Family Dinner

The left side of the table was quiet, watching. The right, filled with their father's new wife's family, was boisterous and bold. It was as if someone had turned on a faucet and they couldn't keep their mouths' shut. Alexei turned to his sister and rolled his eyes. When Zara, Alexei and Ameli's mom, died, their father remarried. Unfortunately, Hannah happened to be their mom's best friend. Shocking. Nonetheless, their father insisted that he had not cheated on Zara and that they would grow to love Hannah as a mother; if only they try. So, that is how Alexei and Ameli ended up in a divided dining room.

Despite the siblings best attempt at silence, Hannah continually tried to bring them into the conversations. Their father just sat back with a smug look upon his face as he watched his children stumble to answer his new wife's questions.

"Alexei! I understand you are about to go off to college. Have you decided on where you will be attending?" An innocent question. Bland, but answerable. With the slight jab of Ameli's elbow into Alexei's side, he mumbled his answer, briefly satisfying his new mommy.

Just as the small talk began to fade, an older woman with skin so wrinkled it looked like a mask walked out of the kitchen, allowing the door to swing ominously behind her. "I've made dinner, my dears!" Her voice screeched like the sound of pencil on paper. The siblings did not know this old woman. Perhaps she was Hannah's grandmother or something. With an obvious grandeur, the granny passed out plates filled to the brim with tender meats and fluffy potatoes. Maybe the evening wouldn't be too terrible after all. Hannah never cooked for the siblings.

"Before we eat, I want to bless my new family while bringing in my old. It isn't often that one gets to be surrounded by our loved ones in such large gatherings," Hannah's voice got teary as she continued. "With the passing of my best friend Zara, I felt like I would never be whole again. But then, I got to become a mother to these two beautiful children, expanding my family. I am so delighted that you kids could join my family in today's traditional meal. I hope you will be pleased!" Wiping the tears from her eyes, she glided over to their father to place a possessive hand on his shoulder and peck him on the side of his lips.

"God, she acts like a bird along with looking like one," Ameli muttered softly to her brother as the sound of cutlery rang throughout the room. Alexei giggled as he picked up his fork. Slicing into the white, tender meat, Alexei glanced at Hannah's family, taking in the wrinkled granny, large older brothers, small wives, and young children.

"What do you think about our 'new family'? I didn't even realize that we had gained a new mother." Ameli rolled her eyes.

"It is just one dinner and then we are out of here, I promise." Alexei nodded and with that, she cut into her meat and scooped it into her mouth, not even seeing the gazes of the right side of the table upon her. Hannah suppressed a smirk as she settled back into her seat, still keeping her hand upon their father's shoulder.

Around 30 minutes later, everyone had cleaned their plates but they remained seated around the rectangular table. Unlike earlier, the right side of the table was quiet and it looked as if they were in deep prayer; even the siblings' father had his eyes closed. Without any cause for reason, a chilling pit settled into Ameli's stomach.

A shrill voice sounded from the kitchen as the granny once again made her grand entrance, but this time Hannah followed closely behind her. Cradled in the young woman's hands was a small, brown box with a foreign inscription etched into the wood. The siblings glanced at each other.

"In these times of bonding and welcoming new members to our family, it is important that we give thanks to our meal and the sacrifice it must make in order to be eaten." Alexei reached for Ameli's hand. "It is no simple thing to marry in my family. In order to be welcomed, you must complete a family dinner," Hannah's calming voice doused the twins like it was thick honey. "Now, let us pray. Dear heavenly Father, we thank thee for the abundance of good fortune you bestow upon us. We thank thee for this meal. We thank thee for our new family," Hannah's red, plump lips curved upwards as she continued. "We thank thee for Zara." Like a mallet to a gong, the siblings' heads jerked up as they stared at their new stepmom and oblivious father.

"What the fuck does that mean?" Alexei questioned, holding Hannah's stare.

"Sweetheart, where do you think we got the meal from?" Ameli shook her head as Alexei's face turned green.

"No. What do you mean?" Ameli demanded as sweat pricked her forehead.

"Hm. Isn't the saying waste not, want not? In order for you to have a new mommy and new family, you have to... come to grips with the past, so to speak. What better way than to eat it!" Hannah and the right side began to giggle as they took in the siblings. Suddenly, Alexei lurched in his chair and vomited onto the ornate rug. Ameli desperately looked to her father to see him resting his chin upon his hands looking peaceful. She jumped up, clutching her stomach.

"What- what is in the box?" Granny smiled as she turned to face Ameli.

"Why, dear, you don't even recognize you poor mother?" With a chuckle she removed the lid from the box to reveal the half rotten head of Zara. Blank, white eyes stared up at the shocked daughter as hot tears splashed upon her cheeks. Before she could pull Alexei up to run out of the house, something hard hit her behind her head, sending her into a deep void of nothingness. After all, there is a family dinner next week.