He Buried His Own Mother

When I raced to the Town Hall, a pine casket sat in the center of the square, stained with horrific, dark streaks of blood. The person inside had long since suffocated, their life snuffed out in the dark.

The catalyst for all of this? A simple gesture of kindness. An old neighbor had brought my mother a small gifta vintage locketas a thank-you for years of friendship.

But when my husband, Derek, found out, he exploded. He was convinced my mother was taking "bribes," trying to use her connection to him to grease the wheels of his upcoming promotion. He was the Chief of Police, a man obsessed with his own shadow.

His deputy, Jadea woman who hung on his every word with a devotion that turned my stomachwas even more indignant. She claimed she would "teach my mother a lesson" on his behalf.

She had gone further than anyone could have imagined. She had broken my mothers limbs, tied a black blindfold over her eyes, and nailed her into that casket. She brought the box to the Town Hall for a public shaming, a spectacle of "justice."

Standing before the tragedy, Jade didn't show a flicker of remorse. Instead, she smirked, her voice airy. "Its a victory for integrity, don't you think?"

Derek arrived on the scene, his face a mask of cold indifference. Without a second thought, he ordered the casket to be hauled away to the river.

"Your mother obviously died of shame," he said, not even looking at the blood on the wood. "What does this have to do with Jade? Jade was being generous just by tolerating your mothers disgraceful behavior. Most people would have had her locked up."

Then, he turned his fury on me. "You better apologize to Jade right now, Cassie. Do it, or don't bother coming home. Youre one step away from losing your status as my wife."

I stepped forward, blocking the men who were about to haul the casket away. I reached down and pulled back the heavy black cloth covering the lid.

And then, I laughed. I couldn't help it. The sound bubbled up from my chest, sharp and hysterical.

To this moment, Derek had no idea. The woman lying broken in that casket wasn't my mother. It was his own.

1.

"Youve lost your mind," Derek snapped, his eyes flashing with disgust. "Your mother is dead, and youre standing there laughing? Apologize to Jade. Now."

He looked at me as if I were a stain on his polished boots.

But why would I seek justice for the woman in that box? She wasn't mine. I didn't need to fight for someone who had spent years making my life a living hell.

"Im not apologizing," I said, my voice steady. "Do whatever you want."

Jade shivered, shrinking into the crook of Dereks arm. She let out a long, theatrical sigh. "Seeing all this blood... Im going to have nightmares tonight. If I don't get any sleep, I don't know how Ill manage the precinct tomorrow."

That was her specialtyflipping the narrative. She could turn a hangnail into a tragedy, and Derek would move mountains to soothe her.

He turned his rage back on me. "Cassie, do you have a soul? Your mother took a bribe. Jade was trying to protect my reputation. The woman died because she couldn't face her own guilt. As her daughter, the least you can do is say youre sorry for the mess she made."

I remained unmoved. "Ive done nothing wrong. And neither did my mother."

Dereks face turned a dangerous shade of crimson. He turned to his deputies. "Fine. If she wants to be stubborn, lets finish this. Fill the casket with water and seal it tight. You won't get a chance to say goodbye, Cassie. Not ever."

I shrugged, indifferent. Jade walked over, her movements feline and triumphant. She reached out to take my hand, but I pulled away.

"Cassie," she whispered, her voice dripping with fake sympathy. "I know youre upset. I really didn't mean for this to happen. It was just supposed to be a little... disciplinary lesson. Youre not going to hold this against us, are you? Youre not going to go to the commissioner and make a scene, right?"

I looked her in the eye and felt a cold smirk touch my lips. "I won't. I promise."

Ever since I married Derek, his mother, Beatrice, had treated me like a servant. She carried her status as the "Chiefs Mother" like a scepter. Shed make me drive two towns over just to get her specific brand of imported tea. She demanded four-course dinners every night, never the same thing twice. If I was even five minutes late coming home from the textile mill, shed scream at me in front of the neighbors.

You think youre special because you have a job? Youre a wife first! Youre out there flaunting yourself while your house is a mess?

Looking at the casket now, I realized that some monsters really do destroy each other.

Derek remembered something then. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a few crumpled grocery vouchers, tossing them at my feet.

"Take these. Consider it hush money for your mothers... departure. Her life wasn't worth much anyway, so this is more than generous."

Five days' worth of groceries for a human life. It was a bargain, considering the life inside wasn't the one he thought it was.

He looked down at me, waiting for me to bow, to scrape the papers off the pavement. Before I could even move, he started barking orders about how I should spend them.

"Since your mother is gone, you don't need to waste these on her. Go to the city tomorrow. Exchange them for cash if you have to, but I want you to bring back that expensive skin cream my mother likes. Shes been complaining about being out for two days. If you don't take care of her, don't expect to keep your place in this house."

The same old threat. I was tired of hearing it.

I used to endure it because I loved him. I accepted his mothers cruelty because I thought it was the price of being with him. But today, the veil had finally lifted. There was nothing left in his heart for me, and nothing left in mine for him.

I felt an eerie sense of calm settle over me. "Fine," I said, my voice quiet but clear. "Lets get a divorce. File the papers tomorrow."

Derek froze. His eyes widened, his finger trembling as he pointed at me, unable to even form a coherent sentence.

I didn't wait for him to find his words. I turned and walked away.

2.

I went back to my mothers house, my heart hammering against my ribs until I saw her sitting on the porch, knitting a sweater.

She was alive. The horror in the square hadn't been a dream, but my mother was safe.

I ran to her and threw my arms around her, my voice thick with unshed tears. "Mom, lets go. Lets go to San Francisco. I heard the coast is opening up, there are so many opportunities there."

My mother sensed the shift in me immediately. "You and Derek... I told you from the start he wasn't the one, honey. If you need to clear your head, Ill go with you."

"Good," I whispered. "We leave in three days."

I spent the next day with her, soaking in her presence. When I finally returned to the house I shared with Derek, I found he had already set up a makeshift memorial in the hallway. My mothers photoa grainy, old portraitwas framed on a small table.

He walked toward me, a smug smile on his face, as if he were expecting a gold star.

"Look, honey. I set this up for you. If you miss her, you can come here and talk to her." He gestured to the photo. "I had to pull a lot of strings to get this printed on short notice. I put a lot of effort into this for your mother. Pretty thoughtful, right?"

I let out a dry laugh. He had a darkroom right at the precinct. This had taken him five minutes. He actually thought he could win me back with a piece of paper.

I picked up the photo and tossed it into the trash can. "Are the divorce papers ready?"

His brow furrowed, his expression souring. "Youre still on that? It was just a fight, Cassie. Weve been married for ten years. You don't just throw that away over a little disagreement."

I didn't even bother to argue. Two years ago, when Jade complained that I made her head ache with my "negative energy," he had threatened to divorce me three times in one week.

In his world, the death of my mother was a "little disagreement," but Jades mood swings were a national emergency.

He tried to pull me into his arms, his voice softening into that manipulative purr he used when he wanted something. "Come on, don't be like that. Im going to throw a massive funeral for her. A real send-off. Itll make up for everything, okay?"

"I don't want it," I said flatly.

He gripped my hands tighter. "After the funeral, Ill take some leave. Well go on a trip. Just us. But... I need you to do something for me at the service. I need you to tell everyone that your mother died because she was overwhelmed with shame. Tell them it had nothing to do with Jade. The mayor heard some rumors, and its starting to look bad for her career."

There it was. The hook. All the sweet talk was just grease for the gears.

"She killed someone, and you want me to clear her name?" I asked, my voice dripping with sarcasm. "Derek, I thought you were a man of the law."

His face darkened instantly. He let go of my hands. "She did it for me! If people thought your mother was taking bribes under my roof, Id be finished! Youre going to help her, Cassie. Whether you like it or not."

I smiled thinly, a sudden idea taking root. "Fine. Ill do it. But you have to grant me one request."

He lit up, the tension leaving his shoulders. He leaned in and kissed my cheek. "Thats my girl! I knew youd come around. Im the luckiest man alive."

I didn't say a word. I didn't tell him that my one request was the divorce.

Before he left for the evening, he grabbed the antique pocket watch from the dresserthe one thing I truly cherished.

"Jades been so jumpy since the incident," he said carelessly. "She says the rhythmic ticking helps her sleep. You never wear this anyway, so Im giving it to her."

That watch was the only thing hed ever given me that meant something. We hadn't had a real wedding; wed just gone to the courthouse. Back then, he wasn't a Chief. He was a struggling officer who had saved for months to buy me that three-hundred-dollar watch because Id admired it in a shop window.

I only wore it twice because I was so terrified of scratching it. He knew that. He knew I loved it because it represented who he used to be.

Now, it didn't matter. He could give her the watch. He could give her the whole world. I didn't want any of it anymore.

As he reached the door, he paused. "By the way, have you seen my mom? She hasn't been around for two days. Tell her to call me when she gets back."

I felt a chill of dark satisfaction. "Oh, youll see her tomorrow, Derek. At the funeral. I promise."

3.

The funeral was a grand affair. Half the town showed up, along with everyone from the precinct. Derek wanted a spectacle to ensure Jades reputation remained untarnished.

Jade was a mess of theatrical tears, huddled against Dereks chest. "Do you think Cassie really hates me? Oh, Derek, youll protect me, won't you? You won't let her hurt me?"

Derek stroked her hair, his eyes full of pity. "Don't worry, Jade. She won't touch you. Were going to clear everything up today."

The woman who had literally nailed a person into a box was playing the victim. It was almost poetic in its absurdity.

I stood before the casket and lit a stick of incense. Regardless of how Beatrice had treated me, she was dead now. This was my final act of politeness.

Jade stepped forward then, suddenly pulling a stack of papers from her coat. She let out a heavy, fake sigh.

"Cassie, I know we should let the dead rest," she said, her voice loud enough for the crowd to hear. "But your mothers actions are casting a shadow over this entire department. For the sake of the truth, we have to address this."

I took the papers from her. They were "records" of my mothers supposed bribesextravagant amounts of money she had allegedly taken from townspeople over the years.

I threw the papers onto the grass. "This is a lie," I said coldly. "The neighbor gave her a locket and a pie. Youve written down five hundred dollars. None of this is real."

Jade recoiled as if Id struck her, sobbing into Dereks shoulder. He stepped forward, shielding her. "Don't you dare act out here! Jade spent weeks investigating this! You think she just made it up? I know for a fact your mother used my name to scam people all over this county!"

Jade looked up, her eyes swimming with crocodile tears. "Derek, maybe we shouldn't... shes dead, after all."

"If you're going to bring it up, have the guts to stand by it," I snapped at her.

Dereks rage boiled over. "I'm bringing it up because everyone needs to know! Your mother got what was coming to her! Jade was just doing her job, and I won't have her blamed for a criminal's heart attack!"

The crowd began to murmur.

"I did see Cassies mom buying expensive meat at the butcher's every week," one woman whispered.

"And they got a new TV last month," another added. "Where does a factory worker get that kind of money?"

I balled my fists. "I bought those things! I saved my wages for two years to buy my mother that TV!"

Jade gave me a pitying look. "Cassie, honey, we all know what you make at the mill. Its okay to be ashamed, but don't lie."

Derek sneered. "And what about those people who came to the precinct last month looking for me? I bet your mother took their money and promised them favors."

They had the crowd in the palm of their hands.

Jade tilted her head, a predatory gleam in her eyes. "Since all that property was bought with 'bribe money,' it should be confiscated and given to the town charity. We should go to your house right now and take it back."

4.

Jade led the charge. They burst into my mothers house like a swarm of locusts, smashing things as they went. She took a sledgehammer to the TV I had worked so hard for.

"Everything bought with blood money has to go!" she chirped, looking over her shoulder at Derek for approval.

Derek stood by the door, clapping his hands. "Exactly! This is how we purge corruption!"

I stood in the corner, silent, a small smile playing on my lips. I had already called the state police from the town over. I wanted to see how theyd handle the finish line.

Jade dug through a jewelry box and pulled out a gold bracelet. "And this? I suppose you bought this too, Cassie?"

I lunged forward, feigning desperation. "Put that back! Thats an heirloom!"

Derek grabbed my shoulder, pinning me back. "Heirloom? You never mentioned an heirloom. This is just more stolen goods!"

Jade smirked, her fingers loosening. The bracelet hit the hardwood floor with a sharp crack.

"Oops. My hand slipped. But it wasn't yours anyway, was it? No harm done."

That bracelet had been in my family for three generations. My mother was supposed to give it to me on my wedding day, but shed kept it, saying she wanted to make sure it was safe. Shed gone through three hospitalizations without selling it, just so she could pass it down to me.

Tears of genuine fury pricked my eyes. Derek looked at me with total indifference.

"I was going to let you keep your dignity if you just apologized," he said. "But your mothers crimes are too big. To save Jades career, I have to make this public. Your mother can carry the bad reputation to her grave. Its better her than Jade."

"Enough!" I screamed. I glared at him, my voice trembling with rage. "Derek! My mother didn't take any bribes. And the person in that casket isn't my mother. Its yours!"

He started to laugh, ready to dismiss me as hysterical.

But then, the front door swung open. My mother walked in, followed by two state troopers.

Derek froze. He looked at my mother, then at the troopers, his face draining of color.

As the officers headed toward the "memorial" in the town square, Derek broke into a run. He reached the casket and tore at the lid with his bare hands, ripping his fingernails on the wood.

When the lid finally gave way, and he saw the broken, bloated body of his own mother, he let out a howl that sounded like a dying animal.

The state troopers didn't hesitate. They walked straight to Jade.

"Jade, youre under arrest for second-degree murder, evidence tampering, and destruction of property. You have the right to remain silent."