Read Online When Smiles Fade by Paige Dearth - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Paige Dearth
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of dizziness and nausea. All the while, Emma quietly gloated over his misery, knowing that the stupid motherfucker hadn’t suspected a thing. By the end of the third week, Pepper could no longer get out of bed. His body was shutting down, bit by painful bit. Considering how gravely ill the man was, anyone would have felt bad for him, particularly a daughter. But Emma didn’t. He deserved everything he was getting and she wasn’t going to stop until he was dead. The truth was, if she could have physically tortured him even more, she would have. But she didn’t want to arouse any suspicions when they came to remove his dead body from the house.
After five weeks of ingesting the rat poison Emma’s father died. That night was the happiest moment of her life. She and Brianna took two of his beers out onto the front porch to celebrate.
Emma raised her beer in the air. “Here’s to people getting what they deserve!”
Brianna smiled brightly and they clanged beer cans and took a long swig.
The ambulance workers and the police who came to the house to take Pepper’s body away didn’t suspect any foul play. The police were unconcerned at his death. People in their neighborhood died all the time. The authorities had better things to worry about than the untimely death of a notorious drunk. Just to be certain that no doubts remained about the nature of her father’s death, Emma pretended to console Gracie in the presence of the policeman who had been sent to their home. “We always knew that all the alcohol he drank would catch up to him some day,” she said mournfully.
Her younger sister played along. In bed that night, Gracie asked her sister, “Why did Dad hate us? We never did anything to him.”
Emma took her hand. “Dad hated himself because he was a total loser and he took it out on us. Dad was a dick.”
The night of Pepper’s funeral, Emma lay on her bed and relived the moments leading up to his slow and horrible death. She smiled broadly, remembering how good she had felt lacing his food with that amazing powder. Even toward the end, she had been slipping large doses of poison into his soup. She was truly proud of having killed her father. In her mind, she had killed her father to save herself and her sister from his sadistic behavior. She was finally free of the son of a bitch. He had beaten her unmercifully and now he was finally dead.
Valerie was sad and pitiful, which annoyed Emma. It made her sick that her mother was so self-centered that she had allowed him to do all those horrible things to Gracie and her, always blaming it on something that the girls did or didn’t do. In her mind, Valerie was as much to blame for all the brutality in their life as Pepper.
With Pepper gone, Emma and Gracie began to lead a normal life. Emma spent most of her free time with her younger sister and Brianna, while Valerie hung out with the women from her workplace. Emma still hated her mother, but decided she could always be disposed of as easily as Pepper had been, if she tried to give her or Gracie any shit. The next year was peaceful for the sisters. Gracie even managed to make a couple of her own friends at school. The girls had become closer in the year after Pepper died. Mainly because Emma had more freedom to come and go as she pleased.
The year Emma and Brianna turned sixteen was exciting. They threw themselves a joint birthday party at Brianna’s house. They invited Gracie and Pam. Valerie was excluded since she hadn’t celebrated her daughter’s birthday before. The party turned out to be a lot of fun and Pam bought two six-packs of beer and let the girls drink them until they threw up.
Brianna had grown into an attractive sixteen-year-old. She had a small face that suited her small, thin body well. Her brown hair hung in loose curls, which made her look exotic. Her brown eyes still had a mischievous glint to them, which Emma loved. She had a sweet smile, offset by her brazen personality.
Emma was
After five weeks of ingesting the rat poison Emma’s father died. That night was the happiest moment of her life. She and Brianna took two of his beers out onto the front porch to celebrate.
Emma raised her beer in the air. “Here’s to people getting what they deserve!”
Brianna smiled brightly and they clanged beer cans and took a long swig.
The ambulance workers and the police who came to the house to take Pepper’s body away didn’t suspect any foul play. The police were unconcerned at his death. People in their neighborhood died all the time. The authorities had better things to worry about than the untimely death of a notorious drunk. Just to be certain that no doubts remained about the nature of her father’s death, Emma pretended to console Gracie in the presence of the policeman who had been sent to their home. “We always knew that all the alcohol he drank would catch up to him some day,” she said mournfully.
Her younger sister played along. In bed that night, Gracie asked her sister, “Why did Dad hate us? We never did anything to him.”
Emma took her hand. “Dad hated himself because he was a total loser and he took it out on us. Dad was a dick.”
The night of Pepper’s funeral, Emma lay on her bed and relived the moments leading up to his slow and horrible death. She smiled broadly, remembering how good she had felt lacing his food with that amazing powder. Even toward the end, she had been slipping large doses of poison into his soup. She was truly proud of having killed her father. In her mind, she had killed her father to save herself and her sister from his sadistic behavior. She was finally free of the son of a bitch. He had beaten her unmercifully and now he was finally dead.
Valerie was sad and pitiful, which annoyed Emma. It made her sick that her mother was so self-centered that she had allowed him to do all those horrible things to Gracie and her, always blaming it on something that the girls did or didn’t do. In her mind, Valerie was as much to blame for all the brutality in their life as Pepper.
With Pepper gone, Emma and Gracie began to lead a normal life. Emma spent most of her free time with her younger sister and Brianna, while Valerie hung out with the women from her workplace. Emma still hated her mother, but decided she could always be disposed of as easily as Pepper had been, if she tried to give her or Gracie any shit. The next year was peaceful for the sisters. Gracie even managed to make a couple of her own friends at school. The girls had become closer in the year after Pepper died. Mainly because Emma had more freedom to come and go as she pleased.
The year Emma and Brianna turned sixteen was exciting. They threw themselves a joint birthday party at Brianna’s house. They invited Gracie and Pam. Valerie was excluded since she hadn’t celebrated her daughter’s birthday before. The party turned out to be a lot of fun and Pam bought two six-packs of beer and let the girls drink them until they threw up.
Brianna had grown into an attractive sixteen-year-old. She had a small face that suited her small, thin body well. Her brown hair hung in loose curls, which made her look exotic. Her brown eyes still had a mischievous glint to them, which Emma loved. She had a sweet smile, offset by her brazen personality.
Emma was
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