Unexpected Attraction

Lydia was always the quiet and more sheltered one of Mother's four children. She always looked up to her three brothers, Ike, Addley, and Johnny. Ike was the oldest, and was the kind of the leader out of the four. Addley was the second child, and was much more violent and cynical than the others. The last one was her younger brother, Johnny, who was currently resting on a couch upstairs. At the head of the family was Mother, an insane woman who had complete control over her children their whole lives. She taught them how to survive in this world by stealing, killing, and taking down anyone or anything that gets in their way.

Earlier, Johnny was badly shot in the stomach after a failed bank job. Her two other brothers brought him to their old house to see if Mother could help out. However, they were not aware that Mother had lost the house in a foreclosure and was now occupied by a couple who was hosting a birthday with a few friends. So chaos ensues as the brothers take the couple, and the guests, hostage. Soon after Mother and Lydia arrive, they send out Ike with one of the new owners, Beth Sohapi, to gather more money with the hostages' credit cards. They needed more money to pay off a friend of Mother's to take them across the border. While Beth and Ike are out, more chaos ensues involving one of the hostages getting killed by Addley and another hostage, Gina, trying to escape. Gina almost succeeded but was brought back by another hostage, Daniel Sohapi, who Mother threatened to have Ike kill his wife, Beth, if he did not bring her back. As punishment for her escape plan, she was forced to watch her husband, TreShawn, get tortured by one of her sons, Addley. However, Lydia seems to feel remorseful for her family's actions and even forms a small bond with one of the hostages, George, who is a doctor and was forced to help take care of her injured brother, Johnny. But still, she does nothing to end the mayhem that her family creates.

Now on with the story…

Mother simply smiled as Addley poured the hot water on poor TreShawn, who was tied up and couldn't do anything to stop it. The other guests, who were tied up on the other side of the basement, struggled to get free while their pleas were muffled from the wrapping paper that covered their mouths. Gina, TreShawn's wife, cried as she watched her beloved husband get tortured by this insane family. Meanwhile, another member of this crazy family, Lydia, sat quietly in a chair with a gun pointed at Gina to keep her from moving.

"Stop it, please!" cried out Gina as she continued to watch her husband being tortured.

It went on for few more seconds until Mother finally rose up her hand and said, "That's enough."

Addley walked away from TreShawn as he wallowed in pain. Both sides of his face were severely burned from the scolding hot water that Addley poured on him.

Lydia, who looked somewhat disgusted at what her brother had done, and got up from the couch. She quickly proceeded upstairs, and frantically walked through the living room where George and Johnny were. As Johnny was lying on the couch, George noticed a distraught Lydia walking past him.

"Lydia," he called out to her. She ignored him.

"Lydia, what's happening down there? Lydia!"

She still ignored him, and proceeded straight into the bathroom where she slammed the door shut.

She then paced around the small room, rubbing her head, and running her fingers through her long, stringy red hair.

"God, what's taking Ike so long?" Lydia said in her head. Ike was taking a long time getting the money with Beth.

"Where is he? Can't he just get here already; I don't know if I can take this anymore!"

Lydia was used to her Mother and brothers doing terrible things almost her entire life. Even when they were little she had to watch her brothers kill every fuzzy little critter that they could find in their backyard whether it was a mole, gopher, rabbit, or even a snake. Like her brothers, Mother taught her how to kill. She was extremely timid at first, and couldn't even do it. She would receive the occasionally abuse from her Mother for not doing what she told her. Eventually, Lydia got used to killing things and soon it became easy for her to do it. However, that doesn't mean she was still okay with it, especially when it went too far.

Her train of thought was abruptly broken by the sound of knocking on the bathroom door.

"Lydia, open the door. It's me George. Could you let me in for a second? I just want to talk, that's all."

"Fine. Come in." she said in a faint and shy tone.

George slowly opened the door, and peaked his head inside. When he came in Lydia quickly turned away from him, and faced the bathroom window.

"What's wrong Lydia?" asked George.

"Nothing's wrong George. Shouldn't you be looking after Johnny?"

"I gave him more water, and some Advil for the pain. Right now he's about as comfortable as can be."

"Well you still shouldn't leave his side. You know how angry Mama will be if she catches you shirking from your responsibilities."

"No I don't know. But I guess you do, don't you?"

Lydia got quiet again, and didn't say anything.

George broke the silence and asked, "What did she used to do to you when you shirked from your responsibilities?"

"That's none of your business," said Lydia in a cold and harsh tone.

"She'd beat you, wouldn't she?"

Lydia was quiet for a short bit, but then she continued talking.

"Sometimes, but only when I didn't listen to her and Mama says to always listen to her or you get a whippin'."

George sighed and shook his head. He then placed one hand on her shoulder. She was startled at first, but then calmed down immediately.

"She shouldn't have done that to you," he said. "No mother should have to beat their child simply to get them in line."

"It was a little bad at first, but after a while the beatings don't hurt as much. Besides, I eventually stopped resisting her and just did what I was told. It's what all children are supposed to do."

"And what's that?"

"Listen to their elders without question."

George took his hand away from Lydia's shoulder, and crossed his arms.

"Yeah and who told you that," he said. "Oh wait let me guess, your mother."

"Yes."

"God Lydia don't you understand? She's just saying that stuff so you won't disobey her. Can't you see what she's done to you and your brothers? She's turned you all into obedient dogs that'll do whatever their master tells them. And when any of you defies her she just beats you guys until you don't question her again."

"That's not true!" shouted Lydia as she turned around to face George.

"Mama loves me. She's the only one that cares about me!"

"Only because she keeps you all to herself!" shouted George. "That's why she covers up every part of your body so that boys won't notice you, or why she made up all that 'Queenie' crap when you were little. It's because she wants you all to herself and nobody else. That way she has complete control over you."

"You're lying!" she screamed.

"I'm not, but she is!" said George before being slapped across the face by Lydia.

By that point tears were streaming down her face, and her cheeks were cherry red.

"Lydia, believe me I am not lying to you. You're a smart girl, I can tell. And deep down I can tell you can see just how bad your mother is."

Lydia's lip quivered and tiny tears dripped from her chin.

"I know," she said faintly. "And I'm so sorry for what she's done to your friends. But what am I supposed to do about it? Huh? I can't face against her, not while she's got Ike, Addley, and Johnny on her side. I'm not that brave of a person. I'm just…nobody. I've been nobody, and always will be nobody. It's just who I am."

George moved towards her and put both his hands on her shoulders. He gently rubbed her shoulders, and they immediately relaxed.

"That is not true Lydia. You're the sweetest and most empathetic person out of your whole entire family. And so far you are the only one who hasn't hurt anybody. You've got a good soul on you. Don't let your mother tell you differently. I know that you can bring out the courage that's somewhere deep down inside of you, and stand up to your mother. You just got to stop putting yourself down, and you have to stop being so afraid all the time. Most of all you have to stop letting your mother control your life, because once you let her go you can lead your own life. You could start all over again, and do whatever you want. Hell, you could even be a doctor if you wanted to like me, but only if you let go of your family's control over you. Do you understand?"

Lydia shook her head; her eyes wide open with astonishment.

All of a sudden she lunged forward, and kissed him right on the lips. She then drew herself away from him. George stared at her with wide eyes, looking both shocked and confused.

Then Lydia walked slowly towards him. When she got close enough she leaned in, placed on hand on his chest, and kissed him again. This time George went along, and kissed her back. Soon they were kissing each other passionately as their tongues slid against each other. George wrapped his arms around her, as Lydia wrapped hers around him. For them the moment felt so good, and for a while Lydia felt free and happy for the first time in her life.

George was so caught up in the moment, but then an image appeared in his mind. It was the face of his beloved girlfriend that he brought to the party, Melissa, who was fatally injured by one of the brothers and taken away by Ike along with Beth. The image of her happy face appeared in his thoughts, and he remembered how much in love he was with her and how he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. This is what snapped him out of his passionate moment with Lydia. He then pushed her away, and rubbed his mouth.

They stared at one another, surprised at what they did and didn't utter a single word. Deep down George knew it was wrong, but it still felt somewhat good. Lydia was just simply shocked at what she had done, but was also happy on the inside. It was the first time in her whole life that she kissed a boy.

"We should probably get back to your brother, Lydia."

"Y-Yeah, sure. Johnny must be wondering where we are."

And so they both walked out of the bathroom, completely stunned by what just occurred. Though as passionate and lovely as it was, Lydia knew that George would never feel the same about her as he did his girlfriend, Melissa. It was just the heat of the moment, and she could tell that he regretted it. She only wished that he didn't because she wouldn't take it back at all. It was her first kiss, and it felt so wonderful to her. To her it was the first time she did followed something besides her mother; she followed her heart.