Dixie adjusted the towel on her head as she took a seat at the kitchen table. "You're smiling, but I can see the sadness in your eyes Bonnie. What happened? And when did you leave the yard sale?"
Bonnie rolled her eyes, yanking her chair forward with a loud squeak. "I'll tell you in a bit."
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They had scarfed down their cuisine with zero talking since that was the rule when eating good food and were now sitting side by side on the couch, munching on ice cubes dipped in sugar.
Dixie brushed some of the sugar off her lips and leaned back with a yawn. "Ready to talk now? We need to go to bed soon, we both have a long shift at the Depot tomorrow. Then I need to go babysit, you've got to go wash cars for that customer, then---"
"Yeah, yeah, I know. Quit reminding me." Bonnie crossed her arms and looked out the window. She took a deep breath. "I got ahold of dad's new number and tried to talk some sense into him, but we just ended up fighting. Again."
She picked out a ice cube from the tray and crushed it in her fist. "That conniving bitch has done even more damage to him! He is so obedient towards her, he might as well be her pet. And he's grown even more hateful towards us!"
"I know," Dixie sighed in sorrow.
Bonnie tossed the crushed shard away. "The way he talks to me...it's like he thinks I'm a criminal trying to swindle him! Dixie, he doesn't even acknowledge us as his children anymore! All he cares about is her!" Bonnie was openly crying now. She had always been the apple of their father's eyes. She had thought they would always be close. Nothing could have prepared her for this.
Dixie pulled her sister into an embrace. If only their mother were still alive.
The DeMont family had been perfectly happy until the matriarch was killed in a tragic car accident. Her death completely wreaked their father who had been madly in love with his wife and he never recovered. Not in anyway. He stopped smiling and in his grief, grew very cold towards his daughters. A divide which became that much worse after he got involved with a scheming and manipulative gold-digger.
Their new step-mother was around the same age as them. How could he not see through her intentions? What kind of mind fuck had she subjected him to until he became enamored enough to wed a woman less than half his age?!
And he hadn't even asked for his daughters' opinions!
They'd just received an email one day saying he was getting married in a month and they had to be there.
At first they were open minded and hoped for the best. They wanted him to find happiness again. But their hopes were quickly dashed when they saw that his bride did not love him one bit. Nor was she interested in getting to know them. Instead, she wanted them out of the picture completely so she could hog all his attention and mooch off of his money without sharing.
Each passing year after their marriage, things deteriorated more rapidly.
Whenever they tried to raise the issue of their step-mother's nature, she would resort to tears and emotional slander. And their father fell for her act. Every. Single. Time. He called them ungrateful and spoiled. He stopped supporting them financially, even though they had yet to become self-sufficient.
He banned them from coming to visit him.
During one particularly bad row where alcohol was involved, he told them that he wished they had died.
"I would be so much happier if you shits were in a casket! I'm tired of listening to you whine about my new wife! You have no say in the matter! If you can't accept her or respect her than I'll cut you out of my will!"
That was the last time they met him face to face.
It was truly remarkable how quickly lies could ruin relationships. How quickly they could destroy familial piety. They were definitely out of his will now.
Dixie rubbed her sister's tears away before proceeding to wipe away her own. "Don't cry over him. The father we once knew and loved in gone. So as long as he listens to that bitch and disregards us we do not need to care about him either."
"I want the old him back. This is so unfair. First we lost mom and now we're losing him." Bonnie's voice cracked. "I refuse to be defeated by that poison-tongued seductress. I will find a way to get rid of her."
Snapping out of her sadness, Bonnie pulled herself out of her sister's arms and headed to the bathroom. "Read me a story once I'm done showering."
Dixie smiled. After their mother passed away, the responsibility of taking care of Bonnie passed onto her. Even though they were only a year apart, Dixie loved playing the part of a protective and caring big sister. Ever since they were toddlers she would read bedtime stories to Bonnie. Even now at the age of 21, she still demanded that treatment. She was a bit spoiled at times, but Dixie didn't mind. She knew that Bonnie craving more affection and attention from her was her way of trying to fill the deep void their parents absence caused.
Clearing up the plates and washing her hands, Dixie shed more silent tears over the sad state of her family.
How do I get dad to love us again? Or, at the very least accept us. Will we ever become a true family once more? Mom would be heartbroken to see us now.