Chapter 4
After Preston left for business,
Senna casually pulled out the box I’d hidden under Ms. Ruby’s headstone.
Seeing this, I threw a punch at Senna in frustration, hitting nothing but air.
Forgot I wasn’t human anymore.
I rolled around furiously in front of Ms. Ruby’s grave,
exactly like when I used to throw tantrums with Ms. Ruby as a kid.
Senna opened the metal box to find a note written in delicate handwriting:
[Hi there! I bet you just left flowers for Ruby Martinelli, didn’t you?]
[I set up a mechanism here-on Ruby Martinelli’s death anniversary, if someone brings flowers, this box pops out.]
[I don’t know who you are, but thank you for bringing Ruby flowers.]
Everything in this box is yours now. I hope you’ll visit Ruby from time to time for their sake.]
Ruby was someone who loved company and beautiful things.]
From Scarlett]
I covered my face as Senna slowly read these words aloud.
So embarrassing.
f anyone could see me,
hey’d definitely notice I was blushing all over.
enna pulled out the jewelry from the box piece by piece.
Each item made my heart bleed.
This necklace-right after you moved in with us, you saw me wearing one and begged Dad to buy you a bigger one.”
These earrings-you saw one of my admirers give me earrings, and the next day you demanded your admirer get you the limited edition.”
This is your favorite jade piece, more expensive than mine. You showed it off to me for days.”
enna really held grudges-she remembered the story behind every single piece of my jewelry.
What a petty bitch!
Senna looked down, and I couldn’t tell if her eyes held relief or sadness.
She muttered to herself;
“Scarlett, where are you?”
“You must be dead, right?”
“Did you hate me so much that you wouldn’t even see me one last time before you died?”
Only back in the country for three days and she’d already figured out I was dead?
How boring.
But Senna really was my sister-she totally got me.
If I was alive even for one more day.
I never would’ve given these jewels to anyone else.
And I never would’ve let anyone else take over visiting Ms. Ruby either.
After hesitating for a while, I gently patted Senna’s shoulder.
I couldn’t say I loved her, but I couldn’t say I hated her either.
In the distance,
wo hunched over elderly people came shuffling over.
Miss, do you know our Ruby?”
You’re Scarlett’s grandparents?”
Oh, you know Scarlett too! That child hasn’t come to visit Ruby in so long.”
randpa and Grandma brought Senna back to their home.
alling it a home was generous-it was really just a small shack at the edge of the cemetery. Senna had to duck to walk inside.
he elderly couple were the cemetery’s caretakers.
hey usually just cleaned up around here and chatted with Ms. Ruby.
fter learning who Senna was, Grandpa’s weathered face was full of helplessness.
le wrung his hands nervously as he spoke:
Child, our family wronged you all. Back then, after Ruby was… assaulted, she wanted to go to the police.”
But I got sick.”
Why did I have to get sick at that exact time? If I’d known our Ruby would become someone’s mistress for money, I definitely wouldn’t have been a burden on
le child.”
That man saw Scarlett was a girl, threw some money at us, and left.”
If Ruby wasn’t dying, and us two old folks didn’t only have a few years left, our family never would’ve troubled you.”
randpa tried to pull Grandma down to kneel.
enna was suddenly hit with memories she least wanted to face.
he stood there in a daze, letting tears cover her face.
the screamed silently in her heart:
Scarlett was innocent, Ruby was innocent-but wasn’t I innocent too? Wasn’t my mother innocent?”
Nobody did anything wrong, but the guilty one lived while the innocent died one by one by one.
Grandpa and Grandma were also trapped in this lifeless cemetery, obsessively cleaning the graves of Mrs. Rivers and their daughter every day.
When it got dark, Senna left the cemetery,
clutching two warm eggs that Grandpa and Grandma had insisted she take.
One was for her, the other was for me.
Giving eggs as gifts was so old-fashioned now-only old people still treated them like treasures.
No other kid would be like me, religiously waiting by the chicken coop every day as a child for the hen to lay eggs.
I was shocked that Senna actually accepted the eggs.
Didn’t she only like eating soft boiled eggs from fancy restaurants?
At least Senna didn’t tell Grandpa and Grandma that I was already dead.
That was good-they’d suffered enough already.
Winter was so fucking cold.
I stayed close to Senna, trying to use my nonexistent body to shield her from the winter wind.
Just as Senna was about to get in her car, a scarred man suddenly appeared from behind and knocked her out with a chloroform-soaked cloth.
Grandpa, who’d been waving goodbye, charged forward with his cane, only to be kicked into the nearby bushes by the man’s accomplice like a broken kite.
Grandma used her frail body to desperately block the van’s path, trying to use what little strength she had to prevent the tragedy.
For the first time, I thought the van looked enormous-like a man-eating monster.
I was flashing its lights, about to devour my grandma.
Grandpa was crying, struggling to crawl over from the ground.
The scarred man cursed and spat out the window, then coldly floored the gas pedal.
At the critical moment, Grandpa tackled Grandma toward the roadside.
he scarred man laughed and honked the horn.
Damn old farts really don’t know when to die. They survived that.”
Bro, should we reverse and run them over for fun?”
he other, more silent man said:
Today’s merchandise i
frantical
I died.
Cause trouble-the boss won’t be happy.”
whole way, hating for the first time that I was already dead.
Mion, I looked up and trembled uncontrollably.
looking red brick buildings.
