Sera Ch. 17

"What do we do, sweetie pie?" she asked softly a minute later while kissing under my ear the way I love.

"Mmmmm... I dunno. I don't feel like I used to... I think differently. I find myself doing things I wouldn't have done before because... My understanding and viewpoints are so different from when I first got here, that I can now accept Sheila for what she is while accepting the fact that I'm becoming more and more like her. No. I've always been like her. Just restrained."

Auntie let me go at this, but held on to my hands, regarding me frankly for a moment before speaking.

"I'm also learning to see things in a different way. The person I was would never do some of the things I have in the last month or so, but I've had to accept that the person I was is now gone. Should I live up to her standards? I don't know. I only know that life can be a beautiful experience and that I want to live it for all it's worth and be happy. I want to do what I want to do, and I want to be free to do it."

"Me too," I agreed, looking out at the scenic grounds below with a frown. "But, for me, that requires sacrifices."

" ... You want to stay," She assumed with an understanding tone, letting go of my hands and taking a sip from the drink she'd set on the railing.

"I... haven't really had time... I do know that nothing will ever be the same for me again."

"No. It won't. What are you going to do about Gina?"

" ... I have to deal with her."

"I know. You see the importance of what Ashleigh was talking about where our family business is concerned, eh?"

"Yes. I never could have dreamed the importance."

"As much of a control freak as she is, she does seem to have her head screwed on straight. But, if you don't mind my asking, what'll you tell Gina when the two weeks are up? Won't be that long, will it?"

"Less than a week," I clarified, adding after a gulp from my own glass, "I have no idea what I'm going to tell her."

"Your boyfriend back home?"

I could only shrug, feeling somewhat depressed myself at that point, that familiar sensation in my sternum when I know that time is ticking down to some dreaded day of self-reckoning.

"I don't envy you," she said, both of us looking out over the garden now, "but, if you'd like my opinion...?"

"Sure," I invited.

"I think you should stay."

"Really?"

"Yes. Sometimes... Kitten, the fact of the matter is that we Burchells really don't mix well with the great unwashed. People do sometimes have a tendency to get hurt, despite our best intentions, and we have to live with the guilt. You have to understand that our passions lead us to do things that... Oh, boy."

"Auntie, you don't have to-"

"No. I do have to. I want to be sure you understand just how strong our drive for self-gratification is. The day we left Saint John, we met this family of four at a motel. I nudged them, got them to pay for our rooms because we had no credit card, then I... Well, by the time I was done, the man and his son were practically fighting for turns at his daughter while Steven and I kept his wife busy."

"OMG, Auntie," I said in wide eyed wonder, even more turned on.

Yeah, well the thing about that is... I never removed it from their minds, the things that family all did with one another, only closed them up so that they wouldn't be vulnerable to anybody's suggestion."

" ... You mean they...remember?"

"Yes. It was part of the turn on, the psychological side of sex that we've spoken about. To know that they'd go on from there, looking at each other and remembering the best sex of their lives... It turns me on to remember it now, even knowing that I may have destroyed them just so I could always have that filthy little gem in my mind. Even worse... I know I'd do it again."

" ... I was hoping you'd say that."

Steven

Were it not for the circumstances, I'd have found Sheila's expression pretty comical when she (thank god) opened her door to my ring.

"Oh my fuck, it's... Sheila!" Gina dramatically stated, adding, "Da, da daaa!"

Standing just inside her door, the infamous mother of Gina's girlfriend wore a pair of short legged, faded hip huggers and a loose fitting, off white top. Regarding the scantily clad beauty I had to hang on to in order that she wouldn't fall flat on her face, Sheila blinked a couple times, her beautiful blue eyes asking the question before her voice did.

"What fresh new hell is this?"

"I'm sorry, but I've got- look, can we just come in?"

"Hey!" she protested as I shoved by her with Gina.

"I'm sorry," I repeated as the laughing hyena in my arms grabbed at my crotch again, "but I've got an issue here and I need some he- Ahhhhh, Gina, fuck! That hurt!"

"Two dollah, I make you hollah!"

"What the hell are you doing!?" Sheila demanded as I pushed Gina down to bounce on the couch in wild gales of laughter.

"She's in trouble," I tried to explain in frustrated desperation. "I was trying to clear her head up and get her to hell out of here behind Kitten's back, but there's something wrong."

"So, you brought her here!?"

"I didn't know else to do!" I snapped. I was right in Kitten's fuckin' apartment, trying to fix her head and... something's wrong!"

" ... So you brought her here!?" she repeated. "Why didn't you take her to your place!?"

"Because- Sheila, I don't have time to explain! I need to get Mum here to deal with-!"

"Whoooaaa! Your Mum is not coming here!"

From the couch, Gina sang, "Faw two dol-lah, faw two dol-lah, I can fuc-kin' make you hol-lah."

"Does it look to you like she can go anywhere!?"

"You got her here, you can get her out! I'm in enough trouble with Kathy and Kitten as it is!"

"But, I can't take her anywhere else! This is the only place Kitten would never come!"

"That's not my problem! I don't even like this little bitch, you remember how she treated me!"

"Then don't think of it as helping her, think of it as helping me!" I half plead. I'm trying to tell you, my ass is hanging out and I need your help!"

From her foyer, Sheila angrily stared at me, then at Gina as she giggled stupidly on her couch.

"What's in it for me, kid?"

"Wh- are you fuckin' serious!?" I asked.

"Hey, I just opened myself up to your mother like a book, and she blew me off like yesterday's garbage for it, so you can believe me when I say that I'm not in the mood for this! Now, I can close this door and we can talk, or you and your friend can hit the trail. Your choice."

" ... Fine! God, I have no time for this whatsoever, but-"

"Two dollah, two dollah, two dol-laaahhh! I maka you fuckin' hol-laaahhh! Ha ha ha ha haaaaaaa! Yaaaay meeeeee! Whooooo!"

"And lock your drunken, Asian porn slut in my bedroom so you can tell me what kind of trouble you've gotten yourself into before you drag me into it too." Sheila tersely added as she slammed the door to the outer corridor.

It took a little doing, but Gina finally, laughingly, accepted an instruction to stay in Sheila's bedroom while we spoke. We listened to her continued, now muted laughing and singing while we sat side by side on her couch, me grateful for the much needed drink that Sheila fixed for me and actually feeling a bit more calm.

"Okay, kid. What's going on?"

"Gina is in trouble, the kind of trouble that comes to people from us Burchells, and it's up to me to get her out of here, or get rid of her. Whatever the case, she's got to go for both her own good, and all of ours."

"So, you're telling me she's in danger of being abused?"

"She's already been abused. I tried to warn her from the first, but it's not like I could really tell her about what we are."

"Obviously not, but why are you the one who's got to deal with this?"

"Because, Mum says that I'm the only one Kitten will ever forgive if she finds out it was one of us that got Gina out of here. Even if it takes a while..."

"Kathy put you up to this?"

"She's as concerned as I am. Well, almost as concerned," I amended since Mum actually did take advantage of her.

"I take it Kathy likes Gina."

"Yeah."

"And now she's throwing you under the bus simply because you're the only one who'll survive it. Not a very attractive motivation for you, is it?"

"She's right," I said with a helpless shrug. "That's the thing about Mum, she almost always is."

"I know. That got pretty annoying at times."

"Imagine her as your mother."

"Are you kidding? She practically was. And why's she the one who's tasking you with this?"

"Instead of Ashleigh, you mean. I've found Gina wandering around spelled a couple times now and, after I fixed her up, I told Ashleigh about it. Ya know what she said?"

"What?"

"She told me to mind my own business where Gina was concerned, that she was keeping an eye on the situation. She does say that she likes Gina, but she obviously has no problem with her being abused, and I think Mum knows that as well as I do."

"How do you know she is being abused?"

"Because Mum told me."

"Okay... Sooo, if you do get Gina out of here, Ashleigh won't be any happier with you than Kitten."

"I'm expecting a trip to the principal's office, yeah."

"You must like Gina a lot," Sheila observed.

"I don't know her from Adam, but she seems pretty nice and, after some of the things I've seen in the past weeks, I think it's best for her to go."

"You think its best?" she asked with a well-meaning smirk.

I shrugged, stating, "I don't mean any offense towards anyone with what I'm about to say, and I'm definitely not saying I'm better than anyone else in this family, but... I'd stack my morals and sense of right and wrong up against anyone else's in this house besides Gina's. Furthermore, Mum backs me up on this, and she mostly always uses her friends right. So, yeah, I think it's best."

"God, you are just like your mother. So, what's the problem?"

"You bear no small similarity to her yourself. As for what the problem is, I don't know. I found Gina alone at Kitten's apartment, so I got in and opened her up to do what I had to do, but I'm not as experienced at this as Mum is and I'm up against something I don't understand. She's not coming around like she's supposed to, and I can't send her home like that, no matter what she ends up believing when she leaves."

"And you brought her here because...?"

"Because I had no idea when Kitten was going to be back, and I couldn't leave in the middle of what I'd started there. I needed a safe place to stick Gina until I could get Mum's help and, like I said, this is the only place Kitten would never come."

"What if Ashleigh knows something you and Kathy don't? Ever think of that?"

" ... Like what?"

"I don't know."

With a raised brow, I returned, "I doubt she'd know anything that would warrant Gina deserving our kind of well-meaning abuse."

"Yeah, well... Look, I know what you're saying and, in principal, I agree. Just be careful while crusading under the dazzling and subjective banner of 'right and wrong'."

"I think this is pretty clear cut, Sheila. Kitten's been abusing her friend, and I have to wonder who the fuck does that. Furthermore, it makes me wonder if I could ever trust her."

"Because she might be abusing Gina?"

"She is abusing Gina."

"Okay, I don't mean this the wrong way," Sheila warned, "but you seem to have a way of assuming you know both sides of this issue. Are you sure about this?"

"Both Mum and I can't be wrong."

"Would you like that to be your epitaph?" she asked with another smirk.

"Oh, very funny. So, will you please let her stay here until I can get Mum?"

"Not so fast, kid. What do I get in return?"

"My everlasting gratitude?"

"That's definitely worth something, but not enough."

To this, I countered with, "Since this does come down from her, how about Mum's everlasting gratitude?"

Sheila stared hard at me while a lot of figuring went on behind her blue eyes. She very much wanted to mend fences with both Kitten and Mum, but was now being asked to interfere in Kitten's life in order to help Mum and me. I couldn't blame her for her indecision, and I remember wondering if she thought even half as hard before she slept with other women's husbands.