The Pushback

The heavy sedative was a chemical straightjacket. Haloperidol, compounded to bypass standard retail tracking. A drug used to chemically restrain violent or unmanageable psychiatric patients. And Elena was feeding it to Lily every night under the guise of an internship perk.

Sarah shoved the laptop away. The screen wobbled on its hinge.

She grabbed her keys and sprinted for the door. She didn't bother locking the deadbolt. The drive to the hoarder house was a blur of running yellow lights and gripping the steering wheel until her knuckles ached. The sun was just starting to rise, casting long, bruised shadows across the manicured lawns.

She slammed the brakes in the driveway, not caring that the tires tore deep gouges into the gravel.

She burst through the front door. "Mom!"

Margaret was in the living room, surrounded by a fortress of QVC boxes. She held a damp rag, meticulously wiping a thick layer of dust from an ancient, non-functioning grandfather clock.

"Don't yell in my house," Margaret said, not turning around. "And wipe your feet. You're tracking dew everywhere."

Sarah crossed the room in three strides. She grabbed Margaret by the shoulder and spun her around. The rag dropped to the floor.

"What is Elena giving Lily?" Sarah demanded, her voice shaking with adrenaline.

Margaret’s eyes widened briefly, a flash of genuine shock, before the familiar mask of aggrieved victimhood slammed into place. "I have no idea what you're talking about. Are you having another episode?"

"Don't do that. Do not do that to me right now." Sarah reached into her pocket and pulled out the napkin, unwrapping the pale blue pill. She held it inches from Margaret's face. "I took this from Lily last night. It's a sedative. A heavy one."

Margaret stared at the pill. The skin around her mouth tightened, the only physical tell that the lie was failing. "You stole from your own daughter? Sarah, you need professional help."

"It's the same drug you used to hide in Elena's food when she came back from the facility in 2000! Don't look at me like I'm crazy. I remember the bottles. I remember you grinding them up."

"You remember nothing!" Margaret shrieked, batting Sarah's hand away. The pill flew across the room, bouncing under a stack of old encyclopedias. "You remember your own twisted version of events because you can't stand that your sister is successful and you are a failure."

"She is drugging my child!"

Margaret pressed a hand to her chest, her breathing turning jagged and theatrical. The waterworks started instantly, heavy tears spilling over her wrinkled cheeks. "You're attacking me. In my own home. After everything I've done to keep this family together."

"Mom, stop acting."

"I'm calling Elena." Margaret turned and lunged for the landline on the cluttered end table. "She needs to know you're having a psychotic break. She warned me this might happen."

Sarah lunged to grab the cord, but Margaret already had the receiver pressed to her ear, dialing the speed dial from memory.

"Elena?" Margaret sobbed into the phone, her voice weak and trembling. "It's Sarah. She's here. She's completely unhinged, she's screaming at me..."

Margaret held the phone out, hitting the speaker button.

"Looking for a fight, Sarah?" Elena's voice from the speakerphone was cold. "Mark called me today about your erratic behavior."