Baby Bitch (Bitches and Queens) (7 page)

It sounded good in theory, but McKenna
knew the reality of both her parents giving their wholehearted approval of
Trevor wasn’t going to happen. Hannah was going to hate him, which, at first,
had been a huge part of his appeal. Now that she wanted a real relationship, one
that didn’t involve sneaking around, it was a problem—a huge problem. Although
she was still devastated by the discovery that her family was far from perfect,
at least they weren’t gangbangers. McKenna hoped her family might influence
Trevor to change his ways. Of course, that wasn’t going to happen if Hannah had
her way.

There was only one person on this earth
that could change her mind once it was set—Willow. Both of the twins learned a
long time ago that if there was something they really wanted but knew Hannah
would refuse, the trick was to go Willow first. She wasn’t exactly a complete sucker,
just very tenderhearted and tears worked like magic.

That afternoon, McKenna asked Trevor to
drop her off at Willow’s office downtown instead of the entrance of the gated
neighborhood as he usually did. Willow seemed surprised yet pleased by her
unannounced visit.

“Hey you,” she called out with a warm
smile as she hugged McKenna. “What are you doing here?”

“I just wanted to drop by and see what
you were working on,” McKenna answered casually.

“Just next season’s lingerie. So what do
you think?”

McKenna glanced down at the sketch with a
smile. Inwardly, she cringed. Sometimes she wished her mother would just design
normal clothes and not bondage garments. Thank God neither of her parents ever
wore any of this stuff. Trevor’s rude comments about her parent’s relationship
were still fresh in her memory. They were very affection with each
other—sometimes kissing and holding hands, but never disgustingly
demonstrative. Yuck! No one likes to think about their parents having sex.  “That’s
really nice. Is it leather?”

“No, it is a synthetic. I thought you
were supposed be with the prom committee?” Willow said.

“It was canceled,” McKenna muttered
without meeting her eyes.

Damn
, Willow thought to herself.
She has been lying.
Hannah was right, and for the past two weeks, Willow had insisted that she
needed to trust McKenna. She would probably never hear the end of this. She
also knew McKenna wanted something from her. Something that would no doubt make
Hannah very unhappy. The two women were co-parents and shared the division of
labor equally, but ultimately Hannah was the CEO of the household, especially
with the childrearing issues. It wasn’t something they planned, but Hannah had
such talent at being a mother, it just happened naturally.

“So, what’s really going on, McKenna?”

“I…” McKenna started and took a deep
breath, “…I met someone.”

Willow blinked with surprise. It was the
last thing she had expected. Although it was a perfectly normal conversation,
she was shocked to be having it with her mostly because McKenna never talked
about boys. Unless… “Does this person have a name?”

“His name is Trevor.”

“Oh,” Willow responded blankly.

“Mom, I really, really like him. And I
want both of you to like him too,” McKenna rushed with excitement.

“I’m sure we will both adore him. You
know we would like anyone who was important to you.”

“Yeah,” McKenna muttered with
uncertainty. “I don’t think Mommy will like him.”

“Why not?”

“Well—for starters, he is just a little
bit older than me,” McKenna said quietly.

“How much older?” Willow asked drily.

“He’s twenty-two years old.”

Strike one.
“What does Trevor do?”

“What do you mean?” McKenna asked.

“I mean—is he in school or does he have a
job?”

“I don’t know,” McKenna shrugged. “We’ve
never really talked about it.”

Strike two.
“Is there anything else about him she
wouldn’t approve of?”

“He drives a motorcycle, and he has a few
tattoos,” McKenna squeaked.

Strike three. Strike four.
There was no way Trevor could hit a
homerun. Hannah wouldn’t let him get anywhere near the plate.

“Oh McKenna,” Willow groaned. “She is
going to hate him. You do realize that, don’t you?”

“It’s like what you said. He is really
important to me,” McKenna cried. Usually, it took her a few minutes to really
work the tear angle but she was surprised how easily they came. Maybe her emotions
were a little closer to the surface than she realized? In no time at all, her
eyes were blurry and her lips started to quiver. “After everything…” she
started, but couldn’t get the rest of the words out because she started choking
on her sobs.

“Baby,” Willow whispered and pulled
McKenna in her arms. Stroking her hair, she said, “I know you don’t understand
now, but one day you will.”

“I... I… It’s just been so hard,” McKenna
stammered. “And… and… Trevor makes me happy.”

“I’ll talk to her. I won’t make you any
promises, but I’ll see what I can do.”

“Thank you, Mom. I knew you would
understand,” McKenna whispered.

“Where have you been? It is five o’clock
and you were supposed to be home an hour ago,” Hannah demanded as soon as they
walked into the door.

“I went to visit my
mother
at
work. Is that a crime now too?” McKenna shot back sarcastically.

“McKenna, go to your room,” Willow said
softly.

“What’s going on?” Hannah asked once she
had left.

Willow ignored her and began searching
through the cabinets until she found a bottle of wine. It wasn’t the best year,
but it was white and that was what was important. “Let’s have a drink,” she
finally suggested.

“It’s the middle of the afternoon, and I
don’t want a drink,” Hannah snapped back.

“Oh, I think you will,” Willow denied as
she placed the bottle of wine on the butcher block on the kitchen table. Her
gaze drifted lovingly towards the old table. She had so many good memories
there. Countless family dinners when it was just the four of them. Lots and lots
of sex when the children were not around. She really hoped Hannah didn’t
destroy it when she exploded.

“Damn it, Willow, just tell me what has
happened! Is McKenna taking drugs?”

“Hmm, no,” Willow answered nonchalantly
as she began pillaging through the cabinets for stray breakables—anything that
would shatter.

“Is she pregnant?”

“Good God, I hope not,” Willow grunted.
“Do you ever use this glass casserole dish anymore?”

“Not often. What the hell are you doing?
Those cabinets are immaculate. I cleaned them myself.”

“Here take this,” Willow commanded as she
handed over the casserole dish and then took a step back. “McKenna met
someone.”

“Oh,” Hannah murmured calmly. Considering
the way Willow was behaving, it was rather anticlimactic. It was normal for girls
McKenna age to become interested in… well, in other people. The truth suddenly
dawned upon her. She realized where Willow was heading with this conversation
but was surprised she thought it would shock her. Hannah had known for years.
And what the hell was she supposed to do with the casserole dish?

As discreetly as possible, Willow took a
step back and then another. Her ultimate goal was to get out of the range of
fire. In Hannah’s defense, she hadn’t gone insane in several years, but then
again, their daughter had never done anything like this. She decided the best
way to go about it was to rip off the truth like a Band-Aid.

“McKenna is interested in a twenty-two
year old man named Trevor. He has tattoos, rides a motorcycle, and may or may
not be employed.”

“
What
?”

“I know what you’re thinking. Trust me, I
am thinking the same thing too… Oh damn it, Hannah! Not the table. That’s why I
gave you the casserole dish,” Willow groaned and stared down with dismay at the
upended piece of furniture. She didn’t have too much time to reflect upon the
broken wood because Hannah was already heading for the door. Crossing the room
in a few graceful leaps, she held steady at the threshold.

“Hannah,
no
!” Willow screamed. “Just
think about this for a minute. The harder you push, the faster she will run
straight for him. We have to stay level-headed about this.”

Hannah blinked and then took a deep
breath. “You’re right,” she muttered.

“I am?” Willow questioned warily.

“Of course, you’re right,” Hannah agreed
as she reached out and stroked Willow’s cheek.

Willow let out a sigh of relief and
stepped away from the door.

“I am going to remain calm,” Hannah
assured evenly as she started to move past her and then her huge eyes narrowed
to lethal slits. “Then I am going to
fucking
lock her in her bedroom
until she is fifty fucking years old! The only way she will ever see that piece
of fucking trash is over my goddamn dead body!”

“
Han-nah
!” Willow shouted but she
was already halfway up the stairs. All she could do was follow behind and pray
Hannah and McKenna didn’t end up killing each other.

“McKenna, open this door,” Hannah
commanded. When McKenna refused to comply with her simple request, a black, vile
rage spewed from her throat. “Open this goddamn fucking door or I’ll rip the
motherfucker from its hinges,” she screeched.

A few seconds later, the door was opened.
McKenna stared at her with a combination of shock and fear.

“
No
,” Hannah growled. “Absolutely
not. This is
not
going to happen. Do you understand me?”

For several moments, McKenna was
dumbfounded and speechless. She had never seen her mommy act this way let alone
say those words. Had she really just dropped the F-bomb? Whatever happened to
good girls don’t talk like that? It was more than a little frightening. She
glanced over Hannah’s shoulder at Willow for support, but she only shrugged
helplessly. Something snapped inside her. If Mommy wasn’t going to play by the
rules then damned if she would either.

“
Fuck you
,” McKenna spat.

“What did
you
say to me?”

“I said fuck you,” McKenna screamed as
loud as she could.

“Don’t you
ever
say that to me
again,” Hannah shrieked. “I am your mother, you disrespectful little bitch!”

“You’re a fucking hypocrite,” McKenna
cried. “You always say you shouldn’t judge someone until you know them, and you
have never even met Trevor.”

“You are a child, and he is a grown man.
I don’t need to meet him to know what he is—nothing but a nasty, twisted
pedophile.”

“That is such bullshit. He is the
one
,
Mommy.”

“He is
not
the one,” Hannah denied
adamantly.

“He
is
. He isn’t a pervert. I
practically begged him to make love to me and he wouldn’t do it because he
wants our first time to be special.”

Hannah gasped as she covered her mouth in
horror. Feeling as if McKenna had just ripped her heart out of her chest, she
spat roughly, “
You
are too young to even think about sex let alone
actually do it.”

“Oh my God,” McKenna cried. “I am
eighteen years old. At my age, neither one of you was a virgin.”

“I waited for your mother,” Hannah
hissed.

“You waited for lesbian sex. That doesn’t
count,” McKenna screamed.

At that moment, Hannah realized that she
could no longer be in this room with her daughter—not if she wanted anything or
anyone left standing. As evenly as possible, she said, “No,” and then turned
and walked away.

That evening, Hannah and Willow got ready
for bed in silence. Willow didn’t know where Hannah had disappeared to for
several hours, only that when she did finally get home she looked sweaty and exhausted.
Hopefully, she had gone to the gym.

Hannah stripped off her clothes and
stepped into the shower without a word. For a moment, Willow considered joining
her but decided against it as neither of them was in the mood. Instead, she
waited patiently until Hannah was finished. Once she was toweled off and
dressed in her pajamas, she pulled out two prescription bottles from the back
of the medicine cabinet.

Willow could no longer hold her tongue.
“Those are past the expiration date. Is that safe?”

Hannah swallowed the anti-psychotic and
anxiety pills and then smirked. “It’s safer than the alternative. Besides, my
physician gives me a refill in case of emergencies.”

“Did you call him first? You haven’t
taken those medications in years.”

“Well, Willow, no. Strangely enough, I
had a few other things on my mind,” Hannah snapped back sarcastically.

Willow lingered for a moment before going
to bed. She remembered how watching Hannah take her medications was once a part
of their nightly ritual. Although it hardly sounded romantic, it was actually
quite so. It was her way of proving that she could be healthy. Willow had hoped
it wouldn’t come to this but was relieved that Hannah had taken the initiative
and that she hadn’t had to suggest it.