Hey, guys. My apologies about the hiatus. I’ve been going through some personal issues. Enough about that though. Let’s get into this prompt.
Today’s prompt: Write a scene starting with a regular family ritual that goes awry.
Enjoy!
Beth stands in front of her bathroom mirror, finishing up her make-up.
“Beth! You ready yet?” Brian asks from another room.
Beth replies, “Yes, sweetie. One sec.”
Beth then reaches for a pair of earrings that are sitting on the sink. She inspects them before sliding them on. She walks out of the bathroom and meets Brian at the front door.
“Took you long enough,” Brian says snidely. Beth laughs and replies, “Let’s go.”
They leave the house and get in the car. Brian starts it and drives off. “This will be our first 4th of July together. I’m excited,” Beth says.
Brian smiles. “Same here. My family loves you. They’re looking forward to adding you to our tradition.”
Beth relaxes but goes into her major concern for the night. “I’ve meant to ask. What’s this tradition you’re always talking about?”
Brian smiles and stays quiet for a second. He then replies, “It’s a surprise.”
After driving for a while, they pull up to Brian’s parent’s house. It is a beautiful two-story house with a few cars parked out front. Brian parks, and they get out and walk up to the house. Before Brian knocks on the door, his mother swings it open to greet them.
“Bry! Beth! Welcome!” his mother happily says as she hugs both of them.
“Hello, Mrs. Taylor,” Beth says.
Mrs. Taylor replies, “I’m so glad you’re here, Beth. Come in, please.”
They all walk inside to find Brian’s father, his twin brothers, Dean & Derek, and his sister Jessica playing Uno in the living room. They turn around to greet Brian and Beth.
“Guys! Come and play. I’m about to win, so a new game is starting soon,” Jessica happily says as her siblings sigh and roll their eyes. Brian and Beth laugh as they walk over together.
“Beth, how are you?” Mr. Taylor asks. Beth replies, “I’m fine. Mr. T., How are you?” Mr. Taylor chuckles and replies, “Great, great. I’m so glad you’re here. Today is your first time spending the 4th with us, right?” Beth nods. “Great. Nobody does it like the Taylors,” he says.
Mr. Taylor gets up and walks with Mrs. Taylor to the kitchen. Suddenly, Jessica yells, “Uno out! Ha!” Her siblings moan and groan and throw their cards on the table. Brian chuckles and says, “Wow. Thank God I’m here. Your reign of terror is over.” Jessica laughs and replies, “Deal.” She hands Brian the deck of cards, and he gets things started. After about five minutes of play, Jessica has the most cards. Everyone’s poking fun at her.
She then checks her phone and suddenly says, “Oh! It’s almost 6 o’clock, guys.”
Everyone, except Beth and Brian, drops their cards and hurries to the kitchen. Beth looks at Brian in confusion, then says, “Dinner?” Brian breathes and replies, “Nah, it’s the best part of the night. This is when we partake in our tradition.” Beth giggles and replies, “Ugh, finally. The anticipation was killing me.” They kiss, get up, and walk to the kitchen. As they reach the kitchen, Beth stops in her tracks. She gasps and covers her mouth.
In the kitchen is an unconscious man tied by his hands and feet in a chair. His clothes and shoes are raggedy and bloody. Standing on his left is a calm Mr. Taylor, holding his hands behind his back. On his right, Mrs. Taylor also stands calm with her arms folded. The children are sitting calmly on chairs next to each other, against the wall. Beth turns and looks at Brian in fear. He looks at her and calmly says, “Beth. Relax.” Beth runs towards the door and attempts to leave, but Brian grabs her arm and stops her. She fights and says, “What the hell is this?! Let me go!”
Brian sighs and replies, “Beth. It’s our tradition.”
Beth continues to fight, but Brian pulls her by the arm and walks towards the kitchen. Beth screams and fights. As they reach the kitchen, Brian grabs Beth by both arms with her continuing to struggle. Suddenly, Mrs. Taylor takes the bag off of the seated man’s head to reveal he’s been gagged. Beth looks at the man and stops fighting. Brian lets her go. She stares at the man in horror, mouth agape. She starts to shake and says in a weak voice, “Dad?”
She then drops to her knees, buries her face in her hands and cries. Brian kneels next to her and rubs her back. Beth stops crying, looks at Brian, and says, “What’s going on?”
Brian replies, “This is our tradition, Beth. Doing what nobody else wants to do. Every day, wicked people like him move around the world with impunity.”
Beth looks at her father then at Brian. She whimpers and says, “This…this isn’t your responsibility.”
Brian chuckles. He stands and helps Beth do the same. Mrs. Taylor walks over to Beth and puts a hand on her shoulder. She softly says, “Beth, honey. You are a part of this family now, and in this family, we take care of each other. No matter what.”
Beth wipes tears and sniffles. She replies, “I know, I know. But…this isn’t right.”
Mrs. Taylor looks at her, smiles, and replies, “Baby, the court system failed you and your mother. We know the heinous things this dirtbag did to you. You know what he did to you. He deserves everything coming to him.”
She nods and wipes more tears. Brian and Mrs. Taylor walk Beth to a chair next to the other kids. She sits next to Jessica, and the child rubs her back, Brian standing next to her. Mrs. Taylor walks over to the counter and opens a drawer. She pulls out a long, black bag and opens it. Neatly lined up are different-sized knives, and she walks over to Mr. Taylor. He takes a few seconds to choose and decides on the largest knife in the bag. Mrs. Taylor closes the bag and puts it on the counter.
Mr. Taylor then backhands Beth’s father, the man waking frantically. He looks around and lets out a muffled scream. Mr. Taylor grabs him by his cheeks, looks him dead in his eyes, and calmly says, “Relax.”
He then turns his head towards Beth, who is shaking while being coddled by Jessica. They both lock eyes, and her father begins to cry, but Beth scowls at him and looks away. Mr. Taylor turns Beth’s father’s head back around. He begins to walk around him and says, “Mr. Shaw. You have committed some unspeakable crimes. However, the court didn’t think so. You admitted to doing these devious acts for ten years. The court gave you two years probation. Do you think that’s fair?”
Mr. Shaw looks at him in defeat and whimpers.
Mr. Taylor continues, “I didn’t think so. You put your daughter through hell for a decade. Now, for every year, you will suffer.”
Mr. Taylor stops walking and stands directly in front of him. He swiftly cuts him on the cheek with the knife, creating a laceration. Beth whimpers and jumps out of her seat. Mr. Shaw lets out a loud, muffled yell as Beth looks on in astonishment. She then runs to the bathroom, not paying attention to her earring that slips from her left ear. Brian retrieves it and follows after her. Beth pushes the door open, slams it, and locks it. She breathes heavily and walks over to the tub to sit. After a few seconds, Beth suddenly grabs at her left earlobe and realizes her earring is missing. She frantically grabs her phone out of her pocket and begins to call someone. Brian knocks on the door, and it startles her. She puts her phone away and yells, “Leave me alone!”
Brian sighs and replies, “Ok, ok. I understand. When you’re ready, I’m in the kitchen.” With that said, he walks away.
Beth waits for a few seconds then pulls her phone back out. She frantically dials a number, and someone picks up. The male voice on the phone says, “Hey, Shaw. What’s wrong.” Beth gathers herself and replies, “Nothing, captain. I got what we needed.”
Captain replies, “Great. The earring camera was a brilliant idea. Did you catch them in the act?”
Beth waits a few seconds, then replies, “It’s complicated.”
The captain replies, “What do you mean?”
Beth stays silent for a few seconds. She finally replies, “They have my father this time.”
The captain silently says, “Shit.” There are a few more seconds of silence before the captain says, “Well. You have a job to do. I know the history of your father. And you may not say it, but I know you want him to suffer.”
Beth scowls. “Look, Shaw. Just give me the word, and I’ll have a team over there. We can’t allow them to kill another scumbag. People are going to think the police are unnecessary. We’ve been following them for three years now. They’ve already done this ten times. We can let this go on any longer.”
Beth sighs and stays silent. In the kitchen, the Taylor kids are taking turns beating up Mr. Shaw. Dean and Derrick each punch him a few times. Jessica kicks him in his testicles. Brian punches him in his face and breaks his nose.
“Oh! Nice one, Brian,” Mr. Taylor says.
In the background, they hear the bathroom door open and close. They all turn around to see Beth standing at the entrance of the kitchen, and they stare at her.
Beth weakly says, “Brian. I want to talk. Outside.”
Brian looks at his family, then Beth. He walks towards her, and they both walk outside to stand on the front porch with the two holding hands.
“Baby. I know this is wild, to say the least. But, you know, and I know he deserves the worst.”
Beth nods and smiles. Brian smiles back.
Beth replies, “I know, I know. Brian…” She sighs and looks away.
Brian looks at her curiously and says, “What’s up, babes?”
She turns and looks at him and says, “Nothing. Thank you. I appreciate the love you and your family show me.” She then kisses and hugs him to her body. Brian embraces her in return.
While they hold each other, far down the street, Brian sees something. He squints and sees police lights. He then hears the sirens and a helicopter.
© Jormatic. All Rights Reserved.
Originally published at http://illthinker.wordpress.com on July 1, 2020.
