The Garbage Queens

*Author's Note: Any and all persons engaging in any sexual activity are at least eighteen years of age.

Disclaimers: This story has been edited by myself, utilizing Microsoft Spell-Check. You have been forewarned. There are mistakes; expect to find many of them.

Chapter 20

"Really? REALLY? You'll let that brat put her booger infested hands on you, but I can't even touch you?" Kerry squealed.

"Oh, shut up," Todd said. "She's not that bad."

"And can I listen to my music? Nnooo! But you'll sit there and listen to whatever horrible crap she wants to listen to," Kerry continued with her assault.

"Not supposed be listening to music; supposed be driving here," Todd pointed out.

"Number nine! Number nine! We're doing fine with number nine," Kerry warbled out.

"Oh, grow up, Kerry," Todd snapped. "Ni...Mia's four years old, huh?"

At times, Todd King still called his niece 'Nicole' as his niece reminded him so much of her mother, his deceased sister. She had the same long blonde hair, the same big blue eyes, the same innocent looking face. And at times, the same stubborn disposition.

The bumping of the Mercedes SUV going over the curb from street to school parking lot brought Todd out of his reverie. Kerry pulled the car to a stop, then let out her breath. She put the car in park and sagged slightly. Then she looked at Todd.

"How'd I do?" she asked, large green eyes looking at him.

At first Todd was going to claim he'd been terrified from driveway to driveway. At first, he was going to claim he'd been praying fervently for the twelve-minute journey.

"Son, need you to look after Kerry," his father had said when he'd first brought Kelly and Kerry Straughter into their home.

"Did great," Todd said and was rewarded with an excited squeal.

"Love you, Uncle Todd," Kerry teased.

"Love you too, Aunt Kerry," Todd retorted.

Then Kerry reached over the console and touched Todd's bare forearm. He cringed as she clutched his arm.

"God! Talking about booger infested!" Todd complained.

"Love you," Kerry said again before opening her door.

"Love you too, booger," Todd said.

"Oh no! Were you driving?" Freyja teased as Kerry strolled to where Amelia, Freyja, and Paula waited, just outside of the main doors of Baylor Lake High School.

"The roads will never be the same again," Paula teased. "And they say us Asians are horrible drivers."

"Oh, bite me," Kerry said.

"Where? And when?" Paula said.

While Kerry and Paula playfully bickered, Kelly was at the King home, getting Mia ready to go to Dr. LeMoine's office for her very first dentist's visit. A visual inspection of the child's mouth showed Kelly that Mia had at least five cavities; her dental hygiene was deplorable. Mia didn't brush her teeth as much as simply suck the bubble gum flavored toothpaste off of her brush.

"Child's never even heard of flossing," Kelly complained to Gordon King.

"Kelly, I'd never even thought of flossing until I was in my twenties," Gordon admitted. "Who ever heard of making a kid floss?"

"If we don't establish healthy oral habits now..." Kelly started to declare.

"She'll never get into a good college?" Gordon teased.

"Jesus! I keep telling Kerry she needs to start filling out those applications now," Kelly snapped. "But knowing her, she'll just keep putting it off until the last minute and then be all like 'oh, I forgot. Oh Kelly, can you help me with this?' Damn it! Don't change the subject, Gordon."

With a laugh, Gordon kissed Kelly, then bent and kissed his granddaughter before leaving for another day of work. Mrs. Greene stood by the stove, cleaning the appliance.

"What? No kiss for me?" the housekeeper asked in her oddly flat voice.

"And face another harassment suit from you? I don't think so," Gordon smiled, and Mrs. Greene flashed him a tight smile.

Kelly wiped Mia's sticky face clean, wiped the child's sticky fingers clean, and then grabbed the keys for the Rolls-Royce from the hook. She wasn't grabbing those keys to flaunt her wealth to her former co-workers. She was grabbing those keys because Mia's child's seat was in the Rolls-Royce; they'd taken that car to church earlier that week and had not needed to remove it.

At Dr. LeMoine's office, Dottie squealed and hugged her former co-worker. Berta greeted Kelly in a professional manner. Both women made a fuss over Kelly's granddaughter.

"OMG! You? A grandmother?" Dottie laughed. "Uh, think you got it kind of backward there, huh?"

Kelly's hazel eyes filled with tears. She and Gordon were trying, religiously, to become pregnant. But another month, another heartbreak when her period had come, right on schedule.

"Oh, Kelly, I'm sorry," Dottie gasped, deducing the reason for the tears.

X-Rays showed that Mia had seven cavities. Mia whined, fussed, and wailed as Dr. LeMoine did his best to fill three of the worst offenders.

Mia was still crying when Kelly made the next appointment to see after the remaining cavities.

"But, Sweetheart, see? That's why Grandma and Grandpa tell you brush them teeth," Kelly said as she buckled Mia into the car seat.

"I don't want no more cavities," Mia fussed, speech garbled from her numb mouth.

"And I don't want you to have any more cavities," Kelly assured her.

The numbness was wearing off, and the dull throbbing ache of Mia's mouth was just beginning when they heard the garage door going up. Kelly smiled at Mia.

"Your Aunt Kerry and Uncle Todd are home from school," Kelly announced.

"And we going tell them I had bunch cavities," Mia agreed, speech still slightly stilted.

The first time Aunt Kerry and Uncle Todd had left for school, Mia was inconsolable; she was sure they'd never return. Even now, after four days of Aunt Kerry and Uncle Todd leaving, then returning, their return was a highlight of Mia's day.

"Who you?" Mia demanded when Paula followed Aunt Kerry into the kitchen.

"Oh my God! Kerry! She is as cute as you been saying!" Paula squealed in delight.

"And who you?" Mia demanded when Freyja preceded her Uncle Todd into the kitchen.

"Mia, this is my BFF Paula," Kerry said, pointing to Paula.

"Hi, Mia," Paula smiled.

"And this is Uncle Todd's girlfriend Freyja," Kerry continued.

Mia's eyes got huge at that announcement, then her little face scrunched into a hateful glare. She rushed the slender cheerleader and shoved Freyja toward the garage.

"No, you not!" Mia declared, shoving the surprised Freyja. "Better leave right now, hear me?"

"Mia! Stop that," Kelly ordered.

"You not Uncle Todd's girlfriend," Mia screamed, again trying to shove Freyja out of her house.

"Mia! I said stop that," Kelly said, and gave Mia's bottom a sharp slap.

Mia burst into wails, even though Kelly's slap had not hurt. The fact that her grandmother would slap her bottom had hurt, though.

"Go to your room; you are in 'Time Out' young lady," Kelly said, pointing.

"I hate you!" Mia screamed at Freyja and ran from the room. "I hate you!"

"She uh, it's just been her and Uncle Todd," Kerry tried to explain, tried to excuse Mia's outburst.

"Wow," Todd said after a long moment. "She really is Nicole's kid. That's exactly what Nicole would have done."

"Well, that does not excuse..." Kelly snapped.

"Miss Kelly, can I go talk to her?" Freyja asked.

"I uh, yeah, sure," Kelly said, surprised. "And, uh, when did I become 'Miss Kelly,' huh?"

"When you became all 'Grandma' and stuff?" Todd suggested as Freyja left the room.

"Todd!" Kerry snapped.

"One day, Mr. Todd, that mouth is going get you in some serious trouble, you hear?" Kelly said as she flipped the intercom button for Mia's room.

Mia was seated at her small table, angry tears spilling from her eyes. She jumped when her door of her room slammed open.

"I'm mad at you," Freyja announced, small hands on bony hips.

"Me? What I do?" Mia asked, shocked.

"You made me cry and I don't like people that make me cry," Freyja said and sat at the small table with Mia.

"Well, you made me cry," Mia countered.

"But I do understand," Freyja said softly, taking Mia's hand.

"You do?" Mia asked.

"Uh huh, when I was about your age? My Aunt Linda? She started dating Mr. Bob," Freyja said, smiling at the memory. "Oh, Mr. Bob was so wonderful, and I loved him so much. He'd take me to the park and push me on the swings, and he even taught me how swim and everything."

"Uncle Todd's teaching me how swim," Mia said proudly.

"And then one day, Mr. Bob told me he was marrying my Aunt Linda, oh I was so mad! I thought he loved me; how could he marry my Aunt Linda?" Freyja said.

"What happened?" Mia asked, engrossed in Freyja's story.

"Mr. Bob told me he did love me; I was his special girl," Freyja said. "And when he married my Aunt Linda, that would make him my Uncle Bob and Uncle Bob's even better than being Mr. Bob."

"Is he your Uncle Bob?" Mia asked.

"Sure is. See, my Uncle Bob? He has all kind of love to give. He has love to give to me and to my Aunt Linda," Freyja said. "And your Uncle Todd? I bet he has all kind love give to you, and to your Aunt Kerry, and even enough love to give to me too."

"You sure?" Mia asked, not convinced.

"Come on. Let's go ask him," Freyja said, getting to her feet. "I bet he does."

In the kitchen, Kelly flipped the intercom off. She turned and fixed Todd with a hard stare.

"And your answer had better be 'yes,' hear me?" Kelly said.

"Yes ma'am," Todd agreed.

Dinner time was Mia's favorite, the zucchini boats. Because there were two more people, they sat in the formal dining room.

"No, Miss Freyja," Mia said when Freyja went to sit next to Todd.

"Sorry, Freyja," Kerry smirked. "That's Mia's seat."

"When you married, you can sit here," Mia decided.

During the meal, every now and then, Todd and Mia would get Aunt Kerry's attention, then show the hapless girl a mouthful of chewed up food. Kerry would screech in disgust and Todd and Mia would laugh uproariously.

"Todd! Mia, quit it," Gordon ordered.

"He is teaching her the grossest stuff," Kelly had complained to Dr. Melanie Leblanc, the psychologist.

Outside, in the waiting room, Mia played with the toys that Melanie kept in her the waiting room. Mrs. Greene sat, silently watching the child while Kelly talked with the doctor.

"Little boys like gross stuff," Melanie shrugged, smiling lightly.

"But she's not a little boy," Kelly sputtered.

"Right now? She's not a little girl either. Little girls are powerless," Melanie said. Right now? She's Mia and Mia has an Uncle Todd and Uncle Todd's a boy and he's teaching her disgusting stuff."

"But they terrorize poor Kerry," Kelly had said.

"Aunt Kerry? Oh, yes, Mia idolizes her Aunt Kerry; says she's so beautiful, she's even more beautiful than a fairy princess you know," Melanie agreed. "But little boys don't say things like that; that's not tough enough, so they pull hair, they make fart noises, they do gross stuff to get the girl's attention."

Now, at the dinner table, Kelly shook her head as Mia and Todd laughed at Kerry's discomfiture. Gordon also shook his head.

"If Mia gets a spanking because of you..." Gordon warned his son.

"Okay, Mia, we need to stop," Todd said.

"Thank you!" Kerry huffed.

"Oh, hey, want show them how we can make milk come out our nose?" Todd said to Mia.

"Todd!" Kerry, Paula, and Freyja screeched.

"Thank you, Uncle Todd, for turning another family meal into a nightmare," Gordon said.

"Welcome," Todd said.

"Okay, I think it's just about someone's bath time," Kelly announced when Todd began to clear away the dinner plates.

"But we went swimming; doesn't that count?" Todd asked.

"Yeah, we went swimming and I even put my head under and everything," Mia whined.

"Oh, well then that just means someone gets her hair washed too," Kelly said.

"Aw!" Mia complained, but dutifully climbed the stairs.

"Oh, I'll bathe her," Paula offered.

"No!" Mia shouted. "Only my Grandma can bathe me."

"Nic...Mia's pretty stubborn," Gordon chuckled. Only Grandma gets to bathe her, only Uncle Todd can color in her coloring books, and only Aunt Kerry can play with her dolls."

"Because I know how to stay inside the lines," Todd smirked.

While Mia was getting her head scrubbed, Amelia sat at her parents' kitchen table and dutifully swallowed her father's unappetizing attempt at spaghetti. The ground beef was burnt, he'd left the noodles in the water too long, and he'd used too much garlic powder.

She had wanted to go with Freyja and Paula and Kerry to the King house for another sleepover. She had wanted to be with her friends, but Amelia felt it was her duty to be home, be with her father.

"How's Mom doing?" Amelia quietly asked.

Amelia's mother's diabetes had spiraled out of control. Debbie Waters had believed that she didn't need to exercise or watch her diet. That was what they made insulin for.

Debbie also self-medicated. On most days, she would inject herself with the prescribed amount. But if Debbie decided to eat a dozen Tornadough doughnuts, then she'd double her insulin dosage, to counteract the sugar and carbohydrates in the sugary snacks.

This, of course meant, out of a thirty-day supply, Debbie's supply usually ran out by the twenty third or twenty fourth day. This last time, after going six days without her daily injection, Debbie had slipped into insulin shock when she injected herself. Amelia had heard her mother fall to the floor. When she couldn't revive her mother, Amelia called 911 and Debbie was still at St. Elizabeth Trauma Center.

"What?" Greg Waters tried to joke. "My cooking's that bad?"

"No, Dad, it's not that bad," Amelia tried to defend.

"Bull shit, baby girl," Greg sighed, shoving his own half-eaten plate away. "It's not that bad; it's horrible."

Even the sight of his baby girl, his beautiful baby girl bending over to put her dish into the dishwasher couldn't revive Greg's spirits. The day he'd dreamed about, prayed for seemed to be here, and Greg felt lost without his wife.

"God, please," Greg begged.

While Greg prayed to God for his wife's recovery, while Amelia took a long, hot shower, Aunt Kerry, Paula, and Freyja read the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears to Mia. Freyja acted the voice of Papa Bear, Aunt Kerry did the voice of Mama Bear, as well as Goldilocks, and Paula did the voice of Baby Bear.

For the story of the three little pigs, Freyja had to be the voice of the big bad wolf, Paula did the voices of the three pigs, and Aunt Kerry narrated the story.

"One more," Mia demanded when that story was completed.

"Go to sleep," Aunt Kerry demanded.

Sunday morning, Amelia looked up and smiled as the King family, and Paula and Freyja trooped into St. Elizabeth By The Lake Catholic Church. Next to her, her father sat, listlessly holding the Missalette in his hand.

Kerry, Freyja and Paula veered and came down the pew. The three girls gave Amelia hugs; Freyja even gave Amelia a quick, soft kiss on the lips. They also politely greeted Greg Waters, and all asked him how Miss Debbie was doing.

"She, uh she still hasn't woken up," Greg mumbled.

Then he swatted Amelia's backside with his Missalette. She looked up, surprised and he gave her a tight smile.

"Go. Go on, sit with your friends," he said.

"You, you're sure?" Amelia asked, but was already getting to her feet.

Amelia followed behind the three girls and moved to sit in the pew with them and Todd, Mia, Kelly and Gordon King. Then she peeled away and walked toward the side wing of the chapel. Greg did not see this; he was reading that Mass's Gospel, trying to make sense of the familiar words.

Derek Bergeron watched as his girlfriend walked toward him, smiling. He felt jittery, face itching horribly, but he'd already scratched until his face bled. So, at that moment, he was resisting the urge to scratch his face.

"Hey," Amelia whispered, sitting next to him. "Got your fucking texts. So, what's so God damned important, huh?"

Derek stared at Amelia blankly. He honestly couldn't remember sending her a text message; couldn't remember the twenty-three text messages he'd sent to her since Friday afternoon.

"So, where the fuck you been?" Derek mustered.

Derek gave into the temptation and scratched his left cheek again, drawing more blood. That was the only downside to smoking meth; it made his face itch.

Amelia turned and looked to where the Kings sat, where Todd King was sitting. She turned and smirked at Derek.

"Me? Been at Todd's," she cooed. "Letting him fuck my ass. God damn; he's big, kind of hurts, you know? Hurts so good, you know?"

Again, Amelia turned and smiled broadly at Todd. Todd looked up and returned her smile.

Derek looked from his bitch of a girlfriend to that son of a bitch Todd Roll-On King. The meth coursed through his bloodstream to his fevered brain as he watched Todd give Amelia, his girlfriend a knowing smile.

"Aw, you fucking bitch!" Derek screamed and punched Amelia in the side of her head.

Amelia fell out of the pew, clutching her head. Derek realized he had screwed up, truly screwed up. He had nearly two hundred dollars' worth of meth rolled up in a plastic bag and stuffed in his sock and his pipe was in the console of his mother's car. He had not gone to court for the trespassing and destruction of private property charges yet; was out awaiting that trial.

Being found in possession of drugs and paraphernalia would mean he was truly and thoroughly screwed. Already, an usher, and that blond man with Todd fucking Roll-On King was rushing toward him. Derek could also see Amelia's dad getting to his feet.

Derek lunged out of the pew and ran to the exit. Another male parishioner got in Derek's way, but Derek bowled the man over and ran out of the church.

"You all right?" Gordon King asked Amelia.

"I uh, yeah, I, I'm okay," Amelia said, then burst into tears as her daddy knelt down next to her.

While someone fetched an ice pack from the rectory, while Derek sped down Highway 27, Emily Lopez laughed and skipped along the scorching blacktop road. Whatever that old bitch Ms. Nettie had in her medicine cabinet had been some really good shit.

And it had been so easy. Emily had simply asked their next-door neighbor if she could use her bathroom and the old woman had said yes. Ms. Nettie hadn't even asked why Emily couldn't simply use the toilet at her own home. Inside the old woman's bathroom, Emily had raided the woman's medicine cabinet.

Her dickhead boyfriend wasn't talking to her; Emily did miss David Melancon. He blamed her for getting arrested at Kerry's birthday party last week, last month, shit, when was Kerry's birthday?

And Kerry; she and her sister moved, and Kerry hadn't even bothered to tell Emily. Like she was all of a sudden too good to hang with Emily.

(Kerry had told Emily that her sister was marrying Mr. King and that they were moving into the Christmas house; Emily just couldn't remember this little fact.)

Derek slammed on the brakes as a slender girl danced in the middle of the street. He came to stop millimeters from the giggling girl.

"Hey!" Emily said. "Where you going?"

"Where, what?" Derek sputtered, shocked at the girl's bizarre reaction to almost being struck by his automobile.

"I want to go," Emily said and skipped around to the passenger door. Derek automatically hit the door lock, unlocking the passenger door.

"I uh, I almost hit you; you were in the middle of the street," Derek commented as he pressed down on the accelerator.

"Shouldn't be driving so fast; that's dangerous," Emily chided Derek.

They smoked some of Derek's meth; Emily had never smoked it before. She liked the intense high smoking brought on and pestered Derek for some more. She shared some of the pills she'd stolen, and Derek fought hard to stay awake as the sedatives began to counteract the meth rush.