“Excuse me,” I said as we approached them.
“Hi,” one of the mothers said in response, turning in my direction to rake her eyes up and down me, giving me the parental once over.
I was ridiculously familiar with the parental once over. It was a universal move. I had seen the other au pairs do it in America, too. In that one quick glance, you checked over the other person’s appearance, from their outfit, to their haircut, to the way they held themselves. And then you determined how much their clothes were worth, and if they were worthy of your time.
Which was why I had made sure to put on my old lady patch—the same one that Vienna had vandalised by writingShawshankon it. I might not be able to wear the Devil's logo or the official patch, but this leather jacket was a sign of ownership. It marked me as Dante’s old lady, loud and clear, and there wasn’t a fucking person in this city who didn’t know who Dante was.
And they would soon learn who the fuck I was, too.
“I think we’ve got a problem,” I said, flicking my eyes from each of the women.
“Do we?” the one in front said with a minor sneer. Her blonde bob was perfectly styled to frame her face, making her look more youthful than I knew she was. She held a full face of makeup, expertly enhancing all of her features, and though I didn’t like to admit it, she was exceptionally good looking. Shame that beauty was only skin deep.
Much like mine.
“Take that fucking look off your face when you speak to me. And yes. We do. And it ends here.”
“If you could at least tell us—”
“Your children have been bullying my daughter.”
“Oh, is that it?” One of them laughed. “Bullying is such an ugly word. I’d say teasing at worse. You know how children are.”
“That I do. I know that children are a reflection of their parents.”
“I’m not sure what you’re insinuating—”
“I’m not insinuating anything. I’m saying it outright. It's bullying, and I’m asking you nicely to put an end to this. Don’t make me ask twice.”
The blonde leader gave me a tight-lipped smile. “There’s nothing to put an end to. And if there was an issue, there are protocols to follow. You should be addressing this with the headteacher, rather than trying to start a screaming match in the playground.” She laughed quietly and then gave me a look of pity, placing her hand on my arm. “I realise you’re not Amy’s real mother, so you may not be up to date on all the rules. We’ve heard you do come and go as you please. But this isn’t the way we resolve issues at school. And, between you and me,” she said, lowering her voice. “I can see where Amy gets her flair for exaggeration if this is how you react.”
I smile back at her. I smiled at them all. They laughed. I laughed back. The woman looked over her shoulder at the rest of her army behind her. “I trust this matter is over—”
She didn’t get the chance to finish her sentence. I seized hold of her top and clenched it tightly in my fist, pulling her forward and bringing her face close to mine. “I don’t give a fuck about protocol. I don’t give a fuck how things are usually done. I am showing you howIget things done. And I am past being nice now. Consider this your one and only warning. If this doesn’t end immediately, you’ll no longer be able to gossip about how often I ‘come and go’ because I’ll never be coming back. Why do you think that is?”
Her eyes widened, and I shoved her away towards her equally disgusted friends. “I’ll never be returning, because I willhappilybe spending the rest of my days rotting in a prison cell. I don’t think rationally when I hear my daughter is being bullied, and I’d hate to have to do something stupid like… Oh, I don’t know, sneak into your houses and set fire to your children’s beds.” I looked them all in the eye, one by one. “With them in it.”
A couple of them sucked in their breaths, and a few of the children made pathetic gasps of shock. But one of them, the one I knew without a shadow of a doubt was the leader, looked at me with disgust.
“I don’t know what your daughter has been telling you but—”
Her words were cut off when the heel of my palm connected with her nose. And then I grabbed her head and pulled it down roughly, at the same time as I brought my knee up to meet her face, colliding with her nose.
The sound of bone crunching beneath my knee had the rest of the mothers stepping back, and I let go of their leader, pushing her to the floor before I rounded on them.
“Have you lost your mind?” One of the brunettes glared at me, pulling her child behind her back. Some of the other mums helped pull the blonde to her feet.
“Not at all. And you should be grateful for that, because if I wasn’t in my right mind, I’d have allowed her father to petrol bomb your houses this morning like he wanted. I’d have allowed her uncle Vienna to slice open the bellies of your precious children and hang their intestines up as Christmas lights. I’d have allowed all of her other uncles to follow me here, and I’d have allowed them to sever you all, limb for limb, and force your children to eat their parents. All genuine threats, by the way.” I smiled at them before clapping my hands together. “But luckily for you, Ihaven’tlost my mind. But I’m warning you now, one more nasty word to my daughter, and not only will I allow my men to go through with their threats, I will personally live stream it for the world to see.”
Bee’s fingers curled tighter into mine, and she didn’t flinch once.
That’s my girl. All fire, all fight.
I glared at the children hiding behind their parents and then spoke. “It’s an evil world out there. And I know all of the evil people. Iamone of the evil people.And if you speak to my daughter with anything other than kindness, I promise you all, I will kill everything in your life and make you watch. Mummy, Daddy, even a fucking pet dog or goldfish. I will kill them all. And then I’ll sell you little orphans to the bad men who will make you wish you had died too. Do you understand what I’m saying?” I asked, directing my question at the parents.
“I’m ringing the police,” the leader said, pulling her phone out of her bag.
“Do it. Make sure you give them my name. It’s Rachel King, by the way. Dante’s old lady, president of the Devil’s Disciples. Let’s see who arrives first, the police, or every single member of the Devil’s. Your children will be sold on the dark web before the police have even entered their vehicles. And I will personally hand them over.”
