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Ester Series: Mrs. Herrman
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TerraMGP
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Ester Series: In a Brave New World

Ester Series: Jimmy and Connie do a Con
in_a_brave_new_world.doc
Keywords female 998690, feline 138468, mouse 49963, bear 44798, chipmunk 12060, stoat 2099, character development 1266, plot development 538, child abuse 266, ester series 20
In a Brave New World
By TerraMGP

Diana finished ascending the second set of stairs rather slowly as she made her way along the small carpeted hallway at a slow and weary pace. Everything about this building seemed far too clean and sterile for her tastes. Then again it would be pretty easy to nitpick just about anything in this place. She shuffled forward just a tiny bit faster keeping one eye on the various doors as she tried once more to remember what door was supposed to be hers. “C3... C4... Ok, C5. I guess this is it.” She wasn’t sure it was the right place, even though she had been here before it was hard to keep all of the nondescript numbers and blank white doors clear in her head. But of course if worse came to worse the door would probably be locked, so she simply gripped the handle a bit harder and started to turn sending waves of both apprehension and relief though the young Chipmunk as the door opened and she walked slowly into the apartment.

“Hello? Anyone home yet?“ she called out half hoping to hear a familiar voice after spending the past few hours walking around from small strip mall store to fast food joint without any real aim or purpose. The living room was deathly quiet, meaning that nobody was around even after she had spent hours wandering aimlessly from strip mall shop to fast food joint trying to figure her life out. “Nobodies here. Well, I guess they went back out.” She mumbled “or maybe they already came back and left again.” She was used to people coming and going of course, but somehow it seemed as Alien as everything else around here. “Ah well, maybe I should just grab a soda and watch TV like they told me. Not like there is anything else to do around here.”

She made her way about a foot into the kitchen before stopping dead and promptly turning around, stepping out of the strange kitchen instantly and shaking her head “Screw it. I‘m not that thirsty.” She mumbled moving down the hallway and into the room that was apparently hers now. This room felt just as strange as the others, so clean and organized, without the lingering smell of old cigarette smoke or stale alcohol. Even though she had been here before the Chipette couldn’t help but feel like she was stepping into some strange alien spaceship. “So this is it huh.” she sighed walking over to the freshly made single bed that now lay in wait for her. It was nice, much softer and sturdier than her own bed back at home. Even a simple push of the paw revealed a pleasant springiness that had long since left her childhood mattress. After a few more test pushes she allowed herself to plop gently down on the edge of the bed and turned her attention to the pillow, upon which sat a few small boxes, all gift wrapped in nice white and green paper.

“How the hell could this have happened? This is all so God damn…. Gah!” A hard backpaw sent the gifts spraying onto the floor. Diana snatched up the free pillow and curled her trembling body up onto the edge of the bed holding the plush object close. It wasn‘t her pillow, it wasn‘t her bed that she was laying in or her wall that she was leaning her back against for comfort. Nothing here belonged to her, and the feeling left a strange emptiness in the pit of Diana’s stomach. Trapped, confused and alone all the young girl could do was curl up around her pillow and fight hard against the tears.

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Mrs. Herrman walked her way out of the small house and promptly threw an armful of clothing out into the lawn before turning back to the door and shaking her head in disgust. “Fine, you want out? I’ll help you get out then. Why the hell would I want you here anyways?” The graying munk growled a bit and kicked a few shirts out into the unkempt grass and dirt stomping down and grinding her foot making sure she got a few grass stains nice and deep in the fabric.

Jonathon shook his head in frustration at his mothers antics and walked out into the yard without so much as a second glance at the increasingly buzzed woman. Once upon a time this kind of behavior would have drawn out crying, screaming, anger and pain. Now though… now he simply blocked out her threats and rage as white noise. “I’m fine Mom, don’t worry.” he mumbled with an almost jagged coolness scooping up a pink work Tee off of the grass and brushing a few clods of dirt from it. He would have to remember to put something on that before it set too badly, but then if his mother had been sober she probably would have made it totally unsalvageable.

“God damn it Jonathon when did you get so spineless. Its bad enough you can’t be a real man, but you can’t even be man enough to stand up for yourself? At least you used to get pissed off. All I ever wanted for you was to be a man. Find a nice girl and get a real job. Would that be so hard? Do you really hate me that much you can‘t…” She growled as her oldest child continued on with his work oblivious to her protests and ran up behind him grabbing hold of a jean leg and angrily throwing the pants a few feet further into the yard. “Pay attention to me when I’m talking boy. I am still your mother damn it. Do you really want to hurt me this bad? Do you hate me this much that you can’t even Pay attention when I am talking to you?”

Jonathon simply shook his head once more and walked over to the pants without so much as a flinch, scooping them back up and forcing them to the top of his pile. “I don’t hate you mom. I used to hate you, I used to wish you were dead. But at this point I honestly just… don’t care.” Even as he said this his smirk grew a little bit, just for a moment, and then quickly faded as he started back towards house. “At this poitn Mom I’m leaving, and I really don’t care what you think. I’m not going to talk to you, I’m not going to see you. It’ll be… well it’ll be just about like it is now I suppose.”

The young man managed to make his way up to the porch before Mrs. Herrman caught up with him. She placed herself between her son and the door and gazed into his face with those tired and faded eyes. The two locked gazes for an agonizingly long second, and then a loud smack rang out across the yard. “Don’t you dare…. Don’t you dare walk away from me Jonathon Herrman. You may be an ungrateful little queen mary bitch but you are still my son. I gave you life and you will show me some respect.” She waited anxiously to see what he would do, hand still balled in a fist and ready to strike out once more. She watched Jonathon turn his face back to her, looking right into those eyes without any hint of remorse, fear or even anger for what she had done. She watched him walk past her without so much as a glance and then walked in behind him, slamming the door in the hopes of getting her sons attention.

The young man refused to give her the satisfaction, instead making his way over to his bedroom where he could see Diana poking her head out. It was obvious that she had heard the whole thing, and probably saw most of it too. That was the one thing that really killed him about all of this. Jonathon found it far too hard to care about his mother at this point. But Diana… that was another story. “Hay Dee.” He mumbled softly throwing the cloths off into one corner of his room.

“Hay…” She said back, looking up at her brother as he laid out a few cloths. She felt rather scared by the prospect of talking to him, yet at the same time she knew for a fact that she didn’t have much of a choice. “So… You’re finally going… huh?” She asked hesitantly as if the question itself would bring about the events she was dreading most.

“Yeah Dee I am.” Jonathon confirmed soflty and with the same well measured tone that he had just used to respond to their mother. “I can’t really stay here anymore, and I think you know just why. I really am sorry though. I mean honestly this has nothing to do with you. You know that right?”

“Nothing to do with me…” She mumbled, rolling the familiar words around in her head for a few long moments before that subtle fear and sorrow at her brother leaving began welling up and twisting around, morphing themselves into raw and unchecked anger. “Damn it Jonathon how the hell can you do this to me?” Diana yelled once more pushing the suitcase lid down once more and leaning back firing her brother a sour glance as he once again popped the heavy lid back into place.

“Look Dee, you know if I had any real choice in the matter I would be staying right here, but I just don‘t. Ben offered me a place to stay until I get on my feet fully and I think it is about time I take him up on the offer.” Ignoring his sisters modest attempts to slow him down Jonathon picked up a small pile of T shirts he had collected from work over the years and began to fold them up, placing each one into a battered cardboard box with various things written and scribbled out on every surface. “Its not like I‘m leaving you high and dry. I mean true this isn‘t an ideal outcome for either of us, but I am your big brother still. I‘m still going to be around in case you have any problems. Its just…”

“Just that you can‘t put up with it, right?” Diana asked quickly cutting her brother off mid-sentence. “You can‘t handle being around her so you just decided to up and run out like dad did, right?”

The older chipmunk glanced up to his sister and shoved a few more cloths into the open box rather angrily. “That is not fucking fair Dee, and you know it. Don‘t you dare try to lump me in with dad. You think this is how I wanted to leave home? Just because he took off without a trace doesn’t mean I am going to.” After a few slow, calming breaths Jonathon turned his attention back to the pile of boxes now sitting by the door. “Look, I know it‘s hard being here alone with her. Even a visit with Mom is unbearable, and now that she lost her job it‘s going to be hell around the house. But you know as well as I do that it will be a lot worse if I stay. At least when it‘s just you and her she tries to be a more like a real mom.”

“That just makes it worse.” Diana shook her head and leaned back against the dresser once more pushing her muzzle into her hands fighting back a scream. “Honestly when she drinks and yells its at least a bit easier to hate her. I don‘t feel guilty for hating my own fucking mother when she slaps me or starts screaming about how I am conspiring against her or whatever. But when I see her sitting there in the living room trying to talk me into watching Green Achers with her or asking about my day“ Diana‘s voice cracked a little bit, just for a moment, before she finally managed to get ahold of herself. “Even when I know she is going to pick my life apart and start screaming at me Its just hard to hate her. She‘s just still too much like Mom.”

Jonathon sighed and moved around the old cigarette burned mattress taking a seat across from his sister and taking both of her hands in his. “She is Mom Dee. Just because she is doing some dumb shit right now doesn’t mean she isn‘t mom anymore. You just have to, well I don‘t know to be honest. You probably do have to avoid her, but she does still love you if nothing else. Who knows, maybe she will end up turning around or something.”

“Yeah, turning around, right.” Diana snorted. “You don‘t have to justify anything to me Jonathon. She‘s a bitch and she‘s worse to you than she is to me. I get why you do it, Its just not any fucking fair is the point.” The conversation was really getting her close to the breaking point, which was the last thing she wanted where Jonathon was involved. “Can‘t you at least try to take me with you? Hell I‘ll sleep on the couch if I have to. I just can‘t stand being here with her around, not alone.” She gazed into her brothers big blue eyes for a few moments and gripped his paws tightly folding her ears back against her head in anticipation of the answer she knew was coming.

“Dee I‘m sorry, but Ben is doing me a huge favor letting me stay there, and honestly the room is way too small. Besides I don‘t think its legal to have you staying in a two bedroom like that, especially with mom back in town. Like it or not she is still your legal guardian and I‘m not. Even if there was room for you the fact is that you are stuck here until you hit eighteen and there is nothing I can do about it. If I stay we both know she is just going to bitch at both of us even more because I‘m a ‘bad influence‘ on you.”
The two siblings simply held paws and looked into each others eyes for a long moment, neither really ready to say anything and neither wanting to move. “Dee, I am always going to be here for you, and I love you so much, you are always going to be my kid sister and I will always be around to help you. If anything ever happens that you need me, you know I will be there. Just remember that, ok?”

In her head Diana knew that her brother was right, she knew that he didn’t want to leave her at their mothers mercy. It hurt though, it stung to know that he could just go so easily. She really just wished that he would at least cry, or maybe yell about how horrible mom was and how he wanted her to just leave them all be.

Jonathon sighed once more and held his little sister tight, holding her and running a hand up and down her back. “Dee, It is going to be ok, trust me. It will all end up ok.” he continued stroking her hair even though a few small struggles and angry shoves as she tried to pull away. Once she finally stopped he moved back a little and looked down into those tear filled blue eyes, brushing a few of them away with the back of his hand. “Sis, I’m not going to just up and abandon you. You know that if things get too bad here I’ll do anything I can to stop mom, and you can still visit me at both my jobs. I just need to get out of here before she finishes moving in, or else she is going to give both of us hell. I’m not going to be like Dad ok? I promise. I’ll be here for you no matter what.

“You promise? I’ll still get to talk to you? You’re not just going to go off and forget about me?” Diana really hated asking these questions. She honestly felt like some whiney little bitch seeking some pathetic way to sway her brothers mind just so she didn’t have to suffer quite as much. It was everything she hated about almost every girl in her fucked up little school, but at the moment she simply couldn’t bring herself to shrug off something like this. Instead she looked back into her brothers eyes seeking any signs of comfort, any confirmation that he wouldn’t just run away and stay away.

“Promise” he said patting her on the back and standing back up “I love you Diana, and I’m always going to be here for you.”


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“God I wish this school would get a new vendor for its food. I mean considering how much our folks pay, one would at least think that they could buy us some decent food.” Jamie sighed and looked the tray of food over one more time before taking her usual spot at the end of their usual lunch table. She reluctantly gripped the tiny fragment of crust that protruded from the ring of paste like sauce. “Eww, look at this, its like soggy moldy cardboard. There is no way in hell I can eat this.” The feline set the unappetizing slice of pizza down and pushed the tray back just a few inches as if to distance herself from it. She looked back to the other end of the table where her best friend sat, already wrapped up in the arm of her bigger girlfriend and tucked under the crook of her arm, Diana’s hand just a little too close to Esters chest for Jamie’s comfort. “Really you two? Again? God every time I turn around it seems like you‘re glued to each other.” Of course she had the good grace to avoid mentioning just how inappropriate Diana‘s near groping was, or how much it was starting to piss her off. But that good grace was only going to last so long and the two of them had already stretched it rather thin.

“Calm down Kitty.” Diana chuckled pulling her mousie a bit closer “Its not like you are going to get in trouble for sitting around here with us is it? Worse comes to worse you can always claim that you object to me cuddling my little girlfriend and you get off scott free.” Just for a moment the Chipette fingers slipped over the front of the small mouse girls chest drawing out a sharp squeek just loud enough to draw the attention from a few nearby tables, which of course made Diana smile that much more and chuckle just a little bit. “Besides I know my Mousie really doesn’t mind does she?” The bigger girl laughed as her hand slowly slipped its way down Esters shoulder and rubbed up and down her side.

“N-no, not really.” Ester murmured as she shut her eyes and pushed a little harder into Diana, crossing her arms nervously over her chest and taking a few shaky breaths as she tried to recover from the rather personal contact that had been heaped upon her the past few days. “Don’t’ worry Jamie, Diana hasn’t done anything bad. Y-you know I would tell you if she did. Besides I am listening to you, its just a little distracting at times cause… well…” She looked down ashamedly and pushed into Diana’s side a bit harder, only to jump and yelp as a sharp pinch was delivered just under her skirt. Ester bit down on her lip and looked at her beloved wearing that grin which she knew all too well. “But I do agree with you about the pizza, That’s why I usually just bring a sandwich.”

“Which you gave to her.” Jamie stated plainly picking at the cherry cobbler sitting in one corner of her tray. “The problem isn’t that she is doing this kind of crap with you in public, well ok that isn’t true. I have a really big problem with how she treats you and how you just let her push you around a lot of the time. However when it comes to that I usually just bite my tongue and look for signs that she is crossing the very thin line I already set.” Jamie scooped up a big forkfull of the dessert and nipped about a third of it from the end, using the surprisingly tasty dessert to keep her mouth occupied before she went past the point of prudent frustration. She waved the food laden utensil at the mouse and looked her square in the eye with a voice that was at once cool and subtly annoyed. “My problem is that you have been doting on Diana and hanging around her even more than usual these past few days. The time was you two would go out on weekends and hang out at school, and that was about it. You still took time for yourself every once in a while, and we still hung out most of the time. Now it seems like you are around her every second. I mean lets face it Diana, how many days have you been over at Ester’s this week?”

“That really isn’t any of your business Jamie.” Diana said softly but rather firmly, a hint of aggravation in her voice that neither Ester nor Jamie was familiar with. “If you have something to say, just come out and say it. Don’t beat around the bush.”

“You’re clingy” Jamie said simply, waving the fork at the Chipmunk girl to emphasize her point and smirking just a tiny bit. “These past few days you have been extremely clingy and defensive. You have latched on to Ester like a Titanic survivor holding on to some floating suitcase. In the time I’ve known you Diana that is probably the most uncharacteristic thing I have seen out of you, bar none. As for you Est, well lets face it you are letting her get away with it.” She took a moment to let her words sink in and enjoy another few bites of cobbler to help level her nerves before turning her eyes back up to the pair. The looks of shock she got enough to tell her she had hit on something. “So lets see, we have you Diana who for the first time in… well ever as far as I know, is clutching to someone else like she‘s tethered to a helecopter trying to pull you out of a Volcano. Then we have Ester who… well lets face it Est You have let her get away with a lot of crap these past few days. Especially.” Jamie waved her fork again right at about chest level with Ester, something that made the mouse jump and wrap her own arms around her smallish endowment for a moment.

Without really realizing it Diana pulled ester just a tiny bit closer as the accusations were leveled, gripping her side tight to the point of obvious discomfort. She looked across the table at Jamie for a few long moments and then drew a few long, ragged breaths trying hard to mask how close the feline had really gotten, but failing rather miserably. “You don’t think that maybe she is just getting a bit used to being a bit more affectionate with me? I mean we are Girlfriends. It isn’t like playin around with her a little bit is all that uncommon is it?”

Jamies smirk now widened as she cast her gaze to her best friend currently cowering into Diana’s side before turning her attention back to the Chipette with a small chuckle. “Diana, when Ester and I were about six, our moms took us to the mall to see Santa. She was shaking like a leaf in line, had to be all but picked up and placed into his lap by the assistant and cried so long and so hard once she was up there that mall security had to be called in just so they could make sure there wasn’t some sort of serious incident or kidnapping attempt. Since then she has gotten worse if anything. She freaks the fuck out when people she doesn’t know touch her, and she freaks out even harder when anyone touches her in those places.” She once again waved her fork to emphasize her point, which both made Ester look away and turned a few heads from a nearby table. She really did hate putting it so bluntly, but at this point it seemed like Diana was just lookikng for things to hide behind in the conversation and that was pushing her last button. “Yes, she’s more than willing to give people she knows a hug or snuggle a tiny bit, but from what I have seen in the past eight years what you are doing right now should be making her catatonic. Not to mention how much its been pissing me off with your inability to keep it in your pants in public. Its pretty freaking disrespectful.”

The small mouse shivered a bit and closed her eyes tight. She knew what Jamie was doing and honestly her friend had every right to know what was going on, but that was not her decision to make. “Jamie please don’t…” She murmured looking up at Diana for strength. “Please I really don’t want to, I don’t think I can talk about it. Its nothing, really.”

“Come on now Ester you know whatever it is, I am more than happy to help.” Jamie said in a calm and even tone “Instead of enabling her to hide from her problem by degrading yourself maybe you should tell someone what is going on. Isn‘t that what your mom always tells you? If you have a problem just come out and say it ok?”

“Fucking hell Jamie, it is none of your business.” Diana finally snapped pulling her arm away from Ester and pushing her face into her hands. “Fine, you know what? Just fine. I’m having some fucking problems lately and Ester has been trying to cheer me up. No sexual abuse, no crazy co-dependency bullshit. I have a problem and I’ll fucking deal with it, ok?” Having said her piece Diana pushed away her half-eaten tray of food and started walking out of the cafeteria followed by the gaze of at least a dozen girls, side conversations all falling silent at the sharp display of anger.

In a flash Ester was up and out of the room right on her loves heels, with Jamie not too far behind. The two finally managed to catch up with her half way down the hall at which point Ester managed to throw her arms around Diana and clutched nice and tight, nuzzling into her just a tiny bit. “Diana please, Jamie didn’t mean to upset you. She doesn’t know what’s going on. She just wants to help. I know its hard but really all she wants to do is help.” For a second the mouse girl felt tightly tensed muscles under that stiff leather jacket but slowly they began to loosen and relax as an arm started to snake its way around her shoulder once more.

This whole situation seemed to be spiraling out of Diana’s control faster than she could really comprehend. Looking down at her Mousie and then back to Jamie once more the punkish Chipette slumped heavily against a locker and ran her fingers though her hair surprising yet another frustrated scream. “You really want to know? You really, honestly want to know what’s wrong? Fine. My mom lost her job, ok? That is why I’m so pissed off.”

Jamie nodded and offered the other girl her best comforting smile “Well that is a problem, especially now with the Economy the way it is. A lot of people are losing their jobs because demand is down and people don‘t want to spend any money. But I’m sure she can find another job. Besides if she has been working for a while she qualifies for unemployment right? There is no reason to think that…” the felines almost overly chipper attempt at encouragement was interrupted by the loud resonating thud of fist on locker door. Jamie took a small step back from the unexpected reaction and tensed up just a bit, not sure what exactly had just happened but feeling ever so slightly unsafe.

Pulling herself away from Diana for a moment Ester walked over to her friend and pulling her off to the side. “That isn’t the problem Jamie. Her home life is... Well I mean there are some problems with, well.” Ester wracked her brain trying to think of the most polite way to make her statement. It was all quite difficult since she didn’t know what Diana would be ok with her saying and what should be omitted. “Its not that she is afraid that there won’t be any money so much. Its more a matter of… well what I mean to say is…. You see…”

“My mom is a fucking bitch.” Diana said rather plainly, taking away any need for Ester to tiptoe around the issue. “She fucked up selling bar supplies and booze to bars around the state cause she drank away half her sales and fucked one too many clients. So now she decided she wants to move back cause I’m ‘growing up to be a fucking dyke’ thanks to my brother. So she decides to move in, Jonathon has to move out. God fucking damn it.” She just leaned back once more and tried very hard to make herself numb, struggling to focus on anything other than how fucked up her life was right now, or the fact that now everyone seemed to know about it.

Jamie stood stunned for a few long moments, looking at Diana slumped down and just so very broken for the first time since she had known her. “I… I’m sorry. I honestly had no idea. I didn’t mean to pry into your personal life. Its just that you never talk about it with anyone.” She could feel her voice crack as she said this, suddenly fighting back a few sympathetic tears. “Hell I only knew about your brother because of Est mentioning him.”  She walked over and pressed her back against a nearby locker, slipping down onto her rear right next to Diana as Ester walked back to sit on the Chipette other side. “If you don’t want to talk about it I’d understand totally. It already sounds like none of my business. But if you’ll let me, I would like to at lest try helping out a bit. Who knows maybe a fresh perspective on things could help you figure out a solution to your situation.” She crossed her arms over her knees and looked out at the opposite wall, ears twitching at palpable tension slowly filling the hallway.

“Her mom drinks, a lot…” Ester finally said. The comment drew a small scowl from Diana which hit Ester like an open palm smack, but she still took it in stride and leaned forward just a bit. “We went to see Diana a while ago cause I hadn’t heard from her, remember? Well her mom answered the door, and she seemed really odd. She yelled at Mommy and then yelled at me, and she smelled really bad too. Mom said she was probably drinking. She yelled at us too, mainly because I’m a lesbian. She thinks its wrong.”

Diana scoffed and glanced over at Ester for a moment. “She’s always drunk. We tried getting her to quit a few years ago but, well anything Jonathon says she takes as a personal attack. Besides as far as she is concerned life isn’t worth living unless she is sucking on a bottle.” She wrapped her legs up to her chest. “She’s just a bitch, that’s all. Just a selfish bitch who likes to hurt other people, especially when they are close to her. Its like she gets off on it or something. Of course that may just be cause she’s an angry drunk.” It really hurt for Diana to blurt our her mothers flaws like this, but she was far past the point of caring. The cat was already out of the bag so to speak, Trying to deflect at this point really wouldn’t do her any good.

Jamie turned herself around a bit and faced Diana tilting her head and looking the rough girl over once more with a more critical eye. “She doesn’t, hurt you physically does she?” She asked, her voice now calm but deathly serious “I mean she hasn’t hit you or anything right? You know if she does its best to tell someone before”

“Before she really hurts me, right?” Diana snapped “look I’m sorry it even came up. I’m sorry I’m a bitch who takes up time with your best friend and I’m sorry I made you feel like I was looking for someone to help me. I’m fine. She comes back and pesters us all the time when she gets a lul in work or on those rare occasions that she manages to take care of her workload because she actually managed to exceed quota. Usually she would just show up, bitch at Jonathon for a while about how he is a horrible person and deserves to die for being gay, I suppose with him gone that means I’ll be getting all of his flack though.”

Ester wrapped a hand around the shoulder of  Diana’s jacket and gave a firm tug, looking into her girlfriends face. “Diana, if your mommy hurts you then you have to tell us. Its already really scary knowing your Mommy drinks like that and gets really mad then you don’t know if she could hurt you, especially if you’re living there all the time with her. Please, for me.” The small mouse had to choke back a rather hard sob that threatened to turn itself into a full blown dry heave. Tears now streaked down that soft brown cheek fur as she tried to inch herself closer to her love offering the comfort she had before. It was easy to see how scared and confused the poor girl was, yet in those normally soft green eyes was a hard determination that was rarely seen. There were few times in her life where Ester stood up for herself, but she would be damned if anyone hurt her Diana, especially the frightening woman they had met at her house not too long ago.

“She’s right you know.” Jamie chimed in softly. “If your mom is hurting you then you have to tell someone. Its not safe to stay in a house with someone like that, especially if you don’t have someone to watch out for you. I mean all it takes is for her to get drunk enough when you’re asleep and, well..”

Seeing the tears in those sparkling green eyes was almost too much for Diana to bare. Slipping her arm around Esters neck she just pulled the girl close and kissed her on the forehead, leaning back once more as she tried to get her thoughts in order. “Look she used to, well sometimes she used to hit me. It was right around when she started drinking and I was still pretty little. It wasn’t anything more than a hard smack, usually cause I decided to talk back. By the time I hit about ten though I was a bit too fast for her. Pretty sure she’s given up on trying to knock any more sense into me.” Even uttering these words brought back painful memories of screaming and painful smacks and constant abuse of her childhood in one momentary flash of pain and frustration. She turned her eyes away and wiped the tears from her eyes before anyone could really notice them but the streaks just continued to come even after she had tried to push them away. “Though, I will admit she will toss the occasional bottle or take a swing, but most of the time she just likes to yell, or remind me of how she used to be before, well, all of this.”

“Well, that settles it then. You need to look into getting emancipated.” Jamie’s tone was as cool and direct as ever, looking into her friends face with a note of dire seriousness. “You need to look into legally separating yourself from your mom and get the hell out of there, and the sooner the better. If you stay there she is just going to knock you down, and eventually she just might to get hammered one night an decide to just knock some sense into you while you’re asleep. Its not safe, and frankly it isn’t good for your self esteem.”

Diana quirked her brow at that comment and leaned back into the locker once more chuckling ever so softly. “Gee, thanks. I really didn’t know you cared Kitty. So mind telling me just what Emancipation is?”

“Stop calling me that” Jamie growled “As for emancipation, it’s the legal process of divorce between parents and guardians with their children. Basically you go to court, prove that your mom is being abusive and then file to be treated as a legal adult. Of course you have to prove that you can support yourself, that’s going to mean a job of some sort. Unless you have distant family you aren’t telling us about.” Granted many of these facts she only knew second hand, but it was enough of a start that hopefully Diana would feel like she had a way out. It was hard to imagine anyone living in that kind of environment, and Jamie would be damned if one of her friends had to suffer like that.

Diana shook her head and let out another exasperated sigh as this rather bizarre new option was explained to her. In truth she should have been happy about it, ecstatic even. Granted finding a job might suck, but still it was some way to get out from under her mothers thumb. Yet the thought of it didn’t evoke the joy she thought it would. “I really don‘t know if I can do that. I mean as much as she sucks she is still my mom. I don‘t know if I can just break everything off from her like that. It seems pretty cold.”

No sooner had Diana made the comment than Ester latched herself around the girls leather-clad midsection hugging her tight as she could and whimpering oh so gently. “Diana I… I don’t now if it is a good idea or not, but your Mommy might hurt you and I don’t want that to happen. I don’t want to be scared all the time because you could get hurt. Please, for me, you have to at least think about it.” Once again the mouse girls voice started to crack and eyes watered just a bit. She could feel herself tremble at the thought of that scary woman screaming at Diana, hitting her hard in the face or even smashing a bottle over her. Even with assurances from her girlfriend that things like that didn’t happen the lingering dread was more than enough to shake Ester to her core and leave her latched on to the bigger girl like she could vanish at any moment.

This fit of nervousness did not go unnoticed as Diana turned and traced a finger over the edge of that green hair stripe tenderly. Even though it seemed impossible to run from her mother like that, seeing just how profoundly scared her little Ester was at the prospect of her getting hurt. She tenderly crooked her finger under the chin of her sobbing girlfriend and kissed the tip of her folded mouse ears before offering her a small Eskimo kiss. “If it means that much to you Ester, then I promise you I will figure out something. I don’t know what just yet, but I will figure it out. She isn’t going to hurt me.” With that said she turned her face to Jamie and put a hand on her shoulder trying hard not to shake too badly. “Ok then Kitty, tell me more about this emancipation thing.”

---

The game was finally over and Lillian slowly closed the door to her daughters’ room. Her little girl was all fed, washed and tucked into bed with the soothing refrains of the old James Taylor CD Lil had played her girl to sleep with since she was little. It was the first game in a while where Diana had not been in attendance, and it was clear that it had an obvious affect on Ester. Pawing her way back over to the table where Ruth and June both sat she took a bottle of white wine and a few glasses from a nearby cabinet setting them down before her two dear friends. “Thanks for staying around you two. Things just keep getting more and more stressful around here, and I don’t know how much more I can really take. Ester has been coming home from school so detached and worried, and not just her normal neurotic worries either. I’m really at the end of my rope.”

Ruth watched her friend pour the wine and took a nice big sip without really doing much to taste it, simply downing a good third of the glass like grape juice. “Its fine Lil I understand. This isn’t exactly a pleasant situation for anyone from how you described it. I mean I knokw you have your problems with Diana, but honestly I am shocked that you didn’t just pound that woman into the dirt.”

“I was about to.” Lil said as she sat back down in her seat looking down at the wine glass before taking a small gentle sip on the rim letting the warm oaky flavor swirl in her mouth a moment. “I seriously wanted to smash that woman in the face with my fist as hard as I could, and I didn’t want to stop until I stopped hearing cracks. I may have done it too, I Ester hadn’t been there.” She laughed a little bit and then shook her head in exasperated amusement. “I mean honestly it’s just sad when being a good mom is the only thing stopping a grown woman from curb stomping someone. Oh and how I wanted to beat that bitch into the ground.” Lillian took another swig, this one far less dainty, before setting the glass back down on the table and leaning back. “Maybe I should have done it. A little knock on the head might have wedged a little bit of intellect into that thick bigots skull.”

“Or gotten you thrown in jail.” June interjected softly as she swirled the wine around a little bit, still aerating it and letting her sensitive snoot pick up on the delicate aroma. “I hate to say it, but hitting her would have done nothing but prove her right and put you in jail, not to mention the example that would set.”

June was right of course, but Lillian really didn’t feel any better for it. The notion that this woman was able to get away with treating other people like that, not to mention how she must treat her kids. Now Diana would be stuck with her almost constantly, and without anyone to play buffer if what she heard was true. “You know I’m half tempted to drive over there right now and give that woman a rather large piece of my mind.” Lillian said looking at the small yellow jewel of wine still resting inside of her glass. Even if she couldn’t beat the shit out of this woman, it seemed wrong that nobody was getting on her for acting this way, especially when both of her children liked people of the same sex.

“You know you can’t do that either though, right Lil?” Ruth chimed in setting down her now empty wine glass and looking at her old friend square in the eye. “I know it sucks but you simply can’t go out and scream at someone because you don’t like how they raise their kid. There is absolutely nothing you can do to this woman that will make things any better.” She reached over and put her paw on Lillian’s forearm slowly running her thumb though the woman’s fur. “Honestly sweetie as much as you like to get everything in order and do that loud head chef thing of yours to fix everything yourself but it simply won’t work that way. You can’t touch this woman without making the problem a hell of a lot worse.”

The feline sighed once more and leaned back into her chair, running a hand over her forhead and digging her fingers into her hair. “Well that isn’t entirely true, not really.” she murmured. “I mean I really have been thinking about it, and there is plenty that I can do, its just that none of it comes easy. Part of me just wants to act on my first instinct and turn her in to the cops. She was pretty obviously drunk when we were there and if she is just as hammered when her kids are around, I donno there has to be some kind of law against that right? I mean she is already pretty emotionally abusive from the looks of it. The cops would have to do something about that right?” The feline asked with a rather sharp note of desperation in her voice. “The cops, or Child services or somebody.”  

June shook her head and pushed her wine glass in closer to the center of the table, deciding that it would be best to avoid any more until the matter was settled. This was already becoming one of those incidents that pushed a knot of fear and apprehension into her stomach. “Unless I am mistaken the police can’t really do too much without some clear proof on your part, or unless Diana is willing to say something. That means if you tried and she wasn’t willing to play ball you would have a whole new set of problems on your hands. As for child services I think they might be willing to drag her out of there considering what you have said. They would at least take a look around before anything else.” June offered a tentative smile which quickly soured as she continued. “That is of course assuming that things really are as bad as Diana says. I mean there are some obvious issues, but kids also tend to, well” she didn’t really want to finish the thought, but the possibility was there. Granted June was worried half to death about the poor girl should all this be as bad as she heard, but they honestly didn’t know all of the facts. In her experience that was when things usually went bad. “I know it is a really hard thing to do, but you have to look at it logically for Diana’s sake. You have to know what exactly is going on before jumping into anything”

“I know enough, and that woman needs someone to drill some sense in her head. Seriously someone should have done something a long time ago.” She slumped down and gripped Ruth’s paw firmly. They were right, and she knew it. It was a suitable last resort option, but not something she wanted to consider right out of the gate, especially with all the proof they would end up needing. “She could always stay here I guess. I mean true there isn’t that much extra room but I could make something up in the living room. That way she would have a place to stay until things got sorted out with her mom. Besides I bet she could benefit from a better environment than the one she’s in now. It may help straighten her out a bit.”

“Someone has been watching a little too much Roseanne, hasn’t she?” Ruth shook her head and tried very hard not to laugh at her friends admittedly kind hearted attempt to solve the problem. “Look I like Diana, she‘s a good kid and I trust her… to a point. But that would put your daughters bedroom and your daughters girlfriend within ten feet of each other at a time when your asleep.” Ruth let that mental image sink in for a moment, knowing full well that it would come up anyways and Lil would be freaked out should she let the girl in. “Besides how long do you think it would take her to sort things out? That couch is not a long term solution in any way, shape or form. Whatever happens to Diana she needs to feel like she’s some place stable. She can’t just feel like that one guy who always used to crash on everyone’s couches. You know the guy who ‘chose to be a vagabond’… oh what was his name. Damn it.” Ruth said trying hard to think of the strange individual from their younger days.

“Kenny.“ June replied “His name was Kenny and he still tries to pull that apparently. But yes Lil I think you can see where this is going. Plus, as I said before, Her mother may have a side to the story we don’t know. Granted the whole anti-gay thing is a pretty big issue but that doesn’t mean she is outright abusive. It could be that Diana just needs someone to talk with her now and then.“ June shook her head and tried not to sigh as she said this. The truth was she too was a bit worried that Diana’s situation may be as bad as it sounded, but she also knew that if it was not and the other two tried to rectify it, things could go wrong quite quickly. “Honestly though staying here just is not an option, and from what we heard helping her stay with her brother isn’t going to help right now either. You may have to accept that this is one of those situations where you simply can’t have any direct control of the situation. Right now I think the only thing you can really do is offer Ester some comfort and let her know everything will be ok in the end.”

“This isn’t just about Ester though. It seems almost criminal to leave anyone at the mercy of that woman for any length of time, I don’t know if I could live with myself if I didn’t do something to get her out of there, especially if something were to happen to her. God who knows what this woman is capable of doing.” Lil picked up the wine bottle and started to poor herself another glass, then promptly stopped and pushed it away leaning her elbows down on the table and hanging her head in her hands. “I just don’t know what I am going to do. I don’t want to let anyone stay in that kind of environment, and I’m afraid that if I let this continue unchecked she is going to track Diana down while she is hanging out with Ester, and my little girl is going to get hurt in whatever crossfire ensues. No I think that Diana coming here is the best option, that or just kicking that wicked witches teeth in.” She sighed again and just held her head in her hands looking down at the table. “I just don’t know what to do.”

Ruth laughed a little bit and reached a finger under Lils chin tilting her muzzle up to look into her eyes. “Well now if it was me personally, I would probably talk about it with friends, Maybe get some advice from my Rabbi. Take a long walk to think about the situation and calm my nerves. Then I’d probably say screw it, go over there and beat the living shit out of the woman.” Ruth chuckled to herself and shook her head, wrapping an arm around June. “But then I have a feeling this little lady here would probably yell, and I’m not sure if the guards at whatever jail I got thrown into would be able to protect me from her.”

“That is not funny.” June retorted angrily “Especially since we don’t know if she actually did anything to harm her child. Quite frankly this all seems to be based on anger and speculation more than the facts of the situation.” At this point it felt like the conversation was starting to go into circles, none of which led any place good. It was getting to the point where she had to diffuse the situation before someone did something rash. “Now if you are serious about doing something Lil then the best idea would be to get a full understanding of the situation you can base your decisions on. You can’t just let your first impressions of the woman and Diana’s unhappiness as the out and out facts. Unless you can get some clear and substantial evidence of child abuse, child neglect or something else I am afraid the only thing you can do is provide some support and hope things work out. In the end it‘s on Diana‘s shoulders to get those things and get herself out should she need it right now.” June took a moment to pull back from her little tangent, voice once again sweet and comforting as she placed a paw on Lillian’s forearm and started to stroke it gently. “If you really want to do something about the situation, then ask. Ask about the situation, and let her know she can go to people with anything. Let her know that she doesn’t have to be embarrassed about the situation.”

Lil growled again and put her face into her paws. In her head that made sense, but it still just hurt too much thinking about that poor girl and what it must have been like. She knew what kind of woman Mrs. Herrman was, that first meeting had made it quite clear. However she just seemed to feel hopelessly lost on what she could do about it, feeling like there had to be some way she could help beyond some paltry moral support.

Ruth nodded and leaned back again chuckling to herself. “It really can’t hurt to ask now can it? Besides she might end up seeing you as less of a bad guy for it. Or she could feel like you are trying to pry into her personal life and resent you even more. But hay, risk and reward right?”

There was a loud thud as Junes fist smashed down into Ruths arm, clearly causing more pain to the stoat than the bear. “Oh stop it you.” The stoat shook her head and sighed wishing that just once Ruth could avoid adding her special brand of humor into an otherwise good point. “She is right though, you should talk to her. Its never a good idea to make decisions this big without knowing all of the facts. Always look before you leap, especially if you already know that the hole will already be pretty deep.”

“Yeah, I guess” Lillian said smiling back at both of her dear friends. “I guess now I have to try and get a chance to talk to Diana tomorrow, or some point this week. Thanks though guys, this really means a lot. Its nice having both of you around. It really does help a lot.” she said with a small smile. “Lets just hope we can work something out without any huge explosive conflict.”

---

“Are you sure we should be doing this?” June asked as she gazed out the window, checking each hosue number as they slowly ascended towards the one on her small slip of paper. “I mean it is one thing to worry but just showing up at her house like this could end up making the poor girl upset, or make more conflict between her and her mom.”

Ruth scooted herself back a bit and gripped one large paw on the SUVs steering wheel as her other rested on the roof of the car. “Her mom is already making enough conflict for everyone from the sounds of it, and there’s nothing wrong with paying our favorite little tough girl a visit now is there. Hell we are her girlfriends godparents, that practically makes us family right?” An all too familiar smirk crossed Ruths face as she said this, that knowing little smile which always seemed to give June the strangest sense of foreboding. “That woman is the one who is causing all of these problems. All we are doing is paying a visit, and if she wants to cause more trouble…”

“We don’t know for sure if she even is causing problems Ruth. As much as I hate to say it most of our evidence is hearsay at best. Granted I don’t think Diana would lie but I’m not going to let you go off and pick a fight with a woman who you have never even met. It was bad enough talking you down from bar fights back when you were still competing.” She shook her head and looked out the window once more cast her gaze out at the houses as they passed by. “Ok here we go, 1416, that’s the house.” June felt a bit apprehensive actually telling Ruth the address. Images of pointless scraps and brawls in public flooded her memory in a most unpleasant way. But if nothing else she would be there to play referee and keep Ruth from throwing the first punch, hopefully.

The massive SUV ground its way into the half shattered driveway pavement and ground itself to a halt just behind a broken down old Neon that rested parallel to the porch. Ruth pondered just for a moment if she should leave the engine running, before finally just turning off the car and shoving the keys into her pants pocket. “Well here we are. I guess it couldn’t hurt to go knock.” She murmured, stepping out of the door and walking over to the porch stairs giving one of the steps a small practice push to ensure that it wouldn’t snap under her weight.

“Oh stop being such a baby.” June sighed moving up behind her Fiancé and giving her a little bit of a shove. “If t’were done tis well it be done quickly.” She continued to push the larger woman up the stairs before climbing the porch along side her, taking a few apprehensive steps across the cracked old boards and standing off to the side of the doorway. “Well lets get this over with.” She sighed still feeling a gnawing pit of nervousness in her stomach.

Ruth’s paw thudded hard on the old wooden door a few times, waiting patiently by the door for a few moments before it finally rattled and the door finally pulled itself out from the frame with a small pop. The gaunt and slightly graying figure that popped her head from the doorway really wasn’t what either woman was expecting, she looked older, hunched down a little bit like someone who had just spent a very long day doing some very hard lifting. Ruth took a second to shrug off the initial surprise once she realized that the woman would probably be older and straightened herself up politely doing her best to keep a soft and even tone. “Hello. I’m sorry I really hope we didn’t wake you up.” Ruth started wondering from her appearance if they really had woken the woman up from a nap, or possibly something drink related.

“No, no you’re fine.” Mrs. Herrman said rather bluntly rubbing her head a bit and pushing a few loose strands of hair from her face. “So what can I do for you people today? I gotta be up front and tell ya that I’m not in the market for buying anything, but otherwise I’m willing to at least give you a listen.”

June stepped beside Ruth and nodded politely trying to assess the woman she saw before her as she compared to the stories she had been told. “Actually we are both here because of Diana. It seems there has been a bit of worry about her lately and we just thought we would check up on her to make sure everything is ok and such. You wouldn’t mind if we came in and talked to her would you?”

The older Chipmunk looked at June for a few moments before giving the professional looking woman a small nod before shutting the door and pulling it open again, chain latch now dangling freely by the doorframe. “Come on in, don’t mind the mess, Diana is supposed to clean that up but she’s being a bit stubborn. I’ll probably just get to it later. Can I get you two women anything to drink?” She offered her two guests a warmish but obviously tired smile before walking over to the couch and picking up an afgan which she placed down on the back of the couch.

Ruth moved in first, rather puzzled at how different the woman was compared to what she had expected. Still taking the offer she moved into the living room and sat down on the smoky old couch struggling to make enough room for June to sit. “Thank you but no, I think we are both fine. So where is Diana anyways? We both figured she would probably be home about now.” She offered the best smile she could as the woman took her place in the armchair and glanced back at them with a rather curious smile “Again I really hope we didn’t interrupt anything. We don’t really have any phone number to contact her.”

“Its fine” Mrs. Herrman said softly leaning back in her chair. “I can understand that. Honestly its been a bit of a problem, what with all of the people trying to call from the school asking about field trips and medical thigns and just asking where she is half the time. The girl is really smart but I swear she just loves giving people greif. Always has really. Not totally her fault though she just likes to push boundries and figure things out for herself. Strong minded kid.” The woman laughed a bit at that and cracked a warm little smile “So what exactly did she do this time? The girl didn’t end up punching out another girl or anything did she? Haven’t heard anything about that in a few months.”

June puzzled for just a moment at what the woman meant, especially sicne they had yet to divulge why they had come in the first place. “Oh no, we aren’t from the school or anything Ma’am. We just happen to know Diana, and were a bit worried about how she was doing. Don’t worry as far as we know she hasn’t gotten in any trouble at school at all.” June naturally knew that mentioning anything about the allegations Diana had made or Lillians little encounter with the woman might be counter productive to their little visit, so she kept quiet. All she could really hope was that they could get a fair and honest assesment of the woman without any real incident.

“So you’re not from the school? But from the way you were dressed I could have sworn that… Diana Get in here!” the woman finally yelled out giving neither woman a real chance to react. Something very strange was going on and Mrs. Herrman was sure that she wanted to hear about it from her daughter.

“Yeah yeah I’m coming damn it. Hold your horses.” Diana grumbled as she stumbled over the small stack of clutter in the center of her room and across the kitchen, wondering what fresh hell her mother had prepared for her. She walked into the living room and instantly stopped dead in her tracks. She saw her mother sitting in in her chair as usual gazing right into her face, and out of the corner of her eye noticed two other figures resting on the couch, both of which she recognized instantly. “No…” She whispered to herself as her heart sank down into the pit of her stomach, filling her with a sudden pang of dread. “What, what are you two doing here? I didn’t ask, I mean… you…” She was naturally tongue-tied by the whole situation, gazing at one of the worst possible scenes she could imagine.

Mrs. Herrman locked eyes with her Daughter and slowly pulled herself up from the chair walking over to the smaller chipmunk with a measured and menacing pace. “Diana I want to know who these women are, and what you have been up to. Its bad enough that you disrespect me like this in my own home, but it seems like I keep finding things you are trying to keep hidden. Now I want you to start talking. Understand?”

“We’re Ester’s godparents.” Ruth said plainly standing up and took a few steps towards the young girl, standing beside her with a towering presence. “We heard that things were rocky around here and honestly have gotten a bit worried about her.” As if to make her implicit point clearer she looked down at the woman and crossed her arms standing like an immovable pillar of muscle and fur.

“Mom look don’t get pissed off ok? I didn’t ask them to come here.“ Diana scrambled for some way to diffuse the situation, fear growing by the minute as she watched her Mother and would be Role Model locked in some epic battle of wills with her caught in the middle. “Ruth, please can you two just go? I can talk to Mom about this. Please just don’t get in the middle.”

The older Munks eyes burned like white hot coals as she glared down at her child, hands balling into fists and trembling from a mix of rage and withdrawl. “Shut it! I have had it up to here with you young lady. First I have to put up with your fucking faggot brother treating me like shit and showing himself off to dirty old men. Then you start latching on to that little carpet munching dyke and her dyke momma, and now these two bitches here are probably lezbos too. That’s what you said right, Godparents? I’m guessing neither of you really found a man who wanted you huh?”

“Shut your god damn fucking mouth!” Diana screamed with a rage none of them had yet heard from the girl. “My brother is not a Faggot, and my Ester is not a Dyke! You can treat me like shit all you want but I am fed up with you taking out all your issues on anyone who crosses your path!” Diana took a step forward and returned that fiery gaze in her mothers eyes fists balled up and ready to strike any second. “You know what? Fuck you. I’m leaving. I am getting my stuff and I am getting the hell out of this house. I won’t spend another day watching you drink yourself to death and trying to drag me down with you. I’m done, and if you try any shit I swear to God I will go to the police and make sure they know every shitty thing you have ever, ever done to me. Understood?”

The rage was finally too much for the Munk woman. With a speed greater than what her physical condition would suggest her fist flew out right at muzzle level to her daughter, thrown with as much force as she could muster. A split second later there was a thud, and a feeling like she had just punched a heavy bag full of Iron shavings. Mrs. Herrman looked up to see the large furry figure of Ruth standing in front of her Daugter, looking down at her with cool rage and quiet contempt.

“June, help Diana get her things.” Ruth said evenly her gaze never leaving the other woman. “She’s leaving.”

---

“Knock knock. You awake still awake in here?”

Diana looked up from her pillow to the dark figure in her doorway, brushing the sleeve of her jacket over her muzzle quickly to avoid notice. “Yeah, yeah I’m in here.” she mumbled turning her back to the door and scooting a little bit closer to the wall. “I just… I needed to rest, ok?” Diana’s ear perked as she heard the figure moving closer, felt the weight of another person sitting down on the edge of the bed, a paw squeezing her shoulder firmly which prompted Diana to scoot even closer to the wall.

“Well, Ruth just went out to pick up a few pizzas. I was going to come in and ask what you liked but she figured if she got a cheese, a meat lovers and a peperoni you could pick out whatever you wanted.” June slowly massaged her fingers into Diana’s shoulder, in spite of the token resistance the girl put up.

“I don’t like Peperoni…” The Chipette mumbled flatly, pulling her arm away from the hand that attempted to comfort her. “Why didn‘t Ruth ask me what I wanted before she just left?”

“She just got a bit too excited dear, that’s all. To tell the truth I think she is pretty excited having you in the house. I haven‘t seen her this excited about something since… well since way back when she got to take Ester shopping for that date of yours.” The stoat woman smiled a bit to herself and gave Diana’s leather-clad shoulder another pat. Taking a quick glance around the room she spotted one of the boxes laying next to their old bookshelf and reached down to pick it up. “It looks like your gifts found their way onto the floor. I told Ruth that they wouldn’t all stay on that pillow, Its way too overstuffed.” June just chuckled knowingly and set the largest box down in front of the quiet girls face before turning her gaze back towards the bookshelf. “It isn’t much really, but Ruth seemed to think that it would be nice after, well after all you’ve been through it would be nice to get you a little something to take your mind off of it.”

Diana reached out and took the package in hand. Part of her, a rather large part, contemplated just throwing the damned thing against the wall as hard as she could and be done with it. Her fingers dug in to the wrapping paper as she tried to imagien the box crumpling, the little token of pity shattering into however many pieces she could get it. Instead she moved her fingertip into the crease that held the paper on one side, ripping it open and clumsily peeling the box of its wrapping like an orange. Even in the dim light from the hallway the picture on the package made it unmistakably clear of its contents. A picture of a simple black handheld much like the one Ester had, with the words ‘Nintendo DSi’ drilling it home. “You… got me this?” she gasped looking up at June with a strange mixture of anger, gratitude and confusion on her face.

“Well technically it was Ruth’s idea. She figured you might like one of these since all the kids seem to like them, so she took Ester to the Gamestop to pick it up. They also got you some Kingdom… something game. I don’t know anything about it, but Ester said you would like it so I suppose if you don’t you can take it up with her. Speaking of which she kept the receipt, so no trying to return it and get us our money back or anything like that. All that will do is offset the cost of getting you another one.” She said with a playful grin, already knowing full well how Diana thought. “I also got you a Trakphone with a card to activate it. As long as you’re living here I am going to expect you to keep this on you whenever you leave the house. I know you are used to just doing your own thing, but Ruth and I are both very busy with our schedules and if something changes on either end we need to get ahold of you, ok?”

“You mean you want to keep tabs on me and make sure I’m not fucking up?” Diana laughed as she gripped her pillow even harder pushing the DS box away from her. “You don’t need to sugar coat it for me. Just be honest with me ok? I think I deserve that much.”

“I am being honest with you Diana. If I genuinely thought for one moment that you were going to cause any major problems or run off, then you would know about it already and we would have much stricter ground rules.“ In spite of the small outburst June simply smiled and patted the girl on the side once more maintaining the same calm, level meter that always seemed to be in her voice. “But that said there will be some rules for you to follow, and chores too. We are still looking into some form of work that would help in court with the emancipation but for now…”

“For now what? I just have to sit here and act like nothing is wrong? I’m supposed to forget that I’m stuck here until my mom decides to pull something stupid or go to the cops? I’m supposed to forget that everyone left me high and dry? I’m not a fucking charity case. I am so sick and tired of everyone talking about me like… like…” Every fiber of Diana’s being was ready to scream, or put her fist though the wall, or do just about anything to get herself out of this situation. The rage and confusion welling up until without warning she felt those slender arms slowly wrapping around her body.

“Shhh its ok. Diana I understand.” She whispered gently into the raging chipettes ear. “I understand. Its ok to be mad. Its not your fault. None of this is your fault.” June simply held on to the girl as tight as she could, rocking just a bit until the tensed muscles started to loosen a tiny bit. “I know it’s never easy to move away from your family and go to a strange place, especially in a situation like this. We aren’t trying to make you feel like a burden though, ok? Ruth and I both discussed this and we both agree that it is better for you here than at home with your Mother. You agreed too this morning. Sweetie you have to understand that this change isn’t going to be easy, but we are all going to be here to help you.”

Once again Diana made a token effort to pull away from the comfort that June was offering, turning her face away and pulling herself back just hard enough to feel the firm grip of the slender woman around her back. “Its just not right, its not fucking right. Why can’t Mom be like she used to? Why didn’t Jonathon take me with him? He left me there with that… that woman. She isn’t mom. That dumb fucking bitch isn’t my mother!” Diana’s arms wrapped around June without any form of warning, clinging hard to the warm stoat and burying her face into Junes shoulder. The two just lay there quietly. Diana’s breath slowly began to synch up with Junes as she tried harder and harder and harder to keep herself from screaming or crying. Several minutes passed before she was finally able to look up once more finally composed and obviously unaware of the small specks of moisture on her cheeks. “I just wish I knew why the hell she had to come back home. Things were just fine, they were always just fine. Jonathon and I had each other, and we made enough money to live on. We didn’t need anyone and we didn’t need her.”

“I know sweetie I know, and I am sorry. But you can’t focus on that right now. Right now I would do anything to make your mother realize how much she is hurting you and teach her how to straighten up. But that isn’t very likely to happen. If your brother had stayed it would have just made problems with your mother even worse. He did the only logical thing by going when he did Diana. Unfortunately your family situation doesn’t have an easy answer. But you’re out now. You made the decision to get out of a potentially dangerous situation in spite of how hard it was for you. That takes considerable maturity to do that.”

Diana looked up at June for a few long moments and then shook her head letting out another soft sigh. “It didn’t take any maturity. I just blackmailed my mom with the threat of going to the cops and then ran away from her like everyone else. I just couldn’t be an adult and put up with her bitching or criticizing.”

“Or her drinking?” June added with a voice that was both soft and serious. “What exactly do you think would happen if you had stayed? We both know that she isn’t going to change anything in her life no matter what you do. The change has to come from her if it is going to come at all. Its time for you to worry about your own future Diana. Just worry about what you want out of life, and remember that Ruth and I will do everything we can to help make it happen.” June slipped a couple of fingers under the Chipmunks hair and brushed some stray strands out of her face, glancing back at the little troublemaker whom she had been so upset with not so long ago.

“Yeah, at least until she gets drunk enough and decides to press changes to get me back because she doesn’t want me living some sick deprived lifestyle.” That threat, perhaps more than anything else, still rang true in her mind. No matter what else had happened she knew the pretense of her stay were in no way legal, and wouldn’t be until they could figure out the details for her emancipation, if it was possible at all. “I just don’t want her to push me any further. I mean she’s my mom and I do still love her, even if I can’t stand being around her. Its hard to think about legal separation. Its just so, so fucking final.”

“It’s a hard blow, but she brought it on herself. Just because you need to get out of that environment now doesn’t mean you can’t reconnect with her later If she ever does decide to get help for her addiction and be a parent again. This is just the best thing for you right now.” With another smile June walked her way over to the door and flicked on the light switch. “Now why don’t you put your new phone and that game on the charger so it will be ready for tomorrow. Ruth should be home with Dinner pretty soon now, and I would bet money she will try to get you watching some UFC with her before bed time.”

Diana pulled herself up as well and carefully began pulling at the needlessly sticky tape laying on the DS box. “Well ok I guess.” It felt so strange how casually June talked about this, but It was even stranger when she realized how real it all was. Ever since her mothers return the world had seemed to just stop, even if it shouldn’t have. Now she was in a new home, a new world, her whole life changed around literally overnight. Taking one more look around the room that she realized was now hers, Diana finally opened the box for the DS that was now hers, and fished out the necessary components to get it ready and charging. Tomorrow she would have to wake up, go to school and continue on just as she always had. The staggering normalcy of it was almost surreal, but somehow she knew that somehow things would be ok.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Ester Series: Mrs. Herrman
Ester Series: Jimmy and Connie do a Con
Warning, more feels, and more of Dee's Mom ahead.

Questions, Comments and constructive Criticism Adored

Keywords
female 998,690, feline 138,468, mouse 49,963, bear 44,798, chipmunk 12,060, stoat 2,099, character development 1,266, plot development 538, child abuse 266, ester series 20
Details
Type: Writing - Document
Published: 9 years, 10 months ago
Rating: Mature

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Ralanr
5 years, 1 month ago
Something I love in your series and your writing, in general, is that you can tell pretty well when words are used as malicious insults and when they are used for heavy play.  Diana would have no problem calling Ester a dyke when playing, but she'll deny that word whenever people use it to harm her.

It's nice to see.  Wordplay can get pretty difficult without understanding the reasoning.  Makes good degregadtion stories hard to find.
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