The Zyne Project by Sara Brooke Read Free Book Online

baldness.
    As the marriage completely disintegrated, she withdrew from society and spent hours in her bedroom, staring at the mirror, pulling out her hair.  She also began to pull out her eyebrows and eyelashes. The compulsion became severe and his father finally left, unable to handle her worsening condition.
    After the divorce was finalized, Dan went to live with his father, but returned several weeks later to visit his mother in her new home.
    He had used the spare key she’d given him to unlock the front door. When he stepped inside, he had to squint to find his way through the entranceway. The house was dark and stuffy as if the air conditioning had been off for several days.  The kitchen looked bare, the cupboard devoid of food, the refrigerator containing a carton of milk, ancillary rotting vegetables, and a loaf of moldy bread. Dishes sat in the sink, unwashed, and houseflies buzzed throughout. 
    “Mom?” he’d called out.   When she didn’t answer, he walked to her bedroom and knocked on the door. 
    A tiny, weak voice shouted out, “Come in.” 
    Dan remembered how frightened he’d been to enter her bedroom.  By that point, his mother had become reclusive and strange; her compulsion transforming what was once beautiful into a freakish visage of pain and addiction.
    Slowly pushing the door open, he’d found her sitting at the familiar vanity mirror. Even from this vantage point, he could see patches of bald spots dotting the back of her head like polka dots. She wasn’t wearing a wig and was applying eyebrow pencil to her face.
    “Oh, hi my darling…” When she turned to face him, he’d almost screamed, but managed to hold it together through sheer willpower.
    She looked like a demented circus clown.  No eyebrows remained and were replaced with jagged, misshapen, thick lines. Her hair was thin and missing in many spots, her face gaunt, and eyes sunken into deep, black crevices.  Her skin was thin and stretched, and to make matters worse…she’d applied bright red lipstick, uneven and smudged. 
    She rose to give him a hug and he couldn’t stand it a moment longer.  Backing out of the room, he ran out of the house, hearing her voice call to him as he’d rushed out…
    “Dannnyy…Dannnyyy…come backkk…come backkk….”
    That was the last time he saw his mother because a few days later, she committed suicide by swallowing an entire vial of Valium.  Her appearance was so damaged that the funeral parlor was unable make her presentable. The family decided against a showing and instead, kept her wasted and destroyed frame inside a beautifully adorned coffin, so that the only memories of her would be beautiful and regal.
    But Dan’s memories would forever be shattered by the last image of his crazed mother and he often revisited their last meeting during nightmares that occurred again and again over the course of his adult life.
    Now, sitting on the bed and watching Teresa sleep, he wondered if maybe he’d taken this assignment because of the psychological damage done by his mother. Had he pushed ahead with the trial even though he hadn’t been 100% sure that it was safe because he was trying to undo the wrongs of his past?  To save people who suffered like her?  People like Teresa? 
    Shaking his head, he pushed the questioning thoughts out of his head.  These people counted on him to figure out what was going on.  He made a silent pact with himself that no matter what, he was going to make things right and help them get better. 
    Standing up, he decided to let Teresa rest and left her lying on the bed.
     
    ***
     
    Rosa and Bryan were stunned to see the damage done to the common area.  Sofas were overturned, the TV was smashed, and glass littered the floor in every direction. Both were careful to not step on any sharp shards and maneuvered over to the dining area without getting hurt. 
    Bryan wasn’t feeling good.  His head was positively pounding and at times it was difficult