Little Bit of Truth

It was a week into Noah and Eliza’s stay in Maine that Lillian and Eliza had their first verbal argument. Everyone was quite glad until then. It seemed that the water was calm between the two. However, just like their relationship, water was quite unpredictable. The storm was brewing underneath and dinner was like the gates of a dam crashing open, allowing withheld water to finally rush out.

“Amber, I would really love to see you wear my tiara with your dress. It’s been in my family for decades and it’s tradition to pass it onto the daughter. However, with Eliza running around like a floozy, there isn’t much of a chance she’ll get the tiara.” Lillian said disregarding Eliza’s presence.

The tiara in mention was a diamond encrusted white gold piece of hand-crafted work. Eliza was in love with the tiara. It was decided when Eliza was four that she would get it.
Eliza put her fork down and swallowed her last bite of pasta before locking eyes with a smiling Lillian.

“Mother, whoever said I was running around like a floozy and, as much as I love Amber, that is my tiara. It’s been mine since I was four.

“Things change and people leave, Eliza. It is no longer yours to have. By floozy, I was referring to your antics. I know about your last residence.” Lillian said with narrowed eyes, referring to Nicholas.

“That is none of your business. However, I will let you know that it was cheating on his part, not mine, that made me leave.”

“Ah yes, the classic Eliza move, blame others because you are far too precious to be at fault for anything.” Somehow, Eliza knew she was not referring to Nicholas or the tiara any longer.

“Mother, don’t bring this up. Not now.”

“Why not, Eliza? Does Noah not know about him? Does he not know that you kil…”

“Mother, I did not kill Louis. It was not my fault. I don’t know how many times I have to present my case before you! I didn’t do it!” There were tears streaming down Eliza’s face and her hands were shaking.

“Of course, Eliza. It was never your fault. It was only your school competition he was driving you to at six in the morning.”

“Mother, are my nightmares not enough? I wake up with headlights blocking my sight and his screams resonating in the dark. Am I not being punished enough? The truck was at fault, not me.” The other people present in the dining room were long forgotten. It was only Eliza and Lillian and the elephant in their room.

“Nightmares won’t bring him back.” Lillian said.

“Neither will you treating me like scum. How do you think he feels right now? Do you think he’d be happy with the way you’re treating me?”

“I wouldn’t know how he’d feel because he’s dead, six feet under, because of you.”

Eliza’s lip trembled as an obscenity began to form. She stopped herself and quickly turned on her heel and left the room. No one dared say a word as Lillian calmly continued to eat her dinner. Noah sat with perhaps the most shocked expression on his face.

“If you’ll excuse me…” He trailed off as he got up from his seat.

“Go after her and pity her. That’s obviously what she needs. You like her Noah. Be careful. She has a tendency to drag the ones who love her down with her.”

Noah ignored Lillian’s warning as he continued towards the exit. Eliza was not in their room and his mind suddenly went to the one place Eliza would go at a time like this.

After a series of staircases, Noah walked onto the balcony to see the girl he loved.

“If you’re thinking of jumping off, I’ll let you know now. It won’t be worth it.”

Eliza turned around and Noah saw her tear-stained face. “Ah, Lie. Don’t cry.”

“Why not, Noah? Someone like me deserves to cry. What she said was right. I am a murderer. I killed him.”

“No, Lie, it wasn’t you.”

“Yes it was, Noah. Do you wanna hear a story, Noah?” Eliza said her voice eerily calm.

“A story?” Noah asked.

“Do you wanna hear the story of the girl who killed her older brother? Do you, Noah?”

“Lie…” He began.

“Too bad, Noah. I’m going to tell you anyway. You’ve been around long enough. Once I tell you, you can leave like everyone else.”

“I’m not leaving Lie.”

“Oh you will, trust me. Louis was my brother. He was two years older. He and always got along well and were best friend. I was a sophomore and we were living in Houston, Texas. I was a bit of a nerd in my hay day so I was part of a science club called the Science Olympiad. My competition was that day, February 12. I had built a ramp for my car and it was too large to fit in Mother’s car so Louis offered the night before to drive me to the competition. We were supposed to be there by seven or they wouldn’t let me compete and we lived an hour away. Louis left at five twenty, just to be safe. However, we were ten minutes from the school when we passed a Starbucks. Now, a piece of information for you, I used to love Starbucks. I lived off of frappuccinos, however, there were very few of those coffee shops near our house in Houston. I insisted that Louis take us there, so being the great older brother he was, he obliged. We were pulling back onto the freeway when the eighteen-wheeler came crashing towards us. The guy later insisted that his brakes failed, but it was too late. He crashed into Louis’ side of the car. He died that day and all because I wanted a stupid coffee. Mother is quite right in blaming me. I did this to my family.”

Eliza was full-out bawling by the time she finished. There, she had told him the truth. Noah stared at her with his jaw slack. This was what this small girl had been holding on to.

“Lie, that’s not your fault.”

“How can you say that even after I’ve told you everything?”

“Lie, what happened was out of your hands. You could never have done that intentionally.”

“I’m a horrible person, Noah. What I did was horrible. I wanted coffee so I ended up killing my brother.” Eliza spat.

“Lie, you’ve got the truth distorted with your own conscience. There was no way you could have known that was going to happen. It was his time, that’s it.”

“Noah, you’re mistaken. I’m not some innocent girl who caused a small accident. I killed my brother.” She said enunciating every word in the last sentence.

“No!” Noah said frustrated. “I will not let you believe you did something when no one could have changed what happened that night. It was a cup of over-priced coffee, Lie. You didn’t hold a gun to his head and pull the trigger.”

“Noah, why do you even care? There’s a week and a half left and then you can go on to pretending like you never met me on that busy London street.”

“I care because… I care, alright? I would never pretend I didn’t know you. I couldn’t do it.”

“It’s not that difficult. Just look the other way. Who wants to be associated with a murderer, anyways?”

Noah grabbed Eliza’s shoulders and locked eyes with her. “Stop, if you say you’re a murderer one more time, so help me God, I will do something we’ll both regret.”

“Thanks for caring, Noah. But, I should let you know. I have a tendency to bring down the ones who become close to me.” Eliza said before walking towards the stairs.

Noah followed Eliza back to their bedroom and the two silently changed and went to bed.

That night, the burden Eliza carried was off of her chest. For some reason, she did not feel better. Perhaps it could be attributed to the portion of the burden that still remained heavy on her chest. The two lay face-to-face their eyes staring into each other’s soul. Eliza tried to figure out why he was still around. Noah tried to figure out how to make her smile. Giving her a quick kiss on the cheek that was dangerously close to her lips, Noah wrapped his arms around Eliza and pulled her close. He would make her smile one day, genuinely smile.