Innocent Monsters Read Online Free

Innocent Monsters
Book: Innocent Monsters Read Online Free
Author: Barbara Doherty
Pages:
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into their friendship vicariously, being Lisa’s friend simply by being Kaitlyn’s sister. The three of them had spent crazy nights together, they had thrown more parties than she cared to remember, danced nights away and spent long mornings nursing each other’s hangovers, they had watched countless movies laughing and crying, shared embarrassing moments, secrets, joys. But none of it would have happened had Lisa and Kaitlyn not been friends and now Kaitlyn was not here anymore, Lisa was just a person, alien, nothing more than a mask without a face staring through the eyeholes. The moments they had shared seemed to belong to another lifetime. It was all too insignificant now, trite. Not important. Yet, Lisa was still the only person left she could go to, and it was infuriating.
    While staying at her house, Jessica had ended up avoiding Lisa, hiding behind the door of the room she had set up for her, feeling lost and out of place, wanting to leave and knowing how hard returning home would be.
    And now she was back, she couldn’t move, she couldn’t function.
    So many things needed dealing with. Clothes in Kaitlyn’s wardrobe, which ones to keep, which ones to give away, her paintings, her photographs, all the furniture stored in the tiny garage, her car, her bank details; she needed to close her bank account, but what to do with the money? Did she write a will? How would she find out? So many things to take care of, yet all she could do was sit on the sofa and hug one of the scatter cushions from Kaitlyn’s bed, a dark blue one, the only one that still carried her scent. She just sat there, for hours, days it seemed.
    She had called their lawyer, Mr. Clamer. He knew both of them well, he had been their mother’s lawyer before their own, he had helped have their father put away.
    Clamer was a good man, he would sort things out for her, help her deal with Kaitlyn’s share of the art gallery downtown, help her give it away.
    “Unless you wish to keep it, Jessica.”
    Keep it, yes.
    Kaitlyn had taken her there many times, shown her the paintings, tried to make her look at them the way she could, tried to make her see harmony, rapture, anguish and devotion, confusion, serenity, through the colours and the brush-strokes of every artist she admired.
    The Galleria.
    After leaving her own flat, tired to put up with the drug dealers on her doorstep, Kaitlyn had decided to start looking for a place closer to it, move out of the outskirts, take on more responsibilities at the gallery. “You and me sis, we don’t belong to this area.” She had half joked a few times. “We should be out there, in Nob Hill, looking down on all the losers around here.” She had even started thinking about a website to market her own paintings, all she needed was some more cash to start up the project, maybe double up on the art classes she taught. Next year, it was going to be her year, she’d said.
    How could anyone make projects for the future while contemplating suicide? How could Kaitlyn appear so normal and cheerful on the outside when inside her life was falling apart? Did Clamer know? Did he really know her? Had she told him things she had kept from everybody else? Did Kaitlyn write a will? A message? A note? An explanation? Did he know why she’d killed herself?
    Outside, a bitterly cold autumn wind howled and whistled, Jessica wrapped the blanket tighter around her shoulders and started crying again, dazed, angry, hurt, then the phone rang again and again she let the answering machine pick up the call.
    “Miss Lynch? It’s Charles Brown, from San Francisco’s police department. I would like to speak to you about a couple of things if...”
    “Yes?” She picked up the receiver, quickly wiped the tears from her eyes trying to calm herself down.
    “Miss Lynch? I wasn’t expecting you to pick up the phone... I’m sorry...”
    “It’s ok... I wasn’t gong to speak to anyone but...”
    “Right. I understand. Well, Miss Lynch, I
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