Bloody Kitchen
by Jill Anderson
Sunlight drifted across the metallic sink emphasizing the plump water drops dripping from the faucet forming a pond in the bottom. Each drop rang louder in Barbara’s ears as she sat sipping her tea at the kitchen table, encompassed by the beige walls. Her eyes were bloodshot and her head throbbed. She was just about to tear off the faucet’s neck when Marie, the French aupair, pushed open the front door just as the clock above the new stove indicated Bruce needed to be at pre-school in twenty minutes.
Marie walked into the humid kitchen and started to sputter out an apology, “I’m so sorry Mrs. Barbara, the bus was late agai-” mid word, she spotted the leaking faucet and her eyes sparkled. “Did you call Norman? Ee iss fantastique!” Her face began to redden as she bounced on the balls of her feet in anticipation.
“I know, you’ve told me this plenty of times before. Todd already called before he went to work. Bruce is awake; he just needs to be dressed and fed and out of here. You better hurry it up.” Barbara rolled her eyes and took another sip of tea.
Marie couldn’t help but hop up the stairs. Almost immediately after Marie’s exit, there was a manly knock on the door.
“Thank God,” exclaimed Barbara as she shuffled down the hall to let Norman the plumber in.
A plump familiar face greeted her as she opened the door. “Where the hell have you been?” Barbara spat into the little man’s face.
“Ma’am, I’m sorry, but it is only seven thir-”
“I don’t care what time it is! We called you at least forty minutes ago!”
“I know, but I-”
“Just come in already.”
She led Norman to the sink, and left him to his own devices. Barbara decided to make her son some carrot sticks and peanut butter for breakfast; the organic kind, of course. Stepping over Norman to grab a knife, she noticed he was getting her floor all wet.
“Come on, I just got new flooring done in here!” She then grunted and started to chop the carrots into thin strips.
Smack!
Norman slapped Barbara’s left arm hard enough that it made her slip in the puddle only inches from her left foot. Falling on top of Norman, the knife pierced the skin at the top of his ribcage. Panicking, Barbara looked over to the stairs just in time to see a pair of black satin flats flick around the corner.
Barbara whispered through clenched teeth, “Shit.”
Squealing in pain, Norman tried push to her off of him, only succeeding in forcing her to bring the knife up across his chest. Hot tears started to create puddles on Norman’s whimpering cheeks as she found her footing and stood up. She felt her arm throbbing and began to get angry as she remembered why she fell in the first place. A black smudge of a spider streaked across her forearm.
She grabbed the blue table cloth and draped it over Norman right as Bruce came trotting down the stairs holding the hands of the crying nanny.
In a menacing voice, Marie clenched her teeth as she stared at Barbara through glistening tears and said, “Wee ah going to get paystries for breakfast becose you haff a lot work to do.”
Barbara could only nod as her son jumped into Marie’s arms to kiss her nonstop until they closed the door behind them.
Paralyzed, Barbara searched the kitchen for something big enough to fit Norman in. Her eyes stuck on the old buzzing refrigerator. Blood was starting to seep through her purple Prada flats as it traveled across the shiny tile floor.
Her mind was buzzing: we just moved here, I can’t go back. I just can’t. Todd will be so disappointed! We have the perfect life here!
Focusing on how she was going to clean up before anybody else saw, she threw away her shoes and found a mop.
***
Carleton Cross looked up as he spotted a pair of black satin flats walk though his office door. The detective fixed his gaze on a young woman with vibrant green eyes and blond hair that caressed her pale, mascara streaked face. She was wearing a juice stained blouse with khaki capris that hugged her muscular legs.
“Can I help you with something?” Carleton sputtered while trying to concentrate on her face.
“She killed him.”
“Who killed who? What?” Carleton put out his cigarette and sat up in the chair.
“My love. She weel pay!”
“Slow down hon, want something to drink?”
He took out a bottle of gin and filled two glasses, handing one to the distressed blonde who had collapsed into the dilapidated chair adjacent to his desk. She grabbed the glass with her delicately manicured hand and began to talk with an occasional sip of the drink.
“ ‘Ou should see zis woman. She is ze most clean and manipulative woman I have evair seen. She once szreatened to send me back to France for letting jer kid eat a Twinkie. She iz going to frame me, I jus know it.” She started to mutter angrily in French as hot tears rolled down her red cheeks.
“You are going to prove eet wasn’t me. You are going to make zat woman pay.”
He was staring deep into her eyes and could feel the heat of the fire waiting to come out.
“Weel you help me?”
“Of course. When was this?”
“Zis morning. She sinks I’m out picking up e’er ‘usban’s suit at ze tailor’s.”
“You’re going to have to tell me everything you saw.” Carleton crossed his legs, took a swig of his gin and focused on the beautiful French woman sitting in front of him.
“So how are you going to pay? Cash? I need the first five hundred paid upfront.”
“What are you talking about? I ‘ave only two ‘undred.”
“Sorry, that’s just how it is. I’ll cut you a deal. If you can get it to me in a week, I’ll start background checking but that’s all I’ll do for now.”
“I can’t wait zat long. Someszing has to be done. She’s a weetch!”
She began to sob again and as quickly as she had entered his office, her shoes clicked swiftly away on the wooden floor and she was gone.
***
Todd arrived home at exactly eight o’clock like any other night. He opened the shiny red door and walked into the carpeted hallway of his perfect house.
“Honey, I’m home!”
Barbara, wearing a flowered apron and her turquoise Angeli Inquieti flats, trotted over to her husband and kissed him on the cheek.
“I made ribs for dinner honey, they’re fresh just the way you like them.”
“Where’s my Brucie?” said Todd as he ran his hand down the side of his wife’s waist.
“Spending the night at Dillan’s house.”
“Which one is that?’
“The Bronsons’ kid.”
“Oh yeah, the one with the new poodle.”
As he walked into the kitchen Todd noticed a large rectangular mark on the wall.
“Honey, where’s the refrigerator?”
“I ordered a new one! I wanted to treat myself because I ruined my new shoes in the garden.” Barbara began to pout and Todd traced her lips with his pinky and was about to kiss her when
Slam!
“Oh, salut. Am I interrupting sumzing? I’ll be een my room for ze rest of ze night and pick up Bruce in ze morning. Oh, and they weren’t open.” Marie glared at Barbara.
“I might just have to kill you then,” said Barbara through a growing grin.
“Goodnight Mr. and Ms. Robinson.” Marie smiled at both of them, turned the doorknob to the basement, and disappeared down the stairs.
Todd, looking from his wife to the basement, asked intently, “What’s going on?”
Barbara closed her eyes and went in for a kiss with a soft “Shhhhhhhhh…”
***
Barbara opened her eyes and saw 4:30 flashing at her. Todd had been tapping her for the past minute.
Tuning onto her back, she asked, “What is it honey?”
“I spaced out and forgot to tell you I had a business trip today and I have to leave for the airport in an hour. Can Marie drop you off at the dentist before she picks up Brucie?”
“Um, I guess,” she responded sleepily. She closed her eyes and she began to grin widely as she fell back asleep.
***
Barbara saw it coming. The curve where she had pushed the refrigerator off the
eroded cliff, just a day earlier. She stuck her hand in her black purse and the steely gun felt cool against her skin. She grabbed the handle and pulled it slowly out of her purse. Beads of sweat started to accumulate at her hair line.
Marie was concentrating on the windy road. She heard a distinct click as she turned to face Barbara’s bulging black eyes.
***
Carleton awoke to the buzzing of the television in the other room.
“The car found wedged into a tree off of Grizzly Peak Road belonged to a Marie Dautry. The victims have been identified as Barbara Robinson, who was released from a psychiatric institution in Vallejo just a year ago, and Marie Dautry. A gun lay on top of the emergency break. It appeared that both victims died from head trauma, neither from a gun wound. ”
Standing in his checkered boxers in front of the television, his eyes were still blurry with sleep. Not recognizing the slim, blonde woman on the screen, Carleton chuckled to himself and said,
“Oh, that’s too bad.”