Chapter Three

Renee

I thought she would shut up once I was back but no she just acted really sulky then the little bitch came home from school and told me none of her friends had to clean and do the washing and they got dinner cooked for them and went on outings and things. It was time we had a heart to heart so I cancelled my date for the evening, I had gone off him anyway, and sat her down. Her little face looked bright and eager all of a sudden and I really think she was expecting me to apologise and promise to mend my ways.

"You listen to me Missy. Your so called friends have all got dad's with jobs, bringing in money to buy them expensive clothes and computers and the like. Their mothers can spend the day cleaning the house and cooking dinner because they don't have to work like I do."

Her lip began to tremble but she bit back the tears and looked down at her scuffed shoes mumbling a reply.

"What? I didn't hear you Izzy, lift your head up and stop mumbling."

"Dad sends you money for me but I never get any of it. I want to live with my dad, he loves me. You don't and I hate you"

I have to admit I was impressed with her gall but it just got her a slap across the face,

"Now you listen to me Miss "I Know Everything." Your dad sends me a pittance, not enough to pay for the basics let alone all the things you've started demanding, besides its up to me how I spend that money not you."

"But its supposed to be for me"

"Really and who told you that?"

"My friend at school. Her cousins mum and dad split up and her dad sends money for her. Her mum spends it on her not on things for herself"

"Well, isn't she lucky. Maybe her dad isn't a cop in a one horse town that pays piss nothing."

"I'm going to tell him you said that. Ask him if I can go live with him in Forks. I hate living with you and you don't want me here. I heard you tell your friends that I'm a nuisance"

"So you've been listening in too have you? Well you listen to me very carefully. I had to give up all my dreams because of you and any money your father sends down is in my name for me to spend how I see fit so I don't want to hear any more about your precious father. Do you really think he wants you in Forks? If he did he'd have taken you a long time ago. He'd rather pay me to keep you."

"That's a lie and when I tell him how you treat me he'll come and get me."

I was usually mild tempered but she rubbed me up the wrong way and I had a headache so she got it both barrels.

"If not for you, you little bitch I could have a nice life with a wealthy husband but no I'm stuck here too. So if you start complaining to your teachers or your friends about anything that happens in this house I'll send you away to a home and I promise you that your father will never find you. They'll have you doing all you do here and more and there wont be any schooling, you'll just be locked up with a lot of other ungrateful kids."

"I'll tell my dad then"

She really was pushing her luck, not that she would tell Charlie, she never spoke to him these days, I made sure of that.

I pulled her off her chair and close to my face speaking in a whisper,

"You remember Big Frankie?"

She nodded her eyes wide with fear. She had been terrified of the huge trucker I'd dated for a few months until his coarse ways became too much even for me to stomach.

"Well, if you tell your father anything at all I'm going to get Big Frankie to go to his house in Forks while he's asleep one night and stab him to death. His death will be on your conscience then, all your fault. Then I'm gonna let him in here when you go to sleep and you'll wake up to find him standing over you with a big knife. He'll cut your tongue out so you can't tell anyone else all your lies about what a bad mother I am. Do you want that?"

I picked up the phone from the side table and waved it in front of her,

"Do you want to ring your precious daddy and tell him how wicked I am to you?"

She froze, teats streaming down her face then shook her head,

"I didn't hear you Izzy. Do you want to speak to your father?"

"No."

"No what?"

"No Mummy."

"Good, now you can get me a drink, a soda with ice and gin, lots of gin, then go to your room. I don't want to hear from you again until morning and if I see your light on there will be trouble. Have you got that?"

"Yes mummy."

"And just remember, Big Frankie is only a phone call away and if I tell him you're giving me a hard time he might come visit you without me asking."

I pushed her in the direction of the kitchen and put the phone back on its cradle, that taught the little bitch who was boss in this house.

Izzy was very subdued after our little talk and I knew I'd scared her with talk of Big Frankie. In truth he was a scary looking guy but he actually wouldn't hurt a fly. Violence wasn't really his thing, if I asked him to show Izzy the error of her ways it wouldn't be with a knife, no he had other ideas when it came to my little girl and much as I hated her I couldn't stomach that, its why I threw him out. The thing was that the threat worked and she settled back down with no more talk of what her school friends said. I had a new circle of friends from the beauty salon where I worked as a nail technician and they were mostly single so we had some great nights out. I might have been concerned that Izzy would contact her father but I let slip that Big Frankie had a way of tapping the phones and he would know if she had spoken to her father.

"If he hears that you have he wont wait to tell me, he'll go straight to Forks and that will be the end of your dad. He might even ring you so you hear your dad begging for mercy and hear the scream as Frankie sticks him with his hunting knife. I wonder how you'll feel when you see his coffin and know you're responsible for his death."

Funnily enough Charlie rang soon after that but Izzy was too scared to talk to him until I pretended to speak to Big Frankie and let him know it was OK, that I was here with her. Well, I knew I had no worries now even if her attitude upset her dad. He tried to blame me for it, what the hell was I? Everyone's whipping boy? I just told him she was growing away from him like girls did when they were separated from their fathers and that it was too late to do anything about it, after all he couldn't afford to spend weeks down here with her and I wasn't sending her to Forks. All in all it was a great result because I didn't have him bitching about my lifestyle and she shut up complaining about her chores, so I won all round.

I guess I should have realised things were going just a little too well but a week later when I got back from work I found Izzy sitting at the table in tears with a stranger drinking coffee and looking round my kitchen like the nosy police! She stood up offering her hand as I put my bag down on the table looking at my daughter quizzically,

"Mrs Swan, my name is Eleanor Rudge. I'm the school librarian and I found Izzy crying in the library toilets this afternoon. She wont tell me what the matter is so I thought I'd better make sure she got home safely and that she wasn't left alone."

I ignored the outstretched hand and returned her smile coldly,

"Thank you but I'm here now so I'll take over."

She dropped her hand awkwardly and I waited until she put her jacket back on and then touched Izzy on the shoulder,

"I'm sure whatever is wrong your mother will be able to sort it out for you"

Izzy glanced at me knowing full well she was in big trouble as soon as the interfering bitch had gone but managed a wan smile and nodded.

Once the woman had left I turned to my daughter,

"Well?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't tell her anything I swear."

"So you just decided to start a crying fit in the toilets for no reason?"

She shook her head,

"Well spit it out."

"I got a letter from my dad"

I felt my blood run cold,

"Oh, where is it?"

She rummaged in her bag and took out a crumpled envelope holding it out to me.

"When did this come?"

"This morning just as you left. There's one for you too I think."

I snatched it from her and opened out the creased paper inside. It was short but sweetly put, in essence Charlie thought that his daughter would be better off if he stopped ringing her because it was obviously upsetting for her. He enclosed twenty dollars so she could buy herself something.

I held out my hand again and waited and after debating whether it was worth trying to withhold the money she handed over two ten dollar bills as well.

"So your dad's finally got the message, well at least you wont need to worry about Big Frankie hearing an unauthorised call will you. Now I hope there wont be a repeat of this behaviour. Get to your room and wash your face. I'm going out this evening but you may order pizza for yourself".

I was feeling good after this news. I handed back one of the bills,

"Pay for it with this."

Then I remembered there was a letter for me and looked on the side table in the hall. My letter was in a brown envelope, so not from Charlie but from his lawyer. Maybe I'd been a little hasty with the pizza money, we'd see.