OFM Lit: The Eulogy Part Two – Sins of the Mother
It began with a whisper in her ear. It was the faintest of whispers; so faint in fact, that Marla Gray almost thought she’d imagined it. So, she sat buckled in the back seat of her best friend Tanya’s car, quietly pondering the existence of the faint whisper. Marla, her friend Tanya, and three of Tanya’s friends were on their way to some exclusive end of year party that Tanya had practically begged her to go to. After days of nagging, Marla finally agreed.
“So, how far is this party?” asked Gary, Tanya’s ex-boyfriend.
“It’s just up the road, but the invite to the party wanted us to drive a specific way to get there. It said we’d understand why later,” Tanya answered.
“Oooh, mysterious,” Divya, Marla’s on-again-off-again girlfriend said in a weird voice. They were currently not dating, but Marla knew she would probably wind up in Divya’s bed by the end of the night.
“Alright, so, who’s being my wing woman? I imagine there’s going to be a metric ton of hot guys to flirt with and I need someone to be on the lookout,” Gary said.
Divya began to say something, but Marla didn’t hear a thing. That faint whisper had gotten louder, and this time, she was sure she’d heard something. She still couldn’t make out what it was saying, but she knew it was saying something.
“Wait, do y’all hear that?” Marla said, interrupting Divya in the middle of some speech she was beginning to make.
“Hear what?” Divya said, slightly annoyed that she’d been interrupted.
“That … whisper? Is the radio turned super low or something?”
Tanya checked the screen on her dashboard. “Nope, radio’s completely off. Y’all know how much I hate the radio, and I hate y’all’s choice in music, so silence was the best option,” she said with a smirk.
“Well I’m hearing something, and it’s getting louder,” Marla said.
Stop the car … STOP THE CAR.
“Stop the car!” Marla screamed. Gary, Divya, and Tanya all looked at Marla as if she’d cursed them, and then the car came to a halt.
“Ugh, why? Isn’t there a strict entry time?” Gary complained. “I really don’t want to be the one queer who ends up missing this quote-unquote ‘party of the century.’ Can’t we keep it moving?”
“It’s getting louder. Is there something in the trunk?” Marla said. She pulled on the door handle and jumped out of the car before anyone else in the car had a chance to respond. “Tanya, open the trunk.”
“Marla, listen, I hardly ever put anything in the trunk,” Tanya said. Despite this, she still pressed the button on her car key and the trunk flung open. Inside there was a single red and white striped box, neatly wrapped with a bow placed on top. Marla stared. Divya, Tanya, and Gary quickly joined.
“Tanya, what the hell is this?” Gary said.
“Yeah, did you hide something in this box hoping to creep us all out?” Divya added.
“I swear I didn’t. I don’t know what that is. Marla, open it.”
Marla was taken aback. She didn’t want to be the one to open it. She looked at the box, and then shot a questioning look to Divya. Divya scoffed. “If you think I’m opening that damn box, Marla, you must have me confused with someone else.” Seconds passed and no one said anything further. Finally, it seemed Divya couldn’t stand the inaction.
“Fine!” Divya said. She took one step forward, grabbed the box, and Marla watched as she slowly lifted the lid.
The whisper turned into a scream, and not just the one from Divya. There was a scream that seemed like it was coming directly from Marla’s brain. Divya dropped the box and in front of Marla’s feet rolled the head of Leigh Hapstall … the world’s richest woman … and Marla’s mother.
Marla screamed along with Divya, but as she did so, she noticed a note attached to the box. She picked it up, still hyperventilating at the sight of her mother’s head, pale and rotting.
The note read:
“Happy Holidays! You’re now the richest woman on planet Earth. I hope you enjoy your newfound wealth.
Love, Your Secret Savior.”
