Rage

Inspector Charles looked into Janice's eyes for a long while. He grinned satisfactorily at her from his chair. Deputy James was also staring at her, his face severe as always. She moved her eyes from the two officers sitting in front of her and stared at the blank screen of the TV.

'Are you going to answer the question, Janice?' the inspector asked her.

She continued to watch the black screen.

'I said, how long have you had this temper problem?'

'Drugs,' she mumbled.

'What?'

'Ishmael is still on drugs,' she said. 'That's why he fed you all those lies.'

Inspector Charles said, 'Janice, I doubt that very much. When Deputy James and I talked to Ishmael yesterday, he seemed to have all his wits about him. There was no smell of alcohol on his breath, no weed, nothing. Yes, the guy is a douchebag, but he was an honest douchebag. Now please answer the question, unless you deny that you have any temper problems at all?'

'I don't have any anger issues. My sister is the one with the anger issues.'

'Aaah, the sister. Priscilla.' The inspector chortled. 'You know, Janice, the night Doctor Jacob went missing, he called the station. He wanted to talk to me, personally. Since I wasn't available, he talked to the receptionist and do you know what he said?'

Janice stayed true to her silence, watching the blank screen.

The inspector continued, 'The doctor said something peculiar, Janice. He said he wanted to talk to me about a case I handled years back. Now you have to understand, Doctor Jacob was a psychiatrist and those people are trained to keep calm at all times but my receptionist told me that the doctor had completely lost it. So this must have meant he wanted to talk about a very serious case. I handled a lot of cases in the past, Janice, but there was one that just seemed to stand out. I dismissed it at first but in light of the things I've been seeing recently…'

'What case are you talking about, inspector?' she asked him.

The inspector leaned in from his chair. 'The suicide of your sister's boyfriend. Abraham Jackson.'

Janice finally pulled her eyes from the screen. She looked into the inspector's euphoric eyes.

Inspector Charles went on, 'Now, in your statement, Janice you said something about your sister having mood swings…violent mood swings and a rage she couldn't control. Are you sure you weren't describing yourself here?'

'Are you saying that I was lying, Inspector Charles?'

'That's what I'm asking you, Janice.'

'I don't think you understand what that woman, my sister is capable of,' said Janice. 'You seriously don't! You think she doesn't have a temper? That's only because you don't know her as well as I do.'

'Then please enlighten us,' said the inspector pulling his back into the chair again, 'Tell us, please do tell how your sister could possibly be more violent than a wife who threatens to snip off her husband's genitals and lodge them in his rectum if he ever came home late or insulted her. Now, to me, Miss Murphy, that sounds like a woman who is jealous, insecure, short-tempered, abusive, vulgar, and very vindictive…not to mention violent. I've been married for far longer than you were, Janice. My wife and I have fought over and over again but never have such threats passed from our lips.'

'Then in that case, you're not married, inspector. You're just playing house.'

The inspector retrieved his hat from his knee and stuck it onto his head. 'I think we've overstayed our welcome, Miss Murphy,' he said then he got to his feet.

James stood up too.

The inspector said, 'We'll be on our way now but I promise you, we will be contacting you soon…very soon.' He gave her a smile and wink then both he and James began to ceremoniously walk towards the exit.

Janice returned her eyes to the black screen. It would have been hard for anyone to tell what she was thinking. Her knees were pressed tightly together. Her fingers slowly began to tremble as tears fell freely from her eyes. Her mouth began twitching fast as she mumbled something. She began to scream and pull on her hair wildly. She leapt onto her feet and kicked the TV off the stand and onto the floor. She picked it up and smashed it onto the floor over and over again, sending shards of glass and pieces of plastic flying in different directions.

She overturned the couch then grabbed the chair Inspector Charles had been sitting in. she smashed it repeatedly into the bottom of the couch, screaming like a banshee at the same time. She paused and looked around her. She suddenly ran into the kitchen, grabbed two sharp knives and returned to the living room. She got onto her knees and began slicing the carpet with the knives, wailing and shrieking like a woman possessed.

Sineas walked through the door at 4:35 P.M. He walked into the kitchen and poured himself a cup of water. He drank two cups then left for the living room.

The entire room was a total mess. Chaotic. It was like a hurricane had passed through it. Aunt Janice was leaning with her back against the bottom of the couch, the two knives still in her hands. Her eyes were staring where the TV had been. The TV had been broken into countless pieces that had been scattered all over the room. Pieces of the carpet and the couch were also lying everywhere.

Sineas dropped his backpack onto the floor and walked towards his aunt. He knelt in front of her. He said, 'Aunt Janice, what's wrong? What's going on?'

Her eyes were red, her bottom lip sagging. She looked like she had seen a ghost. She looked at him. 'Your whore of a mother, Sin. That's what's going on,' she said as she struggled to get to her feet.

Sineas also got to his feet and faced her.

'Where's the slut?' she asked him.

'Aunt Janice, I already told you- I don't know.'

She dragged her fingers slowly through her tattered hair. 'You liar...You little liar! Your mother has managed to ruin my life yet again and yet you still intend to protect her?!'

'Aunt Janice, mama did nothing wrong!'

'Liar!' She slapped his cheek hard with the back of her right hand. 'You and your mother are both liars! Devils!' She slapped him clean across the face again, this time with her left palm.

Sineas staggered backwards. He could feel the intense burning on his face adding to the dizziness.

She swung her right for a third.

He grabbed her wrist. His face was fuming, tears beginning to show at the edges of his sockets. He was breathing heavily.

Aunt Janice looked horror-struck. 'Let go of me!' she yelled as she tried to pull her hand from his grip. 'I said let go of me, Sineas!' She tugged two more times and finally pulled her hand free.

Sineas shoved her and she fell hard back first onto the floor.

She looked up at him then around her as if there was someone else in the room. 'Sineas! What are you doing?'

He just stood there in the same spot staring down at her. His face looked like untainted rage and odium.

'Sin…Sineas, my boy, why would you do that to me?'

He took a step forward.

She began to drag her buttocks on the floor backwards, heading for the stairs. 'Sineas, I am your aunt!' she yelled in dread. 'Why would you do that to me? I raised you, my boy!'

Sineas kept his silence, slowly advancing towards her.

'Sineas! Stay away from me! What do you want from me?!' she screamed.

Sineas did not answer. His movements were silent…steady...

Finally, her back bumped against the first step. Both her cheeks were soaked in tears. 'Tell me what's wrong, Sineas! Tell me! Maybe I can fix it! We can fix it!'

He shook his head, slowly, almost pitifully. 'Games, Janice, games. Do I look like I play games?'