My old friend David Fisher hired me as a caretaker and all purpose maintenance worker for the famed Fisher and Sons Funeral Home. David had saved me from a mundane job as a waiter. I often liked David in our high school days though he was a bit odd. The same could be said for his highly dysfunctional family. I had no clue what I was about to endure.
My first week at the house was unsettling. David arranged for me to stay in the guest bedroom upstairs. It was cozy and I had a welcome view into Claire's room. She was a strange one, usually glued to her computer with a steady thump of industrial rock coming from her room. Claire kept her bedroom door half open on purpose. At night, she paraded around the room in a tight silk t-shirt along with a black thong that left little to the imagination. She was often the main subject of my pre-slumber jack off fantasy.
On a frigid January night, I had dreamt of Claire dancing nude in the snowstorm outside. I was prepared to lick every speck of snow from her nubile body and roll her around in it again. I dreamt further of the wild things I could show her as she only dated those dumbass teen guys in her school. My visions were shattered by a frantic beating on the front door.
As detailed in my job description, I answered the door.
Nate Fisher stood caked in snow as the storm raged on. He stared right through me.
"Where's mom?" He asked.
"It's after midnight, Nate. She was in bed hours ago."
"Right." He made his way into the living room and walked down the hallway toward Ruth Fisher's room.
Brenda came staggering up the walkway as I held the door for her. She was cold and wet with matching streams of tears flowing from her eyes. I motioned for her to have a seat in the recliner.
"The house is burning!" She cried. "I've lost everything! Everything is burning!"
"Oh damned!" I put a friendly hand on her trembling arm.
"You've got to take me back there! I have to see it. I have too see it burn to continue with the next phase of life!"
If the Fisher family was strange, Nate's girlfriend was their prized trophy. She always spoke in eerie riddles and demanded curious tasks from those she challenged. Nate awoke David and Ruth. The three of them came back into the living room.
"Nate, you fucker!" Brenda yelled. "Take me back to the house! I have to see it!"
"I am not getting back out in this, Brenda. The house is gone." Nate told her calmly.
"You never realize what is important to me!" She screamed.
"Simon?" Nate turned to me. "Why don't you take the kooky bitch to see the rest of the house burn?"
I looked to David as he nodded his approval. Mother Ruth bundled an extra blanket around Brenda and instructed me to take her car. Brenda was in such a state, she could barely walk. The three of us helped her to the car and sat her in the passenger seat. David walked to the window and took my hand as he knelt.
"Simon, I hope it is worth the money. This shit you have to put up with." He said.
"It's really nothing, David."
I drove off into the black night, complimented with the sheets of heavy snow. The windshield wipers could not keep up as the car was coated with fluffy flakes between the relay. Brenda gnawed at her fingernails. She had removed her shoes, bent her knees and placed her perfectly symmetrical toes upon the dash.