7
Larissa hesitates before she enters her home. She hears her siblings bickering while her mother tries to settle them.
She sighs as she turns the doorknob, glad to escape the cold. She closes the door, removes her shoes, and hangs her coat on the hook. The family home is small. The living room is a squeeze, the family shares only one couch. A tall cabinet stands on one side of the room and a box of children's toys occupies the other side.
Larissa shares a bedroom with her sisters Lily and Posie. Lily was born when Larissa was five and they've shared since then. Mickey came along when she was seven, but he sleeps in the bedroom with her mother. And Posie, soon to be five years old, arrived the year before Steven was killed.
Larissa enters the kitchen and sees her mother settling an argument between Lily and Mickey while Posie sits quietly at the kitchen table, her legs swinging as she sucks her thumb, she waves when she sees Larissa.
'You said you were going to do my hair!' Lily cries, holding a hairbrush and some ties. 'And I will, but I need to do this first.' Sabrina replies as she puts a bandaid on Mickey's knee. 'What happened?' Larissa asks. 'I fell over outside.' Mickey replies sourly. 'We're having pizza for dinner.' Posie innocently chimes in.
'There you go, all good.' Sabrina smiles at her son. 'Mom. Mommy, can you do my hair now?' Lily asks. Sabrina takes the hairbrush from Lily and glares at Larissa, 'Where have you been today?' She asks as she brushes Lily's hair, 'Ow.' She mumbles as the brush is pulled through her tangled hair.
'I had another call from the school.' Sabrina continues, 'You skipped again?' She's brushing Lily's hair roughly, 'Ow.'
'You'll regret this when you're older and have no career.' Sabrina snaps, still brushing too roughly. 'Mom-'
'Well? Where have you been all day?' Sabrina asks. 'What does it matter, Mom? I'm home now.' Larissa replies. 'Dammit Larissa! It does matter! I'm at work all day wondering where you are and who you're with and you just come home whenever you feel like it and don't even contact me!' Sabrina screams.
'Ow! Mommy you're hurting me!' Lily screams with tears running down her face, 'Can you stop arguing all the time?' She snatches the hairbrush from Sabrina and runs upstairs, slamming the bedroom door behind her.
'Thank you, Larissa.' Sabrina says sarcastically and Larissa rolls her eyes, 'Maybe you should be more careful with her.' She heads up the stairs after Lily and gently taps on the bedroom door before she turns the knob, 'Lil.' She closes the door behind her. Lily is lying on her bed sobbing, her face buried into her pillow.
Larissa sits on the end of the bed and puts her hand on the back of Lily's leg, 'I'm sorry Lil.'
'You and Mommy fight so much, I hate it.' Lily cries. 'I know and I'm sorry.' Larissa replies. 'She wouldn't be so mad at you if you went to school.' Lily informs. 'I know.' Larissa replies. Lily sits up to face her, her cheeks red and wet from her tears, 'So why don't you go to school?' She asks.
'It's not that simple, Lil.' Lily sits up, 'Of course it is.' she replies but Larissa could never tell her sister why she doesn't attend school. Being labeled as the daughter of a dead junky for the last few years has changed her perspective of the people in her community. The horrible jokes and nasty comments started when she was eleven, the year after her dad died.
Lily looks her sister in the eye but she doesn't say anything. 'Do you want me to plait your hair?' Larissa asks. Lily nods and sits toward the edge of the bed and Larissa sits behind her, gently brushing her soft blonde hair.
Lily has always been the most emotional of the four siblings, the one Larissa worries about the most. Posie is the loudest and most mischievous. If Mickey's not falling over, he's winding up his sisters, but he's a sweet kid. And Larissa is stubborn, a trait her mother says comes from her father, "a force of nature" her grandmother calls her.
'How was school?' Larissa asks and Lily shrugs, 'Ok I guess, my teacher says I need to get better at maths.'
'Well, that's good because I am amazing at maths.' Larissa says, cheerfully. Lily smiles, 'Will you help me with my homework?'
'Sure, let me have a shower first.' Larissa replies. 'We had mac and cheese at school today, it was gross.' Lily says. 'I know, I went to that elementary school too remember.' Larissa replies. She finishes the plait on one side and moves on to the other side, she brushes her fingers through Lily's hair and starts plaiting, 'Is that kid still giving you trouble?'
'Harry? No, I did what you said to. But Mrs Haney told me not to do it and I said he was picking on me for weeks.' Lily replies. 'Oh yeah and what did she say to that?' Larissa asks. 'Nothing.' Lily says and Larissa rolls her eyes, she remembers Mrs Haney, her sour face and miserable manner.
She finishes the plait and secures it with the hair tie, 'Done.' She says. 'Thank you.' Lily smiles as she feels for the plaits. Their mother calls them down for dinner. Lily skips down the stairs and Larissa follows. Sabrina is laying the plates on the table when Larissa enters the kitchen, Mickey is already picking up a hot slice and drops it onto the plate immediately.
Larissa sits in a chair and pulls Posie onto her lap as she babbles about a boy in her kindergarten class. Larissa cuts up Posie's pizza slices and lets them cool down. 'Is he your boyfriend?' Larissa teases lightly tickling her sister. Mickey laughs and sings, 'Posie has a boyfriend! Posie has a boyfriend!'
Posie pouts, 'I do not! Boys are yucky!' She shouts. 'Girls are yucky!' Mickey sneers and he sticks his tongue out at Posie who returns the gesture. 'Now, now, kids eat your dinner.' Sabrina disffuses the bickering. The tension between Larissa and Sabrina is still thick, and she avoids contact with her mother and neither of them speaks to each other during dinner.
Mickey tries a slice of his pizza but it's still hot so he leaves for a few minutes, as does Lily.
'Who is he then?' Larissa asks. 'His name is Tommy, we did a puzzle today.' Posie explains. 'What was your puzzle?' Sabrina asks. 'A dinosaur.' Posie replies.
The pizza finally cools down and the family eats their dinner. When they are all done, Lily helps Sabrina clear the table and wash the dishes while Larissa sneaks upstairs for a shower. She locks the door to the bathroom, this is her only alone time at home and she needs to think. She stands under the warm water and wonders about Daphne Blake and her partner, she thinks his name is Fred.
Larissa hopes that the information she has given them will help discover what happened to her beloved dad the night he was killed. He made mistakes but was not the man the media portrayed him as.
She remembers her dad taking them to the fairground for their first supervised visit. The social worker, Madeline, stayed with Posie, strapped into a stroller while Steven went on the carousel with the others. Larissa and Lily had their own horses and Steven sat on a horse with a three-year-old Mickey in his arms. How happy her dad looked as he laughed on the rides and ate cotton candy as if he were a kid again. He had pushed Posie in her stroller and carried Mickey on his shoulders, Lily and Larissa walked beside him.
Steven asked the social worker to take photos of them on his phone. She wonders what happened to the phone the night of his death. It could hold the key to finding his killer. The fourth anniversary of his death is coming up and she plans to take her siblings to see his grave, even if her mother protests, he's still their dad.
Larissa finishes in the shower and dries herself off. She pulls on her pajamas that are warming on the radiator and hangs up the towel for it to be used again. She enters her bedroom where Lily is getting ready for bed and Posie is playing with a doll. Lily throws her clothes into the laundry basket by the door and Larissa helps Posie change into her pajamas then pulls the hair tie out of her sister's blonde hair and brushes it until it's smooth.
'Can you get me a glass of milky?' Posie asks. Larissa smiles, her mother would tell Posie to say please, but Larissa doesn't care. She asks Lily if she wants milk but she declines. Larissa pops her head into the other bedroom to check on Mickey. He is ready for bed but is picking at the bandaid on his knee, 'Hey, leave that alone.'
Mickey whips around to face Larissa, he smiles cheekily before he climbs into bed. 'I'm getting Posie some milk, want some?' Mickey makes a sour face, 'No thanks.' He replies and Larissa laughs as she says good night and steps down the stairs.
She enters the kitchen, finds Posie's plastic Paw Patrol cup in the cupboard, and takes the milk from the fridge. She hears a noise in the living room and knows it is her mother. She creeps through the hallway to the living room and pops her head around the corner.
She watches as Sabrina rummages through the cabinet, wondering what she's doing, she knows it only has insurance papers, bank statements, and other official documents. She closes the cabinet and Larissa quietly hurries back to the kitchen to continue pouring the milk before she returns the bottle to the fridge and heads upstairs without bumping into her mother.
Larissa gives the milk to Posie and tucks her sisters into their beds. Sabrina comes in to kiss them good night, even Larissa to her surprise, 'Good night, girls.' Sabrina says and she turns the light off and closes the door. 'Good night, Mom.' They chime. Larissa hears her mother brushing her teeth in the bathroom, and then she hears her walking to her bedroom and closing the door.
Larissa tosses and turns in the bed, trying to get comfortable for some time. Her sisters have both fallen asleep, but Larissa isn't tired at all, she's more curious as to what her mother was doing in the cabinet. She grabs her phone to check the time, 09:46 PM. She climbs out of bed and creeps across the bedroom, quietly opening the door, hoping not to wake her sisters.
She closes the door behind her and quietly steps down the stairs. All lights are off downstairs and she doesn't hear any sounds as she enters the living room and uses the flashlight on her phone rather than turning the light on. She pulls open the cabinet doors and they creak.
The flashlight shines on the folders containing documents and another folder that Sabrina has put together for the artwork made over the years. Nothing strikes her suspicions until she sees a small wooden box hidden beneath a stack of files. She lifts the files and frees the box, there's no lock on it so she opens it.
Inside are baby scans, four of them and four white hospital bands with each of the children's names neatly handwritten on them. The other item catches her eye and sends a shiver down her spine. Her heart almost stops as she stares at the item thought to have been lost forever.
An item that could link a murderer to a murder. The missing phone.
She stuffs it into her pocket, puts the scan photos in the box and hides it under the stack of files. She goes to the kitchen to get a cold glass of water, her mouth is dry. Her hands are shaking as she quietly creeps back up the stairs and into her bedroom. She doesn't remove the phone from her pocket, keeping it safe in her possession.
Why does her mother have this?