Sweet Revenge

Sweet Revenge

By Gloria Dawn

Chapter One

The silence at the dinner table was deafening.

“What did you say?” Allison asked in disbelief.

Her father had announced that Allison’s younger sister Jill was getting married to David in three weeks time, and that the family expected Allison to be Jill’s maid of honor.

Judith Emerson repeated what her husband had just said.

It wasn’t unusual for David to be invited to the family’s Sunday dinners, so Allison hadn’t suspected anything out of the ordinary, until she heard those shocking words from her father.  

David and Allison had been going steady for years. He’d been her best friend since she was seven, when his family moved next door.

Jill had a smirk on her face, while David looked down sheepishly.

          It took Allison a few seconds to absorb what she'd just heard. She’d seen Jill flirt outrageously with David but had assumed it was just her sister’s usual performance.

Jill flirted with everyone. Rumors around town had her sleeping with half the male population. Allison had been ashamed to hear the stories, hoping they were exaggerated, and she'd told Jill to clean up her act because she was ruining her reputation.

Jill, at eighteen, was a year younger than Allison. She was tall, blonde, blue-eyed and shapely like their mother. She was a real beauty, outgoing and exuberant.

Allison had her father’s brown hair and hazel eyes. She was pretty in a quiet way. She loved growing things and had the nicest gardens and flower beds in town.

David had shared her interests, and seemed to appreciate Allison’s talents, spending a lot of time with her in the garden. He had made her a rose bower with benches. Allison had taken it for granted that he loved her like he’d said he did, and that he intended to spend his life with her.

To find out that David had been sneaking around with her wild sister was beyond comprehension. And that her parents, who knew she and David had been sweethearts since childhood, expected Allison to be happy about it! Jill had cleverly twisted their minds to accept the unacceptable.

“No! I will not be Jill’s maid of honor. I will not attend the wedding, nor will I speak to either of them ever again.” Allison said, in an icy controlled voice they had never heard before. She was trying to hold herself together, but the shock and hurt was so deep she could barely breathe.

“That’s no way to treat your own sister,” Robert Emerson scolded Allison. “You should be happy for her, not jealous. Your attitude is so unworthy of you, my dear.”

“My boyfriend cheating on me with my sister is what’s unworthy!” Allison screamed in reply. “So, she got herself knocked up, and she’s chosen to seduce my boyfriend to be her scapegoat.

“Open your eyes and ears, Dad, and you’d know that the whole town is talking about her. She’s the town tramp. She wasn’t satisfied till she stole the man I loved.”

“That’s enough!” roared her father, his face red with anger. “You will leave this table and go to your room till you’re ready to apologize to your sister.”

"Hell will freeze over first."

Jill smirked, and their mother's face paled with shock; Allison wouldn’t look at David. She knew how guilty he must feel, knowing that he'd hurt her.

“I’ll do better than that!” Allison said, as she left the table and headed for the stairs. “I’ll leave for good and go so far away that you’ll never see me again.

“As for David and Jill, I wish you misery, sickness and unhappiness every day of your marriage. May you both rot in hell! You no longer exist to me as of today.

“And I disown you, Mom and Dad, for supporting Jill. I’m no longer your daughter. You don’t deserve to have one.”

With that, she stomped up the stairs, slamming her bedroom door to collapse on her bed in tears.

For a moment, nobody spoke.

“I’m going home. I’m so sorry for everything.” David said, as he pulled back his chair and stood.

“I’ll go with you,” Jill replied, “We need to tell your parents too.”

“No, Jill. I need to be alone for a while. I’ll see you later.”

He turned and went out the door without looking back.

“I’m going up to talk to Allison,” Judith said. “She’ll forgive Jill; she was just upset from the shock. She didn’t know they had been getting together.”

“You’ll do no such thing!” her husband said. “Allison owes us all an apology for her unacceptable behavior.”

“This time, Robert, you are wrong. I am going to talk to my daughter.”

Judith didn’t very often put her foot down, but he could see that she meant business. “You know that she and David have been sweethearts. She’s had a terrible shock.

“We always thought she and David were going to get married. She would never have said such things unless she was devastated.”

Smirking, Jill went to the living room and sat down at the piano. She wished she knew how to play; she’d loudly bang out some romantic tunes and even the wedding march, just to get even with Allison for her harsh words.

“Sure, she’d partied and slept around, and she had indeed seduced David when she realized she was expecting. She knew he was too honorable a man to leave her stranded.

So-what if the baby came early? Even if he counted back and figured out that it couldn’t have been his, it would be too late to do anything about it. Besides, it hadn’t been all that hard to seduce him. He was just as easily led around by his pecker as any man.

A few drinks to celebrate her birthday and a birthday kiss that turned into heavy necking one night when Allison was away was all it had taken. He’d been a pushover!

It served Allison right for being such a mouse! She’d rather putter in the dirt in her garden than get dressed up and party. She’d end up an old maid, with only her flowers for company.

She was too dull to deserve a husband. It had been easy to sneak David away from her. That would teach her to think she was better!

Chapter Two

Judith could hear Allison’s sobs before she knocked on the door.

“Can I come in, Dear?”

 “Go away, Mom. I don’t want to talk to anyone. I’m busy packing.”

Judith opened the door anyway and entered. Her oldest daughter was lying across the bed, her face buried in her pillow. An open suitcase was beside her.

 “You don’t need to leave, Allison. Your dad will cool down before long. He was just angry.”

“Not near as angry as I am. I can't believe David was fooling around with Jill!” Allison sobbed. “I trusted him all these years when he said he loved me and that we were going to get married. I never dated anyone else. He was my only love, Mom.”

“I know dear; it certainly surprised me too. But what’s done is done, and we need to support them now.

“It’s not easy being newlyweds with a baby already coming, Dear. I know from personal experience. I never told you, Allison, but you were an eight-month baby too. We were planning to marry, but not quite so soon, till I realized you were on the way.

“It’s hard enough to adjust to married life and parenthood, without bitter feelings between family members.”

“It’s more than bitter feelings, Mom. What I said about Jill’s behavior is all true. I honestly think she grabbed David because she was already pregnant, and she chose him because she wanted to hurt me. She resents my talking to her about her wild behavior.

“Haven’t you and Dad noticed her coming in inebriated, with her clothes in disarray, at all hours? Surely you haven’t just turned a blind eye to it?”

“We knew she loved parties and dancing, but we hoped she was just having fun. You were happy doing things at home, but Jill always needed to be the center of attention.

“I’m so sorry, Allison, that it turned out to be your boyfriend she chose. Aside from that, we couldn’t have picked a nicer son-in-law.”

“You must realize that she only messed around with David because she had to prove that she could steal him from me. She was always jealous to see me so happy with him.

“She could have picked any one of the men she hung around with, but she couldn’t stand seeing me have a nice boyfriend. She knew he was my only love, while she’s dated dozens. She’s spiteful and hateful, and I’ll never forgive her, Mom.

“Can you imagine me as her maid of honor, with tears streaming down my face, seeing the man I love vowing be hers forever? I couldn’t do it.

“I can’t even live in this town any longer and see them together. After Dad’s comments, I don’t want to be part of this family any more, either. I’ve got a good education and I’ll find a new job far away, where I can start my life over.”

“I wish you’d reconsider, Allison. This will all blow over and time will heal the pain. I don’t want to see you leave home, Dear.”

“This is no longer my home. I have no sister, no father, and no boyfriend.

“I’ll write and let you know I’m all right, but I don’t want to hear anything about Jill or her baby or David. They no longer exist. My new life starts right now.”

Trying to try reverse psychology, Judith offered, “Would you like some help to pack, Allison? You can have one of my suitcases? You only have one, and it won’t hold all the things you need.”

“Thanks, I’d appreciate the suitcase. I’m going out west. I’ve always wanted to see the mountains. I’ll make a new life for myself and I’ll be happy there. I’ve never even taken a holiday away from home before and I’m looking forward to it now.

 “Thanks for coming to talk, Mom. I needed to get all that bitterness off my chest. Now I must concentrate on what to take and what to leave behind.

“I won’t take anything David gave me, nor things that remind me of him. I need to make a clean break and start a new life.  There’s a whole world out there, just waiting to be discovered.”

“You’re still my special girl, Allison.” Judith said, hugging her daughter. I’ve always been so proud of you, and so has your father.

“He’s trying to support Jill now, but he’s disappointed in her, and I know he’s feeling bad for you too. We always expected David to be our son-in-law, but that he’d be marrying you.”

Chapter Three

Allison packed her clothes, jewelry and toiletries. Anything she’d worn on special occasions that reminded her of David was put into garbage bags, along with stuffed animals and trinkets he’d given her. These she would drop off at the Thrift Shop as donations.

One suitcase contained her better clothes and underwear, while her work clothes went into the other one. Her job as a landscape artist required serviceable clothing for all seasons. She went to the closet which contained out-of-season wear to get her winter jackets and boots. There was no room in the suitcases for them, so they went into a separate garbage bag.

She scanned her room for the last time, taking her pillow and the blanket her grandmother had quilted for her. She had to leave her piano and most of her books behind, but she’d have everything she needed, especially peace of mind. When she found a place to settle, she could replace those items.

She had made good wages and saved her money, supposedly for her future marriage to David. Now it would provide a new start in life. Allison drove away from the only home she’d ever known, not looking back and especially not looking at the Sullivan house next door.

She drove straight to Ed’s Landscaping to pick up her steel-toed work boots and her tools and equipment. Ed and his family lived in the back half of the building. She needed to tell him that she was leaving and get a letter of reference.

She regretted not being able to give him any notice, but she been a reliable employee since leaving school, and when he heard her situation, she knew he’d understand.

Moments later, with her reference letter in hand, Allison drove away to begin her new life.