groans. Well, at least he got some sleep. I hesitantly grabbed the handle and took a step into the unknown…The room was dimly lit. I looked around and grimaced. The curtains were drawn, the windows securely locked, preventing any fresh air from entering the room. There was little evidence of the madness Eric had wrought the previous night. Apparently, Sabrina had made an effort to tidy up. I noticed there was a photograph missing on the desk, the one with old man Alex, Eric, and myself. On closer inspection I noticed that the computer monitor was half shattered, and there was practically nothing left of the keyboard.