After ten minutes of walking, Baby, Riley, and Maureen approached a tall, dark house with a few lights gleaming through the old, blurred, grey windows. It had about three floors and probably a basement, because it had a porch. Riley and Maureen followed Baby up the steps of the porch to the house, but stopped abruptly when they noticed the wall; it was covered in lifeless doll parts.
"Oh my God." Maureen whispered, staring in horror at the wall.
Riley laughed and looked at Baby. "Cute, cute. This you?" She asked, examining the wall.
She seemed a little surprised that Riley was so interested. "Yeah. I used to just take my dolls apart and, ya know, stick 'em on the wall." She replied as if she'd said that a few times before. She laughed her piercing, childlike laugh while she opened the creaky door of the dark, Halloween-like house.
"Wait here for a sec." Baby said. "I just gotta tell mama I'm home." Baby smiled and headed into, what looked like, from Riley's view, the kitchen.
Maureen and Riley stood in the doorway of the musty old house and waited for Baby to get back. Riley searched the house with her eyes. The walls were bright orange and the floors were dark wood. There were stuffed animal heads hung in various places along the bright orange walls, along with old pictures and dust. The furniture all matched. There was a brown sofa next to an end table with a coffee table in front of it, facing the T.V. There was a matching love seat on the left side and two matching chairs on the right. The room was nice looking, but smelt musty and had a faint smell of old urine and aged blood.
"What a dump." Maureen burst.
"Shut up!" Riley replied to Maureen's insult. Riley liked the house; the smell, the feel, the look; everything. This was a place that Riley could get used to; a place that didn't seem to frighten her one bit. Maureen, on the other hand, was completely disturbed by everything, from the wall color right down to the dust on top of the television set.
Riley tapped her toe for a few seconds and then sat on the couch; her shoes were killing her. Maureen followed her and sat on one of the chairs.
"Different?" Riley and Maureen heard someone say from the kitchen. There was an immediate 'shh', and everything fell silent once again. Everything was quiet for a few more moments, until Baby came back in with a bowl of pop corn and some hot cocoa.
"Here ya go!" She laughed her childish laugh and handed the girls some cocoa. Maureen looked disgusted and place it on the coffee table while Riley enjoyed hers.
Baby turned on the television to 'Happy Days' while she ate her pop corn and drank some of her cocoa. "Oh," Baby jumped up for a moment. "I told RJ about your car. He left. He should be back pretty soon."
"Okay." Riley replied.
"How long is pretty soon?" Maureen asked, crossing her legs.
"Maybe, a few minutes. But your car didn't seem to be in good shape, he might have to fix it." Baby replied. "That may take a few hours."
"Are you kidding me?" Maureen burst as she stood up in rage. Baby shrieked a laugh and threw a piece of pop corn at Maureen. "Stop throwing shit at me and listen! So, we're stuck in this shit hole?"
"I guess so." Baby shouted. She laughed another shriek that pierced the near silence of the house. Riley, then, joined in with the laughing, but it wasn't her normal laughing, it was a laugh similar to Baby's.
She closed her mouth and Baby smirked and turned back to the T.V. Maureen gave Riley an odd look before she sat back down and brushed her semi-wet hair with her slender fingers.
"Baby, yer' gonna spoil yer' appetite." There was now an older woman standing in the doorway of the kitchen. She had long, blonde hair that fell past her bosom. She was wearing a burlesque suit with an orange, transparent robe that reached her thighs and that had pink feathers along the linings and rims. She was a very attractive woman. "Well, hello there dear." She said, sitting next to Riley, crossing her legs, which exposed more of her already exposed, panty hose covered, leg. "What's yer name, honey?"
"I'm Riley Shunard." She replied, shaking the woman's hand. Maureen, realizing she wasn't center of anyone's attention, sighed and gave a small cough. Riley sighed and rolled her eyes. "This is my step sister, Maureen Marezz."
Maureen gave a fake smile that revealed her displeasure. "Nice to meet you." She offered a hesitant hand to the woman, but she dismissed it with a smile and went right back to Riley.
"Well, Riley Shunard, it is very nice to me you two girls. You can jus' call me Mama." She said, wrapping her arm around Riley's shoulder with a smile.
She, then, stood up and headed for the kitchen, "I'll be right back. I'm gonna go make ya'll some dinner." Riley smiled and nodded. "Baby, go get everybody for dinner, please."
"Ugh." Baby moaned as she rolled her eyes and walked out of the room. A few minutes later she returned. She walked into the kitchen to Mama. "Mama, RJ said he'll be in in a sec." She turned to Riley and Maureen. "And he said your car's pretty fucked up. He said it needs a new battery and it needs a little engine tune up. It'll take a few hours. You can wait over night if you want to, though."
"As tempting at that sounds-" Maureen began.
Baby cut in, "He said he'd fix your air conditioner."
"Well, it is late. We could stay." Maureen said, as an old man walked into the room.
Riley stood up and stretched, this made the old man notice her and Maureen. "Who the fuck are they?"
"This is my friend, Riley." Baby said gleefully. "And this is her step sister, Melvin."
"Maureen." Maureen said, standing up.
"Whatever." Baby retorted. Riley giggled and pushed Maureen a little.
Mama walked into the living room and smiled at everyone. She was now wearing a dark, red lipstick. "Dinner time!"