小嫂子的味道

After the divorce, I was given a choice to make, and though it was meant to be a serious choice I just flipped a coin to decide whether I'll live with mom or dad.

The end result was that I ended up living with mom. I'd paid all the fees of the woman to the woman I'd rented from the dark web and then she disappeared. All of her names, credits, and addresses were fake, and she went back into the world where she came from.

Dad lived alone after that though that's just what it looked like on the surface. I've been stalking him for a few days after the divorce and turns out he'd started talking with that lady from his office again.

I could blame him for this and raise suspicion about his character but I knew it was because of me. After the divorce, he became a huge alcoholic and perhaps even started taking drugs. That lady might have just used this opportunity.

There was some more despair I got to see because of that, and it brought me great pleasure. However, things don't always go as you expect or want them to.

I was no different.

It was a bright summer day, and a week had passed since the divorce. I came back from school after playing around with my rats for a bit— I didn't get pleasure from that anymore but I did it anyway; it was a sight to the eyes.

I was rather tired. The summer sun had drained the energy out of me and I just wanted to rest a bit. I climbed up the floors of the apartment.

Standing before the door I wiped the sweat off my forehead and then opened the door. The apartment we were living in wasn't big since mom was having trouble with money.

There were just two rooms, and a small hallway floored with wooden planks which connected them to the door. Opening it, I came inside and threw my bag on the floor.

The moment I turned back and lifted my eyes I saw something that wasn't supposed to be there. It was nothing strange though, just my mom. But she was hanging from the fan through a rope that was knotted around her neck. There was a stool down near her feet that had fallen to one side as if someone had kicked it away.

I stood and stared at her for a moment. Her body was slowly swinging from left to right due to the wind that came in through the window. She was dead, that was for sure.

I should've known, it was as clear as day. But for some reason, I wasn't able to process that fact. It was as if my brain had stopped working.

For the second time in my life, I didn't know what to do.

A few minutes later my senses came back and I got control over myself. The first thing I did was to call the police, and after that, I called dad and told him about it; told him that mom had killed herself.

He sounded depressed, and his words indicated that he was not surprised by this turn of events. I hung up the call, and then I didn't know what else to do.

So I folded my legs and sat there on the floor as I watched mom's hanging body. I didn't dare go near her, I was scared.

A while later I heard the sound of buzzing sirens. I closed my eyes and let out a deep sigh.

***

The day of her funeral arrived and went, and I stood there at a distance as I watched everything happen and watched my mom get buried in the ground.

It was a windy day. Dark clouds had shrouded the sky, and only a few rays of sunlight were able to escape from there and shine down upon the world. Judging from the moisture in the air, the rain was not unexpected.

Now there was a grave at a distance of a few yards in front of me with my mom's name engraved on it. I was there, and along with me was a small cluster of people; relatives and such.

Most of them were crying, and those who weren't were talking about how much of a good person she was and that this shouldn't have happened to her. Sobbing and emphasizing were in the air.

My dad was also there. On her shoulder was leaning that same woman from his office. Now that I had seen it with my own eyes, I had no doubt about it.

All of them were here, crying and sobbing for my mom's sake. But I knew that all of these were just fakers. No one had any effect when they got divorced, and even now I was sure that they were gonna live their life like usual from tomorrow onwards. As if nothing had happened.

Slowly time passed, and they went away. Hours passed and now I was the only one standing there. I was at a distance because I was still scared.

I was not scared because she might yell at me and say that it was all my mistake. I was scared because I knew that she would be right.

Clouds had shrouded the sky completely by now, and soon the rain started. Drop by drop the water fell from the sky and soon it was a shower; the sound of droplets hitting the ground resounding in the graveyard.

Thunder rumbled in the clouds, but I didn't flinch. I was just staring at the grave. This time I was not feeling any joy, there was no rush of dopamine or adrenaline.

What I felt was pure despair. There was a heaviness in my heart, so heavy that I felt like it might come out. I had been trying to stop myself, but in the end, I failed.

Along with the rain a tear slid down from my eyes, and soon there was a stream of them flowing down.