Piece of cake

She walks through the door, hair flowing in waves of beautiful golden curls. I wince as she waves to me with her perfect, beautiful Gina smile.

“Hey Gina,” I say through a large fake smile, real enough to pass for a thrilled greeting.

Gina swings her arms around me, bosoms pressed hard against my cheeks. The silicone hurts.

“Oh, Shelly, I’ve missed you.” Gina squeals directly into my ears, loud enough to drag my forced smile into a grimace. Quickly, I return my “joyful” mask to my face.

“Yeah, you too.” I clap my hands to the sides of my hips and pull myself away from her embrace.

“Well, come on in, I’ll give you a tour and then you can pick which room you want to stay in.”

She nods and follows me around the Air B&B she believes is my home. This was much larger, more flashy. More, Gina's style, something impressive. I’m in no way ashamed of my home, but I didn’t want to hear about how much better her home is, followed by her favorite phrase. Every time it left her mouth the words would sting, her high-pitched voice ringing in my ears; a reminder.

“You could do this too if you follow my Success is for Everyone vlogs, I promise, it’s a piece of cake.”

Cake, something she probably hasn't eaten for years yet, she still has that stupid tattoo. One of a brightly colored cake with one slice being taken out of it.

That night, after finding her room and hours of gossip between glasses of wine, chicken alfredo and a salad. We sat limply on the large sectional talking about old times, for a moment things felt normal, a gentle reminder to me of what she had ruined. A silence fell between us after a hardy laugh and I could feel it.

The ticking time bomb of a conversation that we had been avoiding all night, creeping its way into the room.

The tension loomed over my shoulders like a demon hugging me from behind squeezing tightly against my rib cage, holding all of its body against me until I couldn't. Then, it happened she parted her thin lips overdrawn with mauve lipstick releasing the wild elephant into the room.

“Why, Why did we fall out? Why did we stop talking?”

Gina asked calmly, staring at me. We share a gaze, her hazel eyes splitting through my retinas.

Her not knowing is part of the answer. How could she be so naïve? How could she think that I was none the wiser? I bite back harsh words cause the inside of my cheeks to bleed. The metallic taste wets my tongue. I press the fleshy muscle against my teeth and take a breath.

“I wish I knew, but I missed you Gina.” I did not. “Life just got crazy, after Matt's passing I just lost myself.”

Her head tilted, giving me a pitiful look, one where her eyes grow big and welding with crocodile tears and she lets out a small sigh.

“Shell, I’m here for you. I wish you would have leaned on me. You know I would have been there for you.”

I know she means it, had I not known better, I would have been letting a sheep's skin-covered wolf in my house, in my arms, in my head.

“I know,” I say, tipping my chin down and hiding my face just enough to enhance my performance, letting fake tears drip down my cheeks.

Gina presses her hand into my thigh, a comforting action.

“Let’s move on. let’s move on together. It will be a piece of cake.”

I laugh and shake my head, laughing through tears of pure anger.

“Of course it will.” I smiled softly before topping off a shitty $80 bottle of wine.

“I think it’s time for bed dear.” I stand gently caressing her shoulder, giving it a squeeze.

I lay in bed. Waiting, I can hear her footsteps dragging up the stairs in a jagged, drunken shuffle. I know she drank at least one whole bottle by herself, probably to drown away her guilt. This is good though, at least I know she will be in a deep sleep or just too drunk to fight.

3:37 AM, Gina's eyes are wide. She’s shaking and muffled screams beg for her release.

I laugh, holding up a triangular chunk of skin I sliced from her thigh. The blood dripped down my wrist into the pit of my elbow. White, chunky lumps dangle from her detached skin as her thigh oozed a bright red that darkened as it soaked into the white sheets.

“Do you know why I chose now? I bet you don’t remember.” I laugh, plunging my knife deep into her other thigh, pulling down, ripping through lays of skin and muscle. I could feel the skin stretch and break against the knife. Splitting itself away from her, like band aide.

“This is the night I found you. I said nothing, but I watched. I watched Matt run his filthy hands down each of your thighs while you curled and giggled in my fucking bed.” I say angrily.

More muffled screams and I drag my knife to the left. Completing the bottom of my triangle. She flails her bound arms, wiggling with all her might pressing her feet into the bed jerking me around in attempt to throw me off. It won't help, she's too drunk and too weak to do anything to save herself.

“One year ago today at 3:20 PM, I came home from the hospital already heartbroken. I’m sure you remember. My mom had cancer. I wasn’t supposed to be home that night, but my mother requested that I go and get some rest. I bet she knew.”

I ignore the tears streaming from Gina's eyes as I drag my knife back to the top of my initial cut, slightly crooked but still, a triangle. A piece of Gina.

“I watched you, I heard you say that stupid fucking line. 'Stealing you was too easy, a piece of cake'.”

I began sawing underneath the triangular cut, back and forth, skinning her upper thigh as though it was a Christmas ham. I slap this one down onto her stomach. It smacked against her bare skin creating a wet clapping sound. One that sounded like a good high-five between wet hands. It was so wet that it began to slide across her stomach moving like a large slug leaving its crimson, sticky trail behind it. It slid falling to her side making a squelching sound like the smacking of glossy lips. I cringe, disgusting.

“Matt loved you. I loved you! You knew I loved him! Yet, you still did it, lying to me for months. I know you always thought you were better than me, giving me your motivational speeches ensuring I knew I was lesser than you.”

I plunge my knife into her shoulder, I hit bone, but that didn't matter. I was doing what I wanted to do since she got the stupid thing. I Sliced off her ugly, pink, and purple cake tattoo. Not a perfect slice, but a slice none the less.

“I got him too, you know? Could you tell? Could you tell he was getting weaker?"

My blood-drenched fingers made it hard to rip off the tape from her mouth. I had to pull two or three times. Her lips bleed from ripping off chunks of her dry lips and I could see her bleached hairs on her upper lip dangle from the tape. She never had moist lips, always cracking and bleeding. I knew when they had been kissing because sometimes I could taste the slight hint of iron on his lips. Cries for help and apologies spewed from her mouth, all of which was inaudible.

I'm sorry, were the only words I could comprehend.

“I wish you were Gina, I wish you felt guilt. I know you don’t, I know you never liked me. I know I was never someone you only called a friend because it made you feel better to belittle me, to steal my light, to take what was mine every time you got the chance.”

I dangle her flap of skin in front of her face, flashing her bloody chunk of tattooed skin in front of her, letting her own blood drip into her mouth before plunging the flap into her mouth. She resisted squirming back and forth, but it was no match. I wedged her flesh between her lips, grinding it on her teeth until finally I broke through. I shoved it deep into the back of her throat then covered her mouth and nose with my hands. I pinched as hard as I could, loosing my grip every so often from snot and spit. I watched the life drain from her eyes from each breath she couldn't take. Then, it was done. I collapse next to her still-warm, but limp body.

Sighing through heavy breaths my eyes began to flutter, heavy and ready to close, drifting off to sleep.

“That was a piece of cake.”