Page 50 of Traces of Kara

“Shut up!” Roland spat.

Mimi stumbled away from him. “You’re not a killer, Roland. Let her go.”

“You don’t know nothin’ about me.”

Mimi walked backward toward the room where Kara lay on the floor. “I know you well enough, Roland. I know there’s something wrong with your mind that makes you obsess over your sister, but I never believed—”

“You believed it! You sent me away! You had them keep me from her.” He picked up the antifreeze and twisted off the cap.

“We had to. You were relentless.”

“I loved her.”

“You obsessed over her. You hurt her.”

“I never hurt her.”

“You did, Roland.” Mimi’s voice softened. Her shoulders dropped. “Roland,” she said quietly. “What you’re doing, it’s wrong. It’s not the right thing to do.”

“I want to be with her.”

“It’s wrong, Roland. You know that.”

“There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be with family.”

“You took my family, Roland. You kept our family apart.” Mimi pleaded.

“No! You kept me from them. You sent my father after me, after you cast me away! I was just a kid. Do you know how much that hurt?” He clenched his teeth. “How much I missed her?” He looked at Marissa, her eyes staring up at the ceiling.

Mimi opened her mouth to answer, then closed it. She closed her eyes, and let out a breath. When she opened her eyes, Roland stood before her, fists clenched, the bottle of antifreeze open.

“Roland, no,” she pleaded. “Please. We can work this out.”

“Like the way you worked it out with my father? You made me kill him, too. He wouldn’t—”

Mimi shook her head. Al had died of a heart attack. Grant had kept track of him. He wasn’t murdered. “No, Roland, you didn’t kill him.”

Roland lifted the bottle of antifreeze. “I had to.” His face contorted. “He wouldn’t tell me where she was. But finally, he did. I made him.”

“Roland? What did you do?” Tears streamed down her cheeks. Her hand flew to her chest. She sucked in big gasps of air, backing toward the wall for support.

“I did what I had to do. I had to find Marissa. You can’t separate family.”

Mimi sunk to her knees. “You k…killed him?” She stared at him, shaking her head. “You…you killed your father?”

“He’s not my father!” Roland screamed.

Mimi covered her face with her hands. “Oh, Roland.” She wept, dropping her arms and crossing them over her middle. Her body trembled and shook. “Al was your father.”

Roland’s arm dropped, splashing antifreeze all over the floor. His eyes glazed over. He cocked his head. “Adoptive.”

Mimi shook her head. “You and Kara had been taken away by Social Services when your real mother was—when she was put away. You were just a little boy. After she was institutionalized, Al, your father, regained custody of you and Kara. Al was your real father.”

“Stop it!” Roland yelled. “You adopted me. I saw the records. Me and Marissa. You adopted us both.”

Mimi lifted her gaze, her eyes swollen and red. “Yes, Roland,” she whispered. “I adopted you. Al was your real father.”

Roland dropped the plastic bottle of antifreeze, splattering its content across the wall. As the bottle bounced off the floor, the liquid began to puddle and make its way toward Kara’s legs. The bottle spun to a slow stop.