Crazy Guilty

By Zoe Cannon

A decade ago, Courtney and her friends survived an attack so shocking it made the national news. Their classmate Olivia Kendall's obsession with them, which had grown as her mental health declined, culminated in a scene of brutal violence.

At least that's the story they told. And with Olivia locked away in a mental institution, who is there to question them?

Until Courtney sits down with a reporter for a ten-year retrospective. Because the longer the interview goes on, the more Courtney suspects the reporter knows more than she's saying…

This short story is 7900 words long. It can also be found in With Friends Like These, a psychological thriller short story collection.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Zoe Cannon
• Release date: Jan 19, 2024
• ISBN: 9798223254355

Book preview

Crazy Guilty

Zoe Cannon

© 2023 Zoe Cannon

http://www.zoecannon.com

All rights reserved

This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and events are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.

Crazy Guilty

As the glossy-haired reporter sank into the recliner opposite Courtney, Courtney adjusted the throw pillows next to her on the couch to hide the dog vomit stain she hadn’t been able to scrub out. She hoped the reporter wasn’t planning on taking any pictures. Not only did she not want the remains of Elvis’s half-digested kibble adorning the pages of Straight Talk Magazine, Jason hadn’t cleaned up the kids’ toys while she was at work like he had said he would, even though he’d had the day off and he had known this interview was coming for weeks now.

At least he had followed through on his promise to take the kids bowling while the reporter was here. But of course he had gotten the time wrong in his calendar, which meant he hadn’t been ready to leave on time, and so twenty minutes before the reporter was scheduled to arrive, she had still been shoveling macaroni and cheese into little mouths instead of showering like she had planned. Then Amie had insisted on a French braid, and Molly had pitched a fit because she couldn’t find her stuffed zebra. And then, of course, the reporter had arrived ten minutes early—full of apologies, of course, but apologies didn’t change the fact that Courtney was now sitting here greasy-haired and wearing yesterday’s sweater, praying the reporter didn’t want any close-up shots to go along with the story of the worst day of her life.

The reporter had introduced herself as Patricia-Albert-call-me-Pip. Patricia was an odd name for a woman who looked to be the same age as Courtney. It made her think of her mother’s friends from her Life After Fifty group. Maybe that was why she went by a nickname. But Courtney decided she would think of her as Patricia anyway, because she couldn’t bring herself to call a grown adult Pip.

Courtney caught Patricia glancing around the room, discreetly taking notes. About the mess, Courtney could only assume, since there wasn’t anything else notable about her living room. Courtney pushed the cheese plate across the coffee table toward her, in a belated attempt to draw attention to the one