I sat in the living room, gently swirling my mid afternoon coffee around in my mug.
It was a chilly Friday in February, and I had managed to complete enough of my workload to allow myself the rest of the day off; a rare treat.
I decided to indulge in my favourite sitcom before everyone returned from school and work, and began digging around the couch for the remote, to no avail.
I sighed, and began rooting through all the clutter on the coffee table in hopes of finding it there. During my search, my fingers brushed over a picture nestled under a fishing magazine. I picked it up.
It was a picture of my late ex husband, Mike and our daughter Yazmin out on one of their camping adventures. I released a bittersweet smile. Mike and I had split up when Yazmin was just two due to his workaholic nature, it was a rough divorce but once the dust settled we co-parented very well.. We had split custody of Yazmin, although she’d always been a daddy’s girl and always favoured staying at his house so they could have outdoor adventures.
Mike sadly passed away four years ago when Yazmin was 10, due to a lengthy battle with his mental health which was worsened by the loss of both his parents in a short time span.
Yazmin was distraught, and after years of therapy she seemed to be doing better in herself.
Two years ago, we moved in with my now husband Kenny.
Kenny had a beautiful home and welcomed us with open arms. He has two kids from his previous girlfriend who decided parenting was not for her and abruptly moved to another country while the kids were very young. Kenny’s two kids were non identical twins Jake and Holly, who are 9.
Jake and Holly are both pretty well behaved for their age, and I’ve made an effort to make them feel comfortable having me around. Holly loves our days out getting milkshakes and Jake enjoys our time spent kicking a ball around in the garden. They both enjoy watching wrestling, so normally the three of us will put it on the TV and discuss how our day went while waiting for Kenny to get home.
Yazmin, however, remains distant to us all. She’s openly voiced her dislike for Kenny, calling him horrible and evil.
Kenny overall is a very good man, but he is quite short tempered. He’ll often snap if his limits are pushed. I’ve told my daughter to simply not push his buttons and he won’t tell her off. Yazmin will then bluntly remind me that he’s not her parent and isolate herself in her room.
A year ago, we brought a family dog in hopes to help everyone bond. He was a small chihuahua named Yappy. Sadly, Yappy escaped through our front door six months later and the outcome was not good. Being the last one home, Kenny was sure he shut the front door upon his arrival but concluded he must’ve forgotten. Kenny felt awful and his kids were devastated. Yazmin was unbothered.
I downed the last of my now lukewarm coffee and slid the photograph into a drawer in the coffee table. I plucked the remote from under a half eaten bag of sweets and began my sitcom binge.
….
Half past three ticked around, and the front door opened. Jake and Holly entered, dumping their school bags in the hallway and running to join me in the living room.
‘Hey you two, how was school?’ I asked them.
‘It was eh,’ Jake replied. ‘Can we watch wrestling?’
I nod my head, turning off my sitcom and replacing it with their favourite show.
The intro sounded, and the camera panned over the wrestlers.
‘Look!’ Holly exclaimed. ‘It’s the Mushroom-Man vs Bloodthirst tonight!’
‘Go Bloodthirst!’ I yelled as Jake and Holly perched on the sofa next to me.
In all the excitement, I forgot to keep an eye on the time.
The front door opened once more, and in walked Kenny.
He kicked his shoes off in the hallway before joining us in the living room.
‘Who’s winning?’ He asked, squeezing himself onto the crowded couch.
‘Mushroom-Man.’ Jake told him without taking his eyes off the screen.
‘You’re home early, how was work?’ I asked my husband.
‘I’m only half an hour early,’ chuckled Kenny. ‘Boss let us all leave early because we’re so good at our jobs….that and he had an emergency maintenance issue at home.’
I laughed and began to pull myself off the couch. ‘Right, I guess I’d best start making dinner.’
Kenny stood up. ‘No need, I’ll cook tonight. It’s my turn to be the chef.’ And with that, he disappeared into the kitchen.
I pulled out my phone to send Yazmin a text. It certainly wasn’t uncommon for her to come back later as she’d often be hanging out with friends, but I wanted to make sure she’d be back for dinner.
An hour went by and I got no response. I sent another text.
‘Dinner!’ Kenny called.
We all got up and headed for the kitchen.
Kenny had made a lovely lasagne with a medley of vegetables on the side.
As we were loading our plates with piping hot lasagne, the front door opened. It was Yazmin.
‘Where have you been, why didn’t you reply to my texts I was worried.’ I told her.
Yazmin shrugged. ‘I was with friends. I couldn’t reply.’
I sighed. ‘Well, come and get a plate.’
Yazmin slunk into the kitchen and piled on a small helping before turning towards the door.
‘Where are you going?’ I asked her.
‘My room.’
‘Yaz, no. We’re eating together down here today come on.’ I motioned towards the dining room table.
‘No thanks,’ Yazmin replied sarcastically. ‘I don’t like anyone here. I’ll just eat upstairs.’
‘No, your mother said you’re eating down here. Now have a seat.’ Kenny interjected firmly.
Yazmin scoffed. ‘Nobody was talking to you. I am my own person and I want to eat by myself.’
‘Don’t be rude, you can join us for once rather than always avoiding us like we’re ogres.’ I insisted.
‘I said I don’t want to. You and your little fake family can eat together but count me out.’
‘Yazmin don’t be so rude.’ I told her. ‘Kenny has put a lot of effort in to dinner and you can at least sit down with us to eat.’
‘Shame you didn’t put as much effort into your last marriage as he did with his dinner. Maybe then I’d be living with my dad and not a bitch and her asshole husbands family.’
‘Right, that’s it.’ Kenny got up from the table and walked over to Yazmin, snatching the plate from her hands and dumping the contents into the bin. ‘Now go away, I’m not dealing with your bullshit. We want to eat in peace.’ He re-joined his kids at the table, not looking back up at Yazmin.
Yazmin let out a shocked laugh, before slamming the door.
I swallowed the lump in my throat, before joining everyone at the table.
Kenny shook his head. ‘Unbelievable.’ He muttered under his breath.
‘She’s just a teenager, Ken. It’s all new to her. She’s had a really rough time wi-‘
‘Here come the excuses,’ Kenny interrupted. ‘I’ve got all the sympathy in the world for what she went through, but you can’t keep just coddling her. That girl’s got too much attitude to talk like that in my damn house.’
Dinner went on in silence.
After we’d finished, I proceeded to load the dishwasher. Holly began washing up the non dishwasher friendly utensils while Jake grabbed a tea towel and started drying.
Kenny loaded up a plate with lasagne and began to walk to the door.
I knew exactly where he was going, and I couldn’t help but smile. As I said, although grumpy he was a kind soul.
Once the kitchen was clean and everything was put away, we returned to the living room for what we called family film night. Rather than rotating who picks the movie (which led to a loud dispute last time) we use a random movie picker on our tablet to choose what we watch that week.
Today the app picked us ‘The Time Traveller’, which looked like a sort of sci-fi thriller.
Holly went off to grab popcorn and drinks for our makeshift cinema while Jake began the download.
About ten minutes later Kenny returned, and sat next to me on the couch.
‘How did it go?’ I asked softly.
Kenny smiled. ‘We’re going fishing tomorrow.’
I was bewildered. ‘How did you pull that off?’
‘I told you, I’m the best.’ Kenny chuckled, putting his arm around me. ‘That, and I said I’d give her a tenner.’
I rolled my eyes. ‘The reliable method of bribery.’ I sighed. ‘Won’t she need a fishing licence?’
‘It’ll be alright, my usual spot is very secluded. Nobody will catch us out and if they do, she’s under twelve.’
….
Kenny woke up early the next morning and made everyone pancakes.
I stumbled around the kitchen still half asleep.
‘You’ll have to go wake her up soon,’ Kenny told me. ‘I wanna get going once I’ve loaded up the car.’
Yazmin put up her usual battle to refrain from coming to life, but eventually relented.
While she was getting ready, I chucked on my jogging bottoms and jumper and helped Kenny load up the car.
‘Really lucked out with weather today,’ my husband beamed.
As he finished carefully sliding his fishing rods into the boot, he cursed. ‘Dammit, I left my tacklebox in the shed.’ He then quickly paced back to the back garden while I continued to pack the car.
I moved Kenny’s thick winter jacket out of the way to make room when suddenly something slipped out the boot. I look down to be met with a large hunting knife with a panther carved into the handle.
‘He must need it for fishing,’ I thought to myself. ‘I hope he doesn’t get caught with it, that’s certainly not legal to carry.’
Kenny soon reappeared, tacklebox in hand.
I soon bid farewell to my husband and daughter before heading back inside, pondering what to do with my day. I decided to get caught up with some projects at work, and sent my mother in law a text asking if she could have her grandchildren for the day. My mother in law replied within five minutes with a very positive yes.
Jake and Holly, who had just finished their breakfast, looked up at me as I entered.
‘Alright, get changed. We’re off to see your grandma!’
….
Four o’clock came around, and I drove the half hour to my mother in laws to pick up Jake and Holly.
‘Thanks for having them, Mavis, I’ve managed to get loads done in that time.’ I smiled.
‘Anytime. Please, come in for tea.’
We got home at around six. Jake and Holly immediately headed for their rooms. I resumed my spot on the couch.
I picked up my mobile phone, which I’d accidentally left on the couch all day. Four missed calls from Kenny. I panic and call him. No response. As I’m pacing the living room wondering what could be wrong, Kenny’s car pulls into the driveway. I ran out to meet him.
‘Why the fuck didn’t you answer your phone!?’ He yelled.
‘I left it on the couch on silent all day, are you ok…. where’s Yazmin?’
Kenny looked pale. ‘She disappeared. I looked everywhere. I couldn’t get any phone service at the river so tried to call you during the forty minute drive home, call the police.’
Within what felt like seconds, I’d called the police and we were all in the car heading to the river, dropping Jake and Holly back to their grandmothers in the way.
‘What actually happened, Kenny? What happened?’ I asked him frantically.
Kenny gripped the steering wheel.
‘We got to the river at noon. I unloaded the car and we walked the 20 minutes to my fishing spot. We get set up, get our chairs set, bait our lines and have some sodas while chatting. About two hours in, Yazmin says she needs the toilet. I tell her to go ahead and go behind a tree. She gets up and walks off. Sounded like she walked off quite far but I assumed she wanted more privacy. Then five minutes go by and I call out asking if everything’s ok, no response. I stand up and start walking to where it sounded like she went, still calling out and making my presence known. Ten minutes go by, then twenty and by this point I’m running about everywhere frantically shouting out but she was just…gone.’ Kenny took a deep breath, swallowing hard. ‘There were no other cars around when we parked, there was no sign of anyone else around for miles.’
I didn’t reply, I just stared straight ahead in silence.
The police met us at the scene. Kenny repeated what he’d told me and led the officers to the fishing spot.
We all searched the woods for hours, until the police told us to return home and rest. I protested, saying my daughter is out in the cold somewhere, but they insisted.
We drove in silence the entire forty minutes home.
Neither of us slept. Thankfully my mother in law was more than happy to let Jake and Holly stay for a few days while we continued looking for my daughter.
It was Sunday at 2.17pm that we received the call. Yazmin’s body had been found washed up on a bank a mile down the river. Kenny sobbed. I was numb.
Upon arriving back at the scene, an officer took us aside.
‘Tell me what happened, please, just tell me. I can take it.’ I stuttered my words out.
The officer gave me a sympathetic look, before telling me Yazmin’s throat was cut and her body thrown into the river.
‘We’ve identified this as the murder weapon, it was found within a puncture wound in her body where she washed up..’ The officer said, pulling out an evidence bag containing a hunting knife with a panther carved into the handle.
I looked at Kenny. His face was ashen, and his mouth hung open.
‘That’s my… that’s…’ but he couldn’t get the words out.
….
It’s been six months since my daughter’s death.
After the discovery, myself, Jake and Holly we’re all taken in for questioning.
We all said Kenny and Yazmin had a very strained relationship. We recounted all the times things would blow up, including our dinner that night.
With all the evidence, Kenny was found guilty, and wept as he was taken away from everyone.
My ex husband Kenny is currently in prison, I don’t know what happened to his kids. Maybe custody was given to their grandma or another family member, or maybe they’re in the system. I don’t know anymore.
What I do know is now I get a fresh start, even more free than I was before.
You see, Mike was easy to get rid of. it was infuriating to watch someone who had little time for me have all the time in the world for our daughter. I grew resentment. His already receding mental health was easy to push over the edge with some anonymous letters and fake social media accounts bullying him for the loss of his parents. All that was left was to constantly keep him from seeing Yazmin and he was gone.
It quickly became apparent that Yazmin was going to be a pain in the ass and try to sabotage every future relationship I had by being insufferable to everyone. She just had to go. Kenny’s hunting knife tucked into my pyjama trousers and hidden under my robe was the perfect hiding spot. I’m so grateful my ex mother in law took in his kids that day so I could finish my little ‘project’, she was a huge help.
I don’t know what will happen to Kenny. I sold his house after the divorce and moved away but through the grapevine I’ve heard he’s not coping well in is cell but we’ll see how that plays out.
And as for Yappy, well, he was just a nuisance. Simply sneaking to the front door after Kenny got home from a long day and went straight to the shower was easy. He still carries that burden in his heart but I’m sure his mind is full of other things these days.
My name is Yvonne Slater, and I’m ready for a fresh start.