Blood and Bond

It had been one month since their grandmother died. Jeanine felt anxious about moving back to her childhood home with her sister Carrie, they hadn't spoken in six years. Not even at the funeral. She wondered why Carrie was even in the Will. As Jeanine's hand hovered over the front doorknob she took a deep breath. She could hear music blaring inside. Carrie was already there. "Damn" she thought. "Not even time to settle in peace". She opened the door and saw that the house was filthy. Carrie dropped her bag at the stairs and followed the music to her sister’s room. She knocks on the door. The music stops and her sister opens the door. "Well I guess the fun is over." Jeanine sighs. "Do you even want to be here? Look at this place...how long have you been here? You didn't even bother to clean up?" Carrie rolls her eyes and falls back onto her old bed. Dust comes up and she starts to cough. "Ok you have a point...but I only got here only 40 minutes ago....We're gonna sell the place anyway right? Who cares what it looks like now." Carrie lights a joint. Jeanine scoffs. "Unfucking believable. You're still the same. We're not selling the house. Even if we wanted to, look at the state it's in! I should have known you were after money! This is all that we have left of Grandma!!!" Carrie answers coldly "So?" In disbelief Jeanine walks up to Carrie and slaps her before heading for the door. Carrie pushes Jeanine down and they start fighting. In the rustle they both fall down the stairs. They get up, and they go their rooms in silence. After Jeanine patches herself up, she changes the sheets and goes to bed. She cries herself to sleep. The next Morning she wakes up still feeling tired.

When she got to the kitchen she saw Carrie was finishing a bowl of cereal. "The dead rises" Carrie chuckled. Almost as if nothing happened yesterday. "I'm gonna cut the shit and be the bigger person this time...After 6 years of not speaking the first thing we do is go at each other like a couple of street cats? I know we're fucked up but we should try not to kill each other." Jeanine is surprised. "For once I agree with you...and honestly I'm too tired to continue fighting. You've got one hell of a kick girl." They both laugh. Jeanine looks around. "What do you say we call a truce and clean this place up before we get Tetanus?" Carrie smiles "I can agree to that." Jeanine grabs herself a bowl of cereal and scarfs it down. The pair spend the rest of the afternoon cleaning the house. They decided not to go into their grandmother's room because for Jeanine it was too much. Jeanine was always a lot closer to grandma and Carrie didn’t connect with her at all. They went to the attic to see what else they could clear out before going to bed. There were boxes filled with items from their childhood. As well as clothes and fabrics and sewing supplies. They almost forgot that grandma Genie was a seamstress. While going through the boxes, Jeanine spotted some old photos of them. Among them was a picture of her first love Ben. Jeanine's mood shifted. "What'd you find?" Carrie sees the picture. "Oh...shit" she says. "That's all you have to say??? After what you did?" This is it...the reason why they hadn't spoken a word to one another in over six years. "Why did you do it? You already had everything." Carrie tries to speak "It's more compli-" Jeanine stops her "I don't want to hear it!!! You had $20,000 fall into your lap after you put your painting in that competition!!!! You didn't even win but your mystery "benefactor" believed in you so much, they gave you a shot at going to art school...then you get piss drunk with my boyfriend and get in an accident that almost killed you both." Carrie cuts off Jeanine. "Yeah I fucked up… I was dumb ok!!! He called me and told me he wanted to celebrate. Things got out of hand. But the blame wasn't mine alone. At the hospital you were angry instead of relieved." Jeanine scoffs in disbelief. "How can you say that!!! You paralyzed him!!! HE IS NEVER GOING TO WALK AGAIN!!! It’s all your fault." Carrie rushes out of the attic. Jeanine hears Carrie’s car ripping out of the driveway. In her grief over her grandmother she almost forgot why she hated Carrie so much. She picked up the box of mementos and headed out of the attic. On her way out she stepped on a loose board and found a small black book inside.

When she flipped through the pages it was blank. It was still in good condition so she figured she could use it as a planner. When she got back to her room she took out the notebook and a pen and thought that maybe they should sell the house. She definitely didn’t want to live with Carrie and she could have a fresh start alone. But the house needed to be renovated first. This whole situation would be temporary. She wrote:

Renovate Kitchen

Fix pipes

New floorboards

Do yardwork

"Well that’s a start" she didn’t realize how late it was. She closed the book and went to bed. The next morning she woke up and went to the bathroom. When she got in the shower the water was actually hot. "Hmm" she thought to herself. She got ready, stepped out of her room and was in disbelief at what she saw. The floor looked immaculate. When she went into the kitchen it was fully stocked with groceries, and everything looked brand new. She looked out the kitchen window and saw that the garden looked like something out of a fairytale. She couldn't believe her eyes. How did all this happen? Then it hit her. She rushed up to her room and looked in the notebook. It was blank. "This can't be happening." She reached for her phone to call Carrie but decided not to. It’s best to keep it to herself. She then spends the day looking in the attic for anything that might have to do with the book. Nothing. Not a shred of information. She goes back to her room. She picks up the pen and writes:

What are you?

A few seconds go by and then words begin to appear

I am that which can make your wishes come true.

Will you do me harm?

No.

She breathes a sigh of relief then hears a car pull into the driveway. Carrie is back. Jeanine puts the book under her pillow. She rushes downstairs as Carrie comes through the door drunk. "How did you do this??" Carrie slurs. "I hired a good company." Carrie is practically falling over. Jeanine helps her gain her balance "Don't touch me...I don't care how you got it done. I’m not paying for it. Of course a type A like you would get this done in a day." Jeanine is frustrated but helps her into bed. Maybe she didn't have to sell the house. She would just write in the book that her sister inherited something else from grandma and she could get her out of her life for good. With Carrie passed out she thought of one last place to look for information on the book. Grandma's room.

She opened the door and saw that the room was kept fairly neat. She began her search and in the midst of it felt tears falling down her face. Grandma Genie was gone and these things were all that were left of her. She was about to give up when she slumped onto the floor. Then she caught a twinkle in the corner of her eye. There was a small metal handle underneath Grandma's bed. She pushed the bed aside and pulled the handle to find a small diary. She quickly put everything back the way it was and went to her room. She spent the night reading the diary and found that Grandma Genie did use the black notebook. Not much is mentioned about it's origin but it granted her wishes. But Jeanine wondered why Grandma met such a gruesome end if this book could have changed the outcome. The book said it doesn't cause harm so that couldn't have been what caused it.

The next day she went out for some time to clear her head without Carrie being in her hair. They didn't speak at all before she left. When she came back she heard music blaring and saw a slew of cars outside their house. She knew Carrie was trying to get under her skin now. She pushed past all of the people in her home and eventually found Carrie. "What are you doing?" Carrie rolled her eyes "I'm allowing myself to have fun. I'm tired of feeling guilty for something I can't change. And I'm tired of your shit." Jeanine starts to get upset but calms herself. "Tell these people to go home so we can talk... " She grabs Carrie's hand but she pulls away. "I lied" Carrie laughs. "I called Ben because I wanted to try a piece of what you were so head over heels about. He was a real gentlemen too. Let's just say I was persuading him to have some fun when the accident happened." Jeanine looks at Carrie in disgust. "It is what it is...I never liked you...and I'm tired of trying to. You're the reason mom is gone." Jeanine tears up “That’s not fair…I almost drowned.” Carrie replied. “I wish you had.”

There was no saving their sisterhood. She was tired of everything Carrie had put her through. She made her life miserable. She went to her room, took up the pen and opened the book. She wrote three simple words

Carrie goes away.

Soon enough police show up to the party due to noise complaints. Someone tells the police that Carrie has cocaine on her. They search Carrie and sure enough they bags of cocaine. As Carrie is arrested Jeanine looks down from the stairs and sees her wish come true.

Carrie was sentenced to 20 years in prison. During the first five years she heard that Jeanine's old boyfriend Ben regained his ability to walk miraculously. Jeanine and Ben got married, they had children and a few years after that Jeanine started a successful cosmetics line. Things were going well for Jeanine while she rotted away in prison. One day, unexpectedly Jeanine came to visit. “I’m going to cut to the chase.” I have a decision to make and I need to talk to you before I make it. Carrie asks “Why didn’t you get me out? All that money…I could’ve had a good lawyer by now.” Jeanine scoffs “Back to what I was saying. There is a reason why things certain things have happened.” Carrie leans in “Get to the point or leave.” Jeanine asks “If you could have infinite wishes but the price was my death or yours what would you do?” Carrie breaks into laughter “I can’t fucking believe you. After all this time you don’t ask how I am but you come in here dressed and fed well and ask me some stupid shit like this. You know what I would do??? I’d fucking take the wishes and you could go to hell for all I care. Guard!!!” the guard comes in to take her away but not before she turned and said “If I had a shred of love for you then maybe I wouldn’t.” They leave. Jeanine pulls out the notebook. It reads

Payment?

Carrie Jeanine

She simply circles Carrie.

“If you had a shred of love for me then maybe I would have made the sacrifice.”