Weight Gain Murder Chapter 06
My mom got up and wanted to close the door, but I stopped her. I picked up the remote and turned on the television as I said, “Alright, everyone! Just look at what they were doing for those five hours that I was missing!”
The screen showed me placing my suicide note on the corner of the coffee table before walking out.
As soon as I left, the lights came on. Mom and Jenny stepped out of their rooms, read the note, and exchanged a look. Then, they burst out laughing.
They did not look for me once during those five hours. Only near the end did they run into the hallway and shout my name, performing for the neighbors.
Everyone stared at the screen in shock.
“Linda, why would you do this?”
“Even if Shannon can’t care for herself, you can’t just let her die. She’s still your daughter!”
Mom sank to the floor and wailed in despair while Jenny comforted her. “Yes! I’ve had enough of Shannon! She’s greedy and disobedient, and she let herself get this fat! Every day, I had to take care of everything for her, from cleaning and cooking to even her bathing! I’ve had enough of waking up to the same miserable life every day!”
She cried so pitifully that some of the neighbors took pity on her.
“To be fair, any family would struggle with a daughter like Shannon. I understand why Linda lost hope.”
“Shannon, you drove your mom to this. If you’d worked harder to lose weight, none of this would’ve happened.”
“Forgive her. She had no other choice either.”
As they tried to persuade me to forgive her, I let out a bitter laugh and said, “Do you really think I didn’t want to lose weight? Mom never wanted me to lose it in the first place!”
Everyone stared at me in disbelief.
“That can’t be true. I’ve seen the diet meals she made.”
“Exactly. Jenny lost so much weight because of her. You’re just making excuses.’
“Didn’t she tell you to get gastric sleeve surgery, too? How does that mean she didn’t want you to lose weight?”
Their doubts made sense. I had once believed the same lies.
I stepped into the middle of the crowd.
“Jenny didn’t lose weight because of those meals.”
Mom and Jenny both froze, but I ignored them and continued. “Everyone knows Jenny and I have a severe inherited disorder that causes obesity. Ordinary diets and exercise can’t make us lose weight! So, how did Jenny
lose so much after one month of ordinary diet meals? Doesn’t that seem strange to you?”
The neighbors whispered among themselves.
“Now that she mentions it, that does seem strange.”
“Don’t tell me there really is something else going on here?”
I took a bar of medicated soap and a bottle of pills out of my bag.
Jenny tensed up and tried to grab them, but I shoved her away. “These are the real reasons Jenny lost weight.”
1 carried them through the crowd so everyone could examine them. “The soap softens fat cells. Bathing with it for two hours relaxes the fat cells throughout the body. When these pills are taken with it, they reduce the number of excess fat cells.”
I looked at Jenny as she glared back at me. “Am I right?”
Her face was red with humiliation and rage. “So what if you are? Mom favors me, and she wanted me to have them!”
The neighbors shook their heads. “Linda, this is too much. Why did you give them only to Jenny but not to Shannon? Shannon is your daughter, too. Because of your lies, we all thought Shannon was eating extra food. You really don’t deserve to call yourself mother at all.”
Mom fell on the floor, her face full of misery. “I’m so sorry, Shannon. Please forgive me. We were poor and could only afford enough medicine for Jenny. I promise I’ll work hard so you can have it too.”
“Enough!” I cut her off. “Have you forgotten that you gave me the same soap and pills, too? I gained weight even faster after using them!”
Her sobbing stopped, and her expression suddenly turned vicious.
