Rid the People

Chapter 11

"You need to grow up."

"Grow up?" Cassidy exclaimed, screaming at the top of her lungs. But she couldn't push her voice out hard enough, it was clustered in a lump in her throat. "Me grow up? I'll take that from someone who actually has a life."

Though she couldn't say it louder, Cassidy's mother registered it. A slash of hurt fell across her features, the widening of her deep blue eyes. They were so much like Cassidy's, squinting beneath the dimly lit room, her arched eyebrows creasing in aggravation. Cassidy's eyebrows were slightly thicker than her mothers, though they had the same angled arch.

"You really are spoilt sometimes, you know that don't you? I ask you to do one thing. One thing, and you act like this? You forget I'm the only one who's had your back throughout your entire life," her tone was rising, her lips moving fast as her words spilled over.

Cassidy paced the small space of their living room, bumping her side on the sharp edge of the brown leathered couch. It hurt more than it should have, a sudden bolt of pain searing down her thigh. "Except you don't have my back, do you? You didn't when I wanted to go to Danford University to study Film, to be closer to Lizzie and carry out my career. You are selfish. You wanted me to stay at home and work, so that you get my rent money. And you wouldn't be alone."

"Shut it, Cassidy. You know nothing. I've supported you through thick and thin, when your sorry excuse for a father left me as soon as he found out I was gaining weight. Even after that, I could have chosen to give you up, but I didn't." Her voice was raspy, unfamiliar. She rarely raised it, but now her words were venomous and her expressions were contorted wildly, appearing ten years older than she was.

"Gaining weight? You probably didn't even tell him you were pregnant, did you? He probably left not knowing he had a daughter, leaving because he didn't want to be with you, and you only." Cassidy spat.

Her mum's expressions dropped from her face, the crease in her eyebrows releasing for a mere second, before pursing her red-painted lips into a fine line. "Oh he knew. He knew because I begged him to stay, got down on my hands and knees. You can only imagine what happened next."

Cassidy knew. Her mum had told her when she was old enough. An abusive man. Physically, verbally. But right now it didn't matter, right now she couldn't see beyond the red fury that glassed her vision. "And you sure you didn't give it back? Didn't give him a little slap around too?"

Her mum's face reddened, her eyes widening in a menacing gaze. She was angrier than she had ever looked before. Indeed, they argued a lot. They said a lot of horrible things. But rarely did Cassidy paint the picture that her mother was just as bad as her father. She wouldn't ever do that because she didn't think it was true, she knew it wasn't true, and she knew how deeply it hurt her mum to say it.

But right now, again, it didn't matter.

"Leave this house. NOW!" Her mum screamed. "I hate you, I hate you so much Cassidy you have made my life hell!"

Cassidy began climbing the stairs, her movements fast, desperate. Adrenaline pumped through her at the expense of her fury, her rage.

"And you know what Cassidy?" Her mum rushed to the bottom of the stairs, almost chasing Cassidy as her foot touched the top of the landing. "I don't ever want to see your pathetic little face again."

Cassidy felt tears spring to her eyes. Her chest was heavy, as if she had swallowed her words whole. They weighed so much, sinking her feet into the ground.

She darted for her bedroom door. Ready to pack for Lizzie's, when her surroundings disappeared completely. She no longer felt angry, or upset. But confused. The room was unrecognisable. It was pitch-black.