Poison

Colleen Smith hurried around her kitchen, wiping down every surface until it was absolutely spotless. She had an agenda for the night, she was a busy woman. She plugged in the lights on her Christmas tree, illuminating the room with a warm, inviting glow. Colleen laid out the cookies she had baked previously that day, which were all decorated perfectly due to the amount of detail and time she devoted to making them. This was a cookie exchange, after all. She connected her phone to her speaker, selecting her illegally-downloaded playlist. Colleen took in her surroundings, looking at the clean kitchen before her. She sighed in relief. Her guests should be getting here any moment. 

Colleen ran over her plan in her head once more, then her doorbell rang. 

She opened the door and a gust of icy cold wind rushed to meet her. She shivered at the sudden change of temperature, but her excited expression didn’t falter. “Hey, I set everything up. Everybody should be arriving any minute.” She let out a laugh at how cold she sounded, and her guest, Gloria, joined her. She led Gloria into the kitchen and helped her take her jacket off, setting it gently down on the chair in front of her. The doorbell rang again, and Gloria followed Colleen to the door. 

Ebony Johnson stood, her figure tall and slim. Her cheeks were a perfect shade of rosy red from the harsh, whipping wind outside. Ebony’s painted lips moved into a thankful smile as Colleen and Gloria greeted her overenthusiastically. 

“Ebony! Welcome, come on in! Oh, you poor thing. You must be so cold...” Gloria trailed off, wrapping her arms around Ebony’s shoulders. She shot Colleen a look, then released Ebony. 

“Yes, it’s freezing outside! Thank you for having me! I brought you this,” Ebony turned to Colleen, handing her a bottle of red wine. 

Colleen put a warm hand over her heart. “Thank you! That was so sweet of you… Anyway, come in! We have hot chocolate, that’ll surely get you warmed up!” Colleen exclaimed. Ebony turned away, and Colleen rolled her eyes. 

The three middle-aged women sat down at Colleen’s kitchen table, Gloria and Colleen sharing a look before turning their attention back to Ebony. 

“So, Ebony,” Gloria started, leaning forward in her chair, “What kind of cookies did you bring? I brought little gingerbread men, and they’re absolutely delicious. You should try one! I made one specially for you.”

“Oh, well, I’m on a little bit of a diet, I’m not supposed to eat things with lots of sugar. My dietitian specifically told me to avoid cookies this holiday season. Maybe you could bring me some after Christmas?”

“I think you should try one tonight.”

The doorbell rang again, the sound of Christmas bells echoing throughout the house. “I’ll get it,” Colleen excused herself. She sauntered to the door, letting her two sisters Erica and Lori in. Greetings were exchanged, hugs were distributed, and Colleen led them into the kitchen, where Gloria and Ebony were still arguing about gingerbread cookies. 

“Ladies, my sisters are here,” she prompted, and they looked up. A fake smile spread across Gloria’s face. Erica and Lori put their cookies down on the island countertop and they too sat at the dining table. A comfortable silence fell over the five women. Gloria and Colleen glanced at each other quickly before Colleen averted her gaze. 

The drinks! Colleen thought to herself. 

“How about some hot chocolate, anyone?”

“I’ll have a mug,” Erica raised her hand. 

“Me too,” Lori added.

“Yes please,” Gloria said.

“What about you, Ebony?” 

“Oh, I really shouldn’t,” Ebony declared.

“But I got everybody cute little mugs! Look,” Colleen pointed over to her countertop, where five packets of hot chocolate and five letter-customized mugs stood. “I thought we could all have a little bit tonight in celebration of the holidays.”

Ebony glanced at the mugs and hot chocolate guiltily, then looked back at Colleen. A hopeful expression played across Colleen’s face as she waited for Ebony to crack. Colleen knew that Ebony had to be guilted into things she didn’t want to do, and spending money on her was a perfect way to do so. 

“Okay, just a little bit,” Ebony sighed with defeat, “Only half a mug, Colleen. Half.”

Colleen laughed lightly. “Okay, Ebony.” 

Colleen listened in on the conversation taking place at the dining table, the four women seated discussing how unruly or angelic their children were. Colleen really didn’t care. She had a job to do. She poured milk into each mug and put them in the microwave two at a time, setting each to heat for two minutes. When the first two mugs came out, she put the second two in, setting the microwave again. Colleen grabbed two hot chocolate packages and teared the paper, watching as the chocolatey powder fell into her friend’s mugs. She grabbed a little spoon and gave the hot chocolate a stir, then added a squirt of whipped cream and a handful of mini marshmallows to top it all off. She repeated this process until all five hot chocolates were out of the microwave. 

Colleen took a peek over her shoulder and saw that Gloria was watching her every move. The other three women were completely involved in their own conversation, not noticing anything going on between them. She gave a stealthy nod to Gloria, who returned the gesture. Colleen’s fingers pulled at the cabinet handles, the cabinet door swinging open. She quickly grabbed the small bottle, then shut her cabinet quietly. She placed the bottle on the counter, twisting the top open. Her fingers ‘slipped’ over a mug with the initial “E”, a couple drops of the undetectable, lethal, fast-acting substance mixing with the hot chocolate. Like the other mugs, Colleen added whipped cream and mini marshmallows, making the poisoned hot chocolate look the same as the rest.

Colleen slipped the now empty bottle into her pocket. She brought three mugs first, her own, Gloria’s, and Lori’s, setting them down in front of the recipient. She placed her own in front of her own seat, then went back for the two “E” mugs. 

Was the poisoned mug on the right, or the left? You’re an idiot, Colleen. You should know this. 

Colleen looked between the two mugs. 

This one, the right one is the poisoned one. 

She grasped the mugs firmly in her hands. 

No, it’s the left one. The whipped cream is weird on the poisoned one. I remember that, at least. It’s the left one.

She took a step towards her friends. 

But the poisoned one had more marshmallows than the other. The right one has more.

Another step.

What if it’s the wrong one? This could be the death of my sister!

One final step to the table.

Colleen set the mugs down in front of Erica and Ebony. She should have thought this through. She should have considered this. 

“I’ll be back in a moment, I have to add more firewood to the fireplace,” Colleen lied. She walked to her living room and kneeled in front of the fireplace, grabbing two chunks of wood. She hastily threw them into the fireplace, tossing the empty bottle into the fire. She stood up, brushed her dress off, then walked back to the table. 

Stay composed, she mentally criticized herself. Colleen sat down in her spot at the table, then glanced around. Gloria had been the only one to start drinking her hot chocolate. Colleen couldn’t say anything, or else she would sound too excited, too energetic. Colleen zoned in on Ebony’s hot chocolate mug. 

Was it that one?

The only thing that Colleen could do was wait. 

The conversation about her friends’ children continued for at least another ten minutes. Colleen didn’t contribute other than a few forced laughs. She glanced over at Erica, who put her mug to her lips and tilted it back a few degrees. She could see her throat move as her beloved sister swallowed the hot chocolate. Ten seconds passed. Colleen’s fingers anxiously played with the thin necklace she wore, a birthday gift from Erica. She took a deep breath, desperately trying to calm herself down before someone noticed something. The poison was supposed to be extremely fast to react. Twenty seconds. She met Erica’s gaze, and she gave a smile, picking up her own hot chocolate and drinking it. Thirty seconds. Her fingers tapped anxiously on the table as the conversation between Erica, Ebony, and Lori continued. Forty seconds. 

She’ll be fine, Colleen thought dismissively. 

Colleen looked over at Ebony, who had seen Erica drink some of her hot chocolate. Ebony picked up her mug and gulped the half-mug that Colleen had made for her previously. 

“Excuse me, I need to use the restroom. I’ll be right back,” Colleen said. She stood up and calmly strutted to the bathroom, locking herself in. She grabbed the keys, fake passport, and fake driver’s license she had stored in the hidden compartment on the floor. She unlocked the door. With adrenaline pumping through her veins, she sprinted out her front door, hearing cries and shouts from the dining room. Colleen didn’t look back. The freezing temperatures slowed Colleen down slightly, and the wind caused her hair to whip around, ruining the look she had spent so long on. But she didn’t care. She was preoccupied. 

Colleen started her vehicle, the engine starting immediately. She put her car in reverse and pulled out of her driveway, speeding down the road out of her neighborhood. She had stashed money in the glove compartment in case she ran into any complications. Colleen pulled out onto the freeway and sped ahead of every other car, swerving between trucks and cutting cars off. She ignored the honking protests of the other people, continuing to speed down the freeway. She pulled it off. She did it.