“Mom’s book wasn’t doing well,” Curious adds. “Thanks to Dad.”
“Don’t get us wrong, you seemed really nice in the beginning,” Eerie says.
“We were always doing family meals and you were always making sure that we'd come around to see Dad, so he spent time with us,” Curious adds. “But then Dad got busy, and Mom ran out of money. You decided to have a baby, and everything changed. Dad wanted us to go to college if we wanted to keep getting our money—”
“You mean,hismoney,” Genevieve interjects. They ignore her.
“And every time we talked to him,” Eerie continues. “It was all Genevieve this and Genevieve that. Princess Fucking Genevieve who can do no wrong. The rest of us didn’t exist anymore.”
“Mom needed money. Dad abandoned her. You were going to takeourmoney. We had no choice,” the first one says.
“We knew once the new baby came, we were going to be old news,” Curious adds. It’s amazing how they can carry on a contiguous conversation, completing one another’s thoughts like that.
“We have to be able to live,” Eerie says.
“And Mom needs us,” Curious finishes.
“Why did you think we were already having a baby?” Genevieve asks. I see more cop cars pull up in my periphery.
“Dad said you were, and we were like that's not happening,” Eerie says.
“You're already kicking us out for her. What are you going to do when a baby comes along?” Curious shouts as though she’s talking to her dad.
“We weren’t even pregnant,” Genevieve screams back. I’m relieved to finally hear anger from her. It means she’s fighting back.
“But Dad said—” Eerie starts.
Genevieve shakes her head. “You’ve got it all wrong. We were talking about it, yes. And sometimes trying, sure. We both thought we’re at a good place to bringanotherchild in to grow the family and bring us all together.” Tears stream down her face, but her voice stays strong.
“You killed your dad, and you were about to kill me because you didn’t want to share your dad’s love or his money.” Genevieve almost whispers the last part. “What kind of monsters are you?”
“You’re the monster,” Eerie says.
“We’re not monsters,” Curious adds. “We’re survivors. Fuck you, Genevieve.”
“Yeah, fuck you,” Eerie chimes in.
“Alright, let’s go.” The officers collectively grab the girls by their cuffs and direct them toward the backseats of the patrol cars.
They did this out of greed. Whether for money or their dad's love, I’m not sure. Completely fucked up when people who are raised with everything still want more.
“Let’s go see if we can get that fucking bracelet off, and then I’ll take you home.”
“Thank you for not giving up on me.” She leans up, giving me a chaste kiss on the lips.
I cock my brow. “You call that a thank you?”
She giggles. It’s fan-fucking-tastic to hear again. “No, I’ll give you the real thank you later. Consider that like the virginal version of what’s to come.”
“Looking forward to the non-virginal version then.”
“X-rated,” she whispers.
“Like that even more.”
She takes my hand in hers, and I let her, as we stroll toward the detective, ready to get this over with.
twenty-two
