Sitting in the living room downstairs, Camille looked pallid and emotionless. Her eyes seemed hollow, as if she was somewhere else entirely. Antonio sat next to her, clutching her left hand tightly, while her right hand was clenched in her pocket, gripping the cap and broken seal anxiously, as if afraid they might slip away and reveal what she desperately wanted to hide.
“Everyone’s gone,” Camille whispered, her voice barely audible. “But we’ll need to call someone tomorrow to clean up what’s left behind.”
Her words sounded deadened, but her hands trembled slightly, betraying her calm facade.
“Yes, first thing in the morning. Can I ask you something?” Antonio’s voice wavered.
“The acid container was sealed, but there was no seal around it. Do you happen to know why?”
Camille snapped off her sunken demeanor, flashing something darker. “You think I did this to her?” Her voice cracked, sharp and trembling with rage. “Oh, come on… I wanted her gone, not dead, Antonio. Don’t be fucking stupid!”
Her words hung heavy in the air, intoxicating it with unspoken truths and accusations. Camille suddenly jerked her hand free, rising abruptly from the couch. Her face was strained and pale as she retreated to her room, and the door slamming shut behind her.
Antonio remained on the couch, choosing not to follow her. He thought of the day at the tracks, his wife’s violent past. He’d seen the changes. He thought, “She wouldn’t hurt anyone anymore,” as he tried to control his trembling body.
Not wanting to confront his wife again for the night, he remained on the couch, where tried to sleep. With his eyes peeled, he thought of Jenny and his missed opportunity.
Chapter Five - Bloody Garden
About a year later.
After Jenny’s death, Camille had started waking up earlier as a new habit and would spend her mornings making her family’s breakfast. Now, fourteen, Belinda was pleased with the changes, so much so that she no longer felt the need to carry her doll as frequently.
Antonio was often left alone, thinking of Jenny and wondering what could have been. He knew perfectly well that nothing good would have come out of a possible affair. Wanting to move on but unable to do so after seeing Jenny’s melted and deformed body, he found comfort in gardening.
Every morning, Antonio’s routine would still consist of an early morning run. He wouldhave a small breakfast, made by Camille, and a coffee he would brew himself. On days off work, he focused on lawn care.
Years of continuous breeding had caused the squirrels to multiply to plaguing numbers. Antonio had used acid in the past to eliminate weeds in the flowerbeds, but since Jenny’s passing, he had switched to regular weedkiller.
Once he finished a long day of yardwork and some mild sunburn, Antonio would stand in front of his kitchen sink to drink a cold glass of water. Irritated, he would watch the squirrels dig into his freshly cut grass to bury their daily nut quest. He knew each of those nuts would sprout into a new weed to be killed within a few days. An endless job.
After spilling a little water from his mouth onto the counter, he grabbed a nearby kitchen towel to wipe off the wetness. He then slapped the towel back on the countertop while cursing the squirrels before retreating to take a shower.
Considering that it was mid-summer, the heat was unusually intense. The A/C had to be turned on for the first time in a long while, making the heat more bearable. Because Belinda wasn’t playing with her doll as much, she spent more days outside. Even though her nightmares had slightly subsided, they were mostly about Pin sitting on their picnic rug. The sky was hued dark blue and gray, and her doll seemed to lurk in her dreams.
One morning, Antonio got up for his routine run before getting ready for work. Since he was awake before anyone else in the house, he wanted to water the backyard grass before the midday sun. When he went outside, he nearly fell backwards at the gruesome sight of slaughtered squirrels.
He didn’t know where to look; everything looked the same. Each squirrel’s neck had been broken, and their guts, or what’s left of them, spilled out of their freshly ripped opened bodies. Unsure of what kind of animal would leave such a massacre behind, he called animal control right away.
Antonio went to open the gate; he didn’t want animal control to ring the bell and wake his family up. He wanted to clean as much as he could before any word of the animal bloodshed got out. After quickly going inside to inform his employer of his absence, he rushed back out with trash bags and a rake. To his disbelief, Miss Nancy and her leashed dog had already made their way into his backyard.
“What in the hell happened here, Tony? Did you do this?” She asked.
“I have no idea what happened. Can you please leave?” Antonio replied.
“You sick fuck, you killed these poor babies, didn’t you? DIDN’T YOU?”
“I didn’t!”
“You’ve been complaining about the squirrels for years! Don’t you think I’ve heard you bitch, and bitch about them?”
“Leave!” he shouted at her.
As she continued to argue in pure rage, Miss Nancy felt as if she was being watched from above. A flutter on her nose made her look up, only to see Belinda watching her from the window of her room. She was partially obscured by shadows, but Miss Nancy could see her holding the doll and, with a grim smile, wiping blood off her chin.
Miss Nancy’s lips began to tremble as she scurried out of the gate, while Betsy tried her damndest to snag a dead squirrel off the ground. While Betsy remained drooling and hyperventilating, Miss Nancy pulled on her collar, trying to drag her out. “Your fucking kid did this, I know it! I want you all out of this neighborhood!”
Antonio closed the gate, but not before Betsy had taken a squirrel into her mouth, its spine protruding from the side of her jaws.
