Chapter 4
We have a problem.
The words had been echoing in her head for the past twenty fours. Felix had called her the previous evening sounding upset and a little scared, immediately tipping her off that something was wrong. When he uttered that phrase before even offering a greeting, she knew her suspicion was spot on.
Vic's back in town.
She had expected it to happen at some point and yet her foster brother's statement had her nearly dropping the phone from her hand. Vic wasn't the type of guy who would just accept Sarah's assault on him and theft of a brick of his cocaine. He had too much pride or some shit to just let Sarah go like that, considering he had always treated her like he owned her.
It was no secret to anyone that Vic was disgustingly abusive towards her sister, but Sarah always kept going back for more so there was nothing she could ever really do about the situation. He treated her more like an object; his personal property than he did a human being. The only good decisions Sarah had ever made in regards to Vic were never letting him anywhere near Kira and leaving his ass for good.
He hadn't said anything when they spoke about it on the phone, but Beth was fairly certain that Vic had gotten physical with Felix when he showed up at her brother's flat. It's the type of guy he is, she'd expect nothing less from him at this point. Vic the dick – his nickname stemming from his overall atrocious persona rather than any sort of physical endowment like her siblings' irritating nickname for Paul.
She had wanted to deal with the asshole straightaway when Felix told her, but couldn't leave Sarah alone to her own devices. Yesterday had been the toughest day so far for her. The depression was back full force, even worse since Sarah was still completely exhausted but unable to find sleep. Her mood had been foul to say the least and although she was visibly trying to refrain from taking it out on Beth and Paul, she was unsuccessful a lot of the time.
Despite the rough day yesterday, Sarah had awoken this morning shockingly chipper. She was in the smoother, happier phase of withdrawal now, much to all of their relief. It meant that Sarah was recovering at a good pace and gave Beth some time to leave her sister alone with Paul to take care of the Vic problem.
She found herself walking up the grimy stairwell to Felix's flat, expecting her brother to have done as she asked and lured Vic there already. The large metal door was jarred slightly and she could already make out the asshole's harsh voice demanding to know when Sarah would be arriving. Of course they both knew the only way to summon Vic would be to use Sarah as bait, because if he had known Beth would show up instead there's not a chance he'd appear. Vic hates Beth and Beth hates Vic; a typical relationship for a cop and a drug dealer.
She swung the door open harshly and watched Vic whirl around immediately. He scowled at the sight of her. "Oh fuck this shit," he growled and made his way to her, eyes on the exit the whole time.
"Not so fast asshole," Beth ground out and managed to slam his back against the brick wall before he could plow his way out of the apartment. "Felix told me you were back in town and I thought we should have a little visit. Catch up and all that, you know?"
"Fuck you, bitch," he snarled and tried to shake out of her hold.
Beth smiled condescendingly and kept him pinned tightly to the wall. "You know, I'd prefer if you referred to me as Detective Childs. You do remember that I'm a cop, right?"
Vic grunted in response and Beth smiled sweetly at him. "You better not forget that, alright? I've got more pull in this city than you do and if you ever even think about coming anywhere near my sister again, I'll have you spending a serious amount of time in prison."
"Yeah well your fucking bitch sister stole my shit. I'm not going anywhere until I get it back."
"Did I mention that before I throw you in jail, I'll make sure that all your drug dealing buddies know how tight you are with the cops? That way even if you make it out of jail without get shanked, they'll all be coming after you the second you get out. Are we clear?"
"Whatever. Get the fuck off me," he grumbled and this time Beth didn't fight his pushes to escape from her hold. He ducked out the door in his typical fashion right after and Beth held up her middle finger instead of a wave goodbye.
She turned around to face Felix and offered a reassuring smile. "I think that went well."
"You think he'll leave her alone?" Felix asked skeptically as he shrugged on his jacket.
"If he has any brain cells left he will. He should realize by now that I wasn't kidding around."
Felix nodded in agreement and threw an arm lazily around her shoulders. He guided her gently out of the loft and threw the padlock on the door behind them. "You ready for this dinner?"
Beth groaned and threw her head in aggravation. "Not really. I give it five minutes before S figures out that Sarah's back in town."
"And another five before she's demanding to speak to her about her disappearing," Felix added ruefully.
"I seriously hope we're wrong," Beth said as she hopped into the driver's seat of her car. She heard Felix grunt in response as he flopped into the vehicle as well.
"What are we gonna tell her if she does figure it out?" Felix asked his sister, knowing she had probably already sorted out exactly what they would say.
"Nothing," Beth responded simply and continued driving to her foster mother's in silence.
"Nothing? Genius, Elizabeth. This is S we're talking about, remember? She's not just gonna let us off the hook!"
"And this is also Sarah we're talking about, Fee! She and S already have a shit relationship, anything we say will only make it worse for her. She's our sister and we've always had her back when shit hits the fan, this isn't any different."
Felix sighed knowing that she was right. They wouldn't necessarily lie to their foster mother, but protecting Sarah would have to be their first priority. It was the only way they could act at this point, knowing Siobhan would have no problem dangling Kira's custody over Sarah's head if she found out about the drug use and Vic coming after her. Both women only wanted what was best for Kira, but unfortunately Siobhan often thought through the years that this meant the little girl shouldn't be in the care of her mother. Beth and Felix tended to disagree with that line of thinking and didn't want to provide S any ammunition to keep Sarah away from Kira.
The siblings arrived at their childhood home shortly. Most of the lights were on in the house and they could make out the faint silhouette of Siobhan moving about. "Just try to act like nothing's changed since last week's dinner," Beth suggested after heaving out a deep sigh.
Felix ignored her statement and slid out of the vehicle easily. She met him around at the sidewalk and linked their arms playfully. Knowing it wouldn't be locked, Beth swung the front door open and took a step inside the home. The delicious smell of dinner immediately overcame their senses and both smiled in delight at the thought of the food to come.
The sound of soft but quick footsteps on the stairs had both of them turning their attention forward to see their niece gliding down them. Kira leapt into Beth's arms and hugged her tightly. "Hi Aunt Beth!"
"Hey squirt, how's it going?" she asked happily, always enjoying any sort of interaction with the young girl.
"Good! We got to play with the parachute at school today," she grinned proudly while telling her aunt about the highlight of her day.
Beth gasped in dramatic jealousy at the revelation. "You did! That was always my favourite part of gym class, you know. But my teachers were mean and never let us play with it."
Kira giggled at the scowl that took over Beth's face from the reminiscing. Beth had a knack for always making Kira laugh – usually through her assuming a highly overdramatic persona.
"Oi! Are you gonna give me a hug too or are you just gonna stay attached to Auntie Beth all night," Felix interrupted the pair.
"Sorry Fee, gotta wait your turn. She's my monkey right now," Beth responded and carried the little girl into the den.
Siobhan was waiting there for them when they entered and smiled at her foster children in greeting. "Oi, oi, Mrs S," Felix said and offered her a quick hug.
"Oi, oi. You're just in time, dinner's just finished cooking," she announced.
"Sweet, I'm starving," Beth smiled and gently placed Kira back on the ground. The little girl quickly went over to Felix and hugged him tightly, pleasing him immensely.
"Right, let's eat then!" Felix announced and followed S back into the kitchen.
Beth began following behind them until she felt a small tug on her wrist. She looked down to see Kira looking up at her with wide eyes. "Yeah, Monkey?"
"When's mommy coming?"
Beth sighed and bent down in front of her niece. Kira had asked the question before in Sarah's absence but the way she voiced it this time was different. For some reason it seemed that she knew that Sarah was actually back in town now. "You'll see her soon, I promise."
The sad look Kira gave her at the words nearly had her heart breaking in two. The little girl just looked so sad in that moment; so obviously extremely missing her mother that even the prospect of a few more days of waiting was just more disappointment. She inwardly cursed Sarah for causing such a precious little girl like Kira to ever feel any sort of pain.
Before she could offer any comfort, Siobhan appeared in the doorway with a cocked eyebrow. "Everything alright, loves?"
"Yeah, we're all good here," Beth replied automatically with a smile and ruffled Kira's hair playfully. "Monkey and I were just discussing the mechanics of playing with the parachute at school."
"Well discuss at the dinner table, your food is gonna get cold," she spoke only slightly sternly and disappeared again.
Beth took Kira's hand and squeezed it gently, hoping the gesture would somewhat make the girl feel better. She guided them both into the kitchen and dove into the food and conversation with her family.
"You know you don't have to babysit me, yeah?" Sarah asked gruffly when she walked out of her temporary bedroom to see Paul sitting on the couch. She was wringing her hair out after just showering, wearing her old London Calling t-shirt and a pair of lacy black panties.
"I'm not," Paul shrugged and continued to focus on the television in front of him.
Sarah scoffed loudly and flopped down onto the couch next to him. She grabbed the pillow next to her and smacked him in the side of the head with it. "Then why did I hear Beth tellin' you not to leave me alone tonight?"
Paul grunted at the force of the object hitting him and grabbed it forcefully from her hands. He placed the pillow on the other side of his body protectively. "Leave my pillow out of it! You may have taken over my bed but you can't have the pillow too."
"Still not over that, eh?" Sarah chucked softly. When Beth had proposed that Paul sleep on the couch for the next little while so Sarah could rest comfortable in a proper bed, he had not been pleased. It only took a slightly raised voice and stern look from her twin to get him to consent but he'd been voicing his displeasure over the whole arrangement since he had agreed. "But back to the babysittin me, wha's it all about?"
"Technically, I'm not babysitting you," Paul once again objected. "Beth asked me not to leave you alone here tonight but since I didn't have any other plans in the first place, I'm actually just having a night in by myself. You just happen to be here too."
"Right," Sarah drawled disbelievingly and looked at the TV for a moment. "I night in playing Mario Kart?"
"Yeah I guess this does look a little pathetic," he admitted and scratched the back of his head in slight embarrassment. "Your sister bought it a while back, claiming it was for when Kira comes over for something age appropriate. After I caught her playing it by herself a few too many times I realized she used Kira to cover for herself."
"And now you're spending your Tuesday night playing a kid's video game?"
"It's fun alright!" he defended himself and scowled at the laughter she responded with.
"Seriously Paul, you don't have to watch me. If you wanna go out I'll be fine here. I've barely had a cravin' all day, I feel good."
"That's good, Sarah. I'm still not going anywhere though. Even if I did want to do something, Beth would chop my balls off if she found out I left you here."
He leaned forward to the coffee table and grabbed the second Wii remote sitting atop it, inserting it into the steering wheel component and handed it to her. "Since we're stuck with each other for the evening you might as well play too. I'll even pay for pizza."
"Yeah? 'Cause I'm starvin'."
"Yeah," he chuckled and grabbed his cell phone, quickly dialing a pizza joint and ordering food for them. He made sure to get enough for the two of them plus Beth because even though she was getting a nice home cooked meal from S, the girl loved pizza too much to ever pass it up. He'd probably be a dead man if she came home to find their pizza boxes completely empty with none saved for her. "First things first though, you've gotta put some clothes on."
"Wha?" Sarah balked in confusion. "I'm wearin' clothes ya idiot."
He spared a glance at her ensemble and shook his head. "Put some pants on Sarah, Jesus. You can't just walk around in front of your sister's boyfriend in your underwear!"
"Why not? It's nothing you haven't seen before," she shrugged not seeing a problem with her choice of clothing. She just took a shower and wouldn't be going anywhere for the rest of the night, what's wrong with wearing your sleepwear around the house then? "
He bulged his eyes at her response. "What?"
"Oi! You're sleepin' with my twin sister, yeah? Pretty sure that means you've seen me naked too then."
"I don't think it works that way, Manning. Besides, Beth and I don't exactly-"
"Have a lot of sex, yeah I know," she interrupted with a snort. "Which makes me wonder why you two are even together."
"When did this become a relationship therapy session?" he mused defensively, not wanting at all to talk about his relationship with Beth to her twin sister.
Sarah threw up her hands in defense and laughed lightly. "Relax man. I'm gonna go put on some clothes to make you feel better, ya sissy."
"So are you going to tell me what's going on?" Siobhan asked Beth as they sat across from each other at the table.
They had finished dinner shortly before and Felix and Kira had navigated their way over to the piano while S and Beth had a cup of tea. Beth glanced curiously at her foster mother over the rim of her mug. "Hmm?"
"Sarah's back in town? I heard you and Kira talking earlier."
Beth ran a hand through her hair and shrugged. "Yeah, she's in town. She got back a few days ago."
"A few days and I haven't heard a word from her?" Siobhan asked suspiciously. She had expected Sarah to come barging through her front door for Kira the second she came back.
"She's been staying with Paul and I, trying to get her shit together before she calls you I guess."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"We both know she's gonna come for Kira, S. I'd assume she wants to get her life on as stable ground as she can before she does that. I'm just giving her a place to crash until then."
Siobhan narrowed her eyes at Beth, examining her. "Elizabeth."
"Oh God, here we go," Beth groaned and threw her head back in frustration.
"If there's something more going on you need to tell me – for Kira's sake."
"There's nothing, S! If I thought Sarah was going to fuck with Kira then I wouldn't be helping her get back on her feet."
"I know she's your sister, but you're not responsible for her," Siobhan sighed and patted her foster daughter's hand gently. "You've been through too much the past few months to be dealing with Sarah's antics."
Beth bristled at the statement that left the older woman's mouth. She hated when anyone brought up her work bullshit over the last while. She had made it very clear that she didn't want to hear any more on the subject from her family. She could handle it all without their input. They tried to act like they understood what was going through her head or how she was feeling but they didn't, none of them even came close to understanding. Ironically, the one person in the world who might actually be able to make sense of her mindset was Sarah – the person who Siobhan believed to be a burden in her life at the moment.
"I think I can be the judge of that," Beth spat out harshly. She noticed Siobhan immediately back off that particular topic.
"I just want what's best for you," she said softly and offered a comforting smile.
"And what about Sarah?" Beth demanded, still feeling that anger under her skin.
"What about Sarah?"
"Do you want what's best for her, too?"
"Of course, love. I want that for all three of you," she spoke sincerely and Beth had a hard time not believing the woman's words.
"Then cut her some slack when you do finally see her again. She's trying really hard to get her life together and be the mother you always expected her to be," the finality in her voice indicated that she didn't want to hear anything else on the matter.
She would defend Sarah until the day she dies but Siobhan always expected too much of Sarah. The standards were always much too high for Sarah to meet so she was deemed a failure; a disappointment; an unfit mother over and over and over again. She was determined for things to be different this time though. Sarah deserved another chance at really being Kira's mother – without Siobhan's critical eye watching every move, waiting for the failure to come.