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“I’m trying to help you both out here,” he says, passing our plates back. “You both tend toward having fat asses. You guys both take after Serena’s mother, who was herself practically a fucking cow. She was disgusting.”
I glance toward my mother. I’ve never seen my mother bigger than a size two except when she was pregnant. But she just smiles benevolently down the table at my father, like he’s really doing something great for her.
“Thank you, Robert. You always look out for us,” she says. She glances around the table. “All of us should be very thankful.”
Hazel has a piece of chicken hanging from her mouth when she mumbles, “Thanks, Dad!”
“Thank you,” I echo quietly.
I look down at my plate, eying the tiny portions with a silent sigh. No sooner have I sliced a tiny piece of chicken off and popped it into my mouth does my father begin.
“When do you graduate again?” he asks, putting an elbow on the table. He spears a huge bite and chews it with relish.
“At the end of January.”
“And when do you hear back from New York Ballet?”
My cheeks turn pink. “I don’t know. I haven’t gotten my audition date yet. There are a lot of factors, like how many more people they have auditioning after me.”
He points his fork at me. “That’s not good enough, Kaia. I need a date.”
I swallow, dropping my eyes. “I’ll try to find out, Dad.”
“Good. I don’t want to have to ask you again,” he grunts.
“She is probably too busy with her social life to even pay attention to something like an important deadline,” Hazel says cattily.
I huff a laugh. “Social life? Have you never seen how much I practice? There is barely enough time left over for me to sleep.”
My dad fixes me with a glare. “I don’t like sarcastic comments or snark in my house, young lady. Now apologize to your sister.”
I give Hazel a dead-eyed stare. “Sorry.”
My father isn’t finished, though. He sets his fork down and leans in. “I would hope that you would have some fucking manners by now. I’ve spent almost twenty years and hundreds of thousands of dollars on your education and training as a dancer.”
My neck heats. “Yes, sir. I plan to repay you every cent.”
Everyone goes quiet. The idea of me earning that much money in my whole lifetime does seem absurd, on its face.
“Unless you have a check for the whole amount, I’m not interested. And I know that you will never have that kind of money. I mean, look at yourself, Kaia. You’ll never be worth anything to anyone outside of this family.”
My cheeks burn. He’s right, of course. It does seem impossible.
I sneak a glance at my mother. She is chewing quietly, looking at her plate. No help is forthcoming from that quarter, not that I’m the least bit surprised.
My dad clears his throat and shoots me a glare.
“You’re using the wrong goddamn fork. Did I not send you to cotillion and spend my hard earned money on you learning basic table manners?” He shakes his head, disgusted. “You should be a lady, like your sister.”
I arch a brow at Hazel. She smirks at me, piling her fork full of potatoes. “Yeah, Kaia. You should at least try, even if we all know you’ll fail. You can’t help the fact that you suck.”
“Don’t say suck at the table,” my mother corrects Hazel stiffly. “Kaia hardly ever comes home. Why don’t we all change the subject to something more upbeat?”
My father, ever the drama queen, stands up to make his point. “I’ll talk about whatever I damn well please, Serena. I put food on the table and clothes on the backs of everyone present.”
My mom gives him a soft smile. “Of course you do, honey. Thank you for all that you do for us.”
Hazel and I mumble thank you as one.
