I put a few crackers, cheese and grapes on a plate, filled a glass with water and warily made my way upstairs to her room. Her isolated behaviour of late was concerning. Even Sylvia got out and about more, and she was confined to a wheelchair.
I knocked twice, then waited. A muffled voice asked, “Who’s there?”
“Estella,” I replied. “I brought you something to eat.”
A long silence fell, then croakily she said, “Come in.”
I opened the door and stepped into her room, trying not to wince at the smell. It reeked of booze and body odour. Vee clearly hadn’t been showering, and I suspected the windows hadn’t been opened in days either. She sat up in bed, wrapped in her housecoat, looking even paler and thinner than ever. Her hair was greasy and limp; damp strands of it stuck to her forehead. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think she was sick with a really bad flu.
But no, this wasn’t the flu. The empty bottles littering the room could attest to that.
“Who’s been bringing you all this?” I questioned as I set the food and water down on her nightstand. She stared at me, glassy-eyed, like she didn’t care about anything anymore. I knew the feeling. Sometimes, when I got really down about Dad, I felt like I just wanted to fall off the face of the planet and disappear. Then I wouldn’t have to exist and feel the pain of missing him.
“I put a little extra in Irene’s pay packet,” Vee answered, uncaring.
“Irene’s been bringing you alcohol?” I questioned in shock. I didn’t think she was the type to enable Vee like that.
“She’s not happy about it,” Vee gave a joyless cackle. “But I threatened to fire her if she didn’t.”
I frowned and folded my arms, not one bit surprised that Vee had resorted to blackmail to get what she wanted. She stared at the plate of crackers and cheese, then picked up a grape and popped it in her mouth. Of course, she’d select the one thing closest to booze.
“Why are you here, Estella?” she asked, suspicion written all over her face. I had no ulterior motives. I was simply trying to be a good person, to practice the teachings of the faith I believed in so dearly.
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” I replied.
“Are you quoting the Bible at me now?” Vee scoffed. “You really are your father’s daughter. He thought he could save me, but we were both doomed.”
“You weren’t doomed,” I countered, while at the same time a voice in my head questioned, were they?
Vee gave a derisive snort. “Bad luck has followed me since the day I was born. Your father believed the same thing. That’s how we bonded. We could never outrun the dark shadows chasing us. In the end, they caught up to your dad. They’re taking their time with me, though. Your father was a good man, so he got a quicker death. Me? I’ll be forced to suffer every second of those shadows draining the life from me.”
I was well acquainted with my dad’s belief that he was cursed. The logical part of my brain refused to believe it, despite all the evidence. He’d never described it like Vee did though. I’d never heard him talk of shadows. A shudder went through me.
“All life is suffering,” Vee went on. “You don’t know it yet, but you’ll soon realise I’m right, because the shadows never stop. They swallow up everything in their path, and once they finally got your father, they set their sights on you.”
I grew cold at her words. I didn’t know why I was listening to her prattle on like a madwoman, but her toxicity was infectious. My mind began to race. Little trickles of doubt seeped in as I wondered if she was right. What if my dad’s curse really had been transferred onto me, and I just didn’t realise it yet?
No. Stop. You’re letting her get to you.
Vee was an alcoholic and a depressive. Perhaps even a sociopath. I needed to stay logical and true to myself. I could help her out of the slump she was in, ensure she wasn’t left to wallow and waste away in this room, but I didn’t need to listen to her.
“Keep eating,” I said as I turned and headed for the door. “And please drink some water, too. You need it. I’m going to run you a bath.”
She didn’t argue as I left her room and went into the main bathroom to start a bubble bath. Vee was in desperate need of a wash, and I couldn’t stand to leave her lying in her own filth any longer, even if she had locked me out of the bathroom that one time. Fighting fire with fire would burn the world. The same thing could be said for cruelty. Having the courage to be kind in the face of it was the only thing that could stop its spread.