period of time? I called home to see if Shelly knew where I could find Rita. She knew, alright, and I was appalled by the answer.
“She’s on a big ghost hunt. The S.P.I.R.I.T. team is being filmed for a documentary. They’re investigating down in Honey Lake, Georgia right now. Do you remember hearing about that missing person’s case from a couple of summers ago? The one where that guy killed his wife and then ate her? I can’t remember the ladies name. It started with a “B” I think. Brenda? Barbara? I don’t know but anyway, “B’s” husband is trying to weasel his way off of death row with claims that his wife’s dismembered corpse is haunting him.”
No, I wasn’t familiar with the case but I was becoming more than a mere acquaintance with irony. “B’s” at Honey Lake? Really? I mumbled something dumb to end the conversation then started a fresh one with someone else.
“I get it, Mom. You’re telling me to be still again, right? Well, I don’t really know how to be still especially since you keep pushing me to go forward. It’s an oxymoron.”
Truth be told, I felt like a complete oxymoron myself—emphasis on the moron part. Here I was, standing in the middle of the sidewalk having a philosophical disagreement with someone I couldn’t see, feel, or hear.
But I did hear something—the sound of tires screeching to a halt on the wet asphalt. And once I saw the car, I knew I was going to be feeling this one for quite some time.
8. Liar, Liar Pants on Fire
“Yeah, girls do terrible things to guys then act like they don’t. Ruby cheated on me once already with Lucas then begged me to forgive her. She promised me that it would never happen again and I thought I could trust her. Now, I’m not so sure.”
I waited for his reaction to the lie I’d just told him before hitting him with an even bigger one. He looked sad and confused—exactly how I wanted him to look. It was time to drive the stake straight into his heart. I needed to make him hate Ruby as much as I did so he would stop trying to help her.
“So tell me, Clay—how did you get past the fact that Sophie slept with your best friend? I mean, your situation is even worse than mine is. How did you make peace with the fact that the person who murdered you might actually be little Clayton’s father?”
“What? No, you have it all wrong, Zach. Sophie and Jeremy hated each other—there’s no way they would have done that to me.”
His lips said one thing but his face had nothing but doubt written all over it. It was time to deliver the fatal blow.
“Ruby didn’t tell you? She swore to me that she would be honest with you. But she lies so much that I don’t think she can help it. The Sophie/Jeremy affair was one of the first things she uncovered when she started poking around in your past. Jeremy killed you because Sophie chose you over him—regardless of which one of you fathered her child. And it really sucks for you that you’ll never even have the opportunity to get a paternity test done.”
I crushed it. Not just the delivery of that whopper of a lie but Clay’s heart too. Now, he would go away and leave me in peace. He would refuse to help her ever again. Clay was the only real way she had of communicating with me and I succeeded in slicing that line into two useless pieces. I was free again. Free to forget everything about her. Free to forget that she ever existed. Free to lick my wounds and close off my heart forever.
Clay made a lame excuse for why he needed to leave and I barely kept a straight face until he was gone. But once I was alone, it was time to celebrate. I poured myself an imaginary glass of champagne and toasted to my achievement. I partied like that for hours—emptying the
“She’s on a big ghost hunt. The S.P.I.R.I.T. team is being filmed for a documentary. They’re investigating down in Honey Lake, Georgia right now. Do you remember hearing about that missing person’s case from a couple of summers ago? The one where that guy killed his wife and then ate her? I can’t remember the ladies name. It started with a “B” I think. Brenda? Barbara? I don’t know but anyway, “B’s” husband is trying to weasel his way off of death row with claims that his wife’s dismembered corpse is haunting him.”
No, I wasn’t familiar with the case but I was becoming more than a mere acquaintance with irony. “B’s” at Honey Lake? Really? I mumbled something dumb to end the conversation then started a fresh one with someone else.
“I get it, Mom. You’re telling me to be still again, right? Well, I don’t really know how to be still especially since you keep pushing me to go forward. It’s an oxymoron.”
Truth be told, I felt like a complete oxymoron myself—emphasis on the moron part. Here I was, standing in the middle of the sidewalk having a philosophical disagreement with someone I couldn’t see, feel, or hear.
But I did hear something—the sound of tires screeching to a halt on the wet asphalt. And once I saw the car, I knew I was going to be feeling this one for quite some time.
8. Liar, Liar Pants on Fire
“Yeah, girls do terrible things to guys then act like they don’t. Ruby cheated on me once already with Lucas then begged me to forgive her. She promised me that it would never happen again and I thought I could trust her. Now, I’m not so sure.”
I waited for his reaction to the lie I’d just told him before hitting him with an even bigger one. He looked sad and confused—exactly how I wanted him to look. It was time to drive the stake straight into his heart. I needed to make him hate Ruby as much as I did so he would stop trying to help her.
“So tell me, Clay—how did you get past the fact that Sophie slept with your best friend? I mean, your situation is even worse than mine is. How did you make peace with the fact that the person who murdered you might actually be little Clayton’s father?”
“What? No, you have it all wrong, Zach. Sophie and Jeremy hated each other—there’s no way they would have done that to me.”
His lips said one thing but his face had nothing but doubt written all over it. It was time to deliver the fatal blow.
“Ruby didn’t tell you? She swore to me that she would be honest with you. But she lies so much that I don’t think she can help it. The Sophie/Jeremy affair was one of the first things she uncovered when she started poking around in your past. Jeremy killed you because Sophie chose you over him—regardless of which one of you fathered her child. And it really sucks for you that you’ll never even have the opportunity to get a paternity test done.”
I crushed it. Not just the delivery of that whopper of a lie but Clay’s heart too. Now, he would go away and leave me in peace. He would refuse to help her ever again. Clay was the only real way she had of communicating with me and I succeeded in slicing that line into two useless pieces. I was free again. Free to forget everything about her. Free to forget that she ever existed. Free to lick my wounds and close off my heart forever.
Clay made a lame excuse for why he needed to leave and I barely kept a straight face until he was gone. But once I was alone, it was time to celebrate. I poured myself an imaginary glass of champagne and toasted to my achievement. I partied like that for hours—emptying the
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