"Why do you think the girls did what they did, Mrs. Lisbon?" The room was
decorated as if it belonged to a child. There was a television at the far
end, where most of the other patients were seated. But Mrs. Lisbon sat at
the other end of the room, rested back in an armchair, as she looked him
right in the eye.
"Timothy, that's what's so frightening. It don't know. Once they're out of you, they're different, kids are," she answered Tim, surprisingly calm. "None of my daughters lacked any love. We had plenty of love in our house."
Tim nodded, but frowned a little in disappointment. He was the only one left now. After Therese and Bonnie's suicide, Chase had gotten up the courage to make contact with the surviving girls. He was a hero to them, he had saved them from death, and now wanted to save them from themselves. Tim did too, as well as the other boys. They loved those girls, but the guilt and grief from that night had led them to selfish seclusion. It had been months before they could attempt to return back to a normal life. Joe Hill Conley would still have occasional breakdowns, claiming to see the vision of Bonnie's frail body hanging before him when he dared to close his eyes, the rope around her neck leading up to the basements ceiling. Kevin Head would sometimes talk to them, coming over only to ask random questions, mostly revolving around whether Therese was upset after the dance, when he never called. David and Parkie had distanced themselves from the rest of the boys, and from the girls entirely. They seemed too scared. Parkie eventually moved, and they all wondered if it was because of the suicides, or because he had found out about Chase and Mary hooking up.
One night, almost a year after the last two suicides, Tim was up in the treehouse with Paul and Joe. They had gotten out everything they had saved up, that had to do with the Lisbons. Now more than ever, Tim felt completely obsessed. They took out their school photos, Lux's brassiere that Peter had took when he ate at their house, Therese's specimen slides, Bonnie's votive candles, Cecilia's canvas high-tops (which were now beginning to turn yellow from time), and Mary's old cosmetics. But it was no use, it just reminded them of what they had lost, and the two that they'd never be able to get to. Tim didn't even remember hearing Chase walk up the ladder, but he sure felt him when he got into the treehouse. Having seen Mary's things among the pile, as if the others had considered her dead, Chase flipped out. The treehouse was so small, but somehow he managed to grab Tim by the collar, shoving him hard into the back wall. The tree shook, as Chase yelled obscenities at them, before grabbing Mary's old things and heading back out of the treehouse. They had never talked about the incident since then, as if it had never happened. None of the boys had ever taken out their stuff again though, leaving it all up in the treehouse, until now.
Tim looked back up at Mrs. Lisbon. "They were unhappy," he said quietly, not asking a question this time. They were still unhappy, the surviving two. Lux isolated herself off in seclusion after the move, and Mary had ran away. There were rumors that she was coming upstate to be with her mother, but Mrs. Lisbon mentioned nothing of it. There were also rumors that she had left to go to the coast, to one of the places pictured in the girls' old traveling magazines. But no one had heard from her since she left.
Mrs. Lisbon looked hurt by Tim's comment, but only briefly. Her face soon went back to it's hard, serene stare.
"Do you blame them? With everything going on in this world today. Kids having meaningless intercourse, with no love. Kids putting dangerous substances into their systems, without a care for themselves or those around them. People have become too selfish, and after losing my girls and Ronnie, I began to question whether anyone could ever truly love another person." Mrs. Lisbon looked away after that, looking as though she was trying to think of something that was troubling her. "You never hear the cry for help, everyone overlooks it. It doesn't become real until something drastic happens, and then it's too late. People today need to understand this, suicide is hurtful, and permanent. There's no taking it back, and there's nothing you can do after they're gone... I never thought my daughters needed saving..."
Tim studied her sad, yet hardened face, his brain immediately analyzing everything she had just told him. Their own mother had missed the signs. They all could have done something different to save the Lisbon girls. There were so many mistakes made, that in the end, it all seemed unrepairable,... but it wasn't.
No matter how hard he tried, Tim would never be able to figure out why. Why Cecilia saw no other way but to jump. Why the girls couldn't have just ran away with them, as planned. Why everything had to become so horrible. Why they hadn't heard them calling, before it was too late. The girls would always be unattainable to them, as they were before. Even to Trip and Chase, who would never be able to fully understand the girls that they cherished. Maybe they couldn't save them after all. The girls had lived in pain, as Mary and Lux probably still did everyday. They wanted the boys to see them, to know who they were, and help them. Maybe they had failed the girls, getting too caught up with the past and the unanswered questions. Now the remaining boys lived in agony for what could have been, for the girls they had lost, yet saw every night.
"Timothy, that's what's so frightening. It don't know. Once they're out of you, they're different, kids are," she answered Tim, surprisingly calm. "None of my daughters lacked any love. We had plenty of love in our house."
Tim nodded, but frowned a little in disappointment. He was the only one left now. After Therese and Bonnie's suicide, Chase had gotten up the courage to make contact with the surviving girls. He was a hero to them, he had saved them from death, and now wanted to save them from themselves. Tim did too, as well as the other boys. They loved those girls, but the guilt and grief from that night had led them to selfish seclusion. It had been months before they could attempt to return back to a normal life. Joe Hill Conley would still have occasional breakdowns, claiming to see the vision of Bonnie's frail body hanging before him when he dared to close his eyes, the rope around her neck leading up to the basements ceiling. Kevin Head would sometimes talk to them, coming over only to ask random questions, mostly revolving around whether Therese was upset after the dance, when he never called. David and Parkie had distanced themselves from the rest of the boys, and from the girls entirely. They seemed too scared. Parkie eventually moved, and they all wondered if it was because of the suicides, or because he had found out about Chase and Mary hooking up.
One night, almost a year after the last two suicides, Tim was up in the treehouse with Paul and Joe. They had gotten out everything they had saved up, that had to do with the Lisbons. Now more than ever, Tim felt completely obsessed. They took out their school photos, Lux's brassiere that Peter had took when he ate at their house, Therese's specimen slides, Bonnie's votive candles, Cecilia's canvas high-tops (which were now beginning to turn yellow from time), and Mary's old cosmetics. But it was no use, it just reminded them of what they had lost, and the two that they'd never be able to get to. Tim didn't even remember hearing Chase walk up the ladder, but he sure felt him when he got into the treehouse. Having seen Mary's things among the pile, as if the others had considered her dead, Chase flipped out. The treehouse was so small, but somehow he managed to grab Tim by the collar, shoving him hard into the back wall. The tree shook, as Chase yelled obscenities at them, before grabbing Mary's old things and heading back out of the treehouse. They had never talked about the incident since then, as if it had never happened. None of the boys had ever taken out their stuff again though, leaving it all up in the treehouse, until now.
Tim looked back up at Mrs. Lisbon. "They were unhappy," he said quietly, not asking a question this time. They were still unhappy, the surviving two. Lux isolated herself off in seclusion after the move, and Mary had ran away. There were rumors that she was coming upstate to be with her mother, but Mrs. Lisbon mentioned nothing of it. There were also rumors that she had left to go to the coast, to one of the places pictured in the girls' old traveling magazines. But no one had heard from her since she left.
Mrs. Lisbon looked hurt by Tim's comment, but only briefly. Her face soon went back to it's hard, serene stare.
"Do you blame them? With everything going on in this world today. Kids having meaningless intercourse, with no love. Kids putting dangerous substances into their systems, without a care for themselves or those around them. People have become too selfish, and after losing my girls and Ronnie, I began to question whether anyone could ever truly love another person." Mrs. Lisbon looked away after that, looking as though she was trying to think of something that was troubling her. "You never hear the cry for help, everyone overlooks it. It doesn't become real until something drastic happens, and then it's too late. People today need to understand this, suicide is hurtful, and permanent. There's no taking it back, and there's nothing you can do after they're gone... I never thought my daughters needed saving..."
Tim studied her sad, yet hardened face, his brain immediately analyzing everything she had just told him. Their own mother had missed the signs. They all could have done something different to save the Lisbon girls. There were so many mistakes made, that in the end, it all seemed unrepairable,... but it wasn't.
No matter how hard he tried, Tim would never be able to figure out why. Why Cecilia saw no other way but to jump. Why the girls couldn't have just ran away with them, as planned. Why everything had to become so horrible. Why they hadn't heard them calling, before it was too late. The girls would always be unattainable to them, as they were before. Even to Trip and Chase, who would never be able to fully understand the girls that they cherished. Maybe they couldn't save them after all. The girls had lived in pain, as Mary and Lux probably still did everyday. They wanted the boys to see them, to know who they were, and help them. Maybe they had failed the girls, getting too caught up with the past and the unanswered questions. Now the remaining boys lived in agony for what could have been, for the girls they had lost, yet saw every night.