Hillary_Flesh and Blood (13 page)

“
I guess I
’
m making this up too!
”
Hillary shouted, turning her head so that her mother could see her
injured
eye.

Kathy
’
s lower jaw dropped as she saw Hillary
’
s bruised and swollen eye. She ran to the freezer and pulled out a bag of frozen peas. She jogged back to Hillary and placed the bag over her eye. Hillary swatted her hand away.

“
I don
’
t want that on me,
”
Hillary yelled,
“
I want you to admit that Dad hurts me...physically and
—”

“
Hillary!
” Michael shouted loudly as
he descended the stairs.

Caleigh was frightened. He sounded furious.

“
Don
’
t let him hit Hillary again,
”
she begged her mother.

Michael
’
s heavy footsteps grew louder as he approached. Suddenly the family dog yelped in pain.

“
He hurt Storm!
”
Caleigh cried, running to check on the family beagle.

“
Goddammit, Hillary, you made me step on her tail,
”
Michael complained, entering the kitchen with Storm cradled within his arms.

“
I guess that
’
s how you apologize?
”
Hillary yelled.

Michael ignored her as he cooed the young dog, bringing her paw to his lips and kissing it softly. Hillary looked at him disgustedly.

“
You care more about that damn dog than you do about me!
”
she shouted.

“
Hillary! Watch your mouth,
”
her mother scolded.

“
I don
’
t believe this family!
”
Hillary exclaimed.
“
I hate you all!
”

Hillary ran up to her room and slammed the door.

It
’
s okay...things will be better soon...they
’
ll all pay...they
’
ll all suffer....

Hillary flung herself on her bed. She felt like crying but instead held back her tears.
Things would get better soon. T
he voice
had
said so and the voice would not betray her. Her family would pay...they would suffer. Hillary stared up at the ceiling and smiled.

Hillary had remained in her room despite her mother
’
s incessant ranting and raving. She had used her
ear buds
to listen to music and
tune Kathy out
. She barely heard
her
over the noise coming from her iPhone. Caleigh spent the morning in her room texting her friends while Michael held Storm in his lap for nearly a
n
hour. Hillary didn
’
t even notice when Kathy slipped away to get ready for church.

It was
almost
nine-thirty now. Hillary was dozing off on her bed when she heard
the
banging at her door.

“
Go away!
”
she yelled.

Her father entered her room and stood with his arms crossed directly in front of her bed.

“
Leave me alone,
”
Hillary spat.

“
Why aren
’
t you ready for church?
”

“
I said I
’
m not going...unless of course you
’
d like me to tell the pastor all about the things you do to me...the things you make me do to you...and how I got this black eye.
”

“
Don
’
t you think you
’
ve caused enough drama for today?
”

“
Can you go now?
”

Michael threw his hands up in resignation. It was getting late and given the way Hillary had been acting, he didn
’
t want to take any chances.

“
Fine Hillary, for today, but this is not going to be the norm from now on. Later tonight we
’
re gonna have a long talk about your attitude.
”

“
Stay away from me,
”
she replied,
“
go pretend you
’
re a good
C
hristian.
”

Michael refused to let Hillary get a rise out of him. That would come later when he returned to her room that night. He would do whatever it took to regain control and dominion over her, even if it meant bl
ackening her other eye. He turn
ed and rushed out of the room, leaving her door open. He was greatly agitated and couldn
’
t wait for the day to finally end.

Hillary was too annoyed to try to nap. When she heard the front door close, she walked downstairs to the family room. She curled up on the comfortable oversized couch and turned on the television. She didn
’
t even car
e what
was on she just needed
mind-numbing repose.

About forty minutes later, Hillary got up to get something to eat. She
walked to the kitchen,
opened the refrigerator and browsed the shelves for a snack. She settled on some leftover fried chicken and placed two drumsticks on a small dish.

On her way back to the couch, she noticed some strips of bacon in the dog
’
s food bowl. She scowled as she imagined her father cuddling up with the dog as he often did. He probably gave her all of the bacon leaving nothing for the human inhabitants he seemed to care so little for. It just wasn
’
t fair how he had no problem hurting his own child but treated
the family dog
like the most important thing in the world.

Storm followed Hillary to the family room and sat at her feet, staring up at her. As Hillary ate, she eyed the chicken, begging for
a bite
.

“
Get out of here,
”
Hillary yelled,
“
didn
’
t you already eat my bacon?
”

Storm barked as if responding. She remained firmly planted at Hillary
’
s foot staring at her chicken.

Just look at that mutt...your father loves that dog more than he loves you, his own daughter...his own flesh and blood....

“
Hmph,
”
she said in annoyance, giving the small dog the evil eye.

Storm barked again, craving attention.

“
Shut up!
”
Hillary shouted loudly, causing Storm to turn away and whi
ne
. As she walked toward the kitchen, Hillary couldn
’
t help but notice
her
tail. She stared at it in disgust, the shape of it...the size of it...it looked
just
like...like...

It looks like your father
’
s nasty cock....

Hillary
’
s heart raced. Suddenly she felt sick. She raced to the garbage can and threw up. She felt both hot and cold at the same time. It became increasingly hard
er
for her to breathe.

What
’
s happening to me,
she thought worriedly.

You know what you have to do,
the voice instructed.

“
What?
”
Hillary answered aloud. She didn
’
t know why but she was terrified.

Cut it off...cut off that disgusting replica of your father
’
s shame....

“
Huh?
”
Hillary whimpered. She was trembling now. Who was she talking to? Was she losing her mind?

Unless you want that mangy mutt to stick her tail up your
—

“
No...NO!
”
Hillary shouted, repulsed by the thought. Disturbing imagery flooded her
brain
and she closed her eyes trying to dislodge the picture from her mind
’
s eye.

The dog returned to the living room and stood nearby.

Get it before it gets you....

Hillary ran out through the French doors in the family room to the back yard. Storm ran behind her thinking she was playing a game. Hillary stopped at the shed, pulled open the door and grabbed the pruning shears. She held the giant shears in her hand
.

Cut it off...cut that disgusting thing off....

Hillary walked back to the house, Storm following behind her.

Do it now, don
’
t wait...cut it off....

Hillary turned and stooped down beside Storm. She parted the sharp, curved blades of the shears.

Storm began licking her hand.

Cut it off...cut it off...cut it off....

Hillary could feel her heart beating rapidly in sync with the voice. She reached over and grabbed Storm
’
s tail. As Storm
licked her foot
, she positioned the dog
’
s tail within the blades of the shears. Storm
stood still…she had no reason to mistrust Hillary, no reason to expect what was coming.
Hillary squeezed the handles together tightly. With one quick snip, Storm
’
s tail fell to the floor as she
yelped loudly
in pain.
She howled and whimpered as s
he ran in circles, desperately trying to lick her seeping wound. Blood gushed from her posterior, the spot where her tail had been just seconds ago.

Hillary stared at the suffering dog in wonder. She couldn
’
t believe she had just cut
off
its
tail. She looked down at the furry snake-like tail on the floor then at the pruning shears in her hand. There was blood smeared on the blades.
Several
drops of blood had dripped to the carpeted floor. More blood
soaked the carpet
below Storm where she continued her futile attempt to lick her bleeding wound. She whimpered and cried, howled, barked and yelped. Hillary watched the small dog until she seemed to grow
too
weak or
dizzy and fell to the floor on her back
as if rolling over for a treat. She lay there motionless whimpering steadily.

Hillary
’
s daze was disrupted by the sound of the front door opening. Her father was first to enter. She could hear him drop his keys on the narrow table in the foyer. She heard her sister complaining about money for the mall and he
r
mother advising her to get a
job. Within seconds her family members
were in the room with her. She watched as they abruptly halted and stood silent as they processed what
they were seeing on the floor
.

The silence was broken by Caleigh
’
s high-pitched scream.

“
What
’
s that, Mommy?
”
Joshua asked, pointing to the dog
’
s tail.

Michael made a mournful guttural sound and started sobbing. He ran over to Storm and s
c
ooped her into his arms. Kathy stared at the tail in horror until Joshua walked over and tried to pick it up.

“
No!
”
Kathy shouted, yanking him back so violently he began to cry.

Caleigh was now crying hysterically as well. She buried her head within her hands and refused to look at the tail.

Hillary enjoyed the quartet of shrieking misery.

“
What the hell did you do?
”
Michael shouted angrily to Hillary. Had Storm not been in his arms, he would have lashed out again and hurt her badly.

Look at him suffering....

Hillary smiled. It was true; her father was in tears over the dog.

“
Why did you do this? How could you hurt her?
”
he asked angrily.

“
How could you hurt
me?
”
Hillary replied, her smile fading.
“
You care more about that damn mutt than you care about me!
”

Kathy had guided Joshua and Caleigh out of the family room and into the kitchen. Hillary could hear her siblings crying while her mother tried to console them.

“
You had no right to hurt my dog,
”
he shouted.

“
You have no right to hurt
me,
”
Hillary responded curtly.

“
So that
’
s what this is about? You
’
re trying to teach me a lesson? I
’
ll be back to teach
you
a lesson.
”

Michael rushed off to the bathroom with Storm in his arms. He placed her gently down on the bath rug while he reached for the first aid kit in the medicine cabinet. She whimpered piteously but didn
’
t move. Michael rummaged through the contents of the first aid kit and used a stack of gauze to cover the wound. It was still bleeding a lot. He wrapped Storm up in a towel and ran out of the house, leaving the front door open. He placed Storm in the back seat and drove off quickly, headed for the animal hospital two towns over.

Hillary still had the bloodied pruning shears in her hand when her mother approached her after closing the front door. Kathy was shaking as she stepped over the tail and stood in front of Hillary.

“
Why would you do that, Hillary?
”
she asked in a soft, quivering voice, tears streaking down her face.

“
She
’
s just a dog,
”
Hillary answered apathetically.

“
You could have killed her, what would possess you to...to....
”
Kathy couldn
’
t bring herself to speak about what Hillary had done. She broke down and sobbed loudly.

“
I think you need help,
”
she said between sobs,
“
you need help,
”
she repeated sadly.

“
I asked for help...remember?
”
Hillary replied as she glared at her mother with eyes full rage and hatred. They were dark and stormy. Kathy thought she saw Michael within them; they were just as manic, just as feral as his eyes became when he grew incensed and violent. Seeing the pruning shears still in Hillary
’
s hand, Kathy took a step back. Would Hillary try to hurt her
too
?