Author's Notes: I haven't written a long chapter like this for anything in a long time. I'm so glad to feel inspired again, and the support you guys have given me for this fic has really helped. This probably should have been two chapters, and even at that I had to cut some things out for length. I just didn't want to break things up until I found a decent stopping point. Thank you to everyone who has read, and everyone who has reviewed. Hopefully you like this new chapter of "Abdoption" :)
Chapter 9
Someone Watching Over Me
Billy sat despondent in the middle of the floor, having cried all he could and now just stewing in his misery. The gang asked him what happened, but his explanation took a few tries before anything made sense. They finally figured out Fluffy went home, maybe, and that Billy was upset he let her go. His friends wanted to help him feel better, but nobody knew quite what to do.
"Maybe a new pet would make you feel better, Billy," Arturo suggested, "Ooh, I know, I know! How about a kitty cat? You bring cats home all the time."
"No," Billy replied listlessly, "Billy want Fluffy back."
"Pfft pfft pfffft!" Grubber tried to reason.
"I know," Billy sighed depressedly, "Billy still sad."
"Hey, I know what'll cheer you up," Ace said encouragingly, "We got a few cases of beer left in the back. You can have a whole case to yerself, okay?"
Billy didn't reply, but he didn't refuse either. Seeing this as acceptance, Snake went to get the cheap liquor for their melancholy friend.
Billy popped the tops off five cans, and then drank them all down at once. Then he did it again. He drank the last two cans and then passed out immediately, the whole affair taking less than a minute.
"I'm sure he'll feel better when he wakes up," Ace commented passively.
"I hopes we will too," Snake whispered pensively, "We know she'sss in a bad placcce right now."
"Yeah, well, it ain't our problem no more," Ace shrugged, though the others could tell it was just a front, "Anyway, the rest of us might as well get hammered too."
With nothing better to do, the other three joined Ace in downing the swill he stole that afternoon. Everyone knew Marny's situation was bad, but they weren't The Powerpuff Girls. They didn't save people who were in need; they bullied them. The Gangreen Gang had no business fooling with some wimpy little kid, and a few days from then Billy would find some new animal to obsess over. This time Ace would even let him keep it, just to get the big green lug off his back.
"…and that cloud looks like the train. Do you know what that one looks like?"
Little Billy didn't answer, but he nodded that he knew.
"Well, what does it look like?"
Billy thought for a moment, and then held up two fingers while moving them up and down.
"That's right, a bunny!"
Billy grinned wide at having figured it out, and Brittney squealed in delight at how smart her twin brother was. She ran in place for a minute to expend some pent-up energy, and then flopped back down in the grass. Billy laid back too so they could keep looking up at the clouds.
"I wonder if boys from our home planet talk?" Brittney randomly pondered, "Maybe boy cyclopses ain't supposed to talk. I only thought about it because that mean girl Mabel says I talk too much. Maybe I should be quiet like you, but I don't know how. My mouth moves before I even realize I said anything. I wonder why her parents named her Mabel. Maybe they hated her. I don't blame them. I hate her too. She says mean things about both of us, and most of them ain't true."
Billy laughed, and then spotted a cloud that looked like a planet with rings around it. He wondered if that was what their home planet looked like. The adults said he and his sister were freaks, but they knew better. They each only had one giant eye, so they had to be space aliens like on TV. He wondered if all boys on their planet were green like him. Brittney didn't have green skin. Except for her eye she looked like the white kids. Maybe it was a failed disguise their space parents gave her.
Pointing at the cloud, Billy grunted to get his sister's attention. Brittney looked up and saw the round shape with the wafting rings. It looked more distorted than a moment prior, but she smiled wide nonetheless.
"I bet our planet looks like that," Brittney said, voicing Billy's unspoken thought, "We should go inside soon to eat. I've been writing down what we eat every day for almost a week. When our space parents come to get us they'll want a full report."
Of course in reality there were no space parents, no aliens, and no escape. At the time however, Billy and Brittney lived in this fantasy world comfortably. As long as they believed in their space parents they had hope. As long as they were aliens and not deformed orphans they might not be forced to spend their lives in ABC Land. As long as they had each other they had everything.
When they went back inside, they snuck around the living room where Mr. Mendez was sitting in his easy chair watching some old western on the wood paneled TV set. Other kids said the furniture in the house was old and crummy. Most of the kids in ABC Land lived with their parents or in another group home before coming to this wretched place. Billy and Brittney lived here their entire lives however, and therefore didn't know much about life beyond this ominous yellow kiddie jail.
They made it to the dining room, where a meal of watered down mushroom soup and stale crackers was being served. Billy was always happy around dinner time. It didn't matter what they ate, because Billy was never full and wanted whatever food was there. Sometimes the picky kids would even share, and those days were the best.
When they looked for a place to sit, every chair was unfortunately occupied. Billy and Brittney tried to wait for someone to finish so they could eat, but their plan backfired and instead denied them a place at the table for almost a half hour.
Billy finally walked to the table and tugged on the shirt of one of the other boys to ask for his seat. The kid, three years his senior, just gave him a nasty look and sneered at him.
"Get your own chair, Jolly Green Giant," The kid spat, "I'm eatin'."
"You've been sitting there staring at your food for 20 minutes," A blonde girl argued with him, "You can let Billy sit down."
"If he wanted to sit down, he would ask me," The boy said snidely.
"You know he can't talk yet!" Brittney forcefully interjected.
"Why not?" The boy taunted, "You freaks are like 7 years old."
Billy tugged again on the boy's shirt, but he pulled too hard and caused the kid to fall from his seat. The boy pulled on the table cloth to try to catch himself, which led to his soup pouring onto his head.
"Pfft…pfft…why you good for nothing retard!" The boy screamed.
The boy then tackled Billy, who at first didn't resist. When the boy poked his large eye however, Billy flailed his arm at the boy and caused him to crash against the wall! Mrs. Woodrow, a severe looking old woman, ran up to the rude boy and smacked his back with a wooden spoon.
"You don't use language like that around here!" Mrs. Woodrow scolded, "And as for you Billy, that little stunt just earned you a trip to the closet!"
"But it wasn't his fault!" Brittney yelled.
"You wanna join him?" Mrs. Woodrow said threateningly.
Brittney pouted for a moment upon being asked this question, but then…
"Yes!" Brittney barked, unafraid.
Mrs. Woodrow just sighed longsufferingly and wagged her spoon.
"Alright, you two delinquents get three hours in the closet. And you, Randall, are to clean up this mess as well as do the dishes tonight!"
"What!?" The rude boy yelped, scandalized.
Brittney laughed at the mean kid's misery, and Billy laughed because his twin was laughing. They couldn't celebrate long however as Mrs. Woodrow grabbed their shirt sleeves and dragged them out of the dining room.
Billy and Brittney were then led to a small coat closet with nothing inside. The door was locked from the outside, and they were left in the dark. They knew if they spoke too loudly while in here, they would be greeted with a beating when they came out. Billy felt a few tears fall down his face, but then he could also feel his twin's hand grabbing onto his in solidarity.
At great to herself, she whispered the words that would resonate in his heart every time he committed a crime or broke a rule in his life from then on…
"It was worth it."
"C-A-N-D-L-E…candle!" Blarney the Sea Serpent said excitedly from the other side of the TV, "Now kids, spell it with me. Faster this time!"
The kids at ABC Land that didn't have any chores left to do were watching the children's puppet show with rapt interest. Billy, who was now 8 years old, knew how to say a few words thanks to watching Blarney. He still couldn't say much, and he didn't remember his first word, but finally he could communicate in a way that normal people could understand. Brittney was proud of him too, but to be fair she could still understand him even when he didn't speak.
"Now that we can spell candle, let's discuss all of its wonderful uses!" Blarney exclaimed, "Just be sure not to set fire to the curtains…uh oh!"
The kids laughed as Blarney sang a song about putting out candle fires. The laughter wasn't as loud as last week, but Billy didn't care. In fact, he was happy about it. Last week that mean kid Randall disappeared, as kids tended to do in ABC Land, and Billy was so happy that bully wasn't around to hurt him or his sister anymore.
When Blarney finally went off Billy decided he wanted to draw pretty pictures with Brittney. They were going to draw more space pictures, and pictures of stuff on earth for their space parents. Billy briefly wondered if aliens were the reason kids were going missing around the group home. Maybe it was like a kid exchange. Some of their alien kids in exchange for Townsville's human kids.
Billy went upstairs to their room, which was where Brittney was staying more and more lately. She used to love going outside, but ever since ABC Land got the new growling doggies she was too scared to go out and play. Billy didn't mind them, but the other kids seemed afraid of the dogs, especially when they tried to bite someone or the chains holding them started to give way.
When Billy entered the room he and his sister shared with four other kids, he surprisingly found himself alone. He didn't worry too much at first, but just took out a piece of paper and started coloring. He drew a train carrying him and his sister away to the heart of Townsville. Since Billy couldn't draw well, it looked more like a green blob and a pink blob sitting on top of a red blob. He was still proud of it though, and couldn't wait to show Brittney.
He walked around the house looking for Brittney, carrying his picture proudly in front of him. He passed several kids, though he couldn't remember most of their names, and even passed Mr. Mendez on his way to the kitchen. Billy passed probably twelve different people, but none of them were Brittney.
"Brittney!" Billy called out, "Hey Brittney!"
Billy walked outside to where Brittney might be, but all he saw were the growling dogs. Somehow they looked even bigger today, and the tips of the barbed wire glittered in the sun like the tips of knives. Billy didn't know why, but he had a really bad feeling about this.
Hurriedly, Billy continued to run through the house and call Brittney's name. Some of the kids stared at him as he ran past them, having never seen the overweight kid so speedy before.
Billy panted as he exerted himself, but he still couldn't find Brittney. Where could she be?
Finally, after what felt like forever, Billy was stopped in the hallway by a blonde girl. He thought her name was Julia, but he couldn't remember.
"Billy, watch out!" The girl warned him, "If the caretakers see you running around like this they're gonna shove you in the closet, probably with the weights tied to your wrists again."
"Where's Brittney?" Billy demanded, caring for nothing else.
"Oh, Billy…" The girl looked genuinely piteous as she spoke, "Didn't you hear? Some fancy dressed grown ups came earlier today. You know what that means."
Billy nodded apprehensively. He knew very well what that meant. Fancy dressed adults usually preceded another child disappearing from ABC Land. Brittney and Billy always hid whenever those suits walked in. But…she would know to hide, right? They couldn't find Brittney, right?
"…Where's Brittney?" Billy asked again, his voice barely above a whisper.
"Billy, she's gone," The girl explained as gently as she could, "I'm sorry."
Billy's tears welled up in his eye, and his nose began to drip. Finally, he couldn't hold it anymore.
"WAAAAAHHH!" Billy bawled as he roughly sat down on the ground, "BRITTNEY's GONE! WAAAAAHHH!"
The girl didn't know what to do for Billy, so she slowly backed away and left him to his misery. He never saw Brittney again, and after the sorrow settled his one goal in life was simple: Escape ABC Land before they took him too.
When Billy woke up he had a hangover, but it wasn't the worst one he'd ever had. It was still dark outside, and the others were already passed out from their latest binge.
Billy walked up to the window and saw the faint twinkle of stars in the sky. He hadn't thought about Brittney in a long time, at least not like this. When the gang became his family he shut that part of himself away. The gang was always there for him, always good to him. They taught him that humans could be green and weird looking like him, and the best things in life were free (legally and otherwise).
Billy lifted his hand up as if he could grab one of the stars in the window, but of course he knew he couldn't. He wondered if Brittney was up there, either as an alien or an angel. He also wondered where Marny was right now. Brittney always protected Billy when he couldn't speak for himself, yet he failed to protect Marny when she had no voice. He was a bad pet owner.
As he turned away to face the reality of his life he looked at the empty bassinet, and the backpack Marny left behind. Everything she owned was probably in that bag, and she probably missed it. Billy wished he could give it to her.
In the corner sat Marny's paints, strewn about and spilling on the ground. Arturo likely forgot all about them. Billy poked the orange paint with his finger, and found that it was still wet.
Billy then sat down in the corner where she painted that morning, and dipped his fingers in the paints. He painted on the wall, for this shack wasn't so precious to the gang as to avoid defiling it, and he tried for a moment to forget his helplessness. His art hadn't really improved much since his childhood, but in this case that was probably a blessing. At least the gang wouldn't think to question why there were 7 blob figures in the picture instead of 5. There were 5 figures grouped together, 1 figure standing farther away, and 1 figure above them in a crude interpretation of the sky.
Earlier that day…
Marny managed to use the bathroom connected to the employee lounge, and was given a bottle of water to drink while she waited for her grandparents to pick her up. Her eyes constantly shifted, like a cornered animal searching for a way out. She ran away once, and she was sure she wouldn't get another chance if she went home with those horrible people.
Unfortunately, it became clear that there was no way out. There were too many people, and always at least one adult looking right at her. The lights in the store were too bright, and the space too open. She was trapped, waiting for the inevitable.
So, this was it. Her great plans to escape and find a better life…led to joining a street gang followed by a return to her jailer. What a way to end what should have been an incredible adventure.
The worst part, at least for Marny, was that now she had more questions about her life, and they were questions she didn't think she would ever have to ask herself. Like was she human or an animal? This seemed obvious at first. She looked like a human, and had a human family, so she must be a human. Then again, dogs and cats were considered members of the family. Did they think they were human too? Was she actually a stray animal? Did that make her grandpa an animal abuser?
All questions left her head, as well as any other thought she could have had, when she saw two figures enter the break room.
There was her grandma, complete with her curly silver-blonde hair, closed eyes, and frilly pink dress. She stooped over as she walked, and had a facial expression that looked like the antithesis of one. Probably the most boring adult to ever live. Next to her was the real source of fear and tension however…
Commissioner George Milford, standing straight as a flagpole with mirror reflective sunglasses that frequently showed Marny her own petrified face whenever she stared up at him. Buzz cut gray hair, perfectly pressed uniform…the face of Townsville's police force.
"Where is she?" Her grandpa demanded without preamble.
"Oh, Commissioner Milford. I'm so glad you came so quickly," The store's manager replied in a friendly tone, "I know your granddaughter will be so happy to see you. She's been through so much after her ordeal, after all."
"That didn't answer my question, young man," Commissioner Milford replied curtly, "Where is she?"
The manager, caught off guard by the cold yet insistent line of questioning, merely pointed to where Marny was sitting.
Marny wore a guarded expression, yet she made sure not to try to run or cower under the chair. She was not going to let him see her scared. If this was really the end, then she wanted to die like a man. Well, figuratively.
"Come on, girl. Let's go," Her grandpa ordered once he got close enough.
Marny wasn't fooled by his calm tone for a second. She knew how this was going to play out. He was going to stay calm in the store, they were going to drive home, and then when they were behind closed doors he was going to kill her. Now she really wished she had swiped something sharp from the store. Maybe a knife or a pencil or something.
Alas, she had no sharp thing, and no plan. Everyone was either against her or oblivious, and she might actually be a dog anyway, so why fight it? With nowhere left to run, she allowed her grandma to take her hand as they walked out of the store.
As they went into the parking lot she looked around, hoping she would see Billy, but he was nowhere to be found. So, she really was alone now. For some reason, this surprised and disappointed her.
The car ride home was equal parts nerve-wracking and boring, if such a combination could exist. Marny sat in the back seat while her grandparents sat in the front. Her grandpa's knuckles were clearly visible as he gripped the steering wheel, and the couple at first shared no words between them. To be fair, they rarely did outside of the home.
As they drove, a car cut them off in the heart of downtown, and Commissioner Milford hammered the horn as a vein throbbed near his temple.
"Lousy Townsville drivers!" George snapped at no one, "I hate this city. I wonder how many of them are drunk or high right now. A man can't keep his family together for all the filth in this rotten place! First some drunk driver takes our daughter and grandson away, and then when all we're left with is some empty shell of a kid she gets taken by a freaking gang of deformed junkies!"
Marny cringed in her seat at the volume of his voice, but her grandma didn't even react. She didn't even look at her husband, but rather kept her head facing forward as if she couldn't hear him rant.
"You make plans, and then watch them go up in smoke," He kept huffing under his breath, "You work hard to provide for your family and give them a future, and what do you get? A daughter who blows $50,000 on a college degree she never uses, a deadbeat that runs out on her, two ungrateful bratty grandkids, and debt up to your eyeballs. Oh, but if that wasn't good enough, a man can't even keep that level of crappy ungrateful family in his life! How could she do this to us, Moreen? How could Chelsea die and leave us with this imbecile?"
"You missed the turn," Moreen Milford informed him, "This road leads to the warehouse district."
"Oh, come on!" George shouted, "Can things get any worse!?"
"Look on the bright side, dear," His wife consoled him, "At least we found Marny safe and sound."
"You realize we're probably gonna have to call Ed in on this," George grumbled, "Who knows what those freaks probably did to her? Now she'll need to be examined by the crimes against children unit."
"Do we have to do that now?" Moreen whined, "I haven't eaten all day, and Wilma probably has dinner on the table by now."
"If we don't do it now it doesn't get done," George pointed out.
"Well it probably didn't happen," Moreen rationalized, "Marny would be trying to tell us if it did, after all. Besides, that awful gang is more about theft and money than human trafficking."
"You say that like there's no money in human trafficking," George said patronizingly, "I'm telling you woman, the things I see on this job would color your hair just to turn it gray all over again."
"Can it at least wait until after dinner?" His wife begged.
"Whatever," George acquiesced, "Besides, I don't really want anyone examining the brat anyway. She doesn't heal fast enough, and you know I'd lose my job if those panty-waists at the mayor's office find out I actually disciplined my grandkid. I still remember poor Joe Foreman. He got fired just because he gave his son a black eye. I've met his kid. Probably had it coming. A good man lost his job just because people today think kids should be coddled even when they're turning into monsters. I tell you Moreen, I hate this city…"
Marny didn't follow most of the conversation, but she could tell her grandpa was in what she would call a 'medium bad mood'. He wasn't as angry as she expected, but she still needed to tread lightly. If she played her cards right and stayed out of his way, then maybe he would forget he was angry at her for running away. It was her only hope if she was going to survive long enough to run away again.
When they made it home Marny could feel her heart beating harder. She hoped she would never see this neighborhood again, but there it was. This area was part of Old Townsville, and as such was a place of contradictions. Beautiful hundred year old houses and perfectly manicured bushes stood proud and dusty along the train tracks that marred the illusion of domestic bliss with the cold reality of a heartless machine. In a way, this area was a perfect representation of Marny's broken family. A well maintained surface that hid an ugly truth.
When they went inside the first thing Marny noticed was the deafening sound of their cheap vacuum cleaner. A red headed woman held up one side of the couch with one hand as she ran the vacuum underneath it. The smell of Salisbury steak and peas seemed to welcome Marny back home. She was so hungry that she almost forgot her fear, so desperate was she for an actual home cooked meal.
George tried to call out to their cleaning lady to turn off the vacuum, but the woman didn't hear him. George, unwilling to be ignored, stomped over to the outlet and pulled the plug; abruptly silencing the apparatus.
"Huh?" The lady looked down at the vacuum in bewilderment.
"Hey, Wilma!" George barked, "Is dinner ready yet?"
"My name's not Wilma," The cleaning lady replied, "And yes, everything is on the table, and I set three places like you asked. In a few minutes I need to get the cobbler out of the oven."
"I didn't ask for your life story," George growled, "Just finish cleaning the floor. I'm not paying you for conversation."
"As long as you're not docking me for it either," The lady replied before plugging the vacuum back in.
"I'm also not paying you for sass, Wilma," George warned her.
The exasperated employee pursed her lips but refrained from further antagonizing her boss. Marny wondered if she should warn her about her grandpa's temper. This was what? The fourth new cleaning person in a month? Maybe the fifth? Each time they would quit after having to deal with George Milford's wonderful personality, so Marny never tried to get to know them.
The table was full of wonderful food that Marny had to admit to herself she missed. Salisbury steak, peas, butter rolls, and mashed potatoes. The cleaning lady even mentioned something about a cobbler. As far as last meals went, this wasn't too bad. Marny sat down and grabbed a fork and knife, ready to temporarily forget her troubles.
"Hey, girl," George called out to her, "Get the tea out of the fridge. That airhead Wilma forgot to set the tea down."
Marny didn't want to get up, as she hadn't even taken her first bite yet, but she knew better than to disobey her grandpa so soon after coming home. Longsufferingly, she scooted down from her chair and went to the fridge. She tried to grab the pitcher full of tea, but it was so heavy. It must've been the three gallon pitcher. She knew if she tried to lift that thing, it would spill all over the place.
"Don't leave the fridge open!" George reprimanded her, "That's electricity, you moron! Now where's my tea?"
Just as Marny turned back to the tea, which felt more like that boulder trap from Indiana Jones to her, she suddenly heard the ding of the kitchen timer.
"Oh, my cobbler's ready!" The cleaning lady shouted excitedly.
Marny knew the fridge door would get in the way of the oven, so she had to hurry. She pulled the pitcher off the shelf in the hope that once she had it in her hands she would be able to hold its weight.
She couldn't.
The pitcher fell from her hands, tea spilled everywhere, and the maid ran in the kitchen just in time to accidentally splash in the tea puddle and get splatters of liquid all over the kitchen cabinets and appliances! Marny gasped, staring down at the mess she just made, and it felt like time stopped.
Slowly, nervously, she looked over to her grandparents, and sure enough, there was that throbbing vein in her grandpa's head that heralded trouble.
"Seriously?" George shouted irately, "Are you really such an animal that you can't even handle a simple pitcher right!? A normal kid would show gratitude for having a normal home to come back to after being kidnapped by thugs. I should've known you wouldn't, since that would require having a brain in your head!"
"Hey, she's a little girl!" The cleaning lady yelled back, "And it's not even your job to clean this up!"
"Nobody asked you, Wilma!" George snapped, "You get a mop, and Marny, you get a clue in your freaking skull! Go to your room! No dinner tonight!"
Marny ran out of the room before the punishment could get worse, but instead of going to her own room she locked herself in the bathroom.
At first she just wanted to use the bathroom, but after that was done she found she liked sitting on the cold tile floor. The shack had been so hot, and the air conditioning in this place was nice. She still didn't think of this house as her home, but in reality it was the closest thing she had to one now.
Marny silently wept for everything she'd lost over the past six months. Her mom, her older brother, and strangely even The Gangreen Gang. She wanted her mom more than anything. Her mom loved her unconditionally, and they never visited her grandparents before her mom died in that car crash. Frankly, the funeral was the first time she met these people, and she wished it had been the last.
She remembered her mom's soft brown hair, which very much matched Chester's and Marny's, and that smile that was always emphasized by bold red lipstick. She always thought her mom looked like one of those smiley women in toothpaste ads. That happiness felt like a distant memory now.
Even Chester was someone Marny wished she could bring back from the dead. Sure, he could be annoying sometimes. All siblings are. That didn't lessen the fact that Marny always knew he loved her. They loved watching bugs in the grass together, and reading comics. Well, he read them to her. She was younger then, and didn't read as well. He also helped her learn to tie her shoes.
Marny didn't know how long she sat on the cold tile of the bathroom. She was hungry, and she was sad. Her grandpa might not have beat her this time, but it almost felt worse to be denied her first (or last) meal after coming home. She missed eating well, and she missed being able to get water or tea whenever she wanted. She missed having a real family that actually loved her instead of seeing her as a brain-dead burden.
As Marny stewed in her own misery there was suddenly a knock at the door. Marny cringed and tried to make no noise. She wasn't ready to face her grandparents, and she didn't want to get hurt again.
"Hello?" The cleaning lady called out to her, "Um, Excuse me, little girl? Are you almost done? I really need to pee."
Sighing in equal parts relief and resignation, Marny opened the door and let the woman use the bathroom. With nowhere else to go in this house, she made her way to her bedroom.
Her room was in the attic. Everything was clean, but it still looked somewhat uninviting thanks to the bare wood walls and hardwood floors. Nothing here looked like it was made with her, or anyone, in mind. It just existed, and whatever furniture and people ended up in here was no one's concern.
Marny sat on her bed for the first time in over two weeks and tried to feel comfortable being here. There were no toys in this room. Just a bed, a night stand, and a set of drawers for her clothes. All of her toys were packed into her backpack when she ran away, and it was all left behind in the Gangreen Gang's shack. Marny sulked, missing her toys, her journal, and her paints. She just hoped none of the gang read her journal now that it was theirs.
There was a knock on her door, and the maid came into the room carrying a plate of food. Marny smiled, happy to see that she hadn't missed dinner after all, and the lady sat down next to her on the bed.
"Don't worry," The lady said in a quiet tone of voice, "I washed my hands first."
Marny silently laughed and grabbed the plate. She could tell from the way the lady was talking that she was sneaking Marny food.
The young woman was content to just sit there and watch Marny greedily wolf down her dinner. At first Marny paid no attention to the maid, but then when she looked up she realized that the maid's lips were swollen and there was a fresh cut. Marny stared, and after a moment the lady touched her lips contemplatively.
"Yeah…talking to your grandpa don't work," The maid said almost apologetically, "I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but he's a mean man. I still feel bad about hitting him on the arm though. I hope it wasn't broken. I need this job, and I can't afford to get sued. Ma would get so mad at me if she found out I fist-fought my boss. Can we keep this between us?"
Marny smiled back, a devious smile between confidants. She wished she could have seen someone, anyone, finally hit her grandpa back. Part of her wished it had been Billy. Billy could break a wall, so if he hit her grandpa it would probably kill him. Marny at first didn't want to admit it, but a deeply guarded part of her fantasized about her grandpa's death. She mostly just wanted him to have a normal old man death, like a heart attack or something. Now though, she would add Billy saving her from him as an added fantasy.