Jar of Hearts

by Jennifer Hillier

to be destroyed by the beast of her own creation.

Her son is a monster, yes. But he didn’t get it all from his father. Some of it, he got from her. When the new bodies turned up, cut into pieces, she should have known it wasn’t Calvin.

She cut up the body!

that he was the one who raped and killed Angela, that he was twenty-one and she was only sixteen. She was in charge. He needed her to tell him what to do. “Cut her up,” Geo said.

Geo took the saw in her hands, the wood handle feeling warm from Calvin’s grasp even through the gloves she was wearing.

Then, a second later, he’s ripped away from her.

Calvin. He’s standing over Dominic, who’s stunned,

Someone has borne witness to what her son just tried to do to her. Even if that someone is Calvin, it’s still the worst thing for anyone to know.

“I’ve been keeping an eye on you. These new murders, they’re not me. I would never hurt a kid.”

“Maybe you should tell Dad that it’s not nice to refer to his kid as an asshole. It isn’t good for my self-esteem.”

“How do you want this to end, Dominic?”

“You’re letting me decide what happens to me? That’s rich. You should have aborted me, by the way. Why didn’t you?” “Because I loved you,” she says, and it’s true.

“Well, this shit is hilarious. After eighteen years, I finally have both my parents,”

“He’s our son.” “Yes, he is. And people like him—like me—shouldn’t exist.”

“I love you,” she says, the words choking in her throat. “And I’m sorry. I am so fucking sorry.” She aims the gun, and fires. Then aims it again, and fires once more.

Continuing to stroke her son’s hair with one hand, Geo reaches for the gun again, and shoots Calvin in the head.

The best way she could explain it to herself is that she wanted to give her son the peace and safety in death that she should have given him in life.

never did ask Kaiser what the police had done with Calvin’s body.

In any case, he’ll get a second chance. Geo rubs her belly, feeling the baby move.

which is why characters from older stories will often pop up in a new book to say “hello”