The Perfect Son

by Freida McFadden

“Liam was, in many ways, mature for his age. He was very responsible. For that reason, Mrs. Cass was persuaded by him to purchase a pet hamster.

We know every serial killer starts with a pet hamster

“Yes, but Liam finally admitted that he was the one who killed the hamster. He let it slowly starve to death.”

Yep

Psychopaths, on the other hand, are excellent actors. They’re intelligent, charming, and fantastic at manipulating emotions. They can make you believe they care, when in fact, they feel nothing.”

“…”

Valid response

“It’s hard to say. He was only nine years old the last time I saw him, and most of these personality disorders technically can’t be diagnosed until eighteen. But…”

Why the fuck did he only get 2 years of therapy

“Two years.” “That doesn’t seem very long, everything considered.”

Ok at least im not the only one thinking this

“Because you were scared.” “Yes.” “Of a nine-year-old boy.”

Be so fuckin forreal right now. Of course shes scared

Damn. That stupid PTA meeting is tonight. And I told Jessica I would go because I’m the one in charge of movie night, the most important event of the year.

Bitch theres a missing child......i think everyone would be okay skipping movie night this year

He shrugs. “Whatever you want, Erika. I’m going to go look up lawyers for Liam while you’re organizing movie night or whatever it is you feel is more important than our son…”

Valid. Thank you. Some sanity in this fucked up house

Jason thought I was being silly when I said we should move, but too many people knew what had happened. I could feel them whispering about me when I went to the supermarket. We had become pariahs there and needed a fresh start.

Better start packing your boxes....bc y'all are about to move again

“Tyler talks about Liam nonstop,” Jessica said, as if she was impressed. “That’s wonderful,” I said, although in the back of my mind I was thinking that I hoped Liam didn’t end up duct-taping him in a closet.

Jfc

“Erika!” she exclaims in a flat voice. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”

Duh

“I’m sure we can find somebody to help with cleanup,” Jessica says. Her eyes scan the room, as several women try to look in other directions. “Rachel? Maria? Will you help out?”

Liam could tie up tylers mom and im p sure the rest of pta will be relieved

I clear my throat and say as delicately as possible, “I’m sorry, Jessica, but didn’t you ask me if I could be in charge of movie night?”

Girl the audacity....just thank your lucky stars and shut up. Why are you confronting this? You really want to be in the spotlight right now????

There have been times during my friendship with Jessica that I have wanted to slap her, but never so much as at this moment.

I mean.....liam has the duct tape

Your son doesn’t love you. He’s not capable of it.

“Mom.” His lip juts out, which makes him look younger. “I swear to you. I didn’t do anything to Olivia.” “I don’t believe you, Liam.”

Well it was liam or it was dead dad

You could tell it had suffered. And Liam didn’t care. No, worse—he enjoyed

He’s going to kill me. That’s why I’m here. And I can only imagine the reason he put me here instead of killing me outright is that he has other plans for me before he kills me.

I think its grandpa. Or plot twist and its dad. May be dad killed the one night stand. But he as asleep in bed when liam went missin so prob not

It’s him. It’s not the police. He’s come back.

Grandpa

He sounds so different than usual. It’s freaky.

Ah shit nah it has to be liam. Unless shes just assuming its him

And then the trap door above my head creaks shut. And I hear the sound of the lock being turned, trapping me down here once again. I

Old cellar or well??

have a bad feeling Mrs. McMillan won’t see it that way. And either way, Liam can’t go to school right now. That’s very obvious. Not until this whole thing blows over.

This book will/would be more interesting if it turned out he was innocent andit was just his past haunting him but i dont think thats the case

Nobody liked Michael because he was gross and fat and picked his nose.

Poor michael

“Was there a particular reason?” “Hell yeah.

Lmao

So Liam came to my house, and he had this little chipmunk trapped in a piece of Tupperware.

Oh no

He poked a couple of holes in it so the animal could breathe. And he told me he wanted to cut off the air and watch the chipmunk through the glass as it suffocated.”

Oh oh no

“…”

Valid

“So there was this stray cat that used to hang out by our house.

I have concerns

Anyway. I got home from school one day and the stupid cat is in my bed. Can you imagine? I thought Emma let him inside. But then when I tried to shoo him away, he didn’t move. So then I tried to pick him up to move him and…” “Yes?” “His insides fell out.”

Oh no

I picked him up… BAM, cat guts all over my bed!”

Nooooooooo

was a Saturday night around two in the morning.

Theme with timing here

gave the kid an A in English. Some things are not worth dying over.”

Lol

I was almost scared Hannah might be gone too. Of course, why would she be? The monster was in our car.

Did he enjoy torturing that little mouse the same way Liam enjoyed starving those hamsters to death?

Probably

I think he takes after him in more than looks. That’s what I’m afraid of, anyway.

I take a breath. “Was he cruel to you?” She’s quiet for a moment. “Yes, he certainly could be. Very cruel.”

I have a feeling that the only way I can possibly understand my son is to understand my father.

I’ve been doing all the digging with my fingers, and now they’ve become painful and raw. I can’t see what they look like, because I have no light, but I imagine they’re very red. I imagine pinpoints of blood.

Bitch theres a perfectly good skull you could use to dig

If only I had a tool to help me dig.

You do. The skull.

the only thing down here even resembling a tool is… Oh no, I’m not going to do that. Yes, one of those bones lying in the corner would be ideal for digging. Not as good as a shovel, but much better than a water bottle and light years better than my poor fingers. But I can’t do that. Can I?

You can and will

I reach into Phoebe’s corner until my fingers touch the smooth surface of one of her bones. A shudder runs through me. I lean forward a little more until my fingers close around the bone.

Scapula would prob be the best shovel

“Liam Cass, you are under arrest for the kidnapping and murder of Olivia Mercer.”

I feel like they dont have enough evidence for a murder charge yet

“But they don’t even know if Olivia Mercer is dead!” Jason says. “Right. They have to prove that a crime was even committed, so that’s in his favor.”

My point

He’s used them both religiously, and he’s had such good dental visits since then, I switched over to the electric toothbrush last year. I do feel like it gets my teeth cleaner, but the annoying part is that we can’t both brush at once anymore. I have to wait for him to be done, then swap out the toothbrush heads.

Bitch hes a high level tech exec in nyc.....you can afford two toothbrush bases

He looks pale. “I don’t want you to freak out, Erika…” “Then don’t start a sentence with those words.”

Fair

After all the running he’s done, he looks so fit. Still very sexy, maybe even more than he was when he was younger. Under different circumstances, I might have been tempted to initiate some morning fun. But under these circumstances, it seems inconceivable.

Running......to a cabin in the woods?

After I killed that cat, my mother locked me in the closet under the staircase.

Ok harry potter. But also.....fair

That was when my mother hired the exorcist.

Also fair

That night, I removed the batteries from the smoke detectors in the house. I turned on the gas stove. That night, my parents unfortunately died in a tragic fire that their only son managed to survive. I told Erika my mother died of cancer and my father had a heart attack, but there was really no way for her to know that was a lie.

Oh well then