Tainted: Origins of a Psycho

The Best Medicine

March 5, 1998

Millicent watched her grandson with concern as he continuously tapped his fork on to his breakfast plate, his head leaning in his hand and his eyes void of emotion. She knew that something was troubling him, but every time she asked him about it he brushed her off.

Victor insisted that he was just upset over the sudden disappearance of his partner. He told her the best thing for her to do was try and get his mind off of it for a while.

Even though Millicent was certain that there was more to the story than her son was letting on, she decided that it would be best not to ask any more questions for the time being.

Vincent pushed his plate away and stood from the table.  "Thank you for breakfast, Grandma. I'm still pretty tired so I think I'm going to go back to bed for a while." 

He turned around to walk away until Millicent placed her hand on his shoulder, pulling him to a sudden stop. "Hold it right there, young man.  We have been cooped up in this house for over a week.  I think it's time we get out of here and go do something fun."

Vincent avoided her gaze, fixing his eyes on the Ren and Stimpy house shoes he was wearing.  "Sorry, Grandma. I just don't feel like going anywhere right now."

"Nonsense!" Millicent said, taking his chin in between her index finger and thumb to make him look at her. "You are far too young to spend your time moping around like this. Get dressed and let me take you out for a while."

"But, Grandma-"

"Ah ah ah!  Butts are for cigarettes."  Millicent said, wagging her finger at him.  "Now, get up to your room and get dressed before I make you rub my wrinkled old feet for an hour."

Vincent's nose crinkled and he clutched on to his stomach with a smile on his face.  "Gross!"

"Hey! They're not that bad!"

"Yeah, but I think I'm gonna pass on touching them!" Vincent joked before running upstairs to get ready. He returned a few minutes later wearing a Daffy Duck t-shirt with faded blue jeans and a black baseball cap. "Okay, I'm dressed! Where are we gonna go first?"

"You'll see." Millicent said, a mischievous grin spreading across her face.  She took him by the wrist and excitedly pulled him to her car, making sure that he was buckled in before peeling out of the dirt driveway.

The smile remained on her lips until they reached a large nursing home on the outskirts of town. She turned the engine off and Vincent stared out of the window with uncertainty on his face. "What are we doing here, Grandma?  Are we visiting someone?"

Millicent reached into her purse and pulled out an oversized pair of glasses, sticking them on her face.  She turned around and grabbed a cane that was stashed on the floorboard of the back seat, then climbed out of the car and motioned for Vincent to follow her inside.

They casually walked past the receptionist stationed at the front of the nursing home and went into the activity room, where there were about thirty old people playing checkers and bingo.  Millicent sat down on a ragged green sofa in the back of the room with her legs spread as wide as they could go and her back hunched over the cane. 

"Why are you sitting like that?"  Vincent asked, his eyebrows furrowing at her strange behavior.

She smiled at him and answered, "Watch this."

Vincent opened his mouth to ask her what she was up to, but was interrupted when she began violently tapping her cane on the floor.

"Where the hell is my vanilla pudding!?" She screamed, swinging her cane in the air. "I told you bastards to give me my pudding!"

Everyone in the room immediately turned their attention to her, shaking their heads and whispering to each other, while Vincent stood there with his mouth hung open in shock. 

Millicent noticed the reaction she was getting and decided to step it up a notch. "You guys have to help me!!" She wailed, flailing her arms around like a mad woman. "If I don't get my pudding soon, the aliens are going to take my grandson back to Jupiter!!"

The doors that lead to the activity room swung open and an orderly came in with a frown on his face.  "What in the world is going on here!?"

Vincent stepped in front of his grandmother and raised his hands in the air.  "Please don't be angry, sir.  She's just kidding around."

There were more whispers shared amongst the residents, then one of the old men stood up and pointed his finger at Millicent.  "That crazy old broad doesn't even live here!"

The orderly gazed over at Millicent with an uncertain look on his face and took a few steps towards her. 

Millicent tossed the cane down and looked at her grandson with a wide smile.  She reached into her purse and pulled out what appeared to be an orange water balloon.   "Vincent, run!"  She shouted before throwing it at the angry orderly, laughing wildly as his blue scrubs became covered in vanilla pudding.

Vincent grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her out of the nursing home before anyone could catch them. They climbed into her car and peeled out of the parking lot, both of them laughing so hard they could hardly breathe.

"Holy crap, Grandma!" Vincent cried, still shaken up by her outburst. "You're crazy!"

Millicent grinned and drove to a nearby Italian restaurant, her eyes filled with tears from all of the laughing. "Oh Jesus, that was was fun."

"I really thought you lost your mind back there."  Vincent said, clutching on to his chest to try and steady his breathing.

"Nah, I just like screwing with people."  She said with a shrug.  "Anyway, now that you've cheered up a little...how about some lunch?"

"Sounds good to me!"

They shared a nice meal together before returning back to the house.  Millicent kicked her shoes off and plopped down on her couch while Vincent sat on the recliner.  Laughter filled the living room as they reminisced on the scene at the nursing home, and Millicent was thrilled to see her grandson smiling again. 

She wanted nothing more in the world than for him to be happy, even if that meant making a fool of herself just to make him laugh.  "Well, Hell..." She breathed, exhausted.  "Let's see if we can find a good movie to watch for a while." 

She flipped through the channels for a while until something on the local news captured her attention.  Her eyes widened when she saw the picture of Jordan Nichols in the corner of the screen, the caption below it reading 'Local police officer found dead.'

"Oh my God..." She gasped, throwing her hand over her mouth.

The color drained from Vincent's face and his body began to tremble.  He immediately bolted up from the recliner and ran to the bathroom to throw up. 

Millicent ran after him and started to knock on on the door to check on him, but she froze when she heard him talking to himself.

"No....this can't be happening."  He wailed, unaware that she was listening to him.