Twisted Charades

“Gather round! Gather round!” Father yelled. Cousin Minni giggled as I came over and tickled her. Father glared at me for disrupting his attempt at order. Shrugging, I sat in one of the green velvet chairs taken out especially for the family gathering at Christmas. Mother and Brother Ken were followed by several aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents into the living room. Father looked around, a wide smile on his face. We had been snowed in for an entire day, and everyone was itching with discomfort of being inside for so long. He had been the one to come up with family game night with everyone. Even the grandparents could play though each of them had their own problem. 

“Welcome to family game night! Today, we’ll be playing a variety of games. First, we’ll start with charades. Who would like to go first?” Father asked once everyone was seated. Just as one of us were about to raise our hands, Uncle Lilliard staggered in. My guess was that he was drunk, and it was confirmed when Father game his brother a nasty look. Uncle Lilliard, or Lilly, as we like to tease him, was the person who would probably leave halfway through dinner to go up to his room and drink. Thankfully, we lived in an enormous mansion, perfect for hosting such family gatherings and giving Uncle Lilly an isolated room. Surprisingly, he had stayed all the way through dinner today, but I guessed he wouldn’t last five minutes into charades. Uncle Lilly had an ex- wife, Marla, who was constantly shivering as if she was cold. She came to family gatherings with her daughter, Cousin Minni, at request of Father. 

Then there was Aunt Taylor, Mother’s sister, who was the liveliest in our family, always the first to volunteer. Of course, she was the one to go first to play charades. She skipped up to the basket of paper slips which she would have to blindly pick. Whatever was on that slip, she would act out. 

“Alright guys, here I go!” she exclaimed as she took a look at the slip and began. She made a spinning motion with her right hand. 

“It’s a movie!” yelled Cousin Dean. Aunt Taylor nodded aggressively. She made a cutting motion with her hand.

“Cutting?”

“Vegetables?”

 “Knife?” asked someone. Aunt Taylor jumped up and down with joy. Then she pretended to take something out of her pocket. 

“Take out?” I guessed. Aunt Taylor nodded slowly. I must have made a slight mistake. “Out?” I guessed again. Aunt Taylor clapped. 

“Oh, it’s the movie Knives Out!” I said, proud of myself. Aunt Taylor patted me on the back and told me it was my turn. As I got up, I saw Uncle Lilly leave. Good riddance. He would probably say something that would make poor Aunt Marla cry. So the games went on. Finally, Father said loudly,

 “Last round everyone!” We all looked at each other. Slowly but surely, Grandma Patton raised her hand. She was mute, so this game was perfect for her. Father smiled.

“Please welcome Alexandra Patton to the stage,” he teased as she hobbled over. We all laughed, but her mouth was set into a straight line. She didn’t bother reading the paper slip, and none of us mentioned it. She started immediately. She pointed to the empty chair where Uncle Lilly had been sitting, then pointed upstairs. 

“Empty chair, upstairs, Papa?” Cousin Minni guessed. Grandma Patton nodded. Then used her hand to make a horizontal motion across her throat. It sent shivers down everyone’s spines because we all knew what that slitting motion meant.

“Killed?” Father whispered. Grandma Patton shook her head. She made a forward motion with her hand. “Will kill,” Father corrected. She nodded, then took a deep breath. She pointed to Aunt Marla with a shaky finger. None of us said anything. We heard Aunt Marla stop breathing, then fall out of her chair. Aunt Taylor quickly went to the kitchen, saying she was going to get water. Father nodded, then went to Grandma Patton. 

“Mama, you okay?” Father asked her. She nodded, then pointed to herself and then her ear.

“She heard him say so,” I said. Then something struck me. “He wouldn’t have said something like that unless he was talking to someone.” But no one heard me. They were all crowding around Aunt Marla.

“Why?” Mother whispered to her. Tears began to slip down Aunt Marla’s face.

“I know something he doesn’t want anyone to know. Something horrible,” she admitted. She was still shaking. Father pulled his hand down his face. 

“No, this is ridiculous. Why would my own brother want to kill his wife?” he asked no one in particular. Then he stared at Aunt Marla. “What do you know, Marla? What could be so bad?” he asked. She shook her head.

“He would probably kill you too if I told you,” she replied shakily. This seemed to be the last straw for Father.

“Nonsense. Utter nonsense! He wouldn’t harm a fly. That’s my brother your talking about!” he yelled. Grandma Patton came behind him and shook his arm. “What?” he asked, clearly annoyed. She pointed at me. 

“Me? What about me?” I asked. She made a talking motion with her hand, then pointed to me.

“Oh, what I said before?” I asked. She nodded, then motioned for me to tell it. I took a deep breath. “Uncle Lilliard wouldn’t have said all this aloud unless he was talking to someone. He must have an accomplice,” I suggested. We all held our breath and looked around. The only person missing was Aunt Taylor, who had said she was going to the kitchen to get water several minutes ago. Mother shook her head slowly, then ran to the kitchen. We all followed, but stopped in our tracks when we heard a bloodcurdling scream. Running towards the kitchen, I dodged everyone, wanting to get to Mother. She was standing over a dead body. It had flowing blond hair, perfect lips that were twisted in a giddy smile, like they were caught off guard. It was the body of Aunt Taylor. Beside her, on the ground, was a crumpled beer can.