Page 57 of Caged Heart
Officer Harrison's face grew irritated and as red as a tomato, but after a minute, he sighed.
"Okay, before we go," he paused and looked at Carmen. "Are they any questions for me?"
"How was she found?" Carmen asked.
"By a jogger." He answered.
"No," Carmen shook her head. "Not who found her. How was she found? What was her state of being?"
Officer Harrison blinked momentarily as he looked away, then back to Carmen. "When we found your mother, we suspected both an overdose and foul play. Our medical examiner confirmed that. But she was found with her skirt up and no undergarments, and she had engaged in sexual activity. Our theory is that she was doing that in exchange for drugs."
Carmen said nothing, but she nodded.
Officer Harrison cleared his throat and began to walk, knowing Carmen didn't want to know anything else.
Throughout the walk, no one said anything or made any funny jokes. This was a serious moment that we all knew Carmen wouldn't return from, and her reality would forever be changed.
We didn't need an introduction to the morgue. You could just tell it was it. It was colder, less crowded, and silent. The silence ate at me, and it was maddening to me how quiet it was.
Officer Harrison opened the door to the main room where the bodies were kept, and a medical examiner stood there. I'd call her beautiful, but she had a stoic look that said she saw too many dead bodies and didn't enjoy doing this part of the job. I shrugged those thoughts away as she walked over to Carmen's mother's body in the center of the room. Right where we hadn't even bothered to look.
Carmen walked over with fisted hands, and when the examiner removed the material covering her face, Carmen let out a whimper. I started walking closer to her but felt Mars's hand as he stopped me. I looked at him, and he shook his head.
"What?" I mouthed his way.
"Let her process this. She has to do this herself." He mouthed back.
Although a deep growl wanted to escape my mouth, I nodded. He was right. Carmen had to do this herself. She knew we were all here for her, but we couldn't do this for her. She had to face this. Face death wrapped in a disappointment of a mother.
She tentatively reached out to touch her mother's face, but then everything seemed to stop as Carmen reached back and slapped her mother's face.
"How could you!" She yelled out. "Why would you leave me here all alone? You never loved me enough, yet I loved you for the both of us. You didn't fight for me hard enough, but I fought for us. I, I," Carmen sniffled and wiped away her tears. "I forgave you for everything. Every single thing that you or he did. Dad left you in charge of me, and you disappointed him. You hurt me in more ways than you can imagine, but you clocked out before me. You embarrassed me, but I reminded you that I didn't care. I showed you what love was, and you didn't want it. Now, what am I supposed to do, mom?" She asked her, and then Carmen turned to face me. "What am I supposed to do, Ares? What!" She yelled.
Mars shoved me towards her, and I didn't have the time to turn back so I could glare at him; instead, Carmen walked into my open arms and cried loudly. She sobbed so hard it rattled everything in me, and I wanted to soothe her pain.
She felt all alone in a room full of people that loved her. She gave her love to someone who didn't deserve it, and they sucked it out of her. She had no example of love, yet she tried her best to give it to the one person who should have given it back unconditionally.
Isn't that what parents are supposed to do? To love and show you love? Not the other way around. How can they not see what they did to us? Why won't they see? Why!
Chapter42
Ares
"I'm worried about Carmen," I said to Mars, who was still recovering from his bruises.
He's been staying with us ever since the hospital. He didn't want to go back to recover when he found out that our father was there too. It was a damn private hospital, and while everything one else thought they were keeping him company, it was to make sure no one went in the room while he napped. No one, as in our father's bullshit ways. He may have been resting in his room, but deep down, I knew what he was doing. He was waiting to catch us with our minds focused on something else.
Except… he didn't understand what he did. How he turned the tables around, and the players in the room shifted. It was no longer me against my brother and him against each of us. No, it was me and my brother against him. He couldn't win this time, and he should know this already.
I was born a Wolfgang and remained a Wolfgang until my death. We didn't lose or give in. We fought hard and dirty because it was in our blood.
"She's going to be alright." He finally answered me after an entire monologue in my head.
"How do you know?" I asked him as he lay on the makeshift bed on the floor.
Mars didn't answer as he stared at the ceiling. He was doing much of that these days like he used to do when we were younger. I didn't want to breach the subject, but I had to after he didn't respond to me. He was also getting quieter and shutting down, and I couldn't do much about it.
"When did you start again?" I asked him, and Mars shut his eyes tight.
