The Watch

‘Fuck!’ she proclaimed, looking down at the shattered remains of the antique watch. 

‘What on Earth were you thinking, Beatrice?’ Lewis objected, rushed in, pushed her aside, and stared down at the small pile of metal and glass. ‘Do you think that is funny?’

Beatrice did not respond, as she had become overwhelmed with a fit of gut-wrenching laughter, whilst still holding the hammer loosely within her grasp. She covered her mouth to muffle the sound, and closed her eyes to avoid Lewis’s piercing eyes, as he had turned around to glare at her.

‘You do realise that was a family heirloom?’ Lewis shook his head in disbelief as he picked up the sharp fragments. It was unsalvageable. ‘This was meant to be part of our inheritance. It was worth a fortune, you fucking idiot!’

‘So, what!’ Beatrice enunciated through a crack in her fingers as she continued to laugh. She then casually threw the hammer onto the workbench, put back her hands to balance herself on the windowsill of the garden shed, and then drew in a large breath to help calm her hysterical laughter.

‘What do you mean ‘so what?' Do you not have any respect? Mum and dad are going to hit the roof when they find out what you have done. Are you actually mental?’ Lewis huffed through his nostrils, trying to compose himself despite his sister’s outlandish behaviour.

Beatrice’s tear-filled eyes opened and met his. ‘Lo, will you just be quiet, already?’

‘Don’t you talk to me like that!’ Lewis raised a fist towards her but then refrained, withdrew it and grunted heavily. 

‘Why do you care so much about that stupid thing?’ Beatrice wiped the moisture from her eyes and took in another large breath. Her cheeks had reddened from the laughter.

‘Because that was grandad’s sacred watch. It has so much sentimental value and you just destroyed it!’ Lewis turned back towards the remains and shook his head. ‘B, you have done some idiotic things, but this really takes the biscuit.’ He then stood up straight, remembering something, turned to his sister and said, ‘what time is it? Mum and dad are meant to be back at 4:20.’

‘How am I supposed to know? My phone is inside and I’ve just broken this watch!’ Once more, Beatrice started laughing hysterically and had to put a hand to her abdomen because of convulsing stomach cramps.

‘We are going to be in so much trouble.’ Lewis’s eyes remained fixated upon the remains, as his hands clenched his cheeks, which by now had drained of colour. ‘B, why did you do this?’

‘Because of what it represented.’ Beatrice said as she controlled her laughter and wiped away tears from her eyes. She then straightened up, walked over to the bench and inspected the remains. ‘Grandfather always talked about this watch and how it was meant to represent structure, punctuality, discipline. That we are bound by time and have to live our lives based on its ruling. Perhaps I don’t want that, Lo, perhaps I don’t want to live by the shackles of time.’

‘Then how exactly do you plan on living? Everything operates around time. You have lost your mind.’ Lewis scoffed. 

‘It isn’t just time, but more that sense of imprisonment.’

‘What do you mean?’ Lewis read her face intently, trying to decipher her vague words.

‘It is what grandfather meant when he talked about this watch. He was talking about the times he lived in, about outdated views. When he spoke to me about this, he wasn’t just talking about being organised, he was talking about our apparent individual functions. He was talking about how we all are meant to fit within society.’

‘How do you know this, B?’

Beatrice then turned to her brother and looked him in the eye. ‘Because granddad was a sexist old git, a relic of a bygone era. He never saw women as equal. I saw the way he spoke down to mum. He was apparently a shit to nanny. And to me,’ — she then picked up the main body of the stainless-steel watch, and looked at its intricate, exposed and broken mechanisms — ‘this watch was him trying to pass down this same warped mindset. He was trying to instil in us his outdated values. Do you know how I know this, Lo?’

‘How?’ Lewis questioned, and by now had calmed down.

‘Because he wanted you to have this. He wanted you to have this precious watch because it would be unthinkable for a granddaughter to have such a thing because I don’t hold the same value to him as you did.’

‘I mean, that is quite a big statement to make, B! It just seems to me that you are making this story up because you are jealous that I am getting this and not you.’

‘Oh, give over, Lo! I couldn’t give two flying shits about having a bloody watch. You know I am not the sentimental type. I just did something that was symbolic.’ 

‘What?’

‘I am destroying the past.’ Beatrice smiled jubilantly. 

‘You know that mum and dad are going to ground you for a month for doing this?’ Lewis shook his head disapprovingly. 

‘I don’t care. It was worth it.’ 

‘You are really something, do you know that?’ Lewis licked his teeth inside his closed mouth whilst shaking his head. ‘We could have just sold it instead of you doing something so idiotic! And you could have asked my permission first before doing this!’

‘I am sorry,’ Beatrice said sincerely. 

Lewis rolled his eyes. He then turned to the watch once more and bit the inside of his cheek. ‘Now what are we going to do about this?’

Beatrice’s eyes opened in surprise.  ‘What do you mean ‘we’?’

‘We will just say it was an accident.’ 

‘But mum and dad won’t believe that?’

‘Yeah, well,’ — Lewis then threw an arm around his little sister’s shoulder and smiled — ‘I am meant to be the responsible older brother and begrudgingly accept that we are in this together.’

‘You’re the best.’ Beatrice then hugged him tightly and they stood there for a moment looking at the sea of fragments littered across the workbench.

‘You really do test me. Come on, let’s sort out this mess before mum and dad get home,’ Lewis said warmly, and they then started to pick up the small pieces of the shattered watch.