“No, Kurt. Mackenzie needs to be here!” Mom stammered in the kitchen as Dad tried to convince her to let me come stay a week with him. I would’ve bet a million dollars that she would’ve acted this way. She didn’t like him at all, and cringed whenever Maddie or I got to spend time with him. It was as if she thought we were going to betray her for him. I sat at the barstool and sobbed as I watched them fight. Seeing the two people I loved most in the world belittle each other was the hardest thing ever.
“Please. Just a week. Or even just a few days. I just want to spend some time with my daughter and I feel like she needs some time away.”
“You do not know what Mackenzie needs!” She screamed, opening the fridge pretending to look for something. She always did this when she got upset, finding random things she could do to distract her from what was really happening.
“I do know because she told me!”
“Where have you been all these years Kurt?! You barely ever call! You barely ever want to be with my daughters! Why the sudden change of heart?!”
“Your daughters?! Who made them with you?! Whose sperm is that?! I sure as hell know it isn’t Greg’s! Maddie and Mackenzie are my daughters and I deserve a relationship with them!”
“You’re not taking Mackenzie!”
“Just for a Goddamn week, Melissa! Calm the hell down!” Mom started to cry too.
“Stop it! Just stop!”
“Mom, just let her go!” Maddie chimed, walking in from the living room, not as bothered by the fighting as I was. She then turned to me and muttered, “Look what you did, runt.”
“Mom, please let me go!” I bawled harder, laying my head on the limestone counter. She sighed in defeat, feeling outnumbered.
“Fine. But one week. You better have her back by 9 AM next Sunday.”
“I’ll have her back before then. Go pack your bag, Kenz.” I trailed upstairs to gather my things, still crying.
Before I knew it, we were back on the road again. We could’ve saved a lot of time and drama if we’d just bought me new clothes and toiletries there.
“Are you okay, Sweetie?” Dad questioned, turning the radio down so we could talk. I wasn’t okay. I was in shambles. I’d started a fight between my parents. Of course I wasn’t okay.
“I’m fine.” I lied. Dad had done enough. He was letting me stay for the week. The last thing he needed was to put up with another one of my meltdowns.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. I’m glad she let me come.”
“I knew she would. I might take some time off work so we can make the most of your visit.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I want to. We can go bowling and to putt-putt and ice skating.” I started to stop him when he said ice skating because it was forbidden in the ALDC contract but then I remembered it didn’t matter because I didn’t dance anymore. I could do whatever I wanted, and I couldn’t wait to go ice skating.
YOU ARE READING
To Throw It All Away
FanfictionMackenzie Ziegler has had her fill of being a dancer. After floundering in the shadows of her older sister Maddie, she's thrown in the towel and stopped dancing at the Abby Lee Dance Company. Not only has she given up her career, but she's hurt her...
