On The House

Since I was coming home late into the night, I was hoping that Mother would've gone to sleep by the time I returned so that the inevitable would've been delayed by a few hours.

But with her legs crossed and a glass of wine in her hand, she had seated in a chair she had set up directly across the front door.

She greeted me with a smile that wasn't a smile.

"Welcome home," she said in a tired voice.

"...I'm back," I replied.

"Go take a shower. You reek of blood," she said. "Then when you're done, come back downstairs for our civilized talk."

She made sure to emphasize the word "civilized" as if to mock Father who was in the kitchen, giving me this look that I knew all too well.

He didn't need to say a thing for me to understand that he wanted me to comply with her wishes for the moment as she was extremely emotional.