I kept true to my word, and sure enough, got this Adam boy fired. A little bribery was involved of course. One of the perks of being rich. My parents weren’t happy about my actions but were not entirely surprised either. I earned a small lecture and then it was never spoken of again. After so many years of this, they were tired of my behavior and had seemingly given up. Most of my siblings felt that way, with the exception being Elizabeth and sometimes Angel. My parents didn’t allow Elizabeth to be alone with me in public, but at home, we got along, and she visited me every so often to join Fluffy and me for a game of cards. Angel was just too nice for her own good.
Back to Adam. I thought I would never see the boy again. If I did, I expected it to be in the newspaper because the idiot had eaten himself to a world record amount of weight. So you can imagine my surprise when I heard Max brought him in and she and Reginald had in a sense, adopted him. Apparently, Max found him on the streets and brought him in. A stupid move on her part, but what else could I have expected from her? But it got me thinking. WHY was she out? My brother preferred her to stay home during the day while he worked. If they went out, they went out together. It was mostly for the reason of Max being a black woman, which wasn’t always taken well around certain people. Every time she went out alone, it was a risk for her safety. Not that Max ever seemed to care. She just loved lounging around all day while doing a few minor chores here and there.
So that led me to the main question: was Max doing something Reginald didn’t know about? With all the time on my hands and a burning passion to expose her shitty true self, I was determined to find out.
* * * * *
Christmastime rolled around and as the family normally did, we had a big dinner. This year, it was going to be at Reginald’s place. Normally, I didn’t attend these dinners. It was too annoying being pestered by my family about my moods or size. The most I did was drop off a gift for Elizabeth and a few other siblings if they were in town. However, this year I was very interested in going to the dinner. Why? Why do you think? To snoop. I knew Max was doing something she shouldn’t have been doing, and I was determined to get to the bottom of it.
When I arrived, I was very displeased to see the new “addition to the family” in a damn dress. My family saw no issue with it and simply accepted him as one of us, even calling him “she” and by the name Aven. I wasn’t sure if I misread the tag on his work outfit that day, which was totally possible with how furious I was that day. However, I could’ve also been hearing it wrong. As expected, Max seemed to have warned him about me and he kept his distance. Good. That gave me a bit of time to take a look around for anything suspicious. Sadly, I found nothing.
“Beatrice!” Alma and Ada came and got me from upstairs near the washroom. “It’s dinner. Come on.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“Mum and Dad said you have no choice. They want you at the table.”
“...Fine.” I gave up. There was nothing here to help my case anyway.
Everyone congregated to the table, ready to enjoy the food. I definitely wasn’t one of those who were excited to eat. Fluffy, on the other hand, was already sneaking food off the table. Honestly, it was a wonder how he wasn’t morbidly obese yet.
I slowly put some food on my plate, careful of my parent's glares. I knew all too well that they would be judging how much I’m eating, especially from my past. When they looked satisfied, I turned my glare to this Aven / Adam. I still hadn’t clarified which one it was.
“Who’s the new kid?” I asked, playing it off as I didn’t know him. Everyone would’ve come for my throat if they knew I was the reason he couldn’t get a job and had been fired from his previous one. He flashed a look of disbelief before looking back down at his plate.
“Her name is Aven,” Max replied, putting extra emphasis on the pronouns and name. “She’s staying with us for a bit.”
“And why’s that?”
“She-”
“I think Aven can speak for herself.” I interrupted, playing into the game of pronouns despite knowing all too well he was a man. For the name, I figured I misheard it. It seemed to be a gender-neutral name anyway, so I didn’t question it. As far as they knew, I was unaware of anything about him. My interruption caused my family to start shooting me looks. I ignored them and looked at Aven. “Go on then.”
“I needed a place to stay,” Aven said quietly. Aha. There’s my reasoning for calling him a man. His voice. Although it wasn’t deep, it wasn’t exactly high either. It was just under what would pass as a woman’s voice without being questioned.
“That’s all you need to know.” Max shot me a glare that told me she knew exactly what I was going to go for. This idiot knew Aven was a man and was supporting his delusions.
“You’re a man.” I gave him a look. “No wonder you needed a place to stay. Nobody would take a man dressing as a woman. Max is the only idiot I know who would.”
“Dear, leave her alone,” Mum said sternly. Seriously?! These people would accept a man in a dress but not me who had a few mood issues?! How was it fair that more people accepted him than me?!
“It’s a man,” I said in a cold tone. “HE shouldn’t be wearing that. It’s bad enough it’s one of Max’s tacky dresses.”
“Well, excuse me for not being as fashionable as you,” Max growled back.
“Even if you were, none of it would fit you, honey. Not with that figure.”
“Excuse me?!”
“Don’t raise your voice at me.” I snarled, with a slight smile of contempt. “You know your place, you animal.”
Frustrated and fed up, Max suddenly got up, grabbed her plate, and stormed off to her room upstairs. Unaffected, I glared at Aven, who did the same only seconds after. Unlike Max, he seemed to be a lot more sensitive and looked ready to cry. Not a great quality for men, but I digress.
“What the Hell, Beatrice?” Reginald looked infuriated. “That’s no way to treat my family!”
“Aven isn’t your family, and Max shouldn’t be.”
“I haven’t known her for long, but Aven is like a daughter to me,” Reginald said. “And Max is my wife. I don’t care how wrong you think that is, she is. And I will not stand for you berating both of them!”
“You mean SON.” I raised a brow. “If you want a kid so badly, don’t let your wife grab them off the streets. Actually, have the child like normal people do. Oh, wait, Max isn’t committed enough to you for that. I forget she only wants the money.”
“Beatrice!” Angel said in shock. “That’s downright rude!”
“Do I look like I care?”
“If you won’t hold your tongue, then you can get the fuck out,” Reginald growled, pointing at the door. “I will not let you do this in my own house.”
“Fine-” I was about to move when I felt Elizabeth grab onto me. She had been sitting in the chair next to me and had been overly excited to hear I was coming to dinner after many years of not attending them. Normally I kept my cool around her, but I had almost forgotten she was right next to me.
“Please don’t leave,” Elizabeth said quietly. “I really miss having you around for family gatherings.”
“You heard Reginald,” I said coldly, surprised I could even come across that coldly to her. “He wants me out.”
She was taken aback by my coldness but didn’t let go. With her hugging me and Fluffy relaxing on my lap, I slowly felt myself calm down, knowing people cared enough to stick around and give me that chance.
I took a deep breath and let it out. “Alright… I’m sorry if their feelings are hurt. I’ll hold my tongue.”
Elizabeth smiled, hugging me a bit tighter before letting me go. People didn’t look too impressed that I was staying, but I had one person who wanted me there and that was all that mattered to me. I remained quiet for most of dinner and later enjoyed playing a few card games with Elizabeth, far away from everyone else. Max and Aven came back downstairs after a bit, but I stayed away from them. Successfully, I made it through the remainder of the night without any more fighting. A pretty big accomplishment if you ask me.
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