Abby went home that night after Nia and Kendall's singing performance at 'The Mint.' If a Hollywood reporter shoved a mic in her face, asking her what she thought of them, Abbey would have been honest. "They were okay. They weren't great. They didn't stink. Like I said, okay. If their mothers are serious about their singing careers, they should think about hiring vocal coaches for them."
What made Holly and Jill think Nia and Kendall were the next big things? Those mothers and their daughters expected stardom to come too easily. Well, that's not how this business worked. They gave headstrong new meaning. Instant fame might come, but could evaporate just as quickly. Abby thought back to the two of them on stage, trying to back up Alexx Calise. Neither Kendall, nor Nia sounded too sure of themselves as they'd sung. Even Jill had said that her daughter had never performed before a live audience before. She should have gone over that with Kendall before insisting she join Nia. Kendall just wasn't ready to launch her singing career; the girl lacked confidence and poise. Sorry, but that's just the way it was. Jill and Holly should have been nominated for worst stage mothers of the year, along with the rest of the Dance Moms mothers and the Mini Moms too.
But, Abby wasn't chaining any of them to her. If they wanted out, they were free to go. Which is what they'd done...left her high and dry, and defected to the 3rd Street Studio to team up with Erin Babbs. Good riddance. So much for loyalty, after all these years of Abby's dedication, sacrifice and weight gain when the stress of teaching and training these ungrateful kids got to be too much.
Abby sank into a La-Z-Boy recliner in her living room, with a bag of chips. She opened the bag and began munching idly, then reached for the remote to turn on her T.V. She nearly choked on some large chips getting stuck in her throat, suddenly seeing JoJo in a Nickelodeon ad for the upcoming Halo awards where she'd be performing her hit. Abby's breath caught in her throat. There was a bottle of water on the nearby table and she grabbed it, throwing some down her clogged throat. Coming up for air after so much gulping, she sneered at JoJo's image on the T.V. screen.
"Well, kid, you wanted to wind up a character. Looks like you'll get your wish. I'm relieved I don't have to put up with your loudmouthed, weave-wearing mother anymore." Smiling, the redness from her face fading, Abby heaved a sigh, and said out loud this time, "Good riddance." Shrugging, Abby opined, "Kid couldn't dance for beans." She nodded, happy to breathe normally again. She switched stations, channel surfing until she found an old Betty Davis movie, Now Voyager, a favorite. The black and white film had nearly an hour left to it.
Not really paying full attention to the movie, Abby, with her pinkie finger close to her mouth, on auto-pilot said, "I love those kids as if they were my own. I would lay down in the street and die for some of those kids. I made them into stars. Why don't the mothers understand that?" Snapping out of her daze, she exclaimed, "Well, if it's a showdown they want, that's what they'll get. Minis versus the Elites. May the better team win! I'm going with my new favorites because all those little girls are number ones already. Even Payton, if she brings herself up to the level I expect. If I tell you you're wearing garbage, honey, you wear garbage, with a smile. I make the rules, Ladies. None of you do!" After downing more water, Abby grinned an Angelina Jolie as Maleficent grin, feeling positively unconquerable.
"Kalani, Brynn, Kendall, Nia, you're goin' down, my lovelies!" Abby jeered, pouring the rest of the water down her gullet as she heard Betty Davis' character, Charlotte Vail insist:
"Dr. Jasquith says that tyranny is sometimes expression of the maternal instinct. If that's a mother's love, I want no part of it."
Abby laughed heartily, stuffing more chips into her mouth.