Elsa looked out of the window at the wet and windy weather, she hadn’t wanted to leave Los Angeles and move to Seattle. After years of struggling and with one year of high school left, she’d felt like she was getting somewhere at school. Now with the move, she felt like all her hard work was being thrown away and was considering dropping out.
Her stepfather Ned had been offered a great job, an opportunity of a lifetime her mother had told her. Even though the job didn’t start for months, Elsa and her mother Carol moved to Seattle while Ned stayed in LA to finalize everything there. Because Elsa was unhappy with the decision to move she questioned that decision everyday which upset her mother who was finding her new surroundings comparable.
She was being bullied at her new high school because she was different from all the idiot jocks and cheerleaders that went there. And just when she couldn't feel any lower about herself she heard Ned telling her mother that he would pay for Elsa’s college tuition, because if he didn't then he would be giving her money for the rest of his life, just like he does her other children. Her family has always treated her like an idiot.
She once went to a concert in Los Angeles and was so excited. She dressed the part, getting as close to the stage as possible when a riot broke out. Her mother and stepfather grounded her for two months, because obviously Elsa was the mastermind behind the whole operation. Elsa’s argument that she’d had nothing to do with the riot, nor would she have wanted it to happen and cut the concert short was dismissed.
As she walked past her mother's and stepfather's bedroom, she noticed Ned’s clothes on the bed. After grabbing one of his hoodies she went downstairs and turned the radio on to the shitty smooth jazz radio station he always listened to. She turned it up loud and started dancing with the hood pulled up. She was recording a video to send to her brother and sister.
“Are you kidding me?” She heard and turned around.
***
Ned stood looking at the overfilled storage unit that contained their belongings. They’d moved out of their much bigger house into a two bedroom apartment because they hadn’t found a house that Carol liked. The apartment was just temporary and after he’d sold the house in LA he had to put the rest of their belongings into the unit that was already bulging at the seams. Carol could never part with anything. If it was up to Ned he would trash all of it and start again, it's not like they can't afford it.
He remembered Toronto Island and his life back then, it was an easier time. He had a good job and he had Jane. He often thought of Jane and wondered how she was. When he left for Los Angeles, she didn’t want to go, two years later he was married to Carol.
He can remember his first few days at the Kia dealership. He quickly established himself as the top salesman. He was promoted to assistant manager and when the manager retired, Ned took over. Carol was working in the finance office when he noticed her. He would watch her walking around, unable to take his eyes off of her. When he took over the business he asked her out to dinner. A quick engagement and wedding and here he was for the first time questioning that decision.
With Carol came her three kids. With the money he made came a huge house with his office. His escape room, he called it. His stepchildren drove him nuts at the best of times, they may as well just stand in a line with their hands out. The eldest was starting another business venture, which he knew meant he’d be visiting soon with a business venture for Ned to invest in. The middle child, currently working a retail job, had cost a fortune in school fees all for nothing.
Elsa used to be a sweet kid but now she was a nightmare. He would admit to himself that the thought of strangling her had occasionally occupied his thoughts. He did feel bad for her, she hated Seattle and was talking about dropping out of high school.
Carol had wanted to leave California for years especially after the riot at the concert that Elsa had attended. When they visited in the summer, she fell in love with Seattle but as he looked at the Los Angeles weather forecast on his phone and the weather currently in Seattle he wondered if it was right for him. Right now especially after arguing with Carol he wished he was in sunny California. He hates arguing with her. That’s always when he thinks about all the money he’s spent on her children and how Carol doesn’t appreciate him. If her kids only knew how Carol never wants to help them.
He heard loud jazz music coming from the apartment.
***
Carol was furious. She sometimes wondered if she’d made a mistake marrying Ned. After years of an abusive marriage to her first husband she wondered if she’d rushed into her second one.
After she left her husband she’d been raising three kids on her own, it was always a struggle. She was working at a Kia dealership when she met Ned, he was their top salesman. When the manager retired Ned replaced him and he asked her out. Did she marry for love or money, she was never really sure but she definitely liked the financial security being married to Ned gave her.
The children were just an inconvenience at that time. She told Ned they’d all be moving out when they turned eighteen. She thought Elsa would go back to LA, she never shuts up about it, constantly questioning their move to Seattle.
She hasn’t missed Ned, she prefers it when he’s in LA. She remembers when they visited Toronto Island and he introduced her to Jane. It was obvious he was in love with her but Ned has always had a roving eye, it was something she’d learned to live with.
She heard music. Ned had turned on the jazz radio station because Elsa wouldn’t listen to that crap. He plays music when he needs to relax. The fact that he felt he needed to relax after their argument infuriated Carol and stormed into the living room to confront him. Ned was dancing in the living room as jazz blasted out of the speakers.
“Are you kidding me?” she shouted and threw her shoe at him.
***
Carol saw Elsa turn around just before the shoe impaled her eye. The momentum pushed Elsa backwards and she crashed to the floor. Carol began screaming as Ned rushed in. It seemed like an eternity as he checked for signs of life. The police later told her that it entered her brain and she had died instantly.