Disclaimer: Scars are temporary, Pride is forever.
Second Chances
Chapter Twenty-five: Blood and Torture
One of the things that Sabertooth admired, but never quite understood, about his daughter was her inability to sleep until she had finished a project. As it were, he'd had to throw one of the pillows at her at three thirty in the morning to tell her to stop reading and go to sleep. Not doing homework, that had been finished many hours ago, but just reading a book for simple pleasure. And it didn't even have pictures.
It was now nine o'clock in the morning however, and she needed to wake up before she slept through the free breakfast in the lobby. The only good news was that she wasn't as inclined to roll off of the bed as her brothers tended to do.
THUMP.
"WTF?" Andi grumbled as she picked herself up off of the floor. "What the hell was that for?"
"To get you up." He replied. "Now go get dressed before the breakfast bar closes."
"Dictator." Andi growled.
"Just get some real clothes on." Sabertooth groaned. Andi grabbed a fresh t-shirt and the pants she'd worn the night before and trudged into the bathroom.
After breakfast, there were over four hours to kill before the party, so the two drove around town. Currently, the duo was terrorizing a sales clerk at the local store.
"I don't know anyone by the name of Izzy A. Dedmon!" The manager shouted.
"He said he worked here." Andi said. "I need to talk to him."
"Maybe he works at another of our stores?" The manager said.
"But I've tried three as it is." Andi groaned. "he has to be here!"
"I'm sorry, miss, but there is no one by that name working here." The manager exclaimed. "Will you please leave now? I have other legitimate customers to attend to!"
"All right." Andi sighed. "I'll go." She put on her best disappointed face and trudged outside. When she got back to the truck, her dad was waiting for her.
"Did it work?" He asked.
"Fell right into it." She grinned. "Thought I was actually looking for a real person!"
"That means ye'r getting better at this." Her dad grinned. "Come on, we still got three more places to hit."
After getting chased out of a dollar store and two fast-food places, the two pulled into a driveway outside of town.
"Looks like Dan beat us back." Andi said, noticing the bronco that was parked in front of them.
"This time try not to kill your brothers." Sabertooth glared.
"What?" Andi feigned innocence. "Don't you trust me?"
"No." Sabertooth growled. "Now get out and go inside before your brother gets back."
"What about the truck?" She asked
"Don't worry." He said. "Just go inside. You know how rowdy those boys can get."
An Hour into the party, Kyle made his grand entrance, with a bottle of alcohol. He didn't get in real trouble until he decided to let one of his nephews try some.
"I can't believe you're so stiff about this." Kyle groaned.
"You tried to give a three-year-old beer!" Connor shouted. "Of course I'm stiff! He's too young!"
"Come on!" Kyle said. "What's wrong with one sip?"
"He'll turn out like you!" Andi shouted.
"Look, Kyle, I really like you as a friend, but as your brother, I have to say that you've gone too far this time!" Dan said.
"What's wrong with me?" Kyle said. "What?"
"You're a low life who is constantly drunk!" Andi said. "I doubt you've ever had a stable job in your life!"
"Dad drinks all the time!" Kyle shot back. "What's so special about him?"
"First of all, keep up this shit and I'll send you through that window!" Sabertooth shouted. "Second, I had a job that paid enough to support you!"
"So I'm not good enough to stay in the family tree?" Kyle said.
"Even I never gave you kids alcohol when you were that little!" Sabertooth growled. "You could have killed him!"
"We're mercenaries, what do we care?" Kyle said.
"Even the worst of mercs can understand what alcohol poisoning can do to a child!" Andi shouted.
"That's it isn't it?" Kyle asked. "Just because I'm not like your precious little Stormy, I'm a bad person!"
"You are, dumbass!" Andi shouted.
"You think you're just so perfect, don't you?" Kyle said. "Well, here's a newsflash!" he tried to hit her, but she blocked him and slashed his arm.
"Story's Cancelled!" Andi growled.
"Die Bitch!" Kyle screamed. He charged and knocked her to the floor. Andi went blue and used her fins to make a gash in her attacker's arm. He bit her, and she bit back.
"He's gonna kill her!" Dan shouted.
"Oh no, he's not." Sabertooth growled. He stalked over to the bloody battleground, pulled Kyle off of Andi, and threw him into a wall. "What the #&! hell is the matter with you?"
"She's a #&! Bitch who can't $& understand what it's like to have nothing!" Kyle swore.
"!$& Die you (&$! Bastard!" Andi shouted back. "You weren't locked away! Or beaten! Or touched like I was! What the #& gives you the $(&#! Right to say that!"
"What do all those words mean?" Josiah, Connor's oldest son, asked.
"If I catch you repeating these words you will be grounded until you're forty." Connor said.
"But what do they mean?" Josiah asked again.
"That's not important." Beka scolded as Dan grabbed Kyle by the arms to keep him away from Andi.
"Why do Uncle Kyle and Aunt Indy fight each other so much?" Zeke, their other son, asked.
"Her name is Andi." Connor said.
"But why do they fight?" Joe asked.
"I guess Kyle thinks that Grandpa loves Andi more because she's a girl." Connor said as Andi screamed more death threats at Kyle.
"That's silly." Zeke laughed.
"It sure is." Connor said as Sabertooth dragged Andi outside and dropped her in the truck.
She never stopped swearing.