Double or Nothing  Ellis Clark

"Hey Shannon?” he said, almost as if he were greeting

her. "So what's the deal now?"

"What do you mean?” she asked in return.

"Well, you're eighteen now, and I didn't know if you were going to continue staying here with me or if you were going to move out and get your own place," he placed his hands on top of the chair in an effort to stress his ownership.

"Well, William, if I remember correctly, it was my

mother who paid for this house, so shouldn't it be you

who moves out and not me? Furthermore, when am I going

to get the money from my mothers will?"

William scratched his graying beard, swallowed what

saliva there was in his mouth and responded, “Well....

actually... your mother and I felt that you were too

young to handle all of that money, so she left it all to me.”

He could feel her glare burning a hole through his face. He couldn't find a way to meet her stare with his. It was the same stare she gave him when he would not believe her stories. Her far-fetched ideas of being part of something greater were all she ever talked about. It was an obsession. She said that she felt she was missing something, another part of her perhaps. When William would ask Shannon’s mother, Meredith, about why she may have felt this, she was shocked and had no explanation for him.

However, to his surprise, the burning sensation placed upon his forehead ceased and he looked upon the blond haired girl. It pained him to do this, as Shannon was the spitting image of her mother. Shannon looked back at the middle-aged man. She gave a sarcastic laugh and said, “Well, if you’re going to play hardball so am I.” She headed for the door and then turned back and asked, “Who else is in line for my inheritance?”

“Well if you’re worried that you’re not in the will, you shouldn’t be.”

“But, who else is going to be receiving my mother’s money?”

“Well, when I pass, my daughter will receive this home, my son will take the vacation home, and the money will be divided up between you three and between my grandchildren if I should be so lucky.”

William sat back in his recliner and nursed a glass of wine. Fridays had always been spent with Meredith and Meredith only. While Shannon was out with her friends, they would stay home and watch movies, enjoying each other’s company regardless of their feelings towards the film. For some odd reason Shannon had decided to put her friends on hold and take her mothers place tonight. Her weak-minded ideas always made him laugh as he smiled at her foolish dreams. She should know better than to assume that one movie night spent with him and not with her friends could erase his own children’s inheritance and have him decide to give everything to Shannon. She never had many good ideas; as a child she used to blame every mistake on her sister. She was very convincing, aside from the fact that she didn’t have a sister.

The click of the lock let William know that Shannon had arrived. Her high heels hammered on the hardwood floor as she made her way towards him.

“Hey! So what’s going on tonight?” she asked enthusiastically.  “Are we going to be watching movies? What are we watching? Oh actually, hold on, I need to call my friends and tell them what I’m doing tonight.”

This last bit of information seemed odd to William. Shannon had always been ashamed of him– she hardly even acknowledged his presence when they were together. Yet, now, with their link missing, she was the one making the attempt to reach out to her stepfather.

Finally she finished calling nearly her entire phone book and looked at William earnestly.

“I thought we might watch ‘The Way We Were,’” he said. “It was your mother’s favorite.”

Upon hearing this, Shannon took her place on the couch and began running her finger over the long scar on her forearm. William had always tried to convince her that it was nice and to be thankful that even though it was long, at least it was thin. He had always felt responsible because he was the one who had left the steak knife straight up in the dishwasher, and he was the one who had forced her to unload it.

The choice in movie did not run in the family as Shannon had fallen asleep within minutes of it’s starting, and just as he was about to do the same, the phone rang. A cold voice crept through the line:

“Hello, Mr. Kline, this is Michael Beal of the Tonto Police Department. I hate to tell you this over the phone, but your son and daughter were found murdered earlier tonight.”

“What? I... I don’t understand,” William whispered into the phone, barely able to get out any words at all.

“Unfortunately sir, I’m going to have to ask you to come down to the station and ID their bodies.”

William dropped the phone and sat down by Shannon’s sleeping feet. With teardrops dripping down his face, he buried his face into his hands.  He was startled by Shannon who began to rub his back the way Meredith once did.

The room was filled with the sound of silent sobs until Shannon asked, “William, what happened?”

“They’re dead” he spit out between gasps of air. “My two kids are dead.”

Shannon screamed and shot off towards the bathroom, locking the door almost as quickly as she had slammed it.  Deep muffled sobs slipped through the door and made their way down the stairs and into William’s ears. The next thing he heard was the opening of the medicine cabinet. He knew she had no business in there. He ran up the stairs and popped the lock, only to find Shannon with a mouthful of pills. Forcing the tablets from her mouth he wrestled the bottle away.

“What is going on?” William screamed

Shannon sat on the floor sobbing and shaking her head from side to side. “They were my other half,” she sobbed. “I can’t take anymore, it’s not fair for you. Why is there so much sadness? I need to get out of here.” William carried her weeping body to her room and phoned a family friend. Upon her arrival, William was free to tend to his worst nightmare as he drove alone to the Tonto coroners office.

William grabbed the phonebook form the drawer in his office and dialed their doctor.

“Hey Dr. Koehl, its William Schulman. I had a few questions concerning Shannon. She had expressed concerns about it being too sad and depressing around the house and she needed to get out. Would you recommend I send her anywhere?” He began nodding as he wrote Sun Health (623) 876-5301 13180 N 103rd Dr - Sun City, AZ 85351. He told Shannon the news and drove her to the hospital and checked her in. William returned home emotionally drained and felt a nap was in order. He woke up to the Sight of Shannon staring at him.

     “Morning Sunshine.” She said

     “Shannon, what are you doing here?” William whispered in a groggy voice.

     “How much money was left in my mothers will?”

     “Around 4.7 million. Why?”

     “No reason, go back to sleep” She said.

“How do you expect me to sleep when you’re back from the hospital without anyone letting you out?”

“Haha, I was never in the hospital.” She said as she rolled up her sleeves only to reveal a scar less arm.

“Who are you?” William screamed

“Just go to sleep.” She said as she plunged a steak knife through his Adams apple.

¨   ¨   ¨   ¨   ¨   ¨

“May I help you?” The short redheaded receptionist asked.

“Yes actually, I’m here to release Shannon Coulter.”

“Let me guess, you guys are twins.”

“How’d you know?” She responded jokingly.

“Well, I’ll have her brought down right away. I just need you to fill out some paper work.”

Shannon walked into the lobby and hugged her sister and they walked out of the hospital with an empty conscience but a full bank account.