Chapter Seven: Another Little Darley
"Hell no. Not in a million years, no frigging way," Billy stated, shrugging off his brown leather trench coat that he wore every day. Lyric leant on the door frame, watching him, and then sighed, "Come on, Billy. It's just one little dinner. I only agreed because I am going to be a sarcastic bitch and make her sick of me, and you can be cruel, cold blooded, street running Billy the entire time. She'll get the hell out of our life then. I do not want that woman to be anywhere near my son when he is born." Billy nodded and pulled the plain black t-shirt off, and finally gave in, "Fine. But Joe is coming to and he needs to be that obnoxious teenage bastard he is at school." Lyric chuckled and nodded, then told him, "Wear a shirt that shows ink. I'll go tell Joe to get ready." Billy started digging through a drawer and Lyric left the room, and then walked into Joe's. He was flipping through a book, and Lyric could only assume he was doing the miniscule studying for a test. She knocked on the open door and told him, "Get something clean on. We're going to your mom's for dinner and Billy wants you to be an obnoxious brat." Joe twisted his face in confusion and asked, "Why?" She shrugged and answered, "We just want her to get the hell out of our lives. I'm going to be a sarcastic bitch, and Billy is gonna be… well Billy and you get to be a pain in the ass little bugger. Oh and wear something that shows ink." She left and walked back into her and Billy's room, to see him in the middle of switching jeans. Lyric laughed at them, noticing they had multiple blood stains on them, none of the donors Billy or herself. Billy looked up at his girlfriend, smiled and told her, "You said to be cold blooded. What better way to be that then wearing bloody jeans?" The blond shrugged and walked over to the closet, finding a green camisole that would show off the Darley mark on her back, and then some maternity skinny jeans.
Billy lounged on the bed, watching as she switched shirts, then asked her, "How're things with your brother? The littler one, not the one on drugs." She looked over her shoulder and replied, "Alright. We talked earlier this morning, and he said he got suspended for telling a senior to go fuck himself because he was calling me a slut. I was quite proud of him." Billy chuckled and offered, "He can come down here whenever he wants. And if he gets kicked out like you, he is welcome to share a room with Joe." Lyric smiled and told him, "I know. Come on, get up, we gotta go." Joe was waiting for them in a grey wife and his normal red leather jacket, and Lyric turned off all the lights in the rather large apartment, and the three left, heading down to Billy's car. As they reached it, Lyric hissed at the sight of Detective Jessica Wallis leaning on it. Billy clenched his fist, and Joe glared, both boys stepping in front of Lyric who huffed slightly at the action. Billy growled, "What the hell do you want?" Lyric walked over to the passenger side door that the officer was leaning on and yanked it open, sending the taller woman stumbling into the empty spot adjacent the car. Wallis glared at Lyric who got into the car, then told Billy, "Michelle Williams disappeared from her office five days ago. We have witnesses who say that your little brother, your girlfriend and one of your friends were in the office." Billy lightly pushed Joe by the head to get in the car, which he did, and the gang lord said, "She paid us the money she owed, we let her leave and she headed for the stair well. Now, could you stop annoying me and my family? I'd hate to file a police report. That's just a pain." Detective Wallis frowned and shot back, "Would you like me to take you and your family down town for questioning? Because I can arrange that." Lyric opened her door and ended, "No you can't. You do not have physical evidence that we had anything to do with her disappearance. Nor video evidence. You just have a bunch of people who say she left with us and that I had a screaming match with my biological father." Billy smirked and said teasingly, "Have a nice day, Detective." And with that, He got into the car and pulled out, leaving Jessica Wallis standing in the parking garage.
No one said anything at all until they hit Main, and Lyric exploded, "I hate that woman! I want her at the bottom of the ocean!" Joe squirmed and tried, "Calm down. Like you said, she can't do anything." Billy shrugged a bit and muttered, "I agree with Lyric. The bitch needs to be knocked down a few levels." The blond smiled in triumph and purred, "That could be arranged." Billy smirked and pulled up in front of a house that looked much like Lyric's family's house, just in a different area. Lyric looked disgusted, Joe was ready to bolt, and Billy was ready to start shooting. The three got out and Billy wrapped an arm around Lyric, who just glowered at the house, as if looking at it in hate would make it vanish. Joe knocked and a little blond girl who looked about ten answered. Joe and Lyric went slack jawed and Billy almost passed out when a woman walked up behind her and squealed, "Oh, good you're here!" Joe blinked dumbly and Lyric grumbled, "Yeah, yeah, big deal. Can we get this over with?" In irritation, Lyric shoved Joe and Billy into the house then followed, muttering something about gasoline and a lighter. They followed the bubbly blond woman into the kitchen, where a blond haired man sat with three other little children scattered at random, two others blond, the other one brunette, and all of them girls. Billy whispered so that only Lyric could hear, "Thank god you're having a boy." Lyric giggled and nodded, knowing that Billy wasn't one for being soft and fuzzy. But she had a feeling that if she ever did have his daughter, he might change, but she kept that little theory private. If Lyric had to guess she would assume that the three in the kitchen were around seven, five, and eleven. After a minute of standing there awkwardly, Billy cleared his throat and told his mother, "At eight, we've got to go." Brittney Tolbert frowned and asked him in a slightly whiney voice, "Why?" Lyric felt a little tug at her jeans and looked down to see the five year old standing there, her arms stretched up, in the want to be lifted up. She smiled and obliged, picking the little brunette up and balancing her on her hip best she could at six months pregnant. Billy smiled a little at his girlfriend holding half sister, and then replied, "B-Street and the Hall are coming to pick up their shipments tonight, and Bones wants to make sure Heco didn't screw up another batch." Brittney gulped but nodded. The man, who had yet to say anything, stood up and introduced himself, "I'm Ted." He offered his hand, which both Billy and Joe ignored and Lyric followed suit, but did say, "I'm Lyric. Joe's the one with the bizarre hair, and the other one is Billy." The one who answered the door skipped over to Billy and said in a high pitched voice, "I'm Maybelline." Lyric choked on laughter, and Joe tried not to laugh, but suddenly the little one Lyric was holding sung out, "Maybe it's Maybelline." Lyric and Joe started howling in laughter, and the five year old smiled at it, earning a glare from her sister.
Brittney frowned and scolded her daughter, "That was not nice, Tyler. Go sit in time out this minute. And do not come out until I say so." The little five year old squirmed out of Lyric's hold, shrugged, then picked up her picture book and hurried into the living room. The oldest girl rolled her eyes at her youngest sister, and then said, "I'm Annemarie." The last one chirped, "Eloise." Lyric ignored the three little blonds and walked into the living room to see Tyler curled up in a corner with her picture book, and a few tears on her cheeks. Automatically, Lyric wanted to kill Brittney. The blond waddled over to the small girl and asked, "What are you reading?" Tyler looked up and whispered, "Froggy goes to school." Lyric noticed that the corner Tyler had been sent to was almost hidden, the couch blocking most of the view of it and then the fireplace that just made it look painful. Billy walked into the living room and muttered, "I don't like this." Lyric nodded in agreement and she asked Tyler, "Does your mom send you to timeout a lot?" Tyler glanced up and nodded, then buried herself in her book once again. Lyric got down on her knees and moved Tyler's sleeve a bit and what she saw almost made her scream. Tyler's little wrists were bruised from someone grabbing them, and they looked painful. Tyler stayed in her little ball, not looking at either Billy or Lyric. Billy called for Joe who walked in and Billy told him quietly, "Take Tyler up to her room, and have her pack a bag. I am not letting our little sister stay here and be treated like this." Joe didn't question his orders, and maneuvered the little kindergartener out of the corner with some difficulty, but when Lyric and Billy saw the two walking up stairs, the couple stormed back into the kitchen and immediately, Lyric yelled at Brittney, "Are you fucking insane? You can't treat your daughter like that! It's neglect and abuse!" Billy was turning tomato red, and Brittney yelled back, "It's called tough love and Tyler needs to learn she can't back talk and be rude!" Lyric and Brittney argued for several minutes until Billy roared over the two mothers, "ENOUGH!" Lyric shut up as Billy continued, "I will not let you treat my sister like that! She's coming with Lyric, Joe, and I! If you have a problem with that, call the police! But I'm not going to leave her hear to suffer because your such a fucking screwed up bitch that you can't see your own daughter is absolutely miserable here!" Lyric glared and Ted said, "I'll get her car seat for you." Lyric followed him to the garage while Billy and his mother continued to scream at each other. While Ted was wrestling to get the child's seat out of the SUV, Lyric asked him, "Why are you willing to let us take your daughter? You don't even know us."
Ted paused and answered, "Because you're right. Brittney was so unhappy when she saw that Tyler had brown hair and green eyes instead of blonde hair and blue eyes. I love my daughter, absolutely, but I am working most of the week and weekend because I have to support three other girls, plus a shopaholic wife and I can't care for Tyler the way she should be cared for. You've been here maybe ten minutes, but you already care about her the way Brittney should. And that's why I know you'll take good care of my little girl." He finally managed to get the seat out and Lyric nodded, touched that this man was prepared to do what was best for his daughter even if it hurt him. She followed him into a study and he told her, "I'll give you all her paperwork, school information, that sort of stuff. All you have to do is go to her school and change our information to yours and Billy's. If they need to tell them to call me at my office." Lyric once more nodded as he put papers into a manila folder, then walked back out to the front hall, where Joe was waiting with Tyler, who was still curled in his arms, and Billy who was redder than a boiled lobster. Ted handed the car seat to Billy, and the folder to Lyric, then Brittney walked in and shrieked, "Ted what the hell are you doing? I called the police already!" Ted sighed, rubbed his temples and told her, "Brittney, we both know that they can give Tyler a better home. What is so wrong with your son taking care of her?" Her jaw went slack and Lyric took the opportunity to guide the others out the door. While Billy and Joe struggled to get the car seat put into the back, Lyric holding a very tired Tyler, the cops arrived, and none other than Detective Jessica Wallis with them. Ted walked down the steps and told them, "Officers, can I help you?" Detective Wallis made her way toward Lyric, but Ted skillfully intercepted her, and Wallis told him, "We received a call from your wife saying that Mr. Darley was trying to take your daughter." Ted shook his head and explained, "Brittney is being stubborn. Billy and Lyric can provide Tyler with a better home and I am perfectly willing to let them take her with them. I admit, Tyler doesn't receive as much attention here as she should, and I believe it will be better emotionally and financially for them to take care of her." Tyler looked up a little at Lyric and asked, "Are they gonna make me stay here?" Lyric hugged the small girl and told her reassuringly, "I promise, I won't let them." Tyler smiled and went back to sleeping lightly on Lyric's shoulder. Wallis tried, "You'll have to fill out some paperwork down at social services to do that-"
Ted cut her off, "And we will. Now if you'll excuse us, we have family matters to take care of." An officer pulled the angry detective away from the Darley's. Joe finally climbed into the back with Tyler and buckled her into the car seat, Lyric got into the front, and Billy got into the driver's seat. Before they left, Ted told them he would take care of all the paper work and not to worry about the social services. It was a half hour drive back to the apartment and Tyler fell asleep in her car seat, using Billy's jacket as a blanket. The three were walking down the hall after the short elevator ride and Billy was holding his little sister easily as she slept. While they were walking into the apartment, Billy asked, "So we went to annoy my mother out of our life, but instead we came home with my five year old half sister?" Lyric smiled as they laid the little girl down on Joe's bed, who had offered to take the floor until they could get her a bed. Pulling the covers over her tiny body, Lyric chuckled, "Pretty much, yeah."
