Best of Women

Lin

I was helping Rio with some of his school work at the kitchen table when it happened.  The fight of the century.  One minute everything was fine and the next, I heard screaming.  I put down my pencil and rushed towards the noise.  I walked into Mia's room and found the twins pushing and pulling at each other, cursing.

"You bitch!" Eva yelled at her sister.

I struggled to pull Eva off her sister, but finally managed.  I put my hands on her shoulders and started to push her backwards away from the door.

"Boyfriend stealer!" she accused, fighting against me.

"Enough!" I raised my voice, pushing her out the door.  "It's over."

Mia was in tears and her hair was disheveled.  In the hallway, I turned Eva around and marched her to her bedroom next door.  Once we were inside, I closed the door.

"You need to sit in here and calm down," I told her, lowering my voice.

"She's trying to steal my boyfriend!" she shouted in tears.

"We will discuss this later," I told her firmly.  "Right now you're too upset to talk about anything.  Sit down and chill out."

I left her room and shut the door behind me, then went back to Mia's room.  She was on the bed crying and holding her hand against her scalp.

"Daddy!" she sobbed, her body heaving.

"Are you bleeding?" I asked her and she nodded.  I went to the bathroom and got some paper towels.  When I came back in I asked her to show me where and she parted her hair to reveal a chunk that had been pulled out.  I pressed the paper towel down and told her to hold it there.

"Anywhere else?" I asked and she shook her head.  Eva seemed to have been the instigator, but I knew Mia was far from innocent.  They were both into the same boy and Mia hadn't come clean with her sister.  "Is this about Xavier?"

"Yes," she said, her voice now slightly more under control.

"Did you tell her about your feelings?"

"No," she replied.  "She found a text message."

I sighed and shifted my weight.  "I know Eva attacked you, but you should have told her about this long ago so you're in trouble too.  Sit in here and calm down.  I'll be back to talk in a while."

I sighed as I left her room as well.  I went back to helping Rio, but stood where I could see the girls' doors in case Eva tried something.   I wouldn't put it past her.  Pippa got home a few minutes later and she kissed me hello.

"Eva found out about Mia and Xavier," I told her softly.  "They got into a fight."

"A physical fight?" she asked, and I nodded.  "Wonderful.  I'm gonna go change."

Her boots clicked on the hardwood floor as she made her way down the hallway to our room.  Pippa began dinner when she came back out a few minutes later, in jeans and a fitted shirt.  Eva's door opened and stepped out.

"Back to your room," I told her and she stopped.

"But I want to talk to Pippa!" she protested.

"Not now," I told her.  "Back to your room.  Now."

I was really ticked that they'd gotten into a physical fight, and all over some douchebag boy.  Their sisterhood should be a tighter bond than that.  After I'd finished helping Rio, I offered to help Pippa out with dinner.  She had me peel potatoes. 

After a good half hour to cool down, I went back to Eva's room.  Since she'd attacked her sister I figured I should talk to her first.

"What happened?" I asked her simply.  She went on to explain how she'd gone to Mia's room to ask to borrow a shirt.  When Mia had gotten up to find it, a text had popped up on her phone sitting on her bed.  It was from Xavier and it apparently showed her affection for him.

"And you decided to attack her?"

"She's trying to steal my boyfriend!" she pointed out.  "Was I supposed to just stand there and be okay with it?"

"Did you try talking to her?"

"I was angry," she told me.

"In this family we don't solve our problems with violence," I reminded her.  "You know that's unacceptable.  Whatever's going on with this boy, it's over.  For both of you.  I'm blocking his number and you cannot hang out with him.  Is that clear?"

"But Dad!!  He was my boyfriend first!  Why should I get punished because Mia's a boyfriend stealer?"

"You're not allowed to have a boyfriend," I reminded her.  "And you attacked her, so you're not innocent in this.  Stay in your room until dinner."

I left her room and walked into Mia's, finding Pippa already there.  "I told you how many times you needed to figure this out?"

Pippa's tone made it clear she was mad.  Mia was in tears.

"I couldn't do it!" she protested.

"And that was a serious mistake," Pippa told her.  "You're as much to blame for this as Eva is."

With that, Pippa turned and walked out the door.  Since Pippa had already chewed her out I didn't feel the need.  "I already told your sister, but Xavier's off limits for both of you.  I'm blocking his number for both of you."

Mia didn't say anything and just curled up on her bed.  I doubted she'd be coming out until dinner time.  When everyone was called I made sure the twins sat on opposite sides of the tables.  Both kept their heads down during dinner, poking at their food.  Mia was still upset.

As everyone cleared their dishes I called Mia over to help with dishes.  She was still whimpering and upset as she helped load the dishwasher.

"Why are you still so upset?" I asked her.

"You and Pippa are mad at me too and I don't see how it's my fault," she explained emotionally.  "She attacked me."

"We're really disappointed that you didn't tell Eva or break it off with Xavier," I explained.  "You knew you needed to do one or the other and you took the easy way out."

She cried softly as she continued.  Hopefully this would be a life lesson for her.  Sometimes we had to do things that made us uncomfortable, but they still needed to be done.  Since she was still upset I told her to just go to her room instead of finishing with dishes.  She rushed off, closing her door.  Both twins stayed in their rooms for the rest of the night.

The next day I contacted the phone carrier and had that douchebag's number blocked from the girls' phones.  He was the real perpetrator in this.  If he wasn't a two-timer they wouldn't have gotten caught in his web.

I hoped the girls would shake it off quickly, but they seemed to hold a grudge against each other for days and days.  I tried talking to them, but they were both still pissed at each other.  Finally I decided I needed to go to a fellow teen for help.  Carmen.

After dinner a few nights later, she took them both to Mia's room and had a come-to-Jesus talk.  I have no idea what she told them, but it must have worked, at least a little bit.  They finally didn't glare at each other whenever they crossed paths.  They weren't besties again by any stretch of the imagination, but at least I wasn't concerned they'd pounce on each other.

As Rio and I lounged around on the couches that night, he said, "Sometimes I feel really lucky I'm gay."

I looked at him curiously.  "Really?  Why?"

"Because I don't have to deal with girl drama."

I laughed at that.  "True that, my man.  True that."