The Stranger Behind My Orgasm

Abigail

My throat went dry as a desert as I read the words on the screen. There was a picture of an old newspaper.

LOCAL COUPLE KILLED IN TRAGIC ACCIDENT.

The headline screamed across the page in bold black letters. Under it, was a photo of my parents, so young, so happy. My Dad’s arm around Mom’s shoulders, both of them looking at the camera like they had their whole lives ahead of them.

My vision blurred.

I blinked. Big fucking mistake. The moisture gathered at the corners of my eyes, threatening to spill over.

"I know they died in an accident, Annette," I said thickly, swallowing a laugh. "Everyone knows that,"

It was raining that night. I had been in the back seat of the car, playing around with my stuffed bunny, while mom and dad talked in the front seat. They said my parents were speeding above the limit and the bad weather conditions contributed to the single-vehicle accident.

I was nine. My memories of the accident were pretty hazy but it was what, fifteen years ago?

"Why are you showing me this?" I asked Annette and she sighed.

"I found this, linked to the address on the package. There was a dummy website and well," She tapped on the down arrow button, pushing the page up and on the screen was another document that had the official letterhead of the police department seal embossed at the top.

INVESTIGATIVE REPORT - CASE #04-7721

The words swam on the page.

"Brake line tampering... evidence of forced entry... The existing damage is inconsistent with impact... recommendation for further investigation..."

There was a photo attached. It was black and white, and grainy, but I knew it was a picture of my parent’s car crumpled like a crushed soda can. Glass scattered across asphalt like diamonds. Dark stains...Blood. Their blood.

My stomach lurched, acid rose up my throat.

I couldn’t look away. The passenger door hung open, all shattered to bits and the front of the car was completely destroyed, where my parents were.

"Conclusion: Strong indication of vehicular homicide. Case transferred to Homicide Division for further investigation."

Homicide? What the hell did they mean by homicide? Were the papers in the box right all along?

A sound escaped my throat. My chest constricted, tightened until I couldn’t breathe like there was a fist gripping my lungs.

"Abby-"

"No, okay, this is probably just another prank," I muttered, shaking my head.

"I ran the dates and checked the database-"

"No, okay, Annie-"

"It’s real Abby!"

I closed my eyes and I was back there again in the car that night.

The windshield wipers going swish-swish, catching the droplets pouring from the sky.

Mom’s laugh from the front seat, Dad saying something I couldn’t hear over the radio. My fingers gripping a stuffed rabbit, watching something out the window.

Then suddenly we were spinning.

Glass exploded, metal screamed and groaned as the car turned upside down. My head hit something hard and Mom’s weak voice called for me as I sobbed in the backseat. My seatbelt cut into my chest, holding me suspended in the air, Dad gave a low groan and finally went quiet.

Even in my memories and dreams about that night I couldn’t see the images of my bloodied parents. The therapist Meemaw made me see all those years ago had said it was my brain’s way of coping through trauma by blocking those awful memories.

There were footsteps on the shattered glass around the car. Someone, a man, crouched down by the car. I couldn’t see his face, just darkness where his face should be and he was backlit by headlights from another car.

My eyes snapped open and I gasped for air. A motherfucker killed my parents, it hadn’t been an accident. Annette dropped her laptop on the desk before us and pulled me close in a hug.

"Shit, Abby, you need to breathe," She rushed in a breath, running her fingers down my back.

There was another car.

There was definitely another car. The newspaper report had said it was a single car accident but there was another car back then! I turned my eyes to the laptop and forced my eyes to finish reading the words. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Homicide. My parents were murdered. It wasn’t a car accident. Then why would it be announced to the public that it was? And why did my grandparents tell me it was a car accident?

"Status of investigation: CLOSED"

"Reason for closure-"

The next line hit me straight in the gut.

"Case closed by order of Chief of Police Robert Morrison. Evidence deemed insufficient and the family declined to pursue further investigation. It is ruled as accidental death."

My grandparents’ signatures sat at the bottom of the page. It was them. They were the ones who stopped the investigation and had it written off as an accident. A little laugh left my lips.

"Abby?"

"This is definitely some bull shit. Why would they... why would Meemaw and Gramps lie to me?"

Annette’s eyes flickered with worry. "I don’t think anyone would go through this length just to stage a prank-"

"I’m calling them. I have to get to the bottom of this," I grumbled, snatching my phone off the couch.

This had to be wrong. My vision blurred and I blinked rapidly, rereading the names at the bottom of the page.

Gerald and Marissa Kellerman.

Gramps and Meemaw.

Fifteen years. For fifteen years I had believed it was an accident, I had thought maybe, just maybe Dad had been driving too fast in the rain and if he had just been more careful, if the weather had been better, if we had stayed home that day, I would still have my parents.

But it wasn’t raining. It wasn’t bad luck or poor timing. Someone had killed them. Someone had rammed into our car on purpose, forced them off the road, and watched them die.

And my grandparents knew all along.

Why would they lie? Lie to me?

The question circled in my head like vultures squawking over their next meal. Meemaw and Gramps had raised me through nightmares, panic attacks, through every single thing.

How could they have lied to my face for fifteen years? Why would they call off the investigation? Why do I not get a say in any of this? They were my parents.

My thumb swiped over the screen to unlock, while Annie kept urging me to calm down. I tapped on Meemaw’s number, pulling my brows in a frown, fighting the urge to cry so bad.

"Meemaw-"

"Hello my little Abby-" My grandma’s voice cut off mid sentence, suddenly going high pitched. "Abby, what’s wrong? Are you crying? What happened?"

"Why did you lie to me?" The words came out broken as I desperately fought the sob that welled up my throat. "Why would you lie to me, Meemaw?"

"Lie?" She yelled on the other end. "Baby, what are you talking about?"

"I know." My voice cracked, grip tightening around the phone. "I know they were murdered. I know it wasn’t just an accident, why didn’t you tell me?"

A loud gasp filtered through the receiver. "Oh no. Gerald," Meemaw shrieked on the other end. "Gerald, come here. Now!"