Night (Part One)

By the time Norman had made it back, the sun had set. He spotted a familiar blue car in the driveway.

His father was finally home.

Norman hadn’t seen his dad in months, and he suddenly felt worried. What if his father reacted badly to the news of his death? Seeing his mom like that… It had been awful.

Norman’s fears were unfounded.

He rushed into the house to find his father just standing in the living room. His mom was on the couch, looking at the ground.

His father wasn’t screaming. Wasn’t crying. Wasn’t doing much of anything. He looked completely composed.

Norman felt a sickening sense of disappointment. Which was silly, really. It’s not like he’d wanted to see an extreme reaction… And yet, for some reason, the sickness lingered.

His father started to speak. Norman froze in anticipation.

“Annette, sweetie, did you, by any chance, take out a life insurance policy on him?”

…

“What?” Norman’s mom choked out.

“I mean… Did you?”

Both Norman and his mom stared at the man in disbelief.

He continued hurriedly, “I mean… we could pay off a lot of those bills! We could sell this house, pay off the rest, move, and start a new life together!”

He suddenly grabbed her hands.

Stunned silence.

“I’ve quit gambling!” he tried.

More silence.

He let go of her hands, taking the hint.

“Oh, well…,” he paused, rubbing his neck, “I really am sorry about those bills... Thanks for paying them off.”

The man rummaged around in his pockets, producing a five-dollar bill.

“Here,” he tried to hand it to Norman’s mom, “Every bit counts.”

She let it fall to the floor.

“Get. Out.”

He left.

Norman watched as his mom bent down and snatched the bill off the floor.