The Motive (standard:Suspense, 3719 words)
Author: Lori	Added: May 20 2007	Views/Reads: 4606/2534	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
This is a story about Lizzie Borden and the murder of her parents. Thanks TC for all the help. You made a good story into something great, in my opinion.

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story


“Father.  I'm in love with a woman.” Lizzie comes out and tells her
father. Watching the little vein above his eye throb, she knows she's 
pissed him off royally. Lizzie is giddy with the thought of seeing his 
eyes pop out of his skull. 

“What?” Andrew asks with disdain in his voice. He looks at his daughter
like she's a stranger. “What did you just say?” 

“You heard me.” Lizzie says. “I'm in love with a woman.” Lizzie tries
not to smile at the look on her father's face. If looks could kill, 
there would be another ending to the one she had plans for today. 

“How can this be?” Abby inquires of her. She looks to her husband for
guidance. It's a hopeless cause. Andrew is beside himself with fury. 

“We've raised you better then this?” Andrew's voice has anger in it.
Lizzie watches the vein bulge out. It looks like it could pop wide 
open. She relishes in the feeling of power she has over him at the 
moment. Lizzie dreams of seeing her father die of shock. 

“Father, it's not about how I was raised.” Lizzie begins. “It's about
how I feel. This woman makes me feel alive.” Lizzie wants to laugh at 
the look on her father's face. She wants to tell him this is what he 
gets for denying her things in the past. 

“Enough!” Andrew shouts at her. He looks over to Abby and says, “Abby,
please leave the room.” He looks down at the table, his eyes betraying 
a hopelessness that can only come for a loved one's betrayal. 
Everything will change now. Never a popular man, he is still 
well-respected, now he will be a laughing stock in the open and 
whispers about in the back rooms. In business he will be a pariah. 

Abby gets up without questioning him. As much as she would love to stay
and discuss this, she minds her husband and leaves the room. Abby knows 
he is already angry, and there is no reason to cause him any further 
distress. 

“No, Father, she can stay.” Lizzie pleads. She wants the arrogant woman
gone, but she wants to make her leave in disgust. Not have her father 
run her out of the room because this isn't a conversation a so-called 
lady should hear. 

“I said leave the room, Woman!” Andrew shouts again. Abby has already
left the room, so the command is needless. Andrew looks up at Lizzie. 

“Father, please . . . ” Lizzie begins. 

“Don't Father me, heathen.” Andrew stands up and starts to pace. “What
have you done?” 

“I haven't done anything, Father.” Lizzie says with fake bewilderment. 

“Yes, you have.” Andrew is livid. Lizzie has done some wild things and
has had some wild ideas, but nothing like this. “You'll bring shame to 
this family. I won't have it!” Andrew shouts again. 

“What do you mean?” Lizzie stands up and faces her father. 

“You will leave this house today.” Andrew paces as he thinks. “We'll
tell people you went to live with a sick relative far away. Sooner or 
later they'll stop talking about you. You're not that important a 
girl.” 

“You can't do that.” Lizzie states with anguish in her voice. She has to
make her father believe this isn't want she wants. She has to make him 
think she'll fight him tooth and nail before she is to consent to 
leaving. 

“I can and I will.” Andrew says as he turns to look at his daughter. How
she has repulsed him today. “You will no longer live under my roof. Be 
happy with it, or I'll cut you off categorical.” 

“You can't mean that!” Lizzie cries. She hasn't thought about her plan
not working. If it doesn't, she can't have him taking away what little 
money he grants her to have. 

“Yes, I can.” Andrew tells her. “I'll leave everything to Abby. I'm sure
your sister knows about this.” Andrew gets upset again. He thinks of 
ways to conceal this defect in his family. 

“Emma knows nothing, I promise.” Lizzie fears for her sister. If she's
cut off from her father's money, how is she going to help Lizzie? In 
addition, Emma knows nothing of Lizzie's plan. She couldn't know before 
hand in case she got scared and warned their father. Lizzie could only 
get her to stay at their relatives' house on the promise that Lizzie 
was going to do something to make their future a better place to be. 
“Father.  You can't leave me without any means of taking care of 
myself.” 

“I said, if you weren't happy to leave on my conditions, I would cut you
off.” Andrew berates his daughter. “But, you will have to live 
somewhere besides here. I can't have you in my house and in my life. 
What are my business associates going to think, child?” 

Lizzie hates it when her father calls her child. She is a grown woman,
for Christ's sake, she thinks to herself. She is old enough to do what 
she likes and be whom she wants to be. “Father, I don't mean to hurt 
you. But . . . ” 

“Like hell you don't!” Andrew interrupts Lizzie. “You have hated me
since your mother died. You've blamed me for her death.” 

“No, I haven't!” Lizzie comforts her father. It's true, but she doesn't
want him to think so. “But, you've also done it to me and Emma. You 
blame us for her death. You say it's our fault she died.” 

“No, I've said that it's her fault because she shouldn't have been
around you girls when you were sick.” Andrew says with hatred in his 
voice. “I told her a hundred times to let the maids take care of you 
both.” 

“Father.  That's in the past.” Lizzie tries to touch her father's arm,
but he pulls away from her. She gets angry and lashes out at him. 
“We're discussing the here and now. I'm in love with a woman and 
there's nothing you can do about it.” 

“Like hell I can't!” Andrew exclaims as he heads for the back door. He
can't stand to look at her one more minute. He fears what he might do 
if he does. Never has he wanted to hit her before this moment. Maybe if 
he had been more disciplined with her, she wouldn't be making this 
declaration now. 

“Where are you going?” Lizzie runs after him. 

“I told you I have to go to town.” Andrew doesn't look back as he
unlocks the door. “I'll look into travel plans while I'm there. Don't 
forget to lock the door behind me.” Since they were robbed last year, 
every door in the house has a lock on it. The only person with a key is 
Andrew. The other keys are spread throughout the house so anyone could 
use them. 

“When will you be back?” Lizzie shouts after her father. He doesn't
answer. She waves at the neighbors out on the streets as if nothing out 
of the ordinary is happening. 

Lizzie watches her father retreat from the house. She knows she hasn't
won this round with him. But, there is much more to discuss when he 
comes home. She sees the maid, Bridget come downstairs. 

“Where are you going, Maggie?” She asks. 

“Your mother wants me to wash the window.” Bridget hates when they call
her “Maggie,” the old maid's name. Both girls do it out of disrespect. 
Bridget is an immigrant from Ireland so she doesn't want to make waves 
and lose her job, so she overlooks it. 

“Well, get to it then.” Lizzie says with disgust in her voice. She hates
that they don't have a proper maid. But, the best ones cost more. So, 
her father hires anyone off the streets for cheaper wages. They don't 
stay long. Of course, that is because Lizzie and Emma made sure they 
don't feel welcome. 

“Yes, ma'am.” Bridget replies meekly as she reaches up for the key to
the back door. 

“You can give that to me,” Lizzie states... “I'll make sure it doesn't
get lost.” Lizzie and Emma hid the keys from Bridget in hopes of her 
father finding so he will fire her. 

“Thank you, ma'am.” Bridget frets as she hands over the key to Lizzie.
Mr. Borden has told her that if another key goes missing he is going to 
take it out of her pay. She needs the money to send back to her family 
in Ireland. They hoped to buy a bigger family so Bridget can come home. 
If Mr. Borden starts docking her pay for the keys Lizzie and Emma take 
from her, she doesn't know how long she can stand it. She walks out the 
door thinking maybe she can look in their rooms later and try to find 
another key. So far, she hasn't been fortunate enough to do this. 

“I'm going to the barn to look for fishing sinkers.” Lizzie says to
Bridget's back. “Mrs. Borden has gone out to visit a sick friend. I 
don't know when she'll be back.” Lizzie lies to her. She can't have 
Bridget looking for Abby when she's through when her chores. 

“Yes, ma'am.” Bridget says out loud. She thinks about how she can take a
nap after doing the windows. It's so hot outside and if everyone is out 
of the house they won't be needing anything. A nap would be nice to 
have to avoid the hot and humid weather today. 

Lizzie watches Bridget walk over to the water hose. She admires
Bridget's shape. “Not bad for a foreigner.” She thinks to herself. 
“Maybe if this doesn't work, and the father lets me stay, I'll have to 
do something about Ms. High and Mighty.” 

Lizzie walks to the barn and goes in. She's not really going to look for
fishing sinkers. But, it's a good excuse to be out of the house. She 
can't stand staying in it a minute longer. Lizzie thinks about all the 
money she'll have when her father dies. She can buy a big house on the 
upper class side of town. She can hire the best maids money can buy. 
She can  have a girlfriend move in as a companion. Lizzie knows she 
can't openly live as a gay woman. But, what goes on behind closed doors 
is no one's business. 

Lizzie looks out the door and sees Bridget go in the house. She can't
believe how much time has passed while she fills her head with 
daydreams of a better life. Lizzie runs over to the back door, watching 
out for neighbors as she goes, and sees if it's still unlocked. She 
breathes a sigh of relief to see that it is. “Everything is going 
according to plan,” she thinks to herself. She jogs back to the barn 
and lays in wait for her father. 

Lizzie thinks again of all the things she can buy with the money from
her father's death. “If only the poison had worked!” She thinks out 
loud. “I could be a rich woman now and living a life of luxury and one 
of ease.” 

Lizzie is startled by the sound of her father's boots hitting the steps
of the back porch. She looks out in amazement as he walks in the door. 

Lizzie walks to the door with a slow pace, she doesn't want to alert the
neighbors to her running for a third time. Lizzie feels safe in 
believing no one has seen her, but she doesn't want to chance messing 
things up straightaway. Lizzie walks calmly up the steps and opens the 
back door. She almost walks into a woman who's covered in blood and 
holding an axe in her hands. 

“Well?” Lizzie asks with glee. “Is it done?” 

“Yes, my love.” The woman smiles at Lizzie. “I did want you wanted me to
do.” 

“Thank you.” Lizzie takes her gently into her arms and kisses the woman
on the mouth. She slips a little tongue to her as a reward. Lizzie 
wants her to think there is a bigger reward for her later. 

Lizzie pull back from the woman to look her in the face. She
compassionately reaches out to cup the woman's face with her hands. 
“Now what it the plan?” 

“Yes, I'm to leave town.” The woman tries to touch Lizzie. 

“Don't touch me!” Lizzie exclaims. She doesn't want anymore blood on her
then she already has. It'd be too hard to explain. “Now, what is the 
rest of the plan?” She questions the woman to see if she's paid 
attention. 

“I'm not to contact you until you've contacted me.” The woman says,
disheartened at yet again being taking for granted, even after killing 
for Lizzie. “I'm not to talk to any of my family, or friends, for fear 
I might let something slip. I'm not supposed to know about your parents 
murders.” 

“Good girl.” Lizzie reaches out to touch the woman's breast. She does it
to give false encouragement to her. She's careful of the blood that is 
covering the dress.“Now, go before someone sees you. And don't forget 
to leave by way of the woods out back.” Lizzie whispers to her as she 
takes the axe out of the woman's hands. Lizzie peeks out the door to 
see if anyone is watching. 

“Yes,” The woman walks around Lizzie to get to the door. “I want to say
something before I go.” She tries to turn back and look at Lizzie. 

“What? Hurry up, now!” Lizzie tries to push her out the back door. She
leaves a trail of blood on the back of the woman's blouse. It must have 
gotten on her hand as she reached out to touch the woman's breast. She 
rubs it off on the woman's blouse. 

“That feels nice.” The woman replies in a smooth sexually filled voice.
She thinks Lizzie is touching her in fond farewell, until they can be 
together again. 

She turns at the door to look Lizzie in the eyes. “The only reason I did
this is because I love you. And I know we'll be together forever, 
Lizzie, my darling.” Her eyes are full of love for this woman she has 
done an unthinkable act for. The woman hopes to never be taken for 
granted again. She has proved to Lizzie how much she's loved her today. 


“That's good.” Lizzie says with impatiently. She has to get the woman
out the door. 

“Until tomorrow, my love.” The woman tries to kiss Lizzie on the cheek. 

“Go...” Lizzie whispers loudly with anger coming into her voice. “Go
now! Someone will see you, and clean up! That blood all over you makes 
you stink, and it makes me want to wretch.” Lizzie shuts the door in 
the woman's still puckered face and turns back to the room. “Good 
riddance.” Lizzie says to the empty room. “What to do first?” She 
wonders for a minute. 

Lizzie looks down at her dress and jumps into action. She runs down the
backstairs to the basement. Lizzie tosses the axe into a corner and 
reaches for a dress she has hidden down here. It's the pattern cut, 
style, and color as this one. Thinking now it was a good thing to have 
a spare, because of how much blood is on the one she's wearing, Lizzie 
strips down and puts on the new dress. 

She runs to the back stairs up the stairs and cries up to Bridget.
“Maggie, come quickly! Someone has killed Father!” She moves back to 
the center of the room and looks around at all the things that now 
belong to her. “It begins.” She mutters to herself with a quiet giggle. 


_______________________________________________________________________ 

Lizzie Borden was charged with two counts of murder and two counts of
bodily harm. She went on to trail and was acquitted due to lack of 
evidence. Though convicted in the court of public opinion, she would 
remain a free woman. 

It's true that she was gay. In 1904, she was linked romantically to an
actress by the name of Nancy O'Neil. It's not definite she lived with 
this woman, or any other. Because of the times, I'm sure those things 
were kept hush-hush. 

There was a deposition Lizzie gave to the prosecutor before her arrest.
Her lawyers got it thrown out. We'll never know what's in the file, 
because it's still sealed, and closely guarded, to this day. 

The dress thing is some what true. Lizzie is reported, by a close family
friend, to be seen washing blood out of a dress a few days after the 
murders. Whether or not that was the dress, she or someone, killed her 
parents in has never been answered. 

Lizzie died on June 1, 1927. She had developed some unmentioned illness
while recovery from gall bladder surgery. Lizzie Borden, who by this 
time was going by the name LizBeth, was 67. She never got married, of 
course, and never had any children. She left all her money to 
charitable foundations. 

We may never know what really happened to Mr. and Mrs. Borden. Only the
person/s who murdered them knows. This is a figment of my imagination. 
The only parts that are true are the ones that can be found on any 
website devoted to Lizzie and the murders of Andrew and Abby Borden. 

There are mentions of him really giving away some of his assets to keep
them from Lizzie and her sister Emma. It may have given Lizzie a motive 
to do the murders, or have them done. 

There are numerous reports of people seeing a man/men in the area around
No. 92 Second Street. There is even one reporting, by a neighbor who 
was walking through the woods, of a man crying “Poor Mrs. Borden!”, 
while sitting on a stump and playing with an axe. No of these reports 
ever turned up an person/s linked to the crime. Some believe people 
made up things to get Lizzie off. 

They had a half-brother by the name William. Some people think he did
the murders because Mr. Borden wouldn't name him as an heir. He was 
born “on the wrong side of the blanket,” as the old saying goes. 

The house where the killings took place has been turned into a bed and
breakfast/museum. You can stay the night in the room Abby was killed in 
for the price of $250, two adults, for one night. 

© May 19, 2007 


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