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“Wake up, Mother.” I sing-song to her.
“Wakey, wakey. Cutting off your limbs leaves me achy.”
Her lids fly open, and she squirms as she hollers to be let go.
“Stop it.” I roll my eyes in annoyance. This woman aggravates me with her dramatics. “You’re tied up, dummy. Your limbs are still intact. For now, at least.”
She whimpers and fakes crocodile tears.
“Please Lyr. I’m sor— please… how are you even here?”
She chokes on her apology, and it makes me want to choke her all the same.
“Shut up, Mother. I’m the one who’s talking now. Not you. Not him.” I point at Cash. “Me.”
Her lip trembles, and she blinks hard, forcing more tears down her face. Incredible. Her theatrics shouldn’t surprise me anymore, but I’m clearly forgetting who I’m dealing with—this is my mother we’re talking about.
“Save it.” The firm, confident tone in my voice startles her.
She has no idea how much I’ve grown while in the In-Between.
“Yeah, Kristine. Shut the fuck up,” Cash chimes in.
“No one asked the peanut gallery.” I glare at him from a few feet away. Cash has always needed the last word in everything. It’s one of his more irritating traits, besides raping women and children, of course.
“I want answers. Now.” I turn toward my mother.
“About wh—what?” she stammers.
“What did I ever do to you?” The old me would be pinching back tears and biting my tongue. Not anymore.
My mother clenches her teeth together, and I notice her jaw clicking. “Nothing.”
“Then why do you hate me so much?”
There has to be a reason. If she goes for her typical “I don’t hate you” speech, I’ll scream. There’s no point in hearing that for the millionth time.
“You want the truth, Lyric? I’ll give you the truth.” She pauses, and it feels like an eternity has passed. I gesture for her to speed it up.
“You’re too much like me…” She sniffles. “And I hate you because I hate myself.”
And there it is—the ugly, unsatisfying truth. It changes nothing.
A slow clap sounds throughout the room, and our eyes settle on Cash.
“That was great, Kristine. Next time, could you provide a few more tears as you say that last part? I think it’ll really drive it home. Ya know? The ‘dun dun dun’ moment.” He laughs, and Attie moves fast, squatting down and punching Cash in the face.
“What did we say? I’m gonna need you to put your listening ears on. Okay? The grown-ups are speaking. You’re not. Got it?”
Cash massages his jaw as he goes to open his mouth, and Attie raises a finger to his lips.
“Uh-uh. No talking. Just nod.”
Cash nods aggressively in forced agreement.
Attie pats the top of Cash’s head as he stands. “Good boy.”
I give my attention back to my mother.
