Chapter Four: Lies Behind Lies
The next day Minnie still hadn't woken up, and everyone was getting worried, especially Violet. As long as Minnie's fate was unclear, Violet found it difficult to concentrate on anything else. Almost every hour she or someone else would check up on her, just to leave disappointed. Tennessee was in the room with her almost all day round, wanting to be there when she woke up. If she woke up. The whole time Violet was obsessed, Clementine fought petty feelings from her mind. All she could hope for was for this to be over as soon as possible.
The end of the day was nearing, and Violet wanted to visit Minnie one last time before heading to bed. She opened the door, not surprised to see Tennessee sitting in a chair in front of the bed his sister was sleeping in, working on another drawing of his.
"Hey Tenn, you gonna stay here all night again?" Violet asked, a solemn, tired tone in her voice.
"Yeah, I don't want to leave her. I want me to be the first thing she sees when she wakes up, so she knows everything's alright," he said, looking up from his work.
Violet smiled. Tennessee's innocent optimism always managed to lighten all but her darkest days.
"What're you drawing? Something with Minnie in it?" she asked, quite curious.
Tennessee nodded, "I had that drawing with Minnie and Sophie in a better place because Marlon told me they died, but that ended up being a lie. So now I have to make a new one."
"What is it?" Violet asked again, trying to get a better look.
"It's all of us, here. At Ericson's. See? There's you, and Minnie, Clementine, and AJ," Tennessee said, pointing to each simple, juvenilely drawn figure. "I haven't gotten to the others yet. I'm leaving a spot for Sophie, if we find her," he finished, looking a little dampened now that he was thinking of his still missing sister.
Violet wanted nothing more at that moment to be able to tell Tennessee both his sisters would be okay, but she couldn't lie to him. Minnie showing up at their gates like this was a miracle, and she had arrived in a near death state. If Minnie looked like this, there wasn't much of a chance Sophie was still alive, as much as it pained her to admit it. She could hope, but that was all.
"You're a great brother Tenn," Violet said, sitting down on other bed across from Minnie's. "I wish any of my siblings were as cool as you."
Tennessee stopped now, looking back from his chair towards Violet. "I always imagined you were an only kid. You never told me you had brothers and sisters."
"Just sisters. Older ones. A bunch."
Tennessee looked confused. "Why are you just mentioning them now?"
"Because they weren't worth mentioning," Violet admitted, sounding a little cold.
"Why not?"
Violet hesitated. "Never mind, don't worry about it. It's not important," she said, not wanting to talk about it.
"Come on Violet," Tennessee urged, wanting to learn more about his friend. "What are you afraid of?"
Violet sighed. She had trapped herself in a corner by bringing them up. "Alright, but it's not a happy story. We weren't close like you and your sisters, Tenn. I didn't like them, they didn't like me. I fought with them all the time, even though they were all older."
"Like, argued? Or fought fought?"
"Both. Mom and Dad always took their side. Mostly the reason I got sent here. I wasn't a perfect little girl like my sisters were. That's what my parents wanted, perfect little girls," Violet scowled, lying down on the bed now, staring aimlessly at the ceiling. "Assholes."
"Your parents or your sisters?"
"Both. If there's one thing good that came from all this shit, it's that I never have to see any of them again. None of them ever liked me."
"I., I don't think that's true," Tennessee said, not liking the idea of a family being so cruel to one of its own.
"You didn't know my family Tenn. They were . . . traditional," Violet fumbled a bit, trying to think of a good way to put it. "Close-minded dicks," she eventually came up with, which sounded much better to her. "If they could see me now, who I ended up becoming? They would hate me."
"You mean because you liked girls? Like my sister?" Tennessee asked directly.
Violet flinched, as she wasn't even sure Tennessee would understand what she was hinting at, let alone say it so candidly. It sure put her on the spot. Violet didn't respond at first.
"Yeah," she eventually said, sighing deeply. "I don't want to talk about this anymore."
"Yeah, you've said enough," Tennessee agreed, letting her drop the subject.
A few moments passed in silence, other than the sound of the wind outside and Tennessee's pencil sketchings. Violet was thinking about leaving soon, she still had to say goodnight to Clementine before she headed to bed. She wasn't looking forward to it, because she knew she wouldn't sleep well with Minnie's well-being weighing on her mind.
That's when they heard a low, pained groan, quickly followed by the creaking sound of someone moving on a bed. Tennessee and Violet looked up to see Minnie's head lift from her pillow, weakly turning back and forth.
"Minnie!" Tennessee nearly shouted, jumping from his chair.
"Holy shit," Violet gasped, doing the same from the bed.
Minnie turned towards the voices, her eyes lighting up when they fell on Tennessee and Violet.
"Tenn, Vi, thank God," she said, trying to sit up.
"Careful Minnie," Violet said, trying her best to remain calm. "Don't stress yourself, you're in pretty rough shape."
"Yeah, trust me, I know," Minnie said, managing a smile.
"Minnie, I hate to ask you this right now, but I've got to know. Sophie wasn't with you when you showed up, do you have any idea what happened to her?' Violet asked, preparing herself for the worst.
Minnie's smile dropped, her eyes drifting away, and Violet knew her worst fears had been confirmed.
"I'm sorry. I . . . I lost her."
Violet clenched her fists as tight as she could, feeling tears coming on as she tried to bear with the news. She had expected it, prepared for it, and it still hurt like hell. She had already mourned Sophie once, now she had to do it all over again.
"When?" she managed to ask weakly, half sobbing.
"Months ago now. More than half a year, I think. I'm not sure. It's all been an awful blur. Like the worst nightmare ever," Minnie said honestly, knowing she would never be the same.
"You lost her? As in, you lost track of her?" Tennessee asked, still trying to hold on to some hope.
Minnie shook her head, "I'm sorry Tenn, I really am. She's gone."
Tennessee hung his head, starting to cry. Minnie reached out with her good arm, bringing him close.
"Well, at least now we know for sure," Violet told herself, brushing her tears from her eyes, but more were on the way.
They all took a few minutes, letting Sophie's fate sink in. Eventually, Tennessee's sobs began to slow, and Minnie decided she needed to say something to lighten the mood.
"It's so great to see you both again, I never thought it would happen after—," Minnie stopped suddenly, thinking of something important. "Oh crap. Guys, listen, there's something you need to know. About Marlon. He—."
"Gave you to the raiders," Violet finished her sentence for her, already pissed off again just thinking about. "Yeah, we know."
"Y-you know? Well, where is he?" Minnie asked, looking fearful.
"He's dead."
"Dead?" Minnie repeated, almost disbelievingly. "How? What happened?"
"That's a really long story," Violet said. "Don't worry about it for now. Just know that Marlon's not a problem anymore. You're safe."
"W-what about Brody?" Minnie asked.
"She's dead too. Marlon murdered her when she tried to tell Clementine the truth," Violet explained.
Minnie looked at her with a confused face. "Who's Clementine?"
"Uh," Violet stumbled, feeling stupid. "She's . . . someone new. She showed up a few weeks ago. We'll talk about her later. You just try to relax, okay?"
Minnie just stared at her, not knowing what to say. "God, Marlon and Brody? They're both dead? That's so messed up," she said, leaning back against her pillow.
"Marlon deserved it after what he did to you, and your sister, and Brody," Violet said back, not wanting her to feel sad for Marlon, the coward who caused her so much pain, but Minnie was always kind-hearted.
"You're sad for Brody, but not Marlon? Why? She went along with it. She helped him do it. She was there when he gave us away. Her and Marlon."
"Wait, what?" Violet gaped, not wanting to believe it. "But, but Brody told Clementine Marlon did it, then intimidated her into staying quiet. She was, she was afraid for her life!"
"Then she lied. She was there," Minnie said honestly, pained just thinking about it again. "They told us to come hunting with them, but it was just a trick so they could hand us over. It's true."
Violet looked crushed. Marlon betraying them was bad enough, but Brody? Had she lied to try to save herself? Violet didn't want to believe it. She mourned for Brody, all while putting all the blame on Marlon. Is that why Marlon killed her? Not because she was telling the truth, but because she tried to pin it all on him?
"Fuck," Violet cursed, a great anger boiling up inside her.
For the longest time Violet hated Brody for what happened to the twins, back when she thought they died. Once Clementine pointed it out, she actually felt bad about it. Terrible even. Now? Now she hated her more than ever. It really was her fault, and Marlon's. To think she actually felt sorry for her. Dealing with Sophie's death was stressful enough, but with this piled on top of it? Friends lying to friends, giving each other away to save themselves, stabbing one another in the back? It was just too much for Violet to bear. Then, like anything else that's been pulled on and bent one too many times, Violet broke.
"Fuck! That fucking, lying, backstabbing cunt!" Violet screamed, unable to control herself for one more second.
"Violet!" Minnie recoiled with fright, still holding her brother against her body.
The heartbroken Violet spun around, storming out of the room in a fury.
"Violet? Wait! Where're you going?" came Minnie's desperate voice as she called out to her.
Violet was on the warpath now. She only wished Brody and Marlon were still both alive, just so she could kill them again herself. She didn't even think about what she was doing, or whether or not it was a good idea, which it definitely wasn't. Her heart had taken over. She burst out from the school's front doors.
"Violet?" said the startled Mitch, standing just outside. He quickly noticed by her tears streaming down her face she was totally distraught. "What's going on?"
Violet said nothing, not even telling him about Minnie or Sophie as she brushed past him, turning towards the cemetery. Mitch followed after her. On the way, Violet nearly ran right into Ruby, who was just coming back from visiting Omar's grave. Now they were both following her, eager to know what was happening.
"Hey! Don't ignore us, what's wrong?" Ruby asked, but her pleas fell on deaf ears.
Neither of them would ever forget what they were about to see.
When Violet reached the cemetery, she made a bee line straight for Brody's grave. Without hesitating, she reached down, tore Brody's marker from the ground, and smashed it against the stone wall with a violent scream. And again, and again, and again, until it snapped in two.
"Jesus Christ! Violet! What the fuck?" Mitch exclaimed, outraged and confused.
"Oh my God," Ruby gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. "Violet! Stop!"
Mitch marched up to Violet, determined to stop this madness. Then Violet turned to Marlon's grave, trying to rip it from the ground as well.
"That's enough!" Mitch yelled, grabbing her from behind and pulling her away.
"Let me go!" Violet demanded, struggling in Mitch's powerful grasp. "You don't understand!"
"So then fucking tell us what's going on!" Mitch yelled back, throwing Violet to the ground behind him.
Violet hit the ground hard, getting the wind knocked out of her.
"Start explaining, now." Mitch demanded.
"Why would you do that to Brody's grave?" Ruby asked, confused and hurt. "I thought you were over all that shit!"
"It's all a fuckin' lie! More fucking lies!" Violet screamed, standing up.
By now the commotion had attracted both Louis and Clementine. Clementine had been on watch with AJ, but after she heard the screaming, she let AJ take over for a bit while she came to see what was going on.
"Minnie just woke up. She told me everything. About Marlon giving her and Sophie up to the raiders! Brody lied! Minnie said she was in on it the whole fucking time! Marlon killed her because she was trying to blame it all on him!"
"What? Seriously?" Mitch asked, his demeanor changing from pissed to disheartened in a second flat.
"Minnie's awake?" exclaimed Ruby.
"Yeah, Minnie's awake," Violet panted, finally coming down a bit from her heartbroken outburst, but she was still mad as Hell.
"Violet, is that seriously true?" Louis asked, hearing everything. "About Brody?"
"Yeah, can you fucking believe it? To think I mourned that bitch."
"But, but she told me that as she was dying!" Clementine said, just as confused. "Why would she lie?"
"I don't know," Violet said, still catching her breath. "All I know is I'm sick of all these fucking lies! I can't take it anymore!"
Violet's eyes went back to Marlon's grave, still wanting nothing more than to tear it from the earth. She took a step towards it, but Mitch pushed her back hard.
"Stop!"
"But you heard what I said!"
"I don't fuckin' care! You're not helping shit! You're just scaring everyone Violet!"
Violet stopped then, turning to look at the faces of everyone present. Mitch, Clementine, Ruby, Louis, as well as Aasim and Willy, who had shown up not long ago, all with disturbed or distressed stares. Violet had scared them all to death with her violent reaction. None of them had seen that explosive side of her before. When Mitch becomes the voice of reason, you know you've gone too far.
"Fuck," Violet said, realizing he was right.
"Someone wanna tell us what the hell is going on?" Aasim asked, stepping forward.
"We should tell them," Clementine said to Violet. "You should tell them. Calmly."
Violet nodded, now feeling like a total lunatic. "Yeah, you're right."
Violet managed to pull herself together enough to explain to Aasim and Willy what Minnie had told her, about Brody's part in the betrayal they all suffered, hoping it would at least explain her reaction. When Violet finished, they both looked dispirited and hurt, just as she did.
"You just exploded and left Minnie in the room? You must have scared the crap out of her," Willy said.
"Yeah, probably," Violet admitted, feeling awful about that as well.
"Shit, what a mess," Aasim scowled, turning away. "I'm gonna go see Minnie."
"I'm coming too, to see if she needs anything," Ruby said, following him.
"Wait, don't say anything about it to her," Violet called out. "I don't wanna upset her right now."
"You mean like you did when you freaked the fuck out?" Aasim shot back as he walked away, still irritated.
Violet hung her head, "Yeah, like that," she mumbled, feeling ashamed. She still hated Marlon and Brody both, but her reaction had just made everything worse.
"I still can't believe it," Clementine said, looking at what was left of Brody's grave marker. She didn't know what to believe anymore.
"Should we . . . fix it?" Louis proposed, not knowing what else to do.
"No!" Violet said, standing by her opinion, if not her reaction. "She doesn't deserve it! Neither of them do, but I should have told you first, instead of storming out here like a psycho and smashing shit," Violet said, shaking her head. She took a minute to figure out what to say next. "We'll put it to a vote, alright? That's how we'll decide this."
"Does this really mean that much to you Violet?" asked Mitch.
"Yeah, it does. They're traitors. Traitors don't get celebrated."
"If you think we're gonna do something like dig their bodies up and throw them away, you're insane," Louis stated, thinking of his history with Marlon again, not to mention how disgusting that would be.
"I know he was Louis, but you know what he's done," Violet said, defending herself.
Both Louis and Violet were being driven by their personal attachments, Violet to Minnie, and Louis to Marlon.
"Besides, I didn't mean that. I just meant we should take the markers down," Violet made clear. "We shouldn't be honoring them Louis. I know you've got history with Marlon, but he was a coward, and a liar. He gave Minnie and Sophie away to fucking raiders! He said to our faces that he'd do it again to any of us! That means you too!"
"Violet, that's enough," Clementine said, realizing Louis was getting upset and angry.
"Marlon was a liar and a murderer Louis!" Violet kept going, trying to appeal to Louis as earnestly as she could, but everything she stopped herself from saying before was now coming out. "He wasn't really your friend! You didn't meant shit to him! He'd give you up in a second if it meant saving himself!"
"Violet!" yelled Clementine, knowing that was going too far.
Then Louis shocked everyone, suddenly striking Violet in the face with a hard punch. Violet didn't see it coming, stumbling back, holding her now bleeding mouth. She never expected that kind of reaction from Louis, but everyone has a breaking point, and she just found his. Clementine looked to Louis in disbelief, feeling she had lost all control of the situation. Luckily, Violet didn't retaliate, seemingly accepting the blow. Louis looked just as shocked as any of them, immediately showing a look of regret.
"Wow," Mitch said, never imagining he'd see that from Louis.
"Fuck, I didn't mean to do that," Louis said, realizing maybe he hadn't totally come to terms with himself after all.
"No, no I get it," Violet admitted, thinking of her own reaction earlier. "That was too much, I'm sorry."
Louis took a second, but nodded, apparently accepting her apology.
"Listen, we can talk about this shit later, let's just focus on Minnie for now," Violet proposed. "Make sure she's okay. Plus, she should get a say in this too."
"Yeah, sounds good," Louis agreed, at this point just wanting this situation defused.
Clementine sighed in relief. That was rough, but at least it didn't get totally out of control. She was afraid Louis and Violet were about to get into a fist fight for a minute. They left the now damaged graveyard together. Violet went back into the school, feeling the need to apologize to Minnie next. Clementine still had her watch to complete, and she didn't want to leave AJ alone any longer, despite that he could mostly take care of himself. There would be time later to discuss and vote, but for now there had been more than enough excitement for one day.