Exceptional Shes missing Bitten by a Butterfly by John Ciarmello Artwork by VMarguarite at FanArtReview.com

Warning: The author has noted that this contains the highest level of language. The news of her disappearance spread across the country like an unabated rain. Reporters spread out in front of the estate's iron gates as the cameras and lights clicked on for their prologues. A reporter waved her arm above her head. "Hey! Everyone, quiet!" She stepped in closer as an announcement buzzed and crackled over the gate speaker. "Please everyone, he should be arriving at the gates in a few minutes he'll give you his statement there." *** Washington State's Sherwin Harbor stretched a thirty-mile span along the Pacific coastline. Inland, from its shore to the bordering Canadian City of Victoria, was less than fifty miles. Needless to say, no one's business went unnoticed in Sherwin. Chase watched as the waves crashed beyond the morning haze. The incoming tide washed into the sand's ribbed crevasses and ebbed against the Ipe timbers of the boardwalk. "Chase! get your goddamn ass in here and rub my legs." He pulled his buried feet from the sand and sucked in the last drag of his cigarette. He sat for a few more seconds and disappeared into his go-to fantasy. He imagined he could run atop the ocean water until he reached the other side. It eased his mental anguish, if only for a moment. "Coming," Chase muttered under his breath. "What was that?" "Coming, Fergie. I said I'm coming." "You know I can't get out of bed unless someone gets the circulation going in my feet. I can't lay here all day until you're good and goddamn ready to do it. Furthermore, what'd I tell you about using my first name? Rub a little harder, boy." Fergie's husband, Brick, moved Chase aside and took over the leg rub. "What'd you want him to call you?" "I'm his mother." "You've never been his mother, Fergie." "And I suppose you've been his father for these past fifteen years? I can show him more about being a man than you can, for Christ's sake. You're nothing but a butterfly, a wimpy little butterfly." "There, your legs are done. Now get up and start your miserable day." Brick glanced at Chase who was now staring out the bedroom window at the ocean. "Hey Chase, are you coming to the crematorium with me today? I may need your help with Mrs. Shagan's remains. The family had a change in plans, and they're laying her to rest this afternoon instead of tomorrow." "Yeah, I'll come..." "He ain't going nowhere. Who the fuck is going to take care of me all day?" "You'll be fine, Fergi. Chase, get ready I'm leaving in ten." "You're a son of a bitch, Brick. The kid ain't even reached adulthood yet and you're showing him all that dead body stuff." "No difference in seeing a dead body here, or one there," Chase muttered. "You show some respect, you, skinny little no-good... You'll never amount to anything sept' a spit in the wind." Brick put his hands on the back of Chase's shoulders and leaned in close to his ear. "You have to learn not to fuel her fire," he whispered and gave him a gentle push out of the room. "Go on now, get ready." "Yeah, go, go get ready to spend the day with Daddy. I have a good mind to tell you who you really are, boy." Brick closed the door behind Chase. "Why can't you be a little nicer to him, Fergie?" "You want me to hug up to my father's illegitimate kid? The only reason I took him was that I figured he was part of me. Well, I changed my mind. He ain't nothing to me, you hear me, Brick, he ain't nothing." "He's a human being, Fergie." "That bastard of a father of mine fucked that blonde-haired, green-eyed bitch right under my mother's nose and that kid is the result." "You stop using Chase as an excuse for your callous ways. And one more thing before I go. If you ever tell him about this I'll..." "You'll what, Brick? Yeah, go ahead, Brick, flutter away, you flimsy little butterfly. You just remember you'd be nothing without me. My dad left me that crematorium and I can close it down anytime I please. I own your ass, Brick; you just remember that." "You make it hard to forget, Fergie." "Yeah, go fry the old bitch's remains. She'd burn in hell anyway; you may as well give her a head start." Chase closed the passenger door. " What did she mean, who I really am?" "It didn't mean anything. She was just spouting off as usual." Brick put the car into reverse and pulled onto the street. "I know I've started this conversation with you many times before, but I need you to know she wasn't always like this..." "It doesn't matter to me anymore, who she was. It barely matters to me who she is. She's reminded me from the day I could comprehend, how worthless I am." "I'm sorry, Chase; you deserve better from her. You deserve better from me. I should have done something about her a long time ago." Chase paused for a few seconds. "Well, it seems to me it's not your fault." "Oh? How's that?" "Yeah, the way I see it is, she doesn't expect to get bit by a... wimpy little butterfly... It's nice to hear your laugh, Dad." The crematorium was a circular building that overlooked Sherwin Harbor's rocky shoreline. The charred tips of the double stacks that towered high over its flat roof sent chills up Chase's spine each time they drove the ascending dirt road to its parking lot. After their morning coffee, Chase entered the chemical room and noticed a locked glass cabinet with various vials. He didn't recognize any of the labels except for one he had learned about in health class, Thallium. It was a popular poison years ago for the simple reason it couldn't be detected by means of an autopsy. It was labeled the poisoners poison, or better known as inheritance powder. "Dad?" he yelled from the chemical room. "What is it, Chase?" "What the hell are you doing with Thallium poison in your cabinet?" Brick answered so quickly and precisely that Chase just shook his head and continued on with his business. "I use it to kill the rats, son. A drop of that on a piece of cheese and they're gone." The following morning Fergie watched Chase as he rubbed her legs. "I got a call from school this morning." "Yeah? About?" "Seems you signed up for drama class without telling anyone. I told your whiney little teacher you ain't going to be attending." "Why did you do that!" "I just don't want you to embarrass yourself, boy. Those kids in that class are better than you. Do you think you have a chance to be someone big time? Drama class ain't going to get you nowhere, boy." "Are you done, Fergie? I have to leave for school." "You answer me goddamn it, I asked if you think you're going to be big-time?" A foul grin hardened over her lips and her eyes locked on Chase. "Yeah, Fergie... You can count on the fact that I'll be gone one day, and I hope, Dad leaves you in this bed to wallow in your own shit." Chase closed the bedroom door behind him and left Fergie yelling from the other side. "You dirty little disrespectful son of a bitch. I never did like your stupid little ass. Go, go do your goddamn drama class. You'll turn out like your old man. A flaming yellow butterfly." *** "Hey Dad, Yeah, it's nice to hear your voice. Dad, let's facetime I'd like to see you." "Hey, Chase, how are you, son?" "I'm doing okay, Dad." "What's with the stubble, Chase? What happened to that baby face you left here with?" "Ha! I'm not fifteen anymore, Dad." "Where are you driving to son? It looks beautiful." "I just turned onto Sunset Boulevard, headed home. Chase pulled the car over and moved his phone panoramically. "When are you coming, Dad?" "Yeah, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. Fergie is away for a few weeks so I'm thinking this would be a perfect time to come out." "Okaaaay? But..." "Why the hesitation, Chase?" "Dad, Fergie hasn't left the house for more than a day at a time in forty years. Now you're telling me she's going away for two weeks? Where?" "She went to see her sister." "Dad? Pearls been dead for over a year." "No, no, her other sister." "I wasn't aware she had another sister. Dad, what's going on over there?" "Nothing Chase. Anyway, I'm coming next weekend if that's okay?" "Yeah, that's fine, I'm just a little confused." "Don't be, everything is fine." The following weekend Chase picked his dad up from the airport. "How the shit do I get into this thing, Chase?" "Dad, move away from the door. It opens up, not out." Brick sat inside and sank below the windshield. "Chase, how do you move the seat up." "Relax, Dad it'll adjust by itself to a comfortable position." "How does it know what my comfortable position is? Ah, well I'll be damned." "So, what's going on with Fergie? Something isn't right, Dad." "Well, I wasn't going to say anything to you, Chase, but I'd rather you found out from me than in another way. Fergie is here." "What? What do you mean? She's here in L.A.?" "No, well, yes, technically she's here in L.A." "Well then where is she?" "She's in an urn in my suitcase." "Wait, she's dead?" "Well, of course she's dead." "How? When?" "Last week, Chase. She died in her sleep." "And you cremated her?" "What the hell did you want me to do with her. Please don't ask me any more questions, Chase. This is why I didn't want to say anything to you." "You do realize her disappearance is going to leak out, right?" "No more questions, Chase. No more questions, ever! You have to promise me! The less you know the better." "Geez, Dad, you didn't...?" Brick held his hand up and turned his head away from Chase. "Promise me." "Alright, alright I promise." *** A modified four-wheeler equipped with knobby beach tires and dark tinted windows eased to a stop a few yards inside the gates. Chase Levrens stepped out wearing only a plush white towel wrapped around his mid-section. Putting Chase's prominent acting career aside, his toned physique and sea-green eyes also trademarked his popularity with his adoring fans. With cameras rolling and booms outstretched, the reporters rushed the iron gates of the estate. The atmosphere turned chaotic as questions flew at Chase one after another. "It's been two weeks and investigators are still looking for your mom! What's going through your head, Mr. Levrens?" "I heard your dad has been released as a suspect. That has to be a relief for you both?" "When did you see her last, Mr. Levrens?" "Do you think she may have run off with another man?" "How's your father taking the news?" A reporter worked his way to the front and pushed his mic between the Iron bars of the gate. "Mr. Levrens, you haven't answered a single question. Please tell us, what do you think happened to your mom?" Chase's reaction to the question must have lent itself to a sincere expression of uncertainty. Suddenly, everyone and everything went silent except for the clicking cameras. At that moment Chase understood why his father had made him promise not to ask any more questions. He gazed out beyond the reporters and their cameras. His words prolonged. "If I had to guess... I'd say she may have been bitten by a butterfly." Recognized Author Notes I'd like to apologize for Fergi's choice of swear words. It may be offensive to some. Well, you know what Fergi would tell you. This is merely a story. Simply imagine having to live with her. Anyway, thanks for reading.

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