'Life is so full of surprises, but how much can one take?'

Bernadette Smith Jones sat at her dressing table in her body hugging red dress and heels to match. Looking back at her was her reflection in the mirror. Bernadette grinned at herself after applying her red lipstick.

Red was her favorite color. It always looked good on her—especially on special nights such as this.

"Mommy, how come I can't have dinner with you and everyone else?" a precious little voice sounded.

By the door was a little ginger haired girl. Her skin was as pale as pearl. She clutched her teddy bear close to her heart, frowning ever so sadly at her mother.

Bernadette flashed a bright smile that exposed a gap in between her teeth. The mole up above her plump lips always heightened the beauty of her gap. Some said it was their favorite thing about Bernadette; well that and her silky smooth red hair that seemed to go on forever as it flowed down her back.

Bernadette shifted her slender but curvy figure around her stool and crossed her long legs with a tender twinkle in her brown eyes. She spread her arms apart and her daughter went running into them.

"Now you know better than to argue with your mommy, Stella." Bernadette kissed her cheek.

Stella pulled away with whine. Her bubbly eyes filled with innocence threatened to start up a storm. Bernadette shook her head disapprovingly with a finger to Stella's lips.

"But mommy –" Stella protested.

"No buts, young lady," Bernadette admonished and got up to straighten her dress.

Stella sat on the stool with a pout and crossed arms, "I haven't seen you this happy in a long time. Just this morning you and daddy were fighting. Now everything seems to have gotten back to normal but you want to send me to bed early." she complained with a sniff.

Her complaint, however, was met with a laugh. Bernadette swayed her hips from side to side while shaking her head at her daughter. She got down on one knee and took hold of her shoulders.

"I promise that you and I will have a fun dinner together next time. Tonight is the night your daddy will grace the table to the pleasure of his family and I." Bernadette explained with a warm smile.

Stella's eyes beamed with excitement, "Really mommy? So, you and daddy really aren't fighting anymore?"

Bernadette playfully pinched her cheek, "Of course we are not. It's not okay for mommy and daddy to fight all the time. Where's the fun in that?"

The abrupt sound of the doorbell interrupted their conversation. Bernadette got up and viewed herself in the mirror. While she inspected her makeup, she waved dismissively at Stella.

Stella happily ran out of the room and made her way to her bedroom across the hall. She closed her door and got into her covers. Hugging her doll mirthfully, she squeezed her eyes closed.

Bernadette got down the stairs, and opened the door wide to her guests. A pudgy old man and skinny old woman backed away in surprise. The middle-aged man and woman behind them shared their skepticism.

"Come on in, I have been waiting for you eagerly." Bernadette merrily ushered them in.

The old man lifted his shoulders up and widened his eyes to the old woman. She just put a finger to her lip and shook her head disapprovingly at him. The couple behind took the hint and adopted feigned smiles.

"Why don't we head straight to the table?" Bernadette cheerfully suggested to the surprise of the guests.

Each guest reluctantly took their seats while Bernadette went into the kitchen—humming happily to herself.

"Dad, what is going on? I thought Smith called us here to help sort out their differences," the man whispered to the old man.

"I know, Eric, but from the look of things, they may have done so already," the old man replied in a hushed tone.

The old woman stretched out her wrinkly neck and peeked at the kitchen door. She turned back and lowered her chin, "Let's be careful with what we say. It's actually good that they are okay now," she suggested and heads nodded in agreement.

Bernadette came in balancing two bowls in her hands. She carefully set them on the table with soft chuckles. One bowl contained potato salads while the other had kabobs. Eric grinned at the meat and rubbed his hands in excitement. He was met with a playful elbow stab.

"Oh come on now Maria, you know how much of a carnivore I am." Eric defended himself as laughter filled up the room.

"He got that from his old man," his father proudly remarked. "Isn't that right, Barbara?" he nudged on his wife.

"Of course it is, Brian." Barbara replied in between her laughs. She turned her attention to Bernadette who was grinning behind her wine glass, "Where is Smith? Won't he join us for dinner?" she asked with a twinkle in her old eyes.

Bernadette set her half empty glass on the table and spooned up her potato salad. She leaned her head back and gazed into Barbara's eyes, "How can he not? Tonight is a special night." she replied with a smile, and Barbara carried on eating.

Brian finished up the two kabobs on his plate and went for more. He passed the bowl to Eric who picked one more.

"These are so tasty, oh my god," Eric sank his teeth into the tender flesh.

"They were cooked with so much happiness, that's why." Bernadette took a swig of her glass.

"They would have been better if hot though." Eric added after swallowing.

"The recipe recommends serving them cold." Bernadette tilted her glass at Eric with a wink, and he raised his glass back at her.

Maria pulled out a bread stick and broke the tip in her mouth. She washed it down with a sip of her wine. Eyeing Bernadette, she said, "I haven't seen you this happy in a long time. To be honest, we expected chaos when Smith called us here this morning but you two seem to have everything under control."

A soft chuckle escaped Bernadette's lips, "One thing I have come to understand, Maria, is that it is not right for a husband and wife to fight all the time. As a woman, I had to do what I could to return the peace in this household so here we are." she contented and smiles were exchanged.

Barbara held Bernadette's hand lovingly, "You are a strong woman, dear. It's not easy to submit in order to save one's marriage."

"Just like it wasn't easy for you to hide the fact that your husband raped me and got me pregnant," Bernadette blurted out and heads lifted from plates.

An uncomfortable silence ensued. Barbara stretched her eyes wide and left her mouth agape as she studied the smirk on Bernadette's face. Eric cleared his throat, and Brian dropped his gaze while Maria looked on shocked.

"Don't worry, Smith has come to peace that Stella isn't his daughter but his little sister." Bernadette continued.

Maria pushed her plate aside and studied the tensed looks of her husband and in-laws.

Bernadette got up and went back into the kitchen. She soon returned with a large covered silver dish and set it on the table.

Leaning her head back, she stretched her lips to the family before her. "Why have you all stopped eating? Come on, I worked very hard cooking this dinner. I even took extra care to arrange for the best dessert." she gestured to the covered dish she just set and sat down.

Maria shook her head in disbelief. "Hold on, what the hell is going on here. Bernadette just dropped a bomb on all of us and you are not going to say anything to at least defend yourselves?" she asked stunned.

Eric cleared his throat and took a bite of his meat. Maria faced away from him and turned her attention to the shame emitting from her in-laws. The sound of Bernadette chuckling softly only increased the tension at the table.

"Why are you so casual about this?" Maria asked Bernadette.

Bernadette tilted her head without blinking her eyes. "Whatever do you mean?"

"You just said Stella isn't Smith's daughter but his." Maria pointed at Brian.

Bernadette slightly lifted her shoulders up. "Yeah, what of it?"

"My point is –" Maria tried

"Shut up, Maria!" Eric blurted out and pushed his plate aside.

"Excuse me?" Maria stood up appalled.

Eric rolled his eyes, "You keep yapping about this. Like give it a break already."

Maria pushed Eric's shoulder annoyed, "No, I will not keep quiet. Judging by your reactions, I can see that what Bernadette said is true. No wonder you all pressured Smith to marry her. You wanted to hide your disgusting shame!"

Eric abruptly stood up and towered over Maria, "So what? This is none of your business." he poked her chest.

"I am now beginning to wonder what other sick secrets you have kept from me." Maria grunted appalled.

Bernadette clapped her hands laughing, "Wow, I expected an outburst from Brian and Barbara and not you two." she confessed, and rested her chin in her palm, smiling from ear to ear, "Maria, there are more sick secrets I would like to share so tonight is your lucky night."

"What are you talking about?" Barbara shot an accusing glare at Brian.

Bernadette poured herself another glass of wine, "Oh, don't worry mother, this one has nothing to do with you two." she whipped her hair back and blinked her long lashes repeatedly at Maria, "Care to tell us about your six months affair with Smith?"

A gasp escaped Eric's lungs and Maria froze with her eyes wide. Brian and Barbara got off their seats and stared at Maria flabbergasted. Bernadette crossed her legs and observed everyone with a sinister smug.

Eric missed a slap, and Maria took refuge behind Brian. "You were screwing Smith?" he asked her through his teeth, "I knew it!" he threw his hands up in the air.

"Yeah so? You always knew that Smith is my one true love! I only married you because I lost him to her!" Maria screamed from behind Brian and Eric lunged over the table to grab her.

The silver dish fell to the floor and something rolled out of it. Barbara turned pale with fear. Brian covered his mouth and Maria let out a sharp scream. Bernadette on the other hand left the table and went back to the kitchen.

She opened the door and silently closed it, completely ignoring the screams. The blood stains on the kitchen door only made her turn her attention to the corpse in a pool of blood by the sink.

Bernadette's heels stepped into the blood, and she was unfazed about it. She turned on the tap and started to wash her face. The sight of a bloody knife and chunks of meat in the sink didn't trigger any emotion in her.

With her eyes closed, she felt around the cabinet for a kitchen towel. Bernadette pinched the towel and pulled it to wipe her face. She turned over to her left and grinned at the shotgun on the kitchen table.

Bernadette picked the gun up and dashed out of the kitchen. The family was taken aback to see her aiming at them with a gun. They all froze astonished with their hands up.

"Why do you all look so afraid? Is it the bruises on my face or the severed head of your beloved Smith that has got you so terrified?" Bernadette snickered with a bruised lip and cocked up the gun.

"You killed Smith," Eric uttered in disbelief.

"And you ate him." Bernadette laughed, "You said he was delicious and you wished that he was hot. Don't you fucking know that revenge is a dish served cold?"

Eric gritted his teeth at Bernadette, "You bitch,"

"You're the bitch you pedophile. Stella told me about how you touched her. I'm never going to give you that chance again."

Bernadette pulled the trigger and blood splattered all over her curtains. Eric's body fell hard to the ground.

The blast left ringing sounds as everyone ducked away in panic.

Maria ran away towards the door screaming only to receive a bullet in the back. She fell to the ground with her hair covering her face.

Brian lunged at Bernadette, and they got locked in a gun wrestle. Barbara stayed down on her stomach and protectively covered her head with her hands. She cried at Smith's lifeless eyes looking right into her own.

Brian slammed Bernadette onto the table, and she struggled underneath him while maintaining her firm hold on the gun. She shoved Brian aside, and he tripped on Smith's head. Brian fell to the floor with groan.

Bernadette quickly cocked the gun and put one in between his eyes. Only half a head fell to the floor. Brain matter and blood stained the rag underneath while Bernadette laughed like a maniac.

Barbara stared the body of her husband from underneath the table. She covered her mouth crying in hopelessness and fear. Barbara abruptly held her breath when she saw Bernadette's heels land on the floor. Her eyes trailed them as Bernadette walked slowly around the table.

She watched with whimpers as they drew closer until they touched her nose. Barbara swallowed hard, and slowly lifted her head only to scream at the gun in her face.

"You had the power to make things right but you chose to save your marriage. My late mother entrusted you with my well-being but for years you let your husband sexually abuse me in your own house." Bernadette hissed through her teeth.

Barbara faced down, crying deeply, "Please don't kill me, I beg of you."

"It is women like you who make it difficult for victims to report abuse." Bernadette pulled out bullets from her bra and loaded the gun. She cocked it to Barbara's horror.

Barbara shook her head and got on her knees, "Please Bernadette, I'm sorry."

Bernadette kicked her back, "Your tears don't move me the same way mine didn't when I sought help from you."

Barbara covered her mouth and cried even more. She put her hands together and her old eyes displayed sincerity.

"I'm sorry that I didn't believe you when you told me that Brian was doing that to –"

"But you believed me when I told you that Smith came to have sex with me one night?!" Bernadette interrupted and Barbara screamed, "You just did so because you found a way out of the mess your useless husband made."

"Bernadette what was I to do?!" Barbara screamed at her.

"Take care of me like my mother asked you to."

With a pull, Barbara fell back dead. Bernadette straightened her back and held the gun loosely. Her breasts bounced in her dress as she laughed heartily with her head back.

She laughed so hard that the sound of the police sirens didn't stop her. Not even the scared puffy eyes of Stella on the staircase got her to stop laughing.

"Surprise, surprise, honey! I told you tonight was a special night," Bernadette spread her arms to Stella and giggled cynically.

Lights of red and blue flashed through the windows. Stella panicked at the shadowy figures approaching the house.

"This is the police! We have you surrounded!" a raspy voice sounded outside.

"It looks like mummy will have to leave you for some time." Bernadette winked at Stella, and the police burst the door open.

Moral of the story : It is a lot easier to create a monster than it is to tame it. Be nice.

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© Racheal Tembo